[PRP] In the Blood (Nora/Gale)

[medigel]

"Sitting sitting area, who'd have thought! Wait a tic--Guest room?" Nora echoed, giving him a light shove as they walked. "You were going to make me sleep in the lounge when you have a guest room available, you rascal? I see how it is."

Immediately she broke away and began striding up the steps with purpose, nosy as ever. Her excuse was just a front: putting "girlfriend" and "my own house" and "seven months" together made her come to some fairly obvious assumptions, so it was just a matter of seeing if they were correct. Nora opened the door to the guest room without further ado.

A red panda doll, a stuffed horse, and a somewhat stained bear plush stared at her from the bed.

". . . You got something you wanna tell me, Gale?" she asked lightly.

kuroopu

 

[kuropeco]

Gale had followed Nora upstairs and was now standing behind her with his arms folded stubbornly across his chest, a look of exasperation on his face.

"We don't live together, if that's what you're implying," he said flatly. "At least, not in the sense that you're thinking. Sometimes Stormy doesn't want to go back to her room, sometimes she just needs a break, and sometimes I just like waking up and knowing she's safe and sound in the other room."

His look was defiant as he met Nora's. "When you're in a place like Deus, there aren't any guarantees anyone will survive."

Ol-j-man

 

[medigel]

In spite of the serious implications behind Gale's words, Nora had to suppress a smile at his defiant look, still thinking of the immaturity displayed before. It was almost cute for two people to play house on what basically constituted as a military base. "Heard you the first time, Debbie Downer. I was implying more along the lines of, 'do you really need stuffed animals to sleep still?', but that's also a good thing to note," she replied simply, striding in without further ado. "What are they for, anyway? Door greeters?"

If Stormy lived there, it was hard to tell to Nora. The bed was made and, yes, there were three furry little things watching them, but other than that she might as well have walked into a hotel room with how little impact had been made. The only other notable thing was that, now that she was inside, Nora noticed an underlying smell of sweet perfume mixed with something not quite as fragrant, though she couldn't put her finger on it. This was a bit of a frustrating beginning as far as the intel gathering was concerned.

"I think I'll be sleeping here tonight," she declared with a little nod to herself.

kuroopu

 

[kuropeco]

He scowled at her, but it was halfhearted. "The red panda belongs to Stormy," said Gale delicately. "The horse was a gift from her to me. As for the bear, er...that was given to me by...someone." A nurse after he had woken up disoriented and confused from Neverland. He resisted the very strong urge to add don't judge me to the end of his sentence.

He sighed.

"Fine, you can stay here tonight," Gale said, almost rolling his eyes but not quite. "As long as you don't mess up the animals."

His cheeks were sightly pink at the ridiculousness of that statement.

Ol-j-man

 

[medigel]

Stuffed animals, barely touched room, and a funny name. Nora was starting to wonder what sort of person her cousin had found here . . . Which caused her to give him a long stare at that final request.

It wasn't quite judging, but it was close. Leaned a little more towards I'm concerned for your state of mind and possibly more definitely that of your girlfriend's.

"Riiiiight. I'll just, er, temporarily relocate them for tonight." Leaning over, Nora squashed all three between her hands and set them down on the bedside table. "There we go!" She even smoothed back the horse's mane with a finger, just to prove how sweet of a house guest she'd be.

Sweet enough to not begin really rifling through things until she was sure Gale was fast asleep, at any rate.

"Any other requests?"

kuroopu

 

[kuropeco]

"What," said Gale defensively, giving Nora a long stare back. "They were gifts. They're special, okay, don't make that expression at me. Besides," he added, brushing some of his bangs out of his face. "Haven't you ever heard that if you keep making funny faces, one day it'll stick that way?"

He eyed the newly relocated animals and sighed.

"Don't drink any of the Earl Grey, I'm running out."

Ol-j-man

 

[medigel]

She continued making faces simply to harass him a little more, then broke into a little grin. "That'd explain why you always look so cross, eh?" Nora shot back. "Don't worry, whatever feng shui she's got here I won't mess up." Too much.

She then gave an overexagerated sigh. "And I promise I won't touch the tea, as tempting as it is."

With that, Nora took one of the smaller pillows off the bed, approached Gale, and lightly bopped his head. "Good to have you on board, though, cous'. Really. You ever need something, I'm here, alright?"

kuroopu

 

[kuropeco]

Gale resisted sticking out his tongue again, and turned to leave, shaking his head. Nora was as obstinate and sarcastic as always, which was simultaneously annoying and somehow reassuring all at once. In spite of being older, and in spite of her mothering methods, it didn't change the fact that she was family.

It felt strangely comforting.

He stopped at the door and turned around, giving Nora a small smile.

"Thanks," he said quietly. "I'll let you know if I need anything."

ol-j-man