(no subject)
Who: Suki and Julian
What: Meeting on the roof
When: Last night~
Where: Roof
Rating: PG-13
...and as soon as she'd gotten the information she needed, she bolted and headed straight for the roof. Yuck. Kissing some stupid enemy watertribe boy was not the way she wanted to remember this evening. Even if it had gained her the information she needed to make Azula happy
And if Azula was happy--well, everyone was spared a lot of grief.
She made it to the rooftop panting slightly. It was a long walk up here--getting longer every day it seemed. As soon as she reached the top she began to look for Julian and...didn't see him. Damn. She frowned--he had seemed annoyed with her in the journal. Maybe he...
She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. Well. Maybe this would be a long night after all. She sat and looked up to the moon--preparing herself for a long and possibly fruitless wait.
Julian was kicking himself for not being able to find Suki himself. Being the kind of person he is, he thought he'd find her in only a day or two. He had a definite advantage compared to the others searching for her, yet he still couldn't rescue her. To make matters worse, he had stopped his intensive search to help Laura. Yeah, it was a good thing he kept an eye on her during her... situation, but he couldn't help feeling bad for not searching for Suki.
She was back now, though. he should be thrilled, but something didn't feel right. The way she returned was just weird. No one else seemed to care. Everyone was glad she was back. Maybe he should start showing how glad he was, too. He must have seemed like a total jerk on the journal.
Instead of flying straight to the roof, Julian took a walk. Making it to the roof, clearing his head along the way, Julian stepped into the moon's view and saw Suki waiting for him. "Suki," he softly called out to her.
She was staring at the moon. It was really beautiful tonight--though it was little more than a cresent. It was strange staring at the moon put her in a strange trance like state--bits of dialogue, old memories began to bubble to the surface---only to be quickly dismissed at the sound of her name.
She whirled around to find Julian calling her. When she saw it was him she couldn't help herself from smiling in relief. Finally. Someone she didn't have to be so...on guard around. Or fake too. She repressed the feeling that Azula wouldn't be to happy to see her up there and walked up to him, feeling suddenly very shy.
"Hey..." She glanced down to her feet. "I hope your...not to angry with me."
She had been training this whole time? He had checked the woods repeatedly. Where was she training? No, no... this wasn't the time. She was safe. He should be happy about seeing her. Not bombarding her with questions. Her friends probably already took care of all that for him.
It really must have been a while. He had forgotten how pretty she looked standing underneath the moonlight. There was no one around up here, so it should be easier to go ahead and tell her that. He just wasn't sure where he stood with her.
He paced towards her slowly, picking up speed as he got closer and... though awkward at first, he gave her a hug.
"I'm not angry. I was worried about you," he assured her. "When I couldn't find you up here after the Ganados thing, I though you just decided not to come up here anymore..."
She was surprised at the hug, but very pleased. She hugged him back before pulling rather reluctantly away. "I didn't mean to worry you..." She was tempted to tell him about where she had been, but she felt like maybe Azula wouldn't like that very much. Besides, she couldn't remember telling him about who she really was. She frowned slightly.
"What? Of course not! I love coming up here! Are you crazy or something" She swatted his arm playfully and grinned "You taught me how to fly after all."
She decided to take a seat, and in doing so impulsively took his hand to tug him down with her. "So--I'm dying to know--what's up with you and Ino?"
He was relieved to know she was okay. A hug alone was able to tell him that she wasn't seriously hurt or anything. For the most part, she seemed completely okay. Like nothing had ever happened. That fact did very little to actually ease his concern.
Knowing she wasn't bored of these meetings--or of him--was very relieving, though he'd never admit to feeling insecure.
Being pulled down next to her, Julian obliged and sat down. She seemed really excited about knowing what everyone was up to, and he couldn't blame her. He'd want to know what was up if he had gone missing for a week, too.
"Yeah, your friend Ino? She totally has an attitude problem about me. I don't know WHAT it is. I got this feeling that your friends don't really like me hanging out with you. At all," he smirked, not really troubled by their suspicions. "Doesn't help that I almost called her a--" He paused and smiled. "Let's just say I never get off on the right foot with some people and that includes Ino and Sokka."
She laughed. "Ino has an attitude problem huh? I can see that potentially be true, under the right circumstances. If she was provoked." She raised an eyebrow and grinned. "But I'm sure you'd never provoke anyone, huh?"
"Anyways, Ino helped me through a rough patch recently when I was..." she trailed off, a troubled look flashing briefly across her face. Huh. Funny--she couldn't seem to remember what she was going to say. She shrugged, and continued on to the next topic.
"Sokka huh? Well--he's an idiot. So I wouldn't worry about being on the right foot with him." She rolled her eyes, and tried to dismiss thoughts of how she'd spent her evening earlier.
This was much more pleasant. The rooftop at night, with Julian--and this time, no cursing Ganados bellow. Oh..the Ganados...
"Hey--did you get hurt or anything, during the attack?"
"Provoke her? All I did was say she'd be useful at tracking you down and she snapped!" He left out the part about sounding really condescending, "She told me there were other things she was good at doing, too." Julian thought to himself quietly for moment, remembering that entry she made about not being a whore. "Don't know if I'm too interested in hering about that, though," he grinned.
Hm. Regarding whatever Ino helped Suki through, it must have been something tough to talk about. Most likely hre breakup with Sokka? Seemed likely. Also seemed like she was over him by the way she talked about him. People got that way after a bad breakup, though. He wouldn't hold it against her.
It had been a week ago, but his gash was already healing up nicely and it wasn't anything he wanted to worry her about. "Not really." He rubbed his right shoulder, massaging his injury from that surprise attack. "Nothing major, you know?" He looked her over, "What about you? You look like you did a lot better holding your own than I did."
She frowned slightly as she noted his shoulder-massage routine. So he had been injured. She resisted the urge to reach out and touch said injured shoulder, and instead shrugged her own. "I did okay. Mostly just cuts and bruises but I got a kind of cool gash..." She tugged down part of her robe to reveal a pink scar on her collarbone. "But it's healing okay."
"I escaped a lot of the fighting when I went up to aid a friend..." She trailed off. It had been Yue. Strange--why would she help Yue? She couldn't remember feeling anything towards the girl except the traditional "enemy-of-the-fire-nation" resentment. So why had she...and what had happened after exactly? It was like a blackout. She remembered nothing...and remembering nothing was hurting her head. She brought her fingers to her forehead and began to rub, frustrated
It made sense that neither of them came out clean. The castle was under seige and there weren't many places for somebody to hide and even less to escape to. "That looks like it was pretty deep." Julian commented as he reached over to her collar, "Can I...?" He didn't want to seem cold. He wanted to show her that he cared; that he had been concerned.
"Your friend was lucky she had you looking out for him," he complimented her. Not aware that her friend was a she and not a he. "I bet they came out better than we did." He laughed lightly, but stopped as he noticed her wincing. Maybe she had a headache?
"Are you okay, Suki?" He placed his hand on her back, trying to comfort her as he didn't know what he could do. Maybe she wasn't feeling as well as she told him. "Maybe you should get some rest? Showing up today out of nowhere. You must have had a rough day."
