intendance | IC ➛ Voicemail

[So everyone's back. He understands that. And most importantly, he found Aria.

But... well. Admittedly, he spent a lot of time in a certain blanket fort these past couple days. Right up until the sun was set and the beginnings of the nausea came. He sat, waiting. Waiting until he realizes that no one was coming and it would be too much to get sick over this.

Eventually, he realized that she wasn't coming.

Still, it's the first place that he looks after he takes care of everything else. Maybe she was there already? Or maybe...

Maybe she's still straggling on her way back and he has to drop down from the closest rooftop, land next to her, and lift her up into a hug.]

What am I gonna do with you, pipsqueak?

[Still straggling on her way back sounds about accurate. She's tired, so very, very tired, and walking through Haven barefoot is an exercise in pain and careful steps. Not that she's got the emotional capacity to worry too much about her feet at the moment, but nonetheless, it makes for slow going.

She's much too tired to even react when he drops down from the rooftop, and then she's in his arms, and for a moment, she just blinks, stunned. A moment later, the texture and color of his coat sinks in, and it makes it clear that it's Sakon--if the voice and nickname didn't do so for her enough.

And so Morgan simply sighs (weariness and relief intermingling, perhaps) before allowing her head to simply thump forward against his chest. Even Morgan isn't up to being cheerful after that sort of horrifying experience. Honestly, she's not up to much at all.]

...You made it out. [It's muffled against his chest, but she says it nonetheless.] I'm really glad.

[He made it out. And she didn't.

He can tell, just by the mark on her cheek. And it upsets him, it really does. It makes him want to yell about a lot of things to a lot of people. He wants to yell at her for not being more careful and trying to avoid dying. He wants to yell at the Yao for putting her in that position. He wants to make his emotions so, so clear.

.... but apparently now's not the time for him.

So instead he just sighs and picks her up carefully, lifting her bridal style and letting her rest against his chest as he takes the well-worn path back to her apartment. The blanket fort is waiting for her.]

I'm the strongest, didn't I tell you?

... should've stuck with me, pipsqueak...

[She's fine with tucking herself closer to him, allowing him to carry her in that bridal carry without a word or shift of protest. She's much too tired for that, after all. Instead, she lets her head rest against his chest and takes comfort in the fact that Sakon made it out alive.

It doesn't matter that he killed someone to do it.

Nothing like that really matters anymore.

She sniffs, but otherwise doesn't say a thing for a long moment, if only because she never would have been able to. She died for something worthwhile, so family didn't have to experience the same horrifying thing she just did, and she can't renege on that decision.]

... It's okay. I made it allllll the way to the end. [Her tone's pretty weak though, all things considered, no matter how much she tries to sound like herself.]

[He hears the sniff and that's enough to make him look down at her worriedly. When she speaks a moment later, so tired, so weak - he can only shake his head. Instead of trying to keep up a conversation, he only leans down to press a kiss to the top of her head.

As much as he'd like to, he can't just stop and hold her close and wipe away her tears. He thinks it'd be better to get her back to her room first. So instead he hopes that manages to convey his feelings. Along with his surprisingly quiet response of-]

... You don't need to tell me that you're okay, Morgan. It's alright if you're not, even. Just rest now. I'll make sure nothing gets you.

[Huh.... It's weird. She doesn't understand why she feels like crying, or why she feels like she's holding back tears right now. She's back and alive again, isn't she? What is there to cry about?

She turns her face to press it against his chest, but when she speaks, it's in more of a confused tone than anything.]

But...but I'm fine. [Isn't she?] I'm alive....and I'm back, a-and...

[she sniffs again, shaking her head.] ...They're such awful people... [The ones who toted their bodies away, who branded them, who treated them like trash--]

.... They're the worst. And I'm not going to let them get away with it.

[It's a solemn, serious promise. More than anything else, he wants to end the people who brought them here. Who have been hurting them this entire time.]

But it happens, you know. [And he tries to figure out his next word carefully.] ... Sadness does, I mean.

You can feel it too, y'know.... If you want.

[And perhaps he's not really cut out for this. Consoling people... he's not good at it. But seeing her try to push herself into being alright.... he's not sure if he can take much more of it.]

[Of course sadness happens. That would be silly to imply that it didn't happen. Sadness was something that--

...Something that happened to everyone. But her. She, after all, had no problems. She was the best at Empty-Headed Bliss.

... ... ... And she slumps, curling in on herself, and does speak rather sadly.]

I guess...this means I'm not the best at having no problems anymore...

[... she's not sure how that makes her feel, honestly--aside from sad.]

[He honestly hated being the one to break it to her, but he thought that it was something that she needed to hear. Luckily, they have arrived at her apartment by this point and he gets the door open with some clever maneuvering and carefully, he sits down in the blanket fort.

For now, he lets her stay curled up in his lap until she wants to move, but he'll do his best to console her, wrapping his arms around her securely.]

Guess not... but you can still be really good at it, you know.

And the thing about sadness is that it's temporary... so I figure you can feel it as much as you want right now... and you should!

... Because I promise i'm gonna get you smiling again before I go. No rush on that one though.

[It's comforting. The blanket fort is something she made, and it's all soft blankets and pillows and mattresses, none of the rock and hard edges of the tunnels. She does move to crawl out of his lap, at least--she goes directly to her (matress-less) bed and grabs the tactician robes that are sitting neatly on top. Next to her sword and her spell tomes... it's like they're sitting there mockingly.

