dix-huit. [ RL with Kamina ]

[piercethecharts]

[ She was losing control. She could feel herself losing it, that was the worst part, to know what was happening. That tight control she always had over herself-- not in the sense that she held back or hid things any more than a girl hides things, but in the sense that she always had a firm handle on who she was, where she was going, and how she was

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[aburningspirit]

[kamina had been to the hospital earlier that afternoon, mildly concerned when the nurses had mentioned that she'd looked upset the last time they'd seen sheryl. the concern cranked up to a mild fury when they told him that not only could they not find her, she must have walked right out under their noses. he'd given the doctors and nurses several pieces of his mind that earned a lifetime ban from the hospital or so the security guard had yelled after him, but he hadn't bothered to hear the rest.

she was somewhere on this huge ship, alone and sick and in the pouring rain and alone.

it took an hour or two and incredible luck, but jogging through the shopping district on a hunch paid off. there she was--and it broke his heart. crouching down in front of her, kamina was spooked at how empty her eyes were. no light, no life, no nothing. like someone had left her body but taken her spirit.]

Sheryl?

[piercethecharts]

[ Confused and out of it as she was, it didn't quite click in her mind that he was who he was. But there was some part of her mind that told her "It's all right. You can stop now."

And so she did, with a vague sort of relieved not-really-smile, tumbling forward as she finally let herself pass out. ]

[aburningspirit]

[he clumsily caught her since that had been the last thing he'd expected. no fever, thankfully, but that wouldn't be the case for long if they stayed out in this rain. kamina lifted her easy--too easy; had she been losing weight?--and started the trek to the apartment. it wasn't long before he got back to the apartment thanks to shunpo shortening the trip significantly. he placed her on the bed, not sure what to do now. she was soaking wet. if she stayed in those clothes--but he didn't want the daylights punched out of him either.

the community! thank god for it. he scrambled to the computer to ask for help.

and help, eventually, did come.

once they'd left, he took a quick shower and changed himself, resigning himself to the long, hateful task of waiting for her to wake up.]

i don't have the icons for this /GOES ON A HUNT

[piercethecharts]

[ At some point she segued from a faint to real sleep; her body clearly needed it. It wasn't a few hours, though, before she woke up, disoriented.

The bedroom was dark; let's see, there had been the hospital, the library, and then.... what? She couldn't figure out what had happened or where she was until she swung her legs over the side of the bed and saw she was wearing those ridiculous flame-patterned pajama pants, rolled up at the ankles six times.

She hadn't called him, she knew she hadn't, even though she'd hovered over the name in her phone three or four times before throwing it out the window of the taxi. So how...?

Standing up fully, she went to the door to the main room and pushed it open. ]

GET ON IT OKAY THIS IS SRS BZNS

[aburningspirit]

[kamina had dozed off on the couch after the initial spring into action, dreaming dreams of washing machines trying to eat the pants right off of him (the mind's warped tactic of burning chibiusa's instructions into his brain). before the killer appliance could rip them off in one brutal shake of his right pants leg, the door's faint whoosh brought back him to this side of reality. he'd become something of a light sleeper since there was always a chance byakuya would wake him up with several raps to the head at the very idea that kamina was not awake before 4:30 AM. better to cut that off at the pass.

he rolled over onto his stomach as he blinked the sleep out of his eyes and smiled at her.]

Hey. You finally woke up.

[piercethecharts]

...How did I get here?

[ she leans against the doorframe; she doesn't quite trust herself to get any closer. It's not that she doesn't trust him not to turn against her too; it's that at the same time she wants both to close herself off and not to talk to anyone, and to burst into tears in someone's arms. It's too much to handle right now. ]

[aburningspirit]

I brought you home.

[the answer is accompanied with a tilt of the head. how else was she going to get here; wings? ...okay, cool idea, but point stood.]

You don't have a fever or nothin', do you?

[piercethecharts]

Of course not! I'm perfectly healthy! If you tell me where you put my clothes, I'll be-- [ be off? Off to where? She can't go back to the hospital, she can't go back to her own hotel room, she doesn't even know where Alto lives... that train of thought puts her on an entirely different one, and after she trails off, she changes the tack of her statement entirely ]

I need to see your lease.

[aburningspirit]

[he doesn't understand her track of thought at all, but she seems serious enough about it for him to get up, walk into the bedroom, and fish out the stack of papers from a shoebox underneath the bed.]

You mean this, right?

[piercethecharts]

[ she scans it, flipping the pages until she sees the part she needs. She's no pro at contracts-- Grace always took care of that sort of thing-- but it's easy enough to understand. She nods, then abruptly turns on her heel and heads towards the door ]

I'm going to find the landlord!

[ ...she says, without bothering to check the time or put on proper clothing ]

[aburningspirit]

...in pajamas? [he calls after her.]

[piercethecharts]

[ she pauses. looks down. gives no fucks. ]

Yes!

[ She lets the door slam shut behind her.

Twenty minutes later, she's back. She had interrupted the landlord's dinner, dragged him into his office, and through a combination of steamroller like certainty, a credit card with no limits, and promising to sign a poster for his young daughter, transferred the apartment from Grace's name and account to hers.

She was getting dizzy again by the end of it; normally she had certainty and poise to spare, but she had already been running on empty by the time Kamina had found her. She reentered the apartment more quietly than she had left, tossing the new lease down on the end table and trying to steady herself on the wall without looking like she was doing so. ]

There, that's done!

[aburningspirit]

[webster defines "awesome" as such:

1 : expressive of awe
2 : a. inspiring awe
b. terrific, extraordinary.

kamina thinks that sheryl is awesome in the 1 and 2a sense of the word. hadn't she been asleep five minutes ago? where did she get the energy, the sun? (did that make her superwoman? this thought was awesome [2b. definition].) it amazed him how she could jump at anything with everything she had, even at the expense of herself. it impressed him, as well. now that was a girl.

he stands up from the couch with worry in his eyes, taking a few steps toward her.] Oi, oi, take it easy, alright?

[piercethecharts]

[ the thing about Sheryl is that she's not very good at moping. Usually this would be a good trait, and most of the time, it was; but really, what it meant was that at a time like this, when the ground had been ripped out from under her, she was somewhat allergic to stopping and processing what had happened. Now that the immediate wailing and gnashing of teeth was over with, she had no idea how to think or feel about anything, or even more, how to show those feelings, if at all. So she keeps acting like she always has, except with something fragile underneath; the words are the same, but the motivation has completely changed. She isn't running away from thinking; she's completely stalled out on it.

She grabs one hand with the other to try and stop herself trembling. ] I'm fine, Kamina.

[aburningspirit]

You're shakin', Sheryl.

[kamina keeps his distance. unspoken permission had to pass through them first, something that said 'alright, you can come in if you want, but i can't take responsibility for anything crappy that happens to you.' the lack of it wouldn't stop him from pointing out the elephant in the room however. he had too little tact not to.]

[piercethecharts]

I am not. [ she'll be fine if she just keeps moving, won't she? Then no one will be able to tell. She pushes herself off the wall, striding over to the kitchen; filling herself a glass of water, she downs it in three gulps before putting the mug down on the counter with a bit more force than necessary ]