[The dream was simultaneously thrilling and thoroughly uncomfortable.
Sheba knows that dreaming about another person isn't uncommon. It happens all the time - it just hadn't happened to her yet, not in all eighteen of her years. And she can't really say that the dream was unpleasant, because it wasn't...
It just made things sort of awkward, because there's no real way of avoiding him. She's known Asch for more than three years now - a year and a half in the Tower, almost two years here - and he's one of the people she's closest to now that they've escaped and have ended up here instead of in Auldrant or Weyard. The powers that be must have known that, because they'd ended up in the same house, even though they hadn't arrived at the same time.
It's going to make having breakfast a little more of a challenge, she thinks as she sits up. She's awake and still she's thinking back to various scenes from the dream, wondering what it would feel like if it had really happened.
...actually, it's going to make just waking up awkward, she realizes as she looks down. Because this isn't her bed, it's his; night before last she'd had nightmares and had asked to sleep next to him to stave them off. Which means he's right there already. Her cheeks flush a bright red - that's sort of embarrassing, because she really should be used to this by now - and she smiles.]
[He's pretty used to one or the other of the girls crawling up to his hammock in the middle of the night - he's still the oldest, although the physical gap is less now that the slowed aging of the people of Auldrant has let them start catching up to him. Luckily, he's pretty sure neither of them judges him for certain standard functions of the male anatomy at this point.
As for dreams, well, his dreams are better, with them around, not that it completely erases eight Auldrant-years of being alone with his nightmares.
The place is safe, and that gives him the freedom to wake slowly, no longer having to be on his guard immediately once he leaves the bed at the crack of dawn. He's not a layabout by any means, though, and so when Sheba sits up he's already starting to stir. The hammock tends to roll people's weight together in the night, so they're right up against each other.]
Morning.
[He stretches slightly and cracks his eyes at her, not quite willing to sit up just yet.]
[Between Auldrant years being longer and the strangeness with her own aging thanks to the Golden Sun event, Sheba is pretty sure that neither one of them is going to significantly overtake the other in physical age anytime soon. But that's good - when she'd figured out what was going on, she'd worried a lot about outliving her friends.
Of course, since that's no longer a concern, the universe has seen fit to give her other things to worry about and wonder about.
Like how he would react if she put her arms around him right now and-- What am I thinking?! Her blush darkens and she averts her eyes before answering.]
[Fortunately or unfortunately, all Asch gets of her thoughts is what she shows on her face. At this moment, though, what is there is rather telling.
Play it cool, Asch, play it cool. Don't apologize for morning reactions unless she brings it up first.
...Yeah, blushing is a bit contagious this morning. He's only a little pink in contrast to Sheba, who is rapidly going red, but there's definitely something there.]
Well enough. No nightmares.
[And now they're going to do the sit here and be awkward thing, huh?]
I didn't have any nightmares either. [What she'd dreamed definitely hadn't been a nightmare. She'd slept beside him to keep the bad dreams away, and then he'd appeared in her dreams. Funny how that works out.] Thank you for that.
[She manages a smile and really hopes her blush will start fading sometime soon (it doesn't). There's a bit of fidgeting as Sheba starts to pull away from him - almost two years of this and she's still a little uncertain on the hammock, but at least she doesn't have to worry about making them fall; powers work here, so she can easily catch both herself and him.
Her gaze lingers on his face for a few moments, though. She has to force herself to look away.]
Um... I'm going to start breakfast. Did you want anything?
[Asch is much more confident on the hammock, because he's actually a cat. When she pulls away, he scoots over to the edge and hooks his legs over it to keep from sliding straight back into the middle. Sheba's powers might be able to catch them, but they'll also totally trash the room below as the various sketches, notes, and robotics diagrams borrowed from Dist scatter around the room.]
You could check and see if we got any more of those blackberries. I'll come oin you in a bit.
[Blackberry pancakes we do what we want. He looks back at her, noticing that she's still red as can be.]
Oh, blackberries sound really good! I hope we have them...
