Post by Sadie on Jun 3, 2010 15:20:43 GMT -5
The empty halls made for an excellent speedway in the hurry of the rushing Chiz girl.
A black and grey blur, she had her golden optics on the lookout for the figure of the male that she was searching for, a singular form in the large base. It could be a challenge, but at least she had narrowed it down to where she figured he would be, the shipping bay. They'd talked about their schedules the night before and he was scheduled all afternoon. She was supposed to be, too, but in a rare stroke of kindness, her boss had decided to let her off early. So, she had decided to herself after cleaning all the grime off of her smooth skin, it might be nice to pop in and surprise him.
But now it was proving difficult. He wasn't to be seen anywhere.
It wasn't until she was busy scoping the fourth floor that a familiar voice pricked at her ears, one that brought a warm smile to her lips as she turned to find the owner that she knew so well.
"-all night," the voice was responding, and Nalo could hear the tiredness in his tone. Peeking around the corner, she finally saw him, his tall frame leaning against a few boxes as they waited for the next ship to finish landing. He was standing with a few guys, who she recognized vaguely as Jonat and Deego, the coworkers that he sometimes mentioned in passing. They were the ones he got along with the most, it seemed.
"Bummer, dude," Jonat returned with sympathy, shrugging, which began a ripple over the sleek scales of his arms. "Doesn't sound too good."
"Well, it was." The Telarian boy stretched wearily, his bones crackling a little. "Not so much anymore, really."
"Yeah?" Deego tilted his head to the side. "'Eh, man, s'no good, but t'wa? Yea? Wha' change', man?" The thick accent of the male was a little hard to understand for the girl, but Etoile seemed to understand perfectly.
"I don't know." His head hung a little. "It's really. . . unpredictable now, which is irritating. We never get along, and that's getting kind of old. It's. . ." A sigh of frustration passed through his lips. "It's just not really working out. I want. . . I have to leave."
Deego clapped his shoulder with a large hand that made Etoile wince a little bit. "S'gon' be good, brotha'. Bein'a free dude, s'good."
"Yeah, it is," Etoile grinned, a little laugh rocking his frame. "I don't know how I'm going to tell her, though."
"Just tell her straight." Nodding as though he was an expert on this, Jonat had already clapped Etoile's other shoulder. "There's no way your girl can get mad if you just tell her like it is, right?"
"Right." The tone was a little uneasy. "I hate to just. . . drop this on her, she's so busy, but. . . I don't want to lie to her, honesty's best, yeah?"
"Yeah." Deego ruffled his hair, the image of an affectionate older brother, before turning around. "Oi, ya', ship's 'eer. Gi' ya' azee'un oip, we gon' ge'ta work."
As the three stood, and began lifting the heavy, stacked boxes, Nalo could do nothing but watch in horror as the yellow male carried a large package up the ramp and onto the waiting shift. Backing away instinctively, it seemed as though her heart had begun to hammer in her chest, drowining out her ears with the rapid, terrified pounding.
I have to leave-
-how I'm going to tell her-
-honesty's best, yeah?-
-unpredictable, now-
-just not working out.
No, no. No, no, no, it wasn't true, it couldn't be true.
She was gone, whizzing down the hallway and leaving no trace that she'd ever been there, the voice of her mind yelling. It wasn't true! It couldn't be! The weight of the thought, she kept pushing it back, if it didn't enter her mind, it couldn't be true. If it wasn't there, if it didn't exist, it wasn't true. But it dropped, like a rock, slamming into her brain and echoing into every corner with the cruel, biting words, so short and sharp.
Etoile's going to break up with me.
Before she knew it, she was at the base's pool, swimsuit in hand, each limb jerking automatically to get her changed in a stall with little direction from her brain. The organ was too busy arguing with herself to pay attention. There's no way, he can't be breaking up with me, could he? We were just. . . we were just cuddling last night! He told me he loved me as I was going to sleep! What if he was just saying that? He's trying to cushion the blow, that's what he's doing. But why? Unpredictable? Oh, no, he's mad, he's mad because I'm moody. I don't mean to be moody! He's right, though, oh, no, I am unpredictable, sometimes I'm mad for the dumbest things, he's tired of it. That's why he said we never get along! He's tired of putting up with me, that's what it is.
