!!! ??? !!!

[idolpro]

Who: Nemesis, Hurricane, you!
Where: ?Somewhere?
When: Day 496

[ The sound of an engine roars through the city, unfamiliar to any of you. What is that—? That thing, flying in the sky—Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Or—

Is it a giant mech adorned with naginatas and a shield, flying through Tokyo-F at great speed? Is it Hurricane and Nemesis, coming to say their goodbyes? Or is it the sound of their departure. . . ? ]

Comments

[happydreamed]

I would like to lay down. Will you come with me?

[Cuddling will help, if anything will.]

[sangreine]

[ It's truly ironic that Nem only just told Aliza she's honest about her feelings and here she is burying them far enough to keep her hair black. She'll fall apart a little at some point, certainly. Not yet. For now, there's only one possible answer to that question: ]

Of course. Come on. [ Her arm around him, she starts guiding him back into the hotel. ] Maybe to the stormy room? Watching the sky might help.

[happydreamed]

That sounds lovely, thank you.

[Even if he'll be more in his own thoughts than usual, the sky is always at least a little calming.]

[sangreine]

[ A bit of quiet is fine, more than fine. She's not eager for a big discussion herself, if she tries then things will slip out which aren't productive (how many lovers must she lose this way?). She'll swallow it regardless, since he needs her and it's past time she found the will to manage herself without piling on everyone around her. An immortal life knows nothing but loss, after all. ]

Good. Whatever you need. [ In they go then, toward the elevator and the ZRAEL dorm and the Rainy Day Room, four shut doors between them and the street. ]

[happydreamed]

[As soon as they're in the rainy day room, he settles into a pile of pillows and pats the space next to him for her to join him.]

...I don't know why I wasn't prepared. He's been here so long, of course he would graduate eventually.

[sangreine]

[ Aliza settles in beside Doctor, arms wrapping around him again. She'll make this slightly less awful for him if only by sheer force of will. ]

You couldn't know when it would happen. Even if you did, that might not have made it much easier.

[ She knows this unquestionably; some residual feelings from the times she's drifted into her long sleep? (Or she's projecting.) ]

It never feels like we have enough time with the ones we love.

[happydreamed]

No, never. What would be enough?

[There's no such thing. He would always miss Hurricane, no matter when this happened.]

...How are you holding up so well? I know Nemesis was...

[Important, if in a very different way than Hurricane was important to Doctor.]

1/2

[sangreine]

[ She goes still, tensing as if she could stop her hair from giving her away, knowing it's pointless. Spreading from the roots, it turns a vibrant red. ]

[sangreine]

[ She shifts around to look Doctor in the eye, her hair already fading back towards her natural black. She can handle this. ]

Because I know this is hard for you.

[ Reaching up, she brushes his hair back from his face, a gesture she associates with comfort thanks to someone else she lost, and in that case there hadn't been a goodbye. ]

We've lost enough today without me going off the deep end. [ He's seen how her feelings consume her, and all the space and people around her, and she can't bear to do that to him when he's lost someone so precious to him. ] I'm here for you, don't worry about me.

[happydreamed]

[He opens his mouth to argue - he wants to look after her, he's always been more comfortable taking care of others than the other way around, his pain isn't more important than hers - then closes it, and leans his face into her shoulder.]

You are... truly too good to me at times, Aliza. Promise me that you'll seek comfort with someone, even if it isn't me.

[sangreine]

[ He's very welcome to her shoulder and anything else he needs. ]

Being with you is comforting to me.

[ She might process this with someone eventually, but she wants it to be someone who isn't so profoundly hurt. Maybe someone willing to take Nem's motorcycle for a joyride to the edge of the map where it won't be a bother if she screams a little about this place and its cruelties. ]

[ Then again, maybe it's better that she learns to stop doing that. ]

[happydreamed]

I'm grateful.

[He holds onto her a little more tightly.]

I miss him already and it has only been five minutes.

[sangreine]

[ Several platitudes flit through her head and she regards each one with near annoyance. As if a neat little quote could help anything right now. ]

[ Instead, she curls closer and settles in to rest here as long as he likes, looks up at the starry sky as distant, gently rolling thunder sounds. ]

Yeah.

[ She wonders if he's avoiding crying for her sake; he needn't, of course. Some catharsis would probably do him good. ]

He's really something special.

[happydreamed]

[He might well be holding it back, but mostly because he doesn't want to break down, in front of her or otherwise.]

He is. And now he's off to fight a dangerous battle.

[sangreine]

[ Mrrr how to try and be reassuring without implying that they died before, since she's not sure if Doctor knows all that ]

That's what they do. I can't tell you not to worry, but I believe they can handle it.

[happydreamed]

I will try to trust them.

[As hard as it is not to fear that something awful will happen to them.]

[sangreine]

I trust them. [ Whether she does or doesn't isn't truly at issue, it's what he probably needs to hear right now. (But she does, actually.) ]

I wish you could have seen the game where they got to make their paradise world. It was really warm and welcoming and peaceful. Hurricane was cooking a big dinner for all their loved ones and they threw a beautiful garden party for everyone.

[ Just skipping right over how bothered Aliza was to spot a vampire former idol that happened to be in Zrael at this party. What a mess she made of that. Also skipping over all the cracks in the veneer, this is supposed to be uplifting. ]

Just you wait, soon enough we'll be invited to some mysterious party and it'll be the two of them throwing a victory bash.

[happydreamed]

That does sound wonderful. [Relaxing a little, slowly, untensing in her arms.] I shall place my trust in them, and you.

[If Aliza believes they'll make it through alright, he can believe it.]

[sangreine]

[ Ah, good. Aliza rubs along his neck and shoulders, trying to massage out any remaining tension. Much better to have Doctor think of Hurricane as alive and succeeding until proven otherwise than as Schrodinger's Hell Graduate. ]

[ Does Aliza believe it? Well, sort of. ]

Good. Waiting for that will be hard sometimes, but I'll do what I can to help you make the best of it.

[happydreamed]

If anyone could distract me in the meantime, 'twould be you.

[She has a way of taking his mind off his worries, the same way she's said he does for her.]

[sangreine]

[ Good then, she nuzzles into his hair and lets her smile drop for just a second. Nothing about her support is false or fake, but all the same the smile aches with accumulated loss and knowledge that this will happen again and again and again, forever. That at least once it will be someone else consoling Doctor while she begins decades of slumber in preparation for being a different person. ]

That's what I'm here for. Just relax as best you can. [ Her voice and touch are soft and gentle, as close as she can get to what he deserves. ] If you want to talk, I'll listen. Or we can watch the sky, or I can sing something...