[FIN] Dark and Stormy Night

[Blood_Goddess]

That had been... a terrible day, Rosie still remembered it with a great deal of reluctance.
She did remember that she had stopped reading the letter when it made her want to just break down, and Luke had told her that she didn't have to read it.

Still, to think that it had been that close... months ago. MONTHS ago.
grasping that concept silently, the hand she didn't have on Luke's reached up to brush her hair away from her cheeks.  

[Suudonym]

Luke's memories of that day weren't especially stellar either, and what he remembered of the letter was very dismal and gloomy, so he was content to let the subject fall. The silence that ensued was comfortable but also overwhelming and surreal, and the first concrete thought that came to mind passed through to his voice, "I think I might not get tired eventually after all."  

[Blood_Goddess]

Rosie bust out in giggles when he finally spoke, breaking the silence, shaking her hair out of her face she turned back to look at him.
"Yeah I'm suddenly not so tired myself."  

[Suudonym]

Her laughter elicited a smile in response, and he leaned to take hold of the fallen blanket, shaking it straight and wrapping it around Rosie's shoulders and his. "Might as well be comfortable then."  

[Blood_Goddess]

A gentle smile crossed her lips as a part of the blanket was put over her shoulders, rubbing both her eyes with her sleeve again, thankful that at least she stopped crying.
she shifted her legs out from under her, sitting back down on the couch more comfortably and settling down closer to Luke

There was a small voice of protest when the blanket was moved, A small white pokemon that had been snoozing comfortably under it for some time, suddenly exposed to the cooler room.
"Quiiill." A long snout poked up into the air, followed with a long yawn.

"Oh, Ballet-" Rosie said blinking from over her shoulder, she didn't have to move though as the Cyndaquil picked herself up, shook herself out and stubbornly crawled over the couch and onto Rosie's lap, tumbling down over her legs as she tried to climb on, and onto Luke's.  

[Suudonym]

"Aw, sorry," Luke said, blinking at the trundling little fire-type and offering a hand to pat its head. "I didn't know you were in there." He didn't have any qualms against the Cyndaquil settling on his person if that was where she wanted to be; he was always happy to see her doing well and generally enjoying herself.  

[Blood_Goddess]

"She was helping me keep warm." Rosie explained, hunkering down against the couch, pulling the blanket further over her shoulders as she watched the Cyndaquil trying to right herself.

Once Ballet righted herself, she lifted her head, squinted eyes peering up at Luke and his hand nuzzling into the petting.

Rosie smiled glancing sideways to Luke. "Were you the one that sent her to me?"
She of course had guessed that, with good reason for a long time, but he had never come out and said it.  

[Suudonym]

Well that made sense enough, sharing warmth with a fire-type. Her words to follow, however, gave him a small pause; he had indeed never plainly said that he was responsible, but he couldn't be surprised that she had arrived at that conclusion - it was hardly a perfect crime. He dipped his head in a nod of confirmation.  

[Blood_Goddess]

The small fire type continued to squirm and rolls around over their laps and the blanket, trying to find a place to get comfortable.
It wasn't until she was practically tangled in one of the blankets corners by Rosie's hip that she settled down and stopped moving.

Vahy'n had made herself comfortable along the top of the couch, her finned tail curling and uncurling, probably a sign that she wasn't fully asleep yet,

She pretty much knew it was him who got her Ballet anyway, so when he nodded she just smiled, settling down further into the blanket and leaning against him shoulder a little. "thank you."  

[Suudonym]

He relaxed his posture towards her, idly watching the Cyndaquil find its place as his hand instinctively sought out her fingers. There was as good a chance as any, he thought, that he would wake up in the morning and find that none of this had happened.

"After the convention," he said, "after talking in the hospital the next day, I thought I owed you an apology, but I thought just saying sorry would be like taking back everything I said." And there were several key points he had voiced that he hadn't wanted to compromise.  

[Blood_Goddess]

The presence of his hand was a welcome one, something in her chest fluttered when his hand touched hers again, and she accepted the gesture by sliding her own fingers into his gentle touch.

she listened to him talk, content where she was curled up examining their hands as she drew her fingers along his palm to curl into his fingers.
She knew the day he was talking about, that much was said when she looked up quietly.
"We didn't really talk for a while after that, did we."
she knew she attempted to be brave enough to send him a text, many times it had failed, and then out of the blue the little Cyndaquil appeared in her box.  

[Suudonym]

"Mm…" There was uneasiness in his brief response and in the quiet that followed it; as she said, he had avoided speaking to Rosie in the time following that conversation, unsure of how to reconcile the disparity between their perspectives. The hand in his suddenly felt fragile and fleeting in the recollection of that discussion. Very little had changed about the feelings he had voiced in that room, save for his recent discovery of the selfish reasons he wanted to live. She insisted that he wasn't a bother, but she also made it clear that she was troubled by his tendency to blame and deride himself. She said that she loved him, but how long would pass before she could no longer tolerate his negative habits? Or would she simply tolerate him unconditionally at the expense of her own happiness and comfort?  

[Blood_Goddess]

She wasn't sure what kind of reply to get, she wasn't even sure where what she had said was leading, she just kinda... said it.
but the lack of reply from Luke, and a demeanor that grew quiet and not nearly as relaxed as he had been a second ago.

Taking notice of this the girl moved her gaze up from their hands, glancing across her shoulder to the boy she was sitting next to.
"its okay though." she added, worried that this topic change had created an uncomfortable environment  

[Suudonym]

Okay for now, maybe, but what about in the future? What about after the next unforgivable tragedy that he would inevitably cause? Even if she forgave him, he doubted he would forgive himself. It seemed like little more than a matter of time before this fragile happiness began to crumble.

Maybe he was binding himself to a self-fulfilling prophecy with this kind of thinking. It was worrying, almost frightening, but it felt like something better off forgotten - at least for the moment. He half turned to Rosie, reaching up briefly to brush aside her hair, and leaned forward to touch his lips to her forehead.  

[Blood_Goddess]

Her brow furrowed at his silence, watching his expression with a measure of growing concern.
"Luke-" Reaching her hand up to put it on his arm, about to sit up and say something, but as her fingers started to touch him he pulled away as he turned, finding she was facing him more squarely.

Her eyebrows ached for a moment before she felt the touch of his hand guiding her hair back, and he leaned in to kiss her forehead.
He had done this once before, and it was not a memory or a feeling that she was soon to forget, But with it there had been a lot of questions, hopeful questions, worried and confused questions, along with the other tragedies she had to deal with at the time.

There were not really many questions like that now, not when she knew his feelings, and he knew hers.
It didn't rid her of the worry she had over his change in mood, but it did slip her into a blushing joy, her hand that she had reached for his arm involuntarily moving to his shoulder at the gesture.
She let out a breath she blinked shyly though was unable to keep from smiling.