WAY Back-dated RP Log: Neil and Setsuna

[apples_for_exia]

Who: Setsuna (apples_for_exia ) and Neil (Lockon Stratos) (dynames_pilot )
What: Neil and Setsuna have a talk over lunch and a bath and a spar
When: uuuuh, at least two months ago, I think
Where: the beach, the baths, Neil's hut, the gym
Notes: really long, and way backdated as you can tell
Warnings: none
Summary: Neil finds Setsuna on the beach, sort of banged up, and from this ensues some alone time for the pseudo-brothers.

Setsuna winced sharply as he tugged his shirt off, feeling the bruises over his ribs and chest and one to his jaw. His sessions with Alberich were not gentle. It wasn't that he minded that, but they tended to hurt afterwards all the same. He'd trudged down to the beach, splashing cool water over the hot bruises in place of ice for the moment, then it would be a trek up to the springs to keep the muscles from tightening.

Neil jogged along the beach. He needed to get back shape, not for any particular reason, just for himself or at least that is what he believed. He hadn't gone jogging much recently or lifted weight for anything of the like. As he continued his jog, he spotted Setsuna down by the water. He blinked, wondering what was wrong, not noticing the bruises yet. "Setsuna?" he said when he got closer.

Setsuna turned his head when he heard a familiar voice, one he had not thought would become so familiar ever again. "Neil," he called back, up to his knees in the water as he dribbled the cool salt water over his upper body.

Neil stopped jogging, a bit out of breath for a moment from his jog then spotted the bruises on Setsuna's body. "What the heck happened?" he asked, a bit surprised.

"Training session," Setsuna attempted a shrug, but stopped mid-motion as pain flashed through his shoulder. Alberich had delivered a hard blow there, and it was entirely his own fault it had hit.

"Maybe we should get you some ice," Neil remarked, wincing a little bit himself to see how much Setsuna was bruised. Even though Setsuna was older now and definitely not a child, Neil still felt like he was a younger brother and that he needed to look after him.

"I was going to head to the springs, soon," Setsuna commented casually, not seeing the protectiveness in Neil's words. He rubbed at a dark spot appearing in the center of his chest, ignoring the side of his jaw that was lightly swollen.

"Well, that will help, but we should still get you some ice to help reduce the swelling." He was looking right Setsuna's jaw. Even with the bit of distance, he could tell it was swollen.

"If you say so," Setsuna shrugged, clearly unconcerned, though anyone could see the bruises hurt, as liberally littered over his body as they were. A few were forming on his hips where Alberich's kicks had landed and more down along his legs.

Neil nodded. "Come on then. We'll go get some ice. Then we can go up to the hot springs together in a bit."

Setsuna nodded, wading out of the water and picking up his shirt, but didn't see a point in putting it back on. "You were jogging," he commented as they walked, Setsuna squelching.

Neil tried his best not to chuckle as they walked. Setsuna's shoes were a bit waterlogged now. He nodded. "Yeah. I was. Just thought I should try to get back into it."

He nodded, not sure what else to say as sun began to dry him, his bruises starting to really hurt as he worked his way through the thick sand - especially those on his hips and thighs. "Where are we going for ice?"

"We can go back to my hut for a few minutes," Neil remarked. "Pluto's still at work," he added in case he was worried.

Setsuna nodded his assent. "You could come train," he offered, not realizing the sheer amount of bruises on him might be a turn off.

Neil chuckled. "I probably should," he remarked as they reaced his hut. "Considering I think I may inadvertently be having issues with someone else here."

"Then you should," Setsuna nodded. "You are good at sniping, but close quarters?" He shook his head, clearly not impressed.

"Close quarters," Neil remarked. "Besides, I don't really want to get that kind of a reputation here." He opened the door for Setsuna to go inside.

"What reputation?" Setsuna asked, coming inside a bit more trustingly than he would have if Pluto had been there.

"The reputation of staking out somewhere and shooting someone down. A lot of people know which Gundam is mine." Not to mention that Pluto was be pissed.

