[Closed Log]

[wilder]

Date & Time: September 19th, after the rescue mission
Location: Exsilium
Characters: Zelos Wilder (wilder) and Sheena Fujibayashi (holeseeker)
Summary: Reunion
Warnings: Standard PG-13. If something comes up warning like, it'll get slapped on.

[The train ride back from the UE compound was far too long and uncomfortable for Zelos's liking. It left with too much to think about, far too many troubling thoughts with the new things he learned about. He still didn't know what had cause him to become like that, nor did he know what to think about the UE somehow 'copying' his powers. Both things made him feel sick. ]

[When they finally reached Exsilium, he managed to split away from the masses coming off the train. He didn't have a jacket, so the chill and rain seemed even colder than usual, causing him to rub his arms as he looked around the familiar dreary setting.]

[Jeez, it was almost hard to believe he spent the past week missing this crappy place.]

[Looking around the scenery helped him catch sight of a woman with an all too familiar ponytail and pink bow. He hadn't seen her during the rescue mission or the train ride, so seeing her now gave him a bit of relief. He only hesitates slightly before calling out]

Sheena!

Comments

[fujibayashi]

[She sniffles, wipes furiously at her cheeks. Crying is dumb. She hates doing it, hates how she can't see straight, hates how hot her cheeks are and how ugly she probably looks. But something about what he says confuses her.]

You don't remember?

[She peers up at him.]

But, in the marketplace... You don't remember anything?

[wilder]

[Please like you'd ever look ugly to him. Even if he's not quite sure what to do when you cry but...details. He frowns and shakes his head]

Nope, not a thing. Flora and some others told me some of what happened, but the last thing I remembered was getting groceries.

[fujibayashi]

[#MEN

Sheena looks at him, trying to detect if he's lying. He seems honest enough about it, though. With the subject changed, her tears are beginning to dry too.

That's good. It means she can try to be level-headed about this and not freak out about how close they are right now.]

I don't know what they did, but they messed with your Exsphere... crystal... whatever. It was glowing. I tried to get it off you, but it didn't work. After that, I led you somewhere you could hide out for a while, so you wouldn't hurt anyone.

It was just like Colette... And that's the last time I saw you.

[She looks away. Maybe she should give him some space. Maybe she needs some space. She really has no fucking idea anymore.]

[wilder]

[he's quiet for a moment, frowning to himself. He really doesn't remember anything, and it's still scary no matter how many times he hears it. He still...doesn't have a clue how they did it.]

I...don't know either. I even had Aster check things out last month and he said I was fine, so...[he doesn't have a clue] least I seem fine now, anyway.

[There's a beat before he says something, looking at her]

I...didn't hurt you, did I?

[fujibayashi]

Now I feel bad for bringing it up... [She sighs a little, scritching at the back of her neck. And still avoiding eye contact.

His question makes her blink, and she isn't able to avoid the reflex of glancing at him. Her cheeks pinken, and the blush creeps to the tip of her nose.]

N--no, of course not! Pfft, like I'd let you touch me--

[... except... right now...? And she seems to realize it.]

Uh, I mean, this is... well... It's different! It's different, because-- because!

1/2

[wilder]

Don't worry about it. I already had one guy suggest I be tied up for the safety of others, so just asking isn't so bad!

[wilder]

[And good. That's a relief to hear. Except...when she starts getting all worked up like that, well- okay he can't really resist the urge to tease even if he knows it'll get him hit.]

Because while I was gone, you finally realized how truly sexy and irresistible your friend Zelos is?

[fujibayashi]

[She makes a noise of frustration and smacks him.] Shut up or I'll beat you!

[And just like that, things are back to the way they ought to be. She can't help sneaking a glance at him though, just to make sure he's okay.]

[wilder]

[And it's a hit!] Owww, Sheena! Don't say that after you hit me!

[As usual, he's rubbing his head with one hand, but seems to be okay. If anything, he's smirking a little now. ]

[fujibayashi]

[She glares at him. After all the crying and such, she's just... tired, tired of fighting, but she's still frustrated and embarrassed and pink all over.]

I'll hit you as many times as I want! You shouldn't have left in the first place!

[He said he doesn't know how he got there, but still. He could've died and not come back, and then the Zelos she'd gotten to know here... would be gone. Faced with that possibility, it's just too much. She balls her fists at her sides.]

I know you didn't mean to, but... if you disappear again and don't come back, I won't forgive you. I'll be mad because you gave up before you could come back to everyone-- to all our friends!

[She squeezes her eyes shut. The next part just kind of falls out.]

You're important to me and you need to deal with it!

[The statement lays there between them, and she doesn't take it back. She can't.]

[wilder]

[That outbursts surprises him, wiping that smirk off his face in exchange for surprise. It silences him as well as she goes on. Sure, maybe he could argue that this wasn't his fault, or that maybe one day he would go away for good and there's nothing he could do about it. He's no good.]

[But he's so tired. It's been a hellish week- a hellish month. With one thing after another, getting worse. Almost like the universe was out to get him for starting to feel okay here, for feeling...maybe it was happiness? He's not sure]

[Either way, he's too tired to argue and make himself more miserable. Especially when he was scared himself about never coming back, about never seeing Sheena or the others again. While others had hope, he really didn't think they'd be rescued]

[And so there's a pause, before he lets his hedonist side take hold. Lets himself actually...do something he'd normally be too scared to do if he wasn't so tired. Because for a moment, he just doesn't want to think about all his problems- he just wants to grip onto something good. ]

[And so, while her eyes are close? He leans down a little to kiss her, as his reply. Sure, something like this? Will probably get her beyond pissed at him and maybe even knock him into a coma.]

