Come As You Are // Open Post

[therealbrianna]

P.Y.T. [ Pretty Young Thing ]

(Taken during THAT mission that we do not speak of.)

Comments

[therealbrianna]

[ Just the thought of that makes Brianna feel all warm inside. It wasn't long ago when she felt like the Michael Lamont to Tala Vega. ]

Yay, hopefully! Somewhere down the line, maybe he'll even be ready to be introduced to a family.

[ This one is hopeful as well. ]

[redemancy]

Maybe we can arrange for something... or well, a lot of things. Your home and mine.

[Michael needs as much support as he can get, after all.]

I'll ask the others on my end.

[therealbrianna]

[ A big grin plastered on her face. ]

I was actually hoping you'd say that! I just thought it would be nice if he could be with familiar people first, right?

[redemancy]

Yeah. Anyway, we can plan this out better some other time. Hikaru's waiting for you.

[Yep. 'Hikaru', not 'Inquisitor Shinta' or 'the Blade King'. Seems like they were back on a first name basis now.]

See you on Monday?

[therealbrianna]

[ Interesting. Noting that down, not that it sets off emergency signals in her brain. To Brianna, it's more of an "Oooh.." thing. ]

Yeah, that sounds okay. I'll see you then!

[icarusalsoflew]

[And he's watching Aria nod and offer another smile in farewell to the third girl he's ever adopted as his daughter before moving off. On his end, he's killing his cigarette and moving over.]

That looked... pleasant.

[He had been curious about how Brianna and Aria were getting along now.]

[therealbrianna]

[ Looking at him with a head tilt. ]

It's... usual...?

[icarusalsoflew]

Is it? Well, that's good.

[Yeah, he's just going to change topics now. Smiling, on cue.]

C'mon. Let's grab some coffee from the Great Hall and sit somewhere nice?

[therealbrianna]

[ Bouncing around in a very low-key fashion. ]

Yeah, I'd like that. Good space for us to talk too!

[icarusalsoflew]

Mm-hm, because we kind of need to.

[Scratch that.]

Well, more like, I need to tell you something important.

[He's... just going to leave it at that now. Ehe.]

[therealbrianna]

[ Oh. Serious. Got it. ]

Is... Something up?

[icarusalsoflew]

Coffee first.

[He says it with a smile, but the tone in his voice doesn't leave that much room for negotiation.]

Coffee and a private spot.

[Too many ears in the Great Hall, and he's actually not that hot about taking this to his room.]

[therealbrianna]

O...kay?

[ Agreeing reluctantly because of how vague that was but she trusts Hikaru enough to just go with it.

She's just letting him lead her. ]

[icarusalsoflew]

[And he doesn't say anything, not until he's gotten the both of them good coffee, a pot, and an ashtray. Not until he's bringing the two of them out into the garden out back, and finding a quiet and secluded bench that they can plop down on, and setting the ashtray and the pot between them.]

So.

[Erm. How does one start with this? (Why is it so hard? It really shouldn't be, Blade King.)]

[therealbrianna]

[ ??? What can this be about? Why is Daddy so silent?, she's thinking to herself. ]

So... Can you stop being all weird? What were you going to talk to me about?

[icarusalsoflew]

[Ah, well. He should have expected that.]

I'm being "weird" because I'm not sure how you're going to take it.

[Especially in light of his own conversation with her on the matter before, and her exchange with the party involved. Oops.]

[therealbrianna]

[ Huh, what?

Raising an eyebrow at that, as if to say Do go on. ]

[icarusalsoflew]

[Taking a (steadying) drag from his cigarette. You may notice that he's not quite meeting your gaze just yet.]

Remember how we talked about Josh before?

[therealbrianna]

[ Getting a look on her face that says ...Oh. ]

Go on....?

[icarusalsoflew]

We ended up talking last night.

[Fiddling with that lighter now. He never does that unless he's nervous.]

About us.

[And now looking at you.]

[therealbrianna]

[ The expression on her face goes Ohh... ]

And ahh, what happened? Can you stop doing that? [ Placing a hand on top of his. ]

You're about to give me a nervous breakdown just by watching you.

[ She means this with affection, of course. ]

[icarusalsoflew]

[He's letting out an amused noise at that, and looking... well. A little embarrassed.]

He figured it out. The whole part about me liking him.

[Then, with that helpless sort of smile that hints at how he still can't believe that any of the events of last night even happened:]

He also happens to like me. So.

[therealbrianna]

[ Her mind is screaming out ALL THE QUESTIONS! but naturally, she'll dish them out one at a time. ]

So... Are you guys...?

[ Tilting her head to the side because Hikaru should already know what the question is trailing off to. ]

[icarusalsoflew]

Yeah.

[And it's quite possible that you've never seen him smile this way: small, genuinely happy, all kinds of nervous, slightly apprehensive, all around quite... young.]

[therealbrianna]

You are such a teenager.

[ Smirking at him now, teasing. Her face falls serious after a few seconds though. ]

So, why'd you have to take me here to talk about it?

[ Of course she'd be offended if her daddy didn't tell her. She just wants to know what exactly his purpose was in hailing her here: whether it's more of flat out telling her, getting a feel of how she'd react, ask for.... permission? or for other reasons. ]