(Untitled)

[notlikethemovie]

[ WHO ]: Mika (notlikethemovie) and Aaron (x_rette_mich_x)
[ WHERE ]: The basement
[ WHEN ]: Morning of the 16th
[ OPEN/CLOSED? ]: closed
[ RATING ]: G
[ WARNINGS ]: n/a
[ NOTES ]: Mika promised she'd come see Aaron after his transformation, and she keeps her promises.

Comments

[x_rette_mich_x]

The cage had held, thanks to Michael's last-minute ingenuity and some industrial chains Aaron had found in the hardware store. They were heavier now, exhausted as he was thanks to the transformation (and spending the night fighting with it as he always did). But he bore it well enough, awkwardly sliding into the jeans he'd set aside, just in time to hear Mika's footsteps.

Aaron's nose was keener than a human's, but weaker in this form than Mika's likely, but he sniffed at the air all the same, in perhaps a throwback to the wolf's instincts, offering a greeting in a quavery voice.

"Morning, Mika..." He rubbed at his eyes, sitting up on his knees, leaning against the bars, offering her a small smile as she came into view.

"Did you sleep at all...?"

[notlikethemovie]

"I did, but Rubi was all for coming down and blasting holes in whatever made the noise." She smiled awkwardly, her ears cocking back. "I tried to persuade her otherwise. I should've brought you a blanket or something, huh?" She tsked, that would definitely be something she'd have to remember next time. Pulling out her assorted bounty that she'd pilfered from the garden, she offered it to Aaron through the bars.

"Pick what you'd like, I tried to grab what I could and scamper before the scarecrow woke up. While you're eating, I'll get you out."

[x_rette_mich_x]

Grateful hands accepted the fruit greedily, one of the apples being bitten into with the relish only a hungry teenager could possess. Aaron scooted away from the door, kicking one of the overlarge chains away, offering her a contrite smile. He didn't mention how unsettled the thought of someone blasting a hole into his prison made him, but then again he didn't feel he needed to.

"I...did my best to get as far as possible while still waking up somewhere...you know safe." Not that anywhere in the apartments was completely safe, but Aaron had at least strung some of his remaining red tape over the bars to create a rather...colorful mini-prison.

"Jeeze, you braved the scarecrow thing?" he added in a hushed whisper, resting his cheek to the bar, staring up at her with large blue eyes.

"Wow...thanks a lot..."

[notlikethemovie]

"I know you did, babe." Mika made a face as she sat by the bars, her knees making a horrible series of cracking sounds. She was not getting any younger. "You and Angeal came up with a good setup

[x_rette_mich_x]

Aaron didn't seem to be in any hurry to be uncaged, glancing to the keys once before deciding that they could wait until Mika was ready to go and get them for him.

"Maybe there's some way I can make a little escape hatch...not big enough for the monster to get through, but...you know, small enough for me in case someone can't afford to come and get me...in an emergency...?" he added hopefully, offering her a small smile.

"You don't suck at all. I mean, you're braver than me! Are you doing alright though?" he added, eyes sweeping over her in concern, biting his lip.

[notlikethemovie]

"That might be a good idea." She nodded, scratching idly at the bandage wrapped around her throat and managing to return his smile. "Having an alternative is a really good idea, you never know what could happen here anyway."

Brave? her? No, not really. "More like scared stupid, I think. I'm...I'm doing okay, Aaron. As okay as I can. I'm still trying to get used to living in a place right out of a book. I'll either completely freak out some day, or I'll learn to cope. Don't worry about me too much, I've gotta keep an eye on you and Seth, don't I?" She grinned, reaching through the bars to ruffle his hair.

[x_rette_mich_x]

"We can keep an eye on you too, you know!" he added, batting at her hand gently as it tousled his hair. The tiredness was still there, but his mood was improving, likely due to not having to deal with the episode of caging himself for another month at the very least.

"You're doing fine...I mean. Fine as you can here." his gaze softened, eyes lingering on her throat for a moment before meeting her eyes once more.

"...does it hurt?"

[notlikethemovie]

"Alright~! Alright~!" Mika laughed, flapping at his hand with her own. It was a welcome moment of silliness.

