003. and in every raindrop... // open post.

[icarusalsoflew]

Take a prompt, take some time, drop in as you like. If you're from Eudio, though, mosey on down here.

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Waking the Dead 2.0 : 3 April (Tuesday)

[kinesthesia]

[ It's not until about half an hour after Cen falls asleep on the pillow beside her that she gives in to her husband's earlier coaxing ( You should text him. I don't see why he'd take it the wrong way, babe ) and sneaks out into their living room to settle on the couch with her phone. ]

SENT: 02:46 AM
i heard about south korea. kang-dae's
worried about you, you know?

[ There's a moment of hesitation before she sends a follow up message: ]

SENT: 02:47 AM
we all are. please take care.

[icarusalsoflew]

[He gets the message while he's in the shower, where he can hear his phone beep from over the running water - it isn't the only one that ends up coming in either. Still, he doesn't rush, doesn't bother moving any faster.

Granted, the delay on his part isn't just because he was busy. It was also because he spent a good few minutes dressed down, drying his hair with a towel, staring hard at both messages.]

SENT: 3:20 AM
It seems like everyone's heard about South Korea. I'm starting to wonder if my Rashiban operatives are doing their jobs right.

[No smiley this time, because he's only half-joking and even when he's at his worst, he's not one to lie so brazenly about anything, even if it happens to be through text.]

[kinesthesia]

[ She doesn't expect him to reply, half-anticipates that she'll be roused from the couch by her son when Renae finally thinks to check in for breakfast in the morning. Still, she's half-done with her tea when the buzzing sound of her phone against the couch cushions prompts her to look up from the file she's reading.

She takes a good five minutes before she shoots back a response: ]

SENT: 03:25 AM
if by everyone you mean everyone in zangyaku
it's not really the fault of the rashinban.

you know how it is with family.

[ The smile on her lips is a little sad as she types that bit out. ]

talk travels fast because people care, hikaru.

[icarusalsoflew]

SENT: 3:27 AM
Or they're just nosy.

[But that one has a follow-up, because even as he was sending it, he almost regretted being a little too on edge, a little too affected.

Cisco was different to him for a number of reasons. She should have been, anyway. It's been hard.]

SENT: 3:28 AM
Sorry. You know us Shinta. Cats, especially when we're hurt.

[That, in itself, is a step. He's usually allergic to admitting to anything, even if it comes in the form of an analogy that can be read in only too many ways.]

[kinesthesia]

[ She rereads the messge twice over before she responds, head shaking a little as she types out the words. ]

SENT: 03:34 AM
we're all allowed our little eccentricities.

[ She is concerned by that admission of hurt. He doesn't do that often. And she suspects that given the talk she'd heard about how Alistair had been on the defensive ( no surprise there, and it's as comforting as much as it is sad, ) that there's something worth talking about here -- if she plays her cards right. ]

SENT: 03:36 AM
what happened?

...Edited because now I have a better icon for this now. =w=

[icarusalsoflew]

[And where does he even begin? Flopping down on his couch now, after rounding over to his desk to pick up his cigarettes and making a brief stopover at the alcohol cabinet for some booze.]

SENT: 3:40 AM
I lost it earlier. Some things were said, and I guess I don't have as thick of a skin as I used to.

lol. u so cute.

[kinesthesia]

[ She sets the file aside, tucks her legs under her as she settles comfortably into the couch and types out a response, resisting the urge to just call.

There is a time to push and a time to pull and a time to wait and offer breathing room. Tonight is clearly the last option -- but it was never her style to beat carefully around the bush. ]

SENT: 03:43 AM
..."things"?

[ She adds a quick follow up, not two seconds after: ]

you don't have to talk about it if it's too fresh.
i am just worried about you. and it's been a while since you last dropped in for dinner.

blaaah all the edits.

[icarusalsoflew]

SENT: 3:45 AM
They challenged me. I didn't take the kid, just like the records say.

[Pouring a glass for himself. A TALL glass.]

SENT: 3:50 AM
It's hard, you know. With this.

[The ban, the duties, the pretending that he actually likes being ruthless and not giving anyone any second chances. It is also hard to know that some people - Wolf's Choice, the Rockin' Rollas, the Pack, the Malice Kings, and now, one person from this new blade - knew all about it.

Everything is hard these days.]

[kinesthesia]

[ She stands then, walks over to the kitchen stove and lights up her cigarette. Her lighter's back in the room, but she doesn't want to wake Cen unnecessarily. ]

SENT: 03:57 AM
which ones?

[ She'd only met two of Kaz Zobel de Ayala's blade mates -- Yulia Bostova and the mage, Taning. But she's done her reading. ]

it usually is.
harder i think, because this is you.

[ She sends off the text and settles back into the couch. ]

[icarusalsoflew]

[He has flopped back on the couch with his head set on the top of the headrest by now.]

SENT: 4:00 AM
Guilty as charged.

It was Taning, Joshua and Brigade. Kaz was out cold, and Brianna and Yulia were both worrying over him, I think.

[kinesthesia]

[ A brow lifts at the mention of Kaz being out cold. Yes, she'd read the report ( third degree burns healed eventually by the Voidseeker ) but it's always something else to hear it from someone that was there. ]

SENT: 04:02 AM
i've met taning. he came by to speak with aidan
a while back. he seems... nice. deferential.

tell me about the other two?

[icarusalsoflew]

SENT: 4:05 AM
They're both American. Joshua is a Sin-Eater... woke up and felt that he had to run. You know how it is down there. Brig used to be a Valkyrie operative. Promethean.

They've both got their hearts in the right place. They're also very new to this business.

[kinesthesia]

[ Ah.

There's a reason she worries sometimes about where Maggie's Midnight Rider squad might end up next. America may be recovering, true, but there are more hostiles than friendlies over there and she's heard about those who try to get out, because staying loses any luster as an option.

She sighs then, rereads those last two lines that have caught her attention. ]

SENT: 04:07 AM
they sound like good people, hikaru.

[icarusalsoflew]

SENT: 4:08 AM
I know.

[As for the reasons why they were still around him, he didn't know.]

[kinesthesia]

[ Two words and a world of meaning.

Cisco sighs quietly and takes a long drag from her cigarette, turning the stick between her fingers before she types in another reply. ]

SENT: 04:10 AM
i know you're a busy man, but come by
the house sometime. we miss you.

[ She hears the door open at that, smiles and lifts her chin in greeting as her son steps in, a startled look crossing his features as he finds her up.

She waves him off then, lifts her phone and watches as Renae nods, comes over to kiss her gently on the top of her head before he heads off to the guestroom he and Maggie used to share as children. ]

[icarusalsoflew]

[It's tempting. So very tempting.

But.]

SENT: 4:15 AM
I'll see. You should go to bed, Cisco.

[Too soon.]

[kinesthesia]

SENT: 04:18 AM
i'll hold you to that.
go rest when you can, hikaru.

[ She kills her cigarette at that, sinks into the couch and waits. She doubts that he'll reply but she wants to give it a few more minutes before she heads back in to crash. ]

[icarusalsoflew]

[And he can't even bring himself to try at making a promise. He's staring at the phone for a while before he simply drops it and lifts himself up.

He needs to think.]