Prince Ali! Fabulous he! Ali Ababwa

[codename_potato]

Characters: Sniper (naoscaire ), Aurora (earth_uninstall) and Gundam ( codename_potato ), oh my!
Date/Time: December 16th, evening
Location: The Hall of Beginnings
Rating: PG
Summary: Gundam wakes up from an unhappy dream. Sniper and Aurora are there to greet him.

Comments

[earth_uninstall]

Not again.

This had happened before. Aurora didn't know when, or why, or how, but he just knew there had been a time when Sniper had protected him, and a time when it had been Gundam's fault. They were only impressions that mixed together, an increasingly familiar sense of deja vu that meant his mind was recognizing something from his unknown past, but he didn't need images to feed the strong emotional response.

Immediately stepping in between Sniper and Gundam, he glared harshly at the latter, slapping away the offered hand as if he expected Gundam would go in for another punch. His posture was defensive, and it was clearly taking a lot of willpower for him not to anything more than that. It was an extreme reaction, he knew it, but Aurora couldn't seem to shake it off.

"Sniper, status." His eyes never left Gundam even as he spoke to the other, watching him harshly. Aurora hadn't meant to speak with such a sharp edge, but he seemed incapable of being anything approaching soft at the moment. His anger made him pinpoint on the moment, his past musing forgotten for the time being; right now his instincts were screaming at him to keep Sniper safe and nothing more.

"And you." His glare only intensified at Gundam, accusatory and bordering towards hysterical, voice slowly rising in pitch. "What is the meaning of this? How could you let Sniper be hurt?!"

[naoscaire]

There was a certain element of deja vu going on here, but Sniper was a little more concerned with the fact that Aurora was getting hysterical (huh?) at Gundam for what was clearly an accident. The kid hadn't meant to launch an epic right hook at him, he was sure of that. So why freak out at him?

Did this happen before or something?

Why the hell didn't he remember that?

Meh.

"Geez, Aurora. I'm gonna have a black eye but it's fine. It'll take more than a punch to keep me down." He got himself up, reaching over to put a hand on Aurora's arm. "Calm down. It was an accident, it had to be; there's no way he could've done it deliberately fresh out of the egg with a double eyeful of glop." How the hell could Gundam have even seen him? Seriously, it was just an accident.

"Guys. Please. This is not the time to be arguing and freaking out over something like this, okay?" Gah. Helluva way to hatch.

[codename_potato]

Gundam met Aurora's eyes for a moment, his own expression going blank and cold as he considered the man's words. Something about being accused, especially in conjunction with something bad happening to Sniper... And most especially being accused by Aurora. It was so familiar.

It had happened before, he was sure. And that time it had been Gundam's fault too. Hadn't it? He couldn't remember.

But the fact remained that it was his fault this time, and there was no reason to argue that or try to justify his actions. That would merely be useless and self-indulgent.

Gundam broke eye contact with Aurora and turned his head away, the cold of his expression slipping away to something a little more troubled before he turned on his heel and walked towards the rack of towels, clothes, and journals. He didn't respond to either of the men as he started to towel himself off, shivering a little as the cold seeped in past the shock and he quickly selected a set of one-size-fits-no-one newborn clothing to put on.

"I'm sorry." Gundam said, back still turned to the others as he tied the string on his pants and pulled the shirt over his head.

[earth_uninstall]

Once Gundam broke their gaze, he turned and looked at Sniper with something a little more fragile in his eyes, confirming for himself that the other was fine. The touch to his arm seemed molified him and he felt a touch embarrassed at his outburst, but Aurora refused to own up and go back on what he'd said.

"You should have your eye looked at as soon as possible. The quicker you get some ice on it, the less swelling will occur." He looked briefly at Sniper's right eye, but for some reason he couldn't stand to look at it. It was as if something was wrong with it, but he couldn't put his finger on what.

The apology from Gundam caught his attention again, and Aurora felt satisfied at seeing that expression on his face; even if it had been an accident, he should feel ashamed at having hit an ally, especially Sniper.

"Don't let it happen again." It wasn't really an acceptance, but it was a start; Aurora was acting frosty to him, yes, but his early anger was burning away to something more reasonable. It was unlikely he'd be handing out forgiveness any time soon, not without putting Gundam through his paces and making sure he regretting his mistake completely, however. That much was clear.