shinobu

[preowned]

Comments

[preowned]

[ she's valid.

but he is going to climb up after her, settling down next to her. ]

[wisterin]

[ she looks up at him because it's him. her tears are unmistakable, and she does nothing to wipe him away. ]

Why do I have to lose him, every time?

[preowned]

[ there is something in that expression that breaks his heart. ]

We will bring him back.

[wisterin]

[ wipe them away* wow tears are gendered now

she is torn between her grief and her fury, and her heart feels like it could give at any moment. she doesn't know everything she's feeling. it's just too much for her right now, even for someone who is as emotional as she is. ]

I know, but I don't want to have to see him go.

[ her voice cracks. ]

Why did the hotel have to take him? Even if I knew that there was always chance, why couldn't it have been—

[ she cuts herself off. ]

[preowned]

[ there are a lot of ways that sentence could have ended.

tsurumaru will scoot a little closer to her, so that their shoulders can brush, and he'll use a hand to wipe at her face. ]

I'm sorry, Shinobu. But at least for tonight, he's still here.

[wisterin]

[ he doesn't need to be so careful. she leans closer to him, against him even, and his touch. ]

But just for tonight. And then...

[ and then what? ]

[preowned]

... and then we will see. But I hope you won't spend the rest of the night here.

[ if there's only tonight, there are better places to be. ]

[wisterin]

I won't. I'm not avoiding anyone. I couldn't not see him.

[ she really does want to spend as much time as she can with the people she loves. ]

I simply don't want to cry all over everyone.

[ she says, but she is ready to cry all over tsurumaru. ]

[preowned]

... then please use up all your tears now.

[ so that she can spend as much time with the others as she can.

he'll press closer to her. ]

For as long as it takes.

[wisterin]

[ she will wrap her arms around him, leaning most of her weight against him. ]

Thank you for being here, Tsurumaru-san.

[ she says that like she thinks she might break if he weren't here. ]

Thank you for staying with me.

[preowned]

Always. Always, Shinobu.

[ he will hold her back, letting his head rest against hers. ]

Where else would I be?

[wisterin]

I don't know. You could be anywhere else.

[ there isn't any real conviction to her words. ]

After tomorrow...

[ she also won't finish that thought. ]

[preowned]

[ he waits a moment, and then, ]

After tomorrow?

[wisterin]

[ statistically speaking.... ]

It will be more harrowing to my heart.

[ dimitri is the worst blow, but once her bad luck starts rolling, it never seems to stop. ]

[preowned]

I will be here.

[ if he says it enough times, it can continue to be true. ]

I made a promise.

[wisterin]

[ there is a long pause.

it's not something they can both promise here. she knows that vividly, especially tonight, but she still lifts her pinky.

she wants to believe in something tonight even if it's foolish. ]

[preowned]

[ he will hook his pinky around hers, and then lifts their hands to press his lips against them. ]

A promise.

[wisterin]

[ the kiss to the hands surprises her, shocks her out of some of her misery.

her expression shifts and softens to something less sullen and heartbroken. ]

I'll hold onto this promise for as long as I can.

[preowned]

I will, too.

[ for as long as he can.

he can hope that will be a very long time. ]

[wisterin]

[ she hopes it's a very long time, too.

very softly, almost too soft: ]

I'm very tired.

[preowned]

Rest for now. It's all almost over.

[ eight weeks, it said. ]

And once it is, what shall we do?

[wisterin]

After burning this hotel down and making sure the Nightman can never do anything like this ever again?

[ she rests her forehead against him as she thinks. ]

I don't know. I want to do good. I want to make things better. I want us to be free.

[preowned]

... we will figure out what all those things mean.

[ whatever it is, to be good and to change things for the better, when they are aware that this is happening. ]

We have life in front of us.

[wisterin]

... We do.

[ she has endured so much loss, but she is still only a fraction away from clinging to tsurumaru right now. ]

We need to make the best of it. Find all the surprises you could want.

[preowned]

Mm. And maybe you will even approve of some of them.

[ what a nice though. sometimes dreams can be very simple. ]