"It's what you are," Setsuna shrugged, clearly not seeing the bad part of that reputation. "The ice?"
Neil nodded heading to the kitchen. He got a bag of ice and brought it back out. He handed it to Setsuna. "But this guy randomly decided he had some issue with me."

"Which guy?" Setsuna queried, finding a place to sit and place the bag on his most bruised area, his shoulders.

"He goes by the name of Rome," Neil replied sitting down as well. "I would have thought it was his nickname, but... I'm not so sure since he wears Roman armor and he called his grandson 'Italy'."
Setsuna twitched at the name Italy. "He is like him?" Setsuna asked in a grunt, about as close as Setsuna came to expressing his dislike in a subtle manner.

Neil picked up the dislike, but didn't say anything about it. Italy had seemed the better of the two in his opinion. "Apparently... just going be the fact that they seem to be related. Italy quite clearly called him Grandpa and Rome doesn't look old enough to merit that for no reason. I take it you met Italy."

"Yes," Setsuna said shortly, recalling the man he'd filed under'totally useless' for good reason. He shifted the ice to the other shoulder. "Why do you have a problem with him?"

"Not with Italy. I haven't had a chance to actually talk to him at all, but he did stop his 'grandfather' from running me through with a sword."

Setsuna's brows furrowed. "Then you really do need work in close combat," he murmured, the idea obviously upsetting him no matter how he tried to hide it.

Neil nodded. "I do... perhaps we can spar together sometime," he suggested. "When you heal a bit more that is."

"I will be fine," Setsuna assured him, shifting the back to his chest. "We can spar tomorrow."

Neil nodded. "That might be good." He wasn't sure when he was going to have to fight off Rome again this time by himself. He couldn't rely on Pluto or Italy being around to call him down all the time.

The ice being mostly water now, he set it on the table with a loud slosh. "Hot springs," he declared, uncomfortable with staying much longer, aware Pluto could be home any moment.

Neil nodded. He took the bag back to the kitchen then came back out. "Alright, let's go," he said with a smile.

Setsuna tugged his shirt on, mostly hiding the bruises and headed back out. He turned towards the direction of the springs, picking his way into the trees with the ease of familiarity.

Neil followed, having gotten use to going there as well. Of course it had been some time since he had.

Setsuna went inside and purloined a cubby, stripping down and revealing the bruises over hips and thigh as he went through the pre-rinse for the soak, getting the sand off himself. "How much do you actually know of close quarters combat?" he inquired.

Neil also undressed to clean off. That was the problem with being so close to the beach. There was always a problem with sand. "I know a fair amount," Neil remarked. "I'm mostly out of touch since I don't do it often I think... and the fact that with this guy, my realm to strike at is limited since he has armor on."

Setsuna nodded, understanding how that created a problem. With punches it would be difficult, but Setsuna was excellent with knife work, and armor always had places to push a dagger through where different pieces met. "We should work on knife work as well," he mused, heading for the sweet heat of the baths.

Neil thought about that as he followed Setsuna. "That might be good. I do have an advantage in that his armor and his sword weigh him down."

"He will not be expecting attacks from certain angles," Setsuna surmised, sighing quietly as heat soaked into his bones, infecting the bruises and bringing relief.

Neil nodded, relaxing in the hot spring. "I guess that is true as well." Just mentally it was exhausting to deal with Rome.

"Self defense should be thought of first though," Setsuna said, thinking it through. What use was attacking if you could not defend yourself?

Neil nodded. "Yeah... don't want to get stabbed since I don't have as much armor as he does." That might be an option... chainmail or something.

Setsuna wince at the idea, aware of what a simple stab could do if you aimed it well. "Best to start sooner than later then," he nodded.

He nodded. "Yeah so we can start tomorrow after I'm done with work then."

"That sounds good," Setsuna murmured as the heat really sank in, making him a bit drowsy though he was to well trained to truly drop off to sleep.

Neil ran his hand through the water, watching Setsuna. If he really was falling asleep, he wasn't going to bother him.

