Welcome to Gaia! ::

Bob had never seen so much snowfall in any one place, nor had he ever been outside in such a storm. He did not worry about finding his way; he had been around here long enough to know instinctively where he was. The minutes felt like hours as he trudged through the thick snow. The wind got louder and colder every second. It seemed to get darker with every passing minute. The man pulled his jackets closer around himself; knowing it was futile. Rina’s words played over in his head, “No...~ you’ll freeze to death...~” “It doesn’t matter what happens to me,” Bob reminded himself, willing his body to stop shivering as he trekked on; absolutely refusing to give up until his body failed him, “I just have to find him and get him out of this storm; if I don't think about it, it won’t be so c...c..cold.”

“You...Get away from usss!”

Bob looked up, seeing two murky shapes ahead of him; barely noticeable in the darkness. Bob put up a hand to shield his vision from the snow as best he could. “I...I...I’m warning you, I...I can still fight!” shivered a familiar voice. “Ian?!” “What? Who are y...you?!” ‘It’s Bob Dobbs! You know me!!” Ian breathed a sigh of relief as the redhead approached him. “I though you were those Zurg pigs back to try and take Sa–” “Ian, you have to get out of this storm!” “I can’t! Sasha’s hurt!” Just then, Bob finally identified the object of his affection was holding. “Sasha...she just never goes away, does she?” he thought.

“C’mon. You both have to come back with me. You can't stay outside, You'll freeze to death.” Ian nodded, seeing the logic. There was no way that they would be able to survive out in this blizzard. Besides, there was no way he could help Sasha if he was dead. “Here, let me help you,” said Bob, hoisting up Sasha’s other shoulder. “Thanks...”

The three began the long passage back to the Grill moving in complete silence. The snow absorbed the very sound of their feet. The hush was unnerving and Bob realized something, “Ian?” “Yeah,” the shopkeeper wheezed. “What happened back there?” “I was coming to the Bar and Grill. I saw how persistent you were with the invites; I have no idea why, but I admired how you kept trying. I don’t get why you wanted me to come so badly, but I figured I’d come anyway.” Bob beamed, thinking, he admires me, if only for that...

Ian continued, “So I decided that I would bring Sasha with me. On our way here, the snowstorm got really bad. We got lost...and then those brainless aliens showed up.” Bob Dobbs was indifferent to the aliens. He did not want to fight; wanted nothing to do with them. Sure, he had supported Flarn when he was shot down by carrying those stupid carnations, but that was different. He was never a Believer; he was also never in the Resistance. The aliens had not affected him...until now...

“They came out of nowhere, and this time, they weren’t just armed with probes. Th-they had guns.” The redhead interrupted Ian, “I thought they were signing a peace treaty!” “So did we...”
“I tried to protect Sasha, but...” Ian’s voice faltered in his throat. Ian was beyond tired but had to keep talking as to not pass out, “I don’t know where it hit. I just know she was bleeding in more than one place, and I bandaged what I could find...” Even in the darkness, Bob could see the tears glistening on the sandy-haired man’s face as he held up his torn sleeves, “I just had to do something...” A dark shape silently floated overhead and Ian painfully gasped, “Those monsters in their UFO’s...Quick, Bob, we have to hurry!”

Swiftly, they were surrounded, not having any time to react. The dark green shadows of the Zurg were clearly visible, and as quickly as the aliens had arrived, Bob became a real part of the Resistance. Nobody hurts Ian and gets away with it. “Just keep out of their line of fire, and keep Sasha safe,” Bob urged, stepping in front of the two shopkeepers. He was not going down without a fight, but he did not know how long he would last. If anything he could distract the aliens long enough for the two to get somewhere to safety. He knew they did not want Sasha. How he knew this is a mystery, but to him, the truth was obvious, they were after Ian. The red-haired man searched his back to discover that he indeed strapped his Demonic Pitchfork onto him out of sheer habit. It looked like he was not going to have to wait for the ever-delayed Battle System to get to use it.