Oh, no.
It's not working out, I thought it was working out, I thought it was better than working out! Maybe I was blind, maybe this is what he was always talking about with Mercedes, where he didn't see it coming at all and then bam! It hit! He's going to do it nicely, because he's Etoile, but he's tired of me, what can I do?
The water rushed through her hair as her body weaved through the pool, racing through it with no sign of slowing down. Faster, she pushed, faster. The slowly-building aching of her muscles dulled the activity of her brain, lessened the rising panic, softened the growing pain.
There has to be something I can do, something to change his mind. Maybe he's just saying that because he's tired after working so hard, he's irritated and saying things but he doesn't really mean them. Unpredictable, oh no. No, he means it, I have to try to change his mind. I have to. Can't tell him, can't tell him what I heard, he'll know what I'm doing, just have to change his mind.
. . . somehow.
---
There he is. He just got off work, he's tired, should I leave him alone to rest or- no, Nalo, that's not going to change his mind, just, just go already!
Shuffling down the hall, too exhausted to even walk fully upright, the boy didn't hear his girlfriend's approach, and he seemed startled as her arms wove around his waist tightly, her nose nuzzling his cheek as she hung her notebook in front of him with a greeting. <Etoile! <3>
"Hey, you," he murmured, turning around in her arms with a tired smile. "I thought you weren't off yet."
<My boss let me off early, how was work? Was it okay? You look tired, do you need anything?> The furious scrawling of the pen might have signaled her inner turmoil, so she did her best to slow it down before he noticed.
"Huh? No, no, I'm fine. I'm just looking to get some rest, d'you wanna come?" His arm snaked around her waist as she nodded eagerly, happily, taking this as a good sign. Making sure to support his tired frame as they walked down the hallway, her head remained close to his, always, until they made it to his room. He stripped off his dirty shirt, but could only make it that far before collapsing into bed, and Nalo was there to catch him and hug him tightly, while drawing the covers around him.
<Sleep well,> she wrote quickly, and bit the edge of her lip a little before adding, in smaller, almost hesitant writing, <I love you.>
With a small smile, the boy's eyes were already closing, turning his nose into her neck and nestling there. "Nnn. . . thank you," he murmured, before sleep hit him like a ton of bricks, and she listened as his breathing evened out into a peaceful, happy pace.
Something in her stomach twisted a little, tightly, and her tendrils whipped out to hug the boy closer to her in his heavy sleep.
She didn't sleep very well that night.
---
<Your brother is going to break up with me!>
Tala Ganmade blinked as the notebook was shoved into her face, and had to step back a little to read the neat handwriting. Once she had, she couldn't help it - the girl laughed.
Nalo's expression dropped as Tala laughed, and the green-haired girl hastened to explain her laughter. "Sorry, sorry. Don't look at me like that. You're joking, right? It's not Fooling Day already, is it?"
<I'm serious.>
As soon as Nalo had added this to the statement, Tala frowned, any trace of amusement gone. Turning around, she went to the nearest table, sent a grin to the the group of people there, and gave them a quick, "Sorry, dudes, borrowing this chair," before pulling it up and sitting right next to Nalo, her full attention on the girl. "Either you hit your head, or something serious is going down. Write."
It all came out now, her pen flying over the paper so fast that the handwriting had begun to wobble, and Tala leaned over her shoulder, trying to catch it all. <I heard him talking to his friends, he says he's tired of me, he's going to break up with me! He was tired last night and went to bed right away but he didn't even do much this morning, either, he just pecked my nose and said he'd see me after work, that's not like him, I feel like I'm overreacting a little but I heard him say it himself, he told Jonat and Deego that he was leaving me! I don't know what to do, I don't know what I did wrong, I know I'm moody but->
"Nalo!" The girl yanked the pen from her grip and forced the Chiz to face her, orange eyes serious. "Nalo, calm down. I'm going to give your pen back, and I want you to write down what you heard him say to Deego and Jonat, word-for-word. Okay? Calmly, now."
