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 Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2013 2:00 pm
Gods that had been a long mission, and not a particularly interesting one either. She supposed that she should have been grateful that she hadn't encountered any horsemen during her guarding duties, but standing around there and patrolling the outposts had been so very, very dry. She never thought that she'd be missing Deus Ex, but she did.
Or...no, rather she found herself missing the people there, fretting about their wellbeing. Were Ami and Lex doing well? How was Gale? What was Ariane doing now?
And then, of course, there was Otto, who probably got the most fretting and thought of all. She found herself worrying from little things like if he was eating right in her absence to much more serious things like if he was unharmed and uninjured. Considering her days here had stretched to weeks, and then months, Eva very well knew that Otto could have been dragged out onto a couple of missions in that time.
But she was finally back now, and though her body wanted nothing more than to collapse on her bed and curl up for a few hours, she wanted--no, needed--to get these fears off of her shoulders first and confirm for herself that a particular blond boy was safe.
Down the hall she went in search of his room, blinking sleepily all the while.
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Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2013 2:05 pm
It had been a trying and emotionally exhausting few months since he'd last seen Eva. He rarely went through a day without wondering where she was. If she was okay. If she was alive. Those thoughts were usually squashed by distractions. Missions. Disasters. The latest of which had wreaked havoc on his being.
Otto slowly dragged himself down the hall, headed to his room. However, he lifted his head just as he passed a girl who looked familiar. Smelled familiar.
His eyes widened and he turned around, his heart suddenly beating rapidly as if electrocuted. "Eva?" He shouted in surprise, not entirely certain he was seeing who he was seeing.
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Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2013 2:19 pm
Lost in her own thoughts, the young woman had barely noticed the other figure passing by her...up until the point she heard said figure shout her name not a few seconds after they had stepped past one another. Although the fact he had called her name startled her, what really made her stop was the familiarity of the voice. Even if it had been a long, long time, there was no way she could ever forget that voice.
"Puppy?" Blue eyes round, she turned to face him, staring at the boy blankly for a good few seconds as her gaze swept him up and down. She took him in quickly, sizing him up for any potential injuries and found her gaze immediately drawn towards his neck. What...what was that from? Her stomach twisted a little at the sight of the large mark that marred his skin, and then her gaze flickered upwards to his hair. Whereas her hair had only gotten longer during her time patrolling, it seemed like his had gotten shorter.
But it was him. He was alive, a fact that took a huge weight off of Eva's shoulders--such a heavy weight, in fact, that she didn't realize she was trembling until she lifted a hand to flutter her fingers at him in greeting. After so long, she was starting to feel a little shy in his presence, uncertain as to how he'd react now that she was back.
In the back of her mind though, she wanted nothing more than to launch herself at him in a hug.
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Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2013 2:25 pm
Otto was stunned for a moment as they just stared, awkwardly kept at a distance and uncertain if approaching one another was safe. She seemed okay. Shy, nervous. Her hair was longer, which made her even prettier than normal. For a long while he could do nothing but stay at that distance and admire her from afar. But after she fluttered her fingers, he couldn't bear to stay away.
Otto's grumpy feature gave way to a relieved smile, running toward her and scooping her into a tight hug, holding her snugly against him. "You're back!" He wasn't even sure if she wanted him to see her, or if she wanted him around at all. He just didn't know. She was always the touchy feely one, not him. But he didn't want to stand aside and wait for her anymore. He knew what he wanted. His heart beat fluttered loudly within his chest, uncomfortably strong. All he wanted was Eva close to him. No more long distances between them, he hoped. Not for a while.
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Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2013 2:39 pm
A look of genuine surprise flashed over Eva's face when he suddenly smiled, but then it made way for sheer delight and relief when he pulled her into a hug. Wrapping her own arms around him--while being most mindful of the mark on his neck--she squeezed him back. A bright laugh escaped her lips as she set her head on his shoulder, taking in every bit of his comforting familiarity. "Yes, I'm back! About time, huh?"
And now it really felt like she was home...though it also felt like she was going to have a heart attack from the way her heartbeat had picked up to rapid tempos, excitement charging through her body. Lifting her head, she drew back slightly so that she could look at him, examining his features for a moment before grinning widely and rubbing her cheek against his.
"I missed you." Eva confessed, all of her sleepiness having faded away from her eyes now that she was in his presence, "You have no idea how much I thought--"--and worried--"--about you out there!"