"Do not let this Rome do anything to you," Setsuna said quietly, though with force. Those quiet words said much. He would never survive loosing Neil again, nor would Tieria or Allelujah. He'd never forgive Neil for putting them through that once more, and Rome would suffer something worse than death.

Neil nodded. "I won't. I'm not going to give in that easily and let him hurt me." As odd as it seemed, having this Italy as an ally might help. It had been obvious that Rome wouldn't do anything if his grandson was around. "Perhaps I should talk to Italy."

"He is useless," Setsuna told him flat out, tactful as ever.

As sorry as Neil was to say it, Setsuna wasn't exactly the best judge of people's abilities. While he may have been useless at something, he likely was very good at something else... and one of those seemed to be having some influence over the person he was currently having conflict with. "It wouldn't hurt to talk to him." If nothing else, find out more about their world.

Setsuna shrugged. If Neil wished to waste his time, it was not his problem. And while he may be a bad judge of character, he could tell something useful from something useless in most cases. He scooted a little closer to Neil, suddenly not liking the gap that was between them. "We should train in the dojo," he changed subjects.

Neil didn't mind Setsuna moving closer to him. Setsuna was still his "little brother" in his mind. "There's a dojo?" he asked. Apparently he hadn't been paying attention.

"Well, in a way," Setsuna corrected, referring to it as a dojo in his mind simply because he worked out with Alberich there. "It's the outside training area," he corrected.

"Ah. Okay." He nodded. "That works. Lyle and I do our practicing up there as well."

"We should meet before Alberich comes," he said, tapping his fingers against his knees beneath the water before drawing them up and hugging them.

Neil blinked and put his hand on Setsuna's shoulder. "Why do you say that?"

"We should not interrupt Alberich," he shrugged, respecting the older man for his skills and feeling it rude to take Alberich's accustomed time in the training area.

"Oh, that's fine," Neil said with a smile. He had thought there was another reason why Setsuna had said that.

Setsuna reached up and touched his shoulder, where one of the bruises had darkened considerably. "Perhaps we can get lunch after?" he asked with a surprising amount of timidness.

Neil nodded. "Sure that works." He didn't mind this time hanging out with Setsuna.

"I can cook this time," he offered, swirling a finger in the water.

"Sounds good," Neil remarked. After a moment, he brushed his hair back and sunk deeper into the water.

Setsuna watched him quietly, drinking in the sight of Neil hale and hearty. He committed everything to memory, ashamed to admit that in those five years of solitude that Neil had begun to fade. He could hardly remember how his voice sounded, and it was becoming harder and harder to recall his face. He was ashamed of that, terribly ashamed, and he was determined to never forget him.

Neil didn't seem to notice Setsuna watching him, but he knew it would happen. It seemed all of them were commiting everything to memory since this was the last chance they got. Everything didn't seem like it had been that long ago for him, but he was doing exactly the same thing.

He came a bit closer, close enough their shoulders and hips touched. He was quiet, but the physical contact was better, made Neil seem more real - a thing he still have trouble accepting.

Neil blinked when he felt Setsuna move closer to him. It surprised him a bit that Setsuna had done that. But he really didn't mind. He just smiled.

Inside, Setsuna was relieved the other did not move away from him. As he'd discovered through Allelujah and his years of solitude, touch was important. Very much so. It reminded him he wasn't alone, that against all odds he had allies. Most of all he had missed those little touches from Neil - the pats on the shoulder, the ruffles of his air, the touches that had been most prevalent in his life. To get a small part of those back was a miracle that almost made him believe in god.

Neil decided to not talk about anything for the moment. Setsuna had never been one for conversation and for the moment it seemed that all Setsuna really wanted was to know he was there. And he was glad to have Setsuna there too. It had been almost a year since he had last seen his "younger brother" and having heard from the others as they had arrived made him all the more glad that Setsuna was there now.

"Are there cameras on the island?" Setsuna interrupted the quiet.

Neil nodded. "A few. I have one."

"I want a picture of you," he murmured.

Neil smiled. "Of course. And I'm going to want a picture of you."