Once the pen was back in her grasp, she started again, trying to write slower although her pace sped up as she went. <Er, he said he was tired of how unpredictable things were and that he didn't feel like things were working out. Then he said he didn't know how to tell me, and they decided that honesty is best, and that he just has to tell it to me straight, and he said he didn't want to drop this on me but he doesn't want to lie to me. . .>
"Huh." Tala's brows furrowed in confusion, and she suddenly stood up, knocking the chair backwards without bothering to pick it up. "That sounds a little legit. There has to be more, though."
<Don't tell him that I know!> Thrusting the huge letters at her, Nalo's lips pressed together, bloodless and thin. <Don't! I'll. . . handle this myself!>
"Sure." The Telarian girl looked away. "I won't say a word."
---
"You're an idiot if you're breaking up with Nalo."
She couldn't see his face behind the huge box, but the grunt that escaped him told her that he'd heard. Dropping the box, the boy leaned on it, breathing heavily, his face flushed and glistening with sweat as Tala walked around to face him. His expression was utterly confused behind his attempt to catch his breath. "What. . . are you. . . smoking?"
"The good stuff. No, I'm serious. If you break up with Nalo, you're the biggest moron on the face of the planet, and all the other planets, and possibly the sun, although I don't think anyone lives there. Maybe some heat monsters, those would be so hardcore a-"
"Tala!" Swiping his sleeve across his forehead, Etoile frowned at her. "Wh-what are you. . . babbling about, wh-where did this . . . even come from?"
"Nalo heard you, talking to Deego and Jonat, you're going to break up with her!" The girl crossed her arms, glaring at him for reasons that were entirely her own, although the boy only looked even more befuddled.
"I never. . . said that. . . what. . . J'in, get me some water, please." He pointed, and Tala retrieved his water bottle and tossed it to him, watching as he guzzled it down greedily. When he was finished, he looked exponentially better. "I never told anyone I'm breaking up with her, I don't plan to, what are you on about?"
"Yeah-huh! You said that you didn't like how unpredictable it is and you don't get along with her, and you don't think it's working out, and you don't know how to tell her but you have to be honest, you'd better be honest with me, bro, or I'll sock you, here and now!"
Blue eyes stared at her, just stared, before suddenly something seemed to dawn on him, and he let out a light curse word. "I wasn't talking about her! I was talking about. . ." He glanced over his shoulder, and promptly lowered his voice. "I was talking about this job!"
"Don't lie to me," Tala snapped, "you can't not get along with a job."
"I was talking about my boss," Etoile snapped right back, crossing his arms. "I don't like how unpredictable the hours are, I don't get along with Derano at all, I'm tired of it, I have to leave, and I didn't know how to tell Nalo because I need this job, or I need a job, and finding a new one would be a hassle, but I have to because I'm sick of it."
". . . Oh." Blinking, Tala tilted her head at him a bit. "Oh."
"Yeah. Oh." Rolling his eyes, the boy turned back to his box. "Now, g- wait." He whipped around. "Nalo overheard me? Nalo's the one that thinks all this?"
"Yup."
"J'in!" Letting out a stream of curse words now, Etoile turned and kicked the box, his expression growing concerned. "She should have told me! I have to go find her, she thinks I'm-"
"Ganmade!"
A big, bold figure loomed in the doorway, and Etoile winced a little, turning to face him. "Derano, I have to go, there's something I need to take care of."
"Your shift isn't over yet, Ganmade, you have to-"
"I don't care, punish me later, I really have to go." Dodging Derano's irritable swing at his head, the boy grabbed Tala's wrist and yanked her out with him, speeding down the hallway until they were out of sight. "He's going to kill me for that later," he mumbled, before glancing at Tala. "I have to go find her, do you know where she is? Nevermind, I'll find her myself. If Derano comes looking for me, tell him I went to go jump off the ledge of the Observatory and that I'm coming back to haunt him later."
Sprinting away, she thought he was gone when she suddenly heard his voice where he'd screeched to a halt. "Wait! Tala!"
"Yeah?" she called back, her hands digging into her pockets.
"I don't understand! Why does breaking up with Nalo make me an idiot?"
