driftfleet | (no subject)

[ he really really doesn't (even though he's seen the raw meat thing, he even bought it for him once).

he takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. ]

And a hug. [ he could really use one as lame as that makes him feel. ]

[She curls her arms around him and gives him a squeeze.] I love you.

[ he clings to her a little desperately for a while. ]

I love you too. [ sniffling, he nods, finally pulling away. ] Okay, let's do it.

[She nods.] The visiting, not the dirty stuff, right? [Keeping it light?]

Visiting, then the dirty stuff.

Have I ever told you I love the way you think? [Kissing his cheek.] Come on. He's going to be excited.

Yeah -

[ he tries to sound excited about it, it doesn't really work. he's just going to follow her...and hold her hand the moment they step onto the cargo hold. ]

[She gives his hand a squeeze once they arrive and she finds it in hers. She looks over to give him a supportive hug.] Kitchen? [Translation: ready for this?]

Kitchen.

[ translation: not even a little, but I'm gonna do it anyway. ]

I believe in you. I can start singing you're the wind beneath my wings if that helps, but I think we both know that isn't scientifically accurate.

Still gonna make you sing it after.

[ because that is a hilarious mental image. ]

Alright. [ he puts on a smile. ] How's it look?

Deal. [She brushes his cheek with her other hand.] Not quite as beautiful as the real thing, but it'll do. Let's go make a non-vampire's day.

Let's do it.

[ he follows her into the kitchen, trying to mentally prepare himself for whatever comes now. ]

Hi Sascha -

--Hi! [ Yes, that does come out surprised and all-too-enthusiastic, but Sascha can't help it; he's been lying in wait this whole time and has been very conscious of placing himself on the opposite end of the kitchen, in a chair like he's on timeout or something. The reasoning behind that is hopefully to make Winn feel more comfortable.

But he still looks like he wants to vault across the room and fling himself at them both for hugs. ]

[She is definitely relieved there is no running for hugs. She wishes he looked less like he was about to for Winn's sake, but she smiles at him.] Hey you. Good to see you.

[ yeah, that eagerness is making winn super uncomfortable right now and he subconsciously keeps himself half a step behind kitty. 20 minutes, the countdown begins. ]

Yeah - what've you been up to?

[ He can't help but wiggle in his seat Winn :c he's so excited to see both of you!]

Um! Well--Bigby was a puppy and he got super-tired easy, so I looked after him! And then I stayed in Bigby's room a lot...until he went back to normal and got too big for me to stay in there all the time.

[ yeah, he's still working on...the whole "going out" thing. ]

But I bought a whole bunch of dead stuff for the first time! So this time I get to feed Bigby~

[Oh good, straight to the dead stuff topic.] I'm glad to see you're getting out a little, Sascha.

[ glad to see his bedside manners haven't improved. ]

Yeah, you shouldn't be cooped up here all the time. So how's Bigby doing? [ he still knows very little about the guy - by choice, he's still pretty uncomfortable with the idea of him and being on the same ship with him is not helping his nerves any - but glitching is hard, and it's someone who's important to sascha. so he asks. ]

He's sleeping. [ Sascha smiles when he says this, but the looks doesn't quite reach very far somehow. He's a little less adapt at pushing everything down after his time remembering, and Bigby's sudden slumber has hit him a little harder than he thought.

He's still there and Sascha sleeps next to him during the day, but he's not really...there.. ]

For a really long time now.

[It only takes a moment for it to click.] ...Sascha... [She squeezes Winn's hand, but then she lets go of it to cross the room and hug the man much, much older than her who she's so protective of.] Why didn't you tell me?

[ goddammit. that's his first thought.

it's unfair on so many levels and it's one more thing he wants to get back at the atroma for. one more thing in a very long list. he doesn't join them yet - both because he's not sure he can handle it, and because as is often the case with kitty and sascha - he feels like he'd be intruding. but unlike that time sascha found out about her death, he's no longer really comfortable with leaving them alone, either. so he just stands there, a little helpless and lost, trying to figure out something to say.

he can imagine why. it's his fault, isn't it. ]

How long has it been?

[ Sascha tries (and fails) to put on a brave face for all of half a second before he's hugging Kitty tight and burying his face in her shoulder. He feels guilty for not telling, but also incredibly lifted for having done it.

Still though. Sascha only mumbles his answers. ]

More than a week. [ He can't get into why he hasn't said anything yet, mostly because he spent the first few days? Literally unmoving from Bigby's side. ]

[She spent the first few days not leaving Winn's side too. She holds him, rubbing his back.] I'm sorry. [She should have known sooner because she should have checked on him. She's so used to him always finding her and that's not the way it is right now.]

I'm sorry too.

[ shuffling his way closer - because staying at a distance feels just as awkward now so he may as well do something - he gives sascha's shoulder a little pat. maybe he should have stayed in his corner of the kitchen. or left. he doesn't know, everything feels awkward now, but he knows how painful it is to lose people, he felt like he was losing his mind when jim was down, and when hank joined him? he was beside himself. he feels like he has to do something. ]