voidtreckerexpress | This is the Sound of Settling

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This is the Sound of Settling

Who: Nita and YOU!
Where: All around! Please note preferred room in toplevel.
When: 12th through 15th Horseshoe
What: Chores, and some private catch-ups.
Warnings: ... Feels????

Nita's able to bounce back from the mission much more easily than last time - no huge magics, just the slow drain of wizardry and losing people alike.

There are some people she knows she needs to talk to, but she doesn't precisely need to hunt them down - after all, she's got rooms to clean. She'll get to them eventually.

She has time for more friendly chats, as well - or a helping hand or two!

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Nita stilled, a chill going down her back, something in her burning. Oh no, he wouldn't...

But she shakes the moment off; sympathy is one thing, acting on her own sense of righteous anger was another. She'd already had that blow up in her face once.

"But you got out."

That was without question; Nita would remember seeing the hearts on the Roster - more to the point, she'd have sought Inigo out a lot sooner if that had happened.

She moves a little, squeezing Inigo's hand again. I am glad you are alive.

"And Roland?"

"Yes," he confirms, even though Inigo knows it's not necessary. Nita is smart, she's observant - if things had gotten that far, she would have noticed, one way or another. And so he doesn't want her to even worry about the very possibility. He's here. And alive. He's not so sure about the latter on the inside, but he's trying. He really is. Otherwise he wouldn't be here right now, sitting next to Nita.

"Roland.. also got out." Describing anymore details than that is painful, if not just because Inigo doesn't want to think about what he could have caused for the other man if things had gone worse. "There was an intervention before things could really go south. But Roland was.. he was doing better than me. I could hardly even touch Reno."

As expected. How else could the whole thing have gone? It's just like what Inigo often thinks about himself - he's useless, easily outdone by others.

He sucks in a breath, letting his head hang. "Now I'm just like a kid who started a fight with his bully and who couldn't even win it."

"Physically? Or verbally?"

Because that had been how all this started - arguing, taunting, exacerbating...

And how, clearly.

"Considering he's got a Team Lead keeping an eye on him, I don't think Reno would think of it as a win."

That's... also not a good dynamic to deal with on future missions, but that's not the problem Right Now.

"He has to accept that people aren't turning a blind eye to what he's doing."

There's a reluctance to the way he admits it, but Inigo knows it's the truth, so.. ".. both, I guess."

He can't match Reno in anything. He can't deal out callous cruelty the way the other can, nor does he have special abilities like Reno's in order to be able to match him in a physical fight. In some ways it's good, since it means Inigo at least isn't an absolute monster, but at the same time it still feels bad to have been reminded of how weak he is.

"I have no idea what Reno is thinking now after all that, but.." Inigo sucks in a breath before uprighting himself, letting out a worried sigh and brushing his free hand through his hair. "I doubt he's going to stop. He wasn't even worried or afraid about Roland seeing it all, or Roland trying to defend me. I know it makes me sound pathetic, but I just really don't want to run into him anymore."

Reno, obviously, not Roland.

Nita fell silent, considering the options.

Given they were on a train, the possibilities of just not walking into him were limited.

"If I were to tie a spell to his SCA and yours, so that you couldn't be in the same car together, would that help?"

True, it couldn't stop him from sending ICP messages, but Reno would have to go out of his way to be by himself for those if he didn't want to be tracked down by other passengers. And, if he took off his SCA, neither the train nor the more health-conscientious passengers would like that!

".. Do you.. think that would help?"

Inigo definitely sounds interested. And, despite his mood, there is actually a hint of very cautious optimism in it as well. Because it does sound like a possibility where he'd never have to face Reno again. Where he doesn't have to randomly duck into rooms or behind furniture just because he sees a hint of red hair somewhere, even when it turns out to not have been red hair nor Reno at all.

But this is Inigo, so of course he sounds worried at the same time as he looks at Nita.

"Wouldn't it cause problems..?"

"You're my friend, Inigo; helping you is never a problem. Not to me."

That comes first, and thus is said first.

"And if you're worried about the energy outlay, I'm sure Bobo and I can find ways to handle that."

Already she's thinking on the mechanics. Should it be like magnetic repulsion, or like what I already do for shielding? Like tapping on a wall or a 'do not walk through here' mental sign?

The answer renders him speechless for a moment. It comes so easily. And while that isn't unexpected for Nita, while she has always been there for him when he needed it, it's still so much. Especially when Inigo feels like he's done nothing but be weak, done nothing to earn all this trust and help from her.

He sucks in a shakey breath.

"You're too good to me, Nita." Not that it's necessarily a bad thing. No, kindness is never bad. It's just that.. it feels wasted on him. "Even though I came here with such a childish problem, something that doesn't involve you at all.. You're still willing to help me."

Even though he's just being a baby. Even though he probably deserves Reno's bullying. The weakest of the herd always get pounced on by the predatory animals, right?

Nita, in turn, lets out a breath of her own; smiles in reassurance.

"When we're all cooped up in a small space like this-"

No matter how long the train gets.