"Oh, all right," Setsuna nodded. He'd never had a single photo of him taken, ever. His family had been to poor to afford a camera, and by the time the war started - well, it just was never something to cross his mind.

"Besides," Neil said with a grin. "I'm sure we'll have plenty of opportunities for pictures with all of us as well. There's Christmas coming up soon and New Year's after that."

"Christmas is another Western holiday, isn't it?" Setsuna turned his gaze on Neil, sinking deeper into the water so only his nose and eyes appeared.

Neil couldn't help but chuckle when Setsuna did that. "Indeed it is. It's a time of celebration and spending time with people who matter most to you. Usually gifts are exchanged among family and friends and sometimes business associates."

That didn't sound so bad. Certainly it made more sense that this 'Halloween' holiday. "I would like that," he finally decided, rising up a bit out of the water.

"Great. I figured we'd have have a get together sometime around Christmas, just the Celestial Being crew." He had hoped Pluto would have been able to join them for Christmas, but if Setsuna was having issues with being around he and she was afraid of him still, he wasn't going to push either of them.

"That would be nice," Setsuna said with very real honesty. "It will be like old times."

Neil nodded. "It would indeed. It's nice being able to do that here."

"We never celebrated Christmas, on Ptolemy, did we?" Setsuna asked, having trouble remembering if there had been more besides training and missions.

"To a small extent. There was only so much we could do though. No decorations. Little opportunity to buy presents... at least there was for us."

And back then Setsuna didn't think he would have appreciated that time together like he would now. Sadly, the saying was true - you don't now what you have until you've lost it. "What... would you like for Christmas then?"

"Just to spend time with my family and adopted family. If you want to get me something else, that's fine.

Perhaps other people might have called Neil difficult, but Setsuna was content with that. "I'm getting hot," he announced, rising up and making for the steps to climb out.

And Neil probably was difficult, but he didn't really want material things while he was here. The most he really wanted was time to spend with friends and family and to get pictures of the people he cared about. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," Neil said getting up and climbing out as well.

Setsuna began to rub at himself with a towel, glad at least the air was about as hot as the water. Dried, he went back for his clothes and tugged them on then began to work at his hair.

Neil got dressed again then leaned against the wall. "So what do we want to do now?" he asked, drying off the ends of his hair. Mostly his hair had stayed dry, but the ends tended to get wet when at the hot springs.

Setsuna looked him over. "We could test how much you actually know of hand-to-hand combat."

Neil nodded. "Sounds good." He was actually looking forward to that.

Setsuna nodded and headed out, deciding that the gym would be a good idea - it had some padded mats they could use. He led Neil there and got out one of them, laying it out and stripping his shirt and shoes.

Neil followed Setsuna to the gym. He helped with setting out the mats then pulled off his shoes and shirt as well.

Setsuna stepped on to the mat and breathed, loosening himself. "Come," he said, sliding into an mid-starting stance.

Neil nodded once and after taking a moment to get himself mentally ready, he lunged at Setsuna, aiming to grapple him down to the mat.

It was a common technique taller people enjoyed attempting on those smaller and lighter. And Ali made sure the little ones knew it. He immediately ducked lower than Neil's lunge and pushed forward past him, swinging his fist out to try and ram Neil's lower back along the spine.

Neil had been expecting something like that. It was similar to what Rome had tried against him, though not quite as lethal. He practically threw himself out of the way and tried to attack again, this time aiming for Setsuna's legs to bring him down.

Setsuna pushed himself forward over the leg into a summersault and came back up, instantly turning to thrust his weight into his shoulder, aimed at Neil's chest/stomach.

That caught Neil off guard and he took the hit. But he took advantage of the close proximity to attempt an attack back on Setsuna, swinging out his fist to try and catch Setsuna in the side.

Setsuna let it hit, rolling with the power of the punch to the side to get some distance back and getting back to his feet - the almost immediately swinging out to bring his heel down in an attack on Neil's chest once more.

Neil propelled himself away from that and tried to close the distance between himself and Setsuna.
Setsuna danced backwards, judging Neil, his eyes taking on that eerie distant quality of a soldier looking for the places to hit that cause the most damage with the least effort.

