ATH Not-So-Temporary Thread

[Felixitous]

Lisa hugged her and sighed. "His name isn't Michael. He's a cyborg that...that's...that's Tokka's biological father. Don't tell him, please, the whole situation is bad enough as it is..." At the mention of Dorian, though, she frowned and closed her eyes.

"Dorian thinks he needs to be stronger or something. He left to go train. He'll be gone for at least a month."



Clover shot up when she heard the gun go off, and when Tokka told her it was a robot, she narrowed her eyes.

"Yeah, your mom kills people. It happens." She tried to stand up and immediately crumpled into a heap. Her temperature had risen dramatically, and her freed curls stuck to her face. She was barely conscious lying on the floor, dizzy. Her illness was only getting worse.



Trigger let Zero hug her, not really moving. She wasn't sure what she felt. Happiness? That wasn't quite it. Contentedness? Joy? Relief? Relief was closest, but still not right. She pressed her face to Zero's chest and sighed. She didn't really know anything right now, except she'd done what had to be done to protect her daughter. That was all that mattered.  

[Lady Mimicry]

"Daddy isn't...isn't Tokka's daddy too? Th-uh, what do you mean Dorian left? Stronger? He's perfect the way he is," She crumpled to the ground, her expression a combination of sadness and confusion.

"A month, really? Why so long..." She figured it was true. He hadn't really liked her at all. So willing and eager to leave without saying goodbye.

Tokka scooped Clover into his arms and carried her to the tub, filling it with cold water, he gently eased her in. That should bring the temperature down. Then, he picked up his cellphone and called Umeda. He'd fix her.

"Trigger," Zero said, "What should we do with him? Our luck, he'll find another way to come back, make our lives hell." He kissed her forehead and cheek repeatedly. Whether to comfort Trigger or himself, he couldn't decide.  

[Felixitous]

Lisa knelt beside Ban and took her hand. "No, he isn't. But that doesn't matter. Zero is his dad, no matter what anyone says." She hugged her tightly.

"And Dorian...well, he left because of your date, actually. He was afraid he wasn't impressive enough for you to like him. Honey, he's been in love with you since day one." She managed a sincere smile and turned her face up by the chin. "Cheer up, okay?"



Clover shivered and tried to move. "Let me go, I--I need to--" She paused and coughed, then stayed silent a minute. "You know what, no. Never mind. Just promise me you won't go out there." She didn't want him to know. She wasn't sure what it was, but for some reason, she just didn't want him to know the truth.



Trigger sighed. "Take the pieces to Clover. She'll know what to do once she's better." She took Zero's hands and pressed them to her cheeks. She always liked his hands, long and soft, cool to the touch, but with a unique sort of warmness beneath the initial layer. She almost went to kiss them, but saw the blood that had transferred from her face to them. She remembered that day when he'd been covered in her blood and closed her eyes.

"Let's just get inside for now and leave this here, okay? I just--I need to get this stuff off of me."  

[Lady Mimicry]

Ban nodded and returned that sincere smile with one of her own. Still, it was disappointing to know she'd have to wait a whole month till she saw him again. Kissing Lisa's cheek, Ban seated herself by the window, which would become her home for the month prior.


Tokka checked his watch. "Well, Umeda should be arriving here soon. I wanted to wait outside for him, but, I guess I could stay...if you'd, um, hold my hand." Yeah, he was Trigger's son.


"Is that an invitation?" Zero asked, smiling. Lightly patting her butt, he nudged her towards The Shop. "Go inside, love, clean up. I'll take care of the trash."  

[Felixitous]

Lisa sighed and patted her head. "Waiting there won't bring him back any faster. Come on, help me in the kitchen or something. If you find a hobby, the time might pass a little quicker. Besides, you need to eat. You're thinner than your dad. You need a little of your mom's curves." She giggled and recalled briefly one drunken night long before children and Zero and even Alister had been involved in Trigger's life. Oh, naiads. She grabbed Ban's hand and resumed her usual level of crazy, saying they must cook something before they went to play with Legato's hair.



