driftfleet | Windrose, where the wind blows

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Windrose, where the wind blows

Who: Windrose crew and you, distinguished visitors!
Broadcast: Naaah.
Action: Windrose, various points in the near vicinity
When: Until we get off this frozen rock

[On New Year's Day, the crew on board the Windrose and those nearby may notice the chill as the doors to the cargo bay are left open, and their captain making quite a bit of noise as she inspects their newly expanded home away from home. This is likely to go on for a while. Feel free to come investigate, chat among yourselves, complain about the cold, etc!]

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[At first, Wanda looks shocked. She had not expected to find Souji aboard the Windrose at all. However, her lightens up just as his does, and she smiles back in friendly greeting.]

Hello, Souji. I did not expect to run into you here.

Me either.

[Though it's not exactly an unwelcome surprise.]

I just brought some food over for Natasha and her crew. [He gestures to the dishes spread out on the counter.] Would you like to try some?

[She gets to sample more of Souji's cooking? That barely requires any thought from her before she answers.]

Of course.

[Then she remembers her manners for a moment.] If there is enough to go around, that is.

[He nods; of course there's plenty, and he's happy for her to have some.]

Natasha and I went ice fishing a few days ago. That's what a lot of this is - we caught a lot.

[She takes a nearby seat, patiently waiting to be served.]

Ice fishing? You and Natas- agent Romanov?

[It still felt weird for Wanda to call Natasha by her first name, even without her around. It felt like addressing a teacher or a boss by their first name.]

[He piles a plate with a good variety of everything he's brought, quirking an eyebrow at what she says as he places the dish in front of her.]

"Agent"? She never told me she was an agent.

We come from the same Earth, she and I. Or well, sort of. There is an Agent Ro- Natasha, that I know back home. The Natasha here, she did not know me when I first arrived.

[She sighs, knowing how confusing this likely all sounds.]

Back home, she works for S.H.I.E.L.D.

They are a peace-keeping organization. She is one of their top agents.

Edited 2016-01-09 22:57 (UTC)

[She thinks for a moment before adding:]

If she did not tell you that, then she probably doesn't want most people to know. Don't tell her that I told you, okay?

I haven't heard of S.H.I.E.L.D., but ... peacekeeping is important work.

[Souji and Natasha talked some, about what she'd shown him in her calibration room, about the red in her ledger and how to balance it out, but she hadn't offered much in the way of details, and he hadn't pressed her to provide them. Hearing that she works in peacekeeping only raises his estimation of her.]

Don't worry - I won't say anything. I'm pretty good at keeping secrets.

[He offers her a small smile by way of reassurance. He knows all too well the importance of secrets and keeping them.]

I have people like that here, too - people from the same place who don't know me. Yosuke Hanamura - I met him last year, when I stayed with my uncle in Inaba. But he knew a different Seta - his name was Yu Narukami, actually. I'm told he was here for a while, before I showed up. And Nanako, of course. She's not the same Nanako I lived with in Inaba, obviously.

[Obviously, because she's alive, and his Nanako isn't. Souji drops his gaze to the countertop, expression sober.]

I don't think she knows that, though.

Edited 2016-01-10 01:09 (UTC)

[Wanda sees his change in demeanor when he mentions the differences in Yosuke and Nanako. She can feel a sense of pain coming from him, and she tries her best to bolster his spirits. She reaches out a hand to him, willing to take his own if its nearby. Her tone is sympathetic, compassionate when she speaks.]

They may not be the same Yosuke and Nanako you knew back home. But that does not necessarily mean they can be any less your friend or any less your family.

[He gives her hand a gentle squeeze, and looks up with a smile for her. It does hurt, as much as he's glad to see Nanako alive and happy every day, to know such a contrast exists between this Nanako and the one he knew. But his sadness should be no one's burden but his own, he thinks - it's discomfiting for other people to have to shoulder something like that. And Souji hasn't forgotten that Wanda lost someone important to her, too - someone who isn't here.]

You're right. I'm grateful to have them here with me.

[And not just them - new friends as well.]

... And you, too.

[Wanda blushes at that, her eyes getting a little wide for a moment. She's surprised, caught off guard by his words. She recovers fairly quickly though, blushing and smiling back at him.]

I am sure they are grateful to have you here too.

[A slight pause, her face growing a little redder, before she adds:]

As I am too.

[There's something subtle that shifts in the small space between them, then - if asked, Souji wouldn't be able to give it words, in this moment or any of the moments after. It's not the sort of thing that belongs to words but something intangible, an unspoken instinct of the heart. This moment just feels right.

He doesn't think about what he does next, not really; one moment he's standing where he was, holding Wanda's hand, and the next, he's moved in closer to her, heart fluttering in his chest as his gaze fixes on her. He hasn't done this part before, but - it feels right, so it must be right. (Right? Isn't that how this works?)]

Wanda, [he says, in a hushed tone, smiling faintly,] I really like you.

[A sharp intake of breath. Her eyes grow a little wide in surprise. She had thought, or perhaps hoped, that this might be the case. That he did, in fact, feel this way about her. Still, to hear him say it out loud... it still caught her off guard. Yet, the smile on her face only grows a little bit wider, and the red in her cheeks a little bit warmer.]

I- I like you too.

[Wanda was finding it hard to meet his gaze. She felt so embarrassed, but she can't figure out why. This was all so new to her. She'd never dated before. In fact, she couldn't even think of the last time she ever even considered going out with a guy before. Is this how it was supposed to go? Did she say the right thing? She'd told him the truth, that she felt the same way, but... wasn't she supposed to think of a better way to phrase it then that? All of these questions and more run through her head, keeping her from noticing just how close together they were now.]

