thebastion | [Day 156] | [Closed] And oh, come colder weather

Entry tags:

[Day 156] | [Closed] And oh, come colder weather

Who: Twins, and one half of a set (Kaoru, Hikaru + Rin)
Open: Closed
When: Day 156, afternoon
Where: Hospital
What: Bon helped Rin work through a lot of her feelings about Hikaru's arrival and the continued lack of Yuki in her life, and things are better for it, but there's still something she has to do...
Format: Action
Warnings: You all know the drill by now.

[Apologies - good ones, anyway - were never Rin's strong suit. She usually had to be muscled in to being sincere by Father Fujimoto because in her mind she hadn't done anything wrong whenever she got in trouble like that. She was just giving people what they deserved for being assholes, after all. But it was moments when she actually fucked up in a way that hurt people she didn't want to hurt that she found herself at a loss for what to do. Should she apologize? Would it even be accepted if she did? Would she come off sounding insincere? What if the person she hurt didn't want to see her?

These were all the things going through her head as she stared at the closed hospital room door, holding a bag in her hands in front of her, slightly more cleaned up and dressed up than she normally would have been on a typical day. She stared at the door handle, as if willing it to move on its own so she didn't have to make that step forward to grab it herself. If something could have just conveniently shoved her in the room to get things started...

But that wasn't going to happen, and she knew it. Taking a breath in, she went for the door and knocked on it gently.]

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[The knock on the door comes mid-conversation, interrupting one of Hikaru's seemingly endless questions. He looks at the door owlishly from his annoyingly small hospital bed, then glances at Kaoru. It's not time for any of the staff to be checking in yet, is it? Not like he needs them any more anyway; his arm's already been put into a cast and thanks to the accelerated healing function of the B-wing, most of his bruises have faded down to a small, tense ache. If it weren't for the increased healing speed in the hospital, he would have insisted on leaving a long time ago.

He looks back to the door, expecting the staff to have barged in already, and is confused when it remains closed. Back to Kaoru. He taps one of his fingers against his twin's hand in indecision, before shrugging and calling out.]

Come in?

[Is that what they're waiting for?]

[Pretty much. She wasn't about to barge in unannounced, not after she had already done so much damage two days previous.

The door handle moved slowly, and the door itself creaked open just a crack. Familiar blue eyes beneath a messy fringe of black could be seen, but she still didn't enter fully.]

... i-it's me...

[He doesn't recognize the voice at first, or the face. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what girl would be visiting though, and assuming familiarity. Kaoru's reaction may be different, but Hikaru for one is happy to see her. He shoves aside all of his discomfort and negative feelings about this place, to give her a welcoming smile worthy of the Host Club back home.]

Rin-chan! [He calls brightly, squeezing Kaoru's hand. He's not sure how his brother is feeling towards her at the moment, so he's being a little cautious. Not enough to stop himself from inviting her in, though. From what he's been told, she and Kaoru are on pretty good terms, so he's sure it'll be fine.]

[...Except she hasn't entered fully. Gdi, Rin. The smile drops and turns into a deadpan expression of disbelief.]

How long are you planning on standing out there, exactly?

Edited 2014-02-07 06:07 (UTC)

[The happy greeting from Hikaru is actually nice, and surprising, but it does get a tiny smile to appear. At least he seems okay with her after what she said the other day...

The question makes her tense up, though, and her gaze moves over to Kaoru worriedly.]

I... wanted to... to come an apologize... I don't wanna come in if it ain't okay, though.

Come in, Rin.

[…that's certainly as stiff a welcome as there's ever been - not a chan in sight. Don't worry, Rin, it's not ~~all~~ your fault… it's just that Kaoru knew this time would eventually come and that would have to apologise for his behaviour which, yes, he feels really bad for, and that's WHY he's being so stiff. He feels so bad and he's going to club like a little kid if he doesn't watch it]

[he swallows once Rin comes around the door, holding onto Hikaru's hand, his anchor]

…you're not the one who needs to apologise.

[But Rin being Rin, she thinks that tone is directed at her. She winces visibly, but takes the invitation rather than chickening out and coming up with some excuse to be anywhere but here. Her momentary panic makes her miss that Kaoru was saying she wasn't the only one needing to apologize, though.

