FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org They need the herbs more then I need help.
[a gentle-- gentle? -- a reminder, for her and him. she really wasn't at her best if this was how she spoke. no jokes, no teasing, no three dozen questions before agreement.]
[he hadn't expected her to be, in fairness; that was why he'd contacted her in the first place.]
They have their lessons to learn, you still have yours.
[ Amber's predictable when it comes to a certain someone. Painfully predictable. But it's probably to Hinata's credit that she sees little need to perform. ]
[if he were honest, he's impressed she'd leave his side. Hei must still be in medical - unless he had some regeneration up his sleeve, he couldn't be back in action already.]
[regardless.]
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org Southern outpost. I'll see you soon.
[ He doesn't need her, doesn't want her there. That wouldn't be enough to drive her away in another instance, only she knows that gathering supplies is also for his benefit. She can be more useful than unwanted company. ]
[bag on his hip, knife and bow strung equally in their respective belts (damn primitive, his twenty first century technology-addled brain scoffed, but it was a passing thought and not worth anything), Hinata waits with a hand on a large, yellow bird, of which was saddled and ready to go with as bored of a look as a bird could manage.]
[on spotting the green haired woman approaching, he raises a hand but not a smile. for his part, he looked healthy, rested, well-nourished-- in short, not a sufferer of any internal damage. the only evidence anything may have gone astray was a particularly messy hair day, the tighter set to his jaw and a new brownish-red stain on his boot's side.]
[ Amber doesn't look like she's dying, which is more than can be said of nearly a quarter of the crew. But there's a bruise on her left forehead that's hardly concealed by her hair and she lacks her usual Stepford smile, even if she strides with purpose toward the boy, eyes widening in surprise at the sight of the . . . is that a bird with a saddle? ]
[first: the bruise. Hinata does little more than glance toward the hint of it before his jaw tightens, but -- miraculously and at least for now - he doesn't make a comment. rather...]
[second: the surprise.]
She's a yellow chocabo. [better than 'cocoba,' still wrong. he really needed to work on memorization.] And a much smoother ride than the bahari.
[but then, he may be biased. he smooths a hand over the bird's feathers; she blinks large eyes at him, head craning to look down. he struggled to keep his voice neutral - it dipped into gentled concern when he least expected it, for Amber and the chocobo both.]
Her name's Solvieg. She can't take two, but she could hold what we collect if we get too much, or she can keep pace if you have any super speed up your sleeve. -- Are we going?
[ Choc... abo... That is better than Cocoabo anyhow.
Amber comes close enough to reach a hand out to touch the animal's neck, eyes fixed on the bird's face for any early signs of aggression. As cute as it is, her paranoia still keeps her mind cycling through the many possible ways she could lose an eye or a hand. The feather is surprisingly soft to the touch and warm. It's comforting in a way she can't quite explain. ]
I don't think super speed is what we need. [ Since really, she's here to pass the time, isn't she? ] You can ride her. I'll walk.
[ That's all the notice she gives before starting to walk off into the light forest surrounding camp, each step carefully placed and body tense despite the lack of threats to justify such a stance. She turns over her shoulder just once to see if Hinata's keeping up. ]
[sharp talons, sharp beak, and a reaction time to rival any bird in the air-- Solvieg, well-behaved as she was, did little more than turn her attention toward the reaching woman, head turned to the side to keep Amber in one black eye. Hinata didn't budge; he only knew Solvieg as a gentle, if pushy, creature. the damage she could do had once been on his mind, but as time passed, it faded. there was nothing to fear from the chocobo.]
[when Amber took away her hand, as if sensing her caution, the bird only then shifted on her feet. she was restless. she wanted to run. Hinata got that. a little extra weight and matching a human's slow walk wouldn't do much good. he swung himself up into the saddle (nearly didn't make it: he usually needed a stool) only to give them both something to focus on, nudging her forward to catch up as gently as possible. she gave a start, moving too quick before he reigned her in at Amber's side.]
[hadn't Amber asked him that before? ... or had it been Hei?]
[oh, but maybe -]
Red. [or (and what he thought she meant, but he was being obtuse): no one. forgetting that day in the hallway and her need for distraction was impossible.] He sent out that bit about medical needing more plants. And I figured four hands were better than two, so...
[thankfully, the woods here weren't too dense. it would be easy to spot what they needed, and also for the chocobo to navigate her way. the one down side to the big bird had to be the-- well, the 'big, bright' part.]
[ Her mind is a million miles away at the moment. No matter how hard she tries (and she's not really trying) she can't quite distract herself from the thought that right now, Hei could be dying and she has no way of stopping it. He's suffering and she doesn't even know how much. The thought eats at her, causes her to clench her fists before reminding herself to relax. Even breathing ceases to be automatic. She needs to remind herself of that too. Inhale, exhale. This will pass, right?