She snapped her head up, and met his eyes. "Oh! Uh...no I'm fine! It's just weird...I'm having a hard time remembering some stuff that happened after that Ganados fight..." She shrugged. "Must have just...passed out afterwards or something."
"Oh this?" She pointed towards the gash and gave him a nod. "Yeah, feel free..." She grinned slightly. "What are you a doctor now too?"
"And I'm..okay. It's been kind of a strange day." His hand felt nice. Comforting. She gave him a smile, and tilted her head slightly. "But I'm enjoying spending the last of it with you."
She had been so distracted by trying to remember what had happened to her she almost didn't catch that last part. About Yue being a guy. When she realized what she missed she started laughing. "And yeah, my friend..she made it out okay." Trying to picture Yue as a guy was hilarious. "Better than okay--she got to spend the week flirting with my ex."
Huh. What was that weird surge of bitterness? What did she care if Yue and Sokka were involved? Weird. At least it was good cover.
"Hey, if you say you're okay, I'll take your word for it." He smiled as he traced her scar. It wasn't anything serious, like she said. It would clear up in time like his, but he just wanted to touch her. Wait, what? No! He just wanted to make sure she was okay. Yeah, that's it.
"I've been blown up, shot, and mauled my weird monsters," he tried explaining, "I'm not a doctor, but I can see whether an injury is serious or not! I just wanted to see for myself." He grinned back at her, taking his hand away. "I thought we agreed not to lose our heads? Looks like you came pretty close," he teased her.
Being up here with her again was amazing compared to that week he had of worrying and making sure Laura didn't bleed to death. To think he was ready to chew her out before. That would have been a huge mistake.
"Your ex." He laughed, recalling what he said to him before about old folks liking prunes, but it faded into a weak smile. "Sounds almost like you still care about him." That came out wrong. Of course she cared about him, but the way he said it made him sound like he was concerned about who she'd choose. He wasn't, but... then again, maybe he was.
She shivered slightly at his touch--then caught herself, and blushed fiercely. To divert his attention from that fact, she responded quickly. "Geez--for you the Ganados must have been tame!" She grinned at the head comment and tossed her hair back slightly. "I managed. I bet your shoulder's worse--can I see?" The subtext was 'can I see you with your shirt off?' but she kept her smile innocent.
"What him? Not at all." She frowned, and once again felt tempted to tell him about her mission--to clear up any doubts about her and Sokka's relationship. But that didn't exactly seem the wisest course of action..."He's an idiot. Besides--he has a new princess girlfriend now. He certainly doesn't need me." She thought back to their kiss earlier that evening and felt a wave of guilt. It was for my mission--she reminded herself. Besides, Julian didn't have to know about that..
Guess she was really over him. Maybe he should get over it, too. Suki was a great girl who sold herself too short. Yeah, this other girl was a princess, but take away the title and she was just another girl. "Come on, I thought I told you princesses are overrated anyway."
Thinking back on the fight, Julian was trying not to be too violent with the Ganados as well. He hesitated on using extreme force, but the scar on his shoulder was the price he paid for being so naive. They weren't people anymore at that point, so he employed more vicious tactics. He scoffed, thinking about the Ganados being a challenge after that and turned his smile into a suspicious smirk when hearing her request. Still, he'd oblige her anyway.
Sliding his wounded right arm out of its sleeve, he lifted the shirt up over his right shoulder, leaving at least half of his upper body covered. If his friend Josh, "Elixir", was here, they wouldn't have to worry about their scars. He felt like Suki definitely didn't deserve hers. "They weren't tame enough." He started, "I was just careless, you know? I'll be more careful in the future." Like he never said that before.
She gave him a grin. "When you say it I almost believe it. But I get the feeling you haven't met a ton of princesses." Of course, she hadn't either, but she was getting to know one rather well. Wait. Was she? She tried to call memories of spending time with Yue to mind but could think of nothing. Just the same dull resentment. Huh.
She couldn't help but grin at his smirk, but her grin turned to a look of shock when she saw the actual wound. It was darker than her own--and it looked really deep. She gave him a quick reproachful look, and reached up with both hands to gently touch the scar. "You better be. If this had been deeper..."
She looked up to meet his eyes, and shook her head with a small smile. "Boys." she muttered, with mock exasperation.
"So what did you do this week? I've glanced through the journal--it seems a lot of people have showed up this week...any of your friends?"
She was right about that. Not many princesses, but a lot of spoiled rich kids. He was a rich kid himself, but far from spoiled. Still, living in Beverly Hills guaranteed his interaction with plenty of brats whose parents bought them everything. "I like passionate girls," he told her. "They have a lot of heart and you can always trust them to fight for what they believe in." As cheesy as it sounded, it sounded less cheesy than saying 'I like warrior girls that kick butt!'
He closed his eyes for a moment, feeling her soft hands move smoothly over his skin. It felt nice having someone who cared. Not just a girl he liked either... He missed having someone around to ask him if he was okay. For the past he had to worry about bandaging himself, treating his own injury without so much as a 'Hey, need more bandages?'
Tucking his arm back under his shirt, he covered himself up again. "Don't worry, I'll just send them flying next time." He laughed, finding it really amusing how she would describe his ability so simply. He found it... cute.
There had been a sudden influx of people this week, but he hadn't noticed anyone he knew. He had spent most of his time balancing out searching for Suki, resting, and then keeping an eye on Laura. "I spent most of my time trying to rest." He didn't want to go further into how worried he was and ho he had searched for her. Again, she probably got enough of that. "I don't think anyone I know has shown up, though. They're lucky."
She blushed slightly at his words. If 'passionate' was a nice way of saying 'girls who get riled up easily' he was describing her to a T. As for fighting for what she believed in--well, she had always done that. She fought for her people, her friends, the Avatar...
Wait. Not for the Avatar. Against the Avatar. For the Fire Nation. For Azula. She felt a strange sort of nausea as the ideas clashed in her head--Azula? Aang? What was going on?!
With a small start, she remembered a phrase she had heard often the past week. "The fire nation victory is at hand." A small light flashed in her minds eye...right...a light. spinning. no more pain. Just fire nation. Mission. Fire Nation.
The silence had stretched for an uncomfortable amount of time when she suddenly snapped back into reality. "Um..." It took her a minute to remember what they had been talking about, and when she did she could only nod slightly.
"Yeah...I guess you're right. Better they stay where they belong, right? I bet you miss home like crazy."
Julian's attention was on the moon for a time before he had noticed Suki wasn't say anything for... quite a while. Was she giving him the silent treatment or had he said something incredibly lame? He turned to face her and caught a small glimpse of Suki looking confused. That look disappeared before Julian could ask what was wrong and Suki was back to normal... almost.
She had returned to their conversation, but Julian was more than a little concerened over her well-being. "Yeaah... as much as I wish I could see them, I'm kinda glad they're back home." He was going to say 'safe at home', but home wsan't exactly very safe. "I'm surviving. Making friends and pissing off a few people. This place is turning out to be more like home already."
That last part was meant to be a joke, but it didn't come out as light-hearted as he wanted it to. He was still thinking about Suki's state. "Suki, are you sure you're okay? You were gone for a week. Even if you were just training in the woods, you must be totally wrecked. Have you had a chance to rest in your room for a while?"