Neil paused a moment, also judging Setsuna. He could see that his eyes were getting more distant, but at least for the moment that gave him incentive to try harder.

Soft spots, for now. In a sudden burst of speed Setsuna came forward, lashing out with sharp jabs with hands and elbows.

Neil spotted him move. He was used to watching for movement to react and he was fairly used to Setsuna's movements so he dodged, trying to get around behind Setsuna.

Setsuna would not let him. He kept spinning, centering himself in the circle and forcing Neil to be the one to move in the wider circle around himself. With a sudden twist, he lashed out for Neil's temple, and only a second later brought his knee up in an attack on the kidney area from the opposite direction of his hand.

Neil managed to miss being hit in the temple, but was hit by the other strike. Ow... that hurt. He doubled over a bit. He knew he should move back in case Setsuna attacked him again, but that was easier said than done.

Setsuna was not lenient in the least. He kept forward, grabbing Neil's head and aiming to ram his knee into the other man's nose, lost, it seemed in his own body's responses to battle.

Now that was really low. Neil grabbed Setsuna's leg when it came up towards his own face. With that, he tried to throw Setsuna down. "Setsuna!" he snapped, trying to bring the younger man back out.

Not a sound escaped as Neil caught him, bringing him down. But all the same he reacted, thrusting his upper body upwards and bringing the heel of his hand forward in another jab at Neil's nose - his eyes terribly blank.

Neil swung his leg around kicked at Setsuna. "Snap out of it, Setsuna!" he snapped, somewhat going into leader mode as he tried to get Setsuna to listen to him. As much as he really didn't want to be doing this, he had to snap Setsuna out since he was dangerous when he was lost in the battle.

Setsuna raised his arm and blocked it, actually grunting with the effort. Neil was heavier that him by quite a few pounds, and it was felt in that kick. Something slithered between his lips, something in his native tongue, and his head snapped forward in a head-butt.

Neil wasn't quite so prepared for that and was too busy trying to restain Setsuna that he got hit with headbutt. He stumbled backwards, still managing to hold onto Setsuna. Neil's mind just went to trying to snap Setsuna out before he ended up not being able to walk out of here. "Setsuna!" he shouted. "Setsuna! Gundam!" and then a name came to him and he didn't know if it would help, but he decided to try anyway. "Soran!"

Soran... With jerk everything snapped into clarity and he fell back on to the matt, panting and shaking. Where...? "What.. was I doing?" he asked, wondering why he ached and why he and Lyle were covered in sweat.

Neil finally let go of Setsuna. "You went kind of crazy there, kid," he said raking his hand through his hair. Ow... he was going have a bruise on his forehead now. He had to adjust his eyepatch a bit after that. "Are you doing alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine," he sat up, rubbing his hands. "And you?"

"A little worse for wear... but I'll be fine." Definitely exhausted, Neil said down a moment on the mat.
"What did I do?" Setsuna repeated, reaching out and touching Neil's jaw.

"Hit me in the kidneys... tried to break my nose twice, and headbutted me." He wasn't mad, honestly he wasn't. He was just a bit exhausted.

Setsuna remember that. His body thrummed with the exertion of doing the moves, but... "I really don't remember it beyond attempting to attack your chest with my heel..."

"I think after that point you kind of lost yourself," Neil remarked, kind of wanting flop over just from the sudden mental exhaustion now that it was over, but having been hit on one side and then hit in the kidneys on the other kind of pushed that away.

"Like in the nightmares..." he mumbled.

Neil blinked. "What nightmares?"

"It's nothing," Setsuna pushed to his feet, going for his shirt. "We should get lunch. Something with potassium."

Neil slowly got up. "Yes, lunch is good, but Setsuna, what nightmares?"

"They're just memories," Setsuna assured him as he rolled the mat up.

Neil helped the mat the best that he could. "If you are sure," Neil remarked. He was going to feel this tomorrow.