[She gets to the edge where the ladder is and starts to climb down, thinking that maybe if they don't she'll just run out really quick and find somewhere to either pick some or buy some; maybe it would be a good enough distraction for her to get these weird thoughts out of her mind before she did something stupid.
She nearly chokes when he calls her out on not being as alright as she's claiming, and she actually does miss a rung of the ladder - thankfully by that time she's more than halfway down, so she's able to just make the drop without too much fuss. She doesn't look up when she answers him, but she is crossing to the door.]
I'm fine! Really. I didn't have nightmares, I just-- [And she cuts herself off right there with a shake of her head as she practically flees through the bedroom door, calling back over her shoulder.] I'll go check on those blackberries!
[She has never been more relieved that she's the mind reader and not him.]
[ - Buuuuuut she's already gone. This is why friends don't get friends agility rings for their birthdays.
It's a little while after that Asch comes out of his room, with a fresh set of clothes and his hair a little neater - he doesn't wear it so religiously up anymore, but he doesn't like it in his face when he's cooking or fighting, either, so for now his bangs are held back with hairpins. When he arrives in the kitchen, he immediately looks for Sheba, a somewhat confused expression on his face.]
What was that about?
[Sheba this is the guy responsible for Truthquest ND 2019, do you think you're actually going to wiggle out that easily?]
[By the time he makes it up to the kitchen, Sheba has located a small carton of blackberries and has it set out on the counter, along with everything they'll need for pancakes, and she's about ready to start cooking when he speaks up. She turns to look at him and thankfully manages not to blush, though she's so focused on trying to keep herself under control that she notices when her heart practically flutters at the sight of him.
That is not okay, she tells herself. It's not like that between them, it never has been - she's just out of sorts because of the dream. That's all.
And perhaps because she's out of sorts, she actually tries to hide the truth from him - even though she knows how he is about the truth.] I was just hungry! That's all, really. Sorry for running out before.
[...yeah, even a stranger wouldn't fall for that. At this point Asch knows her better than almost anyone else, so the chances he'll actually believe her are slim.]
[...yeah, she should have known that had a snowball's chance in hell of working. Fine, she'll just be honest, then.]
I don't want to talk about it.
[Honest about how she doesn't want to tell him, anyway. She turns away from him and back to the food, busying herself with getting the batter ready. Okay, so she feels a little guilty for just running out and then clamming up, but - yeah, no. She's not explaining the whole thing.]
...but it's really not a big deal. I'll be okay soon.
[She hopes. If her mind keeps wandering like this, it's going to be a real pain.]
[You tried, Sheba. Too bad it was never really going to fly.
Asch opts for sighing and starting on the pancakes, rather than pushing the issue - he's learned that much, at least, over these last few years. Sheba rarely if ever looks into his mind for his secrets, so he'll let her keep this one, if it's that important.]
[The tension goes out of her shoulders when he decides not to press the matter; she's visibly more relaxed, and she nods a little at his instruction.]
Smaller? Got it...
[Thankfully, she's got quite a bit of pent-up frustration to channel, so it makes for quick work. Maybe too quick, actually, because one misstep and it's not the berry she's cut into; it's her finger. She drops the knife and jerks back, muttering a curse under her breath.]
Damn..!
[Okay. Sink. Right. She's just going to rush to the sink and try to rinse out the cut while ignoring the fact that ow that really hurts.]
I'm pretty sure I didn't get any blood on the berries, [She says after a moment.] So they should still be okay to use...
I don't think it matters. It'll all be cooked off anyway.
[He sets the spoon down and comes over to where she's standing at the sink, not even asking before taking her hand in his. He's not a broken-bones and punctured-organs level healer yet, but hopefully he'll never have to be.]
Let me. Oh healing power - First Aid.
[That's quite an appropriate name for the moment - the Seventh Fonons in the air around them, usually invisible and insensible to everyone else, glow faintly gold before settling into the cut and closing it.]
[Her hand in his isn't something new; if she had a gold piece for every time they've brushed hands or held hands or just put one of their hands over the other's, she would be rich enough that Anise might consider marrying her even though she's a girl. But this time it sort of comes as a surprise (even though it probably shouldn't have) and she's as much caught off guard by him suddenly taking her hand as she is by the fluttering of her stomach that accompanies it.