"It isn't a childish problem. And like I said, you're my friend. As - as long as you don't think I'm overstepping," she adds, confessing her own worry with a wry look, "Then, anything in my power, I'll do. We deserve good things, you got that?"

Inigo deserves good things - not in the sense that Nita doesn't, but in the sense that he shouldn't count himself out.

"Well.."

He wants to say that he's not so sure about that. Oh, doubtlessly there are so many people on this train who deserve good things. Most of them. Nita too, especially considering what he saw before in her dream - no matter how vaguely represented back there.

But Inigo himself? What has he done to deserve it? Has he ever done even a single thing right?

He picks at his finger for a moment, deciding to not say it. Instead he sucks in a breath again and smiles at her.

"I don't think you're overstepping at all." There. It's always easier like that. Focusing on other people rather than on himself. "You're just.. a friend, who wants to help out a friend. There's nothing wrong with that, is there?"

Especially since Inigo has been feeling like he's drowning for a while now, yet is too afraid to ask anyone to reach out a hand to him to help.

"If anything, people would find that sweet."

Nita moves closer, enough to give another hand-squeeze. There's at least one outreached-hand here on this train, Inigo can be sure of that!

"That's not always the case."

Speaking in general - much as it wasn't as if she couldn't be wrong, couldn't misread a situation or just not know what to say...

But, right now at least, she thinks she does know.

"It's more important, to me, that I'm sure I know what you want. That I'm not just assuming."

Or that Inigo's redirecting, ~~coughcough~~.

"Friends are supposed to listen to each other. Give each other time to process things, if needed, but they'll always be there in the end, to lend a hand."

Inigo had certainly done that in her dream.

Whew. It's a really good thing that he already patched things up with Tidus, or those words would be hitting a lot harder than they are right now. Not that they still aren't impactful - but it just gives him much more of a chance to think of the here and now, about Nita next to him, rather than his mistakes of the past.

He feels the squeeze at their joined hands, and it makes him stare back at them, thinking for a moment. Inigo always balances on the edge of being honest and lying - or, well, omitting the truth, more like. Covering up his pain. It's hard to strike a good balance between the two with good things, but he's trying.

"I'm.. not sure what I want." That's a very honest admission. What would help at this point? While he's worried about Gerome's name still being gold, about the whole situation with Reno, about his lack of strength, about so much more-- What should he even tackle first? What can even be done about it?

Or maybe it's time to go back to the basis. His constant primal desire.

"I think I just.. don't want to be alone."

Even though he was the one who had pulled back during the mission, pulled himself away from everything. Inigo knew though that he wouldn't feel better by himself - but there was just the strong fear that he'd only make things worse by actively sticking around others back then.

Nita nods, not letting herself say anything until she's sure Inigo has gotten out what he wants to say, until she's sure she understands.

To be fair, that doesn't take her long.

"I get that," she says softly.

"... I know I still need to clean this room and all, but after that- want to go to the cinema? Find something absolutely bonkers that will leave us in stitches?"

She wants to be around him, to do both serious and silly stuff with him. Inigo would not have to be alone, not while she still had a say in the matter.

"You're sure?"

It doesn't sound completely insecure, but there is something vaguely cautious in his tone as he says it. Inigo knows that Nita is nice. He knows that she cares. But at the same time, there are his usual insecurities haunting him - the same insecurities that Reno threw right back in his face. That maybe people only want to spend time with him since they pity him.

"I.. I mean, if you have a lot more to clean, we could just keep doing that. I could help you.." Inigo isn't really too bothered by doing chores, after all. Unless Nita really is up for going over to the cinema as well, since that does sound like it has a better chance of at least patching Inigo's mood up a bit compared to something like cleaning, that can at best just get the focus at the forefront of his mind rather than his worries.

Nita grins ruefully.

"As I've had pointed out to me today, I'm not the only Orange; I don't have to do all the work, even if I think I should."

She stands up, before holding out her hand again.

"Or at least, I don't have to do it all today."

Inigo again doesn't hesitate too much in grabbing the hand, at least. If Nita doesn't say she minds, then Inigo knows he just has to believe that. That she's okay with this, just going to do something fun with him, even if he may not exactly be the most fun person to be around right now. He's trying to believe.

"Alright." His head dips into a slight nod. "And.. I mean, I could always help you out with it another day too."

Granted, it's not like there aren't plenty of people on the orange team. They could easily manage these chores with just their numbers. But this is more about offering to help out Nita personally, or maybe even offer her a bit of company - because if she's doing this much for him, the least he can do is try to be as good to her in return.

Nita's smile softens.

"It's a deal, then."

Putting the cleaning tools back won't take too much time, and as for the cinema...

They can try putting it on random, perhaps. See if the train thinks they need more cute rabbits in their life.

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This is the Sound of Settling

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Wrap in a few comments? (and maybe some MLV binging happened??? Any preference?)

yes, that sounds good to me! he's still fairly new to mlv so gently introduce him to it....

Only a few episodes at a time, for sure! Not, like, a season... (Also, wrap?)