[ She considers calling him. It’d be much harder for him to lie about whether or not he’s coughing petals if they're talking on the phone, but then, that works both ways, doesn’t it? A glance at the petals in her free hand and it's decided with the same firmness with which she'd decided to get in touch with him after learning about the disease.
He's new to this world and she isn't risking a temporary deprivation of her newest playmate because of some stupid wanna-be hanahaki. ]
[ He has to squint at the name that comes through with the text. No one here has contacted him yet and part of him was expecting to see Mina or Okonogi's name appear- but now, it's Nao?
Huh, the petals, the fever, has she been stalking him? He wouldn't put it past her. ]
Nao-chan, hey! ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ
Huh? What fever? Oh no~ Are you sick? Is this some ploy to get someone to bring you flowers for your bedside? I mean I could come look after you, make those cute bunny-apple segments to cheer you up.
[ Okay, okay, okay. It's not like she can blame him. She wouldn't want some stranger she just met sticking his nose in this kind of business, but... yeah, no, she's blaming him, especially for bringing up those bunny-apple segments. They are cute. They would cheer her up.
She's going to drop him in a lake. ]
soooooo ur n Dnial got it!!
u do realize death doesn care about that right?? (⊃‿⊂)
[ What~?! He hasn't done anything wrong, has he?! Listen, he still might come over and make those bunnies for her... Kind of sucks being on your own when you're ill, and if she is suffering from the same affliction then there's no chance of them infecting each other at least. ]
Isn't that a river in Egypt???
Death doesn't care about what? How busy I am spitting out petals? Wait, ppl have DIED from this? ⁀⊙෴☉⁀
[ She's not touching that joke. She is not acknowledging it in any way he can perceive. Nevermind that she unwittingly set it up for him. She will not admit that to him.
No. ]
have u srsly not ben payin attentin? i mean i kno im cute an distracting [ This is an indisputable fact. ] but u still gotta B aware of ur surroudings
[ Her silence over the joke says it all~ He knows you get it. He knows you either want to laugh and hate him for that OR you don't get it and he's annoyed you. Either way, he wins! ]
Attention to what? Yea, that's facts. I should stop scrolling your gram and get some work done huh?
[ You dangle the bait and he will bite, ma'am! ]
Wait but, hanakai disease isn't real Even if it was, doesn't it just affect ppl experiencing unrequited love?
LE GASP! ✿♥‿♥✿ Nao-chan! Is this your way of saying you luuuv me? And to think, we've not even been on 1 date yet! What would my father say?!
[ Oh, 'grams. She misses them so much. She misses social media. She misses the Internet! Why couldn't they have developed an internet analog here already? If what he typed was only half true, she could hack him properly and oh, the fun she would have with him! If these stupid phones were anything near proper at all even -- oh, what a cruel joke!
[ But she didn't miss that little bit of teeth. It's kinda cute, like those little fangs-like incisors she noticed he's got. Hard to miss those, but at least he knows what's what.
He's not being serious, of course. Just trolling and that's okay. She misses trolls. Gods, she misses them and the forums! Oh, the forums. ]
[ It's like someone hit her square in the chest with just the right amount of force to knock the air out of her. She should've known. She should've braced and been prepared to knock him right back, but something in her scrambles and slips and she can feel it. It's not a slightly warm, pink dusting pleasantly coloring her cheeks, but an unmistakable, flaring hot red that's nothing short of bright on her fair skin.
What the hell is going on?? The only part she should've known was where he was going with that. It was obvious. She might've even done the same, but the heat in her cheeks, brows raised, chest clenching part that makes her want to suddenly stand up and -- and what? What? No, that's a surprise, a surprise that sees her typing in caps before she wholly realizes that's what she's doing. ]
WHO SAID NETHING ABOUT TAT???? IDIOT! B SERIOUS!! I ONLY ASKED BC
[ Oh. She needs to backtrack, backspace quickly. She absolutely cannot send a message so clearly affected that -- oh. She sent it. ]
[ Oh, this was a critical misstep. What the hell even happened! It's a joke, clearly a joke. He's messing with her. She has absolutely no doubt, so what? And equally as importantly, how is she supposed to recover from that missent text? ]
[ Appears a few times on her screen after that capslock disaster. He's amused, really but he's also taking it seriously. Shitting himself that this is actually something real and deadly, not just some side effect of the potion he drank when he arrived. After all, he can turn into a Kitsune now, sprouting a few flowers doesn't seem as strange as it should have, all things considered. ]
Shesh, you almost broke your tailored tsun tsun image, giving me the caps treatment like that. No need to shout senpai! (⌐▀͡ ̯ʖ▀)
[ This really is serious huh? Man, and Hoshina doesn't even think his 'secret' is that relevant here. ]
Oh no. Do they know my secret? That I'm really a girl in a wig? That I'm 12 cats in a trench coat? That I have 2 left hands? That I invented the work fleek? That I've never been kissed? That my favourite movie is Twilight? That--
Sorry, coughing fit.
[ Hoshina stops typing for a moment to cough up a bunch of petals. ]
[ He just exasperates her a tiny bit and makes her want to shake the hell out of him a whole lot, that's all. Now that that's been established, she -- twelve cats in a trench coat? Oh, it's stupid to even consider that seriously! But she does love cats.
She shakes it off easily enough and continues reading, pausing at a certain question if only for a very, very brief moment. His last message is concerning. ]
[ He'd be so amused to know she was actually considering at least one of his fake lies to be the truth! She might have believed him had he said a fox in a coat but that seemed too obvious. ]
Where am I? Why? U gonna come bring me some broth? Pruning scissors might be better. I'm in bed you perv!
[ He snaps a pic and sends it to her. Just him laying in bed, covering his mouth, beady little eyes closed yet you can still see he's smiling... petals over the skin-tight black t-shirt he's wearing. ]
Dunno the name of the place. Some Dragonkin took me upstairs to bed when I passed out in the bar.
[ That depends whether he's referring to her consciousness or not because something has clicked and her soul is presently leaving her body at the sight of that pic. Thankfully, she manages to recover it, giving her head a violent shake and placing her phone down just long enough to give her cheeks a good slapslapSLAP.
Get it together, Mizushita!!
Of course, getting it together means assessing the situation properly and formulating a few plans of action before she takes action. Hoshina is a troll, a sly fox with a quick mind, and he's the most promising playmate she's had. While she's thought it in moments of exasperation, leaving him to die from the disease because death isn't permanent here has never been a real consideration, but the man is -- and she glances very briefly at her phone, pecking the keys to scroll down to the rest of the message so that the pic is at least a little out of the frame -- dangerous.
She likes it, that he's dangerous. It's good fun to tease the sheep, but sometimes, she craves a challenge. He isn't half-bad for that, not that she'll tell him, and there's... something else, something she shoves so violently to the back of her mind it almost sends her reeling.
Still, to be in close quarters with him like that in private, even with both of them sick... well, she doesn't exactly have a choice, does she? She could ask one of her friends to go in her place, but they wouldn't know what to ask, how to get to the heart of the matter. They'd be easily overwhelmed and there's a very good chance he wouldn't take them seriously and she'd wind up having to go, anyway.
Plenty of time to think on the way, she supposes. She caps a cough with a hand and swallows stubbornly.
Right. She needs coffee and she needs to move. She needs to get there and back before this worsens. He already passed out at least once that she knows of and he's... well, he's, uh, obviously in better shape than she is, so she should hurry. ]
dont worry about it
u need 2 focus on figuring out ur secret cause ur gonna tell it me
[ That and more. She's been wanting to learn more about him and she isn't about to pass up the opportunity. Two birds, one stone and all that.
She'll just have to be mindful of her health and the time. ]
ur coming over arn't u? can u just not? I'm fiiiiine really. dont worry.
[ He's actually a little terrified. He'd usually call up Okonogi by now, in a panic and have her talk some sense into him- but he doesn't have anyone... No friends as of yet, just a few people whos names he would recognize from talking to them on the Oracle. Nao is the closest thing to anything he has...
... And he wants to keep her close, become better friends and so on, so for her to come and see him when he's weak like this? It doesn't bode well. ]
Here. I'll be decent when u get here.
[ He drops the name of the Inn he's staying in, the Dragonkin looking after him, having convinced him it's best to be with someone when you're like this. ]
[ She'd been ready to tide him over with responses until she found him. He isn't the only one who has skill when it comes to Seeking. Stellari may not be her city, but it's a city and she's smart, resourceful, assertive when it comes to tracking people, things, answers down. She certainly wasn't asking for permission, not when its his life was at stake, but then he surprises her with the name of an inn and another rather important detail she'd have been sure to address herself before she got there.
Why the change of heart? She wonders, but thinks it's better not to question him now or perhaps at all about it. For some reason, she thinks he can trust his word this time. ]
thank u ill see u soon
[ No emoji this time. She's that serious about getting to him and she's on the move, stifling the occasional little cough along the way. ]
[ Soon isn't as soon as she would have liked, but it's still soon. Sometime after that last text, she finds the inn and is directed to the room he's staying in by the clerk at the front desk.
Under normal circumstances, she might've simply tested the door and walked in had it been unlocked and seemed safe enough. This time, she presses her door to the ear for a moment, listening, then draws herself back and knocks. ]
Hoshina-kun, you better be decent! You promised! [ She calls. ]
--Nyao~ You can come in, I'm purrfectly decent! Just having a wash!
[ He called out from inside the room, his voice sounding a little muffled on account of the mouthful of petals he just coughed up before she arrived.
When she does open the door, the first thing she will see is the bed he's taken over while he's sick. A body-shaped lump in it ( ps. it's just pillows and his jacket, but shhhh~ ) and a cat sitting on the pillow in a ring of flower petals and leaves. The cat, a black tabby with midnight blue eyes, currently licking its paw. The real Hoshina is propped up behind the door, having gotten up for a drink of water.
Is she really going to fall for this? If so, she should be expecting another 11 cats in here somewhere, right? ]
[ Nao's eyes slide from the cat to the door, a finger slowly, silently lifted to her lips for the benefit of the cat. What Hoshina likely doesn't realize is she's well within range to properly sense him now and she knew he was behind the door well ahead of opening it. In retrospect, she should have thrown it open, but with the way the building is made, it wouldn't have hit him, anyway.
That just leaves the present in which he's obviously feeling well enough to try to prank her like this. Oh, she's gonna get him. ]
Hoshina-kun!
[ She gasps and steps in hurriedly, leaving the door open as she approaches the cat on the bed. The gasp is very real as Nao has honed in on the cat's charm points. She doesn't know where he got the kitty from, but she's already determined he or she is coming back to the cottage with her when she leaves. ]
I didn't think you were serious about the twelve cats thing!
[ She kneels by the bed and leans forward so she can better observe the kitty as she continues her act except it isn't totally an act. She is, in fact, fawning over the cat.
So cute! ]
Shouldn't there be eleven more of you? I wonder where they could be.
[ She's going to pet the kitty because she deserves to pet the kitty. She's only become more deserving since she got there, but as she does, she's honing in on certain sights, scents. Should've put her air-filtering mask back on before she stepped in, but she's not sure how helpful it will be even when she does. She has to be quick to remove it when she coughs, after all. ]
You're not planning on playing a trick on me, are you? That'd be so mean!
[ Dabbing his forehead with the wet cloth he had in one hand, as he closed the door with the other, letting her know he was there. (Not knowing that she already clocked him the second she was in the building.)
Wobbling as he stepped forward, stumbling and catching himself by holding the post on the foot of the bed, doubling over, covering his mouth and spluttering out a handful of petals and a small splattering of blood as his laughter was clearly too much for his feeble lungs to handle right now. ]
Man, I was hoping you weren't that gullible, but no~
[ Tipping his head aside. He looked kinda shit, hair stuck to his face with sweat beads trickling down from his temples and a damp ring around the neck of his t-shirt. Eyes closed as they usually were, but there was a ring of black around them, bags that weren't there before. ]
[ One of her hands belongs to the kitty now, but the other is free to deck him. Being ambidextrous has its pros, after all! But she should have decked him before she got a look at him. Seeing him in such condition is enough that she gasps, retracts her hand from the cat, and pushes herself to stand. The scent of his blood filling the air catches in her nose and it almost, almost budges her appetite from beneath the suppressing weight of the coffee in her system. Just enough for her brain to register the particular scent of his blood as distinct, Good, d --
She stops it right there. Wills every thread of thought and feeling snapped and refocused, the others cast down. It happens in a blink and she's reaching to tug the mask out of her pocket and press it to her face. ]
Why didn't you call me?
[ It's the first thing out of her mouth, concern running hot simultaneously next to other unseemly thoughts. ]
C'mon. You need to sit down right now.