Stop that, she tries to tell herself, but it's hard to do. She knows he can be brutal in battle - that was how he'd earned his title, after all, and why he was so effective at what he did - but he had always been gentle with her. Now is no exception and she can't help but wonder if he'd be this gentle if--
She tears her gaze away from his face, forces herself to stop looking at his lips, and looks off to the side and down with flushed cheeks. Right when she'd been able to think about something else, too...]
...thanks. I guess I wasn't paying as much attention as I should have been.
[He drops her hand without further ceremony and then stops, raising his eyebrows at her blush. O... Kay then...]
Are you sure you don't want to tell me?
[Because god Sheba you're being weird cutting yourself isn't that embarrassing! This is probably at least the tenth time they've done the whole Sheba-cuts-herself-like-a-dunce-and-Asch-heals-her thing, really.]
[Maybe it's that she's frustrated at her own inability to keep her cool, and wants some kind of confirmation that it's not just her, that Asch would also be flustered if he knew what was going on. Or maybe she just wants to catch him off-guard so he'll feel awkward too and they can just drop it, go about their days separately, and forget about it by this time tomorrow and everything would be fine.
She doesn't know why, but she doesn't really think before she speaks, and so -]
What would you do if I kissed you, right now?
[A beat, and then she realizes what she just said and there's a moment where her eyes widen in sheer panic and she almost bolts for the door right there. There is absolutely nothing about this that feels okay to her, and she really wishes she could have just kept her cool and not been so out-of-sorts. Part of her wishes Asch wasn't quite so observant, too. With someone who was more dense, maybe she could have kept it hidden.
And before he can really do much to react she shakes her head and turns away.]
Wait, no, forget I said anything... I didn't mean...
[She has some idea of how Jenna felt when she teased her about Isaac, now. It's not pleasant and she suddenly understands why her friend had told her to shut up so vehemently.]
[She is all set to just bolt for the door and call over her shoulder that she'll be back in a couple of hours, but she freezes when she hears "I wouldn't mind," and she turns to look at him with wide eyes when he retreats back to the pancake batter.]
You-- wouldn't? Y-you can't just say something like that and then walk away...!
[Except she said something very much like it and had immediately followed it up with "forget I said anything."]
[Her face is about as red as his hair is; this is probably the most awkward conversation she's ever had and there's a small part of her that is hoping that in five minutes she'll wake up and this will turn out to have been some bizarre dream all along.]
Well, no, but I didn't think you'd... want to...! I mean, you and I aren't - we're not like that...!
[They've been insisting that for how many years now?]
[Yeah, just gonna bury his face in his hands for a few moments to try and get his thoughts in order. One green eye is visible between his fingers before he squeezes it shut. Deep breaths, Asch, deep breaths.]
I don't have any objections. I just figured that if you were interested, you would see if it was reciprocated before you said anything, and since you didn't...
[She lets out a sigh that almost sounds exasperated, but it's not really - it's just more frazzled and shaky than anything.]
How many times do I have to say it? I don't just read minds for no reason, and I trust you! So there wasn't any reason for me to look...
[She's nervously playing with the gems on the hem of the front part of her cloak, now - it's sort of a habit and it's nice to have something to do with her hands, something to look at that isn't him because it's hard enough to say these things as it is, and it would be even harder if she were looking directly at him.]
And you're... you're really honest, so I thought if there was something you wanted me to know, you would just say it... So since you didn't, I didn't say anything either. I didn't want to make it awkward [like it is right now] and risk ruining things... I value you too much for that.
If you were wondering, wasn't that reason enough? I've told you I don't mind -
[And yes, the affection is part of why. Ugh. At least the engagement was semi-properly called off as opposed to just being left hanging. Another deep breath and he forces himself to pull his hands away from his face.]
[Except she definitely is. She seems to recognize this and is properly chagrined, but at his next question, she shakes her head.]
