Sensei is as masterful as always, and Reed, your skill is super cool! In fact, it's almost as good as my own! I'd like to thank you guys again for getting me out of the Wilderness
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[There is another pause on the journal, and a noisy flurry of frantic consultation in the back room of Smoke's - and then, permission and directions obtained and Kage hugged, she dives for her journal again.]
[He leaned over his journal to write a reply, but nothing occurred to him. He'd been ordered to stay twice all ready, but something told him it was wiser to just shut up this once. He pushed his journal and pen aside and got up. His plan was to comply for now, have something to eat, then go back to bed.
Having his emotions fed upon for a solid week made a guy pretty tired and famished, but he was all ready getting cabin fever... He dug through his little icebox of surplus produce, and produced an apple. He always liked the green ones best...]
[Materia dropped her journal and ran, shouldering past people in the Bazaar. She hammered the buttons in the elevator, swiping angrily at her face with her sleeve and tapping one foot as she waited - it was bad enough that she'd blinked and messed up her journal, but she was not crying! - then burst out of the doors as soon as they opened.
She managed to take a wrong turn, pounding down the branches, and had to backtrack to get her bearings again from Kagerou's directions, but it was still only a handful of minutes before she found herself standing in front of an unfamiliar door.
Red in the face (from running), fists clenched on her knees, she waited a bare few seconds to get her breath back and then raised one arm to pound on the door, hard...and waited, heart in her throat.]
[...And he could add 'Jumpy' to the list of 'how to feel' at the moment. The sudden loud knocking to his door had him twitch, the green fruit slipping from his hand. Night snatched at it once, and it slipped from his fingers. The mostly-eaten apple thumped to the floor as he frowned deeply at the thing. He gave it a little kick, and it bounced off the wall and neatly into the trash before he turned and undid the single lock on the door, pulling it open.
He looked... tired, his hair something of a mess. Well, more than usual. Why was her face all red? Did she run all the way here!?]
[And the door opened, and there he was, looking rumpled but real. Real, and healthy, and generally unhurt. Materia stood frozen for a second, arms at her sides and fingers balled up tight. Eyes flickered up and down his body, looking for injuries, missing limbs, anything...and found nothing wrong.
He knew her name. She wasn't forgotten, and he wasn't gone.
She gasped a much-needed breath, the tension going out of her shoulders, and launched herself at the much-taller fighter, throwing her arms around his neck and clinging tight, as if he'd vanish again if she didn't catch him right now.]
[He blinked at her, the body language, and wasn't sure what was happening. And so, he watched and his arm fell away from the door to his side. She then gasped and a ball of ice formed in his belly, but it was too little, too late - she launched and held on to him, throwing his balance for a loop.
Normally an example of perfect balance, his escapades in the Fade had drained him of that edge, and he stumbled back a couple of steps, uttered a short sound of surprise, and went down. His feet flew out from under him, and down upon his rear on the wooden floor he went. As she shouted, his eyes had begun to sting before he could help himself. His arms remained aloft, unsure of what to do.]
[Materia let out a yelp as they tumbled over, but held on stubbornly, pressing her face into the folds of his big dumb scarf.]
You stupid, stupid...!
[She pulled loose one arm and managed to give him a flat-palmed thump on the chest, but her anger was rapidly spending itself and she couldn't work up enough of the remnants to actually make the blow hurt. It just sort of...bounced off him, lamely, and then she hooked her arm back around his neck and clung to him, feeling weirdly reassured by the warm solid bulk of him under her.
Her stupid rival. Feeling her eyes start to burn again, Materia squeezed them shut.]
[He said nothing, felt that nagging pang of guilt as she hit him. Though he expected a closed hand next, none came. Part of him wondered why, the rest was content not to have something else added to his laundry list of things to recover from. Night realized then that his arms remained in the air, like silly goal posts of sorts, and he slowly lowered the limbs. As her arms wound again, so did his. His face nestled to the crook of her neck as his eyes closed, his arms gently tightening around her middle as the Fade memory fresh in his mind swam back into focus.
This Materia... she was real. That stupid nightmare was gone.]
[She mumbled it into her faceful of scarf, muffled and not really thinking about what she was saying, just - trying really, really hard not to cry. It would suck to cry in front of him, but...
She'd already lost so many people. She'd been trying not to think about it since Kagerou had promised her that he was alive somewhere, but she didn't think she could take it if she lost him, too. Her fingers curled tightly around his scarf, brushing the soft hair at the nape of his neck.]
[He didn't move... well, not that he wanted to, anyway. He'd gone from Wilderness to Clinic to home, and hadn't really come to appreciate what he'd accidentally left behind for the last week. He found that he really missed his friends, and Sensei... and, with a sigh through his nose, the tension leaving him with the breath, a new question formed in his mind. He'd have to think on that, and though he didn't know it, he was having less and less time to come up with an answer for it.]
Well, I'm not supposed to leave the house anyway. The Medics said so.
[Oh, geez. Materia snorted a laugh, and the awful dragging need to bawl faded a little, easing the tightness in her throat so that she could breathe again without risking tears.
She blinked her eyes open, sighed, and loosened her near-stranglehold around Night's neck, settling down into a more comfortable kneeling position. She had to tilt her chin up to look at his face, like that, and her arms were looped up at an awkward angle, but it was a lot easier on her knees.]
You're such a dork.
