[open, THNMY] Live seconds as a lifetime//Time it does not matter

[trappedbyhate]

[Open to anyone and everyone foreveeeeer. For more info, see this post in the ooc community.]

Mio Hongo is in a bar. Or perhaps a restaurant. Or a mall, or a theatre, or--anywhere really, but the point is that she is not in her office for once. She's taking the night (or afternoon, or morning) off and doing something that would be construed as

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[thehighestwing]

Phoebe gave Mio a good talking to. She doesn't do this often, as she respects her far too much to do so, but when Mio's well-being is at stake? Phoebe will not hold back the metaphorical punches. The woman had been running herself ragged, and as both a guardian and as her friend and co-worker, she couldn't let that happen, and all but demands that Mio take some time off from work.

They decided to go out, for a change, and Phoebe's going to be waiting for Mio in the garage as promised.

There will be food and hopefully dancing, but more importantly, there will be all the relaxing.

... Please allow them to do the relaxing thing, Chicago.

[trappedbyhate]

And Mio is very appreciative that Phoebe gave her that talking to! She is well aware of her own tendencies for overworking herself, but being aware of those tendencies and knowing when to stop herself have always been two very different things.

Mio comes down to the garage just a few minutes after Phoebe, wearing a sequined belted tunic and leggings and dangly earrings. She even decided to redo her makeup for a more smoky-eyed evening look. Hey, if she's going to be going out on the town tonight, she might as well do it right!

"Hey, Phoebe! Looking good tonight. You ready to go?"

[thehighestwing]

Phoebe turns to greet her, a smile already on her face, and it freezes in place. Her eyes widen a little, her heart begins to skip a beat or two, and the flood of emotions streams through her chest until she feels it might just burst. The feeling itself is familiar--she felt it with Jack over a year ago, but she doesn't know how this has happened.

She recovers quickly, if only so she doesn't ruin their night, though she does plan on telling Mio once it's over. "You--you look good, too! Great, even," she says, and she moves forward to give Mio a small hug, swallowing thickly as the implications of it settle into her chest, her heart, and her mind.

"I'm ready," she says quietly, in more ways than one.

[trappedbyhate]

Mio feels a slight jolt, like she had just shocked herself with a bit of static electricity.

"Wha-?" she blurts out, but she shakes it off.

"Then let's go. What do you say to Caribbean food?"

[thehighestwing]

Phoebe stands there for a moment, as if her feet are glued to the ground, and once she recovers her voice she clears her throat and follows behind her. "Yes!" she says, perhaps too enthusiastically. "Caribbean food sounds delicious. I'll let you drive since I wouldn't want us to get a ticket on our first night out since who knows when."

Keep it together, Donovan, she thinks to herself.

It's difficult to, though. How is Mio her ward?

[trappedbyhate]

Okay, now this is officially getting a bit weird. First Phoebe seemed subdued, and now she seems hugely enthusiastic. Was Phoebe trying to hide something from her, or did someone replace Phoebe with a pod person when she wasn't looking? (This being Chicago, both are plausible explanations.)

"Phoebe? Is something wrong?" Mio asks.

[thehighestwing]

Phoebe should've known she wouldn't be able to get anything past Mio. She glances over at Mio somewhat apologetically before she shakes her head, seemingly certain about that answer, at least. "No, it's not wrong. At least... I don't think it is."

She's been floundering for too long. "Promise me you won't freak out?" she asks, not that Mio is the sort of person to freak out, per se, but she knows this will be a shock.

[trappedbyhate]

"Phoebe, how often have you seen me freak out over something?" Even if she doesn't always feel like it, it's a bit of a point of pride for Mio to at least appear calm and unflappable.

"I promise there will be no freaking out over anything you say."

[thehighestwing]

"... Good point," Phoebe says, smiling almost apologetically. She should've known there'd be no way she could keep this from Mio until after they'd have dinner, but she wants Mio to have a good and relaxing time and now, this.

She sighs, wringing her hands together. "So. You're my ward."

