nysalogs | Captcha Strikes Again

And what does that have to do with anything? You're a part of this household, aren't you?

[ She knows how seriously he takes this and that he's trying to contribute, and that's more than enough for her. Honestly, even if he felt like being a little petulant about it and simply live in their home she'd only try to encourage him to get out into the world. Sixteen is still childhood in many places, and there doesn't seem to be enough childhood to go around in these four walls between her three boys. She's going to have to find a way to provide for all three of them so they can just be boys for a while. She's determined. Until she figures out just how she's going to accomplish that, however, first things first. ]

I know we did not meet all that long ago, but I've come to care about you and can only hope you care for me too. Is this not the case...?

_{[...Is he really a part of this household? He didn't consider himself as much. He was an outlier, an outsider. Her next set of words have him tensing up in muted shock. She'd...come to care about him? Was that seriously true? In fact...that's probably the first time anyone has ever told him that. Immediately he finds himself fumbling, tripping over his words, emotions getting the best of him. In fact, this is probably the most outspoken he's been since they've met.]}

No! Of course it is...I care for you, Euphie I just...

Edited 2017-09-26 20:47 (UTC)

[ Are her eyes... glimmering a little as she clasps your hands in hers, Slaine? ]

You do? Oh, thank goodness. I had hoped I was not being too presumptuous. We did somewhat abduct you into our fold.

[ She beams at him warmly, peering deeply into his eyes. ]

But if that's the case, then what...? What is it, Slaine? What's bothering you?

Please, you can tell me anything.

_{[It's a tempting offer, wanting to tell her everything. Part of him is tempted to. The lonely, damaged, terrified part of his being that wants nothing more than for someone to love him. He can feel his heart rate rise as he gulps, flinching as he finds his hands clasped between hers. They're warm and his are clammy. How she doesn't find them disgusting is beyond him.

What's bothering you?

Even if he could bring himself to spill his guts, to actually articulate years of pent up frustrations and abuse, what good would it do? If she really did care for him like she said she wouldn't bother to care any longer if he bothered to blab his laundry list of insecurities to her.

She's too pretty to look at. He's going to die if he holds eye contact with her any longer. His head dips, eyes focused on the floor instead.]}

I'm...I'm still adjusting...

Edited 2017-09-26 21:09 (UTC)

I see... And can you tell me a little of just how you're adjusting...? I know we all are, but I imagine it's very different for each of us.

[ Still not releasing Slaine's hands, Euphie slowly guides him out of the kitchen to sit down in the common room instead, settling close enough to him that their shoulders touch. She's trying valiantly to catch and hold his gaze. ]

There we go. That's much better for talking.

_{[Ah. He might as well...go along with it. He lets her guide him into the sitting room, onto one of the small sofas they have. She's close, close enough that he can feel her warmth. She's still got a hold of his hands. There's no escaping this. Was it much better for talking? He's never been good about talking about his feelings. He's never really talked about them to anyone period.]}

I'm not...

_{[Adjusting that is.]}

Not...?

[ Euphie prompts him even though she can guess what he means by that because even if where it's leading is obvious to her, she hates to assume. She smiles encouragingly instead, gripping his hands all the tighter. ]

Adjusting.

_{[There, he's said it. Shoulders slump as he lets her grip his hands even tighter, not sure what else to say. What was there to say?]}

I'm not used to being around others my age or having this much freedom.

Then this must be a great deal for you.

[ Euphie pauses to consider their situation, then scoots herself even closer to Slaine, releasing his hands only to link both her arms around one of his. She leans a little into his shoulder. ]

Is there anything I can do to help you...? We can think about it together. I didn't have a great deal of freedom before either, though I always craved it. Sometimes I even snuck out on my own.

_{[Understatement of the century.

Ah. She's even closer now, practically hanging off him as she presses herself against his side. Euphie is, without a doubt, gorgeous. This fact isn't helping him, it's only a hindrance. The only freedom he had craved in recent years was the freedom to be back at Asseylum's side.

But, was there anything she could do to help him? Honestly...he's not really sure. But maybe...maybe if he knew more about the people he was living with he'd feel more at ease.]}

...Would you tell me more about yourself?

Hmm, I suppose I haven't been very forthcoming.

[ Considering just how much Euphie's been trying to hold back, that's fair enough for him to ask. It's hard to trust people who haven't been open with you, and whatever her extenuating circumstances are, he has no way of knowing.

It's downright hypocritical of her, but how will she balance the truth of her life while still fitting in with these boys?

Perhaps it's time to find out. ]

What would you like to know?

...Anything that you're willing to share. What was your life like before all of this? What was the planet like? What's your favourite food?

_{[Does he sound a little desperate when asking the aforementioned questions? That's because he is. The longer he feels her body against his, warm, the more anxious he finds himself growing.]}

Well, let's see...

[ Soft and warm. Soft and warm.

Euphie makes a low humming noise as she ponders the questions. ]

My life was quite nice before, actually. There was this boy I liked... I'd just reunited with some long lost siblings of mine, and I was thinking about enrolling in school...

The, um... Planet? We only have the one, so it's all I have to judge by. Good in places, troubled in others. Aren't all places like that, I wonder...?

