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 Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2015 4:21 pm
 x Where: rebel controlled brooding caverns When: immediately following the surprise attack by the royalists
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Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2015 4:53 pm
It had taken a lot of will power not to remain pasted against the cool damp of the cave wall, and he'd watched Byakko and Maneki's reunion from afar before forcing himself up. Zeffer stalked up just as Maneki skittered away to help some of the other youngsters, offering his battered commander a tired grin. It was hard to know what to say, and as his mind drifted back a few hours previous, to when Kursha blew the pelt from her shoulder with one well placed shot, he had to swallow a lump that had begun to rise in throat.
"Hey. We ********' made it. The traps worked pretty well, huh?" He grinned down at her, face smudged and splattered with grime and blood, eyes half shut. Glancing back at the rest of the cavern before looking back to her, he placed himself between her and the others, subconciously acting as a shield. Part of him still felt like a failure for what had happened, but he had to force the thoughts back and away, reassure himself that they simply hadn't had the time.
"You shoulda seen Maneki out there. Kid can really ******** people up when he wants." He snickered, and resisted the urge to say what he really wanted. He wanted to ask how she was doing, but he knew she was probably struggling. He worried what the others thought about her blood, but if anyone dared to give her lip about it he would be the first one on the defensive about it.
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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2015 12:42 am
"Yeah..." Akko was obviously distracted, and as Zeffer suspected, she was indeed struggling to maintain her composure. Her whole existence had been a fight for survival, and she was ******** exhausted. Byakko may have seemed in control to the rebel forces, but her glassy eyes told another story. Under her thin mask, she was internally struggling to subdue her panic. The mutantblood had always been good at hiding her emotions, but her faint visual ticks likely cued Zeffer in on her shot nerves. Her chest was tight, restricting her shallow breath. She timed them rhythmically in a futile attempt to remain calm, busying herself with inspecting a deep laceration on her forearm. "They worked, but all they really did was buy us some time."
Between her secret spilling for everyone to see and the attempted massacre brought on by Kursha, she was overwhelmed by the unknown. Her mind raced with questions; what was the best course of action? How would the rebels respond to her mutation once the storm died down, if they ever even got the chance? How did she keep everyone safe, where did they take the Mother Grub? She always talked about the Phoenix Initiative rising from the ashes- but how many times did they have to go through that before something actually came of it? Without the old rebel forces at her back, she felt vulnerable. Defeated. Alone.
Her expression seemed to falter as Zeff moved to shield her from the others. Hanging her head, Akko stared down at a trickle of blood running down her fingertips. She sucked in a sharp breath, ignoring the stabbing pain in her lungs. "I'm glad you're okay..."
She let out a small huff of amusement at Zeffer's comment about Maneki. It was forced, even if it did please her to hear such. "It's reassuring to know he can hold his own." They hadn't been together long, and Akko had barely skimmed the top of what she had planned to train the other mutantblood- but that base survival instinct was the most key ingredient. "I know I said it already, but thanks for taking care of him for me." She finally met his eyes.
Her own were dark, voice hollow as she continued. "You should get yourself patched up before we head out."
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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2015 2:02 am
"I'm glad you're okay, too." His voice faltered as well for a split second, as he gazed down at her, able to see all of the fear and stress lingering beneath the practiced veneer of confidence. He swallowed once, and finally lifted his arms to embrace her gingerly, leaning to rest his forehead against hers. He wanted very badly for it to be over, to be able to wisk her somewhere safe, where they could recuperate and heal themselves and the Initiative again.
"We're gonna get through this." He murmured, gazing down through eyes that were almost as glassy as hers had become. All he could do was fall back on his usual optimism; he was ready to keep going, to put all his energy into the final push that would result in the salvation of the rebellion (or whatever was left at the end). Breathing slowly and evenly, he wished he could transfer some of that energy into her, some amount of calm. He half expected her to reject his embrace, but as always, he could care less about what anyone else thought.
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Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2015 7:06 am
For a moment, Byakko did consider pushing him away.
She flinched. Partly because no matter how carefully Zeffer enveloped her, he was grazing her many searing wounds, but mostly due to the act of affection in plain sight of the rest of the rebels. Moving her hands to brace herself against his chest, she started to wrench herself away, then stopped. Akko swallowed hard, every fibre of her being stiffening when he pressed his forehead to hers. He meant well, she knew, but all Zeffer did was add to the whirlpool of swirling questions: she had his support as the Initiative's leader, but what did this mean? What were they to one another, even? Why did things always get muddy like this whenever s**t really hit the fan? This didn't feel like kismesissitude- were they vacillating? He had a matesprit. The wave of guilt was near nauseating.