[Her face broke into a smile as she said it, dark eyes oddly bright; she'd never been very good at hiding emotions, and even a total stranger could have told that she was happy to see him.]
[Oh yeah. Ice burn. Anything to settle that little flop in his stomach as he wondered what on earth to do next. His grip loosened a little as he figured he'd just go with it. In a rather awkward pause that followed, he smiled back. Hers was quite infectious.]
[The awkward utterance was just enough to remind Materia of exactly where she was and what she was doing...and how it would probably look to anybody who walked by the doorway, which was still hanging wide open. She blinked, and bright color rushed back into her face.]
Um!
[Snatching her hands back as if Night's neck and shoulders had suddenly gone red-hot, she awkwardly folded them in her lap, staring down at them, and gulped. She could still feel the warmth of him, and a pretty big part of her wanted to hug him again anyway, which was...totally inappropriate rivalry behavior. Hmph.]
[He let her go, and decided the floor wasn't the best place to chit-chat. Night got to his feet and offered her a hand up.]
Thanks. I'm super glad to have someone over, it's been a while!
[He scratched his head in thought as he shut the door finally, then gestured to the little sofa or either of the two chairs he had set up in the house.]
...Y'know, if you want to stay for a bit! If you have to go that's okay, I was going to fix something to eat and watch the rain when it hits. Smells like we're gonna have a drizzle, and after the heat wave we're really due for it! Everyone's gardens are looking a little crispy.
WHERE ARE YOU
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I'm at home! The boss let me take another day off to rest!
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STAY. THERE.
[And she's out the door.]
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Having his emotions fed upon for a solid week made a guy pretty tired and famished, but he was all ready getting cabin fever... He dug through his little icebox of surplus produce, and produced an apple. He always liked the green ones best...]
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She managed to take a wrong turn, pounding down the branches, and had to backtrack to get her bearings again from Kagerou's directions, but it was still only a handful of minutes before she found herself standing in front of an unfamiliar door.
Red in the face (from running), fists clenched on her knees, she waited a bare few seconds to get her breath back and then raised one arm to pound on the door, hard...and waited, heart in her throat.]
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He looked... tired, his hair something of a mess. Well, more than usual. Why was her face all red? Did she run all the way here!?]
...Materia?
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He knew her name. She wasn't forgotten, and he wasn't gone.
She gasped a much-needed breath, the tension going out of her shoulders, and launched herself at the much-taller fighter, throwing her arms around his neck and clinging tight, as if he'd vanish again if she didn't catch him right now.]
You idiot!
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Normally an example of perfect balance, his escapades in the Fade had drained him of that edge, and he stumbled back a couple of steps, uttered a short sound of surprise, and went down. His feet flew out from under him, and down upon his rear on the wooden floor he went. As she shouted, his eyes had begun to sting before he could help himself. His arms remained aloft, unsure of what to do.]
I-I know...
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You stupid, stupid...!
[She pulled loose one arm and managed to give him a flat-palmed thump on the chest, but her anger was rapidly spending itself and she couldn't work up enough of the remnants to actually make the blow hurt. It just sort of...bounced off him, lamely, and then she hooked her arm back around his neck and clung to him, feeling weirdly reassured by the warm solid bulk of him under her.
Her stupid rival. Feeling her eyes start to burn again, Materia squeezed them shut.]
I thought you were g-gone...
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This Materia... she was real. That stupid nightmare was gone.]
I'm not.
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[She mumbled it into her faceful of scarf, muffled and not really thinking about what she was saying, just - trying really, really hard not to cry. It would suck to cry in front of him, but...
She'd already lost so many people. She'd been trying not to think about it since Kagerou had promised her that he was alive somewhere, but she didn't think she could take it if she lost him, too. Her fingers curled tightly around his scarf, brushing the soft hair at the nape of his neck.]
Don't leave. Don't you d-dare leave, okay?
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Well, I'm not supposed to leave the house anyway. The Medics said so.
[He lifted his face and nodded confidently.]
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She blinked her eyes open, sighed, and loosened her near-stranglehold around Night's neck, settling down into a more comfortable kneeling position. She had to tilt her chin up to look at his face, like that, and her arms were looped up at an awkward angle, but it was a lot easier on her knees.]
You're such a dork.
[Her face broke into a smile as she said it, dark eyes oddly bright; she'd never been very good at hiding emotions, and even a total stranger could have told that she was happy to see him.]
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[Oh yeah. Ice burn. Anything to settle that little flop in his stomach as he wondered what on earth to do next. His grip loosened a little as he figured he'd just go with it. In a rather awkward pause that followed, he smiled back. Hers was quite infectious.]
...Heheheh, so. Um.
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Um!
[Snatching her hands back as if Night's neck and shoulders had suddenly gone red-hot, she awkwardly folded them in her lap, staring down at them, and gulped. She could still feel the warmth of him, and a pretty big part of her wanted to hug him again anyway, which was...totally inappropriate rivalry behavior. Hmph.]
I'm...glad you're okay.
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Thanks. I'm super glad to have someone over, it's been a while!
[He scratched his head in thought as he shut the door finally, then gestured to the little sofa or either of the two chairs he had set up in the house.]
...Y'know, if you want to stay for a bit! If you have to go that's okay, I was going to fix something to eat and watch the rain when it hits. Smells like we're gonna have a drizzle, and after the heat wave we're really due for it! Everyone's gardens are looking a little crispy.
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