Welcome to Gaia! ::

Sin walked across the hallways, sauntering as if he had nowhere else to go. He actually had stopped by the training fields for a bit to converse with some of his fellow trainees, and then progressed to the HQ building. He certainly wasn't in a hurry, far from it, he held a leisurely look on his face while contenting himself with a meat bun from his lunch..? Through one of the open doors with a room that overlooked the training fields, he caught sight of a familiar girl from behind. Recognizing it as somebody he was familiar with, he called out, "Nevada!"

His all too cheerful tone showed his obliviousness at Nevada's problems that other people might have known about.

He wasn't shy about entering the room, coming into close distance with her -- reaching out to pat her on the head. He hadn't seen her in a while, preoccupied with other things until he had finally come back to the HQ. "Hello there beautiful~'

"Not this time." With a point to his uncovered eye, he winked at her. If she was worried about him becoming offended, she shouldn't have been. He wasn't, per say oblivious, as much as he didn't take those types of remarks ever to heart. And Sin could easily banter with her twin, Alaska, and compared to Nevada - Alaska had a much sharper tongue. Her latter half of the sentence caused him to frown inwardly, but he still kept a smile on his face. "From the sound of it, I like these Ian and Otto guys already." He wasn't sure if he had met them yet but whoever couldn't see that Nevada was beautiful would have to take it up with the Sun hunter.
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Sin checked his cell phone before replying to her query, "For a while, yes."

He hadn't missed the lost pounds on Nevada's fame, dark circles beneath her eyes, or her dimmed personality; very different from the young girl who had challenged him on the training fields months ago, ready to kick him on his (fine) a** if he underestimated her.

Brushing back her hair, he kneeled down until he was eye level with the young hunter. "What's wrong? Anything you need to talk about?" His gray eyes lit with concern.

"Dying." He repeated. He wanted to laugh it off as a joke in poor taste, to convince Nevada to say that she was just kidding with him. But when Sin tried to speak, the look in Nevada's eyes caused his throat to constrict. Those weren't the eyes of somebody who believed they had a future. He had seen those eyes reflected once in the mirror. Now they were reflected in somebody else.. pulling a hand away, curling it in frustration. Helpless was an apt word for his feelings right now.

His tone was deliberately kept light. "Why do you say that, beautiful? What happened?" The doctors are Deus were competent. If it was an illness, they woud have found a cure. If it was her contemplating suicide, Sin would have found that unlikely as she had the presence of somebody she loved and friends.

Standing up only to sit beside her at the window, Sin took a moment to partake of the same view that Nevada had looked at moments before he arrived. What had she felt as she watched the activities? Sin couldn't even contemplate it.

He listened patiently, his eyes growing more and more shadowed with grim realization as she finished her explanation. He looked for signs of her weapon, yet it wasn't there. She was speaking the truth. "Trust Deus to give the literal meaning to soul mate." He laughed bitterly to himself. It was the first time he was hearing of this. Then again, most of their comrades died on the battlefield through fatal wounds. Statistically, hunters didn't outlive their weapons. When a weapon expired first.. well, Sin was seeing that firsthand, wasn't he?

19. She was only 19. Even he was older than her. In retrospect, she was barely more than a child. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair for life to take such a young person away. She had only glimpsed life. She had already lost an eye, but even then, Sin had hoped for her. She had people who loved her, regardless of her appearance. She still had yet to experience all that love had to offer, the memorable or silly things, the heartbreak yet infinite happiness that one would find traversing down the roads of life. As long as people lived, they could always find themselves with new experiences -- for better or worse.

Yet they also lived lives of soldiers. Perhaps he would die tomorrow, or the next week. Wrapping his arms around her from the back, not as a lover but somebody who cared very much, he had to cherish the fact that he could speak and talk to her right now. "You're not going to die with just that knowledge. You'll die knowing that you were loved. Otto, you said his name was? And Ian and me, we would do anything for you." Sin even wished that he could die in her place, if only he could.

'Do you view your life as less worthy than that girl sitting beside you?' Undine's voice intruded upon his thoughts. 'What if I were to say yes?'

'You foolish, foolish man.'

His heart broke with every word that she spoke. It broke with a gravity of pain that he didn't even know existed; indeed, part of him knew how dangerous this job was when he initially joined but when it actually occurred, he hadn't realized how much it would hurt. There were people who invited death, people who were resigned to death, which Sin could accept but there were also people who didn't deserve to die.

His arms tightened around her, listening to her silently. Listening was the only thing he could do -- why couldn't he do more? It was frustrating how painfully useless he was, clenching his jaw in unsaid emotions. He didn't cry but the emotions conveyed through his eyes was enough. "Haha, so you're that type of girl..." He forced a laugh to try and cheer her up. He could see Nevada in that scenario.. growing up in a peaceful house, with little children who vied for her attention. Unfortunately it would only remain a dream and never a reality for her.

But her words sparked a realization within him. "You're not going to break everything. Even if you leave me, our connection will always remain." He brought up her hand backwards to his lips, placing a gentle kiss on it. "You're scared.. I can understand that." He turned her around, cupping her face in his hands. With his thumbs, he wiped away her tears. His words were surprisingly calm despite his inner turmoil. "You'd be angry at me if I threw away my life right now to go with you, wouldn't you?" Alaska, her twin would probably kick him a lot for that too. "So I won't say I'll do that. But I want to ask, can you wait for me Nevada? I won't know if it's tomorrow, a week from now, or even years- but I will join you. You won't be alone in death."

"So even if you're scared now, cry as much as you need to. You can yell, hit, and do whatever you'd like to me. Because the next time that I see you cry, perhaps it won't be in this lifetime, I'll make sure you cry tears of happiness."

He realized her unspoken need, picking her up and sitting on the windowsill where he first found her. She was sitting in his lap, and he held her quietly, his unspoken body language telling her that he would accept whatever she wanted to do. Even if she wanted to sniffle and cry into his shirt, which he considered to be a great privilege. He didn't hold all girls in this way after all.

He did't care if Nevada was desperate or lonely. It didn't matter to him. He knew her attachment to Otto yet it didn't dampen his own feelings for her. Nevada had made him realize a depth of emotions that he hadn't known he'd badly needed. It was strange at how much he realized it, only now, when she was on the verge of death. But because he desired her happiness, he could stand to see her together with whomever she chose. Even if it wasn't him.. Their unspoken words conveyed that he would never make her go through the painstaking process of choosing between people. When had he become such generous idiot, he didn't know, but Nevada had definitely inspired that.

A relieved smile touched his lips at her reply. Someday, in the far future -- maybe centuries later, she would choose him. That was all the answer he needed. One hand pulled her close to him, hugging her even more deeply against his chest, while his other hand warmly squeezed her hand in response. His whispered words were soft enough for only her to hear even if somebody had been eavesdropping, his breath fanning her delicate shoulders: "It might take a while," He tilted his head with an amused smile, "I've never been known to be on time for much.. But I never break a promise. So make sure that when I arrive late, you'll have to properly reprimand me."

"It's a promise." He touched foreheads with hers, sealing it with his words. "And I would say I have a pretty good start, considering you're already smiling. Wouldn't you agree?"