Clover nodded. "Fine. I still don't respect him on a medical level. He's a hack." Then again, when compared to her, everyone was a hack. She wasn't comfortable with someone else poking and prodding, or letting her vulnerability be known to the rest of the world, but she had little choice when she couldn't even stand.

Then Tokka asked to hold her hand.

She thought about it. She'd never held a hand. In fact, other than the touching involved to make a diagnosis or patch someone up, she didn't really touch people. They were filled with disease and anguish and things she didn't need as a doctor, things that could only hinder her. Feelings, too, ugh, feelings. Basil and her little thing with Saber, Trigger and her many lovers over the years, everyone else in the house all falling in love and doing silly things. She noticed, though, that they all seemed relatively happy. Through the crack in her door, she saw Trigger kiss Zero before coming inside. Even after killing MK, she could find it in her to kiss him? She shook her head. So weird.

"Whatever." She slung her hand over the side of the tub. What the hell.  

[Lady Mimicry]

Tokka's hands enveloped hers. They weren't soft or cool to the touch, but rough and radiating warmth. The tidbits of dirt beneath his fingertips emphasized that he worked a lot. Sir Handyman Ban called him, that night weeks ago when she knighted him with a empty roll of toilet paper.

"You know," he said, "I find this moment perfect."

He didn't take more than what was offered. No stroking her hand, playing with her fingers. He simply held it, cupped between his own. Umeda knocked once. Tokka bashfully released her and greeted him, briefly explaining the situation.

Umeda pulled Vareth over, reaching into his pocket and stealing back his glasses. He'd rather not be blind while working on a fellow doctor. "Cold water," he mused, "good call."  

[Felixitous]

"Cold water doesn't do anything but mask symptoms," Clover said grumpily. "Not a good call or a bad one. Just a temporary fix." She completely ignored what had just happened while they were alone, the slight pickup in speed, just by holding his hand--she ignored it all.

She sat up, not caring that, through her now-wet white shirt, they could all see her bra. It wasn't particularly fancy, but it wasn't ugly, either. It was just there. Functional. Like things should be. Efficient, nothing but what was necessary. Yes.

"I've had a raised temperature and an awful, persistent cough for a week or so now," she said. She climbed to her bed. So what if she got it wet? She hardly slept anymore, anyway.

"I can barely stand and moving takes a great deal of effort. My limbs are all sort of...fuzzy, hard to move, like I'm sitting around in pudding." Yes, yes, sounds very professional. What a wonderful diagnosis. She felt like an idiot.

"Just give me something and be on your way," she said bitterly to Umeda--at least, what she thought was Umeda. Somewhere in there, she'd lost her glasses, and without those, she was damn near blind. Today was just great.  

[Lady Mimicry]

Tucking her hair behind her ears, Tokka slipped Clover's glasses on and stepped outside. Right as Zero was carrying up several trash bags loaded with chunks of MK.

"I've got this, dad." Before Zero could refuse, Tokka had already taken the bags and carried them into the freezer Clover kept in her room. Zero eyed the bags cautiously, then Clover.

"Trigger brought you a little something..."


A month passed...

Ban hadn't become an amazing chef, in fact, the longer she was in the kitchen, the worse and worse she became. She even screwed up cereal. Sighing, Ban collapsed next to the window and started to doodle in the condensation. Hate cooking, want Dorian. Hate cooking, want Dorian.

Earlier, Tokka had left for jogging. Then shopping, but that should've been done hours ago? No one had seen him since.  

[Felixitous]

Lucy came in. He looked better than he had before; there was some color in his cheeks, and the bags beneath his eyes weren't that bad. He sat next to Ban and nudged her, smiling.

"Hey, big sister. Guess who I saw coming down the road?"

Before she could answer, the door opened again. A man walked in, not a boy. He was tanned and muscular, but still lean and graceful. He smiled at Ban, and it was easy to see who it was. How could anyone forget those grey eyes?



Clover, finally better, left her room for her weekly kitchen trip. Tokka usually talked to her while she was out, and she didn't treat him with the same disdain she showed everyone else. But there was a noticeable lack of Tokka today, and out of curiosity, she looked around for him. When he wasn't in the house, she grabbed Basil and went to look. She didn't know why she was worried. Part of her said it was concern as a doctor to a sick patient, who had tendencies that gave good cause for worry. A much quieter part said there was something deeper at play. Either way, she was worried.  