They need medicine for when it does. She needs to be calm then. She needs a plan.
Amber turns over her shoulder at the sound of giant bird talons on grass, smiling a little at the sight of orange and yellow. The oversized chicken and the little boy. ]
If gathering plants is your intention, I wouldn't be at the top of your list. [ That's a matter of fact. ] I know what you're doing, Hinata, but I don't understand why.
[two-legged animals were, as a rule, odd steeds. the gait just a touch too rapid to be considered comfortable, no matter how well-trained the beast, with no easy flow from front to back. still, as far as giant birds went? chocobos were pretty sweet.]
[he kept his hands on the saddle horn and eyes just over Amber's green head of hair, attention put toward a valiant effort of searching out the mushroom-like plants they needed. just ahead...--]
You're not on the bottom of the list. [a weak protest, more reflex than anything he believed would work.] Why? Mmn...
[brown meets orange. a tentative, tentative pause. then, not tentative at all:]
Once satisfied that he is still nearby, Amber turns back to the road only to veer off the path and into the bushes, pushing small branches aside with gloved hands and stepping gingerly in case the soil isn't set. It seems as if she's right at home here in the woods, no matter that it is an alien planet. Forests are strange worlds all on their own.
There are truffles growing at the base of this massive tree, only she needs to stop and pull up her black glass to check if it's the correct shade of not poisonous. That's when she hears the boy's question, body tensing and breath held. It's a harmless question, isn't it? It should be. She shouldn't feel so strongly about his audacity in even asking her that. She shouldn't feel anything. She shouldn't wish to rewind time just to keep him from throwing that question at her. She shouldn't be here. That's what he's saying, isn't it? Why isn't she there to see it first hand?
She turns to him a whole minute later, an unmistakable look of thinly veiled hurt and confusion on her face. ]
[hurt registers on her face at the same time as he mentally recoils; shifts his weight backward and receives an inquisitive kweh? from Solveig, the bird visibly tensing up. sensitive creatures, chocobos.]
[one hand darted to pat the feathers, small body canting forward in a hastily covered up motion. voice stumbling,]
Y--- you don't. Not need It's...
[too dumb to shut his mouth in time to keep it inside; not dumb enough to continue through. shoulders close in, defensive but not, not scared of her, more scared for her, and it feels like a big thing that she's come out here with him but it probably isn't but that was the way of things and whether it was or wasn't, here they were, and this was about Hei.]
[about Hei and about her, about how much Hei got to her, about how much they couldn't stop or even predict.]
... I just wondered if you had. Either way, it's hard to forget. [an uncertain pause.] Do you think moving helps?
[ Should she feel appeased by his hesitation? The uncertain way he speaks after, as if her question has unsettled him as much as this, this entire situation, pulls the rug from under her feet. But this is different. Grief was confusing, she finds, but it carried none of the sickening anxiety she feels now, like a cold weight in the pit of her stomach. Like sitting on a rollercoaster without knowing when the fall will come or if it ever will, knowing only that she won't be prepared for it when it does. If it does. There's no way she would ever be ready for it and there's nothing to be done.
Nothing to be done. Moving was a matter of forgetting. She doesn't want to forget.
Amber lowers her eyes, movement slow and deliberate when she turns back to the task at hand. First, setting her black glass on the ground, then pulling out a knife from her boot to begin harvesting the correctly colored truffles. It's only a moment later that she turns over her shoulder to speak to him. ]
[not an answer. not even a joke of an answer, or a re-direct, or anything close to Amber's normal. Hinata kept his grip light in the chocobo's feathers, but he couldn't help staring. she caught him at that -- her comment turned his head down, away, part embarrassed and part discontent. there's no satisfying conclusion to reach in their exchange.]
[not while Hei recovered alone and far away. an assured recovery, sure, and yet--- that hardly helped.]
No, no. We're here to collect.
[more certain, but also quieter. he turned with his legs; fortunately, Solveig was a good chocobo, and figured out what he wanted - trotted slow through the underbrush, stopping a ways away. he'd dismount without another word, crouching the same as her to harvest what he found. the bird, for her part, held still.]
[could've pried deeper. but - ironically, given Amber - maybe time would pay them a favor.]
[ Her eyes follow him and the chocobo as they approach, gaze steady but wary, too. As if Hinata would somehow turn this instance into a surprise ambush, though that's through no fault of his.
Her nerves are frayed. The latest turn of event is a reminder that she isn't working for an organization bent on keeping her and hers safe. It isn't time to come in from the cold. Everyone remains an enemy she keeps close for reasons more practical. Even a boy with untamable hair and his giant bird, his bold questions and that brand of audacity that keeps him coming back to her. What a silly boy.
