{ open } there was this boy who tore my heart in two

[donttelldaddy]

Characters: donttelldaddy and OPEN
Location: Anywhere, everywhere.
Rating: PG-13
Time: December 12th/13th, midnight
Description: Nothing goes the way Lili plans, and Minato goes for a record in making her angry, and she takes it out in inanimate objects. Maybe people.
Notes: Tag in whatever format you like!

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[blue_wayfinder]

Aqua was used to being up late by now. It was one of those things she had to adjust to after joining the Watch, with her shift being as late as it was.

So she was still very much awake and moving around outside even at such a late hour. She didn't immediately recognize Lili right away, having only spoken to the other girl a handful of times over the network, and because there was just too much distance between them to make out her face properly. But she was hardly going to just leave whoever it was to wander the streets dressed like that. Even if she didn't meet with an unsavoury individuals, she'd probably catch her death of cold.

"Miss, wait." She called out.

[donttelldaddy]

Lili looked behind her, to see who was speaking, but she didn't stop. She kept walking, although by now it was more like shuffling, slowly fighting through the cold to inch forward. There was no other reason but stubbornness for her to still be roaming around, but she couldn't go home. Not with Minato next door, not with the enclosed space driving her mad, not the way things were now. So, she walked, and she kicked anything along the way that she thought might fly, or even that could withstand it. Like a mailbox. It was a dark blue, so cheating and lying and abandoning must have been on it's to-do list and it deserved to be trashed by a girl in penguin slippers.

[blue_wayfinder]

When Lili looked back, Aqua was close enough to sort of make out her features.

Isn't that...?

Still, she showed no signs of stopping, so Aqua picked up her pace, trying to close the distance between them faster. When she was close enough, Aqua reached out for Lili's shoulder, not only to get her attention but...also to pull the other girl back so she couldn't kick that mailbox.

"Lili, stop." She didn't raise her voice (she hardly ever did), but there was nothing in it that said it was a suggestion.

Worried or not, she was still a member of the Watch, and destruction of public property wasn't something she was supposed to allow. Besides which, she suspected that the kick might hurt Lili's foot more than the mailbox.

[donttelldaddy]

Aqua was ignored entirely, even after the sound of her shoes against the pavement became more frequent, and Lili knew she was chasing after her. Ignored, that is, until she put her hands on Lili. She turned around quickly, mussed hair flying behind her, and slapped the hand from her shoulder.

"Do not touch me," Lili said, pointing at Aqua's face, her tone harsh.

[blue_wayfinder]

She barely bat an eye at Lili's reaction, though she would have to admit that it was rather worrying.

"Lili, you need to get back inside before you catch something," Her tone was placating, soft, though she made no move to reach out for the other girl again. It would, she felt, only make things worse.

[donttelldaddy]

"I don't have to do anything," she replied, definitively. Lili left the mailbox alone, but she kept walking, in a direction nowhere near the Casualty Communal.

"Also," she started, turning around after a second thought, "Cold doesn't make germs spontaneously appear. I'm not catching anything."

[blue_wayfinder]

Aqua followed after her, deciding against arguing since she doubted it would do much good.

"What are you even doing out here?" This late. Dressed like that.

[donttelldaddy]

Lili rolled her eyes. "I don't need your approval to take a walk."

She started walking again, for real this time, the slightest wince playing out across her face with each step of her bruised feet, purple under her fuzzy penguin slippers from smashing into things.

[blue_wayfinder]

"...that's not why I was asking."

It didn't take Aqua long to notice the way Lili winced. She was, after all, used to playing nurse-maid and healer for two teenage boys who were just as stubborn about hiding when they'd hurt themselves.

In all likely-hood, Lili was probably not going to appreciate the way Aqua was reaching out to hold onto her arm, but she needed to other girl to stop right now.

"We need to find a place for you to sit down."

[donttelldaddy]

No, no she didn't. Lili's other hand made a swing at her before she even had the chance to think about it. She didn't need to be babysat by some pig of the Watch whose name she had never deemed significant enough to remember. Didn't she have parents to tell her to stay out of other peoples' business?

"What part of do not touch me sounded like a request, to you?"

[blue_wayfinder]

It was instinct that made Aqua dodge, an automatic response to being targeted from years of training.

"Your feet are hurting, right?" She was ignoring Lili's question, she knows, but making sure the other girl was fine came first, "You shouldn't be walking around like that."

[donttelldaddy]

"My feet are none of your concern, and I can walk in whichever state I choose," she snipped, glaring at Aqua. Even if the girl was only trying to help, Lili had already dealt with one too many intrusions for the day. She wasn't interested in cooperating.

"Are you finished?"

[blue_wayfinder]

This girl...

She tried to resist the urge to sigh audibly, but couldn't quite stop herself from letting out an exasperated breath. Honestly, this had been an emotionally tiring few days, and Aqua just did not have the energy to deal with this.

Still, she couldn't just leave her...

"...I don't suppose there's anything I can do to convince you to sit down." She'd meant for it to be a question, but somehow came out more like a resigned statement instead.

[donttelldaddy]

"Only if you're trying to have me killed," Lili said, walking on. "If you haven't noticed, it's quite cold outside. I've got to keep moving to stay warm."

[blue_wayfinder]

And Aqua was still following her.

"Or you could go back inside." She suggested, though in the tone of someone who didn't really expect to be listened to anymore,

[donttelldaddy]

"Maybe sometime."

She wouldn't stay outside forever, really. Nor would she return to her apartment. There were people she could stay with.