To be honest, it was the first bald-faced lie Setsuna had told Neil, but he did not want to burden the other with something like that. "I'll cook something with beans," he decided, not agreeing with Neil.

Neil was smarter than that. He would ask about it again at a later time. "That sounds good."

The matt put away, Setsuna led Neil out of the gym and to the hut he shared with Allelujah despite having his own room in another hut. He began to pull out pans and pots and food. "You aren't allergic to anything?"

Neil shook his head, sitting down. "Not that I know of."

He nodded and kept cooking, the smells of rice and beans soon taking over the hut and the smell of beef being fried, Setsuna's fingers staining with different spices and herbs and vegetables.

After a few minutes, Neil got up and went to see what Setsuna was making. He didn't ask anything about. He just wanted to see what it was.

Rice was turning a healthy brown in the pan, the vegetables simmering among the browning grains as beef sizzled in a smaller, nearby pan, liberally dusted with spices. Cooler fruits were being cut as he alternately tended to the heating foods. "Yes?" Setsuna pressed after a time.

Neil shrugged. "Just wanted to look."

"Oh," Setsuna said in a tone that came as close to sheepish as he could. "It will be done soon. Drinks are in the fridge, if you want to get them."

Neil nodded. "Sure. What do you want?" he asked as he walked over to the fridge.

"There should be green tea in there," Setsuna mused. "If not, apple juice."

Neil nodded. "Okay." He found the green tea and poured two glasses. He took the glasses out to the table.

By that time the food was done and Setsuna was laying out out on the table. Meat and vegetables and rice all put together on a small plate, a small bowl filled with fruit next to it - slices of apple and watermelon. "I hope you like it," Setsuna took his seat and began to eat, aware Neil had never tasted his cooking before.

Neil nodded. "I'm sure I will," he said as he helped himself to the food. He started eating. Yes, it was different stuff he normally ate, but it was still good.

Setsuna was used to eating in silence, but this, at least, was comfortable, like with Alle. He ate each piece carefully, sipping his tea here and there, eyes sometimes flickering to Neil.

Neil also ate in silence. He was used to it since that's usually how he and Pluto as well. He noticed that Setsuna periodically glanced at him, but he didn't mind.

"You could come to dinner sometime," Setsuna offered when lunch was nearly finished. "I'm sure Allelujah would like it too."

Neil nodded. "That would be nice. We can definitely do that sometime. I'm sure Allelujah would like that too. Maybe we could arrange it so all the Meisters are here."

He nodded. "It should be easy to get Tieria to come. You can speak to Lyle." He tapped his plate with his fork. "Maybe next week?"

Neil nodded. "As far as I know, next week will work... Then again, we don't have too many prior appointments here."

That drew a small huff, about like a laugh for a him. "Yes, that's true."

Neil chuckled. "So we can try to work out dinner here for next week."

"Yes, I think that will be good," but he paused, thinking. "Well, yes, I suppose here. We'll need to avoid Farfello."

Neil thought for a moment. "Maybe I could arrange something at my hut. Perhaps Pluto and her teammates... and Anew can go out to dinner."

"I also have a hut," Setsuna admitted. "I just choose to remain here."

Neil nodded. "Whatever you want to do. I just making a possible suggestion about location."

He nodded, sure Neil could make it so Pluto was not there, but it would depend on the others too. "We'll find out when we talk to the others."

Neil nodded. "And I can talk to Pluto and Anew and just see how they feel about that." If they included Anew in this, by default they'd also have to extend the invitation to Sumeragi and Feldt. Not that there was any problem with them, it was just more the fact that it would have to be a bigger get together than they seemed to be planning.

"Perhaps, at first, it should be just us," Setsuna said. "And Miss Sumeragi and Feldt. The.. originals, so to speak."

"So not Lyle or Anew?" Neil questioned. He had no problem with that; he just making sure what Setsuna was thinking.

"That's right," he agreed. "Because there are some things...." Well, he just shook his head. Neil would understand. Just somethings those others would not understand that they had been through.

Neil nodded. "That's true. That might be good idea." No offense to his brother, but he didn't know what they had been through.