"Because! You're happy, you oaf! You're the happiest you've ever been! Now go find her and fix things or I'll trash you into next week!"
Nodding, the boy sped off again, faster than she'd ever seen him go, and she turned back to the shipping bay, trying to decide if she'd trip Derano when he wasn't looking, or drop a box on his head. She couldn't have seen the ghost of a smile on Etoile's lips that was hiding behind his worry as he rushed away.
---
By the time he found the girl, he'd slowed to a walk and fixed his wildly ruffled curls, attempting to look nonchalant as he approached her. Now that he was aware of her worry, he could see it, barely hidden, flitting under the expression she was trying so hard to maintain. She didn't look up as he approached, busy with her meal, and so he moved slowly, sliding his hand under her chin and smiling when she jumped, still grinning as he leaned down to caress her lips in greeting. Her startled expression didn't fade, not until he gestured to her food. "Are you finished?"
Glancing down at her plate, she nodded, and he quickly picked it up to dispose of it with a smile. "Come with me."
She considered his hand, but took it, and watched as he dumped her plate and then led her down the hall. His fingers were tight around her hand and he walked slowly, not ahead or behind his thr'rin, just beside her. To a quiet, lonely place he took her, where he was certain they wouldn't be disturbed, before turning to face her, leaning against the wall and drawing her close to him.
His lips parted to speak, but first, he considered her, lifting a hand to stroke her hair. Thick, smooth, cascading down to her shoulders. Eyes, golden, like sunlight on the cloudiest days, glinting at him with the essence of confusion and worry. Lips, sculpted, usually carrying the smile of his best friend.
". . . You're silly."
The girl blinked, and her expression pulled into something almost affronted, lifting an eyebrow at him. Chuckling deep in his throat, his hands curved around her waist, pulled her closer, held her tighter.
"Silly," he repeated, smiling at her, leaning toward her. "How could you ever, ever think I'd break up with you?"
The moment the words processed, the girl first looked disgruntled, scribbling something about telling Tala not to say anything. But she quickly moved past that and wrote something else, which she quickly showed him, using the notebook to hide her expression. <I heard you talking with Deego and Jonat.>
Patiently, he explained, his eyes never leaving hers. "I was talking about my job. I don't like how unpredictable the hours are, it's very annoying, I'd rather work at the same time every day instead of working late into the night one day, and working early morning only a day later. It's tiring." He watched Nalo digest this before continuing. "I don't get along with Derano, ever. We're always fighting, and it's wearing on me, I'd like to have a boss that I can respect, and who will respect me, at least a little bit."
Something sparked in her eyes. The faintest glimmer of hope.
"I really, really want to leave that job. It's not working, at all, I used to enjoy it, really, especially with the guys. Jonat and Deego are so cool, they're the only reason I've stayed, really, And I didn't want the hassle of finding another job."
It was there, glinting in her eyes, the faintest, smallest ember of belief. . . the tiniest hint of a smile. . .
"And," he said quietly, stroking a thumb over her cheek, "I wasn't sure how to tell you that I was leaving my job, because I sort of need this job and I didn't want to get you involved with trying to find a new one quickly, but I don't really like lying to you, either."
There it was. A full smile, pooling with relief, with happiness, with that inner light. That belief, that trust. He pulled her tightly against him, hugging her as though he'd never want to let go again, burying his face into her shoulder and inhaling deeply. Her arms were tight, warm, and he cradled her to him, basking in her joy.
"I've been tired the last few days," he murmured against her skin, "I'm sorry, so sorry, that I gave you reason to worry. I really, really love you and I want to be with you, for as long as you want me."
With a quiet trill, she hugged him tighter, and then pulled back to give him that smile that made his hearts skip a beat, even still. His hand found hers, the tip of his thumb stroking over the string that was tied there, the color still as vibrant as the day that he'd knotted it around her wrist. Thin, soft, it was the string that tied together the warmth that kindled in their hearts and minds, the touchable promise that looked into the future and glowed.
"Je ea'ano til," he whispered again, drawing her back to him.