[Then again, it's not like he could've thought of anything to say in reply that wouldn't have resulted in that, and this seemed like a better idea]

[fujibayashi]

[Sheena wasn't ... expecting that. Maybe secretly hoping for it, but she's always shoved those kinds of fantasies out of her mind because they're childish and Zelos isn't the kind of person to reciprocate someone's sincere feelings. At least, that's what she's told herself. And yet-- and yet-- here she is, with his lips clearly against hers. It's not quite as romantic as she would've thought. His lips are chapped and her mouth is slightly agape in surprise. But the kiss is tender and honest and sweet, and he isn't copping a feel or anything like that, so it's...

... perfect.

She makes a quiet, surprised mph. Her hands hang in midair, since she's not sure where to put them. In the end, she just goes for the gold and grabs onto his hair. She wants to return the kiss properly, and she wants to keep him here in case he decides to run. She's afraid, too, to open her eyes and confront what they're doing.

They're stupid. They're both incredibly stupid, but here she is kissing him, and she doesn't have a single regret (though, if given the chance, she could certainly come up with something).]

[wilder]

[She was actually kissing him back. He had expected something- a yell, a hit- maybe even for her to jump back a whole ten feet. Somehow actually returning his kiss wasn't in the list of possible scenarios. Neither was grabbing onto his hair, or keeping him close.]

[He always did overlook any notion that someone would want him close. ]

[It certainly wasn't one of his suave kisses he had mastered for girls he barely knew. In fact he was so startled when she started kissing him back he nearly stumbled on her with a jolt, catching himself before he moved too much. He can hear his heart racing- he feels like it's so loud it drowns out most of the rain.]

[He could stop this, actually face her and confront this. He's going to have to do that eventually, it would probably be the right thing to do. Or he could run, but he tried running for months here- it really didn't work out. He always ended up back at her. She didn't even need to chase him half the time, he'd do it to himself.]

[In the end, he goes with the cowardly third way, choosing to keep the kiss up and try to lose himself in it. It's not hard, his arm easily finds it's way around her waist while the other her hair. The kiss definitely becomes more like a real one, still full of that feeling. Since hey, he might not get another chance right?]

[fujibayashi]

[Wow. He really isn't running? For that matter-- why isn't Sheena running, either?

She didn't have some grand romantic epiphany. She'd realized on that mission to the Kettle War that she didn't want to lose him, not ever, and then he'd been taken from her immediately afterward. She wants to save him, but she wants more than that. He isn't a pet project or something to be fixed. In a strange way, they're the only people who understand each other. Her love of him is selfish in that way and she realizes it, but she can't help it.

She embraces that fact and the kiss. She isn't nearly as skilled as he is. She feels clumsy in a way that has nothing to do with her usual failures as a ninja. It's that she hasn't kissed anyone in four or five years. Certainly not like this, certainly not with someone she cares this deeply for. It was awkward and teenage before, and the boy had really only done it on a dare, and so it... didn't matter.

On the shores of a foreign world, surrounded by danger, she can say this one matters far more.

She loosens her hands from his hair, no longer afraid of him taking off like the devil. Her ungloved fingertips trail down his cheeks. Slowly, hesitantly, she breaks the kiss and looks up at him. She knows she should say something, but she's still surprised; she's not even sure that was real.]

Um, [she starts, her cheeks quickly turning red.] That-- that wasn't fair! I... I demand a rematch!

[wilder]

[Whether she's skilled or not, it's still amazing and frightening to him. How many years has he spent feeling something for her, knowing he'd never have a chance? In a way, he almost took a comfort there. There wasn't a way to be hurt when you knew there was no chance. It was safe...and now]

[When the kiss ends and she breaks it off, he can feel his fear starting to rise as he's no longer distracted. This was it, the time for the other shoe to fall. For things to go wrong---]

[Those thoughts are promptly cut off when she speaks because, well, they frankly made no sense. So much that he goes from scared to downright confused very quickly.]

W-What?

[A rematch to a kiss?? Is this yet another weird Mizuho courting custom he didn't know about? Man, he is so not cut out for the women of that village]

[fujibayashi]

[It barely makes sense to Sheena, either. At least she's not getting angry and violent. She understands she has at least some fault in this. This... thing. Whatever it is.]

I-I told you to deal with it and then you did that! How else was I supposed to respond? T-that's why it's not fair!

[She jabs a finger at his face.]

The rematch will be-- uh-- two weeks from now! At 5 P.M.!

[That sounds like a date, Sheena.]

[wilder]

W-Well it seemed like a way to deal at the time! What do you expect, I'm not good at emotional moments even on days where I haven't been kidnapped! You should know that!

[He leans back before that jab pokes one of his eyes out, holding out his hands in innocence]

Whoa- whoa wait! What do you even mean rematch?! Do you mean like a fight or making out?! Because I'm really unclear on that!

[fujibayashi]

[... Well, he's right about that, at least. It's rare that he's so honest, but she's kind of panicking too much to appreciate it.]

We're going to do this the right way! With candles! A-and food! And if you back out of it, I'll never let you live it down!

[wilder]

[....Crap were there candles and food at her battle with Kuchikawa he seriously cannot remember!! ]

[Screw it maybe there's a Mizuho customs book in the library or something! Better answer before the bed of nails make a reappearance]

Okay okay! Rematch with food and candles in two weeks at five- I'll be there!

[fujibayashi]

Good! [At this point, she's dying too much of embarrassment to stick around and she breaks away.] I'll see you later!

[What just happened?]

[wilder]

Uh...yeah...later.

[And he'll stand here, being shell shocked and not sure at ALL what happened here. ]

[No seriously what the hell just happened here he doesn't even know omfg]