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Posted: Sun May 04, 2014 12:47 am
The power went out while Nick was reading the last few pages of Allegiant, and it did not flicker back on before Kaatje poked her head into the apartment. Rummaging in the nightstand had unearthed his fragment of Babylon’s light, and he held it up over himself and Tallulah before he got up. He leaned over the banister separating the lofted bedroom from the apartment below and inquired, mildly, “Yes?” She flicked the flashlight up towards him, and he shielded his eyes from the light.
“Tallulah up there?” asked Kaatje.
Nick looked over at his girlfriend, and asked, “Are you up here?”
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Posted: Sun May 04, 2014 2:37 pm
Tallulah had been dozing beside Nick, so she hadn’t really noticed or cared when the power went out, besides the fact that it was apparently inconvenient to send Kaatje to their doorstep. She sat up, rubbing sleep from her eyes. “Yeah,” she said. “I’m up here.”
Feeling her way in the dark, Tallulah joined Nick at the banister and looked down towards Kaatje. “What’s up?” she asked. “You think the fuse box might have blown something?”
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Posted: Mon May 12, 2014 3:33 pm
“No, I checked that,” said Kaatje. “And then I henshined up--don’t give me that look, Belzy, I made the rules and I can break ‘em if I wanna, on account of I pay the mortgage--and there’s this giant horde of Chaos signatures. I think it might be a trap.”
Every nerve ending in Nick’s body went on high alert, and he flicked a glance at Tallulah. Everyone who knew he was Oenone had been very against him henshining up at all so far, on the off chance that they would run into General Avalon or someone who could recognize him for exactly who and what he was. But if there was a, quote-unquote, horde of Chaos signatures, then they’d need all hands on deck, right? Even a slightly inexperienced hand would be better than none.
Kaatje peered up at them. “So, I was thinking we should investigate, Tallulah. If nothing else, it’s worth looking into, yeah?”
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Posted: Mon May 12, 2014 3:33 pm
Despite the fact that she’d been asleep less than a minute ago, Tallulah was receiving loud and clear. If Kaatje - who was notoriously bad at sensing signatures and always had been - had caught the horde, then it was definitely serious business. “A trap?” she asked, and, noticing Nick going stiff beside her, placed a gentle hand at the small of his back.
“We as in just you and me, right?” she asked to clarify. “Gunn and Europa?” They’d kept Nick from henshining for going on two weeks now for his own safety, and while she knew Kaatje wouldn’t want to take someone who didn’t remember any of his relevant experience into battle, she wanted to hear her say so out loud. For Nick’s benefit. Obviously.
“I’ll be down in a second,” she called, turning to Nick. “You should stay here,” said Tallulah, placing a hand against his chest. “Watch the house. Okay?”
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Posted: Mon May 12, 2014 3:36 pm
“Yeah, well, obviously,” said Kaatje. “He’s a liability. Gunn and Europa will cover a lot more ground.” It was true, which was half the insult. But he wouldn’t be a liability if they’d just take him out on patrol once. It wasn’t that he was unteachable, just that they were not willing to teach him what he needed to know. He watched Kaatje wave and go, setting the flashlight on the breakfast table downstairs as she went.
He turned to Tallulah. “Are you kidding me,” he asked. “You want me to sit at home while you go off and fight monsters?” He wasn’t sure he could.
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Posted: Mon May 12, 2014 3:36 pm
Kaatje, being Kaatje, left the actual dealing with Nick to Tallulah… which was, all things considered, probably for the better. Tallulah reached for her boyfriend’s hand, took a deep breath, and said, “Basically, yes.”
This was not a satisfactory answer and she knew it.
“Nick,” she said, “I’ll talk to her about getting you back out on patrol next week.” If Mistral could do it - and Mistral was missing half her internal organs - then Nick, who was perfectly able-bodied but mostly an amnesiac could full well patrol. He was more stable every day, and she thought that they were probably past the point where henshining back up would cause some kind of awful breakdown. They’d eased him back into the masquerade as well as they could have hoped to.
“But tonight, with such a big massing?” she continued. “Chances are that Avalon, or someone who reports to Avalon, will be there - and we want to keep her off your trail a little longer.” Or, you know, forever. “Okay?”
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Posted: Mon May 12, 2014 3:37 pm
She sounded reasonable. It was reasonable. He just didn’t want her to go. He cupped her face in his hands and tried to be calm about it, but he didn’t feel like she would come back. “Tallulah,” he said, “Please. Don’t go without me.” There was nothing in his memory to indicate the full reasoning behind his purification--a decision which, as he understood it, had to be made with certainty--but he could imagine very easily that it had been something to do with her. At least in part. After his purification, she was simply too much part of his life for her to have been anything but.
Nick rested his forehead on hers, wondered if he could convince her to stay home with--no, that would be a breach of their fledgling trust. “If you have to go, promise me you’ll come home.”
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Posted: Mon May 12, 2014 3:37 pm
Tallulah nodded, placing her hands carefully over his. He was gentle - she liked that about him, that his hands were delicate and deliberate and he was alway so careful about what he was doing with them. Pianist hands. Surgeon hands. “I promise,” she said, grateful that he understood and was letting the issue go.
“I promise, I’ll come home,” she said. “There will be other senshi there,” she added - no one could ignore a massing of signatures as large as Kaatje had reported. “It won’t just be Gunn and I against everyone. And when it’s over, I’ll come home and it will all be okay, okay?” She could only imagine how frustrated he must be, knowing that he had power but not knowing how to use it, not being trusted to use it - and she’d do her best to get him back in the game, she swore - but not right now.
She leaned forward on her toes, tilting her head up to kiss him on the mouth. “Okay, Nick?” Tallulah asked.
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Posted: Mon May 12, 2014 3:37 pm
He nodded, and tried to be reassured. The way he saw it, she wouldn’t lie to him; she had no real reason to keep him here unless it was genuine concern for his well-being. Trust had to go both ways; he’d trust her to come home, and she’d trust him to not do anything stupid. Seemed fair and equitable.
So why was his heart still pounding?
“Okay,” he said.
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Posted: Mon May 12, 2014 3:38 pm
“Okay,” Tallulah repeated back to him, and she eased his hands away from her face. She didn’t think there was any risk in leaving him here at the apartment unattended, and in the long run, it was important for them to be able to go out on missions separately and trust each other to not get pulverized. “I’ll be okay. I promise.”
She settled one of her hands over his heart, and noticed how his pulse was racing. Tallulah frowned slightly - there was nothing she could do for that. “Can I go catch up with Kaatje?” she asked.
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Posted: Mon May 12, 2014 3:38 pm
He nodded, and stepped back. “Yeah,” he said. “I’ll be here. Finn’s here if I get bored.” Until Kaatje called in all the cavalry. Except him.
Nick tried not to let his bitterness over that show, and instead put on a pretty natural-looking smile. “See you in a bit,” he said.
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