Byakko had only begun to grasp her black feelings for Zeffer, and was now in a constant state of whiplash over their relationship. Ever since that night with the bunker, she found it increasingly hard to keep her grasp on why she hated him so much. Zeff was obnoxious, brash, irritating- before, that grated on her constantly. But now the subtle positives were beginning to far outweigh the negatives. He had been the first to accept her, cared for her when she was near death, and had now protected Maneki when she couldn't. Even factoring out his involvement with the Initiative- how was she supposed to hate someone that was always at her side supporting her?
The only thing that hadn't changed was how frustrated wrestling with her feelings for him left her.
Sighing against his neck, Byakko forced back her questions about the nature of their relationship, choosing instead to just live in the moment. She couldn't deny to herself that she found solace in his warmth. Eyelids fluttering shut as she accepted his embrace, she leaned against his own battered frame. Her empty rambling was silenced. "Mhm..."
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Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2015 4:20 am
Zeffer tensed slightly as Byakko began to press away, ready to allow her to do so, and to joke and laugh it off, and tease. The usual bullshit, to keep up his own spirit, if no one else's. But as she melted against him instead, accepting the embrace, he let out a quiet sigh of relief. His initial intention was only to show his support, to make sure she knew at least one troll was still backing her up, after her secret had been so mercilessly revealed. Her survival was a miracle in itself, and as they stood in silence he allowed his mind to wander, before settling on the brief period of time after the jail break, in which he'd truly believed that she had died.
A sudden feeling of unease came over him, magnified by the fact that they were still out in the open, where everyone could see. Blinking back into focus, he tossed a glance over his shoulder, before looking back down at Byakko again, and swallowing the lump that was starting to rise in his throat. Were his actions born from the desire to support and further her progress, or were they caused by something else that had crept up without him noticing? The realization of the situation was like being hit by a bag of bricks, and he swallowed again, jaw clenched. Aprife was somewhere in the cavern too, and yet somehow, he had elected to seek Akko out first, for no reason other than to tenderly reassure her that he had her back. No taunting, no sarcastic congratulations. Unlike Byakko, it was the first time he realized that something had gone wrong in the procession of their relationship.
After a moment more, his hands slid away from her, and he cleared his throat, trying his best not to look or sound as awkward as he suddenly felt. He forced a grin. "You're right, though. We're both pretty ******** up...and I gotta take care of some things before we head out of here." His eyes softened some, and he looked back over at the rebels who had been tasked with moving the mother grub. "I'll see you soon...is Maneki coming with us, or staying with the others?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2015 12:58 am
"Yeah. I should go get some first aid before we go..." Trailing off with a nod, she glanced over in the direction of Maneki, ever optimistic in the face of peril. Another wave of guilt, albiet unrelated to Zeffer. "I don't want to leave him again. I'm supposed to be his guardian." Maneki trusted her, and the thought of sending him off and damaging their relationship haunted her. Biting down on her lower lip, Akko's shoulders slumped. "I don't know if it's the safest option for him, though... need to think about it."
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Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 12:24 am
Zeffer had begun to blush himself, and the irony of the fact that he was feeling a very similar kind of shame was completely lost on him. He said nothing of the pink that colored her cheeks, though it was tempting to tease. No time for any more shenanigans...instead, it would soon be time to own up to the mistakes he'd made, none of which he'd meant to, but would have to attempt to fix all the same.
"I'm always down to help out, if you do decide to bring him along. Hell, could be another good learning experience for him." Zeffer laughed weakly, and glanced away as well. He had come this far with a kid under his arm, and was willing to go the final stretch in the same condition. It certainly helped that Maneki was such a ferocious fighter, but at the same time, Zeffer was worried. The younger rebels had to have been getting tired, and even though Maneki was a trooper, he was no different.
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Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 5:12 pm
"I know." That's what was making this so complicated, wasn't it? Zeffer's unrelenting support. The corners of Byakko's mouth twitched as she kept her vision locked on Maneki.
"I'll think about it some more. Meet back with me in about half an hour and we'll get going." The cave in had bought them a few hours, at least, but she couldn't account for how long it would take the royalists to loop around to Busthind. Dropping her arms loosely to her side, Akko balled her fists, digging her claws into her bloodied palms. There'd be time to contemplate what was going on between the two of them later, if they made it through this alive.
She didn't bother to wait for a response. "See you then." As Akko limped past Zeff she reached to brush lightly against his hand with her own, a small gesture to show she reciprocated his support. She hadn't the strength to look back to meet his face at any point since they broke their embrace, retreating behind a fresh wall of fallen stone.
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Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2015 12:26 am
Zeffer nodded as she brushed past, face hot as she touched her hand to his before hobbling off to find medical attention. He could almost sense how tense she was, and for a split second, he was tempted to turn, to stop her. Instead he gazed ahead, mind racing. Had she realized it too? Heaving a long, pained breath, he tried to clear his thoughts. She had more important things to worry about...and so did he.
He waited until her footsteps had faded into the sounds of other rebels in the background before turning. He would need to patch himself up as well, but even the pain of his wounds couldn't distract him from his newest problem. He had to find Aprife.
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