No, I... both of us have been saying that it's not like that for so long now. It's one thing to hear you say it, but it's something else to hear you think it... [She knows better than anyone that hearing the wrong thing can really hurt. As much as she's been backing off because she actually respects his privacy in a way that she didn't when they first met, she's also sort of frightened to read the minds of the people she cares about most.] I was scared.
[It's not easy to admit. While she speaks, she keeps her eyes on the gems at the hem of the front part of her cloak, keeps her hands occupied with toying with the gems - she's clearly a little nervous, and there's a long pause before she speaks again.]
I'm still scared. [She says finally, looking up from her cloak to see that he's pulled his hands away from his face. She meets his eyes and this time she doesn't look away, even though she can feel her cheeks warming.] But... if I didn't ruin anything... maybe I don't have to be.
[She's not entirely certain where to go from here. Even though she'd been there for the start of Jenna's relationship, she hadn't been present when they'd actually gotten together, hadn't had enough time to see the two of them together to see how they made it work. But, still keeping her eyes on his, she holds out her hand to him. She's not completely sure what she's doing, but it's a start.]
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lazybox2013-09-25 01:25 am
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Sheba knows that dreaming about another person isn't uncommon. It happens all the time - it just hadn't happened to her yet, not in all eighteen of her years. And she can't really say that the dream was unpleasant, because it wasn't...
It just made things sort of awkward, because there's no real way of avoiding him. She's known Asch for more than three years now - a year and a half in the Tower, almost two years here - and he's one of the people she's closest to now that they've escaped and have ended up here instead of in Auldrant or Weyard. The powers that be must have known that, because they'd ended up in the same house, even though they hadn't arrived at the same time.
It's going to make having breakfast a little more of a challenge, she thinks as she sits up. She's awake and still she's thinking back to various scenes from the dream, wondering what it would feel like if it had really happened.
...actually, it's going to make just waking up awkward, she realizes as she looks down. Because this isn't her bed, it's his; night before last she'd had nightmares and had asked to sleep next to him to stave them off. Which means he's right there already. Her cheeks flush a bright red - that's sort of embarrassing, because she really should be used to this by now - and she smiles.]
Oh... good morning!
ITP Team Nolo graduates to Team Awkward
As for dreams, well, his dreams are better, with them around, not that it completely erases eight Auldrant-years of being alone with his nightmares.
The place is safe, and that gives him the freedom to wake slowly, no longer having to be on his guard immediately once he leaves the bed at the crack of dawn. He's not a layabout by any means, though, and so when Sheba sits up he's already starting to stir. The hammock tends to roll people's weight together in the night, so they're right up against each other.]
Morning.
[He stretches slightly and cracks his eyes at her, not quite willing to sit up just yet.]
Sleep well?
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Of course, since that's no longer a concern, the universe has seen fit to give her other things to worry about and wonder about.
Like how he would react if she put her arms around him right now and-- What am I thinking?! Her blush darkens and she averts her eyes before answering.]
I slept pretty well! Um... how did you sleep?
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Play it cool, Asch, play it cool. Don't apologize for morning reactions unless she brings it up first.
...Yeah, blushing is a bit contagious this morning. He's only a little pink in contrast to Sheba, who is rapidly going red, but there's definitely something there.]
Well enough. No nightmares.
[And now they're going to do the sit here and be awkward thing, huh?]
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[She manages a smile and really hopes her blush will start fading sometime soon (it doesn't). There's a bit of fidgeting as Sheba starts to pull away from him - almost two years of this and she's still a little uncertain on the hammock, but at least she doesn't have to worry about making them fall; powers work here, so she can easily catch both herself and him.
Her gaze lingers on his face for a few moments, though. She has to force herself to look away.]
Um... I'm going to start breakfast. Did you want anything?
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You could check and see if we got any more of those blackberries. I'll come oin you in a bit.
[Blackberry pancakes we do what we want. He looks back at her, noticing that she's still red as can be.]
Are you sure everything's alright?
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[She gets to the edge where the ladder is and starts to climb down, thinking that maybe if they don't she'll just run out really quick and find somewhere to either pick some or buy some; maybe it would be a good enough distraction for her to get these weird thoughts out of her mind before she did something stupid.