"Yeah, I think that's as good as any of us can do, right?" She sighed, blowing it all out through her nose. "Yeah, feels like someone punched me. It's really bad when I have to change the bandages, what with the air getting to it. It's worse because I can't stand to look at it myself. Changing the wrapping's been really interesting, to say the least." She scratched the back of her head, not wanting to mention the possibility of infection.

[x_rette_mich_x]

"I'm not a doctor or anything...but when I get outta here I can look at it for you, if you want." he was quick to offer, finishing the apple and stretching out, wincing at the creaking and popping of various limbs back into place.

"Sheesh...anyway, thanks for keeping my...sorta secret." he huffed, standing, looking around for his shirt absently before dropping down to his knees once more, stretching his fingers through the bars to reach the wayward clothing.

"Thanks to Michael it's almost not a secret anymore."

[notlikethemovie]

"I'd like that." Any help was better than none, and she pushed herself to her feet so she could fetch the key.

"You're welcome. I tried not to tell Rubi anything more than it'd be over in the morning, but I had to tell her something so she wouldn't come down here and kill you." At the mention of Micheal's name, Mika's expression darkened as she returned with the keys and set to unlocking the cage.

"Yeah, well Micheal's a douchebag and most people don't really listen to him." She was irritated enough that she was visibly bristling, her ears folded back against her hair. There was only one person she disliked here more than Micheal, but she would easily say they were on par with one another on her shit list.

[x_rette_mich_x]

"Thanks to that...I'm glad she didn't decide to." he sighed, moving to the door, chomping on the next bite of fruit from what she had gotten for him, listening attentively, eying the way her ears flattened, and how she was visibly on edge from the simple word.

"Is he...really that bad?" Was Aaron really that naive? "I mean, he sorta took over the other half of my apartment...so sometimes I stay with Angeal. But he's never hurtme. Seth said to keep an eye out though too..."

[notlikethemovie]

"I am too." Mika was relieved that Aaron had come out safe, but she had to crush her flaring temper before her mouth got the better of her.

"Well, I'm pretty sure he killed Seth, not that Seth will talk about it. I'm just going off of Seth disappearing around the time Micheal died from the curse and the way both of them have been acting. I don't know, Aaron. I just get a really nasty feeling whenever I come across him. I do know that Angeal's a person you can trust, he's a good guy." She offered him a tired smile as she got the lock undone and stepped aside so he could get out.

[x_rette_mich_x]

"You think he's the one who-" Aaron made a sort of urp sound, nodding his head quickly, swallowing. The very thought of it made him feel a little ill, honestly, and he shuffled out of the cage with a soft thank you, dusting himself off, wiping his hands on his shirt.

"Angeal is a good guy." He agreed, choosing not to think on Michael any more. He was...an odd one; someone Aaron wasn't sure he wanted to deal with at times, and not sure what to do with the other half. "Like how a dad should be or something, you know?" he added almost absently.

"Mm...let's get out of this basement. It's giving me the creeps!"

[notlikethemovie]

"Like how a dad should be?" A dark brow rose at that comment, yeah, in a way, Angeal was kinda like that. "I think I do know." She hugged Aaron and offered him more of the spoils in her bag.

"Yeah, it's creeping me out, too." Her tail wagged, and she gave him a gentle nudge towards the door.

[x_rette_mich_x]

"Yeah." he agreed, glancing back at the cage once more, stuffing what was left of the red tape into his pocket, munching on an apple cheerfully as he trotted out of the main room. The basement seemed to go on forever; it was debateable just how far beneat the apartments it went in different directions, some ending in dead ends, while others seemed to taper to an almost crawl-worthy height. There were numerous little rooms and offshoots from the main area, but with the pathway of red tape Aaron had laid down here and there, it was easy enough to make their way back towards the stairs.

"Do you want me to look at your neck for you?" he offered as they reached the stairs, glancing back behind his shoulder to the older woman.

[notlikethemovie]

"Yeah, it's probably a mess. I've been doing too much, and I don't know if I've been able to keep it clean enough." Her expression was serious. Having a wound like that get infected was one of the last things she needed. It was times like this that she missed her father most, he would've known what to do and take care of it.

Now was not the time to get misty-eyed and homesick, though. So Mika pulled her hair back, twisting it up and clamping it in place with a butterfly clip to get it out of the way.