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Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2013 2:45 pm
Otto knew he missed Eva all that time, but now that she was here in his arms, any inhibitions he had about keeping thoughts and feelings to himself were all but shattered. She drew back, and his rare smile still survived. There had been so much betrayal and sadness in the past weeks, that he thought such happiness couldn't possibly exist.
"About time is right." Otto said with a nervous chuckle, "I missed you, too. I was starting to think I'd never see you again. It was really hard, and I just..." He smiled again as her cheek rubbed his, resting his forehead on her shoulder as he gave a sigh of relief. "I just.. really, really missed you."
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Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2013 3:00 pm
Her expression softened because she knew full well that Otto was rarely the type to openly confess about his feelings and his hardships. Turning slightly so that she could kiss the side of his head, her lips curved into a smile as she pressed them against his hair. "Well I'm back now, and I have no intention of getting sent off for long periods of time again anytime soon," She answered, her voice slightly muffled until she finally drew her face back, "Which also means if you have any magazines I shouldn't see in your room, now's the time to hide them."
She was teasing of course, a mischievous smile tugging at her lips as she said this. Eva felt so much more lighthearted now, the stresses she had been feeling that day ebbing away.
"I'm glad I made it back for the holidays," She added suddenly, remembering her prior fear that she would be stuck at the outpost even through Christmas and the new year, "Even if Christmas here has always been a little zany. Did I miss anything interesting?"
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Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2013 3:08 pm
Otto's stomach fluttered with butterflies, the kiss he felt in his hair making him feel warm from the inside out. He lifted his head, his smile turning to a flattened line across his face.
Magazines.... Of course, Eva was kidding. That didn't stop Otto from wondering where he had left his special magazines, anyway.
"Speaking of, I have a new room. I got it upgraded, so it has a den, a bedroom and bathroom." Otto took Eva's hand, lightly tugging her forward. "Did you just wanna go back to your own room tonight though? I guess you're tired, right?" He worried and fussed, his usual passive demeanour gone in favour of fussing over Eva.
"Holidays... Yeah. I was a snowman for two days. Don't eat Ice Cream from the Sun Division..." Otto admitted with a wide eyed stare. "In hindsight... it was a dumb idea."
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Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2013 3:18 pm
"Geez," Eva exclaimed, going wide-eyed as he told her about his new room, "That sounds huge! And fancy--very fancy." Definitely a far cry from the room he had had when they had first woken up, and--...Gods, had it really been that long?
Throwing up her free hand, she quickly flapped it in an attempt to reassure the blond that she was fine. "I was a little tired, but I feel perfectly fine now! Don't worry about it--wait a minute, a snowman?"
She suddenly halted in her tracks, tugging Otto back since her hand was clasped with his. Squinting up at him, she tried to determine how exactly a snowman Otto would look. Did he have eyes and a mouth made out of coal or something? Could he melt? ...How did something like that even happen? And most importantly of all...
"Did you have a cute carrot here?" Eva asked with a grin, reaching out to gently tweak his nose.
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Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2013 3:20 pm
"I---" He squinted and scrunched his nose as she tweaked it, "...yes. A carrot. Coal eyes, the works. Thankfully, nothing melted. The whole island looked like a cheap Christmas set for Mall Santa."
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Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2013 3:28 pm
Despite her best attempt to suppress it, Eva couldn't help but laugh. She was kind of sorry that she missed it, even if that meant that she would have turned into a snowman or something herself. "Aw, it kind of sounds cute! I mean, at least it sounds like it was pretty...festive?" Of course, she was speaking as an outsider who had not had to experience the transformation, but that wasn't the point.
...Plus, to be fair, it was questionable whether Eva would even take being transformed into some Christmas-y creature to be a bad thing. After all, she had gone through being a kid, having double d boobs--
--"I'm sure you were at least a cute snowman," She told him solemnly, as if that was of any reassurance.
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Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2013 3:36 pm
"Festive... sure." Otto grimaced, not a big fan of parties or people anyway. "Yeah, well, no one will ever know. I hid in my room the whole time." Otto said dismissively, tugging her forward again.
"So.. are you okay? Nothing bad happened while you were out there, did it?" Missions had a habit of hurting friends.