[ She doesn't quite get to the food question, waiting for Slaine's answer instead. ]

_{[It all sounds so...quaint. So utterly normal. Girl likes boy, girl reunites with family, joins a new school...

He can't help but feel a little jealous.]}

From my experience all places are like that, yes. _{[And he's been all over the globe to boot.]} This must be quite the change for you then.

_{[At least he was used to his life being an absolute clusterfuck.]}

I suppose so! But it's not a bad one. I lived a fairly limited life, before. I couldn't really go where I wanted or do as I wished. I felt badly about sneaking out, but I found myself doing it often anyway.

I've never actually been to school before. I've only had tutors. I really wanted to go.

[ She laughs softly, tone wistful. Snuggling up, she plops her face against his shoulder and idly kicks her legs. ]

At any rate, I'm glad to be here with you boys, learning all these new things. If I didn't have to miss my family, this would be almost perfect.

...I miss my sister Cornelia the most. She practically raised me, taught me everything I know about combat and firearms.

What about you, Slaine? What things do you miss?

_{[He can't relate, save only to the part of never having gone to school. He doesn't know what it's like to have a doting family member or a family to miss, but he does know what it's like to be unable to go or do as one wishes. Before Mars he'd been subject to living wherever his father had taken them for his research on Earth, and while he'd been able to explore back then, Mars had been an oppressive place to live once he'd ended up there. Even more so when he'd become a servant of Martian nobility.

He can't say he misses much from his life. Most of it has been pretty bleak. Only certain parts, memories, stand out as positive. Most involving Asseylum.]}

I've never really had a home on Earth or Mars...or belonged anywhere. What I miss the most is spending time with Princess Asseylum.

Mars? You've been to Mars?

[ There's so much going on in those two sentences Euphie barely knows where to begin, but before she can contain herself she finds herself blurting out about Mars first thing. ]

We don't have space travel where I'm from! Your technology must be amazing...! I mean, what we've seen of the Natha Orbiters has been beyond incredible, but they seem so far from what we are it's not the same feeling.

People, humans, out in space...

[ But there are other things besides her wonder at play here, so she tries to button that down at least a little. ]

...you belong somewhere now, at any rate. [ She says this firmly, giving him a tight squeeze. Then, swept up in the moment, in a fit of inspiration she leans up and plants a light kiss to his cheek. ]

You belong right here, with us. Myself and Hush and Mikazuki.

Now what's all this about a princess? We can get back to the space stuff.

_{[Her excitement and wonder is honestly very cute and very reminiscent about the way Asseylum had babbled on about wanting to know about Earth. It makes his chest feel tight as he listens to her, zoning out, only to find himself being squeezed tightly, and, to his shock, a pair of lips pressing themselves to his cheek. Immediately he finds himself staring at her, wide-eyed and utterly dumbfounded, as if he's Mikazuki's little deer, caught in a pair of headlights. His heart is beating wildly all of a sudden, pulse racing as he feels the delayed onset of embarrassment creep up his neck and settle on his cheeks. He's flushed red, unable to make a sound, before he finds himself ripping his gaze away from her to stare at his knees.

No one has ever kissed his cheek before. Perhaps his mother did once, when she'd been alive...but those are days he can't recall. Even her face is mostly a blur now, after all these years.]}

P-Princess Asseylum..._{[His voice cracks as he tries to focus, to stop his body from the sudden panic he feels grip him. It's not as if he's in any immediate danger - why does his anxiety have to get the best of him now?]} She's the heir to the Martian throne and s-saved my life...

Edited 2017-10-05 02:33 (UTC)

Did she?

[ And to think all Euphemia did for Suzaku was land on him.

~~Well, she did slap a bitch for him the once.~~ At any rate, Euphie brightens all the more at hearing this little morsel, settling in excitedly for the rest of this tale. ]

Would it be prying to ask what happened? What is she like? Is she kind? Do you like her? I mean, do you like her?

I crashed a rocket into her palace that my father had put me in to pilot. She saved me from the wreckage and from drowning. I was eleven.

_{[What is this...is this teen gossip time? He's still reeling from the earlier onslaught of affection. Give him a moment, okay?

At least talking about Asseylum is easier than talking about himself.]}

...Princess Asseylum is beautiful and has a gentle disposition. Her heart is full of love for all of humankind...she has never been anything but kind to me.

_{[As for the last part...he feels himself wanting to turn inward. Of course he liked her. Who wouldn't? But it runs deeper than that...]}

I would give my life for her, without hesitation.

[ Your dad sounds like a piece of work, Slaine. Unfortunately, Euphie knows all too many dads who were not the best dads to their children. And too many children who've done or witness terrible things in their young lives. She gives her attention over to the more pressing point. ]

That's not right, Slaine.

The correct thing to say would be that you'll live for her.

_{[He wasn't the worst dad...but he wasn't exactly great either. Sure, when he wasn't absorbed with his research and remembered Slaine existed he spent time with him and those moments Slaine did cherish...but those instances became few and far between the older he grew...until he became more or less a shadow to his father.

He's not exactly sure what to say to her words, but she's clearly not happy with what he's just said. Live for her, huh? Hadn't Lux said something similar?]}

...Okay.

Captcha Strikes Again

here i'll let euphie do it

time to get on the guilt trip train

ALL ABOARD

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