"I will talk to Allelujah, then, when he gets home. I suppose either of us can talk to Tieria, or Sumeragi and Feltd," he started gathering dishes.

Neil nodded, assisting Setsuna. He was used to doing that in his own hut. So he was going to help. "I guess I can ask Sumeragi and Feldt," Neil suggested.

"Then I will handle Tieria and Allelujah," Setsuna nodded, setting the dishes aside to dry and working on the pots and pans, his mind already drifting to what he and Allelujah should make, since he really did not have faith in Tieria's ability to cook (if he even HAD such an ability) and Neil's was... well, he didn't know if Neil had ever cooked, but somehow he suspected he and Allelujah were the better.

Neil nodded. "Sounds good. So... what about these nightmares?" No, he wasn't going to let it go so easily.
"I told you, they are nothing to be concerned with," Setsuna returned, though he knew Neil would harry it like a dog with a bone.

"If it were nothing then you wouldn't have mentioned. Setsuna... I've known you for long enough."

True enough. He sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Lately, there have been memories, in my dreams. Memories of my childhood."

Neil nodded. "That must be really hard." He knew enough about Setsuna to know that his past was not a pleasant one.

"It is... not something I enjoy revisiting," he conceded at last, not telling Neil of the night he had nearly hurt Allelujah when the other tried to wake him, of how he had to sleep with Allelujah beside him to help keep the nightmares at bay, though it only worked half the time.

"I'm sorry about that," Neil remarked. He wished there was something he could do, but he could only help if Setsuna talked to him. Setsuna wouldn't talk to just anyone.

More than anything he wanted to be able to talk to Neil. He did. It was just hard. "Last night... I dreamed about the wound on my back." His hand moved back, touching that small space he knew was there beneath his pants, the small circle of raised flesh, darker than the rest just to the left of his spine.

Neil frowned. "What happened?"

"Man hiding behind rubble. I didn't see him. He shot me. I made it back to base, dragging my leg." He shrugged, moving his hand away and moving about putting away the pots and the pans and finishing the dishes.

Neil frowned even more. That wasn't good. He moved to help with the dishes. "Sounds like life was rough," he remarked. "But you've made it through that and are trying to help others not have to do the same things you did."

"It's my reason for existing," he declared with quiet solemnity, shutting the cabinets with a sort of final snap.

Neil nodded. "I know." He put his hand on Setsuna's shoulder.

He let the hand stay there, comforted by it - by the gentle warmth and strength. He'd missed it. "Well... I don't know what to do now."

"What do you mean?" Neil remarked. "About the dreams or about life?"

"No, I mean as in right now," Setsuna corrected, though the other two suggestions were weighing on him lately - very much so, each time he woke from the nightmares in the middle of the night.

Neil nodded. "Well... we could watch a movie or something if you want." He was still really sore, but he really didn't just want to run out on Setsuna.

"Oh... those things Jr. likes?" Setsuna blinked.

Neil nodded. "Yeah, though not necessarily a Western." Since he knew that was what Jr watched most of the time.

"What kinds of movies are there? I've never seen one besides the one Jr. had on," he asked, that innocence he still retained coming forth.

"Well, there are action movies... western movies... horror, fantasy that kind of thing."

"Which ones do you like?" Setsuna pressed, unable to form an opinion since he'd never seen one in the first place.

"Action movies are always good," Neil said with a nod.

"Then an action movie," he decided.

Neil nodded with a grin. "Let's do that!"

"I don't know if I have any here," Setsuna said, and he wasn't sure about Allelujah either.

Neil thought for a moment. "I'm not sure what I have... perhaps I can check tonight and tomorrow we could watch a couple of movies here?"

"Yeah... I'd like that," his lips twitched in a sort of smile.

Neil smiled. "Great. Then I'll come over tomorrow and we can watch some movies."

"I'll make sure this 'popcorn' then," Setsuna promised.

Neil chuckled. "Sounds good."

"Well.... until tomorrow, I guess," Setsuna looked at the door.

Neil nodded and ruffled Setsuna's hair. "See you tomorrow."