Dreams of the Tempest

[Nayt]

"Oh . . ."

So she couldn't help Toushikyo? Well, that was disappointing. Hopefully someone could, though. If not, then he was unlucky. His little sister would be cured and he would not. Granted, Etsu didn't know how Akizetsumei was cured, but she really didn't feel up to asking . . .

Maybe they were silly to have gone out to the lake like that, whisking away and diving into mystery and adventure. Some adventure it turned out to be, too. But it seemed they only came out with more mysteries-- like how to move on after what happened between them. Back when it happened, back before she first kissed him, Etsu knew it was a horrible idea. She told herself that she'd just make matters worse. But she'd done it anyways. So who was to blame? Her or Eld? No one at all, preferably, but that was yet another terrible thought Etsu couldn't stop.

"It is fine," she said again, "I enjoyed camping anyway. Just ter-rr me if there is more I can do. I am stir-rr wir-rring to her-rp."

And again, as much as her gut feeling told her that coming out and saying something like that-- that she enjoyed their getaway together --she still wound up saying it . . .

[Zach Kaiser]

"I-" Eld gulped and stopped short, his face turning red. He only barely kept himself from asking really? After all that had happened, he figured Etsu would be a little miffed at him for that trip. He had to wonder how she really felt about their situation, but as she didn't want to talk about it he supposed it would remain a mystery for now.

"Um, thanks. I'm not sure if there's much more we can do, but if something comes up I'll let you know." Though that wasn't likely; even if there was something they could, Kyo was likely going to be far too stubborn to ask for help. After all, he'd gone this long without even telling anyone what was going on.

"Maybe we can go camping again sometime. But with everybody!" he added hastily. "Rather than just the two of us..." He decided to stare intently at the wall at this point; as much as he liked to think he had good self-control, he realized spending that amount of time alone with her was going to be bad idea. Even if neither of them intended it, there was still a chance something would happen.

[Nayt]

Camping out with everyone? That sounded nice. It'd be better than camping out with Eld. That'd either end in them doing things they'd later regret or her beating him to a pulp. Actually, that latter wouldn't be quite so bad, especially if he did something to deserve it.

Slowly but surely, Etsu was getting over her unwillingness to lay a harmful hand upon Eld. As much as one might consider that a problem, it was actually good for Etsu. It meant there was some hope that she could "get over it," regardless of how long the process it might take.

Etsu bowed her head slightly. "I wour-rd r-rike that."

Which get her to thinking about it. How would that go, anyways? Etsu folded her arms over her chest and thought aloud for a few moments.

"Toushikyo-san, Akizetsumei-chan, Vaerbond-san, Takamine-san, Vaerbond-chan, Tsukimono-kun, and I," Etsu counted, "That is . . . many peopr-re. You wour-rd sr-reep with Toushikyo-san, Vaerbond-chan and Akizetsumei-chan wour-rd be to-gether, and maybe Vaerbond-san, Takamine-san, and I to-gether?"

It was kind of an odd number, after all. Someone would have to squeeze into a tent uncomfortably, and with Maya the third scrawniest friend of Eld's-- well, it was either her, Emily, or Akizetsumei, and Etsu might not feel comfortable in the same tent with the latter.

[Zach Kaiser]

"I guess it would depend on how many tents we brought, but something like that could work," he conceded. It wasn't much of a concern of his, as inevitably he'd end up with Kyo as the only two guys. It was the girls who had to worry about actual sleeping arrangements.

"Well, I'll bring it up with Sarah sometime; she and Em are the only ones who'd have any trouble getting some free time, I think." As long as the clinic wasn't so busy that his help was essential he was free, as far as he knew it wasn't that tough for Kyo to get time off (he certainly wasn't the only messenger around), and Maya and Akizetsumei pretty much had nothing but free time.

[Nayt]

The whole idea sounded fun. The only problem that could come from it was maybe Sarah being strange, sort of like she was that one night that Etsu was there. But with Maya in the tent with them, that probably wouldn't happen. As far as Etsu knew, Maya was a very devout follower of her religion, and that sort of stuff . . . well, supposedly it was looked down on. Oddly, Sarah had seemed annoyed when she mentioned that.

"O-kay," Etsu said.

And then there was a long silence between them. Suddenly, there was nothing else to talk about. Nothing else that didn't have to do with the things bothering Etsu, that is. The longer they spent in silence, though, the more Etsu wanted to talk about it. Eventually, she had to say something.