She barely had time to etch out a heart on her notebook before his fingers took her chin, drawing her mouth to his where they met warmly and peacefully, two souls reaching out to meld together again.
A black and grey blur, she had her golden optics on the lookout for the figure of the male that she was searching for, a singular form in the large base. It could be a challenge, but at least she had narrowed it down to where she figured he would be, the shipping bay. They'd talked about their schedules the night before and he was scheduled all afternoon. She was supposed to be, too, but in a rare stroke of kindness, her boss had decided to let her off early. So, she had decided to herself after cleaning all the grime off of her smooth skin, it might be nice to pop in and surprise him.
But now it was proving difficult. He wasn't to be seen anywhere.
It wasn't until she was busy scoping the fourth floor that a familiar voice pricked at her ears, one that brought a warm smile to her lips as she turned to find the owner that she knew so well.
"-all night," the voice was responding, and Nalo could hear the tiredness in his tone. Peeking around the corner, she finally saw him, his tall frame leaning against a few boxes as they waited for the next ship to finish landing. He was standing with a few guys, who she recognized vaguely as Jonat and Deego, the coworkers that he sometimes mentioned in passing. They were the ones he got along with the most, it seemed.
"Bummer, dude," Jonat returned with sympathy, shrugging, which began a ripple over the sleek scales of his arms. "Doesn't sound too good."
"Well, it was." The Telarian boy stretched wearily, his bones crackling a little. "Not so much anymore, really."
"Yeah?" Deego tilted his head to the side. "'Eh, man, s'no good, but t'wa? Yea? Wha' change', man?" The thick accent of the male was a little hard to understand for the girl, but Etoile seemed to understand perfectly.
"I don't know." His head hung a little. "It's really. . . unpredictable now, which is irritating. We never get along, and that's getting kind of old. It's. . ." A sigh of frustration passed through his lips. "It's just not really working out. I want. . . I have to leave."
Deego clapped his shoulder with a large hand that made Etoile wince a little bit. "S'gon' be good, brotha'. Bein'a free dude, s'good."
"Yeah, it is," Etoile grinned, a little laugh rocking his frame. "I don't know how I'm going to tell her, though."
"Just tell her straight." Nodding as though he was an expert on this, Jonat had already clapped Etoile's other shoulder. "There's no way your girl can get mad if you just tell her like it is, right?"
"Right." The tone was a little uneasy. "I hate to just. . . drop this on her, she's so busy, but. . . I don't want to lie to her, honesty's best, yeah?"
"Yeah." Deego ruffled his hair, the image of an affectionate older brother, before turning around. "Oi, ya', ship's 'eer. Gi' ya' azee'un oip, we gon' ge'ta work."
As the three stood, and began lifting the heavy, stacked boxes, Nalo could do nothing but watch in horror as the yellow male carried a large package up the ramp and onto the waiting shift. Backing away instinctively, it seemed as though her heart had begun to hammer in her chest, drowining out her ears with the rapid, terrified pounding.
I have to leave-
-how I'm going to tell her-
-honesty's best, yeah?-
-unpredictable, now-
-just not working out.
No, no. No, no, no, it wasn't true, it couldn't be true.
She was gone, whizzing down the hallway and leaving no trace that she'd ever been there, the voice of her mind yelling. It wasn't true! It couldn't be! The weight of the thought, she kept pushing it back, if it didn't enter her mind, it couldn't be true. If it wasn't there, if it didn't exist, it wasn't true. But it dropped, like a rock, slamming into her brain and echoing into every corner with the cruel, biting words, so short and sharp.
Etoile's going to break up with me.
Before she knew it, she was at the base's pool, swimsuit in hand, each limb jerking automatically to get her changed in a stall with little direction from her brain. The organ was too busy arguing with herself to pay attention. There's no way, he can't be breaking up with me, could he? We were just. . . we were just cuddling last night! He told me he loved me as I was going to sleep! What if he was just saying that? He's trying to cushion the blow, that's what he's doing. But why? Unpredictable? Oh, no, he's mad, he's mad because I'm moody. I don't mean to be moody! He's right, though, oh, no, I am unpredictable, sometimes I'm mad for the dumbest things, he's tired of it. That's why he said we never get along! He's tired of putting up with me, that's what it is.