Slipping in, she closes the door behind her, and immediately bows low, as if Shiro were behind her shoving her head down to give a properly humble apology.

It wasn't like her at all, but Kaoru was one of the few she had made friends with that was left from the relative beginning of everything. He meant a lot to her, and regardless of his behavior, she felt she had wronged him and that needed to be fixed.]

I'm sorry for what I said! You didn't deserve that after what happened to your brother! That's not how friends should act and I won't say anythin' like that ever again!

A-and I shouldn't have said what I said. I shouldn't have got angry, and I shouldn't have… I was just… I was only…

[…scared and worried and frightened and scared. In lieu of finishing the sentence he jumps to his feet, squeezing Hikaru's hand a second before letting go and half-striding, half-sprinting across the room to wrap her up in a possibly-too-tight hug]

[he started to feel awful about it pretty quickly after they got Hikaru settled in the hospital; and it's been eating and eating at him that he might have lost her because of this]

[She wasn't expecting the hug, and had only just straightened up when she suddenly had a red head throwing himself at her. There was a surprised grunt, and narrowly avoiding getting whatever was in that bag crushed between them, but she did manage to hug him back after a bit of hesitation.

She didn't mind that it was a tight hug. It was nice to have it at all, really.]

I-... it's okay, you were worried about your brother. I probably woulda been the same way if it was--... y'know...

Still. I'm really sorry.

[he holds on to her for a little longer before he pulls back to look at her]

…she could still come, you know. If Hikaru can, Yuki can, too...

I... don't wanna get my hopes up, y'know?

[And it wasn't a topic Rin wanted to linger on much, not after her talk with Bon. She put a smile on and held up the bag.]

It's nothin' fancy, but I brought pastries as a peace offerin'?

But you don't have to abandon hope. either.

[understood, understood, and that is all he will say on the matter. Gently steering her into the room]

Come and say hi properly then - Oi, Hikaru, you're going to love this. Rin-chan is an amazing cook!

[He'd been watching them with a careful eye, ready to leave the bed and be by Kaoru's side in an instant if there was even a hint of needing it. It's highly unusual, for him, to be sitting on the outskirts and willingly disengaging himself from something his twin is doing. It's a weird feeling, but nothing can be done for it. He doesn't really know Rin, and even he recognises that it would be weird to join in.

So he waits, legs over the side of the bed, until Kaoru begins steering Rin into the room. He pastes on a smile at the mention of Rin cooking, pushing down a pang of homesickness. It reminded him of Haruhi, and from there the rest of them, and--well. He's not had much time to get used to this whole thing, is all.]

Eh~? You're sure about that, Kaoru? [His voice is light and playful, and he keeps half an eye on Rin to measure her reactions. Of course he doesn't actually doubt his brother; he's just seeing if it's okay to tease. He's got no idea how delicate Rin is, so baby steps to test the water first.]

[Well that certainly went better than Rin had expected, but as good as she had hoped it to. Water under the bridge and all that. She gets moved in to the room properly, handing the bag over to Kaoru. The pastries were pretty basic, but she had acquired enough ingredients recently to make a few creame, fruit and plain ones.]

I'm the best damn cook in this place and you're gonna love everythin' I do! I guarantee it!

[There goes the tail wagging, too.]

[brings Rin over to the side of the bed so she can sit if she likes, before returning to Hikaru]

…she is also not in the slightest way egotistical. At all. But she is awesome, though~!

[peeks into the bag as he settles shoulder to shoulder with Hikaru so he can look too. It's a little weird, working around his injury, keeping to Hikaru's left side instead of his right - it had been hard not to slip back into old habits, and a little disorienting to have to fight them.]

[He feels the same way, about the home cooking. Cake. Strawberries. He wishes he could say it gets better, but it doesn't, really. The homesickness has always been there]

Did you bring plates? We can have a picnic!

Heh. [Alright, well, she seems spunky enough that he won't feel bad about ribbing her a bit. She is now filed away under "pretty good" in his mind. Congrats, Rin.

He leans in close to Kaoru to peer into the bag, pressing the side of his head against his twin's so he's looking at the same spot. Those pastries look alright, but they're nothing compared to the presentation of the high-quality ones he was eating just a few days ago.]

And where are the forks?

[She can get pretty huffy over certain things, but for the most part she doesn't really mind getting teased sometimes. She throws it right back, though not often not with the best of comebacks.]

