It was harsh, the way his side burned at him, and he grimaced at the pain, but he kept facing forward, straining to hear Jinx's mutterings. All he could make out were names, Brother, Gin, Papa, Shunsui... Then he heard the her muttering like earlier, about being left, about being hated, about not being a good girl. He shook his head, wanting to call out again, when the ground ahead of him ripped. The vibrations almost brought him off his feet, and he looked ready to make a leap of faith for anywhere other than where he was standing, when he heard Jinx scream. His head snapped up, and he saw her, saw her powers stop the rift... and saw it come back at her.
"JINX!" Damn his ribs, and damn this whirlwind (or what was left of it), and damn the explosions, and damn him for not getting here faster. He would be damning himself until the end of the world if he could, as long as she was all right when he got there. He ran forward, skirting the crag that had been heading for him, until he came to an awkward stop where Jinx lay, almost falling
( ... )
When his lips pressed tenderly against her cheek, she gave a small, sad smile, knowing the salty warmth of her tears were now on his kiss. And when he called her his sister in German, a language she knew next to nothing about, she knew that everything was going to be all right for now. Gin was gone, and he was never coming back to hurt her. Now was a time to move on, for she had people who loved her and were never going to use her. They were not going to hurt her. "Right, so all little brothers strip down their sisters and give them baths when they have mental breakdowns. I never knew." With that bit of cynical sarcasm, Jinx was now thinking straight... or as rational as she could be after what she just put herself through. Gratefully, she took several tissues from the box with her hands incredibly erratic in their shaking, and she spend the new few moments blowing her nose until she could finally breathe through it again. The hot steam from the bathtub helped clear things up
( ... )
A chuckle escaped him as she likened the possibility of their would-be lives to that of an old sitcom. Mostly, he was glad to hear her starting to come back to herself, her sense of humor the most reassuring thing at that moment. When she dove under the surface of the water, he watched her pink strands float apart from each other, and he found himself wondering what life could have been like somewhere else... with his parents alive, with no Monacello or Vescovo... But Alba wasn't a fan of 'could have been' situations. Reality had enough problems as it was without adding the depression that came with a 'what could have happened' line of thinking. Still, he did see what some people could find appealing about the fantasy
( ... )
And now came almost exactly what she was expecting. Alba had always been the more emotional of the two boys, but not on the outside... not in front of other people. But Jinx knew him, and she knew him well. Every time he had cried at her embrace, every time she stayed awake until sunrise and held him through his nightmares. That was back when he was younger, before he became the man who handled delicate operations for the Monacello, who's job was to be calm and collected. A man who drove fast cars, wore his sunglasses at night and could occasionally kill a man. And now he was quickly reverting back to the young boy who had lost his parents. She knew something like this would hit Alba harder, deeper, but Soiree would not understand like his brother would. Soiree was not as close to Jinx, he was not the one who needed her comfort, and he was not one to give it, clean up her wounds, and hug her until she fell asleep
( ... )
The sound of water beginning to drain preluded her standing, and Alba rose with her, his hand still over hers, feeling the shaking under his fingers, wishing he could steady her just for a moment. When her fingers brushed his face, he closed his eyes, blinking a single set of tears down his cheeks before looking into those pink feline eyes, red-ringed as they were but much less feral than before. Her words came through, hitting him deep - he was a hopeless idealist, true enough, and everything Fate had planted in his head was a crapshoot at best when it came to the likeliness of it actually happening, but to hear someone other than Soiree or himself affirm a commitment to it... it touched him deeply. It gave him a minor spark of hope that they could make a difference here. Even when she brought reality back when she mentioned her time running out, he still felt a certain warmth knowing that, even then, she'd still be there for them, still supporting them when they needed her most. He smiled in response, reaching up to wipe her tears
( ... )
As she sat there on the edge of the tub, her cheeks still tingled from where Alba had reached down to dry her tears. And when she closed her stinging eyes, she could only see his green irises looking at her sadly, saline rolling down his cheekbones. Jinx wanted to kiss it away, wanted to make him smile once again... but in the end, it was her who had made him that way. It was her fault he was sad, that he was crying and that he had gotten hurt. Sighing, she wrapped her arms around herself, grasping onto her opposite shoulders, and found herself shivering against the porcelain tub. And as always, Alba was there for her. Through her sorrow, her stress, the pounding headache and her wounds... she managed to give a small sort of smile as she felt the warm towel hug her body. When he offered her a hand, she stood on trembling knees, grabbed the towel together in front of her, then took his help to get her out of the tub
