driftfleet | Twin Roses Mingle

[At one point when Kitty comes into Vash's room to check on him she may find that he's not asleep. Sitting up and looking tired as hell with his hair a floppy mess around his face. Right before she entered he was looking down at his right arm. Making a fist and then releasing it again with his face lost in thought with a slight frown. Once he hears her enter he stops and his usual smile falls right back into place.

His voice is light and happy as if nothing happened recently.] Oh, hello. Hope I didn't worry you.

[Such a feeling of relief goes through her when she enters and sees him already sitting up.]

Worry? Who me? Nah. I just come in to kick you every so often to see if you're still breathing. [She hands him a glass of water she brought just in case and sits down on the edge of his bed, reaching up to touch his forehead, checking for fever.]

I guess I can skip the kick this time.

Edited 2018-07-29 16:01 (UTC)

[He takes the offered water gratefully and she'll be happy to note there is no fever. He's completely healthy. Just utterly worn out, but already feeling better after a long nap.]

Is that why I woke up with new boot shaped bruises all over? [Look he's even joking and smiling like normal. They can just pretend nothing happened now, right? That's at least what he wants to do.]

Yeah, I didn't want to get my shoes messed up, so I wore yours. Hope you don't mind. [But, Vash, if nothing happened then why is she scooting in closer to hug you?]

Hey! I do mind! There's a knife hidden in that boot! [Just in case she gets any ideas in the future. You have to step just right to trigger it so it was unlikely, but best to say something now.

And hugs are just part of the perk of being a casual relationship. No need to talk about anything dramatic. Vash hugs her back and his tone is light.] But really, I'm fine. You don't need to worry.

I've defeated greater enemies than your boot. [And he thinks she's the worrier?]

Do I look worried? [Probably. She hugs him a little tighter, mostly satisfied that he won't break.] How are you feeling?

Edited 2018-07-31 01:53 (UTC)

You? Look worried about your crew? Never!

[He gives her a thumbs up with a smile.] And I feel great. A good nap fixes everything. [A good nap that lasted two days. Granted if he was shaken he would have groaned awake before going back to bed; it was still two days going on three. And yes, he's still going to act like he went to bed with a hangover and nothing else. FIGHT HIM ON IT.]

You're going to lie right to my face? [Says the girl who claimed she was kicking him. She's not mad. She's disappointed.]

[Vash's lip juts out slightly in a literal pout.] I'm not lying. [He's avoiding!] Do I look injured or sick? [As if to prove his point he moves to stand up out of bed. Suddenly feeling a need to stretch his legs.] No. I'm fine. Honest! [So long as he doesn't has to talk about what happened that is.]

How are you feeling in your feelings, jerk? [Jerk because she knows he knows what she meant. Didn't he? Okay, maybe he didn't since she was worried about both things, but still. Jerk. She lies back in his bed with a sigh.]

Huh--? [He knew what she meant that whole time; but he would act clueless to the end of his days.] Uh, I'm not sure that was a proper sentence? [He will also try to keep the topic off of himself if he can.

But he also feels like that that's just going to make her more worried and upset so he adds on quickly.] And my feelings are feeling fine. [Even better if he can pretend nothing happened and bottle all the bad memories and feelings down deep within himself. Because that's healthy, right?]

[She reaches under her, grabs his pillow and throws it at him in reply. Simple. Eloquent. Your move.]

[He move is to yelp as if he's under attack, which he was in a way, as he lets the pillow fully hit him before falling to the floor.] What! I said it was fine!

The pillow thought you were lying and wanted to do something about it.

[Gawd! Why do people always want him to talk about himself and his feelings?] Well, I'm fine pillow. [Said with so much snark, but then his tone softens again.]

But thank you, Kitty. For your help. Are you alright?

No. [It comes quickly and with a side dish of annoyed.] See how easy that was? [She rolls over to face the wall, bunching up the blankets to rest her head on since pillow already sacrificed himself.]

[Vash sighs. He's in so much trouble.] I dunno, it didn't seem that easy to me. [Alright, so it actually did look easy but being honest it's not something Vash is great at.

He sits back down on the bed near her feet. Not feeling like he's earned the right to sit closer just yet. He rubs at the back of his head as he tries to figure out what he can say without pissing her off more.]

Seeing what we did. With what you went through. I can't imagine how hard that would have been.

[She reaches out.] You're too far. [See, Vash, you can't even sit right! Or mostly just that she wants more touching in this conversation even if no one has earned it!]

What did I go through?

[Gosh! Being in a casual relationship is really confusing! He's actually a bit surprised that she wants him closer, but he complies. Sliding closer to her on the bed and taking the hand reaching for him.]

Seeing Winn in that way. It couldn't have been easy.

[She shifts making herself more comfortable against him.]

Mmm...it's not the first time I've seen him like that. I mean the other times were all in dreams or my imagination, but yeah, it was... almost tangible there.

Dreams are also easier to try to tell yourself that they're not real. [Key word being try.] But that, what we saw, it wasn't real.

[She gently runs her fingers over his arm, glad that he's awake again and seemingly healthy.] It was from Marina. One day there was... I don't know, a malfunction or maybe they just wanted it to look unintentional, but all these brightly lit doors opened. I went through one and the next thing I knew I was waking up in my body in one of those pods in a room like that. And everything just felt...heavier somehow. More real in a way I'd never noticed it hadn't felt before. And everyone was there. A few others were awake like me, but most were still in the pods. It was everyone who I'd ever seen in the dome. Not just the ones who were still there. Everyone we thought had gone home was just...disconnected or maybe connected to some other simulation. I don't know.

[It's strange to have someone so willing to touch his arm after what Kitty has seen. As she speaks he moves to take her hand in his. Gently rubbing his thumb in a circle motion across her fingers.] I can only imagine how terrifying that would be. Did you escape from there? Or did they somehow put you back in?

It's...it's not terrifying in the moment the way some things can be. But it's the kind of thing that stays with you and undermines your sense of reality. And makes it so you don't know if you can trust your own instincts and senses. I don't know if this place is real. I never have. It seems like it would almost make more sense if it was just a new simulation with different people. Some plugged in like me. Some maybe just generated by the program like the aliens we meet.

[She takes a breath.] I don't remember what happened in Marina exactly. I explored for awhile and tried to wake other people up and learn what I could while i was in there, but eventually I just woke up again back in the prison.

[He shakes his head.] It's disgusting. No one, creature, or otherwise should have put you and all those other people through something like that.

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