Nightshift 60: West Wing, South Hall 1-B

[ninelivesonce]

[from here]

Taura pondered the announcement she'd just heard as she jogged down another empty hallway. Who was she? Jill? Who he'd tortured himself, though that could have been an act on her part as well? Whose side had she been on? And what could have happened to her that would be permanent

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[vsyourface]

[From here]"Hoo..." Scott finally stopped to catch his breath just outside the door to the female block. When was the last time he had stopped here? That had been the one night he had gone to Raine for healing, hadn't it? Yeah, that was

[inconstancy]

[ from here]

It didn't stop feeling weird: seeing Scott, being stuck with him, having Scott in the know about practically everything. Ramona wasn't surprised that when Scott had to keep it together, he could do just that. He was still just as clueless, but there was something else about him. If she wasn't trying to be cool about it-and she admittedly failed-she would worry about him; Scott Pilgrim was meant to be simple. But something about this place locked him into the same mindset and mode that he had whenever it came to a fight. In a lot of ways, she noticed that he couldn't come out of it.

But how did she cope with that? How did she help? Scott was so happy to see her even if she left. Ramona wasn't great at things like this; it was probably why most of her relationships went to hell. Sentimental feelings and good thoughts could only go so far. Things were a lot more complicated than that. At least, she thought they were

[vsyourface]

Scott squinted his eyes shut and half-raised his free hand to cover them before the sudden light swung away from his face again. He saw spots briefly, one of which seemed to frame Ramona's silhouetted head in the dim glow afforded to her by the flashlight. For a second he thought... But no, it couldn't be that. It wasn't strong enough to be. And anyway, he wasn't even sure what "that" was. Ramona never brought it up, it only happened every once in a while, and no one else ever mentioned it. Probably best not to ask your girlfriend why her head glowed sometimes when you weren't even sure what you were seeing, if anything

[inconstancy]

"Oh, uh-" she began, because hell if she knew. Exploring this place seemed like a good idea, and she liked the whole deal with the town. But she could also tell they weren't going to get any easy trips out there. The fact that things had gone so poorly the night before were proof positive enough for her. And the truth was, Ramona didn't mind sticking around inside rather than trying any dangerous and troubling feats.

Or at least just for tonight.

"Um, I hadn't really decided yet," she finished, somewhat sheepishly. Ramona shrugged through it, though, acting as if it wasn't that big of a deal. "But hey, if you've got stuff to do, I can handle myself." What she didn't add was that another night with potentially dangerous moment that would want her to be as close to Scott as possible wasn't on her plate. No, she could take cliché movie moments some other time.

[vsyourface]

"You sure?" Scott asked, still not sure about the whole "leaving his girlfriend to fend for herself" thing. He knew she was tough and could do most stuff on her own, but heck, there were gods and superheroes who had a tough time in Landel's. Even his totally awesome American ninja girlfriend was vulnerable here

[inconstancy]

It wasn't possible to master an expert deer-in-headlights look; no matter how many times she tried to play it off, it came off that way, anyway. Ramona froze up the moment his hands touched her shoulders, but she could roll with that. Scott probably wanted some kind of familiarity and she was willing to grant it to him.

No, it was the next part that she couldn't deal with. The "I love you" and the promise and everything. This was exactly what Ramona had been trying to get away from. It wasn't that she didn't love him-the truth was that she did-it was that they were broken up and this was completely uncalled for.

Ramona didn't want to knock him back or do anything weird and Xena, Warrior Princess-like, but it was tempting. It usually wasn't, and the fact that it was meant that her head was probably glowing like Kim pointed out that time (it most certainly was), and-

"That's-" she managed. "That's great, Scott. I'll avoid Freddie, Jason, Dracula, and the Wolfman tonight, I promise." It was all rattled off rather quickly. "I'll be

[vsyourface]

Scott blinked a few times as his hands slipped away from Ramona's shoulders. Okay, he totally wasn't seeing things this time. ...Probably. Maybe? Aaaagh this glowing head thing was confusing. He was pretty sure there was something lighting up the dim hallway other than their flashlights this time, and that it was coming from Ramona's head. Just like all the other times this had happened, though, Ramona didn't comment on the glow at all. Usually others had the courtesy to at least see the same save points and extra lives and stat-ups that he saw. With the glowing, he just couldn't be sure he wasn't the only one seeing this. Or why he was seeing it, moreover