rendez-vous + APPOINTMENT POST

[tearmeanewone]

[This is an appointment post for Elizabeth at luceti.]

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Comments

[voidseeing]

[He's almost glad she can't see the expressions that flash across his face when she asks that question. No one has ever asked him that before-- not that he can blame them, since he'd deliberately cultivated the image that he and Inori were intimate as a means of hiding his need for transfusions. Certainly he's had no end of women who found him attractive - Ayase was never exactly subtle with her crush, and it was clear that Arisa fancied him too - but he'd never pursued anything with any of them.]

My position didn't exactly lend itself well to that kind of thing.

[It's partially true, and it's certainly a better answer than "I don't understand love and it frightens me."]

[tearmeanewone]

I didn't think so. But I meant here. [Her eyes have closed and she can't open them again--it's too hard.] I'm out of my tower, you don't have a fight here... It's all different, it's an opportunity.

[voidseeing]

[He's quiet for a moment, debating on whether or not to be honest. She's half-asleep, meaning there's a chance she might not remember his answer in the morning. That fact is what finally tips the scales in favor of the decision to admit it.]

... I don't know how.

[tearmeanewone]

You don't know how to have a girlfriend? [Elizabeth cracks her eyes open, resting her chin on Gai's shoulder and frowning up at him.]

What are we doing right now, then?

[voidseeing]

[Gai makes an amused sound at the face she's making. Already he's getting the sense that he is never going to be able to win in any argument ever... and that thought doesn't seem to bother him at all.]

Something that's a learning experience for both of us.

[tearmeanewone]

Hm, true. [Elizabeth smiles and closes her eyes again.] Well... what is it they say? More for me?

[voidseeing]

As much as you want. I've never been very good with sharing.

[He's kind of strong-willed, in case she somehow hadn't noticed.]

[tearmeanewone]

[She laughs, softly--she's clearly falling asleep.] Does that include sharing me?

[voidseeing]

You were the one saying you'd fight off any other girls who were interested in me at speed dating.

[Gai is growing drowsy himself; if she drops off to sleep, he won't be far behind.]

[tearmeanewone]

I would tonight! I made plans with you, I don't want to be usurped by some... girl with long eyelashes and delicate hands.

[voidseeing]

[Rather than answer that verbally, Gai just moves one of his hands up enough to capture her hand in his own. Given that he's a decently tall guy, her hand fits quite nicely in his.

Your argument there is moot, Elizabeth.]

[tearmeanewone]

[She snorts softly, but squeezes his hand a little.]

They're not that delicate...

[voidseeing]

They are compared to mine.

[His are rough, calloused from years of wielding firearms and knives and other assorted weapons. They're the hands of someone who has relied on them for survival... probably not all that unlike Booker's hands, when it comes down to it.]

[tearmeanewone]

I like yours. [She rubs her thumb over one of Gai's, feeling the rough texture.] They feel reliable.

[voidseeing]

[Gai hesitates for a moment, almost afraid to return that gesture. Her hands ARE delicate to him, small and soft and smooth and everything his aren't.]

Let's hope they are reliable as you think they are. I would hate to disappoint on something so important...

[tearmeanewone]

You carried me here without dropping me. [And they were holding her so firmly and keeping her warm.] I think I've judged them well already.

[voidseeing]

[It's strange, to him, to be using his hands to protect rather than cause harm. He can't help but feel that they aren't suited for that, that they're too used to holding weapons to ever really be able to hold another person like this, yet Elizabeth seems quite happy right where she is.]

I think I'm the one who should be wondering what I did to end up with luck like this.

[tearmeanewone]

Maybe we just had to find one another. Somehow we manage enough luck between the two of us. [She squeezes his hand again before lacing her fingers between his.]

[voidseeing]

[The intimacy of that gesture causes Gai to inhale softly and pause for a moment. It's strange-- he can face down dozens of lasers being fired right at him without even blinking, be willing to press a button that he knew would spell his death, and yet here he is, afraid of holding hands with a girl. Really, of all the embarrassing things...

But at last he laces his fingers with hers and just smiles a little.]

Two sets of bad luck equals good luck? Hmm. That might just work after all.

[tearmeanewone]

[Elizabeth laughs, inwardly relieved that Gai returned her gesture even if it took a moment.] If all we've known is bad luck, anything marginally better could be construed as good.

[voidseeing]

Compared to what we've known, I think this whole place counts as pretty good.

[He's actually content, for one thing. The only time he'd truly been content back in his world was when he'd died.]

[tearmeanewone]

True... [She runs her thumb along the bone in Gai's thumb.] But we wouldn't have met if it were anywhere else in the world.

[voidseeing]

That alone makes being here worth it.

[He allows her to stroke his thumb, marveling at how nice that feels. He's so used to wearing gloves that the sensation of actually touching someone else's skin is still odd, to say the least.]

[tearmeanewone]

[Elizabeth considers that for a moment. It's true--if anything can be said about being a prisoner again, it has given her a chance to meet some amazing people and befriend them.]

[Or, in this instance, meet Gai and put her tongue in his mouth.]

Yes... it does make it worth being here.

[voidseeing]

[Only the very best experience to take away from all of this, and they haven't even had sex yet.

His own mind has already partly succumbed to the fuzziness of impending sleep when something very important occurs to him, something that he needs to bring up before they both fall asleep for real.]

If you wake up before I do, don't try to wake me up by touching me without any sort of warning.

[He's not so naive as to think that he'll be able to overcome years of ingrained instincts that easily.]