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That's what she deserves, Sunny. People who willingly betray the organization once cannot be trusted!
[He points a celery stalk in Sunny's direction before flipping it back and taking a bite out of it.]
Oh, ew. People do really eat this raw like this?
Hey. Where are you?
[His house looked dark. Then again, everywhere does.]
[Besides almost getting killed by a (???)friend(?????)?]
I just got back. [Or so it feels.] Glad to know you’re okay.
[…]
Is Xie Lian with you?
[Relief? Dread?]
Mind if I go over for a bit?
♥︎
[That’s all, then. Aubrey brings herself; no sword, not even bat. Maybe that’s an absence she’ll regret, but the last thing she wants to do is fight.
[But Omori wouldn’t have said that. That’s enough, for now.
[She knocks.]
[He answers the door, swallowed by the same hoodie he started wearing after his arm got mangled.
[He's never sure whether to hug, or...]
Hi.
Hey.
[She waves a little. Smiles a bit, lets it drop, because she’s bad at faking it now. It’s awkward, frankly. Strange feeling.
[There’s no intention to this. The house is kept clean now, save a spare lantern or two. Maybe a stray drawing; they never stay where they’re put away.
[When was the last time she saw him? Maybe better not to think of it like that. Aubrey doesn’t invite herself in.]
You’ve kept safe this time, huh…?
[But her question makes him feel guilty, like he's broken some unspoken rule, put there by a peer, not a mother.
[Sunny looks away.]
Mostly...
Have you...? [Last time, they were together.
[Didn't go too well...]
[She takes the cue, stepping in; just far enough for the door to shut behind. It doesn’t feel like—isn’t, this isn’t her house. Aubrey doesn’t live here. The anymore on that thought is hastily scribbled out; it was never true.]
I’ve, ah…
[Aubrey rubs at her arm, a gouge that isn’t there. Short sleeves reveal she’s kept unscathed—miraculously so, considering.
[Well? Be honest. The pause says enough already.]
I could’ve… tried harder to, I guess. [Slow, uneasy neck scratch.] Thought it would take over the house and everything again, but it didn’t, so....
[Christ. She is bad at this.]
[Aubrey rubs her face for a moment. Invites herself, at least, to the couch. It’s flooding back again, what he did. What she didn’t. What they all have and haven’t done, some internal tangle of half-scribbled bullshit that can make her want to hurl the nearest object, the nearest person, into a lake—
[In the end, all it even leads to is more exhaustion.
[She never wants it to be the last time she sees him.]
Yeah. [Another belated response.] I am. I guess that’s normal, though.
But I’m not… upset with you.
[She stares down, idly, at a lantern.]
[There’s a half-smile, maybe a grimace. Glance to Sunny, back away.]
It’s not really new. I don’t… want that for you, either.
[She pats the couch lightly. Feels like they haven’t talked like this in a while.]
[She reaches for his hand. He can pull it to him, like they used to— started doing— have been doing, and never had to stop.]
I know, too. [Even softer.]
[She squeezes back, gentle and rhythmic. Grounding, or so she tries, like Sunny is.]
You don’t… have to be. [Tell him.] I mean…
[He doesn’t know.
[Tell him, before you…
[Can’t.]
So am I.
[He never knows what to say to this.]
You...help. Me. [That's...something, at least, right?]
Aubrey...[Sunny frowns just a bit, glancing at their hands. He shifts in his seat, tucking one leg under the other; looks at Aubrey.] I want to help you, too.
[So they’re both at a loss.
[They’ve been so busy with those lanterns, Sunny and Xie Lian. If Omori’s popped in, Aubrey hasn’t caught it. Then again, she’s been over less. And for what? A maybe-lie? Sunny trusts him. Xie Lian is patient with him; with both of them.
[Either way: Sunny won’t be here forever.
[Aubrey’s mouth opens for words that don’t come out. She shakes her head. Shuts it. Squeezes his hand a little tighter, and…
[Lets herself lean towards him. Rests her head on his shoulder, if he lets her. Maybe she shouldn’t; maybe she doesn’t care. Sunny wants to help, and, sometimes…]
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