AQUA

[richesse]

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WEEK ZERO | SATURDAY

[richesse]

[ She’ll help him out of the crypt, if he needs the assistance. ]

Aqua… you seemed out of it back there. Is everything really alright?

[selfreliar]

[He doesn't protest the assistance, either way. Over the last four days, Lortel's help and presence have become part of Aqua's reality, one solid thing to count on. Whatever her reasons.

At her question, he regards her in his quiet, unreadable way for a moment.]

Are you?

[This time, it doesn't seem like a deflection. He's looking right at Lortel as he asks.]

[richesse]

… I am. I’ve seen things, you know. Maybe not that spectacular, but … let’s just say I’m not naive.

So? What about you?

[selfreliar]

I haven't seen anything... quite like that.

[Magic? The floor opening up to chomp a dude? A real IMAX 360°, surround-sound Death on the Savannah experience? Absolutely not.

Blood, though, and killing...]

But I've seen other things. [Aqua touches his stomach absently.] I'm not naive, either.

...My wound did reopen a little, though.

WEEK ZERO | POST-AFTERPARTY

[richesse]

[ as she’s helping him back to their room, she’ll finally ask: ]

You really want to know why I’m being so nice?

[selfreliar]

[He meets her gaze squarely, evenly.]

...If you'll tell me.

[richesse]

I want something from you.

[ very straightforwardly. ]

Normally I’d offer compensation, but as I don’t have the resources of the Elte Company here… consider helping you my payment.

[selfreliar]

[Ah. This makes much more sense.]

All right. [An acknowledgment, not agreement.] What is it you want, Lortel?

WEEK ONE, WEDNESDAY, POST-MAOMAO

[selfreliar]

[While Aqua doesn't exactly book it back to Room 1 after confirming Maomao's condition in the greenhouse--he's still not really in any condition to book it anywhere, let alone up the stairs--it's definitely as speedy a retreat as he can make it.

His knees give out just before he makes it back to his bunk, and he ends up folded over it, clinging to it like a life raft, fingers bunched in the fabric.

The small figure. The unmoving chest. The smile--

No. No. It's happening again. If it's just going to happen again, then why?

Why is he even here?]

[richesse]

Aqua!

[ She knew it. She knew he didn’t look well, back in the greenhouse.

Having trailed behind him until now, she abruptly rushed to his side, touching his back and one of his hands. ]

Aqua. Aqua, what’s wrong? Tell me.

[selfreliar]

[His back jumps beneath the touch. He didn't register her presence until that contact. Aqua turns his head just enough to look at her with one glassy eye.

He's not crying. But the misery coming off of Aqua is depthless, crushing, like he's drowning all over again. His eye squeezes shut as he continues to press his face into the covers, the weight of two lifetimes of loss stepping down on his neck.

Lortel's calling for Aqua, but is that who he is? Is he anything, anymore? Why is he still here?

He takes a stilted breath. And another.]

I couldn't do anything... again...

[richesse]

[ He’s hurting. He’s genuinely…

Lortel’s chest clenches. She needs this boy—needs the security he can offer her. But he’s offered it so willingly, without suspicion or hesitation. Almost like he trusts her.

Almost like he’s relying on her. ]

Aqua.

[ Said very softly. Idly she runs his back, not even sure where the impulse comes from. ]

It’s not your fault.

WEEK TWO | FRIDAY

[richesse]

[ she goes looking for him.

Mostly because she couldn’t not see his face while he was examining the body. She was in the damn room.

She’s got Ranma’s Gekkaja in her arms as she tries to smoke him out. Where you at, boyfriendo. ]

[selfreliar]

[He's escaped to the library. He stands at a writing desk, his hands braced against its surface, head bowed. His shoulders move with slow, shuddering breaths.

As usual, in these moments, he doesn't hear her.

Awful, that enough of these moments have happened for there to be a "usual."]

[richesse]

[ she deposits her weapon by the door.

then she crosses to him, carefully reaching up to touch, then rub, his back. ]

Breathe.

[ she says, with a wet face and red eyes from endless tears. ]

[selfreliar]

[The rhythm of his breathing changes at her touch, a sudden sharp inhale interrupting his most likely spiraling thoughts. Swallowing, Aqua looks at her. Takes in the state of her face.

Then he slides an arm around her and gathers her closer in.]

You're always taking care of me.

[He murmurs it into her hair. His arms are still shaking.]

When it should be the other way around.

WEEK TWO | SATURDAY, POST-TRIAL

[richesse]

[ once the trial and the horrible execution of an innocent girl is done, Lortel will lead them away, if Aqua lets her. She takes them to…

… the sitting room, where she meanders over to the chair Ranma was found in. All clean now. ]

It doesn’t feel real. [ … ] Thank you, for helping with Anemone. I was going to lose my temper if I stayed any longer.

[selfreliar]

Mm.

[Aqua doesn't follow her all the way to that chair. He stops before she does, just looking at where Ranma was, where he'd examined his small body, from further back, like he can't make himself close that distance.]

My sister had outbursts like that. ...Not quite like that, but. Similar enough.

[richesse]

She’s grieving, isn’t she? In her own way. I just couldn’t stand…

[ wanders away, finding a chair much closer to him to sit in. ]

I should be used to things like this.

Week Three | What'd we say, Wednesday night?

[selfreliar]

[It didn't take long for these two, with their combined smarts and the particularities of their situationship, to figure out that physical contact keeps the hallucinations at bay. Aqua's found it something of a relief, even, to have more justification to stay close.

When they're alone like they now are in Room 1, with Luis and Leon having moved out, boundaries--or rather, where boundaries should be--feel murkier. Aqua lies on his back in his bed, gazing at the bunk above as he tunes out the lyrics to STAR☆T☆RAIN.

'Taisetsu na koto wa sou mienai no.
Important things are invisible like that.']

Lortel?

[He finally asks softly, though he doesn't think she's asleep.]

When you woke up this morning, was it still to a bad hallucination?

we sure did!

[richesse]

[ she is awake. angry voices keep haunting her; she keeps hearing Elris sell her out for money. Her visions have been “pleasant” enough… of all the Elte people who treat her well because she is The Golden Daughter and they want to stay in her good graces. ]

Mm, [ she replies, sounding drained. ] To be honest, I barely slept.

[selfreliar]

[...Just ask. She'll know he's not being weird.]

Do you want to sleep with me?

WEEK FOUR | SATURDAY

[richesse]

[ You. Come with me, she told him.

And now she’s leading him out of the crypt by the wrist. She hasn’t said anything else. Is she mad? The set of her shoulders is pretty stiff. ]

[selfreliar]

[He doesn't say anything right away, either. He's still reeling from the whole ordeal of the ritual--still half out of his head from examining Luis's body, actually--and bewildered by what they saw at the end of it. What was that? What happened?

It takes a long time for him to even really register that Lortel's taking him somewhere. He lifts his head and looks at her, taking in the rigid line of her shoulders.]

...Lortel?

[She must be mad at him. Who wouldn't be mad at him, in her position?]

[richesse]

[ her shoulders hitch,

but she doesn’t stop or let him go. she drags him all the way upstairs—to the room that was Luis and Leon’s for so short a time.

There she finally stops, releasing him so she can reach into her pocket instead and pull out the key Leon tossed at her. ]

You’re scaring me, [ she tells him, letting them in. Her voice is very subdued. Now that he can see her face, he’ll see she doesn’t look angry, just … sad and tired. ]