"You . . . and Akizetsumei-chan . . ." Etsu trailed off for a long moment, stopped to think of how she wanted to word this, but ultimately could do no such thing. "You wir-rr be happy?"

But that was it. She wasn't going to say anything else on the matter for the rest of her life if she could help it.

[Zach Kaiser]

There was a long silence, during which Eld was tempted to just excuse himself and retreat into his room. But before he did, Etsu spoke up. The question took him by surprise, but at least this question was one he could answer fairly easily.

"Only time will tell. I mean, I obviously hope so, but...there's no guarantee." He gave her a rueful smile. There was no guarantee that they would have worked out either, whether in a present relationship or if their marriage had gone through. It was something Etsu hadn't experienced yet, but Eld knew that relationships were quite complicated.

"Hell, sometimes even if two people get along just fine normally, if they enter a romantic relationship things still might not work out..." While there'd been an outside event that had sparked his split from Maya, he and Sarah simply...hadn't gotten along as a couple. Maybe it was simply their age and maturity at the time, but even though they'd been great friends romantically they'd just clashed.

"All I can do is try my best, you know?" And ultimately, that was it. There was no guaranteed formula for happiness.

[Nayt]

It might not have been the answer she was expecting or looking for (truth be told, Etsu barely even knew what she was hoping to hear), but Eld certainly said something that gave her a lot to think about.

". . . Souka," Etsu whispered.

That really got her to thinking about it, though. What if Akizetsumei and Eld just didn't mix? That something happened between them to spoil their ability to function as a couple? What then? Well, Eld would be a single man again; he'd have no obligations and Etsu would have no obligations, either . . .

"I . . . . . ." she took in a deep breath, shut her eyes, and sighed, "No. I wir-rr not get my hopes up again. You may r-reave now, Tsukimono-kun."

And with that, she reached over to take the book again, opened the tome up in her lap, and began reading again-- hopefully to not be interrupted again.

[Zach Kaiser]

The phrase "not get my hopes up" stuck out to Eld. Had Etsu been hoping that he'd go out with her instead of Akizetsumei? He opened his mouth to ask, but then thought better of it. She may been polite about it, but she clearly wanted him to go.

"Alright. I should catch up on studying anyway. G'night, Etsu."

As he left the room and shut the door behind him, his conscience was bogged down in uncertainty. Had he made the right decision? Was there a right decision when it came to something like this? If he'd started going out with Etsu, it was Akizetsumei that would have gotten hurt. And worse, she might not have gotten better. But it didn't feel right to leave Etsu like that either; he supposed that was just something he'd have to live with...

With a sigh, he returned to his room for the night.

******

Deciding it had been far too long since he'd done so, Eld started the next day by helping out at the clinic. It was...still a little uncomfortable; he couldn't talk to either parent like he used to, and his mother seemed to determined to only speak to him in a professional way. But he did what he could anyway, most of which involved fetching things for his parents or checking up on long term patients and getting them whatever they needed.

[Nayt]

Eld was in the middle of taking care of something for his parents when she descended upon him. What, exactly? Well, he had to go get some supplies for them-- restocking bandages and gauze, wherein all their materials were in a spare closet right where the house met the clinic. It was there, and while Eld was bent over with his back to the hall to the house, that a pair of arms wrapped around his chest and a rather enthusiastic girl practically tackled into his back. Fortunately, she was rather lightweight, otherwise he'd probably go face first into the closet . . .

"Hey Eldridge!" Akizetsumei proclaimed cheerfully.

She clung to Eld and hugged him close, though from behind, and with him sitting down-- which was kind of awkward, but Akizets could make it work.

Incidentally, there was absolutely no warning in this. No running or rushing, not even the slightest sound of a footstep. Just like that, she was there, pounced onto his back, and merrily hugging him. Judging by the sound of her voice, too, she probably wasn't trying to be surprising. Probably . . .

[Zach Kaiser]

Mundane work it may have been, but it was necessary work. Besides, while his parents put money into his bank account for college every month, he only got spending money if he worked. Not that he bought much; most of it just went to into his bank account anyway, to be withdrawn if there was something he wanted in particular. This was something lost on Sarah, who usually refused to take his money, thinking he was taking money out of his savings for college. Which was technically true, but it was extra money, so--well, he hadn't had much luck explaining this to her yet.