[The smile he wears turns much less faint, hearing that - she likes him, too. It's what he thought without thinking, what he knew through some unspoken instinct. His heartbeat speeds up, and his face warms, but it's not uncomfortable, not at all; this is, in fact, the most relaxed he's felt around another person in a very long time. So it must be right, this series of moments that is unfolding between them.

He's silent for a stretch of seconds that feels much longer, suspended in space, just watching her - the small shifts in expression, the way she blinks and breathes. She's beautiful, but he's known that for a while now; so too has he seen her quiet strength. And he's drawn to that, all of it, all of her, like a moth to a flicker of flame.

Very gently, he reaches up and pushes back a bit of hair from the side of her face with just the tips of his fingers. She's not fragile, he knows this - but maybe this is who he is, someone with a delicate touch. Maybe it's who he wants to be. He tries it on, and it seems to fit. It feels right. His head tilts toward her an inch, a fraction of an inch, and he says, barely more than a whisper:]

Is it OK? If I ...

[But this moment doesn't belong to words; he shows her instead. Souji's eyes close, and he leans in the rest of the way, and he gently brushes his lips against the side of her mouth. Then he waits for what happens next.]

Edited 2016-01-15 02:22 (UTC)

[When his fingers brush the side of her face, moving her hair to the side, she freezes. Hesitating for a moment, unused to this kind of tender gesture, to this kind of intimacy. It is different, foreign, but not unappealing. As out of her element as she feels, she does not retreat. Not this time. Instead, she looks up, meeting his gaze. This time, she does not look away in embarrassment. This time, she wants to see him, and for him to see her in return.]

[She can feel the warmth of his touch, and, despite her surprise early, she does not shirk from it. He draws close, his voice just slightly above a whisper. She can feel the heat of his breath. She does not even hear the question, focusing only his lips drawing close to her own. They lightly touch the side of her mouth. She turns, and returns his with a kiss of her own. This one planted directly on his lips. Her fingers search out his own, and when she finds them, they intertwine.]

[She had not expected this when she arrived on the Windrose, but she is certainly happy by the surprise.]

[She lingers on his lips for a few moments, which seem to last an eternity. Her heart pounding in her ears. When they eventually pull apart, she leans back slightly to look at him once more. Her eyes meeting his own, before she smiles at him. Perfectly contented. And then, she leans in again for a second kiss.]

[He didn't expect this either - hoped, maybe, that what he thought he sensed wasn't wrong. There was a moment somewhere in the stretch of time between the sleepover and now when the flirting turned serious, and while Souji might not be able to pinpoint exactly when that was, and while Souji may not be an expert on this subject, he still understands in an abstract way that serious and certain are two vastly different things. He wasn't sure if Wanda would accept the kiss, much less reciprocate - but she does. She kisses him, and it's like a gentle breeze in spring, soft and warm and full of life. She smiles at him, and Souji mirrors her expression; she seeks him out, and he is already there, fully present, waiting for her.

Then she kisses him again, and he wraps an arm around the top of her shoulders, and gently pulls her in close. Everything about this unexpected series of moments is perfect.]

[She feels Souji drawing her in close, and she reciprocates, wrapping her arms around his waist. To be held like this, it is entirely new for her, like everything that has happened in the past five minutes. But, again, it is not unpleasant. To be this close to another person, to be this intimate, it is a good feeling.]

[She raises one of her hands from behind his back, and reaches it up around to the back of his head. Softly cupping the contours of his neck, as her fingers brush his hair. Her eyes staying closed during the duration of their kiss. She is completely content to be here, in this moment with him.]

[He could stand like this forever, holding her, wrapped up in her arms. Time could stop; the two of them could stay suspended exactly like this and Souji would be absolutely fine with that. This is the most serene he's felt in a very long time, and he's in no hurry for this feeling to end. He grins into the end of the kiss, silently pleased by the sensation of her fingers in his hair; his eyes remain shut for a quiet moment after the kiss ends as he continues to hold her, happy just to have her close.]

I really like you, [he murmurs against her mouth, and punctuates his statement with another quick press of his lips against hers.]

[This time, Wanda breaks the kiss. She smiles back when she hears his words, and it quickly escalates into a small fit of giggles. She doesn't know why, but perhaps it was the timing of his words. They just struck her as rather humorous and cute. She pulls away slightly, only because it's hard to kiss and laugh at the same time. Not the most comfortable of experiences.]

Really? I had not noticed.

[Her laugh is infectious; Souji finds himself echoing it with a quiet laugh of his own.]

Maybe I'm being too subtle.

If this is subtle... what would be more obvious?

[She smiles coyly at him.]

[Souji gives her a one-shouldered shrug and a shy smile.]

Maybe I'm not good at obvious.

[Kingpin was good at obvious. He knew what he wanted and exactly how to get it, how to get people to give it to him. Souji quickly brushes those thoughts away; he doesn't want to let memories of the demon taint him, this, what he's just begun to discover with Wanda.]

Perhaps it is something we can both work on then.

Together?

[That sounds like a perfect plan to him.]

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notmutantbutmiracle - 2016-02-14 23:43 (UTC) - Expand

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Windrose, where the wind blows

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Okay, I've recovered enough for more cuteness. Bring it!

yesssss good c:

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