She frowned slightly, concerned--she could remember them talking about Julian's home. Why were her memories with him so vivid while so many other recent memories were blurred? She didn't realize that her brainwashing had failed to consider him in the equation--and so he remained, a potentially very dangerous snag to Azula's plans. "That's right. Home isn't safe for people like you..." She sighed, annoyed.
"I don't understand how people can be so cruel. You know, murder, start wars..." Start wars? Hadn't the Fire Nation started the 100 year long war that was consuming her home world? And wasn't she fighting for the Fire Nation? This made no sense. She was feeling so frustrated...
She looked up to Julian, almost pleadingly. "I--it's weird, Julian. I have gaps in my memory. Things are...kind of strange....I don't...." She lowered her voice to barely a whisper. "For some reason being around you is confusing..." Okay that came out wrong.
She shook her head, as if trying to clear away the bad thoughts. "I'm being stupid. And don't worry--I'm fine. I feel...great actually. I've got lots of energy, and I...had a clear mind." Had. It was so clear earlier. Things were just getting kind of fuzzy now. Maybe she should see Azula about it.
He waved away the topic about his home, war, or whatever might have been causing her to act strange. Something was definitely up, but he couldn't tell what. Maybe he was the problem? But she insisted on meeting him tonight. Why would she do that and then totally wig out everytime he tried to talk to her?
Confusing? He was confusing her? What was that supposed to mean? He didn't get it and he was having a hard time getting her. So many questions rushed through his head, but he was worried about her, and yet, he didn't know how to help her exactly. What could he do? Come on now.
"Suki, there's something wrong with you. I don't know what happened to you during this week, but it obviously mesed up your head pretty bad. I can't just accept that you're 'being stupid'. I had a hard enough time worrying about you for the whole week... I want to help you if I can."
"I'm fine. Maybe...Maybe the Ganados thing affected me more than I thought." The lie came easy--but it still felt shitty, saying it. She could hear in his voice for a moment how worried he had been--and once again she fought the urge to tell him about her training with Azula. She felt guilty--having caused him to worry about her.
She reached her hand out and held on to his own. "I'm sorry that you were worried about me...It was lame. I should have told you...I just wasn't thinking..." She took a deep breath then, offered him a smile. "You know. I was afraid you were going to be really mad when you saw me tonight. If I had been you...well, I would have yelled for sure. I can't promise that if you disappear on me for a week that I won't kill you when you come back." She laughed softly, and squeezed his hand. She kind of sucked at appologizing--and it was made all the harder by her inability to tell him the truth.
"You know--we always meet up here. We should do something else sometime--something fun. Do you like swimming?" She brightened her voice, and hoped that the change of topic would work.
She was lying. She wasn't fine. Or maybe he was too stubborn to believe she was. If she didn't want to tell him why she was lying, then there was little he could do about it, save holding her over the castle ledge by her feet. That wasn't something he was about to do either, so the only option he had was to wait for her to trust him enough.
He offered her a light smile as her hands touched his. The situation was the same, but she was trying to make it better. He knew she was trying, but he was having a difficult time with it. "I should be mad." He mock-scolded her. "But I'm relieved more than anything else." He was, anyway. Now he wasn't too sure about her condition, which was reason enough to squeeze her hand back. "If I disappear for a week, you're welcome to try."
"I could go for a swim sometime," he nodded in agreement. If he couldn't be sure she was okay, then he'd just have to spend more time with her. He didn't want to use the word 'investigate' because that made it sound like work and being with her was anything but not work. This way he could protect her, which he should have done a week ago.
A part of her was smart enough to realize he wasn't buying it. But for now--she was just relieved he was kind of enough to not press it. "For some reason, the thought of seeing you angry isn't the most appealing of things." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Maybe because you can levitate people and potentially drop them from great heights." She grinned. "So I'm glad you're not mad. But like I said--if you disapppear for a week I'll show you exactly what I use my fans for." She tried to look stern, but failed and ended up giggling instead. And pointed not removing her hand. She was growing to like the close proximity.
"I love swimming!" She beamed. "I lived on a island back home you know--and even though we had a kind of scary seamonster in the water...Well, we still had fun. Sometimes after training we'd head down to the beach and go skinny dipping. And then kick the asses of any boys who tried to sneak a peak. Boys." She grinned. It was the second time this evening she'd used boys in the same exasperated tone.
Julian couldn't even bring himself to kill his worst enemies. The thought of hurting his friends was completely out of the question. Scaring the crap out of them, however? That was always a possibility. She didn't seem worried, though, like she trusted him not to scare her like that. She was right to do so. It was amazing how many things Suki could get away with. "I hope if you ever point those things at me, it's because it's a really hot summer day." He teased her. Hmm. Suki, his personal fangirl. That'd be nice.
"It's fun. I'd do it whenever it was too hot back home. Which was, like, every day." He had a pool at his parent's house, too. So swimming on hot Summer days was always a must. The lake by his school was also a popular retreat if the pool was too occupied. His thoughts trailed off when he heard skinny dipping. "Wow, never took you as the skinny dipping type, Suki." He laughed. "I don't blame those guys for trying."
She laughed and tugged a fan free from her sleeve to inspect it. "I don't know if this would be any good for keeping someone cool. I've never actually tried it myself..."If anything the iron fans retained heat. She grinned at his next remark however.
"You lived in a hot place? I love heat. Summer is my favorite season--and recently spring here has put me in a really good mood." Before the Ganados, she had taken to filling her room with various spring flowers. "Well, after training all day it gets hot in a suit of kyoshi armor. And when you live with a bunch of girls, modesty basically doesn't exist anymore." She was glad for the dark to hide the slight blush on her face. "Why am I not surprised that you'd be the kind of guy to spy on a poor, innocent girl trying to enjoy herself in the water." She grinned.
"Yeah, it would get pretty hot in the Summertime." He thought of the time he had invited the rest of the Hellions to his house and how they had spent their Summer relaxing by the pool. That was the last time he was allowed home, though. After that, vacations involved going to the lake by the school. "My friends and I camped out near the lake and would spend a day or two relaxing, but I bet you were too busy protecting your village to just take a vacation, right?"
"Just a sec. I never said I would do that. I just don't blame the poor boys for trying." It was only natural that Julian considered himself a man and not a boy.
"Camping? That sounds fun." She considered her life back at Kyoshi island. Sure there had been plenty of patrolling and training...but Kyoshi was so isolated, big incidents that required that warriors rarely happened. "While being a warrior at Kyoshi was a full time job...it was a full time job with a lot of breaks. My friends and I knew how to have fun." She laughed.
"Oh so you're not one of those boys, but a big tough man instead huh?" She laughed--it was so easy to pick on guys--and she loved the banter she could get going with Julian.
"Heh, then I guess I can relate. While we weren't off fighting huge battles, there's was a lot of downtime where we were either worked to the bone by our intstructors or we had long vacations." He was glad they had come to full circle, smiling and just talking again. While he wouldn't forget how she behaved earlier, he was glad they could just talk like this again. "Apparently you guys did. What with skinny dipping and all." No, he would never leave her alone about that subject. She totally dug her own grave.