Oh, no.
It's not working out, I thought it was working out, I thought it was better than working out! Maybe I was blind, maybe this is what he was always talking about with Mercedes, where he didn't see it coming at all and then bam! It hit! He's going to do it nicely, because he's Etoile, but he's tired of me, what can I do?
The water rushed through her hair as her body weaved through the pool, racing through it with no sign of slowing down. Faster, she pushed, faster. The slowly-building aching of her muscles dulled the activity of her brain, lessened the rising panic, softened the growing pain.
There has to be something I can do, something to change his mind. Maybe he's just saying that because he's tired after working so hard, he's irritated and saying things but he doesn't really mean them. Unpredictable, oh no. No, he means it, I have to try to change his mind. I have to. Can't tell him, can't tell him what I heard, he'll know what I'm doing, just have to change his mind.
. . . somehow.
---
There he is. He just got off work, he's tired, should I leave him alone to rest or- no, Nalo, that's not going to change his mind, just, just go already!
Shuffling down the hall, too exhausted to even walk fully upright, the boy didn't hear his girlfriend's approach, and he seemed startled as her arms wove around his waist tightly, her nose nuzzling his cheek as she hung her notebook in front of him with a greeting. <Etoile! <3>
"Hey, you," he murmured, turning around in her arms with a tired smile. "I thought you weren't off yet."
<My boss let me off early, how was work? Was it okay? You look tired, do you need anything?> The furious scrawling of the pen might have signaled her inner turmoil, so she did her best to slow it down before he noticed.
"Huh? No, no, I'm fine. I'm just looking to get some rest, d'you wanna come?" His arm snaked around her waist as she nodded eagerly, happily, taking this as a good sign. Making sure to support his tired frame as they walked down the hallway, her head remained close to his, always, until they made it to his room. He stripped off his dirty shirt, but could only make it that far before collapsing into bed, and Nalo was there to catch him and hug him tightly, while drawing the covers around him.
<Sleep well,> she wrote quickly, and bit the edge of her lip a little before adding, in smaller, almost hesitant writing, <I love you.>
With a small smile, the boy's eyes were already closing, turning his nose into her neck and nestling there. "Nnn. . . thank you," he murmured, before sleep hit him like a ton of bricks, and she listened as his breathing evened out into a peaceful, happy pace.
Something in her stomach twisted a little, tightly, and her tendrils whipped out to hug the boy closer to her in his heavy sleep.
She didn't sleep very well that night.
---
<Your brother is going to break up with me!>
Tala Ganmade blinked as the notebook was shoved into her face, and had to step back a little to read the neat handwriting. Once she had, she couldn't help it - the girl laughed.
Nalo's expression dropped as Tala laughed, and the green-haired girl hastened to explain her laughter. "Sorry, sorry. Don't look at me like that. You're joking, right? It's not Fooling Day already, is it?"
<I'm serious.>
As soon as Nalo had added this to the statement, Tala frowned, any trace of amusement gone. Turning around, she went to the nearest table, sent a grin to the the group of people there, and gave them a quick, "Sorry, dudes, borrowing this chair," before pulling it up and sitting right next to Nalo, her full attention on the girl. "Either you hit your head, or something serious is going down. Write."
It all came out now, her pen flying over the paper so fast that the handwriting had begun to wobble, and Tala leaned over her shoulder, trying to catch it all. <I heard him talking to his friends, he says he's tired of me, he's going to break up with me! He was tired last night and went to bed right away but he didn't even do much this morning, either, he just pecked my nose and said he'd see me after work, that's not like him, I feel like I'm overreacting a little but I heard him say it himself, he told Jonat and Deego that he was leaving me! I don't know what to do, I don't know what I did wrong, I know I'm moody but->
"Nalo!" The girl yanked the pen from her grip and forced the Chiz to face her, orange eyes serious. "Nalo, calm down. I'm going to give your pen back, and I want you to write down what you heard him say to Deego and Jonat, word-for-word. Okay? Calmly, now."
