~♥TWENTY-ONE♥~

[generalflirt]

[Action]

[Okay, so after flouncing the house yesterday and taking up residence in a random apartment in the middle of the night, taking only his journal and the clothes on his back, Masaomi is now left with a few things to do today on the 8th, now that he rested all of the seventh. He is of course ditching school if there is any, but he will be heading to three different places:

1) The Smithy, to see if he can't find or request the construction of a collapsible baton, like the ones he used in the draft
2) The clothing shop, because he left all his hoodies/other outfits at home. In fact, he's still wearing the ninja vest he wore in the draft today, albeit mercifully with a washed pair of pants and a washed T-shirt.
3) looking for people

He is specifically looking for his closest non-Mikado friends, those who need to be protected, or those he respects/figures can do something (slatebreaker, seiriald, markofthebrave, boomchuka, wise_maiden, liketofu, heavenslament, poppetry, falenandawn, mischiefbreeder, its_troublesome, acowardlyoak, anddeathsdoctor) though will not object if other people run into him. He is however, in the darkest of all moods right now, and still is a little weak, despite a day or rest. He'll be all over town looking for these people (mostly because he isn't entirely sure where all of them live) and such.

-FOR THE RECORD IF YOU ARE ON THAT LIST AND DON'T HAVE TIME/ENERGY FOR A THREAD, FEEL FREE TO ASSUME HE GAVE THEM A HEADS-UP. EDIT: Also heads up if they can't be found for some reason or another. Just give me a ring somehow to know you saw. Also, like I said, anyone is free to tag whenever. Have at.

EDIT2: for context of why he booked it from the house see this thread (heavy spoilers for later DRRR novels)]

Comments

[generalflirt]

[And he can make his way there - he does, mid-way through the day. He considers a moment... he could break in, he could knock on her window, but bother of those defeat his purpose and he doesn't have the energy. Plus, while it's not quite -storming- now as opposed to how it was earlier and will be later, it's still raining pretty hard and he's quite wet on top of being a tad ill.

So.

Knock on the door]

[markofthebrave]

[So right about then would be stage two, sleeping on the couch. A knock on the door is enough to rouse her, unaccustomed to naps as she is. She glances around blearily, and then makes her way to the door, rubbing absently at an eye and brushing down her sleep-mussed hair.]

Hell-- oh, Masaomi!

[He's back. He's safe. Good.

She instantly opens the door wide.]

You're soaked. Come on in.

[Frown, frown, worry, worry.] Where is your umbrella?

[generalflirt]

[He does come in. No umbrella... well. He's already sick. Which is amazing, he's an idiot, right? In a lighter mood than this he might have laughed. As is though, he just tugs at the edges of the ninja-vest he has on (now sporting a sizable hole from a stab he got in the draft) and leans against the door frame once inside]

I just came to see you.

[HE ignores her question entirely]

[markofthebrave]

[Boy, you are an unending source of concern. Katara takes in his drenched appearance, the familiar-looking vest, (He must have talked to Shikamaru - good) and the gaping hole on the side.

And her worry hikes up another notch or eight.

He's not moving like he's wounded, so -]

Well, here I am. Let me bend the water off of you and then you can come in and sit down and have something warm to drink. You're going to get sick like that.

[She's already moving to bend the water off of him and out the still opened door, so no, despite phrasing it as a question, he really doesn't have a choice.]

[generalflirt]

Ah... alright. [He figured this would be the case. And with Katara... well. He doesn't mind the delay. As long as she doesn't get in the way of the mission, he'd be willing to spend all the time she wants together and more. So he awkwardly spreads his arms to make the bending off water easier for him.]

[markofthebrave]

[Right, well. That taken care of, Katara reaches over to shut the door behind him and gives him a long look before stretching a hand out to the tear in his vest.]

Are you still wounded?

[Because your clothing kinda ratted you out, bud, and she's really not going to take BS for an answer.]

[generalflirt]

[He almost is tempted to swat that hand away. that wound... that one is worth getting defensive about. But he doesn't, instead he shakes his head]

It feels like it a little still, but no. It got healed.