"Finally, it's starting to sink in, huh? Nice to see you're gettin' it now." He teased her some. And in a rare case of humility, teased himself. "So if you ever need someone to lift up some boxes or fix your plumbing, give me a call."
"What kind of classes did you take?" School was such a novelty for her. When he brought up the skinny dipping again, she laughed--she supposed she had been asking for it after all. "Hey, it's not like I get a chance to skinny dip much these days. Last time I did, I was almost caught. Besides--where I come from, we don't really have bathing suits." Those were something she had recently learned about here. "You either swim in your clothes or nothing. And it's much easier to swim in nothing."
She half groaned half laughed and then switched her tone of voice to faux-helpless-maiden. "Oh thank the gods theres a big strong man around to take care of helpless little girls like me!" She fake-swooned, leaning in to rest a head on his shoulder. "What would I do without you?" She laughed at the rest of what he had to say, even though the plumbing part was mostly lost on her. "Don't worry. If I have any tough, fix-it-yourself problems I'll be sure to give you a call first thing."
"Aside from the basic math and science classes, we had classes about technology, Art, Drama and things like that, but when I say worked to te bone, I mean physical classes like Combat Training, Leadership, and Tactics courses. I even took a flight class when I was younger. I didn't get this good on my own, you know." He shot her a cocky grin and wink.
She tried skinny dipping here in Paradisa? Haha! He laughed silently to himself. What was she thinking? But after waiting a bit for her to explain, he understood. Growing up around both sexes meant being covered up was a must. "Okay, I get it now. I guess it's not such a big deal when you put it that way." Not that he had a problem or fixation with nudity.
"Don't wory, fair lady," he played along, pulling her closer to him for effect. "For as long as you have me by your side, no pickle jar will remain unopened! Nor will your heaviest packages remain... unlifted?" He laughed again.
"Technology?" What the hell? The rest of classes made some sort of sense to her. In fact, the combat training, leadership, and tactics courses sounded fun. "Where I'm from people take classes to improve their bending. And I think some noble families go to schools kind of like yours. But I'm not so sure about that..."
She laughed at his winking. Cute. And then found herself being pulled close to him--She grinned. Acting girly was usually really lame, but if it could get her in this sort of poisition...well. Then it had it's upsides. "Pickle jar!?' She burst into giggles--that was the silliest thing she had heard in a long time."You're such a charmer, Julian."
"Ah..." How would he explain technology? "Well, like machines, you know? How they work, what they do, what they're made of. Things like that." Even if she didn't get, he didn't blame her. He actually avoided taking that class. Most of his courses involved physical activity. All he ever wanted to be was a hero, so that's what he focused on. He nodded at her bending remark, "Yeah, that's what I go to school, too--to better understand and use my powers. Other dorks, like this guy I know, David, they spend their time with their nose in the books. That's not my style."
"Heh, well, I do open a pickle jar pretty damn well," he joked again. Even after the hilarity of their short performance, he didn't move away, staying in a position where he kept one arm wrapped around her.
"Machines...like the fridgey thing!" Okay. So "Technology" was the word for all the weird things the castle had. If she thought about stuff like the microwave and the fridge for too long though, her head started to hurt. That stuff was just weird. "Not your style?" She laughed "That's right. Your style is lifting heavy boxes and opening pickle jars. A real he-man type." She looked up to him for her vantage point on his shoulder and grinned. "Lucky for you I have a soft spot for guys like that~"
She turned her attention to the sky--night time from the rooftop was still stunning. The stars were out in full force tonight and she found herself smiling. "It's beautiful tonight, isn't it?"
"The fridgey thing...?" Julian had always assumed that her world wasn't as developed as his, but he couldn't help but laugh when she called it a 'fridgey thing.' "Yeah, like that! Real boring stuff." Okay, now he was starting to see his strong-guy talk backfire, but he was fine with it. Especially if she was into that type. He took a moment to look down at her, "I guess I am pretty lucky."
Turning towards the sky as she did, he nodded outside of her view, to the stars. "Yeah, it is a really nice night." It was times like these that he shared with her which really made him second-guess wanting to go back home. Nights like these were far too few and girls like her were one-in-a-million. "Beautiful night, beautiful girl. What more can a guy ask for?"
She blushed--and was suddenly very, very aware of their closeness. In playing around earlier, she had had little modesty--but suddenly she felt quite shy. She chanced a glance upwards towards his face--and felt her blush deepen. She turned her gaze back towards the sky. It really was a beautiful night. Perfect for...
She stopped that line of thought abruptly. Here she was--a girl on a mission, and all it took was a moonlit night with a cute guy on a rooftop to throw her off balance?
Okay. Admittedly he was very cute.
"It's...late. I should get going...you always seem to keep me up at night!" She smiled, and reluctantly pulled away.
It was another night where he found himself completely at ease with her, made even better without the cursings of a huge mob with torches down below. Apparently, he was getting too comfortable? Or maybe he just made her uncomfortable? He wasn't sure, but before he could protest, Suki was already out of his grasp and sitting away from him again. His attention was taken away from the night sky and focus towards her now.
And he thought everything was going so well. "Hm." It was very late again, wasn't it? "Well, I had to keep you up extra late tonight because you owe me a week of rooftop... dates." He was orginally going to go with meetings, but that was totally lame.
She was right, though. They probably should be headed to their rooms now before they passed out on the rooftop. "I guess we better call it a night." He started to get up.
She laughed lightly, and stood as well. "I guess you're right--it's only fair. Hey--if you're free tomorrow, let's go swimming! I asked the castle for one of those bathing suits and everything. I'm totally prepared." She grinned.
Before running off however, she stepped forward to give him another hug. "Thanks for another great night. And..." Sorry. She wanted to appologize again, but she decided the more she harped on that point the more suspicious it would seem. "And I'll see you soon."
"You asked the castle for a bathing suit, huh? I guess I'm not so lucky after all." He grinned, "I'm up for swimming, though. Count me in."
If he hadn't been hurt last week, he would have offered her another ride to her room, but it was better that he didn't risk flying with a bad shoulder. "It was my pleasure. Thanks for inviting me." Though he would have gone up there anyway. He hugged her back and wondered if she'd like some company.
"I can't fly you back, but maybe we can do it the old fashioned way and I can walk you home. Cool?" He smiled and motioned towards the stairs.
"Sounds great." She headed towards the stairs and started the descent to her room. "Hey, what's your room?" She remembered when her room had been the top story of the castle. Now it was quite a hike down.
But they did eventually reach room 1603. She wasn't exactly keen on leaving Julian, especially after not seeing him for a week, but she was pretty tired. While her..special training...had given her some renewed energy, being around so many people in high tension situations had left her beat.
"Thanks for walking me home, tough guy. I'll see you tomorrow." She grinned.
"My room's actually 1918." He smiled, realizing it was a bit of a walk going down to her room and back up to his, but he didn't mind. Truth is, he didn't want to leave her out of his sight and have her disappear for a week again. "If you ever need to stop by, feel free. I won't mind."
As they finally reached 1603, Julian waited for Suki to enter her room before leaving. Yes, he was going to be somewhat protective now, but not cazy, stalker-like. He'd be like her Superman! "Good night, Suki. Sweet dreams."
