guestservices | AUDIENCE FOR: Emet-Selch

[oh, he huffs at that, giving their shoulder a light shove.]

Incorrigible.

[ hehehehehe

they seem very pleased. very amused. very proud of themselves. they've successfully lightened the mood! ]

I didn't even do anything. [ uh huh ]

Yes, yes, never done a thing in your life, I am certain.

[he rolls his eyes.]

I haven't!

[ they say this in a way that makes it sound like they are so full of bullshit ]

I don't believe you at all, Aquila.

[ lol

they laugh, clearly amused at their little joke. ]

Hah. Everybody's a critic!

And I expect that I am more of one than most.

[look. he knows.]

Yyyyeah, yeah, definitely. Only person I know that might complain about a school with a river in it.

[ they sound fond as they say that, though, pushing away a bit and wandering over to the lazy river; they remove one of their gloves and prod at it. ]

The river seems to serve no proper purpose! Were it for the observation of aquatic creations or other testing, it would have more merit.

[he follows them over regardless.]

Or it could just be for relaxing, you fucking weirdo.

[ affectionate. probably. ]

There ought to be no need for such fixtures at an academic facility. Off hours, mayhap.

[you're the fucking weirdo!!]

Maybe people are studying how people enjoy relaxing. [ a beat. ] Maybe they're just studying each other.

[

there's a verbal eyebrow waggle ]

Oh, do not say it in that tone of voice.

[he can read into it, thanks.]

Hmm?

[ :3c ]

Were it not for your teleportation, I would push you in the river myself.

[ they seem even more pleased, somehow, snickering to themselves as they sit down by the lazy riverside. ]

No idea what you're talking about. [ wehehe ] C'mon, you're the one who told me I need breaks. Maybe these guys do, too.

...oh, fine.

[he takes a seat next to them, with a little huff.]

[ aquila seems fairly pleased by this, too. they settle down, sitting up straight, and it's the moment that they do that there's a soft shower of stardust. and then...

Both of you are injured. You've been lucky to be able to access a little bit of stabilizing healing, but you only stayed long enough to be stable, and have been by her side ever since. Once she was awake, you crawled onto the bed beside her and put your arm around her shoulders and held her for a moment, reeling over the pain and suffering you'd experienced just hours before. The physical wounds were nothing, in comparison. Nothing, compared to the way her voice warbles when she relays the facts of what she saw. Nothing, compared to how you watched her die in front of you, powerless to do anything.

... And you're very new at this. And, you think she is too - neither of you have had much in the way of love in your lives. You got into a fight barely an hour ago, and now you're sitting in this medical care area, trying to mend up something, trying to understand the enormity of what it means to care about other people.

She says, quietly. "Thank you, for attempting to understand my regrettable methods of displaying sentiment."

That makes you smile. Maybe you get it because you're just as bad at it. Maybe you've just become irreplaceably fond, because of the similarities in your life, as tragic as many of them are. They simply are. She knows that, and so do you. Maybe because it's nice - to know someone's good and bad, and to know that they're cut from the same cloth as you, in the worst ways and the best.

She keeps talking for a moment. Explains around something big. Around you getting hurt, because you aren't an idiot. It makes your heart ache a little.

... It's nice, to have a sibling.

Quiet falls between you, and it takes a while for you to speak again.

But finally, you manage: "...Glad this place brought me you." and turn your head to look at her. She laughs - the noise is rough, but it's there - and leans into you a little further and closes her eyes. Protectiveness surges in your chest, fierce and loving.

"You are not so unpleasant yourself, I guess."

And you laugh, and you give her the tiniest jostle, and you hold onto this brat who's become one of your own.

...aquila is sitting a little stiffly when the memory ends: surprised. ]

-Aquila?

[it's quiet, a little surprised, as he comes back to the present. blinks a few times, to clear his head. that's--

that surge of protectiveness isn't unfamiliar to him, something he knows himself, and this scene-- it maybe makes his own chest feel a little tight.

maybe makes it stand out, a little, that he's here without the people he's close to, at least that he knows of.]

[ oh they definitely were not expecting that, if their reaction is any indication. they're tense and stiff for a long moment.

but, emet says their name and they snap out of it, shaking their head rapidly. ] What? Oh.

... oh. Sorry. Hah. Didn't realize that could hit us, too.

...I suppose it can.

[his tone remains lower, quieter, still just sort of... taking all of that in.]

Somewhere else, I take it?

[ they nod, slowly, exhaling out. ]

... yeah. Yeah, yeah. Not here.

[ a beat. ] Baby bird.

...I thought as much.

[after a moment or two of consideration-- well. he doesn't have claws, anymore.

he just. quietly takes one of their hands with his good one.]

The same one you spoke of before, yes?

[ he will find aquila's hand to be rather cold! but he can take it. their fingers flex a bit before they really settle.

... ]

...yeah. 's the one.

[that's fine. it doesn't bother him; he just waits for them to settle into it.]

Someone you miss, I expect.

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