Once the pen was back in her grasp, she started again, trying to write slower although her pace sped up as she went. <Er, he said he was tired of how unpredictable things were and that he didn't feel like things were working out. Then he said he didn't know how to tell me, and they decided that honesty is best, and that he just has to tell it to me straight, and he said he didn't want to drop this on me but he doesn't want to lie to me. . .>
"Huh." Tala's brows furrowed in confusion, and she suddenly stood up, knocking the chair backwards without bothering to pick it up. "That sounds a little legit. There has to be more, though."
<Don't tell him that I know!> Thrusting the huge letters at her, Nalo's lips pressed together, bloodless and thin. <Don't! I'll. . . handle this myself!>
"Sure." The Telarian girl looked away. "I won't say a word."
---
"You're an idiot if you're breaking up with Nalo."
She couldn't see his face behind the huge box, but the grunt that escaped him told her that he'd heard. Dropping the box, the boy leaned on it, breathing heavily, his face flushed and glistening with sweat as Tala walked around to face him. His expression was utterly confused behind his attempt to catch his breath. "What. . . are you. . . smoking?"
"The good stuff. No, I'm serious. If you break up with Nalo, you're the biggest moron on the face of the planet, and all the other planets, and possibly the sun, although I don't think anyone lives there. Maybe some heat monsters, those would be so hardcore a-"
"Tala!" Swiping his sleeve across his forehead, Etoile frowned at her. "Wh-what are you. . . babbling about, wh-where did this . . . even come from?"
"Nalo heard you, talking to Deego and Jonat, you're going to break up with her!" The girl crossed her arms, glaring at him for reasons that were entirely her own, although the boy only looked even more befuddled.
"I never. . . said that. . . what. . . J'in, get me some water, please." He pointed, and Tala retrieved his water bottle and tossed it to him, watching as he guzzled it down greedily. When he was finished, he looked exponentially better. "I never told anyone I'm breaking up with her, I don't plan to, what are you on about?"
"Yeah-huh! You said that you didn't like how unpredictable it is and you don't get along with her, and you don't think it's working out, and you don't know how to tell her but you have to be honest, you'd better be honest with me, bro, or I'll sock you, here and now!"
Blue eyes stared at her, just stared, before suddenly something seemed to dawn on him, and he let out a light curse word. "I wasn't talking about her! I was talking about. . ." He glanced over his shoulder, and promptly lowered his voice. "I was talking about this job!"
"Don't lie to me," Tala snapped, "you can't not get along with a job."
"I was talking about my boss," Etoile snapped right back, crossing his arms. "I don't like how unpredictable the hours are, I don't get along with Derano at all, I'm tired of it, I have to leave, and I didn't know how to tell Nalo because I need this job, or I need a job, and finding a new one would be a hassle, but I have to because I'm sick of it."
". . . Oh." Blinking, Tala tilted her head at him a bit. "Oh."
"Yeah. Oh." Rolling his eyes, the boy turned back to his box. "Now, g- wait." He whipped around. "Nalo overheard me? Nalo's the one that thinks all this?"
"Yup."
"J'in!" Letting out a stream of curse words now, Etoile turned and kicked the box, his expression growing concerned. "She should have told me! I have to go find her, she thinks I'm-"
"Ganmade!"
A big, bold figure loomed in the doorway, and Etoile winced a little, turning to face him. "Derano, I have to go, there's something I need to take care of."
"Your shift isn't over yet, Ganmade, you have to-"
"I don't care, punish me later, I really have to go." Dodging Derano's irritable swing at his head, the boy grabbed Tala's wrist and yanked her out with him, speeding down the hallway until they were out of sight. "He's going to kill me for that later," he mumbled, before glancing at Tala. "I have to go find her, do you know where she is? Nevermind, I'll find her myself. If Derano comes looking for me, tell him I went to go jump off the ledge of the Observatory and that I'm coming back to haunt him later."
Sprinting away, she thought he was gone when she suddenly heard his voice where he'd screeched to a halt. "Wait! Tala!"
"Yeah?" she called back, her hands digging into her pockets.
"I don't understand! Why does breaking up with Nalo make me an idiot?"
"Because! You're happy, you oaf! You're the happiest you've ever been! Now go find her and fix things or I'll trash you into next week!"