[ She's already stepping forward, ready to help him if he needs it -- and whether he likes it or not. ]
[ Yeah, they've only played one game together, sure, it was one hell of a game of cat and mouse but he's genuinely surprised by her concern for him. What a nice girl. Hoshina smiles then, as he thinks about how she actually showed up for him, regardless of how little they know each other. It's touching, it really is. ]
It's okay, I've had worse than this before.
[ Coughing, covering his mouth as his throat wheezes and chest ruckles a thick, wet sound. Knees going weak as he stumbles towards her as she steps forward, falling into her arm as he tries to keep his face away from her. Seeing the mask she pressed to her face and all. ]
You shouldn't. I don't want to infect you. You should keep your distance, I'm fine, just... just a little warm is all. Need to lay down...
[ He's in pain, coughing blood, knees so weak he can't stay upright on his feet, trying to keep his face away from hers because he no doubt saw her mask, and he's... concerned about her? It's jarring, the realization. Not only that, but his words. He didn't make a single attempt to command her and she's not sure how she feels about that. ]
Woah! Not on the floor, not on the floor!
[ She is sure she can figure it out later and takes a breath before lowering it so she can slip the arm holding it beneath his and sort of lift him up and onto the bed. She'd caught him when he fell into her, but it's mostly her moving his weight, so she's careful not to move them in such a way that he hits his head on the bedside table or the head board or anything else. The footing is a little tricky, but she manages not to fall on top of him.
Making light of things when he's dying... he's the one dying right now, so why's she feel so scared? ]
'M gonna need you to speak your truth before you can't speak, Hoshina-kun.
[ Her voice is too soft, her focus centered. She couldn't keep a smile on her face right now to save her life. ]
'S really rude to go and die when you've got a cute guest, y'know?
[ Groaning as he felt out for the bed, the cat stretching up and rubbing against his hand as he gently stroked it to make it move out of the way, not wanting to lay on it.
His body was hot. His surprisingly muscular arms and chest were damp with sweat and stained with pollen and crushed petals. Slumping down onto the bed, breathing laboured breaths as he covered his mouth and coughed out another handful of petals. ]
S-sure, sure, we can talk I just... I need to...
[ Tugging the hem of his shirt up, struggling to peel it up and over his head on his own. His ribs discoloured with pretty flower-shaped bruises, veins looking like vines just under the skin, moving and growing, strangling his lungs with each pained breath he took.
Maybe he was suffering so badly because the secret he kept had been in his family for generations? A secret that wouldn't hold any importance here, which is why Hoshina doesn't expect it to the the actual secret that's making him ill. ]
--Ha, you hear that, Shiro? Nao-chan thinks you're cute.
[ Talking to the cat as his cheeks flushed with colour. Was his fever getting worse or was he trying to deflect her comment so as not to feel embarrassed about it? ]
[ Later, when Nao is processing everything that's happening between them here today, she might realize it, that it's possible he was deflecting her comment because he was embarrassed. She doesn't miss that his cheeks have flushed. She caught it, looking between his face and the damage the disease has wrought throughout his body. It coincides with her comment and his addressing Shiro-chan.
Right now, she's worried for him and she's scared and her heart is too loud in her ears and she can't -- she can't do anything, can she? She can't -- she can.
She forgets sometimes that she drank the blue potion, that she can use that small magic as a pain reliever despite that she uses it often when the scar on her upper left arm hurts. It won't stop the roots, but it can help him feel even just slightly better, so she doesn't hesitate to place her hand atop his chest where she might otherwise have done just that and fallen off the bed. It takes the form you're used to, BB had said. What she's used to is directly channeling spiritual energy, manipulating and controlling it. It's what she does now, but instead of casting it like a blanket, she wills it to flow through him to ease the pain he's feeling. ]
You're stalling.
[ She feels a sudden pang in her upper left arm. She ignores it and stifles a small cough, stubbornly swallowing another petal. The taste of her own blood lingers, having clung in the back of her throat. ]
[ Laying on his back, like a wounded soldier, one arm lulling to hang off of the side of the bed, Shiro jumping down to paw and pad at it like a toy, his fingers wriggling to keep the cat entertained as Nao fusses over him.
He doesn't flinch when she touches him, but he does rest his hand upon hers, sliding it up higher on his chest, resting it over his heart where the beating is irregular. His hand is cold and clammy, even the blood staining his palm has cooled and congealed by now ( he'll apologize later for touching her with such a dirty hand. ) ]
I'm not stalling ... I just... I can't think of anything...
[ Opening his eyes just a little, to better look at her, the deep dark violets looking paler than they usually would, his cheeky mischievous glint missing from them for now. Shrugging as he tries to smile at her. ]
I dunno, a truth? A secret? ... I'm envious of my older brother, he's better at everything than me... He's a Capitan whereas I'm just a Vice Capitan?
[ He waits a moment, thinking perhaps that's it... Until he feels a bloom blossoming in the back of his throat. ]
[ This is it, her element, and her focus sharpens unseen. It's still him. The world around them isn't an immediate concern and if it need be, she's more than prepared to handle it immediately, decisively.
His hand is so cold, though. Her fingers twitch slightly against his skin. She maintains the healing magic in its way and wills her energy to flow beyond the spell, expanding outward into a small bubble around them. It isn't a lot, nothing strenuous, nothing so intense the spiritual pressure would be noticeable to the average, spiritually blind human. To her, this is as natural as blinking and just as effortless. Her hand is actively warmer and so is the air in the bubble surrounding them, softly somehow.
Nao wants him to be as comfortable as he can as they go into this, to stay with her.
An elder brother he's envious of, that's family. A difference in skill in everything? Too broad, there's some specific things that hit home more than likely... and it's in connection with their occupation maybe. That's right. On the network, he'd said he was a Vice Captain of the Defense Force. She's wondered about that.
They're both in the same occupational field then and there's competition. He's actively envious, he's stating their ranks -- it isn't new. In fact, with family being the core about which he's speaking... wait, wait. No running too far ahead. ]
Of what? What is it that the two of you do that there's such competition between you?
[ Her hand felt good. Soothing as she let him move it across his chest. Licking his lips and swallowing as he arched up and shuffled to get more comfortable, taking a slow breath, the warmth she created around them feeling good as he inhaled.
Hoshina wasn't thinking about trolling her anymore, about jokes and saving face. He was scared. This felt too real. He'd been badly wounded in battle before, but nothing like this. The hand he had on top of hers trembled a little as he swallowed down another mouthful of petals before turning his head aside and coughing up vines of bloodstained ivy, choking as they took a little too long to come out of his mouth. Pretty splatters of blood painted his lips and cheek. ]
I'm scared, Nao-chan... It's getting harder to breathe...
[ Swallowing again as he groaned and shifted where he lay, slipping his fingers between hers to give her hand a little weak squeeze.
Focus, Soshiro, focus. He thought to himself as she asked her questions. Taking his time to steady his breathing before answering. ]
Soichiro is just better than me at everything. Father always said I should just give up... T-that I wasn't worthy of our family name... That my swordsmanship wasn't good enough... My techniques are weaker than his...
[ Coughing, his muscles tensing as he tried not to cough too hard. ]
We kill Kaiju... Monster hunters. We both use swords when the rest of the force uses guns... We're unique. H-he's the captain of the 6th Division... He trained with me as a kid. But it's not that... I'm still coughing... It must be something else... I don't love Okonogi-chan or Mina-senpai... Not like that. Sure I tease and flirt but nothing thats secret... We all know about Kafka, about Kaiju no. 8 so its n-not that either...
[ Nao listens intently as he speaks. When he slips his fingers between hers and gives her hand that weak little squeeze, she grasps his hand and holds it tightly as if the very act might be enough to keep him grounded there with her.
He's scared and she's scared and this is... this is all she can do? Is this really all she can do for him? It's more than that person could do at that time for anyone, but this isn't then and she isn't that person. She isn't so small and so weak and so powerless. She is more; she can do more. She has to do more, be more, be enough to help him break through the disease's stranglehold before it's too late.
Focus!!
A family of monster hunters whose name is proudly distinguished by their sword techniques. A martial clan that dates back to the Warring States period at least. She and Hoshina may not be from the exact same Earth. She isn't sure, but she is sure that any beings humans dub "monsters" and hunt that are worthy of a defense force in modern times ("'gram," he'd said, like an idiot) would flourish in times of conflict and war. That's when the blade is best trained, skills best honed, and a style of swordsmanship may make its name and that of the clan that bore it.
The signs of such a clan are there: proud, competitive, disparaging of any talent judged lesser with a cold determination to turn him from the sword to save face, traditional, secretive, focused. The whole family should celebrate and support the person judged their best, the heir. Bow your head or they'll break it.
It hits too close to home.
They didn't break him.
She wasn't made for giving up.
His secret must rest with his family. From the way he spoke, his obvious pride about his occupation and position, she doesn't think the Hoshina clan makes up the entirety of the Defense Force or even a considerable number. He would've said something. He's feverish and in pain and too raw speaking of his life like he is, like -- like he's really going to die.
There is so much doubt and stress and pain and fear, so much weight bearing down on his soul. She sees it, feels it, him, with every shallow breath, every irregular beat of his heart beneath her hand. In this moment, he's weakened, but he is strong, so strong. A lesser man would surely have succumbed by now, perhaps even years ago under the thumb of his clan before this parasite could even touch him, but Hoshina, he's a fighter. He's resilient, and she? Fast.
Grasping every thread, every piece, pulling, crossing, placing --
Is she fast enough to beat the god of Death? Doesn't matter. She has to be.
Nao squeezes his hand, runs her thumb lightly along the back of his knuckles to call his attention to her. That's all she needs, to beat Death itself and Hoshina speak his truth and the parasite that's killing him die. In that instant -- between her masterful use of psychosomatic illusions, which by definition grant her control of the mind and senses, and her ability to create, channel, shape, and otherwise manipulate spiritual energy -- she can prompt his immune system to act and his body to begin properly healing in earnest. She's already in direct physical contact, already intensely focused on him. Seeing, sensing, feeling --
[ Had Hoshina had his sense about him a little more, he might not have been so open with her. At least not right off the bat like this. He hardly knew her! Other than her being his new playmate, she was an enigma to him~ He was interested beyond the surface level but he wanted to find out more about her on his own terms. This felt like cheating!
Still, no matter how he looked at it, he was dying... She was saving his ass, he could let it slide for now and make up for lost time after.
The way she tended to him was so careful and caring, he wouldn't have expected it. And, maybe it was nice, having someone care for him like this? He's going to have to pay her back for this, even if she doesn't want him to. Squeezing her hand as he coughed, cracking open those violet eyes of his as she spoke, voice slightly muffled by her own cough and that mask. ]
Do they--? The Force? ... N-no... We're not allowed to tell a-anyone. B-but never mind that... Are you okay?
[ Reaching up with a feeble hand, fingers brushing across her mask lightly. ]
[ His fingers brush across her mask. His answer, his question hang in her air, ringing in her ears. Beneath her amber-colored contacts is a deep, dark black onyx. They're turned, her eyes, and catch that violet she's been chasing since the day they met. It wasn't long ago at all by her standards; and yet, it feels so long, as if she'd been waiting to meet him forever, to be seen by him.
It's impossible. It makes no sense, the sort of witchcraft decried when a single person has two colored sets of eyes, two names, and the dead walk among the living. She isn't that person, that's what she always claims; and yet, Nao hasn't been alone in her pursuit of his color. Long before Nao Mizushita was made, Haruka Shizuoka searched and searched and found no one outside her clan who could meet her onyx gaze.
He'd made her curious that day. Makes her wanna open her mouth and tell him the truths she isn't allowed starting with the answer to his question: "Are you okay?" ]
No, I'm not okay.
[ The words are poured like a light shower before a torrential rain and she knows. This Soshiro Hoshina couldn't possibly know what he's achieved.
If he takes it from her, she'll never forgive him. ]
Are you okay?
[ It couldn't be anything like tears making her eyes glassy. That wouldn't make sense. If that viral lifeform would just die, then maybe they could breathe.
[ Hoshina makes a point of always having his eyes closed, or practically closed, just cracked open, he finds it helps to keep the mystery when meeting new recruits, makes him seem more a badass, like he doesn't need to see, to cut down Kaiju. So the fact he even looked at her in the first place, with open eyes, all deep and dark, violet like a nebula, meant his guard was completely down right now.
The way he looked at her like he was looking through her. Like he could see through her contacts and at the curious if not cautious girl looking back at him. A glaze in his hues, the fever breaking making him weary and weak as beads of sweat rolled down his temples. Maybe it was something she said or did without him knowing, but something had changed, something deep inside him. These vines, though they had yet to withdraw had at least stopped crushing and squeezing his lungs and heart as they buried in. Allowing him a moment to take a deep breath, coughing as no petals tumbled from his lips, just a small splatter of blood. ]
I'll be okay... If you are...