Only when he begins to help her harvest the truffles does she return to her work, still quiet, almost mechanical. But she hesitates, fingers gripping the hilt of her knife tightly, then loosening, before she looks up at him with an expression less grateful and more, much more, uncertain. ]
[bit by slow ticking time bit, he relaxed enough to turn his attention toward their actual physical task. a cut here, a slice there, and it was the purple ones they wanted, not the blue, right...? oh, he should double check. turned to place the more obvious bundle into the Chocobo's saddle, and give her a light push away with a quiet go on! - Solveig would come when called, and he'd told Hope he'd take her exercising, not have her stand around somewhere new. okay. blackglass. which nox truffles...]
[...]
[it doesn't take much time to remember to glance up at her words, but there is a small pause in which he sees her out of the corner of his eyes and pauses himself.]
[only say what you want to say comes to mind with how uncertain she looks, but (as far as he knew) she'd never failed to do that before. so. did she know what she was thanking him for? did she just not know what else to say? did it mean anything? did it---- oh, no, he couldn't speculate, couldn't stand and stare. simply, abruptly, honestly:]
Anytime.
[followed by a quick nod and determined turn back to the truffles, blackglass clutched to his chest. crouched again over the truffles, willing the word to speak loud enough for what this was. whatever this was.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
I need a set of eyes for the back of my head, and I can offer a pair for the back of yours, too
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
So we'll have to be close
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
Meet at the southern outpost?
Bring a bag if you have one
no subject
You make it sound like we're equals.
FROM: amber@cdc.org
Bring weapons. Let's call this training.
no subject
They need the herbs more then I need help.
[a gentle-- gentle? -- a reminder, for her and him. she really wasn't at her best if this was how she spoke. no jokes, no teasing, no three dozen questions before agreement.]
[he hadn't expected her to be, in fairness; that was why he'd contacted her in the first place.]
no subject
It doesn't make you need the help any less.
FROM: amber@cdc.org
They have their lessons to learn, you still have yours.
[ Amber's predictable when it comes to a certain someone. Painfully predictable. But it's probably to Hinata's credit that she sees little need to perform. ]
no subject
[if he were honest, he's impressed she'd leave his side. Hei must still be in medical - unless he had some regeneration up his sleeve, he couldn't be back in action already.]
[regardless.]
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
Southern outpost. I'll see you soon.
no subject
FROM: amber@cdc.org
See you soon.
aaaaction.
[on spotting the green haired woman approaching, he raises a hand but not a smile. for his part, he looked healthy, rested, well-nourished-- in short, not a sufferer of any internal damage. the only evidence anything may have gone astray was a particularly messy hair day, the tighter set to his jaw and a new brownish-red stain on his boot's side.]
[before saying anything, he assessed her.]
no subject
Are you sure you know how to ride that?
no subject
[second: the surprise.]
She's a yellow chocabo. [better than 'cocoba,' still wrong. he really needed to work on memorization.] And a much smoother ride than the bahari.
[but then, he may be biased. he smooths a hand over the bird's feathers; she blinks large eyes at him, head craning to look down. he struggled to keep his voice neutral - it dipped into gentled concern when he least expected it, for Amber and the chocobo both.]
Her name's Solvieg. She can't take two, but she could hold what we collect if we get too much, or she can keep pace if you have any super speed up your sleeve. -- Are we going?
no subject
Amber comes close enough to reach a hand out to touch the animal's neck, eyes fixed on the bird's face for any early signs of aggression. As cute as it is, her paranoia still keeps her mind cycling through the many possible ways she could lose an eye or a hand. The feather is surprisingly soft to the touch and warm. It's comforting in a way she can't quite explain. ]
I don't think super speed is what we need. [ Since really, she's here to pass the time, isn't she? ] You can ride her. I'll walk.
[ That's all the notice she gives before starting to walk off into the light forest surrounding camp, each step carefully placed and body tense despite the lack of threats to justify such a stance. She turns over her shoulder just once to see if Hinata's keeping up. ]
Who put you up to this?
no subject
[when Amber took away her hand, as if sensing her caution, the bird only then shifted on her feet. she was restless. she wanted to run. Hinata got that. a little extra weight and matching a human's slow walk wouldn't do much good. he swung himself up into the saddle (nearly didn't make it: he usually needed a stool) only to give them both something to focus on, nudging her forward to catch up as gently as possible. she gave a start, moving too quick before he reigned her in at Amber's side.]
[hadn't Amber asked him that before? ... or had it been Hei?]
[oh, but maybe -]
Red. [or (and what he thought she meant, but he was being obtuse): no one. forgetting that day in the hallway and her need for distraction was impossible.] He sent out that bit about medical needing more plants. And I figured four hands were better than two, so...