Nodding, the boy sped off again, faster than she'd ever seen him go, and she turned back to the shipping bay, trying to decide if she'd trip Derano when he wasn't looking, or drop a box on his head. She couldn't have seen the ghost of a smile on Etoile's lips that was hiding behind his worry as he rushed away.
---
By the time he found the girl, he'd slowed to a walk and fixed his wildly ruffled curls, attempting to look nonchalant as he approached her. Now that he was aware of her worry, he could see it, barely hidden, flitting under the expression she was trying so hard to maintain. She didn't look up as he approached, busy with her meal, and so he moved slowly, sliding his hand under her chin and smiling when she jumped, still grinning as he leaned down to caress her lips in greeting. Her startled expression didn't fade, not until he gestured to her food. "Are you finished?"
Glancing down at her plate, she nodded, and he quickly picked it up to dispose of it with a smile. "Come with me."
She considered his hand, but took it, and watched as he dumped her plate and then led her down the hall. His fingers were tight around her hand and he walked slowly, not ahead or behind his thr'rin, just beside her. To a quiet, lonely place he took her, where he was certain they wouldn't be disturbed, before turning to face her, leaning against the wall and drawing her close to him.
His lips parted to speak, but first, he considered her, lifting a hand to stroke her hair. Thick, smooth, cascading down to her shoulders. Eyes, golden, like sunlight on the cloudiest days, glinting at him with the essence of confusion and worry. Lips, sculpted, usually carrying the smile of his best friend.
". . . You're silly."
The girl blinked, and her expression pulled into something almost affronted, lifting an eyebrow at him. Chuckling deep in his throat, his hands curved around her waist, pulled her closer, held her tighter.
"Silly," he repeated, smiling at her, leaning toward her. "How could you ever, ever think I'd break up with you?"
The moment the words processed, the girl first looked disgruntled, scribbling something about telling Tala not to say anything. But she quickly moved past that and wrote something else, which she quickly showed him, using the notebook to hide her expression. <I heard you talking with Deego and Jonat.>
Patiently, he explained, his eyes never leaving hers. "I was talking about my job. I don't like how unpredictable the hours are, it's very annoying, I'd rather work at the same time every day instead of working late into the night one day, and working early morning only a day later. It's tiring." He watched Nalo digest this before continuing. "I don't get along with Derano, ever. We're always fighting, and it's wearing on me, I'd like to have a boss that I can respect, and who will respect me, at least a little bit."
Something sparked in her eyes. The faintest glimmer of hope.
"I really, really want to leave that job. It's not working, at all, I used to enjoy it, really, especially with the guys. Jonat and Deego are so cool, they're the only reason I've stayed, really, And I didn't want the hassle of finding another job."
It was there, glinting in her eyes, the faintest, smallest ember of belief. . . the tiniest hint of a smile. . .
"And," he said quietly, stroking a thumb over her cheek, "I wasn't sure how to tell you that I was leaving my job, because I sort of need this job and I didn't want to get you involved with trying to find a new one quickly, but I don't really like lying to you, either."
There it was. A full smile, pooling with relief, with happiness, with that inner light. That belief, that trust. He pulled her tightly against him, hugging her as though he'd never want to let go again, burying his face into her shoulder and inhaling deeply. Her arms were tight, warm, and he cradled her to him, basking in her joy.
"I've been tired the last few days," he murmured against her skin, "I'm sorry, so sorry, that I gave you reason to worry. I really, really love you and I want to be with you, for as long as you want me."
With a quiet trill, she hugged him tighter, and then pulled back to give him that smile that made his hearts skip a beat, even still. His hand found hers, the tip of his thumb stroking over the string that was tied there, the color still as vibrant as the day that he'd knotted it around her wrist. Thin, soft, it was the string that tied together the warmth that kindled in their hearts and minds, the touchable promise that looked into the future and glowed.
"Je ea'ano til," he whispered again, drawing her back to him.
She barely had time to etch out a heart on her notebook before his fingers took her chin, drawing her mouth to his where they met warmly and peacefully, two souls reaching out to meld together again.
