lucetilogs | Event Log

All this pre-sliced stuff - bread and meat and whatever else you can get already nicely cut up for you - is new enough to me.

[He shuts the fridge door, and makes to exit the apartment again.]

I see...

[She's quick to follow him.]

When you put it like that, it really makes me think of all the little things that maybe I take for granted. Probably people from other worlds, too. You know, Jean... I don't think I really paid enough attention to the differences of everyone's worlds until you told me about yours. Maybe I should have before that. Maybe...

[Maybe... there's so much more that she isn't seeing.

A faint memory of the past--the end of the world, a tormented girl, so many swords, a promise to become a prince and save the girl--manages to slip through for just a moment. However, as quickly as it came, it's gone again.]

...maybe.

...Hey. You okay, Utena? [His hand hesitates on the doorknob, and he turns to face her fully.]

Look...the food situation isn't that bad. It's not as bad as it was, anyway...and being in the military, I'm fed with tax dollars. [He's downplaying it for her right now. That's what he needs to do.]

And the rest of it... [The walls. The titans. So many people dying - friends and comrades and nameless masses, who all end up as bones indistinguishable from one another.] What difference does it make, if you pay attention to it or not? There's nothing you can do about it from here, for my world or anyone else's. It's not your obligation to care...it's easier to just not think about any of it, to be honest.

[Not for him, though.]

[There's something about that that doesn't jive well with her, at all.]

How can I not care? You're my friend! Don't friends try to help each other?! Don't they care about each other?! It might not be my obligation to care, but it's something I should do anyway! Even with every other world aside, the fact that I can't help my friends, any of you--

[She looks down at her ring. Well, as well as she can while holding the food. What kind of prince is she, if she can't help people?]

I... [Sigh.] Sorry. I didn't mean to just--blow up like that. But while we're here, during the drafts... I can at least help then, right?

[Little victories.]

...I guess I don't have the right to tell you how to feel. [Something as raw as emotions can hardly be controlled by the person in whom they're contained, never mind by someone outside of them.]

I used to not care. Hell, I chose not to care. It made life easier if I could just shrug and say, "That's how it is." I thought it had nothing to do with me...I thought I could escape the shitty reality of it all if I just made a nice, easy life for myself.

[His eyes had fallen to the eggs in his hand, the packaged meat tucked under his arm, but now they lift back to her.]

...And here you are, caring about it even though we're worlds away. You're a good person, Utena...and I'd be an asshole to try to stop you.

So...help all you want on drafts. Help in whatever way you can. It's all we can do here.

[She doesn't really want to stay mad at Jean, even though the emotions from before still weigh heavily down on her. Her gaze remains on her ring for a few long, tense moments before she looks back up at him.]

Thank you. [She smiles a little.] But give yourself a little credit too. I think you're a better person than you think you are.

I'll help you when we're drafted together. I promise.

It's a deal, then. In return, I'll do everything I can to help you. [He'll give her a grin of his own.] ...And I'll try to remember that.

[He wants to ask her where her skill in battle lies - he knows she doesn't do the whole magic thing, but he hadn't been aware that she knew how to use a weapon. There will be plenty of time for that when they're eating, though.]

Now...I don't know about you, but I'm starving. [He nods toward the door as he grabs the knob again, pulling it open.]

Oh, yeah! Same here. If we stay around here much longer, we're definitely going to have to make more sandwiches than planned. [With a laugh, she moves toward the door again.]

Or we'll end up just eating that whole loaf of bread plain, and the block of cheese with it.

[It would be less effort, sure, but less satisfying too. Onward, to the kitchen...!]

Err... I think we should really just prepare the sandwiches.

[Yes, to the kitchen...!]

Good plan.

[Once they reach the kitchen, he'll head toward the stove to set the eggs and chicken down on the counter...]

[She's following close behind. Everything about this situation is perfectly normal, right?

Yep. Perfectly normal.]

[...Except he doesn't make it to the stove. Suddenly, his feet refuse to take another step. His eyes jerk downward. Nothing seems out of order. He makes to move his leg again, but nothing happens.

He frantically twists to look over his shoulder at Utena.]

...What the hell is this?

Eh? What are you--

[Too late, now she's stuck too.] Urk! What's with this?!

[...But he can move to turn around and face her? What the hell, this is so fucking st--

Oh. They're...kinda close now. Closer than he'd normally be with anyone. Anyone who happens to be a cute girl especially.

He finds himself looking up at the ceiling instead. ...How the hell is a plant growing out of there? Whatever, that's not important right now.]

Is this supposed to be one of those experiments?

[...oh. Yeah. Yeah, they are really close right now, aren't they? She can't help but blush. Her glance flicks up to the ceiling as well and--oh.]

...yeah, it is. [She vaguely remembers this from last year. Thankfully, she hadn't been stuck under any that year. Her luck's run out, then.] That's mistletoe.

[Which means they'll have to-- but she can't just--]

[His gaze falls back to her, and the fact that she's blushing just makes his cheeks heat up like a chain reaction.]

Mistletoe? What's that got to do with anything?

It's a tradition back home, more in the west than where I live. But when two people stand under a piece of mistletoe, they... well, you know... they have to... kiss.

[It probably seems really strange of her to be so shy about it, but she really is. Shy and uncertain and... sort of annoyed. She can't kiss Jean, he's her friend! Besides, he isn't... he's not...]

[.....Holy shit.

He's thought about - hell, dreamed about - kissing a girl often enough, but now that the opportunity has opened up nice and wide for him, his mouth is suddenly dry and he's too aware of his tongue sitting in there and--

Well, he's not sure if he's totally given up on the (admittedly outrageous, by this point) fantasy of getting his first kiss from Mikasa.]

Oh...uh...

[He clears his throat, but then he can't think of any words of actual substance to say, so there's an awkward pause.]

Then we...we won't be stuck here? If we... [You know.]

[In turn, Utena's still attached to the idealistic fantasy she has of her prince, despite being away from Ohtori Academy for almost two years now. She really doesn't want to do this, but if they don't, they're going to be stuck here. She sighs deeply.]

...yeah. [It can't be helped. Kissing seems to be the only option!]

[A forced chuckle, with which he tries to disperse the discomfort thickening between them and jumpstart his own confidence. He's gonna need it.]

I guess I can think of much worse people to get a first kiss from.

Edited (i can grammar) 2014-01-22 08:20 (UTC)

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