no way, no way, you know it's not a secret

[felinemystique]

Characters: Bastet (felinemystique) and Range (wartimenovelty)
Date/Time: BACKDATED to Friday, September 11, afternoon
Location: Range's place, Section 3
Rating: PG-13 to be safe
Summary: Range and Bastet have a talk that's been long in coming.

Comments

[wartimenovelty]

Range wasn't the type to walk around when he was nervous. If he paced, he was usually talking to someone and feeling relaxed. He knew how to keep communication down to the necessary movements, and whether or not it was an old habit from home, he appreciated it.

He had a spare notebook open to draw random designs in as he waited, maintaining an even cadence for his breathing and making sure to only use his hand, the rest of his body as still as he could make it.

Lovers.

His hand jerked a little as he heard the knocks on the door, dropping the pen and closing the notebook with it inside. "Come in," he called, looking over toward the door and feeling his eye struggling to adjust. It was irritating. It was a relief to be able to focus on that instead of Bastet walking in, her expression unreadable; almost chilly.

[felinemystique]

Bastet closed the door behind her, her gaze settling on the eyepatch Range now wore over his good eye. She frowned, so that's what he'd meant by impaired vision.

She knew she seemed distant, but she needed to protect herself behind a layer of reserve. Despite her straightforward manner, she was a private person, and having Gundam declare that she and Range--Sniper--had been lovers all over the journals felt like a breach of her boundaries. She couldn't stay mad at him; he hadn't known, and it wasn't as though it had been a secret. And she knew his regret at upsetting her was real enough.

Bastet came to a stop in the middle of the room, a few feet away from him. "Do you have time to talk?" she asked, her voice even. This visit was completely different from the last time she'd come to see him. She was on the defensive now, determined not to let this situation hurt her any more than it already had.

It only remained to be seen how successful she would actually be.

[wartimenovelty]

"I'm not doing much else at the moment," Range answered, dropping the notebook onto the floor and slowly sitting up in the chair, right hand lightly gripping the arm rest as he let his left hand rest on his knee, looking up at Bastet and waiting until he felt positioned enough to speak again. He ducked his head a little and laughed awkwardly. "My eyes haven't been kind to me. I guess I should stop putting off that visit to Medical if the Sphere's going to be this creative."

He felt the laughter fading as quickly as it'd come, steeling himself and directing his gaze back to Bastet. The living room was narrow, but even from where he sat Bastet seemed almost tiny in comparison to the space; her stance was the only thing that seemed to eat up the difference. He was relieved to be sitting.

"Gundam--Gundam sure did it this time, huh?"

[felinemystique]

Bastet frowned as he mentioned his eyes. Let one of the healers look at you, why did you wait so long, is it still giving you headaches... All things that jumped to mind immediately; all things she no longer felt it was her place to say.

They felt like combatants, circling each other in search of the best spot to strike, all the while leaving their own weak spots guarded. She didn't want him to see her that way, but she wasn't willing to drop her own guard long enough to make that possible.

"I wasn't planning on never telling you," she said, crossing her arms over her chest and looking to the side. "I just wasn't ready yet."