[Lady Mimicry]

Ban pounced, knocking both she and Dorian to the floor. Her legs were locked securely around his waist, her fingers were laced behind his neck, and her face was nuzzled against his neck. Straddling him now, Ban righted herself and pounced him, square across the jaw.

"Idiot," she sniffed, her lower lips quivering, "that's for leaving. Didn't even say goodbye!" She hugged him again and started crying.

"You jerk, I missed you. I missed you, I missed you, I missed you."


Unfortunately, Clover nor Basil nor anyone else could find Tokka!  

[Felixitous]

Dorian laughed and hugged her tightly. His fingers, now rough and calloused at their tips, wound their way innocently through her hair, ignoring the pain in his jaw.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. His voice was a little deeper, but still had the same gentle strength as it had before. "I missed you too." As he pulled away to look at her, a knock sounded on the door, which Lisa answered.

Before she could say anything, a group of girls tried to shove their way in.

"Dorian! Damn you, I wanted you to call me back!" one shouted. She was an Altiva too, of surpassing beauty, tall and seductive in every manner. Dorian got up, an arm still around Ban, and pushed them all back out before closing the door.

"I, uh, built up a small fan club while I saw away," he said, chuckling somewhat nervously. But even though Ban didn't quite have the raw sort of sexiness the others carried, she was the only one for him. She was more than sexy. There was more than sex in a relationship with her, anyway. She was beautiful, the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen and the only one he cared to see again. To hell with those girls. He'd never once been tempted to stray (despite the fact that they were thus far not involved), and now that he was back, he didn't think he'd ever be able to take his eyes off Ban again.  

[Lady Mimicry]

Ban snaked an arm around Dorian's waist, her body pressed close to his. Those other Altiva, made her feel funny. It all seemed instinctual. Was it that half she inherited from Trigger? From the corner of her eye, Ban noticed how her nails extended into sharp, needle-like claws. Oh, that was weird.

"About Michael," she said, "Android that tried hurting mommy by hurting me. I'm okay, but, listen, I didn't know and--he meant nothing to me. Nobody could compare to you, Dorian."  

[Felixitous]

He smiled and kissed her. In his one lone month, he'd managed to find himself, to find a confidence that he'd previously lacked. He was still the same mild-mannered Dorian, of course, but he would never have been able to make the first move before.

"Ban, I don't care what it would have taken, but I would've won you over. The fact that you don't like him just makes this all the easier." He hadn't meant for it to sound so arrogant, but he didn't think there was a way to say 'I would go to the end of the world and back just for you to love me'. Wait.

"I would do anything for you, Ban. You cared about me before I'd manned up, you were there when I was still a tiny little outcast hiding behind Lisa's legs, and I--I want you to be there, well, forever." Now that it had come out of his mouth, he wondered if the new confidence was a good thing. He was probably taking things way too fast. She hadn't even had time to respond and he was telling her he loved her and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. She probably thinks I'm a creep now...  

[Lady Mimicry]

"Forever? Are you like--proposing?"

It was flattering, the confession Dorian decreed as too forward. She could feel her heart racing, pounding in her chest. Taking his hands, Ban pressed them against the beating muscle, then rested her own hand over his heart.

"Whatever you're asking, I accept. Forever's a long time, but I don't like being without you. I want you there too. Kiss me?"  

[Felixitous]

Dorian blushed. Yeah, he had to admit, if she were up to it, he'd propose on the spot, but that might be...weird. So, instead, he smiled and kissed her, wrapping his arms around her. Forever was a long time, but he'd already put up with this much of her crazy. Forever wasn't that bad.

They were interrupted shortly as Clover barged back in, slamming doors around until she got into her room, where she closed it so hard that it stuck and splintered a bit. She sat on her bed, head in her hands for a few seconds, then tore her hair down and started running her fingers through it. Doctorly concern. Doctorly concern. Doctorly concern. That's all it was. That was why it bothered her so much. But where could he be? Could someone have him? She got up and checked the bag of MK to make sure the majority of it was there. Today was bad.