[ The trembling reach of his hand, the one that had brushed across her mask, moved to cup the side of her face, offering her a weak little smile. ]
My chest... It- it's not as tight. S-still hurts like a motherfucker but...
[ Hoshina sighs, sinking back into the bed, breathing a little more stable thought the vines and flowers can still be seen just under and poking through the surface of his pale skin. ]
[ She almost tilted her cheek into his hand, almost. To be seen, to be the recipient of those words with that condition placed upon her is... she couldn't describe it if asked. She wouldn't know where to begin. It's a swell and a shake and her heart pounding thunderously in its rattling cage. She sees him and hears him and feels him and she doesn't turn away, doesn't leave this contact at one hand.
Nao raises the pointer of her free hand and gently presses it to his lips. Still worrying about her... this man... ]
Try to relax, okay?
[ She moves the finger at his lips to rest five at his throat. She doesn't grip, doesn't press, just rests her fingertips atop his skin so as to give herself another five points through which to work. She doesn't want to pull her eyes from his, but she does so as to better see what she's doing, and oh, in the instant she sees the invasive energy fading, she is doing.
He's hers now.
It's her threads to his senses, his energies, and she is nothing if not skilled in manipulation. With energy, it comes naturally to her, her understanding innate. It's a simple matter of directing the flow to achieve the results she desires and his body will respond to her prompting. Blood will clot. His immune system and natural healing ability will experience a sudden resurgence and she, she can see it all, sense it, feel him beneath her still warming fingertips, her hand.
She doesn't remove them, but she does turn her eyes back to his as if to ask him how he feels now. Please say "better". ]
[ Even if she doesn't tilt her face into his hand, his fingers still twitch against her warming cheek, thumb gently stroking a little even as he fights back the shake the muscles in his arms want to surrender to. He has to be strong, if not for himself, for her. Hoshina has been there where Defence Force members died, out in the field, bloodied and afraid, and he doesn't want to look like that now, doesn't want to put that burden on her.
Still, as she pressed her finger to his bloodstained lips as if to hush him to silence, Hoshina smiled that cunning little smile of his and pursed his lips, pressing a soft kiss to the pad of her finger, humming out a sound of acceptance. Okay, he'll be quiet. Nodding in agreement. You win, Nao. ]
--Hnng?
[ Grunting out a questioning sound as she slides her hand from his lips to around his throat. He wants to pass a cheeky comment, something something choke me, something something dinner first? But thinks better of it as he starts to feel the way his body responds to her touch. Just what was her deal? She had a multitude of neat tricks up her sleeves, didn't she? He'd have to try and remember to ask her about it sometime if they both survive this horrible sickness.
Come to think about it. That's strange... He can almost feel his body rejecting the plants. Didn't feel great mind you, but there was a distinct feeling of wilting and withdrawing deep within his veins where they had tangled and clogged.
Taking a few panicked breaths and writing a little on the bed, the sheets tangling around his middle and legs as he panted then coughed, feeling inside his mouth to pull a rotten flowerhead from the back of his throat. Whatever she was doing, whatever he had said to trigger it, seemed to have disagreed with the plants. ]
N-Nao-chan? ... W-What are you doing? How are you d-doing that?
[ She tries to spit it out like a quip and mostly succeeds. She didn't actually say the words aloud, but it was implied through the finger she put to his lips that he... that he kissed, and with a flash of that familiar cunning smile of his, which has nothing to do with the bit of red dusting her cheeks or her heart doing that thing it actually didn't just do. Neither did that -- he wasn't stroking -- she needs to stay focused, damnit!
She'd turned her eyes sharply back to his body. Ducking her head to hide her cheeks won't work given their positioning. His movements are good, though. The rotten flowerhead he pulled from the back of his throat was not the prettiest thing she's ever seen, but it's a good sign. His body is rejecting and purging the virus. Good. ]
[ He said with a weak chuckle, his breathing was coming easier now but it still hurt a little.
She was easier to fluster than he first thought. She should have expected the little finger kiss, what else was he supposed to do when she pressed her digit there!? Bite it? No, he couldn't do that, not when she was somehow making his illness weaken its hold over him. Lightly stroking her face a while longer, noticing how warm the red-ish apples of her cheek had become where the flush bloomed into her smooth, pale skin. She was cute, he shouldn't have let Shiro take credit for her cuteness... Speaking of that cat, it decided to rub itself against Nao's leg with a low rumble of a purr.
As Nao dipped her head, so too did Hoshina, if only so he could watch her. Those bright, deep violet eyes of his were still open for the time being as if being sick had made him forget his usual foxish slant and smirk. ]
You'd gag an already choking man? And here I was just starting to think you had a heart, Nao-chan... You wound me.
You're obviously feeling better, running at the mouth like you are.
[ Nao returns smoothly despite her lingering color and the fact that she is quite conscious that he's observing it. There's little she can do to address it or play it off right now, not that the latter usually works. She's much too fair-skinned for it to be anything but what it is and what it is is... inconsequential! So much so that she can work 'blind,' turning her eyes briefly down at Shiro, then up to catch those deep violet eyes of Hoshina's.
Who knows when she'll get to see them again? ]
Shiro-chan agrees with me or [ and she pauses ] am I misunderstanding and that's what you're asking of me?
[ Her head pounds with each word. She's been so intently focused on the task at hand, the severity of her own worsening symptoms is only just beginning to be realized. It hadn't moved that fast, had it?? She clears her throat, something tickling the blood-coated back of it. She feels.. cold? She shouldn't, not with how she's warming the air in the bubble around him. ]
It has a mind of its own, I keep it running on an emergency generator, in case of situations just like this~
[ Coughing as he chuckled, yet there were no petals, just a little splatter of pollen mixed with drying blood, the worst of his infection seeming to have passed, thankfully.
It's cute, the way she flusters when she helps him. There's something about her, he can't quite put his finger on. He wants to say she reminds him of someone from home, but, no... It's not that at all, still, he can't shake this feeling that feels like he's known her most of his life. A side effect of the illness? Must be. I mean, what else could it be? ...
His eyes narrow slightly as he starts to feel better, not needing to look as intently at her now. Letting his arm that was dangling off the bed, feeling around for Shiro as Nao mentioned them. Fingertips brushed the side of Nao's leg before they found and scratched the cat. ]
At least buy me dinner first, okay? I don't usually let a lady get what she wants until the third date, and this is what, our second one?
[ Ah but, all jokes and Schrödinger's flirting aside, is she okay? ]
--Hey, take it easy, alright... C'mere, you've done too much.
[ Reaching up and gently wrapping his arm around her, pulling her in close as she scoots aside to sit on the edge of the bed, he's going to motion to lay her down if she'll let him if she doesn't mind resting in his warm sheets that is. Feeling to remove her mask with a concerned look about his clammy face. ]
You're sick too huh? Tch and here you were, worrying about me you dummy... Breathe okay, you've got this.
[ As he'd laughed, she'd wondered: What's that saying about how you shouldn't roll your eyes 'cause they might get stuck? What if you never stopped rolling them? What if you rolled your eyes at somebody forever? Would his eyes roll if they followed hers? Wouldn't that be funny? Going 'round and 'round and round like -- that's fever thoughts, isn't it?
Ah, and that was her leg and that, that was a... joke! A joke that had the red originally staining her cheeks reach the tippy-top of her ears. She'd been about to start on him about it. She made to stammering, but she didn't get the chance to really refute it between his words and the realization that the heat inside her chest borne from her body's confusion about the disease had intensified into a near-roaring furnace.
She feels cold, but she's started to sweat and it's harder to swallow the petals and blood in the back of her throat. It's a bit more like choking them back and she should know what's happening; yet, there's a discordant note of confusion reverberating in her. He's pulling her in when she should be hopping off the bed and preparing to head out. (Why's she letting him?) It's a trip from Stellari to Somnius and she needs to make it much more quickly than she'd thought and he's talking -- it's an okay sound, not nearly so harsh to her aching head as when she herself speaks -- and he's reaching to -- ]
D-don't!
[ No sooner than she says it do her hands scramble to secure her mask against the scent of blood permeating the room. Their mission changes. One abruptly pulls her mask down and out of the way whilst the other caps her mouth as she's suddenly racked with a coughing fit, rasping and wet. It shakes her whole body. Most people wouldn't be able to move in the midst of such a thing; and yet, she's trying to pull away.
There's a mantra waiting to be chanted. Perhaps Hoshina is familiar with the dishonest insistence of, "I'm fine," that's waiting behind the blood and petals still coming up her throat? If not, he's due to be introduced... if she ever stops coughing, that is. ]
[ She should have said that comment about rolling her eyes at him out loud, he would have got a good laugh ot of that one. It would have been a great way to see if he really was feeling better too, seeing as the laughing would have inevitably led to a coughing fit.
Honestly, Soshiro was the kind of guy who, even if he was about to die, with no way out, would still find a way to smile and joke about something, after all he won't go down without a fight, regret or a smile on his foxy face. She'll learn that the more they hang out... If she ever wants to see him again after this, that is. ]
It's okay, I think we have the same affliction. It's not like we can infect each other more than we already are... Just, breatheNao-chan... You're suffering. I want you to lay down on your side and just take small, little breaths, okay?
[ He was still weak, still suffering, it didn't just vanish the moment he confessed his secrets. As the plants inside of him started to die off and withdraw, they still ached with each twist, making him wince every so often. He managed to stumble over to the window and even though it was cold outside, opened the window to make it easier for them both to breathe.
Hopefully with a little distance between them, what with Hoshina now slumped against the wall and sliding down it, just under the window, she might feel like she can relax a little? ]
Y'know... I don't know how it's connected but... I started to feel a little better when we were talking.
[ As her coughing had subsided, she'd finally allowed the warming bubble she had sustained to dissipate. Initially, she offered no response to his request that she lie down, having had something more odd than blood, chestnut and red rose petals in her throat. It necessitates a pinch to draw whatever it was from out of her throat. A near-gag later, there's what appears to be fair portion of prickleless stem between her fingers and her eyes are half-lidded for her efforts.
Lying down sounds like a good idea now that she can maybe begin to attempt to catch her breath, so she does, and on her side like he'd asked with her mask at rest beneath her chin. It's almost entirely her blood she smells; it's certainly all she tastes, and that... is that fine? It's not. The roots are piercing her lungs and her body is trying to heal the wounds, making her hot, too hot.
Still, she can muddle through her thoughts. She's been listening to Hoshina speak, thinking, watching him. Kind of hates how far away from her he is right now. She didn't want that, she just... didn't want to risk hurting him if the scent of his blood in the air got to be too much. ]
Hmm?
[ Just loud enough to be heard. How? That's what she's asking, bloodied fingers fiddling with the hem of her dress. Pulled up a little? Just enough to allow a little circulation. She's cold, but she knows she's hot. ]
[ Seeing her start to lie down, on her side like he asked, drew a small smile from his lips, head tipping aside, his bowlcut bangs sticking in place from the sweat glazing his forehead. As he sat there, contemplating getting up, wishing his muscles to move, Shiro meowed and used him as a stepping stone to climb up and walk across the window sill.
Watching as Nao pulled and gagged those stems out, making him swallow and chew what was left in his own mouth, not wanting to have to do the same and possibly throw up (he didn't have much of a gag reflex after all.) After he was done clearing his own throat, he pushed himself forward, crawling over to the bed, feeling up to the basin at the skin on his way and grabbing a sodden wet cloth. ]
You're origins are shutting down. The fever is heating you up to unnatural temperatures. You need to cool off before unrepeatable damage is done and you pass out, nao-chan... here, lemme help you... Please?
[ Though he asked, he had no intention of waiting for a response. Making it to the side of the bed, he knelt up and with one hand, brushed her bangs aside, squeezing some of the cool water from the flannel directly onto the forehead, smoothing it over her skin with his fingertips. ]
Don't jump... It's gonna be cold, but you need to cool down, sharpish.
[ With that said, Soshiro pressed the wet, cool cloth against her thigh, wiping across it like he was bathing her, slipping it between her legs then down under her knee, holding it there with a squeeze, trying to cool her pressure points fast. ]
[ Cold? Hot. Cold..? Hot?? The sensations muddle for a brief moment as she blinks slowly at him, her eyes ultimately resting half-lidded. He's closer now. That's good, what she wants. She just needs to rest a minute before she pulls enough of herself together to speak and speak the right things.
Nevermind that she can't really afford a minute, or can she? Even in this state, she's grasping her threads, quietly redirecting the energy her body would otherwise command to heal the injuries being inflicted upon her. It's the only way any attempt at cooling her down can succeed and the only reason she knows this is thanks largely to Kanemaru-kun. He's why she recognizes what Hoshina's doing. That, and the fact that Hoshina asked her to let him help her rather than told her what to do is why she does little more than tense about the clotch, where it's moved. (Some small part of her knows it wasn't a question, but he posed it as a question and it's excuse enough for her to take it.) ]
Two.