She doesn't care though.

She just puts the robes on deliberately, and pauses at the hood...before leaving it down, if only because Sakon is still there. It doesn't stop her from wrapping her arms around herself, though, looking at him quietly.]

... It was really awful.

[She doesn't know how much he knows about it--but somehow that's what escapes her.]

[While she was retrieving her robes, he'd taken that moment to remove his clunkier armor. It sounds like he needs to make himself pretty comfortable for this, seeing as he doesn't plan on leaving any time soon. So his boots and guards and the like are all being discarded and set aside as he waits for her as patiently as he can.

..... but at the admittance, he just winces. From what he'd heard from Aria, it sounded like they were still in a conscious state even when they were supposed to have died. And how long were they there-]

.... 'm sorry.

[Honestly he's not sure what he's apologizing for. For not being able to protect her? For not finding her and dragging her along with him? For not finding a way around this so she could get out?

For not trying harder?]

[That's not going to fly in any way, even with her feeling like this. Maybe especially with her feeling like this. She just crawls back over to him and proceeds to reach up and--

mess up his hair with one hand.

Frowning so determinedly.]

No! You didn't do anything that you should be apologizing for, so don't apologize!

[At least it's better than feeling numb and sad, she thinks.]

[Wow, he thought that he was supposed to be the one cheering you up.

Regardless, he's just sputtering like he normally does, one hand coming up to catch her wrist as he already complains very vocally.]

Demon! You're a demon!!

[Says the guy who kisses the demon sword in his spare time but whatevs. His other hand is immediately going to fix his hair now, thanks and as for the one that's around her wrist... He's just going to tug and pull her into his chest, throwing an arm around her.]

Jeeze, you're impossible.

[Well, she just can't help it. But when she's pulled into a hug, she squeaks in surprise, before relaxing contentedly into his chest. Well...she certainly won't complain about this position, especially not when she can hear his heartbeat.

(Being surrounded by corpses was silent--silent and cold and unnerving.)

... haaa.]

But you don't want to apologize anymore, right? Right?

[ . . . will he not?

Admittedly he remembers making Aria promise not to apologize anymore for dying. But can Sakon really not apologize at all for not trying harder to get Morgan out? They were two entirely different kinds of mistakes as far as he's concerned.

So he just sighs.]

... I'll tell you later. I dunno yet.

[... well that's not a fun answer at all. She blinks at him, before letting her head fall back against his chest, sighing.]

That's not a good answer at all. Now I have to wait to know, and I haaaate waiting! It's the worst, aside from being bored.

[sometimes they overlap and then it's even worse.]

Then get your mind off of it, pipsqueak.

[And even tired as he is, he's just going to sigh fondly and turn his head so that he can press his lips to her unbranded cheek.]

I know my opinion counts for a whole lot but I dunno-

Sounds to me like you've got more on your plate right now than I do.

[Her response is immediate--]

I don't have any problems, though.

[... ... ... and then she sighs and tucks herself closer to him and has to admit--]

Well...maybe I have Haven Problems...

... You know it's okay to have problems in general, right?

[And he's just going to rest his chin on top of her head, keeping them close.]

Like - you make it really hard to do that friend-duty thing where I'm supposed to help you out with them if you don't admit to having any....

[...but she doesn't have them!!!]

Well, I mean...even if I did have problems like the next ordinary person, it's not like I can remember them! So it's basically like not having problems at all!

[...]

But I remember these ones...

... Then these are problems that we can work through, Morgan... And you can feel upset about them, you know?

I get the whole not dwelling thing - I hate dwelling! It sucks! It's up there with waiting and boredom...!

[ . . . but he just shrugs even as he holds her. Sakon doesn't reflect on his actions much. He knows he's not the brightest and isn't the type to try to come up with his own solutions but...

Well, he remembers re-evaluating his own life after he encountered Mitsunari. It was the best decision he ever could've made.]

But I mean... sometimes you gotta realize things are wrong and... y'know, problematic before you make them better.

[...And so she sighs, shoulders slumping. She doesn't really know what's going on with her emotions and feelings, or what she should do. At this point, she's too tired to even figure it out.

So if he says she has problems, then he's probably right--and she just nods tiredly.]

...Okay. If you say so, then...okay.

So-- what do I do?

[ . . . oh. And Sakon's just going to sigh and cuddle her close in response, nuzzling into her hair.]

I dunno.

Maybe... Tell me what happened in there?

[Since he's getting that he probably missed a lot. And... who knows, maybe just talking about it might make her feel better. He's really willing to try whatever.]

[Oh.... that. She's quiet for a long moment, and then she sighs, slumping a bit. When she speaks, her voice is dull.]

... We were dead but...we were still there. I was awake. We were all awake.

[...she shakes her head, huddling a bit closer in on herself.]

Even though we were dead, we felt everything.

[The first thing he wants to do is apologize but seeing as how she reacted to that before, he doesn't bother.

The second thing he wants to do is kill everyone even remotely associated with the Yao Corporation, but well... that's a work in progress.

For now though, he just sighs. He sighs and he keeps her close, resting his chin on top of her head.]

... I know. I heard.

[Aria had told him.... but well, it doesn't make it any less awful.]

IC ➛ Voicemail

am i really hitting this up twice in a row

yes you are, because feelings

it always comes back to feelings

i have no regrets

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