Lie Ren (bringstheflour) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2018-01-15 22:37:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, lie ren, nora valkyrie |
Who: Ren and Nora
When: First week in January
Where: Their place
What: Nora's been playing a video game, Ren decides enough is enough
Rating/Warnings: Low/None
Status: Complete when posted
Nora was sitting on the futon in the living room. She hadn’t left the futon much over the last couple of weeks, eyes glued to the screen as she played the video game. Honestly, Nora hadn’t felt this happy over a game in… well, ever. And the more she played, the better she got at it. The more she loved it. The more she wanted to play. She hadn’t been eating or sleeping much, and there were dark circles under her eyes. When Ren came home, she didn’t notice, didn’t lift her gaze from the screen.
After their kiss around Christmas, Ren had taken a few days to sit and meditate on what it had meant. He hadn’t had control of his actions at the time, and he suspected that Nora hadn’t either, but despite that, he hadn’t felt as though it was a bad thing. It was something he had never really thought about doing, but it had felt natural. It didn’t change his feelings toward Nora. They had been together for, as Nora would say, forever. They were family. He loved Nora, and what had happened didn’t change that. It was, perhaps, just a natural progression.
But he hadn’t had a chance to talk to Nora about it. Ever since she had brought home the video game from the coffee shop, she hadn’t been one for talking. Which was strange, though not unwelcome. At least, not at first. As the days went by, Ren began to feel as though the apartment was unnaturally quiet. Food was going uneaten, which Ren was pretty sure had been a first.
And Nora wouldn’t stop playing that game.
He’d hoped she’d stop on her own, but it was becoming increasingly clear that that wasn’t going to happen. “Nora,” Ren said, stepping beside Nora and the computer. “It’s time to turn off the game.”
Nora’s eyes flickered from the screen for just one moment, up and over at Ren, then came back to him. “Nmm.” She said, though she made no move to turn off the game. It’d been about a week since she’d showered. She wasn’t starting to smell, per se, but she was definitely not clean. And her stomach gave an involuntary rumble.
Ren let out a heavy sigh. He had hoped that he’d be able to have a conversation with her without having to resort to drastic means, but it seemed that he was mistaken. There was something very wrong. He reached down and unplugged the computer from the power bar.
The screen went black. Nora gave a start, then a whimper. “No no no, I was in the middle of --” she grabbed the screen with both hands and leaned in sadly. Finally, she turned to look up and over at Ren. “Why did you…?”
Ren looked at Nora, a steely firmness in his gaze. After a moment, he said, “It’s the only way I could get your attention. You are hungry, and you are tired, and you haven’t showered in a week.”
Nora climbed up from the sofa, then teetered on the spot. She was weak. It’d happened so gradually, she hadn’t noticed. Or maybe it was the not eating that had done this to her... Maybe it was the not eating, the not sleeping… she just couldn’t help herself. The game had taken over her life.
“Fine. I’ll shower.” She said, turning to look over at him. Her head cocked to the side, and before she could stop herself, the words were slipping out. “...if you’ll come shower with me.”
Ren was relieved when Nora said that she’d shower, though his relief immediately turned to confusion when she asked if Ren would join her. He thought over his answer for a few seconds before he answered. “If you think that you may have trouble standing, perhaps a bath might be a better idea,” he suggested.
Nora shook her head a little. Though, she was very unsteady on her feet, that was definitely not what she’d meant. And though it horrified her a little inside, and she wished she could stop herself from doing it, she took a step toward him, one hand coming up to rest against his chest. He always ran warm. She could feel the heat of his body through his shirt on her palm.
“That’s not at all what I meant.” She said, her voice coming out in an uncharacteristic purr. “I meant… you should come shower with me.” Her heart was thundering. Oh, God, why couldn’t she stop saying these things?
If Ren hadn’t already been convinced that something was very, very wrong, he’d certainly think it now. He and Nora had been together for the majority of their lives, and he had never seen her acting even remotely like the way she was now.
He took a step back, and removed Nora’s hand from his chest.
God, what was wrong with her? Nora couldn’t stop herself doing these really weird things. Saying these really, really weird things. She wished it could stop. She felt foolish and embarrassed, and incredibly weak and tired. But her body kept moving. “Ren.” She said, taking a half step forward. She didn’t put her hand on him again. “You kissed me before. Don’t you want to kiss me again?”
Ren was quiet for a moment as he thought about his answer. “Not like this,” he said after a moment. “Nora, this isn’t you. What’s going on?”
This must be one of those weird OC things. Or something. Maybe the world was going crazy again. Maybe … something else. She couldn’t seem to wrap her mind around it. All she wanted to do was get back to her video game and ignore the world around them. She sighed deeply and turned to head toward the bathroom. “Fine.” Her voice came out much nastier than she was planning. She wanted to stop, to apologize, to tell him she had no idea what was going on. But she felt hot and bothered, and needed to clear her head. “I’m fine. I just… need to shower.”
Ren flinched a little at Nora’s tone. But she wasn’t herself, he reminded himself. Part of him wanted to write it off to her being hungry, but he’d seen Nora hungry before and he didn’t think that was it. Still… “I’ll make pancakes for when you’re done.”
Nora stopped in the doorway to the bathroom and looked over at him. About a thousand thoughts were racing through her mind all at once, but it also felt like her head was empty: filled with cotton. She nodded once, then closed the door between them. As she climbed into the shower, all she could think about was getting back on her computer and playing more of the game.