What: Meeting on the roof
When: Last night~
Where: Roof
Rating: PG-13
...and as soon as she'd gotten the information she needed, she bolted and headed straight for the roof. Yuck. Kissing some stupid enemy watertribe boy was not the way she wanted to remember this evening. Even if it had gained her the information she needed to make Azula happy
And if Azula was happy--well, everyone was spared a lot of grief.
She made it to the rooftop panting slightly. It was a long walk up here--getting longer every day it seemed. As soon as she reached the top she began to look for Julian and...didn't see him. Damn. She frowned--he had seemed annoyed with her in the journal. Maybe he...
She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. Well. Maybe this would be a long night after all. She sat and looked up to the moon--preparing herself for a long and possibly fruitless wait.
Julian was kicking himself for not being able to find Suki himself. Being the kind of person he is, he thought he'd find her in only a day or two. He had a definite advantage compared to the others searching for her, yet he still couldn't rescue her. To make matters worse, he had stopped his intensive search to help Laura. Yeah, it was a good thing he kept an eye on her during her... situation, but he couldn't help feeling bad for not searching for Suki.
She was back now, though. he should be thrilled, but something didn't feel right. The way she returned was just weird. No one else seemed to care. Everyone was glad she was back. Maybe he should start showing how glad he was, too. He must have seemed like a total jerk on the journal.
Instead of flying straight to the roof, Julian took a walk. Making it to the roof, clearing his head along the way, Julian stepped into the moon's view and saw Suki waiting for him. "Suki," he softly called out to her.
She was staring at the moon. It was really beautiful tonight--though it was little more than a cresent. It was strange staring at the moon put her in a strange trance like state--bits of dialogue, old memories began to bubble to the surface---only to be quickly dismissed at the sound of her name.
She whirled around to find Julian calling her. When she saw it was him she couldn't help herself from smiling in relief. Finally. Someone she didn't have to be so...on guard around. Or fake too. She repressed the feeling that Azula wouldn't be to happy to see her up there and walked up to him, feeling suddenly very shy.
"Hey..." She glanced down to her feet. "I hope your...not to angry with me."
She had been training this whole time? He had checked the woods repeatedly. Where was she training? No, no... this wasn't the time. She was safe. He should be happy about seeing her. Not bombarding her with questions. Her friends probably already took care of all that for him.
It really must have been a while. He had forgotten how pretty she looked standing underneath the moonlight. There was no one around up here, so it should be easier to go ahead and tell her that. He just wasn't sure where he stood with her.
He paced towards her slowly, picking up speed as he got closer and... though awkward at first, he gave her a hug.
"I'm not angry. I was worried about you," he assured her. "When I couldn't find you up here after the Ganados thing, I though you just decided not to come up here anymore..."
She was surprised at the hug, but very pleased. She hugged him back before pulling rather reluctantly away. "I didn't mean to worry you..." She was tempted to tell him about where she had been, but she felt like maybe Azula wouldn't like that very much. Besides, she couldn't remember telling him about who she really was. She frowned slightly.
"What? Of course not! I love coming up here! Are you crazy or something" She swatted his arm playfully and grinned "You taught me how to fly after all."
She decided to take a seat, and in doing so impulsively took his hand to tug him down with her. "So--I'm dying to know--what's up with you and Ino?"
He was relieved to know she was okay. A hug alone was able to tell him that she wasn't seriously hurt or anything. For the most part, she seemed completely okay. Like nothing had ever happened. That fact did very little to actually ease his concern.
Knowing she wasn't bored of these meetings--or of him--was very relieving, though he'd never admit to feeling insecure.
Being pulled down next to her, Julian obliged and sat down. She seemed really excited about knowing what everyone was up to, and he couldn't blame her. He'd want to know what was up if he had gone missing for a week, too.
"Yeah, your friend Ino? She totally has an attitude problem about me. I don't know WHAT it is. I got this feeling that your friends don't really like me hanging out with you. At all," he smirked, not really troubled by their suspicions. "Doesn't help that I almost called her a--" He paused and smiled. "Let's just say I never get off on the right foot with some people and that includes Ino and Sokka."
She laughed. "Ino has an attitude problem huh? I can see that potentially be true, under the right circumstances. If she was provoked." She raised an eyebrow and grinned. "But I'm sure you'd never provoke anyone, huh?"
"Anyways, Ino helped me through a rough patch recently when I was..." she trailed off, a troubled look flashing briefly across her face. Huh. Funny--she couldn't seem to remember what she was going to say. She shrugged, and continued on to the next topic.
"Sokka huh? Well--he's an idiot. So I wouldn't worry about being on the right foot with him." She rolled her eyes, and tried to dismiss thoughts of how she'd spent her evening earlier.
This was much more pleasant. The rooftop at night, with Julian--and this time, no cursing Ganados bellow. Oh..the Ganados...
"Hey--did you get hurt or anything, during the attack?"
"Provoke her? All I did was say she'd be useful at tracking you down and she snapped!" He left out the part about sounding really condescending, "She told me there were other things she was good at doing, too." Julian thought to himself quietly for moment, remembering that entry she made about not being a whore. "Don't know if I'm too interested in hering about that, though," he grinned.
Hm. Regarding whatever Ino helped Suki through, it must have been something tough to talk about. Most likely hre breakup with Sokka? Seemed likely. Also seemed like she was over him by the way she talked about him. People got that way after a bad breakup, though. He wouldn't hold it against her.
It had been a week ago, but his gash was already healing up nicely and it wasn't anything he wanted to worry her about. "Not really." He rubbed his right shoulder, massaging his injury from that surprise attack. "Nothing major, you know?" He looked her over, "What about you? You look like you did a lot better holding your own than I did."
She frowned slightly as she noted his shoulder-massage routine. So he had been injured. She resisted the urge to reach out and touch said injured shoulder, and instead shrugged her own. "I did okay. Mostly just cuts and bruises but I got a kind of cool gash..." She tugged down part of her robe to reveal a pink scar on her collarbone. "But it's healing okay."
"I escaped a lot of the fighting when I went up to aid a friend..." She trailed off. It had been Yue. Strange--why would she help Yue? She couldn't remember feeling anything towards the girl except the traditional "enemy-of-the-fire-nation" resentment. So why had she...and what had happened after exactly? It was like a blackout. She remembered nothing...and remembering nothing was hurting her head. She brought her fingers to her forehead and began to rub, frustrated
It made sense that neither of them came out clean. The castle was under seige and there weren't many places for somebody to hide and even less to escape to. "That looks like it was pretty deep." Julian commented as he reached over to her collar, "Can I...?" He didn't want to seem cold. He wanted to show her that he cared; that he had been concerned.
"Your friend was lucky she had you looking out for him," he complimented her. Not aware that her friend was a she and not a he. "I bet they came out better than we did." He laughed lightly, but stopped as he noticed her wincing. Maybe she had a headache?
"Are you okay, Suki?" He placed his hand on her back, trying to comfort her as he didn't know what he could do. Maybe she wasn't feeling as well as she told him. "Maybe you should get some rest? Showing up today out of nowhere. You must have had a rough day."