Oh! Hang on, I've got my food cart outside. I was gonna bring by lunch later anyway.

[She ducks out of the room for a moment, returning with the proper dishes and utensils.]

They'd look better if I had better things to work with in the kitchen, but it's the taste that matters, right?

Right! [sorry, Hikaru, some standards are going to have to slip a little bit. One of the compromises you have to make when living here] Besides, it's not like we're serving them to people.

[…the bed is kind of too small for this to work. He gives Hikaru's hand an apologetic squeeze and slips off the bed again, popping across to the other beds in the room to steal blankets to shake out and spread on the ground - well, no one was using them anyway, and they will make things a lot more comfortable than sitting straight on the floor.]

[It's for the greater good, Kaoru, so Hikaru will accept your temporary absence from his side. For his part, he's going to take the pillows off the beds and put them on top of your blankets - they'll do for cushions, right?]

You have an entire cart? Are you a maid or something? [She doesn't really look like one, though.]

[A picnic in a hospital. That's new. But it sounds fun at least.

Rin shakes her head to the question, going to get a few more pillows from one of the room cupboards and putting them down with the others.]

Only a few of us actually cook around here. Mireille, Zulf and I do most of it, but Mireille was pregnant and had her baby a little while ago. She's workin' again but she's left the bulk of the work to me since I got here. Whenever there's some one in the hospital longer than a day, though, I bring food up here.

Healthy and nutritious food, ne Rin-chan?

[taking the bag and setting it down with the blankets, before returning to help Hikaru down.]

Oh, the baby, I forgot to tell you about the baby! When we get you out of here, you have to meet people! [excitedly, but with a very slight undercurrent of "really, you have to". Reaching to take the plates and utensils from Rin once Hikaru is settled]

[once Rin is settled, a head comes poking out from under Hikaru's bed, followed by a scaly body. Tama-chan skulks quietly over to Rin, head lowered, and tentatively licks the back of her hand. She's sorry. Tama-chan's really sorry. Okay?]

Why would I care about a baby? [It may seem obnoxious to Rin, but it's a genuine question from him. He can understand needing to meet other people - they have to rebuild their connections, he supposes - but a baby? He assumes there's a story for that somewhere, and can't help but feel a bit left out for having missed it. Anything that has Kaoru excited would've been fun to experience, too.

With assistance, he carefully settles on a cushion, sitting on top of his legs so as to avoid putting pressure on any of the worse bruises. He's not going to say so, but he might need a bit of help with his food - honestly he figures he'll probably just flat-out end up eating off Kaoru's fork.

The appearance of Tama-chan brightens him up a bit. He really, really, really likes Tama-chan; she's freaking cool. He's still not over the name choice (really, Kaoru, what the hell?), but nonetheless, a large part of him hopes that she'll come to him next. ~~She's really, really cool, okay.~~]

So you guys make the food for everyone? How many people are here, anyway? [So, so many questions. This is what Kaoru's had to put up with the last two days, Rin.]

Well it's a very cute baby?

[That's really all Rin can contribute to the subject.

Feeling Tama-chan coming up to her, she turns a bit, offering her hand palm up first before reaching to pet the Anklegator properly. She forgives you, Tama-chan. Everything is alright now.]

Uhm. 'bout fifty, give or take. We were a lot smaller, not that long ago.

[arranging the pastries onto the plates and… okay, yes, turning them so that they are at their best possible angle for presentation.]

So cute. [gotta back Rin up on that. He didn't think it was such a big deal himself until he got to see him and actually hold him.] That's partly down to me, though - I made clothes.

[all right, having next to no experience with children he actually bought baby clothes with shards, cannibalised them to make patterns and made them better. Offers Rin a fork before picking up their place and cutting off a piece of the pastry for Hikaru. The third plate sits unused.]

[Tama-chan comes a little closer to Rin, rubbing her nose and horn against her hand with apologetic whining noises. She's sorry, she's sorry. Can she sit on you?]

Only fifty? [That's barely enough for a dinner party.

He still doesn't understand the baby thing, but he figures he'll get it eventually.

He leans forwards to take the bit of pastry Kaoru's cut off, chewing thoughtfully.]

Not bad! [Really good, actually.] You make these all the time?

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