//51

[snowburned]

Hakuteiken, I need so speak with you as soon as possible. Sooner.

Kiba. I found out the truth about what we were talking about last week.

[ooc: words crossed out after the inevitable reply]

Comments

[starstruckstray]

I'll be back soon. I'm picking up something to eat.

[snowburned]

If you come across any, bring back something alcoholic, would you? I think I need it.

[starstruckstray]

...yeah, okay. There's gotta be something around here somewhere.

[snowburned]

Thank you.

quick log

[starstruckstray]

[It had taken him longer than he hoped, but he'd finally found booze. It wasn't sake, but some stuff called rum. The guy who sold it to him said it would do the job regardless. He hurried back from the elevator, food in one hand and the alcohol in the other. Pushing open the front door, he called into the house with a concerned frown.]

Hey, I got booze, but the guy said you might want to mix it with juice or something.

[snowburned]

That's fine. I have some orange juice already.

[She got up to get it immediately, preparing two glasses since Kiba deserved it too. This wasn't the kind of drinking that helped soothe trauma--she wasn't shattered by what she'd learned. But she was so wound up over it, she couldn't figure out how to get rid of the tension.]

The other day, Bastet brought me a crystal. I used it today.

[starstruckstray]

[Takes the glass, but doesn't drink yet, sitting next to her on the couch and setting the bag of food on the floor]

Yeah? So what'd it tell you?

[snowburned]

Hakuteiken isn't my husband. He's my brother-in-law.

[It's a relief, and there's a touch of guilt at that.]

[starstruckstray]

[Kiba watched her; it was both a surprise and not--the news was new to him, but it felt right in a way that their supposed marriage never had. He took a drink in an attempt to hide the flood of relief that went through him.]

So you were the baby then? And that lady was your sister?

[snowburned]

My older sister. Apparently we looked...quite alike. She abandoned me when I was a baby, but apparently searched for me later. She died, but somehow he found me and took me in. I called him brother.

[She shook head. It was good to know the truth, but she couldn't call the overall situation good.]

In the memory, he was telling me all this like it had been a secret for years. I don't think I knew.

[starstruckstray]

Huh. I wonder why it had to be a secret.

[She didn't look as relieved as he would have guessed. Frowning, he leaned towards her, brushing his side against hers in a gesture of reassurance.]

And drink that. You wanted it, right?

[snowburned]

I have no idea.

[She takes a long swig, not finishing it all at once, but not a tiny sip either.]

Thanks. I needed that. But now...I know I need to tell him, but I don't know how.

[starstruckstray]

Maybe...maybe that's what that part in my dream was. You getting adopted.

[Takes another drink, laying a hand on her back]

Shit. Yeah, I know you don't wanna put that off. But, I mean...he won't be mad at you or nothing.

[He still wasn't at ease with the other man, but after their talk the other day, he knew Hakuteiken cared for Kazahana deeply, despite his past actions.]

[snowburned]

That would make sense, wouldn't it? I don't know why it would be such a bad thing, though. I'd still want you as my friend no matter who my family was.

[She leaned into his hand for a moment, grateful for his support.]

I know he won't. And he's still my family. Though not like that, thank goodness. But this will still hurt him. Not only am I not his wife, I have to tell him she's dead.

[starstruckstray]

[Kiba suspected from the way he'd pushed her away in his dream, that it wasn't so much the adoption that had caused their separation as the way he'd handled it.]

Maybe your family felt differently. Or maybe we argued--we weren't happy when we separated in my dream.

[He brushed his fingers over her back in an absent, soothing motion]

Uh. He knows, actually. He told me the other day. That time the Wilderness turned into that place with all those people who knew some of us, he ran into somebody from home and she told him.

[snowburned]

I guess there's a lot we don't know. Like always.

[She leaned back and blinked at him.]

He knows? But why--

Oh. He thought it was me. Of course he didn't want to tell me I might be dead.