03 → [video]

[fallforthesky]

[The feed fades in slowly, flickering almost like an old film reel-- it slowly becomes obvious as everything comes into focus that it's a play of the light. Formed by Lenalee walking among the shadows of trees, in turn cast by the sun hanging low in the sky. She talks quietly as she moves.]...So, I've heard a lot about how it isn't safe to try and

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[VIDEO]

[fallforthesky]

[A girl who's capable of travelling at the speed of sound and desperate enough for a reprieve from the distance festering between everyone that she'd willingly leave for a few days just to get one. Yes, Lenalee needs them and has spent the last month dealing with intense separation anxiety, but... But she's also selfish-- and if, for once, that will be what helps her grant them the chance to live instead of just survive (she has no idea how literal that will turn out to be), she'll gladly be selfish. Damned selfish.]

Or... [Her eyes are hard and not quite focused when she turns the PDA around-- she's considering tactics even as she gives Allen a perfunctory once-over, gaze lingering on his smile as it always does.] ...Has anyone ever tried to get into Credinta from the North side? Going over the river-- it just gives us away, coming from that direction; they know we're leaving Nescreca. [She hesitates.] But what if we can find a map-- find a city up North that we could say we're migrating from, and come into town from that direction? We might be able to convince them, at least for a little while.

[Although her voice seems to imply "I" as opposed to "we"-- and beyond that, by "I", what she really means is "my uniform". It's the same as the desperate reasoning behind her designation into Cross' retrieval unit.]

[And in the pause that follows, he might catch her mouthing a silent 'thank you' for the soba comment, the lines of her face softening the smallest bit. So brief you could miss it.]

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[tothelastbreath]

[...Oh yes, that's going to be fun. All of them, bumbling around in the fog for two whole weeks.]

...Well.

[A beat; he can tell she plans on going alone and it worries him, but at the same time, she's coming up with some very valid ideas. Ideas within their power to turn into reality, hopefully improving everyone's lives a little. And if there's one thing Nesreca's done to Allen, it's force him to be more of a leader, make him shoulder the responsibility for their ragtag community, because someone has to, and he happens to be the best fit. He's still worried, but more importantly, he sees the neccessity to let her go.]

[slowly:] I don't believe anyone's tried, none of us were able to. It sounds like a good plan, though, and if it does work, it'll be more efficient than travelling all the way to another city. There are some old maps in the library, I reckon you'll find one of our surrounding area lying around.

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[tothelastbreath]

[He does catch her mouthing those words, which he returns with the barest quirk of a smile, allowing the moment to slip by as unobtrusively as possible. A breath, then.]

―And if there is a city up North, I'll be happy to go with you.

[Tied down to this place or not, he wouldn't be Allen if he didn't offer. Even if the thought of her carrying anyone across all that distance for what is essentially a stealth mission is all kinds of ridiculous.]

1/2 [VIDEO] SON OF A-- this is the THIRD TIME I forgot to hit "post comment"

[fallforthesky]

[If he were to voice that aloud, she would argue that it's hardly something that Nesreca has done to him. He's always tried to shoulder all the responsibility ever in true shounen stubbornness; now he just has a better excuse to do it and people who don't seem to have an issue with letting him play that side up for once. She supposes she hasn't helped with that.]

[And if it isn't clear enough by the terse line she's pressed her lips into, the slightly-too-long hesitation before her own answer says she knows he'd rather she not go alone, and also that she would argue to hell and back again if he tried to dissuade her. No matter how much she wants to snap up every chance to be by his side. He isn't the end-all of her life.] I'll visit the library the next chance I get, then.

[Which will be, oh, say sometime in the middle of OOPS ALL BUILDINGS ARE GONE week.]

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[fallforthesky]

[Tragic, how she sees more of him in smiles that barely exist than the dazzling ones he churns out so frequently (less frequently here). With strained but nonetheless honest humour:] I think you might eat all the supplies we could acquire [aka steal and yes, Lenalee Lee is indeed that desperate] if you did, all before we returned home.

[Yes. 'Home'.]

...but... [Trailing off. "Thank you" is what she meant to say. It feels too heavy right now. Instead of finishing, she shrugs and rubs her eyes a little.] Hah. I'm so tired lately. Maybe the trip will help a little, if I can get some fresh air.

[VIDEO]

[tothelastbreath]

[Seems this happens to everyone eventually. Wanting to get away for a bit, that is, and he isn't about to deny anyone a reprieve if they need it. Add in how it's much more sensible for her to go alone, and Allen's been fighting a losing battle all along. His smile grows firmer by slow degrees as he gives in, bit by bit, until it becomes one she should be much more familiar with. The one that says we'll all be okay, because if he isn't going along, the last thing he wants is for her to be worrying about the rest of them, when she's on her own and should be looking out for herself.]

[matching her tone:] Ah, you caught me. Can I still go if I promise to at least leave a bite for everyone else?

[The fact that he's even joking about it at all, trying to help lighten the mood, is a clear indication that she has his tacit agreement to go ahead. He sobers then, still smiling, and now it's tempered by understanding.]

But you're right, I rather think it'll help. Having nothing to do can prove to be surprisingly tiring, I've found.

[VIDEO]

[fallforthesky]

[It's more the issue of having too much to do that has her trying to run away-- there, she admitted it-- from everything for a little while. Breathing room. A chance to sort her thoughts and remind herself of how to deal with these moments without...]

[All of this ado.]

[Like his, Lenalee's smile softens a bit, into a faint laugh that sounds a bit watery on the inhale after. But it's still a laugh.] Y-Yeah, it's-- it's been a long few months.

[VIDEO]

[tothelastbreath]

[Rather than comment on how much longer it has been for some of them, or how much longer it's likely to be from here onwards, Allen answers with a simple:] Yeah.

[Not 'yes', 'you're right', 'quite true', or any of the other Allenisms making up his verbal moat of pleases and I'm afraids, the one he's still only starting to bridge. A beat, then:]

Take care on your way.

[Because Komui and the rest of the Order may not be here to say this for her, but Allen is. Granted, he's not part of the Order anymore, but that doesn't matter, does it? Their home is so much more than an organisation with a name.]

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[fallforthesky]

[Well, the smile slides right off at that. There's a hesitation, and Allen may be able to tell by the way her face colours in that hold-it-in sort of way that Komui and the Order is where he just threw her with those words. For a second, she can even hear her brother's voice echoing them.]

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[fallforthesky]

[--But it's back again faster than one might have expected, perhaps just a touch teary-eyed. You've really taken up a mantle, haven't you, Allen. She nods.]

I will.