[ She doesn't marvel at how rough her voice sounds, choking back another cough and swallowing defiantly. She inhales sharply, gold-amber eyes searching briefly for his. (She shouldn't be saying this. She shouldn't say --) ]
This body, at one point if you took prints, would've registered two names.
[ Would've. ]
Once upon a time, Detective-san. [ She sighs the words and reaches... to try to boop his nose with her pointer. Stupidly, stubbornly. It's important!! ]
[ The fact that she didn't fight him off or try and say nothing cheeky or playful, let him know she was suffering. He didn't feel good by any means, but he didn't feel worse, which was enough for him to stop focusing on himself and solely on her.
Moving the cloth from under the back of her knee, he gently took hold of her ankle and raised it up so he could bath the rest of her leg before dipping it back in the sink to cool back off, considering she'd heated up the fabric. ]
Huh? Two?
[ Two what, exactly? Soshiro covered his mouth and coughed, a wilting petal splattering in his palm. That was better than the live ones from before, at least. Grabbing the wet cloth again, never minding to wring it out, as he knelt over closer to her face, gently dabbing her throat and across her collarbone, watching the water run down her skin and onto the bed beneath her. Softly, he brushed her hair back from her face as he listened.
He blinked and opened his deep violet eyes when she booped him on the nose. Keeping them open as he listened with a shake of his head and a smile. Detective-san, really now. ]
I always knew there was more to you than what meets the eye, Nao-chan.
[ The left corner of her mouth tugs slightly upward, half-lidded gold-amber greeting his deep violet and catching his smile. See? It was super important and now that her hand's mission has been accomplished, she allows it to drop and settle atop her stomach. ]
Think 'bout me much?
[ There's something more to be said, but the words die on her lips as her stomach interjects and its muscles contract suddenly, painfully. She clenches her teeth, pressing her hand and digging her fingernails through the fabric of her dress into her skin to distract from the combined pain. The roots that had been working to pierce her lungs had slowed with her initial confession, but their grasping has not. It's weaker, more sporadic than steadfast and determined, but it hasn't halted completely.
Flowers are still growing in her chest, a weight that hangs heavy and dips down from her lungs through the black hole that is her stomach into her unending Hunger.
It dulls and she gasps, not quite relaxing completely, but the direction is there. It happened so fast; and yet, it seemed like a forever.
Right then. She shouldn't -- ]
One's legally deceased.
[ -- and yet, she does. She wills herself to push past the pain and tension attempting to seize her yet again, to rebel against the disease, to speak these small, monumental truths to him. Just a few when she wants to tell him everything. ]
This [ -- and she blinks twice rapidly -- ] is and isn't my true eye color. I [ -- and here, she trails off, her eyes flickering briefly to his lips, where they linger a second too long before returning to find his eyes -- "I really wanna kiss you," that's what she wants to say, but those red words are swallowed in favor of attempting a deep breath ] -- my favorite ice cream is those little balls from that place, Dippin' Dots.
[ Finally, she pauses to let herself try to breathe, to wait and see. She should be looking inward. Instead, she's looking at him, and how. ]
[ She seemed to be settling a little, even if neither of them was out of the woods yet. At least it hadn't affected either of their sense of humour. He chuckled then softly, as he let the cloth rest against her forehead, gently caressing the side of her face with the back of his fingers, chasing a stray droplet of water as it ran down past her cheek. ]
Yeah, I do... More than I'd usually care to admit.
[ Well, if getting things off their chest was helping kill the flowers, he didn't see the harm in letting slip another little secret, huh? Seeing her wince as she holds her tummy, the way the plants will writhe and move around inside her, coating her organs and choking the space between them? Yeah, he feels helpless and it sucks. ]
Woah there, easy huh, nice slow breaths, like you told me to take. Okay so... You have two names this name and a dead one, that makes you pretty damn interesting Nao-chan. Like a secret agent or something.
[ He's trying to keep the mood light, so she doesn't slip into shock or anything. Hoshina tilts his head when she mentions her eyes, fascinated by the idea that her eyes are some other colour, that she hides for some reason. ]
Oh? What colour are they then? Are they as rare as mine, huh? And well then, soon as you're feeling better, we'll see about getting some Dippin' Dots style ice cream balls yea? Sound like a deal?"
[ He was surprisingly gentle and compassionate when trying to keep her from choking down on the petals, vines and blood she'd been coughing up. ]
[ She's breathing, and with a surer steadiness than moments earlier. It would be easy for her to go to sleep like this, listening to the sound of his voice, the backs of his fingers caressing the side of her face. She doesn't. As the roots shudder and fail, vines and leaves beginning to shrivel and wither, she hangs on his every word, his touch. She reaches, even, to catch his fingers and turns her cheek into them, eyes closed, clenching, unclenching as she tries to redirect her focus from the internal movement, the persisting pain.
Death isn't a painless affair, not even for intrusive plants, vines, and flowers.
Did he say... that he thought about her? That they'd see about getting some Dippin' Dots style ice cream as soon as she was feeling better?
He has no idea what he's saying. Couldn't possibly know, not when it came to the ice cream. The reason why that particular ice cream is her favorite, she hadn't told him that, had she? She hadn't realized until he offered that... that she really wants someone to go with her to get some. Wouldn't undo the past, couldn't bring anyone back, but to have someone go with her, maybe... maybe if it was him, she could finally do that. ]
No take-backs.
[ She breathes the words a little shakily, her body suddenly racked with a small coughing fit as beads of sweat begin to roll at a quicker pace down her head despite the cool towel resting atop her forehead.
No petals this time, just a dab of blood at the corner of her mouth as her fever breaks. That, and a bit tighter grip on his fingers. ]
I promise… And if they don’t have them here, I can wish for them for you.
[ He promises and he intends to keep that promise.
It’s hard, though, watching her suffer. Sure, it’s taking his mind off of his own pain and suffering, but it's horrible watching her fight through it. Smiling when she says ‘no take-backs’ to him, nodding and cupping her cheek in his hand as she nuzzles into it.
He was struggling, feeling his chest bubble with thick, wet clots of blood. Groaning as he noticed she was sweating more, so he dragged himself to the sink again, wringing out the cloth and wetting it again, this time, when he returned to her side, Hoshina slipped onto the bed behind her, laying on his side to spoon her as he draped an arm over her, lazily dabbing the cloth at her head and neck, hoping to sooth her even though he was feeling it again himself. ]
We just… need to break the fever… We’ll be fine come morning… I just know it.
[ At some point at least six hours following Nao's departure from Hoshina's room at the inn, there will be a very insistent knock at his door. Whenever he gets around to opening it, there will be a large package sitting there with what appears to be a note addressed to "Soshiro Hoshina" in whatever translated tongue they speak and read in this world.
The package contains the following:
5 x sweet red apples arranged in Quickest Ripening Order 3 x small chocolate bunnies 4 x juicy oranges arranged in Quickest Ripening Order 1 x loaf of bread 10 x jerky 1 x bag of nuts, triple packaged and sealed with an allergy note 1 x bag equivalent to trail mix, triple packaged and sealed with an allergy note 4 x bags of chips(?) 6 x dark green vegetables 2 x fruit juices 1 x waterskin, full 1 x ticket to the laundry 1 x assortment of personal care items 1 x comfortable blanket 2 x pair of the warmest handmade black socks ever. They're just thick enough to be used as the lightest cabin socks ever invented to combat cold hardwood floors; and yet, they still fit comfortably in regular shoes 1 x bag of kitty treats addressed to Shiro-chan
There handwritten note attached to the package is in their native Japanese. It reads the following:
my DEAREST Hoshina-kun,
I hope this letter finds you in good health. Long are the da OKAY I CAN'T DO IThahaha
Yo! You're accepting this care package. You don't have to like it, but you are accepting it. I did not include a return address, so you can't return it and if you're the type I'm thinking, you can get the idea of repaying me out of your head right Nao!!
On second thought, if you wanna repay me, get better! 'Cause that's the only thing I'll accept.
Pay attention because this next part is SUPER IMPORTANT!!!
If you aren't feeling better, you 1) better call me in a timely fashion, and 2) need to eat more calorie and nutrient dense foods than usual for the next couple days regardless! The let's say "boost" I gave you means your body is working way faster and more efficiently to help you recover, so you've gotta give it what it needs or you'll get super tired. It can be dangerous if you neglect yourself, so at least take this seriously!!!
Try to avoid any epic sword fights over the next couple of days, too. If you're gonna do that, I wanna see!!!
I guess that's it!! Remember you've got one job, ONE JOB: get better!
xoxoxoxoxo,
Nao
p.s: And don't worry! Your secret is safe with me.
p.p.s: tell shiro-chan i love him and i'll see him soon
[ Look at that! Physical evidence of an actual apology from Nao. It's probably worth its weight in gold to someone. Or her phone's been stolen and someone's impersonating her. ]
thougt i heard sumthin over there
[ That would normally be followed by a, "but nao tat ur awake..." ]
Hm, I don't think I ever have been called stubborn.
Yea? Well, 'probably nothing' isn't the name of our cat, so it warrants investigation.
Detective-san is on the case.
[ Oh, he heard that sound from wherever it was. Partly wondering if that was the noise Nao was talking about, or if that was her messing about in her room? ]
Huh? Yes, how else am I gonna see in the dark? It's not like I can see when they're closed y'know?
[ Never been called stubborn? She's about to put the question to him when she pauses instead, wondering if that's even possible. Wasn't every person told they were stubborn at least once when they were a child? "Stubborn," "hard-headed," "bull-headed," some variation, right? But she's distracted from the thought, a giggle escaping and chased by a fond smile that he'd remember her calling him "Detective-san" back then.
She's not just imagining it, is she? He's a little softer right now, not so much edge as when he trolls her during regular waking hours. It's... nice, cute. Is he always like this so soon after waking up? It might be worth it to do a little detective work of her own, find out. Maybe not wake him so early, though. He needs his sleep. He works smart, sure, but he also works hard, doesn't slack in his training. He's so disciplined and he's... he's always doing thoughtful little things, too.
She should do something soon, let him know how much she appreciates him and everything he does. Maybe a couple of somethings. Maybe... practice some discipline herself and not give into the itchy urge to see if she can catch a glimpse of his eyes in the dark when he's checking on a sound in the house in the middle of the night after she woke him up? ]
sorry i forgot about tat im sure i got sum little lanterns when i 1st got teh farm i mightve forgot 2 distribute tem round teh house tho
[ There had been a lot more to do around the farmhouse and the farm than there had for her cottage in Somnius. Securing the most basic purchases for the farm and house had been a priority alongside getting things planted where they needed to be and whatever needed built for planting. She hadn't planned on having a roommate at the farmhouse at the time and her sixth sense allowed her to map her environment, so -- well, she's moving about a little now. She probably isn't going to be able to sleep tonight, anyway. ]
leave tat part 2 me Detective-san! its teh least i can do since ur takin this case so late 4 me
[ Oh, you best believe that he's been called stubborn before, by a great many people, even called himself that when he's taken on a task way bigger than him, and he refuses to back down. Still, he's half asleep, partly thinking with his dreamy, sleepy brain.
He is still half asleep, mind you, maybe thats why she thinks he's so soft and nice? He's texting her back with his eyes open, blinking more so than usual as the dull glow of light from his phone makes his vision blur. Just a few more hours in bed isn't so much to ask for, is it? Then again, it's kinda nice, having this lazy, lighthearted chat with her while he's not yet properly awake. Like a sleepover when you stay up too late to actually go to bed. ]
Don't worry about it. There's a glowbug on my window. Hello there, sir! He's sure to light my way, right?
[ He doesn't realise he typed that to her instead of saying it out loud to the bug... ]
Yea? Well, okay then ꜰᴏxʏᴏᴜ ɪꜱ ᴛʏᴘɪɴɢ. . . Soz, closed my eyes for a second there. You wanna bring me a lantern now? So I don't stub my toe in the dark or something?
[ You're damn right he nodded back off when typing to her, dropping his phone on his face before replying as if nothing happened. ]
[ Nao stares at her phone for a minute. She doesn't have to ask him to know that he hasn't moved an inch out of bed because the cute little fox character that represents him on her top right-hand visual corner map hasn't moved, a simple 'coded' translation of her Sense of Soshiro's energy. "Wide awake," he'd said. She gives her head a shake and steals quietly out of her room, leaving the door cracked as she tends to in case Shiro is inside and cares to follow. ]
yea pretty sure i can manage tat
[ With that, she pockets her phone in one of the little side pockets of the knees' high t-shirt dress she'd sewn a while ago. It doesn't take her long to reach his room, quietly slide the door open, and step inside. She doesn't announce herself. She already did that when she allowed her footsteps to become audible outside his door so as not to surprise him should he be conscious. He's probably drifting in and out, typing the way he has been.