She snapped her head up, and met his eyes. "Oh! Uh...no I'm fine! It's just weird...I'm having a hard time remembering some stuff that happened after that Ganados fight..." She shrugged. "Must have just...passed out afterwards or something."
"Oh this?" She pointed towards the gash and gave him a nod. "Yeah, feel free..." She grinned slightly. "What are you a doctor now too?"
"And I'm..okay. It's been kind of a strange day." His hand felt nice. Comforting. She gave him a smile, and tilted her head slightly. "But I'm enjoying spending the last of it with you."
She had been so distracted by trying to remember what had happened to her she almost didn't catch that last part. About Yue being a guy. When she realized what she missed she started laughing. "And yeah, my friend..she made it out okay." Trying to picture Yue as a guy was hilarious. "Better than okay--she got to spend the week flirting with my ex."
Huh. What was that weird surge of bitterness? What did she care if Yue and Sokka were involved? Weird. At least it was good cover.
"Hey, if you say you're okay, I'll take your word for it." He smiled as he traced her scar. It wasn't anything serious, like she said. It would clear up in time like his, but he just wanted to touch her. Wait, what? No! He just wanted to make sure she was okay. Yeah, that's it.
"I've been blown up, shot, and mauled my weird monsters," he tried explaining, "I'm not a doctor, but I can see whether an injury is serious or not! I just wanted to see for myself." He grinned back at her, taking his hand away. "I thought we agreed not to lose our heads? Looks like you came pretty close," he teased her.
Being up here with her again was amazing compared to that week he had of worrying and making sure Laura didn't bleed to death. To think he was ready to chew her out before. That would have been a huge mistake.
"Your ex." He laughed, recalling what he said to him before about old folks liking prunes, but it faded into a weak smile. "Sounds almost like you still care about him." That came out wrong. Of course she cared about him, but the way he said it made him sound like he was concerned about who she'd choose. He wasn't, but... then again, maybe he was.
She shivered slightly at his touch--then caught herself, and blushed fiercely. To divert his attention from that fact, she responded quickly. "Geez--for you the Ganados must have been tame!" She grinned at the head comment and tossed her hair back slightly. "I managed. I bet your shoulder's worse--can I see?" The subtext was 'can I see you with your shirt off?' but she kept her smile innocent.
"What him? Not at all." She frowned, and once again felt tempted to tell him about her mission--to clear up any doubts about her and Sokka's relationship. But that didn't exactly seem the wisest course of action..."He's an idiot. Besides--he has a new princess girlfriend now. He certainly doesn't need me." She thought back to their kiss earlier that evening and felt a wave of guilt. It was for my mission--she reminded herself. Besides, Julian didn't have to know about that..
Guess she was really over him. Maybe he should get over it, too. Suki was a great girl who sold herself too short. Yeah, this other girl was a princess, but take away the title and she was just another girl. "Come on, I thought I told you princesses are overrated anyway."
Thinking back on the fight, Julian was trying not to be too violent with the Ganados as well. He hesitated on using extreme force, but the scar on his shoulder was the price he paid for being so naive. They weren't people anymore at that point, so he employed more vicious tactics. He scoffed, thinking about the Ganados being a challenge after that and turned his smile into a suspicious smirk when hearing her request. Still, he'd oblige her anyway.
Sliding his wounded right arm out of its sleeve, he lifted the shirt up over his right shoulder, leaving at least half of his upper body covered. If his friend Josh, "Elixir", was here, they wouldn't have to worry about their scars. He felt like Suki definitely didn't deserve hers. "They weren't tame enough." He started, "I was just careless, you know? I'll be more careful in the future." Like he never said that before.
She gave him a grin. "When you say it I almost believe it. But I get the feeling you haven't met a ton of princesses." Of course, she hadn't either, but she was getting to know one rather well. Wait. Was she? She tried to call memories of spending time with Yue to mind but could think of nothing. Just the same dull resentment. Huh.
She couldn't help but grin at his smirk, but her grin turned to a look of shock when she saw the actual wound. It was darker than her own--and it looked really deep. She gave him a quick reproachful look, and reached up with both hands to gently touch the scar. "You better be. If this had been deeper..."
She looked up to meet his eyes, and shook her head with a small smile. "Boys." she muttered, with mock exasperation.
"So what did you do this week? I've glanced through the journal--it seems a lot of people have showed up this week...any of your friends?"
She was right about that. Not many princesses, but a lot of spoiled rich kids. He was a rich kid himself, but far from spoiled. Still, living in Beverly Hills guaranteed his interaction with plenty of brats whose parents bought them everything. "I like passionate girls," he told her. "They have a lot of heart and you can always trust them to fight for what they believe in." As cheesy as it sounded, it sounded less cheesy than saying 'I like warrior girls that kick butt!'
He closed his eyes for a moment, feeling her soft hands move smoothly over his skin. It felt nice having someone who cared. Not just a girl he liked either... He missed having someone around to ask him if he was okay. For the past he had to worry about bandaging himself, treating his own injury without so much as a 'Hey, need more bandages?'
Tucking his arm back under his shirt, he covered himself up again. "Don't worry, I'll just send them flying next time." He laughed, finding it really amusing how she would describe his ability so simply. He found it... cute.
There had been a sudden influx of people this week, but he hadn't noticed anyone he knew. He had spent most of his time balancing out searching for Suki, resting, and then keeping an eye on Laura. "I spent most of my time trying to rest." He didn't want to go further into how worried he was and ho he had searched for her. Again, she probably got enough of that. "I don't think anyone I know has shown up, though. They're lucky."
She blushed slightly at his words. If 'passionate' was a nice way of saying 'girls who get riled up easily' he was describing her to a T. As for fighting for what she believed in--well, she had always done that. She fought for her people, her friends, the Avatar...
Wait. Not for the Avatar. Against the Avatar. For the Fire Nation. For Azula. She felt a strange sort of nausea as the ideas clashed in her head--Azula? Aang? What was going on?!
With a small start, she remembered a phrase she had heard often the past week. "The fire nation victory is at hand." A small light flashed in her minds eye...right...a light. spinning. no more pain. Just fire nation. Mission. Fire Nation.
The silence had stretched for an uncomfortable amount of time when she suddenly snapped back into reality. "Um..." It took her a minute to remember what they had been talking about, and when she did she could only nod slightly.
"Yeah...I guess you're right. Better they stay where they belong, right? I bet you miss home like crazy."
Julian's attention was on the moon for a time before he had noticed Suki wasn't say anything for... quite a while. Was she giving him the silent treatment or had he said something incredibly lame? He turned to face her and caught a small glimpse of Suki looking confused. That look disappeared before Julian could ask what was wrong and Suki was back to normal... almost.
She had returned to their conversation, but Julian was more than a little concerened over her well-being. "Yeaah... as much as I wish I could see them, I'm kinda glad they're back home." He was going to say 'safe at home', but home wsan't exactly very safe. "I'm surviving. Making friends and pissing off a few people. This place is turning out to be more like home already."
That last part was meant to be a joke, but it didn't come out as light-hearted as he wanted it to. He was still thinking about Suki's state. "Suki, are you sure you're okay? You were gone for a week. Even if you were just training in the woods, you must be totally wrecked. Have you had a chance to rest in your room for a while?"