She nearly chokes when he calls her out on not being as alright as she's claiming, and she actually does miss a rung of the ladder - thankfully by that time she's more than halfway down, so she's able to just make the drop without too much fuss. She doesn't look up when she answers him, but she is crossing to the door.]
I'm fine! Really. I didn't have nightmares, I just-- [And she cuts herself off right there with a shake of her head as she practically flees through the bedroom door, calling back over her shoulder.] I'll go check on those blackberries!
[She has never been more relieved that she's the mind reader and not him.]
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[ - Buuuuuut she's already gone. This is why friends don't get friends agility rings for their birthdays.
It's a little while after that Asch comes out of his room, with a fresh set of clothes and his hair a little neater - he doesn't wear it so religiously up anymore, but he doesn't like it in his face when he's cooking or fighting, either, so for now his bangs are held back with hairpins. When he arrives in the kitchen, he immediately looks for Sheba, a somewhat confused expression on his face.]
What was that about?
[Sheba this is the guy responsible for Truthquest ND 2019, do you think you're actually going to wiggle out that easily?]
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That is not okay, she tells herself. It's not like that between them, it never has been - she's just out of sorts because of the dream. That's all.
And perhaps because she's out of sorts, she actually tries to hide the truth from him - even though she knows how he is about the truth.] I was just hungry! That's all, really. Sorry for running out before.
[...yeah, even a stranger wouldn't fall for that. At this point Asch knows her better than almost anyone else, so the chances he'll actually believe her are slim.]
not certain if gagtag
it is now a real tag
I don't want to talk about it.
[Honest about how she doesn't want to tell him, anyway. She turns away from him and back to the food, busying herself with getting the batter ready. Okay, so she feels a little guilty for just running out and then clamming up, but - yeah, no. She's not explaining the whole thing.]
...but it's really not a big deal. I'll be okay soon.
[She hopes. If her mind keeps wandering like this, it's going to be a real pain.]
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Asch opts for sighing and starting on the pancakes, rather than pushing the issue - he's learned that much, at least, over these last few years. Sheba rarely if ever looks into his mind for his secrets, so he'll let her keep this one, if it's that important.]
Dice those berries a bit smaller, would you?
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Smaller? Got it...
[Thankfully, she's got quite a bit of pent-up frustration to channel, so it makes for quick work. Maybe too quick, actually, because one misstep and it's not the berry she's cut into; it's her finger. She drops the knife and jerks back, muttering a curse under her breath.]
Damn..!
[Okay. Sink. Right. She's just going to rush to the sink and try to rinse out the cut while ignoring the fact that ow that really hurts.]
I'm pretty sure I didn't get any blood on the berries, [She says after a moment.] So they should still be okay to use...
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[He sets the spoon down and comes over to where she's standing at the sink, not even asking before taking her hand in his. He's not a broken-bones and punctured-organs level healer yet, but hopefully he'll never have to be.]
Let me. Oh healing power - First Aid.
[That's quite an appropriate name for the moment - the Seventh Fonons in the air around them, usually invisible and insensible to everyone else, glow faintly gold before settling into the cut and closing it.]
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Stop that, she tries to tell herself, but it's hard to do. She knows he can be brutal in battle - that was how he'd earned his title, after all, and why he was so effective at what he did - but he had always been gentle with her. Now is no exception and she can't help but wonder if he'd be this gentle if--
She tears her gaze away from his face, forces herself to stop looking at his lips, and looks off to the side and down with flushed cheeks. Right when she'd been able to think about something else, too...]
...thanks. I guess I wasn't paying as much attention as I should have been.
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Are you sure you don't want to tell me?
[Because god Sheba you're being weird cutting yourself isn't that embarrassing! This is probably at least the tenth time they've done the whole Sheba-cuts-herself-like-a-dunce-and-Asch-heals-her thing, really.]
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She doesn't know why, but she doesn't really think before she speaks, and so -]
What would you do if I kissed you, right now?