In an instant the Zurg opened fire on them. The laser beams were large enough to block with the Pitchfork, almost too easy. Bob jumped at key moments and even took a few direct hits for the "couple" behind him. When the shooting ceased, Bob charged ahead at the invaders in spite of his pain and wounded arm; blunt end first. As much as he hated the Zurg right now, he did not want to be responsible for killing someone; alien or not. One by one, the wrongdoers hit the ground, all knocked out cold. Bob was just as surprised as the aliens that he was doing a very good job of fighting. "It must be adrenaline,” he spoke to himself, hiding his own bleeding; now they could continue walking.

As the trio neared the Bar and Grill, Ian turned to Bob, “You have no idea how grateful I am to you.” Despite the cold, the smitten man blushed redder than his own hair, and stammered “It...It was nothing. I just...wanted...to...help....you,” dropping his voice on that last word, just low enough for the other man to not hear. A look of concern crossed Ian’s face, “You’re shivering, and your face is really pink. You need to get inside more than I do right now. Look, we’re right there. Let’s get inside.”

Bob could see the light of the Grill a couple of yards away. Oddly, there was a face in the window. Sway...Bob smiled. They obviously could not see him yet; another face appeared in the window; Saichen this time, followed by Rina Lee. It was this last woman that first caught sight of him, alerting the others to the trio approaching the building.
The women who had been staring out the window now rushed to the door, swinging it open as swiftly as possible. Several of them offered to pick Sasha up off the men’s shoulders [and their offer was declined] as they ushered them inside. Once the trio was finally out of the snow, Rina prepared to take Sasha into the kitchen as Sorrowsong prepared a place to put the gravely injured airhead. Moron or not, they just could not let her lie on the floor and die.

As Rina lifted Sasha onto her shoulders, Ian let out a sigh of both pain and relief as he crumpled to the ground. The women rushed to his aid, but were roughly pushed aside by Bob. He caught him just before he hit the ground. “IAN!” He shook him lightly, trying to rouse him to consciousness, then turned to the women standing there, “Give him some air!!” he bellowed, “Get Sasha taken care of!!”

As they rushed off, Bob turned back to Ian, “Wake up...” “Bob...” came a weak reply, “Ian, what is it?! What can I do?!” “Is...Sasha...safe...?” “Yes, the girls are taking care of her. Ian, are you ok?” No reply. “Ian! stay awake!” The redhead choked up. Bob placed his ear to Ian’s chest. “Good. Heartbeat. He’s breathing, too.” He was unwilling to remove his head from Ian's chest. He knew if Ian were awake he would never have been allowed to enjoy such an embrace. Regretfully he took comfort in the few precious seconds he was able to. But he was so cold...too cold...

Bob heard someone walk back into the living room. “Bob? Sasha is all set up, but it’s not looking good... Ian! Is he okay?!~” “He’s fine; just passed out. I need you to find the electric blankets and make some tea. We need to warm him up as soon as humanly possible” Rina nodded, and headed back to the kitchen. “And Rina,” he added, “Don’t put rum in it.” “But it warms people—” “No, it doesn’t. It just doesn’t. We don’t have time to argue. Just do it.” The catgirl understood the severity of the situation, and did as she was told. She knew Bob did not mean to speak so harshly; it was the fear talking.

Bob continued to try to wake Ian, his voice tired and broken. It was a wonder he was able to speak at all. "Stay with me . . . please!"

Upstairs, Ian was still unconscious. Bob, of course, was not far away from the sleeping merchant. The redhead was trying not to blush as he lifted Ian’s wrist to check his pulse. Part of him knew that it wasn’t entirely necessary to keep checking, but another part truly craved even the slightest touch of their skin. “Still normal...” he resisted the urge to double-check by placing his head back on the other man’s chest.

Bob sighed deeply as he moved back to his sitting place, peeking out the window on his way. He wondered how long it would keep snowing. The redhead settled back into the chair, and sighed again. The man looked back wistfully at the sleeping figure in the bed, and sighed one last time, looking down at his feet.