[trappedbyhate]

Well, whatever she was expecting Phoebe to say, that was not it.

"Oh. Well then," she responds, her expression one of dazed shock. "I would protest to the universe that I really don't need someone to take care of me, but recent events have kind of proven otherwise, haven't they? Besides, I don't think the universe really gives all that much of a shit about what I want anyway."

Mio gives her head a small shake while she pulls herself together--outwardly at least. Inwardly she's still a little Whaaaat?, but her brain is beginning to process all of the implications.

"Well, clearly we are going to have to talk about this, but I would much rather do it over some food instead of in the middle of the parking garage. Let's go."

[And then there was driving and getting seated at the restaurant and ordering food and other such things]

[thehighestwing]

Phoebe would say something, but Mio is telling them to go, and she's in a dazed shock herself, so she follows more than anything else, really. Words are not coming to her and even if they were, she is certain they would be muddled into incoherent babble Mio wouldn't appreciate.

Once they are seated at the restaurant and food has been ordered, Phoebe continues to struggle with the stringing words together thing.

"So...you are not upset?" she asks carefully, biting back a wince.

This is honestly not the first time something like this has happened (hi, Jack), but it never does get any less bizarre.

[trappedbyhate]

Mio stabs some salad vegetables with more force than is perhaps strictly necessary before replying. She's still a little bit put out that the universe thinks she needs looking after, but none of that annoyance is directed at Phoebe.

"Not at you, no," she says. "I'm a bit annoyed at the universe, but--honestly, I'd be a lot more annoyed if the universe had stuck me with someone else for a guardian."

Not that she thinks that she needs a guardian at all, mind you, but it's not exactly like she had any say in the matter.

Mio takes a few more bites and sighs. "I suppose I should warn you early that the guardian-ward bond might end up being pretty intense--I can feel it bypassing most of my shielding. It'll probably also synergize with my powers to form a two-way channel...which, like a lot of things involving my powers, has a lot of potential benefits and a number of potential drawbacks."

[thehighestwing]

It's so strange. Phoebe doesn't just note the annoyance, by observing and knowing Mio for as long as she has. She feels it, and she thought it would be a long, long time before she ever had something like this before. Of course, in comparison to Jack, anything else might seem more manageable.

"I'll take it as a compliment," she says with the softest of smirks.

Phoebe loves you, Mio, but she can see why a guardian might be in order. At the very least to slow her down sometimes when she's consumed by work, make sure she's taking care of herself as opposed to taking care of everyone and everything else for a change.

She eats some of the vegetables before swallowing thickly. "What kind of drawbacks are we talking about?"

[trappedbyhate]

"Oh trust me, it is," Mio says. She already knows she can work well together with Phoebe. With someone else, it'd be a lot more of an unknown, and Mio really doesn't like that sort of uncertainty when it comes to people she's going to have to have a close relationship with for (possibly) the rest of her life

[thehighestwing]

Phoebe observes her as the careful answer comes. They spoke a bit about the things Mio has seen in her life, but Phoebe doesn't presume herself so arrogant to believe that gives her complete understanding. It was mostly a glimpse and the rest belongs to Mio. "He was good at blocking it out some of the time," Phoebe admits, but she did feel some of it, and it was... well, it was terrifying and overwhelming, of course. Jack and Thane and Jack and things that blurred together.

"The blocking sometimes had the opposite effect on me, though. I mean, because of my Calling, it felt wrong almost physically," she says.

Phoebe smiles in reassurance and shakes her head. "That's nothing you have to worry about. I kind of suck at hiding my emotions most of the time, and I wouldn't mind if you did know. It'd be useful when we're working together or one of us needs the back up

[trappedbyhate]

Mio smiles wanly. "I think I know a bit of how that felt. He and I...my powers were always this huge looming elephant in the room that we would circle around but never actually talk about. I always felt like I had to keep myself locked down completely around him, and I don't think he ever understood why it felt so suffocatingly claustrophobic to me