[thankfully, the woods here weren't too dense. it would be easy to spot what they needed, and also for the chocobo to navigate her way. the one down side to the big bird had to be the-- well, the 'big, bright' part.]
[Amber was so tense.]
no subject
They need medicine for when it does. She needs to be calm then. She needs a plan.
Amber turns over her shoulder at the sound of giant bird talons on grass, smiling a little at the sight of orange and yellow. The oversized chicken and the little boy. ]
If gathering plants is your intention, I wouldn't be at the top of your list. [ That's a matter of fact. ] I know what you're doing, Hinata, but I don't understand why.
no subject
[he kept his hands on the saddle horn and eyes just over Amber's green head of hair, attention put toward a valiant effort of searching out the mushroom-like plants they needed. just ahead...--]
You're not on the bottom of the list. [a weak protest, more reflex than anything he believed would work.] Why? Mmn...
[brown meets orange. a tentative, tentative pause. then, not tentative at all:]
Did you see first hand what happened to him?
no subject
Once satisfied that he is still nearby, Amber turns back to the road only to veer off the path and into the bushes, pushing small branches aside with gloved hands and stepping gingerly in case the soil isn't set. It seems as if she's right at home here in the woods, no matter that it is an alien planet. Forests are strange worlds all on their own.
There are truffles growing at the base of this massive tree, only she needs to stop and pull up her black glass to check if it's the correct shade of not poisonous. That's when she hears the boy's question, body tensing and breath held. It's a harmless question, isn't it? It should be. She shouldn't feel so strongly about his audacity in even asking her that. She shouldn't feel anything. She shouldn't wish to rewind time just to keep him from throwing that question at her. She shouldn't be here. That's what he's saying, isn't it? Why isn't she there to see it first hand?
She turns to him a whole minute later, an unmistakable look of thinly veiled hurt and confusion on her face. ]
Why do I need to see it first hand?
no subject
[one hand darted to pat the feathers, small body canting forward in a hastily covered up motion. voice stumbling,]
Y--- you don't. Not need It's...
[too dumb to shut his mouth in time to keep it inside; not dumb enough to continue through. shoulders close in, defensive but not, not scared of her, more scared for her, and it feels like a big thing that she's come out here with him but it probably isn't but that was the way of things and whether it was or wasn't, here they were, and this was about Hei.]
[about Hei and about her, about how much Hei got to her, about how much they couldn't stop or even predict.]
... I just wondered if you had. Either way, it's hard to forget. [an uncertain pause.] Do you think moving helps?
[this was the second time.]
no subject
Nothing to be done. Moving was a matter of forgetting. She doesn't want to forget.
Amber lowers her eyes, movement slow and deliberate when she turns back to the task at hand. First, setting her black glass on the ground, then pulling out a knife from her boot to begin harvesting the correctly colored truffles. It's only a moment later that she turns over her shoulder to speak to him. ]
Are you just going to watch me?
no subject
[not while Hei recovered alone and far away. an assured recovery, sure, and yet--- that hardly helped.]
No, no. We're here to collect.
[more certain, but also quieter. he turned with his legs; fortunately, Solveig was a good chocobo, and figured out what he wanted - trotted slow through the underbrush, stopping a ways away. he'd dismount without another word, crouching the same as her to harvest what he found. the bird, for her part, held still.]
[could've pried deeper. but - ironically, given Amber - maybe time would pay them a favor.]
no subject
Her nerves are frayed. The latest turn of event is a reminder that she isn't working for an organization bent on keeping her and hers safe. It isn't time to come in from the cold. Everyone remains an enemy she keeps close for reasons more practical. Even a boy with untamable hair and his giant bird, his bold questions and that brand of audacity that keeps him coming back to her. What a silly boy.
Only when he begins to help her harvest the truffles does she return to her work, still quiet, almost mechanical. But she hesitates, fingers gripping the hilt of her knife tightly, then loosening, before she looks up at him with an expression less grateful and more, much more, uncertain. ]
Thank you, Hinata.
no subject
[...]
[it doesn't take much time to remember to glance up at her words, but there is a small pause in which he sees her out of the corner of his eyes and pauses himself.]
[only say what you want to say comes to mind with how uncertain she looks, but (as far as he knew) she'd never failed to do that before. so. did she know what she was thanking him for? did she just not know what else to say? did it mean anything? did it---- oh, no, he couldn't speculate, couldn't stand and stare. simply, abruptly, honestly:]
Anytime.
[followed by a quick nod and determined turn back to the truffles, blackglass clutched to his chest. crouched again over the truffles, willing the word to speak loud enough for what this was. whatever this was.]