“Psst!” The man raised his head. “I...I have some...bad...news,” whispered Sway from the doorway, careful to not wake Ian. Of course, when one hears such a comment, one begins to worry. Bob tiptoed to the doorway, then slipped outside of the room and slid the door closed behind him. “What happened?” “Rina...” Sway trailed off as she motioned to the very disconcerted catgirl behind her. “She...~” Rina coughed; Bob noticed the glistening of the tears on her face, “What’s wrong? What happened?” he repeated. “Sa...Sasha died ~” she choked. “How long ago?” The woman began to sob, “A...about twenty min...utes...I couldn’t do...anything! ~” a fresh wave of tears broke free from her eyes, but she was forced to continue, “She told me to make sure Ian and Gino got a message. She said that she was sorry for not telling him about ‘something’, and that ‘something’ wasn’t Gino’s fault ~” “Do you know what the ‘something’ was?” Rina shook her head.

“We thought you should...be the one to...I don’t think any of us are strong enough to...nobody could tell him except you,” Captain Sway murmured, trying not to look at Bob. When she did look up, she was flabbergasted to see the look on his face. She had expected a glare, a furrowed brow, something; he almost looked like he was going to cry. “Bob?” she questioned. “It...It’ll really hurt him. This is...huge,” he leaned up against the wall, placing a hand over his eyes, “I don’t want to hurt him like that...” he whispered, the pain in his voice very apparent. “If...If you want, I can tell him...~” offered Rina. “But Sway’s right,” Bob winced, “None of you could really handle that...” As he trailed off, he slid the door back open, stepped inside, and slid it shut behind him.

“I wonder if he’ll wake Ian up to tell him, or wait until he comes to?” muttered Sway, noticing that Rina had curled back into a ball. “Rina!” she placed a hand on the catgirl’s shoulder; Rina’s head jerked up, “What? ~” “You need to get some sleep. Go back downstairs and find some blankets.” “...no~” Smack! “You go downstairs right now and go to sleep!” Rina slunk off down the hallway, “I’m not sleeping downstairs. I’ll sleep in storage again~” Sway raised an eyebrow, absently thinking, “What did she mean by ‘again’...?”

Bob’s vigil had become rather dismal. He could no longer spend it absentmindedly daydreaming; it had developed into a seemingly endless wait to tell the one he loved that the one –he- loved had died. He couldn’t imagine what his reaction to such news would be. Thinking back, there was a time when he thought that, at any time, he would get such a message. Those weeks...the saying ‘no news is good news’ was never more false. Those weeks had been agonizing. “I really don’t want to do this...” he whispered, closing his eyes, once again, with a sigh.

Despite the cloud cover, Bob noticed when daybreak arrived. Ian would wake up very soon; he could feel it. Sure enough, “...Bob...?” came a weak voice. “Right on time,” he thought bitterly. “Where’s Sa...” Ian noticed the look on the redhead’s face, “What’s wrong...?” “I’ve...I’ve got some news for you,” he sat down on the bed.

Bob’s voice was shaky; there were so many other things he wished they could be talking about...“I honestly don’t know how to say this...Ian...I have some really bad news.” The oh-crap-my-world-is-going-to-end? look flashed onto the shopkeeper’s face, “Ian...I don’t want to tell you this, but I have to. Sasha...Sasha died, last night,” he managed to croak, holding back tears at the reaction splayed on his love’s face. “No...No, that can’t be true. That’s impossible. If I wasn’t there to save her, then Gino would have!” Oh, how it pained him to have to say it, “The injuries she sustained last night...were really severe. None of us could do anything.”

The look on Ian’s face got worse by the second, but there was more, “She said something, right before she,” he choked again, “died. She said that she was sorry for not telling you about something. She didn’t say what, though.” Bob didn’t even notice his own tears; just the tears of the sandy-haired shopkeeper, flowing steadily down his face. “Is...that all? Is that all she said?” “Yes.” Both men’s voices were shaking; both men’s cheeks wet with tears.

Sway was coming up the stairs with breakfast as a loud, anguished scream echoed through the second floor. “I guess he knows now,” she turned a 180 and went back downstairs.