Is the glowbug still on his window? She can't help a small smile, giving it a little wave with her pointer before she places said pointer in front of her lips, a quiet little, "Shhh."
That's all the time she has for conversation with it, though. She tiptoes over to Soshiro's bed, her eyes already sufficiently adjusted to the dark. That along with her sense allows her a good sense of his position. On his back with his arms behind his head? Cute. Probably comfortable, too, a theory she's moving to test. Lying down beside Soshiro, she scootches to close that inch or two of distance between them so she fits right with him, against like some puzzle piece he's been missing, her far hand crossing her side to settle atop his chest as she snuggles up to him, into him properly, as surely as though she belonged there.
He's warm. Smells like him, too, of course. It's nice and she's got a thousand excuses at the ready should he question what she's doing and why she's there. It's not like they don't snuggle on the couch sometimes, so... it's fine, isn't it?
Maybe he'll fall back to sleep. She'll make him breakfast later. ]
[ Listen! He had had every intention of actually getting up and investigating the sound for her! He was the man of the house after all! He couldn't ignore a call for help from Nao! Not that she'd need any help in defending the house, mind you, but still! It was the printable! He'd chastise himself for this later, when he realised that he had fallen asleep on the job.
He knows someone is moving around, even if he's falling back to sleep, he's also not too fussed about it, either, meaning he can kinda tell it's either her or their cat. Still, when the footsteps reach his ears and her slight weight pushes the matress down, Soshiro lets out a soft groan in his light slumber. Feeling her curl up against him, his open robe being pinned down by her body, causing it to fall a little more open across his chest as he shifts his legs and lets one of his arms that was tucked behind his head, fall down and wrap around her. ]
Mmmm... I was just about to come save you, Nao-dear... From the boogieman or... Whatever that sound was...
[ Yawning as he whispered, tipping his head aside and letting it rest against the top of hers. Inhaling deeply and sighing a pleased little sound as he sank a little into her. ]
[ This is... different than snuggling on the couch, Nao's realizing. Not bad-different, but different, different in a way she hadn't considered when she set out from her room for his, that she probably should have considered. Had she, she might have thought to put on something other than a t-shirt dress designed more for spring and summer, which is to say that it's a comfortable fabric that could stand to be a little thicker. It's not like she didn't know he had a robe centered around sleeping activities either! He wore it in the morning sometimes, but she hadn't considered he might sleep with it open or... without pants even though he'd said he was going to put some on and investigate earlier, hadn't he?
He had and that is indeed his bare chest her hand has settled against, his open robe pinned beneath her. Hard as a rock and pleasantly warm, she can feel his heart beating steadily beneath her palm, feel the warmth and flow of that deep, deep violet, the man, the soul she's snuggled against. Her cheeks are tinged red, but not for fear. The clothing situation is... awkward, but there's no question in her mind that she's safe. The realization that she feels safe, though, that stirs something in her head and heart. Before this moment, it's only happened once in the last nine years.
Nao is quiet for a moment, then reaches with a hand to tug his arm a little more securely around her. His little sound and that closeness, that's not awkward in the slightest and her voice is softer when she speaks. ]
How 'bout I just hide in here with you for a little while?
[ He was used to seeing people he was close to in either very tight fitting and revealing clothing, take their battle suits for example, then there were the locker rooms and showers too, so the clothing issue wasn’t something he’d overthink like she was prone to doing so. Sure, it might be a kind of inappropriate? What with them being different sexes and all? But that’s a really old-fashioned way of looking at it. Besides! They’d fallen asleep snuggled up on the couch plenty of times before, the only difference was their sleeping clothes and the fact that this was on Soshiro’s futon!
As Nao snuggles in and pulls his arm further around her, he leans his head down and rests his mouth against the top of her head. He hums a pleased sound as he inhales deeply and slowly. ]
Mmm… You smell… Good…
[ He mutters out in his sleep-addled state, nuzzling a little in before exhaling and shifting in bed to further bring them closer together. His other hand untucks from behind his head and pulls the sheet up over them both. In doing so, he leans a little more on his side towards her, a knee bumping her and slipping between them as he properly cuddles he into his chest now. ]
S-sure… Hide with me here… I… yawn~ I’ll keep you safe Nao-dear…
[ It's the strangest thing. When Soshiro says those five words, it's like something skips inside her. Something tenses and when that tension is released, so much of the tension tightly held in her body is released with it that her next exhalation is slow and deep. She doesn't quite realize it, how suddenly she's relaxed lying with him in the wake of his simple words. There's the slightest adjustment to be made, the tiniest scooch into him as though there was any distance left to close. Then, she snuggles into him, his chest, into his cuddling warmly, perhaps even a little sleepily.
Her eyes aren't half-closed. Couldn't be given how strong her heartbeat is... or is that his? She listens, quiet for a moment, the slightest tinge about her cheeks as she recalls his words from a moment earlier. Which ones? All of them, actually, spoken in time with a certain strong, steady beating her ears have closed in on.
Vaguely, she wonders how much trouble she'd be in if she were to, say... silence his alarms? No, no, she shouldn't do that, but she kind of wants to. She likes it here, how she fits with him, how this feels, smells. She's not as vocal as he is about it, but the hoodie she made for him has the strangest tendency to disappear for a bit after he's worn it for a while and turn up in the oddest places. Like around her shoulders like a cape while she's coding or under her head while she's lying on the couch or... not in her room!
Normal places, actually. They're not unusual at all.
But here? She doesn't have to acquire any mysteriously vanishing articles of his clothing. She can simply breathe and.. maybe... ... ... (she fell asleep.) ]
Me and Del are opening our new diner this Tuesday. We're calling it Lumturo, a lighthouse in a sea of cares! Come over for some good food, a good view, and if you're feeling brave, the stage will be open for anyone to have a crack at performing.
I'll reserve a table for you if you want to come, so tell all your mates too!
[Attached is more information and directions! It's located overlooking Stellari's airship docks.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
TEXT | un: pink.cloud | 2/16 Maybe
He's new to this world and she isn't risking a temporary deprivation of her newest playmate because of some stupid wanna-be hanahaki. ]
hey hoshina!!!
did u catch the fever?
r u coughin up petals??
dont lie 2 me OK? (⁰ ◕〜◕ ⁰)
no subject
Huh, the petals, the fever, has she been stalking him? He wouldn't put it past her. ]
Nao-chan, hey! ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ
Huh? What fever? Oh no~ Are you sick?
Is this some ploy to get someone to bring you flowers for your bedside?
I mean I could come look after you, make those cute bunny-apple segments to cheer you up.
But I'm super duper busy.
1/2
Ugh, she should let him choke on the damned things!! ]
2/2
She's going to drop him in a lake. ]
soooooo ur n Dnial
got it!!
u do realize death doesn care about that right?? (⊃‿⊂)
no subject
Isn't that a river in Egypt???
Death doesn't care about what? How busy I am spitting out petals?
Wait, ppl have DIED from this?
⁀⊙෴☉⁀
no subject
No. ]
have u srsly not ben payin attentin?
i mean i kno im cute an distracting [ This is an indisputable fact. ]
but u still gotta B aware of ur surroudings
at lest a lil bit
u at lest kno what hanahaki is rite?
no subject
Attention to what?
Yea, that's facts. I should stop scrolling your gram and get some work done huh?
[ You dangle the bait and he will bite, ma'am! ]
Wait but, hanakai disease isn't real Even if it was, doesn't it just affect ppl experiencing unrequited love?
LE GASP! ✿♥‿♥✿
Nao-chan! Is this your way of saying you luuuv me? And to think, we've not even been on 1 date yet!
What would my father say?!
1/?
And him nonethewiser that it hit Different. ]
2/?
He's not being serious, of course. Just trolling and that's okay. She misses trolls. Gods, she misses them and the forums! Oh, the forums. ]
3/?
Eh? [ There's this hair-standing-on-end feeling and -- ]
4/?
What the hell is going on?? The only part she should've known was where he was going with that. It was obvious. She might've even done the same, but the heat in her cheeks, brows raised, chest clenching part that makes her want to suddenly stand up and -- and what? What? No, that's a surprise, a surprise that sees her typing in caps before she wholly realizes that's what she's doing. ]
WHO SAID NETHING ABOUT TAT????
IDIOT! B SERIOUS!!
I ONLY ASKED BC
[ Oh. She needs to backtrack, backspace quickly. She absolutely cannot send a message so clearly affected that -- oh. She sent it. ]
5/?
6/?
No, no, no, no, no. No. Nonono. ]
7/?
8/8
Don't give whatever that was another thought. ]
look this is srs
its real but its not regulr ol hanaki
and u can DIE from it so pay attention!!
instead of teh usual its cause u have sum secret ur keepin
speakin ur truth 2 sumbody is teh cure
so watr u hidin hoshina??
its clearly not ur terrible sense of humor
no subject
[ Appears a few times on her screen after that capslock disaster. He's amused, really but he's also taking it seriously. Shitting himself that this is actually something real and deadly, not just some side effect of the potion he drank when he arrived. After all, he can turn into a Kitsune now, sprouting a few flowers doesn't seem as strange as it should have, all things considered. ]
Shesh, you almost broke your tailored tsun tsun image, giving me the caps treatment like that.
No need to shout senpai! (⌐▀͡ ̯ʖ▀)
[ This really is serious huh? Man, and Hoshina doesn't even think his 'secret' is that relevant here. ]
Oh no.
Do they know my secret?
That I'm really a girl in a wig?
That I'm 12 cats in a trench coat?
That I have 2 left hands?
That I invented the work fleek?
That I've never been kissed?
That my favourite movie is Twilight?
That--
Sorry, coughing fit.
[ Hoshina stops typing for a moment to cough up a bunch of petals. ]
no subject
i am not a tsundere
[ He just exasperates her a tiny bit and makes her want to shake the hell out of him a whole lot, that's all. Now that that's been established, she -- twelve cats in a trench coat? Oh, it's stupid to even consider that seriously! But she does love cats.
She shakes it off easily enough and continues reading, pausing at a certain question if only for a very, very brief moment. His last message is concerning. ]
where r u
no subject
Where am I?
Why?
U gonna come bring me some broth? Pruning scissors might be better.
I'm in bed you perv!
[ He snaps a pic and sends it to her. Just him laying in bed, covering his mouth, beady little eyes closed yet you can still see he's smiling... petals over the skin-tight black t-shirt he's wearing. ]
Dunno the name of the place. Some Dragonkin took me upstairs to bed when I passed out in the bar.
Why where r u?
no subject
Get it together, Mizushita!!
Of course, getting it together means assessing the situation properly and formulating a few plans of action before she takes action. Hoshina is a troll, a sly fox with a quick mind, and he's the most promising playmate she's had. While she's thought it in moments of exasperation, leaving him to die from the disease because death isn't permanent here has never been a real consideration, but the man is -- and she glances very briefly at her phone, pecking the keys to scroll down to the rest of the message so that the pic is at least a little out of the frame -- dangerous.
She likes it, that he's dangerous. It's good fun to tease the sheep, but sometimes, she craves a challenge. He isn't half-bad for that, not that she'll tell him, and there's... something else, something she shoves so violently to the back of her mind it almost sends her reeling.
Still, to be in close quarters with him like that in private, even with both of them sick... well, she doesn't exactly have a choice, does she? She could ask one of her friends to go in her place, but they wouldn't know what to ask, how to get to the heart of the matter. They'd be easily overwhelmed and there's a very good chance he wouldn't take them seriously and she'd wind up having to go, anyway.
Plenty of time to think on the way, she supposes. She caps a cough with a hand and swallows stubbornly.
Right. She needs coffee and she needs to move. She needs to get there and back before this worsens. He already passed out at least once that she knows of and he's... well, he's, uh, obviously in better shape than she is, so she should hurry. ]
dont worry about it
u need 2 focus on figuring out ur secret
cause ur gonna tell it me
[ That and more. She's been wanting to learn more about him and she isn't about to pass up the opportunity. Two birds, one stone and all that.
She'll just have to be mindful of her health and the time. ]
no subject
can u just not?
I'm fiiiiine really.
dont worry.
[ He's actually a little terrified. He'd usually call up Okonogi by now, in a panic and have her talk some sense into him- but he doesn't have anyone... No friends as of yet, just a few people whos names he would recognize from talking to them on the Oracle. Nao is the closest thing to anything he has...
... And he wants to keep her close, become better friends and so on, so for her to come and see him when he's weak like this? It doesn't bode well. ]
Here.
I'll be decent when u get here.
