melodiesoflife | 003 Arrows of Love

Entry tags:

003 Arrows of Love | Sleeping Beauty

Who: Raven & Others
What: It's nice no longer being stuck in an eternal stasis.
Where: Hospital, House A-10, Aqures Ixen (Various)
When: Feb 7th
Warnings: Raven.

[ Hospital ]

Just as easily as it happened, Raven easily came out of Crystal Stasis. Though it was disorientating considering the amount of time that passed since he was last conscious. Furthermore, he awoke to a strange illustration. Due to the contents of the drawing, there was only one person guilty of this style.

"Hm, what a nice girl." Surely she was doing okay. Raven held the piece of art loosely in his fingers.

Raven took a glance at the others whom were still stuck in stasis, the number was still alarming, it looked like it might have grown even. Then it caught him, a familiar face.

Estelle.

There was no basis to judge how long she had been in there. None of the other members appeared to be around, meaning they were still around and active.

[ House A-10 (Open door! ~~or Window~~) ]

And he was home, at least it seemed like he was, until he walked into his room. Upon opening the door, he discovered an arrangement different then how he left it. You could even say it was more decorative, and not nearly has plain as he had kept it since he arrived here. His suspicions were quickly narrowed to the only person who had made any mention about his room. The most notable piece was the lavender rug that took up the middle of the room. He didn't hate it, but it would be a bit of a stretch to say he liked most of the changes that had occurred.

[ Aqures Ixen (Various) ]

Raven couldn't say he was happy to be back, but it was hell of a lot better than being stuck in a crystal. To celebrate his awakening, Raven could be found at the local bar where he used gil not spent on some hard liquor. Why? Well...why not? Despite not having any side effects of being frozen for so long, the thought of remaining in place for more than a month made his bones feel still. There was no better way to loosen up than with alcohol.

He's certain that Yuri would probably want to see him at some point, and he would have to catch up on what he was unconscious for, but he wasn't in any rush to do so. Like clockwork, he would find himself preoccupied doing some work or another that needed to get done. Just was the life of a guildee.

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Yes. Surely she was doing. Just. Fine.

The little prank that had given her a moment of cheer, and a project to focus on instead of her haunted memories, now gave her a guilty leaden lump feeling in her stomach. She'd thought it would be something fun to banter about once he woke up, she could showcase the 'amazing' designs, and things would be back to normal. He hadn't been a part of the sage's vision, he had no idea that he'd ever won her heart, or broken it when he died. A little teasing, a little annoyance, it would have fixed everything.

But he just wasn't waking up, and it was time to accept that. It happened with many other Heroes, some of which Rukia had counted as her friends. Ray, Ventus, even D had left their group. Maybe that was for the best. She wasn't sure she wanted to see how they would look at her if they knew what she'd planned in that vision, or worse, that it wasn't a plan she was entirely willing to dismiss.

For now, however, it was time to clear away the remnants of the past that would only serve to cause her sorrow. There was too much to be done, too many problems that needed to be solved. New heroes would be appearing next month, and she didn't think she wanted to be the one left to explain why the room they were assigned looked like someone cast a spell of ultimate tackiness.

Rukia lifted the window with ease, hoisting herself up and swinging her legs over the sill. Her dark eyes passed over the room, still untouched, and she sighed. This was going to be a lot of work, wasn't it? Best to get started now, then.

She reached up to unpin the tacks that held up the rainbow space dolphin poster, rolling it up into a tube. Then she unpinned the very questionable calendar of pin-up girls and set that down as well.

Raven had only left momentarily to get the food started. Just because his body was frozen in time didn't mean his mind was. Sure he was the same as the day he went under, but the thought of not eating for so long gave him a starved feeling. He would go through the trouble of making food to quell that feeling.

On his way back to the room, he saw Rukia start to take down the awful decorations that caked his room. Was she doing him a favor now that he was back?

"Ya can keep that one up."

That was the only one he probably liked the most. And for obvious reasons. He wasn't very secretive about his lecherous desires. And why should he be? He's a grown man.

Ordinarily that would have made her jump a mile. She gave a bit of a start just the same, more surprised by the sound of someone else's voice than the realization of who that voice belonged to.

Then it settled in, and she froze, halfway up on her toes, hands outstretched for the wooden palm tree fronds of the tropical hammock she'd taken so long to assemble. And she just stared at him.

"You...!"

She didn't know what she was feeling at that moment. Fear? Guilt? Relief? Anger? It didn't seem possible to feel so many conflicting things at once, and it was completely overwhelming. Her arms fell back to her sides as she took a step back, her wide eyes flicking briefly down and up as if to assure herself that he was actually okay and not a ghost.

He wasn't. But words completely failed her. What could she say to him? Should she yell at him for not writing her a note to let her know he was okay? She didn't really feel she had much ground to stand on to be yelling at anyone right now. Should she tell him she was happy he was all right? But it was so much more than that. It felt as if she hadn't seen him for years, and it hurt just to look at him. There was no way she could explain that.

All she could do was take another step back. Maybe she should just...go?

Her reaction was highly unusual, even for him. It occurred to him that maybe an incident had taken place while he was in Crystal Stasis. Not everything that happened in Crystallis was kosher. He'll get the details of all that's happened at some point, but for the moment he was a tad more concerned about her well being. The off kilter reaction took precedence.

"I'm back." Clearly. "Still don't understand the details myself," other than the fact that everyone goes through it at least once, and Yuri and Flynn were among them.

Raven stepped into his room and took a seat on his bed. His hand reached out and pat the spot beside him. She'll eventually come to or snap out of it, however long it may take. He was a fairly patient individual.

