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 Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2015 7:20 pm
She blinked her eyes closed a little too long. Uncertainty turned dread had finally coalesced into the emotional distress she was used to by now: a stab at first but softening to a dull ache that joined the rest. Only the worst should have been expected; only the worst seemed to come anyway.
Her fingers slowly closed around the key card. The only reason she didn't tremble, ironically, was because of that glare. Somehow, Ami's expression grounded and soothed her in light of the quiet news uncovered. In there was a role model of a woman who cracked and fractured but didn't completely break. Or so Stormy hoped, God help her. She needed to keep having that faith in her mentor, whatever the circumstances--it was one of the few things that hadn't been corrupted yet. If Ami could keep going, then surely she could too.
Stormy was still going to find the nearest empty corner to let herself cry, but she could stave it off for another minute still.
"Yes, Ms. Ami," she said dutifully, her shoulders hunching a little under the glare. It was almost an empty gesture; logically she knew never to incur the Lifer's wrath, but but the threat seemed so distant to her in this moment when she was still trying to understand what went wrong that not even the glare could pierce through Stormy's constant fog.
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Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2015 9:12 am
She watched Stormy's reaction, the breakdown, the fear. There was an echo in her head that rumbled she should care about that. That Stormy had (for all intents and purposes) been a good friend (coworker, acquaintance, subordinate) and deserved better than shriveling away in a library corner alone.
Yet she didn't. She should have cared, but she didn't. There was no room for that anymore.
"Then I'm glad we are agreed." She paused for a moment, as though the conversation had reached its conclusion (and honestly, Ami wanted it to have reached its conclusion), but she opened her mouth to say, "Any questions Ms. Ortega?" It was an important assignment, which meant Ami had to take the time to iron out all details.
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Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2015 10:31 am
How long how long how long how long--
"Do I need to look after your house?"
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Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2015 10:30 pm
"No that will not be necessary."
Ami had other intentions for the wooden box she had made. They had made.
She was silent for a moment, watching Stormy carefully. It admittedly satisfied Ami to see her struggle. To feel in control. It was unhealthy, but what did health matter anymore?
"Speak," she commanded, a ton intended for animals. Softer, gentlewoman. "I lack the time for withdrawn frivolity."
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Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2015 10:43 pm
Indeed that was the problematic question they both shared. Instead of don't leave or give me a reason to stay somewhere else, it was all ignored and shut down. What was the point? She'd just get rebuked.
"I'll miss you," was an acceptable and honest compromise. She was trying very hard not to make this a teary goodbye.
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Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2015 11:31 pm
This phrase seemed to percolate slowly through her system, as though stopped by invisible sieves. Missed? What was there to miss?
Souls were missed. Shells were not.
She pondered the phrase for what seemed like an eternity. Ami's gears were not ticking correctly. They had been jammed and bent out of shape and it took her a while to process anything now. It either came all at once or not at all. A phrase like "I'll miss you" only confused them further, now spinning the wrong direction.
"I see." That was her response. Of all the cruel things she could have done, she thought maybe this one was the worst.
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Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2015 11:41 pm
Stormy clutched her book tighter, unsure of what she had wanted as a response. "I'll get back to work, then." A terrible lie, seeing as her eyes were already growing glassy, but she still forced herself to turn away and pretend like it would make a difference: departing with a pretence of purpose instead of just to cry. Clockwork instead of human.
It'd never completely work, but it would do. Gears could be outfitted with some work, with some more tearing away at what was left inside: she could have reboots instead of breakdowns and blue screens.
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Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2015 11:56 pm
"Excellent."
Yet Ami didn't stand up.
She should have, and she knew she should have, and her feet were telling her to do so- and yet-
"Stormy." A teacher calling on a student that hadn't raised her hand. "I've changed my mind." As she had permission to at any given time. "I will leave the key under the doormat. Only reset the shields as necessary. You are not to enter the house unless a circumstance arises that requires your entry." She didn't even have the breath to explain what was meant by "necessary."
She wondered if Stormy understood why she had changed her mind. That perhaps her broken mind could pick up the wavelengths of another. I give you the house.
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Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2015 12:06 am
She froze like she was caught instead of being called. It was her turn to have a small glitch understanding: not the what but the why, the limitations, the reasoning and the change of heart, her own interpretation of unless circumstances arise. And then further: explaining to Gale her new responsibilities, the new circumstances surrounding them, the constant flitting about increased.
"Yes, Miss Ami." Stormy didn't turn around because she didn't want to disgrace herself with the show of tears trekking down her cheeks. But at least she had had months, years even, of practice keeping her voice steady through it. "Anything else?"
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Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2015 12:13 am
Now Ami stood, pushed her chair away.
Where sympathy should have existed, Ami felt deep, wrenching digust rise from the pit of her stomach. It choked her throat and robbed her of the insults she wanted to yell, the curve of Stormy's head matching with the curvature of Junpei's blade.
"That is all." And she turned to leave. Stormy was an imbecile if she thought she could hide tears, particularly from Ami, but the older hunter said nothing. She said nothing, because she felt nothing. Such was her legacy.
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