( ... )
"Now, stop it," she told him, giving a weak smile. "You were never this worried when I was off fighting entire gangs by myself, or on dangerous missions. Just because you now know that something else may kill me if I manage to survive this city shouldn't change anything unless you were planning on marrying me or something. Now come on, come here." Seeing the moisture in his eyes, she knew it was time to play older sister. Trying her best to keep her hand steady, though it continued to shake terribly, she leaned up and weakly took his wrist. "Come here, kiddo," she coaxed him down onto the bed with her, to sit next to her. "I'm not going anywhere right now. You're the kind of guy who likes to live in the present, don't change that. Now come on, baby. Lay down with me, hold me for a while
( ... )
He sighed when he felt her fingers at his wrist, disappointed at himself for letting it get to him so badly. "When you went on missions though, you were making the choice... and I don't know, I didn't feel helpless about it back then." As he settled down next to her, he closed his eyes, hit with the fact that he couldn't help her, either with his brain or with his fists; it really was as inevitable as it seemed. Eventually, he'd come to accept that, but right now, nothing in the world could break him from the sadness that had grabbed the base of his brain. Right now, reality had confronted him hard, and the last time that had happened, he and Soiree were orphans without a home. He could normally deal with anything life threw at him; that was one of the things he was proud of, when compared to how he was as a child. But nothing hit him close to home, ever. This was different
( ... )
That smile was enough for her. Seeing it cross his lips, she felt something clench in her heart that made her feel like it was a promise she would always keep. Of course she did not wish to leave him, but times always changed and her promises were always broken with the dramatic shifts of her emotion. But this was so much different. This was Alba, her Alba, the little boy she needed to make happy, the one she needed to protect more than anything else in this world. Even though he was so much bigger now, even though her Alba was strong, responsible and could take care of himself... there was still that little part of her who needed him to need her. That little boy she knew years ago; the one who she immediately attached to because he reminded her so dearly of her own brother. Maybe that was why she was feeling this way, why her head swam with emotions that swelled in every beat of her heart. Maybe it was just what had happened tonight, her mental breakdown and the emotional trauma peeking through. That was what she told herself, what
( ... )
The choking sound came again, different from before, somehow softer. Less like something was missing, and more like she finally had something. Alba listened quietly, stroking her back before reaching up to her hair, running his fingers along her damp locks as he pulled her closer against him. If he couldn't cradle himself into her body, then he'd do the opposite, being the warmth, the protection that they both wanted to be for each other. When they parted, he took in her eyes, so full of pain, so tormented... and still so powerful. He looked into her eyes, and always found the strength, the courage to face anything. This time, it was the courage to face life, to face the truth, and not back down in the shadow of death. He blinked as she touched his cheeks, his own eyes deep and surprisingly steady as he watched her. When she spoke, they brightened for a moment, as though he realized that she wasn't just some hallucination before him.
"Yeah... of course you can stay here, schwester. I... I'd like that as well." He let out a slow
( ... )
...or perhaps Alba was grasping for logic, something concrete, trying to do the impossible of rationalizing Jinx's actions. The young assassin felt herself drift away, yet instead of jerking herself awake once more, she let herself go further and further toward slumber. As her body relaxed against him, she felt his arm's embrace. There was a gentle kiss atop her head. And he called her something... his precious. With a small smile, she whispered, "Sarò qui, per sempre.."
I will be here, for always.
The last thing she heard before she fell asleep was the comforting rhythm of his steady heartbeat.
"JINX!" Damn his ribs, and damn this whirlwind (or what was left of it), and damn the explosions, and damn him for not getting here faster. He would be damning himself until the end of the world if he could, as long as she was all right when he got there. He ran forward, skirting the crag that had been heading for him, until he came to an awkward stop where Jinx lay, almost falling ( ... )
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"Yeah... of course you can stay here, schwester. I... I'd like that as well." He let out a slow ( ... )
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I will be here, for always.
The last thing she heard before she fell asleep was the comforting rhythm of his steady heartbeat.
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