"Sorry about that."

She couldn't seem to tear her eyes away from his face, until the sound of patting drew her attention to his hand. He wanted her to sit beside him? Well...considering how the only other alternatives were standing there like a fool or diving out the window like an even greater fool, she found her feet carrying her forward, and she sat down carefully as if she were afraid the bed might shatter.

Rukia held her hands in her lap, her back straight, as she looked at her knees somewhat awkwardly. There was something oddly familiar about this, and yet...not. Curse that stupid vision.

"...How long have you been awake?" she ventured, and winced as the words came out in a tight croak. Frowning, she cleared her throat.

Raven examined the room for a second time. He didn't realize how much effort must have gone into it the first time he saw it. Rukia went through the trouble of doing all this huh? Be it out of kindness, or to yield some sort of reaction. Judging by her disposition, the gesture was long expired.

"Couple hours." He paused in thought. "Feels like no time went by at all."

Rather the only reason why he knew time had passed at all was because of the clues scatted all about. The increased number of heroes in Stasis, minor seasonal changes of winter starting to part its ways, and so on.

"Ah," she murmured in understanding. Probably a good thing that she hadn't unleashed any anger, then. He was busy reorienting himself in the city, so of course he wouldn't have time to send her a note. Then her timing was oddly coincidental, wasn't it? At least she hadn't tried to jumpkick him in the face like she had with Yuri.

"...It's February now," she said, slanting a brief glance in his direction. "I hadn't changed your calendar yet."

Maybe he already knew that, maybe he didn't. Either way, it was a safe point of discussion that maintained her emotional stability. Rukia wasn't the sort of person to break down and cry easily, and she wasn't about to start sobbing now. But...she was very glad he was here beside her, not lying in her lap gasping for his last breaths while he clutched at his chest, or buried with nothing but a name on a stone and a bouquet of flowers to mark his final resting place.

She was quiet a moment longer. Then, hesitantly, her hand left her lap and her fingers grasped at the loose fabric of his coat sleeve. She said nothing, and just held to it to reassure herself that he was there, and that he wasn't about to vanish any time soon.

"February, huh?" His comment brief. A month, more than that possibly, was a lot of time to consider. He hadn't been in Crystallis for very long, but he knew that Yuri had been in a stasis nearly as long. And Flynn even longer. So this was the feeling?

"I've spent some time tryin' ta research the phenomenon," Raven started, as if he wanted to quell the feelings she might have pent up. "But I don't think even this world understands how it works." Or it did, and it just wasn't sharin'. That Kalki woman who been brought up before, and made experiments in the past would likely have some clue. But as far as Raven knew, she wasn't exactly popular with the public, and either died or went into hiding. He wasn't sure which.

"In either case, I'm back now."

He decided to end it as that. Positive in a sense.

"That's true."

This was awkward. She still didn't know what to say, and eventually he would ask what he'd missed. Honestly, she was hoping he asked that of Yuri, since she wouldn't even know where to begin to speak about the sage's vision or what took place. Was he truly destined to die in the next two years? Or was he just removed from the vision because he'd been in stasis? She wasn't sure.

With effort, she made herself let go of his sleeve. She just had to trust him to continue being here for as long as he was able. And if she grew too attached the way she had in that vision, she knew there was a danger of getting terribly hurt. It was best to be...neutral...about this sort of thing. Safer.

"I should let you get settled. I'm sure you have much to catch up on," she told him, pushing herself off of the edge of the mattress. "But I am glad to see that you're fine. We can catch up later."

Ah, but if he let her go about her own way so soon, without letting her get used to his company once more, what kind of guy would be be? Raven wasn't the type to let a somber woman go about her way.

"But I just started the burner. It'd be a shame ta waste all that food."

No he didn't expect her, but he was playing it like he did. The fact of the matter was, he had just enough food for the both of them, and the was only because he didn't eat very much to begin with.

Really he cared about her too much to let her go when she was clearly in some kind pain.

Rukia paused, and looked over her shoulder at him. All that food...? He'd anticipated she would show up? How had he known? Truly he was a master spy!

It didn't even cross her mind that it was just a coincidence.

"You...?"

Though Rukia was slow to respond, her stomach was not, and it gurgled in open complaint. Raven was a good cook, there was no denying that. Crimson darkened her face. Damn it all, it was hard to be moody when her stomach was growling.

"Er...well...I could do the dishes, I suppose..."

It was good that his last minute tactic worked. They tended to, for the most part. It wasn't always successful, but for the times it matter, it did. Raven gave a hearty smiled before exiting to the kitchen. She had been over a few times before, so she should be more the comfortable and familiar being at his residence.

"If ya want." He chimed.

Raven started his prep in the kitchen. He was making a soup since it was still fairly cold to him. It wasn't summer yet!

It was only February, so no new heroes had arrived for this month. They were expected to arrive the next month, however. And they did arrive while he was in stasis.

"Any fun and interestin' new heroes?"

Rukia blinked as she watched him move for the door, then followed behind him. Part of her still felt like this wasn't a good idea, but at the same time, she couldn't help herself. She honestly liked spending time with him. Even if he were the worst cook in the city, she probably would have stayed the moment he extended the invitation. Her willpower was ridiculously weak.

Carefully she set out the bowls and spoons, folding the napkins neatly. Small talk. She could handle small talk.

...Sort of.

"Ah...possibly. I was in Mysidia at the time," she admitted, sparing a glance toward the kitchen. "I had business to attend to in that region, so I stayed after the ship left for the new year." That soup smelled wonderful... "What was the last day you remember?"

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