[ He drops the name of the Inn he's staying in, the Dragonkin looking after him, having convinced him it's best to be with someone when you're like this. ]
1/2
Why the change of heart? She wonders, but thinks it's better not to question him now or perhaps at all about it. For some reason, she thinks he can trust his word this time. ]
thank u
ill see u soon
[ No emoji this time. She's that serious about getting to him and she's on the move, stifling the occasional little cough along the way. ]
2/2
Under normal circumstances, she might've simply tested the door and walked in had it been unlocked and seemed safe enough. This time, she presses her door to the ear for a moment, listening, then draws herself back and knocks. ]
Hoshina-kun, you better be decent! You promised! [ She calls. ]
no subject
[ He called out from inside the room, his voice sounding a little muffled on account of the mouthful of petals he just coughed up before she arrived.
When she does open the door, the first thing she will see is the bed he's taken over while he's sick. A body-shaped lump in it ( ps. it's just pillows and his jacket, but shhhh~ ) and a cat sitting on the pillow in a ring of flower petals and leaves. The cat, a black tabby with midnight blue eyes, currently licking its paw. The real Hoshina is propped up behind the door, having gotten up for a drink of water.
Is she really going to fall for this? If so, she should be expecting another 11 cats in here somewhere, right? ]
cw: blood, disease, etc. up and down, sorry y'all
That just leaves the present in which he's obviously feeling well enough to try to prank her like this. Oh, she's gonna get him. ]
Hoshina-kun!
[ She gasps and steps in hurriedly, leaving the door open as she approaches the cat on the bed. The gasp is very real as Nao has honed in on the cat's charm points. She doesn't know where he got the kitty from, but she's already determined he or she is coming back to the cottage with her when she leaves. ]
I didn't think you were serious about the twelve cats thing!
[ She kneels by the bed and leans forward so she can better observe the kitty as she continues her act except it isn't totally an act. She is, in fact, fawning over the cat.
So cute! ]
Shouldn't there be eleven more of you? I wonder where they could be.
[ She's going to pet the kitty because she deserves to pet the kitty. She's only become more deserving since she got there, but as she does, she's honing in on certain sights, scents. Should've put her air-filtering mask back on before she stepped in, but she's not sure how helpful it will be even when she does. She has to be quick to remove it when she coughs, after all. ]
You're not planning on playing a trick on me, are you? That'd be so mean!
no subject
Wobbling as he stepped forward, stumbling and catching himself by holding the post on the foot of the bed, doubling over, covering his mouth and spluttering out a handful of petals and a small splattering of blood as his laughter was clearly too much for his feeble lungs to handle right now. ]
Man, I was hoping you weren't that gullible, but no~
[ Tipping his head aside. He looked kinda shit, hair stuck to his face with sweat beads trickling down from his temples and a damp ring around the neck of his t-shirt. Eyes closed as they usually were, but there was a ring of black around them, bags that weren't there before. ]
no subject
She stops it right there. Wills every thread of thought and feeling snapped and refocused, the others cast down. It happens in a blink and she's reaching to tug the mask out of her pocket and press it to her face. ]
Why didn't you call me?
[ It's the first thing out of her mouth, concern running hot simultaneously next to other unseemly thoughts. ]
C'mon. You need to sit down right now.
[ She's already stepping forward, ready to help him if he needs it -- and whether he likes it or not. ]
no subject
[ Yeah, they've only played one game together, sure, it was one hell of a game of cat and mouse but he's genuinely surprised by her concern for him. What a nice girl. Hoshina smiles then, as he thinks about how she actually showed up for him, regardless of how little they know each other. It's touching, it really is. ]
It's okay, I've had worse than this before.
[ Coughing, covering his mouth as his throat wheezes and chest ruckles a thick, wet sound. Knees going weak as he stumbles towards her as she steps forward, falling into her arm as he tries to keep his face away from her. Seeing the mask she pressed to her face and all. ]
You shouldn't. I don't want to infect you. You should keep your distance, I'm fine, just... just a little warm is all. Need to lay down...
no subject
Woah! Not on the floor, not on the floor!
[ She is sure she can figure it out later and takes a breath before lowering it so she can slip the arm holding it beneath his and sort of lift him up and onto the bed. She'd caught him when he fell into her, but it's mostly her moving his weight, so she's careful not to move them in such a way that he hits his head on the bedside table or the head board or anything else. The footing is a little tricky, but she manages not to fall on top of him.
Making light of things when he's dying... he's the one dying right now, so why's she feel so scared? ]
'M gonna need you to speak your truth before you can't speak, Hoshina-kun.
[ Her voice is too soft, her focus centered. She couldn't keep a smile on her face right now to save her life. ]
'S really rude to go and die when you've got a cute guest, y'know?
cw: body horror
His body was hot. His surprisingly muscular arms and chest were damp with sweat and stained with pollen and crushed petals. Slumping down onto the bed, breathing laboured breaths as he covered his mouth and coughed out another handful of petals. ]
S-sure, sure, we can talk I just... I need to...
[ Tugging the hem of his shirt up, struggling to peel it up and over his head on his own. His ribs discoloured with pretty flower-shaped bruises, veins looking like vines just under the skin, moving and growing, strangling his lungs with each pained breath he took.
Maybe he was suffering so badly because the secret he kept had been in his family for generations? A secret that wouldn't hold any importance here, which is why Hoshina doesn't expect it to the the actual secret that's making him ill. ]
--Ha, you hear that, Shiro? Nao-chan thinks you're cute.
[ Talking to the cat as his cheeks flushed with colour. Was his fever getting worse or was he trying to deflect her comment so as not to feel embarrassed about it? ]
no subject
Right now, she's worried for him and she's scared and her heart is too loud in her ears and she can't -- she can't do anything, can she? She can't -- she can.
She forgets sometimes that she drank the blue potion, that she can use that small magic as a pain reliever despite that she uses it often when the scar on her upper left arm hurts. It won't stop the roots, but it can help him feel even just slightly better, so she doesn't hesitate to place her hand atop his chest where she might otherwise have done just that and fallen off the bed. It takes the form you're used to, BB had said. What she's used to is directly channeling spiritual energy, manipulating and controlling it. It's what she does now, but instead of casting it like a blanket, she wills it to flow through him to ease the pain he's feeling. ]
You're stalling.
[ She feels a sudden pang in her upper left arm. She ignores it and stifles a small cough, stubbornly swallowing another petal. The taste of her own blood lingers, having clung in the back of her throat. ]
no subject
He doesn't flinch when she touches him, but he does rest his hand upon hers, sliding it up higher on his chest, resting it over his heart where the beating is irregular. His hand is cold and clammy, even the blood staining his palm has cooled and congealed by now ( he'll apologize later for touching her with such a dirty hand. ) ]
I'm not stalling ... I just... I can't think of anything...
[ Opening his eyes just a little, to better look at her, the deep dark violets looking paler than they usually would, his cheeky mischievous glint missing from them for now. Shrugging as he tries to smile at her. ]
I dunno, a truth? A secret? ... I'm envious of my older brother, he's better at everything than me... He's a Capitan whereas I'm just a Vice Capitan?
[ He waits a moment, thinking perhaps that's it... Until he feels a bloom blossoming in the back of his throat. ]
no subject
His hand is so cold, though. Her fingers twitch slightly against his skin. She maintains the healing magic in its way and wills her energy to flow beyond the spell, expanding outward into a small bubble around them. It isn't a lot, nothing strenuous, nothing so intense the spiritual pressure would be noticeable to the average, spiritually blind human. To her, this is as natural as blinking and just as effortless. Her hand is actively warmer and so is the air in the bubble surrounding them, softly somehow.
Nao wants him to be as comfortable as he can as they go into this, to stay with her.
An elder brother he's envious of, that's family. A difference in skill in everything? Too broad, there's some specific things that hit home more than likely... and it's in connection with their occupation maybe. That's right. On the network, he'd said he was a Vice Captain of the Defense Force. She's wondered about that.
They're both in the same occupational field then and there's competition. He's actively envious, he's stating their ranks -- it isn't new. In fact, with family being the core about which he's speaking... wait, wait. No running too far ahead. ]
Of what? What is it that the two of you do that there's such competition between you?
no subject
Hoshina wasn't thinking about trolling her anymore, about jokes and saving face. He was scared. This felt too real. He'd been badly wounded in battle before, but nothing like this. The hand he had on top of hers trembled a little as he swallowed down another mouthful of petals before turning his head aside and coughing up vines of bloodstained ivy, choking as they took a little too long to come out of his mouth. Pretty splatters of blood painted his lips and cheek. ]
I'm scared, Nao-chan... It's getting harder to breathe...
[ Swallowing again as he groaned and shifted where he lay, slipping his fingers between hers to give her hand a little weak squeeze.
Focus, Soshiro, focus. He thought to himself as she asked her questions. Taking his time to steady his breathing before answering. ]
Soichiro is just better than me at everything. Father always said I should just give up... T-that I wasn't worthy of our family name... That my swordsmanship wasn't good enough... My techniques are weaker than his...
[ Coughing, his muscles tensing as he tried not to cough too hard. ]
We kill Kaiju... Monster hunters. We both use swords when the rest of the force uses guns... We're unique. H-he's the captain of the 6th Division... He trained with me as a kid. But it's not that... I'm still coughing... It must be something else... I don't love Okonogi-chan or Mina-senpai... Not like that. Sure I tease and flirt but nothing thats secret... We all know about Kafka, about Kaiju no. 8 so its n-not that either...
no subject
He's scared and she's scared and this is... this is all she can do? Is this really all she can do for him? It's more than that person could do at that time for anyone, but this isn't then and she isn't that person. She isn't so small and so weak and so powerless. She is more; she can do more. She has to do more, be more, be enough to help him break through the disease's stranglehold before it's too late.
Focus!!
A family of monster hunters whose name is proudly distinguished by their sword techniques. A martial clan that dates back to the Warring States period at least. She and Hoshina may not be from the exact same Earth. She isn't sure, but she is sure that any beings humans dub "monsters" and hunt that are worthy of a defense force in modern times ("'gram," he'd said, like an idiot) would flourish in times of conflict and war. That's when the blade is best trained, skills best honed, and a style of swordsmanship may make its name and that of the clan that bore it.
The signs of such a clan are there: proud, competitive, disparaging of any talent judged lesser with a cold determination to turn him from the sword to save face, traditional, secretive, focused. The whole family should celebrate and support the person judged their best, the heir. Bow your head or they'll break it.
It hits too close to home.
They didn't break him.
She wasn't made for giving up.
His secret must rest with his family. From the way he spoke, his obvious pride about his occupation and position, she doesn't think the Hoshina clan makes up the entirety of the Defense Force or even a considerable number. He would've said something. He's feverish and in pain and too raw speaking of his life like he is, like -- like he's really going to die.
There is so much doubt and stress and pain and fear, so much weight bearing down on his soul. She sees it, feels it, him, with every shallow breath, every irregular beat of his heart beneath her hand. In this moment, he's weakened, but he is strong, so strong. A lesser man would surely have succumbed by now, perhaps even years ago under the thumb of his clan before this parasite could even touch him, but Hoshina, he's a fighter. He's resilient, and she? Fast.
Grasping every thread, every piece, pulling, crossing, placing --
Is she fast enough to beat the god of Death? Doesn't matter. She has to be.
Nao squeezes his hand, runs her thumb lightly along the back of his knuckles to call his attention to her. That's all she needs, to beat Death itself and Hoshina speak his truth and the parasite that's killing him die. In that instant -- between her masterful use of psychosomatic illusions, which by definition grant her control of the mind and senses, and her ability to create, channel, shape, and otherwise manipulate spiritual energy -- she can prompt his immune system to act and his body to begin properly healing in earnest. She's already in direct physical contact, already intensely focused on him. Seeing, sensing, feeling --
Got it! ]
Do they know?
[ She almost coughs, almost. ]
The Defense Force, do they know about your clan?
no subject
Still, no matter how he looked at it, he was dying... She was saving his ass, he could let it slide for now and make up for lost time after.
The way she tended to him was so careful and caring, he wouldn't have expected it. And, maybe it was nice, having someone care for him like this? He's going to have to pay her back for this, even if she doesn't want him to. Squeezing her hand as he coughed, cracking open those violet eyes of his as she spoke, voice slightly muffled by her own cough and that mask. ]
Do they--? The Force? ... N-no... We're not allowed to tell a-anyone. B-but never mind that... Are you okay?
[ Reaching up with a feeble hand, fingers brushing across her mask lightly. ]
no subject
It's impossible. It makes no sense, the sort of witchcraft decried when a single person has two colored sets of eyes, two names, and the dead walk among the living. She isn't that person, that's what she always claims; and yet, Nao hasn't been alone in her pursuit of his color. Long before Nao Mizushita was made, Haruka Shizuoka searched and searched and found no one outside her clan who could meet her onyx gaze.
