lobsterbox | Continuing post #51

[ Nope nope... ]

[ He feels a bit of relief when she says that so evenly. Nodding, he responds calmly. ]

That's right... [ It always feels weird to apologise, but she deserves something. His hand tightens on her shoulder unconsciously, and he means it when he tells her- ] I'm sorry...

[Nothing at all...]

[As embarrassed as she feels, she's also a bit relieved that they're not freaking out about it this time (or that she isn't freaking out...).

But she shakes her head.] For what? You haven't done anything...

[ As long as everything stays normal... ]

[ He's not about to explain that he feels like he's toyed with her emotions. Or that he doesn't mind kissing her. Instead, he just shakes his head, too. ]

You're right... I guess I'm just apologising for the curse.

[ He lets his hand slide down her arm to take her hand. ] But anyway, you were tired, right? We should go to bed.

[As normal as possible...]

Yeah, but it wasn't...I... [And now she's a bit flustered again, but saying she doesn't mind being kissed doesn't seem like the best idea to her. So she just holds his hand lightly, face hot, and nods.]

Uh, yeah--we should.

[ There's nothing weird going on between them... ]

[ He doesn't want to mentally finish off her sentence, either. He gives her hand a light squeeze - it's close enough to a hug - and then releases it.

Mustering up a small smile for her- ] Good night...

[ Maybe sleeping will help them out of this awkwardness. ]

[N-no, of course not...]

[She swallows, letting her hands hang at her sides after he lets go. That blush isn't leaving her face anytime soon...] Y-yeah...See you in the morning.

[And with that, she'll turn to go into the other room--though she might have some trouble sleeping well right away.]

[ That's their story and they're sticking to it... ]

[ He just nods and waits for her to get to her room before he goes to his. Everything about his movements is stiff and automatic, and when he lays down, he just stares at the door for a while before he can't stand it anymore and dozes off.

At least he feels a little better thinking things will probably be normal again in the morning. ]

[And nothing will change their minds.]

[Rita lays awake for quite a while, emotions keeping her mind too active to go to sleep. Even her dreams, when she does doze on and off, are weird and erratic.

Eventually, she ends up rolling out of bed pretty early--like, the crack of dawn--and goes and sits out in the living room with a book.]

[ Most of all not curses. ]

[ Tyr is used to not sleeping well even if this time has less to do with his rune and more to do with much more normal and human feelings. At least he can say that, over the years, he's gotten good and ignoring that side of him even if it's become harder with his stay in the City.

Whether because he hears her move or his sleep was really just that restless, he pulls himself out of bed some time later. The hour doesn't bother him too much. If nothing else, he's pretty sure he'll be alone.

Or not.

Rather than say anything just yet, when he sees her, he goes over to sit beside her. ]

[Never curses!]

[Maybe she's too absorbed in her book--or maybe she's just still half-asleep--but she doesn't really notice when he sits next to her and just keeps her eyes trained on the words as she turns the page. The two dolls sit on her other side undisturbed, still holding hands.]

[ Nope-! ]

[ At least the dolls are the same as when they left them. He can't believe they really left those out all night... But Riou and the others probably know all about them by now anyway.

He won't bother her, then. She can't really have just not noticed him... A few seconds pass as he waits for her to even give him a glance, but since she doesn't, he just flops back onto the couch with a sigh and rests his head back against it sleepily. ]

[And when Rita came out to sit, she couldn't help giving them a glance and deciding to leave them. It was weird, but she didn't want to separate them just yet.

She really did not notice Tyr, though--until he flops back like that, and she blinks out of her stupor and abruptly turns to face him, obviously surprised.] Wha--when did you get up?

[ Tyr sort of prefers having the dolls together like that anyway... Not that he's going to say so to anyone.

If he were more awake, her surprise would be kind of funny. Since that's not the case, he just turns his head to face her - a little smile on his face anyway - and just responds honestly: ] About half an hour ago... You haven't been here all night, have you?

[Nor is Rita--especially after they already each agreed to keep one.

She regards him for a second, and her surprise fades away as she shakes her head.] No--I just got up a little while ago.

[ And he doesn't plan to change his mind on that now. ]

Good... I was a little worried... [ But anyway- He looks over her shoulder. ] What are you reading?

[Nope. No going back.]

Well, there's nothing to worry about. [She says it softly as she looks right at him. She doesn't want him to worry about what happened last night.

And it's a book...not about blastia! It's about plants.] Herbology.

[ Nope. ]

[ He'll try not to worry... It didn't end as badly as last time - honestly, if she ran off this time, he would have probably followed her. But thankfully, that didn't happen, and she seems okay. He hopes her feelings aren't hurt.

But talking about books is safer! ] Ah- Are you going to try making medicine again?

[Rita's in so much denial about her feelings on it that it hardly matters. Or so she'd claim. But they did handle things a bit better this time...

And heck yeah books!] Hmmm...I guess I could probably do that. I just happened to have this one lying around. [So she started reading.]

[ Tyr wishes he could be in denial. All he's really doing is being stubborn.

BOOKS!! ] ...So really, you would have read anything...

[It tends to be a bit of both for Rita...

BOOOOOKS!!] Yeah. As long as it wasn't boring. [Because herbology is interesting?]

[ Sob, these two...

BOOOOOOKS~♥ ] I didn't know you liked reading about plants. [ Maybe to Rita... ]

[Sob, yep...What a pair.

All the reading!!] Having some extra knowledge isn't a bad thing. [...And, okay, she might think plants are all right even if they're hardly her first interest.]

[ Everyone knows, but they're just like NOPENOPENOPE.

It's the best hobby!! ] But you're reading about plants, so you have to think they're interesting and useful... [ By logic of everything she's said previously! ]

[They're doing everything short of sticking their fingers in their ears and going LALALA CAN'T HEAR YOU...

Being a sponge and soaking up knowledge!] W-well, they're not useless or anything...

[ ksdjg And someday, they might even resort to that...

Describes Rita perfectly! ] I never said they were...

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