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Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2013 3:56 pm
She shook her head, quick to try and reassure him that she was fine. "No no, nothing of the sort. It was actually kind of boring there since it was so quiet, but I guess I should be relieved that I didn't have any run-ins with any horsemen." Eva still remembered that time one of them had held that disgusting, wriggling insect up to her ear...shudder.
There was a pause before she spoke up again, her voice softer and more careful as she lifted her eyes to look at him. "What about you, Puppy?" Eva asked slowly, lifting her free hand so that her fingertips could brush against the unmarred skin around the burn on his neck, "What happened while I was gone?"
Besides hell, apparently. Her stomach suddenly tightened uneasily at the realization that it could have been this close for her to come back to find that Otto was dead or horribly injured.
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Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2013 4:18 pm
Otto's face softened, glad to know Eva had been safe. Bored, but safe. Horsemen were a scary subject to be dealing with. He knew all to well.
Eva's question, however careful and soft, made Otto's heart and stomach clenched uncomfortably. He felt her fingers graze across the scar on his neck, one to add to the many he'd been collecting at Deus. "Um... a lot happened." He murmured, his voice taking on his usual distance and hurt now. "That... it's from the Sahara. We got sucked into a portal thanks to Caelius, and there was... bugs." He rolled his shoulders uncomfortably, his hand squeezing Eva's. "Big ones. That scar is from one that spat acid."
He gave her a look, and tried to give her a comforting but brief smile. "Coulda been worse." His eyes drifted down, and back up to where he was walking. "That happened.. and then me n' Gale got uh.." He held up a hand and made air quotes, "Promoted. Which is really just a list of ten billion extra chores like cleaning bathrooms and collecting mission reports." And they got paid slightly more, apparently.
"I got a letter with Clerise's will too... she left me a Runic'd Motorcycle." He didn't sound happy about it, especially since he went on to the next subject quickly afterward.
"Mark spilled a weird a** potion on me that made all the damned men on Deus chase me... but I think you were back for a day that time." He glared at her then, "You didn't save me." He seemed bitter.
"And then..." His face went paler, turning towards his room. "There was a mishap with portals. A bunch of us got sucked into the Circle group's headquarters.. they had us participate in some sick game.. They uh, have footage of most of it." He opened his door, letting Eva in before closing it. He handed her his phone, which had the database where the broadcast had been saved.
"It's just.. through the whole thing, Sam was leading me around, so I figured she knew what she was doing... but then she just.." His face turned red, frustrated. "She got hurt, and when we finally got back here, she admitted she'd planned to sacrifice me the entire time. She died that day, on the training field before the Life Techs could help her. I still don't know what she meant..." He couldn't stop. He wanted to just sit and be happy with Eva, but everything that had been bothering him was bottled up too high.
"It was dumb to trust her. She said I'd been totally naive, and she was right."
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Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2013 4:41 pm
Feeling his hand squeeze hers, Eva rubbed her thumb against the back of his hand in what she hoped to be a comforting manner, silent as he gave her the basic rundown of what she had missed. The mention of the Sahara, Caelius, and bugs made her blanch, but then she turned to slightly happier things at the mention of a promotion.
She was this close to shouting out an exclamation of how proud she was of him, but she decided that could wait since he was still talking. Making a mental note to congratulate Gale as well, she turned her focus back to his words. The mention of Clerise made her heart clench, her lips pressing into a thin, tight line, and she gratefully clung to the change in topic.
...Oh yes, she had indeed gotten a chance to drop by that day, only to find that everyone was suddenly after her boyfriend. In her (weak) defense, she had found it kind of cute how everyone had been completely googly-eyed around Otto. Upon seeing his glare, she innocently turned to look the other way, making a face.
Too bad even that didn't last long. Even after they arrived at his room, Eva made no move to look around and explore as she usually would have, her gaze focused solely on the paling boy. It didn't take a genius to realize that whatever he was about to talk about was going to be hard for him.
Accepting his phone, she glanced down at it as he spoke, only to snap her head back up at the word sacrifice. Hold on, Sam had wanted to do what? Stuck somewhere between confusion and anger, Eva took a deep breath to calm herself down. However, as soon as she felt calm, another feeling began to creep its way into her gut--guilt.
"Puppy," She started, only to shake her head and correct herself, "No--Otto, I...oh god." She wasn't even sure where to begin really, or how to apologize for the fact that she hadn't been there to support him along.
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