Princess Tsundere (pendleton) wrote in warrantlogs, @ 2016-02-17 10:36:00 |
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Entry tags: | pendleton askew, rhia situ |
Who: Rhia & Pendleton
What: A brief moment.
Where: Outside the HQs
When: A few hours after the explosion.
Warnings: References to violence, kidnapping, PTSD
After being kidnapped, Pen thought he had experienced something to last him a while. And he was not happy to have been proven wrong, the feel of the explosion still lingering beneath his skin though the wounded had been wheeled out, and the flames extinguished. Staying on the ship depressed him, metal walls sinking in —everything echoed twice, and his shadow discomforted him. Walking seemed to have no effect in clearing his head, the streets all buzzing with rumours, with too many people. Trapped. (The weight of his gun keeping him from bolting back to a less crowded location). A shadow peeled off from the crowd, fleeting through the bodies like a bird until she was keeping step with her fellow gunner. She could see the tension in his walk, the unease. Rhia made sure to keep her steps heavier than her usual, her hair swaying around herself as she turned towards him. "Hey." A falsely bright tone, a gentle touch and her best smile. He doesn't expect her, despite having heard approaching footsteps. Surprise flickers across his glance, vanishes and he is clearing his throat. "Hey." It sounds like hollow bones rattling, the listless lift of his shoulders. "Why are you out?" It comes out less defensive than usual, tension simmering beneath his skin(not a threat, not threat, not a threat), an itch beneath his palms(presses them against his thighs). She sticks close to him, enough to be bumping along with the ebb and flow of the crowd but never for more than a moment. "I'm with Noa. We were out when it happened-" The bombs. The explosion. The aftermath. "-Are you okay? You look kind of haunted." Rhia steps smartly ahead and circles him in one smooth motion, her fingers itching to smooth down the wrinkles of his clothing and drag him closer into an embrace. A gesture best never attempted with a prickly, immature, explosions-loving gunner, he was composed of knots with frayed ends, pulled in opposite directions while he struggled to keep afloat. The beginnings of an existential crisis, filled with the types of questions everyone asks at least once: what am I doing with my life? Where am I going? Where do I go from here? all pressed against his skull by the force of the explosion. "Concerned. Not haunted." Her movements fluid, his eyes wary, really to alert him of any sudden change. Rhia was a friend, but how well did he really know? How well did he know anyone around him? "You ok?" You're not fooling me, she doesn't say. Rhia pouts, pinning him with a look. "Yes." He needs a distraction, she decides. "Shall we look for the others?" Rhia doesn't wait for an answer but beckons him towards HQ with a curt nod. A beat after, Pendleton follows, a knot in his chest pushing his rib cage; it feels suspiciously like fear that has found a new home. |