As a person who was normally very aware of his surroundings, he was caught especially off guard when he suddenly felt arms around him; while he recognized the voice behind the shout that accompanied this, it didn't keep him from jumping and fumbling the box of bandages in his hands.

"J-Jeez, Akizetsumei! Give me a heads up next time; I could have been handling needles or something." The scolding was somewhat undermined by the way he placed his hands over hers, however. "What's up?"

[Nayt]

It was impossible for her to stifle a giggle when she was around Eld, it seemed. Try as she may, Eld was just an instant qualifier for happiness and joy. She didn't let go of him. Instead, she squeezed him tightly, hugging him to the best of her abilities from this angle, and loosened up a bit after.

"Oh, uhhhhmmmm, jus' sayin' hi~," Akizets chimed.

Clearly she did not get that Eld was scolding her. After all, he was really soft with the way he did it, and definitely didn't sound mad-- so that meant he wasn't mad, right?

Akizets set her chin upon Eld's shoulder and looked down into the closet, "Whatcha doin'?"

It looked like he had a box of cloth stuff in his hands. And there were some needles far back into the closet, too-- oh man, he was serious, wasn't he! Whoooooops! Akizetsumei made a mental note to never do that around this closet ever again.

[Zach Kaiser]

"Getting some things for my parents," he replied, letting go of her hands and continuing to pull what he needed from the closet. "It's been awhile since I actually worked, so I figured I should put some time in. Plus they can use my help." Not that he didn't have fairly good reasons for avoiding work, given everything that had happened recently, but now that things were mostly calmed down he needed to get back into the swing of working and studying regularly.

Having arranged the supplies on the tray in front of him, he grabbed it and stood up; reluctant though he was to break the embrace, he couldn't slack off much while he was working.

[Nayt]

She was kind of reluctant to let Eld go, too, but he apparently had some work to get to, and part of that included getting up and moving around and the like.

"O-- oh," Akizets trailed off.

Standing awkwardly in the hall, Akizetsumei kept her arms behind her back, with her right forearm crossing her lower back and hand gripping her opposite wrist. Well, this certainly put a dent in everything! She didn't think Eld was going to be busy around this time of day . . .

"S-- so-- so I'm gonna get in the way, aren't I?" she asked sadly.

It was okay to be honest, though! If she was going to be in the way, she'd just go home and maybe sulk about it for a little while, but how was that different than any degree of rejection? She was just used to that by now!

[Zach Kaiser]

"W-Well, not in my way, but my parents don't like people hanging around the clinic without good reason." After a pause, he added, "And they don't consider knowing me a good reason." He'd be moving around a bit much to be hugged, but he wouldn't be opposed to someone to talk to. Unfortunately, his parents wouldn't like that, he was somewhat inclined to agree that people who weren't working, a patient, or visiting a patient should probably not stick around too long.

"I'll come see you when I'm done working, though, okay?" He hoped she wouldn't be too disappointed; but as much as he wanted to spend time with her, he couldn't flake out on work after he'd already started. Especially when he had to live with his bosses.

[Nayt]

Well then! That was different! She wasn't so much getting in the way all day, but just for a little while. Which meant Eld's evening was free, right?

"Oh. Oh! W-- well, ummmmmmmm!" Akizets covered her lips before she started talking without restraint.

She had to take a second to word this in her head, as she hadn't the slightest clue how to approach this topic gently. She originally planned on getting to it later, after all. She'd have spent some time with Eld, long enough to reason out how to break this to him. Because it really felt like something she'd have to "break to him." It just didn't seem like that comfortable of a situation, at least from a boy's perspective! But then again, Akizets was not a boy and had a hard time reasoning like they did, so maybe he'd actually be comfortable and enthusiastic?

Boys are definitely weird like that.

"I-- I kinda wanted to ask you about that, um, I was gonna later, b-buuuuut . . ." she trailed off again, then blurted it out before she could stop herself: "Toushikyowasahugebuttheadandhetolddadaboutusanddadreallywantsyoutohavedinnerwithustonight. My mom does, too, but, ummm, for different reasons, I guess?"

Ever so awkwardly, she bit her lower lip and looked at Eld pleadingly. That's why she would've gone and pouted for awhile if he couldn't be bothered for the day . . .