[markofthebrave]

Okay. [And she drops her hand, steps aside and then towards the kitchen.]

Do you want tea or hot chocolate?

[As a small mercy to everyone everywhere, no one has introduced the Avatar House to coffee yet.]

[generalflirt]

[There's no coffee? Well..] I'll have tea then.

[And he follows her towards, into, the kitchen. A smile can't seem to come on his lips though]

[markofthebrave]

[Katara glances back at him. No, no, no, the idea was that you sat on the couch and she brought the tea out, not that you continued to stand there looking like - that.

She reaches to fill up the kettle with some water.]

You should sit down. You've got to be exhausted.

[generalflirt]

A slept most of yesterday.

[...But it's true, he is still tired somehow. And more than that, he's really stressed, really hurt and really... broken. More than usual. He leans up against the wall]

...I'll wait for you.

[markofthebrave]

[A pause as Katara decides whether or not she should insist - but in the end she just puts the kettle on the oven.] All right.

[Her movements are quick and efficient as she turns to the cupboard where she stores the tea.] We've got jasmine, ginsing, oolang, and green tea. Which would you like?

[generalflirt]

Whichever you like best, Katara.

[He doesn't care. Tea is... well tea isn't just tea, but it hurts to think about something as inane as that in the midst of all the other stuff going on right now]

[markofthebrave]

[Normally she might pester him about it, but she selects green tea and prepares their cups while the kettle reaches its boiling point.] Okay.

[And then, when everything's done... she turns to face him on the opposite side of the counter. Had he looked so worn at the end of the last draft? He'd been injured then too, a broken ankle and bored out of his mind. But no... no he hadn't looked quite like this.

Tentative:] I'm glad you made it back all right.

[generalflirt]

Nn.

I am too.

[This one was so different. Last time he was scared, he hesitated and made mistakes which lead to him being injured. Last time he messed up, but ultimately he has comrades: ones he could depend on and... looking back, he almost finds that time to be nostalgic now in comparison to what this draft felt like, or what he feels like now.

He was lucky to survive. Very lucky. If not for Raine, he's sure, he would have died. Maybe he even did die, he's not even sure.

He doesn't look at her, just push off the wall and go to lean on the counter itself]

[markofthebrave]

[And Katara goes still, in the way that animals go still when they're tensing to bolt, as if any movement would interfere with the importance of listening.]

It was.. very bad, wasn't it.

[generalflirt]

[...] I stuck with a team.

[I kept my promise. He allows himself a nod to confirm it. It was bad, it was really bad, all things considered]

[markofthebrave]

[Something in her just - crumbles at that.] Good. Thank you.

[This is an attempt at a smile but mostly there is just still - concern. And relief.]

[generalflirt]

[He watches it for a moment, the look on her face... it's one of the most beautiful things he's ever seen. So beautiful, in fact, he hangs his head a little so that the radiance of her look right now doesn't burn him.

He's too broken to be deserving of that.]

Ah... it was a promise.

[markofthebrave]

[Katara smiles and nods at that - and opens her mouth to say something silly and trite like 'well, good,' when the tea kettle whistles.]

I'm still glad.

[And she goes to get the tea and pour the water.]

[generalflirt]

[Oh- the tea. He... can't smile still but he watcher her work with it and waits for his cup. He needs to change the topic soon... needs to. But he can't bring it out just yet]

[markofthebrave]

[And with the tea happily poured into cups, Katara hands him his mug with a small smile.]

Here you go.

[And she makes her way back through the dining area over to the sofas.]

[generalflirt]

Ah... thank you, Katara. [But he needs to say it to her. About... Izaya. Nnngh. He takes the mug and follows her, the respositioning is nice and the couch is more comfy]

[markofthebrave]

I'm glad you came to see me today. It's good to see that you're okay.

[...even if you look as though you're fighting something off. It's still nice to see that someone is OK.]

[generalflirt]

Mm. It must be something you're really glad of. [He says this lightly. He's not accusing her - far from it - it's merely that she's said things like that a few times now. He can't help but wonder if she's not okay herself]