[A beat, and then she realizes what she just said and there's a moment where her eyes widen in sheer panic and she almost bolts for the door right there. There is absolutely nothing about this that feels okay to her, and she really wishes she could have just kept her cool and not been so out-of-sorts. Part of her wishes Asch wasn't quite so observant, too. With someone who was more dense, maybe she could have kept it hidden.
And before he can really do much to react she shakes her head and turns away.]
Wait, no, forget I said anything... I didn't mean...
[She has some idea of how Jenna felt when she teased her about Isaac, now. It's not pleasant and she suddenly understands why her friend had told her to shut up so vehemently.]
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Then - that would be a thing you did!
[Look, he's very articulate, as you would expect from a former member of the royal family.]
I mean - I wouldn't mind if -
[Oh Lorelei that is not where he intended this conversation to go. Going to just go... stir that pancake batter.]
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You-- wouldn't? Y-you can't just say something like that and then walk away...!
[Except she said something very much like it and had immediately followed it up with "forget I said anything."]
this icon for the rest of the thread
[He's almost forty and very mature. Also now even more beat red.]
What did you think I'd do, tell you to go to hell on a wyvern?!
or at least for a decent portion of it
[Her face is about as red as his hair is; this is probably the most awkward conversation she's ever had and there's a small part of her that is hoping that in five minutes she'll wake up and this will turn out to have been some bizarre dream all along.]
Well, no, but I didn't think you'd... want to...! I mean, you and I aren't - we're not like that...!
[They've been insisting that for how many years now?]
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That doesn't mean I - oh hell...
[Yeah, just gonna bury his face in his hands for a few moments to try and get his thoughts in order. One green eye is visible between his fingers before he squeezes it shut. Deep breaths, Asch, deep breaths.]
I don't have any objections. I just figured that if you were interested, you would see if it was reciprocated before you said anything, and since you didn't...
[God, mindreader, way to fall off the ball.]
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How many times do I have to say it? I don't just read minds for no reason, and I trust you! So there wasn't any reason for me to look...
[She's nervously playing with the gems on the hem of the front part of her cloak, now - it's sort of a habit and it's nice to have something to do with her hands, something to look at that isn't him because it's hard enough to say these things as it is, and it would be even harder if she were looking directly at him.]
And you're... you're really honest, so I thought if there was something you wanted me to know, you would just say it... So since you didn't, I didn't say anything either. I didn't want to make it awkward [like it is right now] and risk ruining things... I value you too much for that.
[ITP Asch and Sheba fail at life.]
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[Yeah they're really bad at this.]
If you were wondering, wasn't that reason enough? I've told you I don't mind -
[And yes, the affection is part of why. Ugh. At least the engagement was semi-properly called off as opposed to just being left hanging. Another deep breath and he forces himself to pull his hands away from his face.]
...Well, I don't think you ruined anything.
[Except maybe their dignity.]
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[Except she definitely is. She seems to recognize this and is properly chagrined, but at his next question, she shakes her head.]
No, I... both of us have been saying that it's not like that for so long now. It's one thing to hear you say it, but it's something else to hear you think it... [She knows better than anyone that hearing the wrong thing can really hurt. As much as she's been backing off because she actually respects his privacy in a way that she didn't when they first met, she's also sort of frightened to read the minds of the people she cares about most.] I was scared.
[It's not easy to admit. While she speaks, she keeps her eyes on the gems at the hem of the front part of her cloak, keeps her hands occupied with toying with the gems - she's clearly a little nervous, and there's a long pause before she speaks again.]
I'm still scared. [She says finally, looking up from her cloak to see that he's pulled his hands away from his face. She meets his eyes and this time she doesn't look away, even though she can feel her cheeks warming.] But... if I didn't ruin anything... maybe I don't have to be.
[She's not entirely certain where to go from here. Even though she'd been there for the start of Jenna's relationship, she hadn't been present when they'd actually gotten together, hadn't had enough time to see the two of them together to see how they made it work. But, still keeping her eyes on his, she holds out her hand to him. She's not completely sure what she's doing, but it's a start.]
...I care about you a lot, Asch. I really do.
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adds this to the pile of oldtags
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