She frowned slightly, concerned--she could remember them talking about Julian's home. Why were her memories with him so vivid while so many other recent memories were blurred? She didn't realize that her brainwashing had failed to consider him in the equation--and so he remained, a potentially very dangerous snag to Azula's plans. "That's right. Home isn't safe for people like you..." She sighed, annoyed.
"I don't understand how people can be so cruel. You know, murder, start wars..." Start wars? Hadn't the Fire Nation started the 100 year long war that was consuming her home world? And wasn't she fighting for the Fire Nation? This made no sense. She was feeling so frustrated...
She looked up to Julian, almost pleadingly. "I--it's weird, Julian. I have gaps in my memory. Things are...kind of strange....I don't...." She lowered her voice to barely a whisper. "For some reason being around you is confusing..." Okay that came out wrong.
She shook her head, as if trying to clear away the bad thoughts. "I'm being stupid. And don't worry--I'm fine. I feel...great actually. I've got lots of energy, and I...had a clear mind." Had. It was so clear earlier. Things were just getting kind of fuzzy now. Maybe she should see Azula about it.
He waved away the topic about his home, war, or whatever might have been causing her to act strange. Something was definitely up, but he couldn't tell what. Maybe he was the problem? But she insisted on meeting him tonight. Why would she do that and then totally wig out everytime he tried to talk to her?
Confusing? He was confusing her? What was that supposed to mean? He didn't get it and he was having a hard time getting her. So many questions rushed through his head, but he was worried about her, and yet, he didn't know how to help her exactly. What could he do? Come on now.
"Suki, there's something wrong with you. I don't know what happened to you during this week, but it obviously mesed up your head pretty bad. I can't just accept that you're 'being stupid'. I had a hard enough time worrying about you for the whole week... I want to help you if I can."
"I'm fine. Maybe...Maybe the Ganados thing affected me more than I thought." The lie came easy--but it still felt shitty, saying it. She could hear in his voice for a moment how worried he had been--and once again she fought the urge to tell him about her training with Azula. She felt guilty--having caused him to worry about her.
She reached her hand out and held on to his own. "I'm sorry that you were worried about me...It was lame. I should have told you...I just wasn't thinking..." She took a deep breath then, offered him a smile. "You know. I was afraid you were going to be really mad when you saw me tonight. If I had been you...well, I would have yelled for sure. I can't promise that if you disappear on me for a week that I won't kill you when you come back." She laughed softly, and squeezed his hand. She kind of sucked at appologizing--and it was made all the harder by her inability to tell him the truth.
"You know--we always meet up here. We should do something else sometime--something fun. Do you like swimming?" She brightened her voice, and hoped that the change of topic would work.
She was lying. She wasn't fine. Or maybe he was too stubborn to believe she was. If she didn't want to tell him why she was lying, then there was little he could do about it, save holding her over the castle ledge by her feet. That wasn't something he was about to do either, so the only option he had was to wait for her to trust him enough.
He offered her a light smile as her hands touched his. The situation was the same, but she was trying to make it better. He knew she was trying, but he was having a difficult time with it. "I should be mad." He mock-scolded her. "But I'm relieved more than anything else." He was, anyway. Now he wasn't too sure about her condition, which was reason enough to squeeze her hand back. "If I disappear for a week, you're welcome to try."
"I could go for a swim sometime," he nodded in agreement. If he couldn't be sure she was okay, then he'd just have to spend more time with her. He didn't want to use the word 'investigate' because that made it sound like work and being with her was anything but not work. This way he could protect her, which he should have done a week ago.
A part of her was smart enough to realize he wasn't buying it. But for now--she was just relieved he was kind of enough to not press it. "For some reason, the thought of seeing you angry isn't the most appealing of things." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Maybe because you can levitate people and potentially drop them from great heights." She grinned. "So I'm glad you're not mad. But like I said--if you disapppear for a week I'll show you exactly what I use my fans for." She tried to look stern, but failed and ended up giggling instead. And pointed not removing her hand. She was growing to like the close proximity.
"I love swimming!" She beamed. "I lived on a island back home you know--and even though we had a kind of scary seamonster in the water...Well, we still had fun. Sometimes after training we'd head down to the beach and go skinny dipping. And then kick the asses of any boys who tried to sneak a peak. Boys." She grinned. It was the second time this evening she'd used boys in the same exasperated tone.
Julian couldn't even bring himself to kill his worst enemies. The thought of hurting his friends was completely out of the question. Scaring the crap out of them, however? That was always a possibility. She didn't seem worried, though, like she trusted him not to scare her like that. She was right to do so. It was amazing how many things Suki could get away with. "I hope if you ever point those things at me, it's because it's a really hot summer day." He teased her. Hmm. Suki, his personal fangirl. That'd be nice.
"It's fun. I'd do it whenever it was too hot back home. Which was, like, every day." He had a pool at his parent's house, too. So swimming on hot Summer days was always a must. The lake by his school was also a popular retreat if the pool was too occupied. His thoughts trailed off when he heard skinny dipping. "Wow, never took you as the skinny dipping type, Suki." He laughed. "I don't blame those guys for trying."
She laughed and tugged a fan free from her sleeve to inspect it. "I don't know if this would be any good for keeping someone cool. I've never actually tried it myself..."If anything the iron fans retained heat. She grinned at his next remark however.
"You lived in a hot place? I love heat. Summer is my favorite season--and recently spring here has put me in a really good mood." Before the Ganados, she had taken to filling her room with various spring flowers. "Well, after training all day it gets hot in a suit of kyoshi armor. And when you live with a bunch of girls, modesty basically doesn't exist anymore." She was glad for the dark to hide the slight blush on her face. "Why am I not surprised that you'd be the kind of guy to spy on a poor, innocent girl trying to enjoy herself in the water." She grinned.
"Yeah, it would get pretty hot in the Summertime." He thought of the time he had invited the rest of the Hellions to his house and how they had spent their Summer relaxing by the pool. That was the last time he was allowed home, though. After that, vacations involved going to the lake by the school. "My friends and I camped out near the lake and would spend a day or two relaxing, but I bet you were too busy protecting your village to just take a vacation, right?"
"Just a sec. I never said I would do that. I just don't blame the poor boys for trying." It was only natural that Julian considered himself a man and not a boy.
"Camping? That sounds fun." She considered her life back at Kyoshi island. Sure there had been plenty of patrolling and training...but Kyoshi was so isolated, big incidents that required that warriors rarely happened. "While being a warrior at Kyoshi was a full time job...it was a full time job with a lot of breaks. My friends and I knew how to have fun." She laughed.
"Oh so you're not one of those boys, but a big tough man instead huh?" She laughed--it was so easy to pick on guys--and she loved the banter she could get going with Julian.
"Heh, then I guess I can relate. While we weren't off fighting huge battles, there's was a lot of downtime where we were either worked to the bone by our intstructors or we had long vacations." He was glad they had come to full circle, smiling and just talking again. While he wouldn't forget how she behaved earlier, he was glad they could just talk like this again. "Apparently you guys did. What with skinny dipping and all." No, he would never leave her alone about that subject. She totally dug her own grave.