He'd made her curious that day. Makes her wanna open her mouth and tell him the truths she isn't allowed starting with the answer to his question: "Are you okay?" ]
No, I'm not okay.
[ The words are poured like a light shower before a torrential rain and she knows. This Soshiro Hoshina couldn't possibly know what he's achieved.
If he takes it from her, she'll never forgive him. ]
Are you okay?
[ It couldn't be anything like tears making her eyes glassy. That wouldn't make sense. If that viral lifeform would just die, then maybe they could breathe.
He needs to breathe. ]
no subject
The way he looked at her like he was looking through her. Like he could see through her contacts and at the curious if not cautious girl looking back at him. A glaze in his hues, the fever breaking making him weary and weak as beads of sweat rolled down his temples. Maybe it was something she said or did without him knowing, but something had changed, something deep inside him. These vines, though they had yet to withdraw had at least stopped crushing and squeezing his lungs and heart as they buried in. Allowing him a moment to take a deep breath, coughing as no petals tumbled from his lips, just a small splatter of blood. ]
I'll be okay... If you are...
[ The trembling reach of his hand, the one that had brushed across her mask, moved to cup the side of her face, offering her a weak little smile. ]
My chest... It- it's not as tight. S-still hurts like a motherfucker but...
[ Hoshina sighs, sinking back into the bed, breathing a little more stable thought the vines and flowers can still be seen just under and poking through the surface of his pale skin. ]
no subject
Nao raises the pointer of her free hand and gently presses it to his lips. Still worrying about her... this man... ]
Try to relax, okay?
[ She moves the finger at his lips to rest five at his throat. She doesn't grip, doesn't press, just rests her fingertips atop his skin so as to give herself another five points through which to work. She doesn't want to pull her eyes from his, but she does so as to better see what she's doing, and oh, in the instant she sees the invasive energy fading, she is doing.
He's hers now.
It's her threads to his senses, his energies, and she is nothing if not skilled in manipulation. With energy, it comes naturally to her, her understanding innate. It's a simple matter of directing the flow to achieve the results she desires and his body will respond to her prompting. Blood will clot. His immune system and natural healing ability will experience a sudden resurgence and she, she can see it all, sense it, feel him beneath her still warming fingertips, her hand.
She doesn't remove them, but she does turn her eyes back to his as if to ask him how he feels now. Please say "better". ]
Hoshina-kun?
no subject
Still, as she pressed her finger to his bloodstained lips as if to hush him to silence, Hoshina smiled that cunning little smile of his and pursed his lips, pressing a soft kiss to the pad of her finger, humming out a sound of acceptance. Okay, he'll be quiet. Nodding in agreement. You win, Nao. ]
--Hnng?
[ Grunting out a questioning sound as she slides her hand from his lips to around his throat. He wants to pass a cheeky comment, something something choke me, something something dinner first? But thinks better of it as he starts to feel the way his body responds to her touch. Just what was her deal? She had a multitude of neat tricks up her sleeves, didn't she? He'd have to try and remember to ask her about it sometime if they both survive this horrible sickness.
Come to think about it. That's strange... He can almost feel his body rejecting the plants. Didn't feel great mind you, but there was a distinct feeling of wilting and withdrawing deep within his veins where they had tangled and clogged.
Taking a few panicked breaths and writing a little on the bed, the sheets tangling around his middle and legs as he panted then coughed, feeling inside his mouth to pull a rotten flowerhead from the back of his throat. Whatever she was doing, whatever he had said to trigger it, seemed to have disagreed with the plants. ]
N-Nao-chan? ... W-What are you doing? How are you d-doing that?
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[ She tries to spit it out like a quip and mostly succeeds. She didn't actually say the words aloud, but it was implied through the finger she put to his lips that he... that he kissed, and with a flash of that familiar cunning smile of his, which has nothing to do with the bit of red dusting her cheeks or her heart doing that thing it actually didn't just do. Neither did that -- he wasn't stroking -- she needs to stay focused, damnit!
She'd turned her eyes sharply back to his body. Ducking her head to hide her cheeks won't work given their positioning. His movements are good, though. The rotten flowerhead he pulled from the back of his throat was not the prettiest thing she's ever seen, but it's a good sign. His body is rejecting and purging the virus. Good. ]
Keep it up and I'll have to gag you.
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[ He said with a weak chuckle, his breathing was coming easier now but it still hurt a little.
She was easier to fluster than he first thought. She should have expected the little finger kiss, what else was he supposed to do when she pressed her digit there!? Bite it? No, he couldn't do that, not when she was somehow making his illness weaken its hold over him. Lightly stroking her face a while longer, noticing how warm the red-ish apples of her cheek had become where the flush bloomed into her smooth, pale skin. She was cute, he shouldn't have let Shiro take credit for her cuteness... Speaking of that cat, it decided to rub itself against Nao's leg with a low rumble of a purr.
As Nao dipped her head, so too did Hoshina, if only so he could watch her. Those bright, deep violet eyes of his were still open for the time being as if being sick had made him forget his usual foxish slant and smirk. ]
You'd gag an already choking man? And here I was just starting to think you had a heart, Nao-chan... You wound me.
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[ Nao returns smoothly despite her lingering color and the fact that she is quite conscious that he's observing it. There's little she can do to address it or play it off right now, not that the latter usually works. She's much too fair-skinned for it to be anything but what it is and what it is is... inconsequential! So much so that she can work 'blind,' turning her eyes briefly down at Shiro, then up to catch those deep violet eyes of Hoshina's.
Who knows when she'll get to see them again? ]
Shiro-chan agrees with me or [ and she pauses ] am I misunderstanding and that's what you're asking of me?
[ Her head pounds with each word. She's been so intently focused on the task at hand, the severity of her own worsening symptoms is only just beginning to be realized. It hadn't moved that fast, had it?? She clears her throat, something tickling the blood-coated back of it. She feels.. cold? She shouldn't, not with how she's warming the air in the bubble around him. ]
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[ Coughing as he chuckled, yet there were no petals, just a little splatter of pollen mixed with drying blood, the worst of his infection seeming to have passed, thankfully.
It's cute, the way she flusters when she helps him. There's something about her, he can't quite put his finger on. He wants to say she reminds him of someone from home, but, no... It's not that at all, still, he can't shake this feeling that feels like he's known her most of his life. A side effect of the illness? Must be. I mean, what else could it be? ...
His eyes narrow slightly as he starts to feel better, not needing to look as intently at her now. Letting his arm that was dangling off the bed, feeling around for Shiro as Nao mentioned them. Fingertips brushed the side of Nao's leg before they found and scratched the cat. ]
At least buy me dinner first, okay? I don't usually let a lady get what she wants until the third date, and this is what, our second one?
[ Ah but, all jokes and Schrödinger's flirting aside, is she okay? ]
--Hey, take it easy, alright... C'mere, you've done too much.
[ Reaching up and gently wrapping his arm around her, pulling her in close as she scoots aside to sit on the edge of the bed, he's going to motion to lay her down if she'll let him if she doesn't mind resting in his warm sheets that is. Feeling to remove her mask with a concerned look about his clammy face. ]
You're sick too huh? Tch and here you were, worrying about me you dummy... Breathe okay, you've got this.
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Ah, and that was her leg and that, that was a... joke! A joke that had the red originally staining her cheeks reach the tippy-top of her ears. She'd been about to start on him about it. She made to stammering, but she didn't get the chance to really refute it between his words and the realization that the heat inside her chest borne from her body's confusion about the disease had intensified into a near-roaring furnace.
She feels cold, but she's started to sweat and it's harder to swallow the petals and blood in the back of her throat. It's a bit more like choking them back and she should know what's happening; yet, there's a discordant note of confusion reverberating in her. He's pulling her in when she should be hopping off the bed and preparing to head out. (Why's she letting him?) It's a trip from Stellari to Somnius and she needs to make it much more quickly than she'd thought and he's talking -- it's an okay sound, not nearly so harsh to her aching head as when she herself speaks -- and he's reaching to -- ]
D-don't!
[ No sooner than she says it do her hands scramble to secure her mask against the scent of blood permeating the room. Their mission changes. One abruptly pulls her mask down and out of the way whilst the other caps her mouth as she's suddenly racked with a coughing fit, rasping and wet. It shakes her whole body. Most people wouldn't be able to move in the midst of such a thing; and yet, she's trying to pull away.
There's a mantra waiting to be chanted. Perhaps Hoshina is familiar with the dishonest insistence of, "I'm fine," that's waiting behind the blood and petals still coming up her throat? If not, he's due to be introduced... if she ever stops coughing, that is. ]
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Honestly, Soshiro was the kind of guy who, even if he was about to die, with no way out, would still find a way to smile and joke about something, after all he won't go down without a fight, regret or a smile on his foxy face. She'll learn that the more they hang out... If she ever wants to see him again after this, that is. ]
It's okay, I think we have the same affliction. It's not like we can infect each other more than we already are... Just, breatheNao-chan... You're suffering. I want you to lay down on your side and just take small, little breaths, okay?
[ He was still weak, still suffering, it didn't just vanish the moment he confessed his secrets. As the plants inside of him started to die off and withdraw, they still ached with each twist, making him wince every so often. He managed to stumble over to the window and even though it was cold outside, opened the window to make it easier for them both to breathe.
Hopefully with a little distance between them, what with Hoshina now slumped against the wall and sliding down it, just under the window, she might feel like she can relax a little? ]
Y'know... I don't know how it's connected but... I started to feel a little better when we were talking.
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Lying down sounds like a good idea now that she can maybe begin to attempt to catch her breath, so she does, and on her side like he'd asked with her mask at rest beneath her chin. It's almost entirely her blood she smells; it's certainly all she tastes, and that... is that fine? It's not. The roots are piercing her lungs and her body is trying to heal the wounds, making her hot, too hot.
Still, she can muddle through her thoughts. She's been listening to Hoshina speak, thinking, watching him. Kind of hates how far away from her he is right now. She didn't want that, she just... didn't want to risk hurting him if the scent of his blood in the air got to be too much. ]
Hmm?
[ Just loud enough to be heard. How? That's what she's asking, bloodied fingers fiddling with the hem of her dress. Pulled up a little? Just enough to allow a little circulation. She's cold, but she knows she's hot. ]
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Watching as Nao pulled and gagged those stems out, making him swallow and chew what was left in his own mouth, not wanting to have to do the same and possibly throw up (he didn't have much of a gag reflex after all.) After he was done clearing his own throat, he pushed himself forward, crawling over to the bed, feeling up to the basin at the skin on his way and grabbing a sodden wet cloth. ]
You're origins are shutting down. The fever is heating you up to unnatural temperatures. You need to cool off before unrepeatable damage is done and you pass out, nao-chan... here, lemme help you... Please?
[ Though he asked, he had no intention of waiting for a response. Making it to the side of the bed, he knelt up and with one hand, brushed her bangs aside, squeezing some of the cool water from the flannel directly onto the forehead, smoothing it over her skin with his fingertips. ]
Don't jump... It's gonna be cold, but you need to cool down, sharpish.
[ With that said, Soshiro pressed the wet, cool cloth against her thigh, wiping across it like he was bathing her, slipping it between her legs then down under her knee, holding it there with a squeeze, trying to cool her pressure points fast. ]
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Nevermind that she can't really afford a minute, or can she? Even in this state, she's grasping her threads, quietly redirecting the energy her body would otherwise command to heal the injuries being inflicted upon her. It's the only way any attempt at cooling her down can succeed and the only reason she knows this is thanks largely to Kanemaru-kun. He's why she recognizes what Hoshina's doing. That, and the fact that Hoshina asked her to let him help her rather than told her what to do is why she does little more than tense about the clotch, where it's moved. (Some small part of her knows it wasn't a question, but he posed it as a question and it's excuse enough for her to take it.) ]
Two.
[ She doesn't marvel at how rough her voice sounds, choking back another cough and swallowing defiantly. She inhales sharply, gold-amber eyes searching briefly for his. (She shouldn't be saying this. She shouldn't say --) ]
This body, at one point if you took prints, would've registered two names.
[ Would've. ]
Once upon a time, Detective-san. [ She sighs the words and reaches... to try to boop his nose with her pointer. Stupidly, stubbornly. It's important!! ]
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Moving the cloth from under the back of her knee, he gently took hold of her ankle and raised it up so he could bath the rest of her leg before dipping it back in the sink to cool back off, considering she'd heated up the fabric. ]
Huh? Two?
[ Two what, exactly? Soshiro covered his mouth and coughed, a wilting petal splattering in his palm. That was better than the live ones from before, at least. Grabbing the wet cloth again, never minding to wring it out, as he knelt over closer to her face, gently dabbing her throat and across her collarbone, watching the water run down her skin and onto the bed beneath her. Softly, he brushed her hair back from her face as he listened.
He blinked and opened his deep violet eyes when she booped him on the nose. Keeping them open as he listened with a shake of his head and a smile. Detective-san, really now. ]
I always knew there was more to you than what meets the eye, Nao-chan.
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Think 'bout me much?
[ There's something more to be said, but the words die on her lips as her stomach interjects and its muscles contract suddenly, painfully. She clenches her teeth, pressing her hand and digging her fingernails through the fabric of her dress into her skin to distract from the combined pain. The roots that had been working to pierce her lungs had slowed with her initial confession, but their grasping has not. It's weaker, more sporadic than steadfast and determined, but it hasn't halted completely.
Flowers are still growing in her chest, a weight that hangs heavy and dips down from her lungs through the black hole that is her stomach into her unending Hunger.
It dulls and she gasps, not quite relaxing completely, but the direction is there. It happened so fast; and yet, it seemed like a forever.
Right then. She shouldn't -- ]
One's legally deceased.
[ -- and yet, she does. She wills herself to push past the pain and tension attempting to seize her yet again, to rebel against the disease, to speak these small, monumental truths to him. Just a few when she wants to tell him everything. ]
This [ -- and she blinks twice rapidly -- ] is and isn't my true eye color. I [ -- and here, she trails off, her eyes flickering briefly to his lips, where they linger a second too long before returning to find his eyes -- "I really wanna kiss you," that's what she wants to say, but those red words are swallowed in favor of attempting a deep breath ] -- my favorite ice cream is those little balls from that place, Dippin' Dots.
[ Finally, she pauses to let herself try to breathe, to wait and see. She should be looking inward. Instead, she's looking at him, and how. ]
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Yeah, I do... More than I'd usually care to admit.
[ Well, if getting things off their chest was helping kill the flowers, he didn't see the harm in letting slip another little secret, huh? Seeing her wince as she holds her tummy, the way the plants will writhe and move around inside her, coating her organs and choking the space between them? Yeah, he feels helpless and it sucks. ]
Woah there, easy huh, nice slow breaths, like you told me to take. Okay so... You have two names this name and a dead one, that makes you pretty damn interesting Nao-chan. Like a secret agent or something.
[ He's trying to keep the mood light, so she doesn't slip into shock or anything. Hoshina tilts his head when she mentions her eyes, fascinated by the idea that her eyes are some other colour, that she hides for some reason. ]
Oh? What colour are they then? Are they as rare as mine, huh? And well then, soon as you're feeling better, we'll see about getting some Dippin' Dots style ice cream balls yea? Sound like a deal?"
[ He was surprisingly gentle and compassionate when trying to keep her from choking down on the petals, vines and blood she'd been coughing up. ]
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Death isn't a painless affair, not even for intrusive plants, vines, and flowers.
Did he say... that he thought about her? That they'd see about getting some Dippin' Dots style ice cream as soon as she was feeling better?
He has no idea what he's saying. Couldn't possibly know, not when it came to the ice cream. The reason why that particular ice cream is her favorite, she hadn't told him that, had she? She hadn't realized until he offered that... that she really wants someone to go with her to get some. Wouldn't undo the past, couldn't bring anyone back, but to have someone go with her, maybe... maybe if it was him, she could finally do that. ]
No take-backs.
[ She breathes the words a little shakily, her body suddenly racked with a small coughing fit as beads of sweat begin to roll at a quicker pace down her head despite the cool towel resting atop her forehead.
No petals this time, just a dab of blood at the corner of her mouth as her fever breaks. That, and a bit tighter grip on his fingers. ]
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[ He promises and he intends to keep that promise.
It’s hard, though, watching her suffer. Sure, it’s taking his mind off of his own pain and suffering, but it's horrible watching her fight through it. Smiling when she says ‘no take-backs’ to him, nodding and cupping her cheek in his hand as she nuzzles into it.
He was struggling, feeling his chest bubble with thick, wet clots of blood. Groaning as he noticed she was sweating more, so he dragged himself to the sink again, wringing out the cloth and wetting it again, this time, when he returned to her side, Hoshina slipped onto the bed behind her, laying on his side to spoon her as he draped an arm over her, lazily dabbing the cloth at her head and neck, hoping to sooth her even though he was feeling it again himself. ]
We just… need to break the fever… We’ll be fine come morning… I just know it.
SPECIAL DELIVERY: 2/16-2/17
The package contains the following:
There handwritten note attached to the package is in their native Japanese. It reads the following:
TEXT | un: pink.cloud | 4/12, 1:27 AM
psssssst!!
hey!
r u awake? (｡･･｡)
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Is that you?
[ Because that little psst psssst reads like it sounds like how he calls the cat... ]
I wasn't but I am now.
:/
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[ Look at that! Physical evidence of an actual apology from Nao. It's probably worth its weight in gold to someone. Or her phone's been stolen and someone's impersonating her. ]
thougt i heard sumthin over there
[ That would normally be followed by a, "but nao tat ur awake..." ]
go back 2 sleep OK?
b4 u wake up all teh way
u can sleep n
ill take teh mornin chores
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[ Holy shit! He might get it printed off and have her sign it so they can frame it and get insurance on it and everything! ]
Over where?
You do realise we're not in the same part of the house, Nao-chan?
[ He's half asleep, or he would appreciate that pun had she made it. ]
Nope. I'm awake now. Too late.
My eyes are wide open and staring into the darkness.
Sorry, no can do.
I'm a worker, not a shirker.
So then, let me grab some pants and I'll come see about this sound of yours, huh?
1/2
cause i think it might b a lil overdue
it was probly nothin
i
2/?
did u say ur eyes r wide open?
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Yea? Well, 'probably nothing' isn't the name of our cat, so it warrants investigation.
Detective-san is on the case.
[ Oh, he heard that sound from wherever it was. Partly wondering if that was the noise Nao was talking about, or if that was her messing about in her room? ]
Huh? Yes, how else am I gonna see in the dark? It's not like I can see when they're closed y'know?
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She's not just imagining it, is she? He's a little softer right now, not so much edge as when he trolls her during regular waking hours. It's... nice, cute. Is he always like this so soon after waking up? It might be worth it to do a little detective work of her own, find out. Maybe not wake him so early, though. He needs his sleep. He works smart, sure, but he also works hard, doesn't slack in his training. He's so disciplined and he's... he's always doing thoughtful little things, too.
She should do something soon, let him know how much she appreciates him and everything he does. Maybe a couple of somethings. Maybe... practice some discipline herself and not give into the itchy urge to see if she can catch a glimpse of his eyes in the dark when he's checking on a sound in the house in the middle of the night after she woke him up? ]
sorry
i forgot about tat
im sure i got sum little lanterns when i 1st got teh farm
i mightve forgot 2 distribute tem round teh house tho
[ There had been a lot more to do around the farmhouse and the farm than there had for her cottage in Somnius. Securing the most basic purchases for the farm and house had been a priority alongside getting things planted where they needed to be and whatever needed built for planting. She hadn't planned on having a roommate at the farmhouse at the time and her sixth sense allowed her to map her environment, so -- well, she's moving about a little now. She probably isn't going to be able to sleep tonight, anyway. ]
leave tat part 2 me Detective-san!
its teh least i can do since ur takin this case so late 4 me
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He is still half asleep, mind you, maybe thats why she thinks he's so soft and nice? He's texting her back with his eyes open, blinking more so than usual as the dull glow of light from his phone makes his vision blur. Just a few more hours in bed isn't so much to ask for, is it? Then again, it's kinda nice, having this lazy, lighthearted chat with her while he's not yet properly awake. Like a sleepover when you stay up too late to actually go to bed. ]
Don't worry about it.
There's a glowbug on my window. Hello there, sir! He's sure to light my way, right?
[ He doesn't realise he typed that to her instead of saying it out loud to the bug... ]
Yea? Well, okay then
ꜰᴏxʏᴏᴜ ɪꜱ ᴛʏᴘɪɴɢ. . .
Soz, closed my eyes for a second there.
You wanna bring me a lantern now?
So I don't stub my toe in the dark or something?
[ You're damn right he nodded back off when typing to her, dropping his phone on his face before replying as if nothing happened. ]
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yea
pretty sure i can manage tat
[ With that, she pockets her phone in one of the little side pockets of the knees' high t-shirt dress she'd sewn a while ago. It doesn't take her long to reach his room, quietly slide the door open, and step inside. She doesn't announce herself. She already did that when she allowed her footsteps to become audible outside his door so as not to surprise him should he be conscious. He's probably drifting in and out, typing the way he has been.
Is the glowbug still on his window? She can't help a small smile, giving it a little wave with her pointer before she places said pointer in front of her lips, a quiet little, "Shhh."
That's all the time she has for conversation with it, though. She tiptoes over to Soshiro's bed, her eyes already sufficiently adjusted to the dark. That along with her sense allows her a good sense of his position. On his back with his arms behind his head? Cute. Probably comfortable, too, a theory she's moving to test. Lying down beside Soshiro, she scootches to close that inch or two of distance between them so she fits right with him, against like some puzzle piece he's been missing, her far hand crossing her side to settle atop his chest as she snuggles up to him, into him properly, as surely as though she belonged there.
He's warm. Smells like him, too, of course. It's nice and she's got a thousand excuses at the ready should he question what she's doing and why she's there. It's not like they don't snuggle on the couch sometimes, so... it's fine, isn't it?
Maybe he'll fall back to sleep. She'll make him breakfast later. ]
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He knows someone is moving around, even if he's falling back to sleep, he's also not too fussed about it, either, meaning he can kinda tell it's either her or their cat. Still, when the footsteps reach his ears and her slight weight pushes the matress down, Soshiro lets out a soft groan in his light slumber. Feeling her curl up against him, his open robe being pinned down by her body, causing it to fall a little more open across his chest as he shifts his legs and lets one of his arms that was tucked behind his head, fall down and wrap around her. ]
Mmmm... I was just about to come save you, Nao-dear... From the boogieman or... Whatever that sound was...
[ Yawning as he whispered, tipping his head aside and letting it rest against the top of hers. Inhaling deeply and sighing a pleased little sound as he sank a little into her. ]
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He had and that is indeed his bare chest her hand has settled against, his open robe pinned beneath her. Hard as a rock and pleasantly warm, she can feel his heart beating steadily beneath her palm, feel the warmth and flow of that deep, deep violet, the man, the soul she's snuggled against. Her cheeks are tinged red, but not for fear. The clothing situation is... awkward, but there's no question in her mind that she's safe. The realization that she feels safe, though, that stirs something in her head and heart. Before this moment, it's only happened once in the last nine years.
Nao is quiet for a moment, then reaches with a hand to tug his arm a little more securely around her. His little sound and that closeness, that's not awkward in the slightest and her voice is softer when she speaks. ]
How 'bout I just hide in here with you for a little while?
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As Nao snuggles in and pulls his arm further around her, he leans his head down and rests his mouth against the top of her head. He hums a pleased sound as he inhales deeply and slowly. ]
Mmm… You smell… Good…
[ He mutters out in his sleep-addled state, nuzzling a little in before exhaling and shifting in bed to further bring them closer together. His other hand untucks from behind his head and pulls the sheet up over them both. In doing so, he leans a little more on his side towards her, a knee bumping her and slipping between them as he properly cuddles he into his chest now. ]
S-sure… Hide with me here… I… yawn~ I’ll keep you safe Nao-dear…
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Her eyes aren't half-closed. Couldn't be given how strong her heartbeat is... or is that his? She listens, quiet for a moment, the slightest tinge about her cheeks as she recalls his words from a moment earlier. Which ones? All of them, actually, spoken in time with a certain strong, steady beating her ears have closed in on.
Vaguely, she wonders how much trouble she'd be in if she were to, say... silence his alarms? No, no, she shouldn't do that, but she kind of wants to. She likes it here, how she fits with him, how this feels, smells. She's not as vocal as he is about it, but the hoodie she made for him has the strangest tendency to disappear for a bit after he's worn it for a while and turn up in the oddest places. Like around her shoulders like a cape while she's coding or under her head while she's lying on the couch or... not in her room!
Normal places, actually. They're not unusual at all.
But here? She doesn't have to acquire any mysteriously vanishing articles of his clothing. She can simply breathe and.. maybe... ... ... (she fell asleep.) ]
text | un: basilio.magnus
Me and Del are opening our new diner this Tuesday. We're calling it Lumturo, a lighthouse in a sea of cares! Come over for some good food, a good view, and if you're feeling brave, the stage will be open for anyone to have a crack at performing.
I'll reserve a table for you if you want to come, so tell all your mates too!
[Attached is more information and directions! It's located overlooking Stellari's airship docks.]
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