"Finally, it's starting to sink in, huh? Nice to see you're gettin' it now." He teased her some. And in a rare case of humility, teased himself. "So if you ever need someone to lift up some boxes or fix your plumbing, give me a call."
"What kind of classes did you take?" School was such a novelty for her. When he brought up the skinny dipping again, she laughed--she supposed she had been asking for it after all. "Hey, it's not like I get a chance to skinny dip much these days. Last time I did, I was almost caught. Besides--where I come from, we don't really have bathing suits." Those were something she had recently learned about here. "You either swim in your clothes or nothing. And it's much easier to swim in nothing."
She half groaned half laughed and then switched her tone of voice to faux-helpless-maiden. "Oh thank the gods theres a big strong man around to take care of helpless little girls like me!" She fake-swooned, leaning in to rest a head on his shoulder. "What would I do without you?" She laughed at the rest of what he had to say, even though the plumbing part was mostly lost on her. "Don't worry. If I have any tough, fix-it-yourself problems I'll be sure to give you a call first thing."
"Aside from the basic math and science classes, we had classes about technology, Art, Drama and things like that, but when I say worked to te bone, I mean physical classes like Combat Training, Leadership, and Tactics courses. I even took a flight class when I was younger. I didn't get this good on my own, you know." He shot her a cocky grin and wink.
She tried skinny dipping here in Paradisa? Haha! He laughed silently to himself. What was she thinking? But after waiting a bit for her to explain, he understood. Growing up around both sexes meant being covered up was a must. "Okay, I get it now. I guess it's not such a big deal when you put it that way." Not that he had a problem or fixation with nudity.
"Don't wory, fair lady," he played along, pulling her closer to him for effect. "For as long as you have me by your side, no pickle jar will remain unopened! Nor will your heaviest packages remain... unlifted?" He laughed again.
"Technology?" What the hell? The rest of classes made some sort of sense to her. In fact, the combat training, leadership, and tactics courses sounded fun. "Where I'm from people take classes to improve their bending. And I think some noble families go to schools kind of like yours. But I'm not so sure about that..."
She laughed at his winking. Cute. And then found herself being pulled close to him--She grinned. Acting girly was usually really lame, but if it could get her in this sort of poisition...well. Then it had it's upsides. "Pickle jar!?' She burst into giggles--that was the silliest thing she had heard in a long time."You're such a charmer, Julian."
"Ah..." How would he explain technology? "Well, like machines, you know? How they work, what they do, what they're made of. Things like that." Even if she didn't get, he didn't blame her. He actually avoided taking that class. Most of his courses involved physical activity. All he ever wanted to be was a hero, so that's what he focused on. He nodded at her bending remark, "Yeah, that's what I go to school, too--to better understand and use my powers. Other dorks, like this guy I know, David, they spend their time with their nose in the books. That's not my style."
"Heh, well, I do open a pickle jar pretty damn well," he joked again. Even after the hilarity of their short performance, he didn't move away, staying in a position where he kept one arm wrapped around her.
"Machines...like the fridgey thing!" Okay. So "Technology" was the word for all the weird things the castle had. If she thought about stuff like the microwave and the fridge for too long though, her head started to hurt. That stuff was just weird. "Not your style?" She laughed "That's right. Your style is lifting heavy boxes and opening pickle jars. A real he-man type." She looked up to him for her vantage point on his shoulder and grinned. "Lucky for you I have a soft spot for guys like that~"
She turned her attention to the sky--night time from the rooftop was still stunning. The stars were out in full force tonight and she found herself smiling. "It's beautiful tonight, isn't it?"
"The fridgey thing...?" Julian had always assumed that her world wasn't as developed as his, but he couldn't help but laugh when she called it a 'fridgey thing.' "Yeah, like that! Real boring stuff." Okay, now he was starting to see his strong-guy talk backfire, but he was fine with it. Especially if she was into that type. He took a moment to look down at her, "I guess I am pretty lucky."
Turning towards the sky as she did, he nodded outside of her view, to the stars. "Yeah, it is a really nice night." It was times like these that he shared with her which really made him second-guess wanting to go back home. Nights like these were far too few and girls like her were one-in-a-million. "Beautiful night, beautiful girl. What more can a guy ask for?"
She blushed--and was suddenly very, very aware of their closeness. In playing around earlier, she had had little modesty--but suddenly she felt quite shy. She chanced a glance upwards towards his face--and felt her blush deepen. She turned her gaze back towards the sky. It really was a beautiful night. Perfect for...
She stopped that line of thought abruptly. Here she was--a girl on a mission, and all it took was a moonlit night with a cute guy on a rooftop to throw her off balance?
Okay. Admittedly he was very cute.
"It's...late. I should get going...you always seem to keep me up at night!" She smiled, and reluctantly pulled away.
It was another night where he found himself completely at ease with her, made even better without the cursings of a huge mob with torches down below. Apparently, he was getting too comfortable? Or maybe he just made her uncomfortable? He wasn't sure, but before he could protest, Suki was already out of his grasp and sitting away from him again. His attention was taken away from the night sky and focus towards her now.
And he thought everything was going so well. "Hm." It was very late again, wasn't it? "Well, I had to keep you up extra late tonight because you owe me a week of rooftop... dates." He was orginally going to go with meetings, but that was totally lame.
She was right, though. They probably should be headed to their rooms now before they passed out on the rooftop. "I guess we better call it a night." He started to get up.
She laughed lightly, and stood as well. "I guess you're right--it's only fair. Hey--if you're free tomorrow, let's go swimming! I asked the castle for one of those bathing suits and everything. I'm totally prepared." She grinned.
Before running off however, she stepped forward to give him another hug. "Thanks for another great night. And..." Sorry. She wanted to appologize again, but she decided the more she harped on that point the more suspicious it would seem. "And I'll see you soon."
"You asked the castle for a bathing suit, huh? I guess I'm not so lucky after all." He grinned, "I'm up for swimming, though. Count me in."
If he hadn't been hurt last week, he would have offered her another ride to her room, but it was better that he didn't risk flying with a bad shoulder. "It was my pleasure. Thanks for inviting me." Though he would have gone up there anyway. He hugged her back and wondered if she'd like some company.
"I can't fly you back, but maybe we can do it the old fashioned way and I can walk you home. Cool?" He smiled and motioned towards the stairs.
"Sounds great." She headed towards the stairs and started the descent to her room. "Hey, what's your room?" She remembered when her room had been the top story of the castle. Now it was quite a hike down.
But they did eventually reach room 1603. She wasn't exactly keen on leaving Julian, especially after not seeing him for a week, but she was pretty tired. While her..special training...had given her some renewed energy, being around so many people in high tension situations had left her beat.
"Thanks for walking me home, tough guy. I'll see you tomorrow." She grinned.
"My room's actually 1918." He smiled, realizing it was a bit of a walk going down to her room and back up to his, but he didn't mind. Truth is, he didn't want to leave her out of his sight and have her disappear for a week again. "If you ever need to stop by, feel free. I won't mind."
As they finally reached 1603, Julian waited for Suki to enter her room before leaving. Yes, he was going to be somewhat protective now, but not cazy, stalker-like. He'd be like her Superman! "Good night, Suki. Sweet dreams."