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Who: Luke and Satsuki
Where: Luke's apartment
When: January 30, evening
What: Satsuki saw the call about who had not survived the battle that had taken place at Loci's Wabe, and is coming to check on how her young not!assistant is handling the news.

If Satsuki has any desire to actually see Luke tonight, she will need to find her own way into his flat. The doorbell goes unanswered from outside the building. When she arrives at the front door, she'll find that knocking brings no answer as well--from within Luke's small flat there are very few signs of life.

Finding her own way in will mean she'll have to make use of the key Luke had provided ages ago (in case there's an emergency!) Suna greets her at the door with a plaintive chirping, rubbing her face against Satsuki's legs. The fennec fox's chirps are almost questioning in tone, asking for something.

Inside though it won't be hard to hear choked sniffling. Should Satsuki follow the sound--and he fennec fox's chattering--she'd find herself standing in the painstakingly neat bedroom. Suna yips at the closet, the door left half open.

There, buried amidst an extra blanket and pillow, is Luke, curled up with his knees to his chest, sobbing. He doesn't move to acknowledge Satsuki--he had no idea she's there.

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After some silent time Satsuki indeed ended up thinking about Luke and decided to seek him out instead of the other way around for once. She couldn't imagine that he had taken the news very well at all, and.. Honestly she wasn't certain what she should even do, but keeping her distance (while often her usual plan) simply would not do this time around.

Suna is a welcome sight, whom she greets in return with a wave then crouches to pet her atop the head. "I take it Luke is here. I'm here to see him."

Upon reaching the closet, the very first thing she's hit by is a feelings of indecision and awkwardness. Alas, there's no getting off this train, and eventually speaks, ".. Luke?"

The fennec fox chirps once, walking around Satsuki's legs. Suna is clearly quite happy for the company, perhaps more for the help.

As for the apprentice, he can hardly lift his head to her voice. Brown eyes peer up from his knees, chest still heaving a staccato hiccup as he tries to settle down. These are ugly tears--eyes bright-red rimmed and swollen, irritated from the constant wiping, nose running and sniffling loudly, a rough-worn pink, cheeks flushed red hot.

Luke doesn't try to wipe his eyes this time, ignoring the fat tears running down his cheeks, and he wrapped his arms around his torso, bowing his face.

"M-Miss K-Kiry--" His voice cracks, weak from the time spent sobbing, "--Kiry-yuin...it h-h..h-hurts--"

Before she can respond further, Luke pulls back in, his forehead against knee. Muffled, almost begged, he adds: "w-what'm I supp-posed to do?"

This is the kind of pain that Satsuki is truly not used to seeing. She's seen a panicing or saddened Luke on various occasions but never had she seen anything like this- and it makes her uncomfortable.

She knew from the beginning that he would look to her for some sort of advice; she had some ideas in mind but suddenly none of them seemed to be appropriate answers. Luke needed the kind of healing that, now, she was very uncertain she could even provide.

A moment of silence passes, perhaps suggesting that she doesn't have an answer to his plight. But what actually happens is that Satsuki slowly settles to her knees then draws her arms outward to bring the apprentice toward her and into a gentle embrace. The gesture is a bit of a surprise to herself, even more surprising that, unlike their previous embraces, there isn't any feeling of revulsion from the contact. In fact, she would find herself squeezing him even tighter.

As she wraps her arms around him, his sobs become outright wails, the young apprentice gasping for air between each. Luke shifts from curled tightly into himself to on his knees, shaking arms not quite able to try and embrace Satsuki in return. Instead he wraps his fingers into the fabric of Satsuki's uniform and clings as if for dear life.

There is no healing now. No right answer, appropriate advice, soothing words--safe with Satsuki, on the floor in the closet and wrapped in her arms theyre isn't much else to do but allow him to exhaust himself, to cry until he's cried himself out, to wait until the inevitable shock sets in.

And it does, what feels like ages later. The wailing has stopped. The great quaking sobs have faded to him just shaking, defeated, in her arms. His eyes are dry, but not for lack of sorrow. Still, Luke doesn't move from the safety of Satsuki's embrace. He doesn't let go of her jacket. Instead, he stays as close to her as he can.

Satsuki is still here. He just had to stay close.

Satsuki remains silent all the while; at first she believes she made a mistake when the noise only increased in volume, but quickly comes to the conclusion that her embrace was taken as a symbol to let it all go. Luke tries so hard to keep his cool around her even if she's stressed after all. Yes, that makes sense, and it actually brings a smile to her features, if not a sad one.

But perhaps what is most surprising to her is the lack of nausea, not a trace of the usual defensive reaction when she herself is held in such a manner. Which is most certainly a good thing because the amount of time that passes most certainly calls for patience- Which she has plenty of right now. Once he seems to have settled down enough to do so, she asks, ".. Do you feel like talking?"

He's still shaking, fingers stiff and cramped from gripping her jacket so tightly for so long, and he leans back just enough so that he can meet her gaze. Luke's eyes are swollen red and bloodshot; he jerkily loosens one hand from her uniform and wipes them, shivering, before shaking his head up at her.

"Not really," he murmurs, voice cracking. Though he's moved enough to be able to look up at her, Luke's careful not to go far--he wants to be close. To be assured that Satsuki is still safe and here and out of harm's way, at least for now.

He suddenly feels every bit as exhausted as he looks, and inches closer to her, resting his head against her shoulder, eyes closed, his head throbbing. "I just..." hesitating, he considers his words, "...not sure what to do..."

"That is fine." Satsuki replies as she keeps eye contact with little trouble until his position shifts. Aside from the hug, her body language could be described as neutral, the perfect in-between of welcome and unwelcome, though it falls to the former as she leans against him in turn.

"There is no pressure for you to do anything right now. But, once you have your thoughts together, perhaps you may want to consider what Koishi would like you to do."

The mention of the satori youkai's name brings unwelcome tears to his eyes again, though this time they end up soaking into her jacket instead of rolling down his cheeks. He shakes with the effort of restrained sobs, unwilling to allow himself to fall apart as he had before.

"K-Koishi's a b-billion years old-der and w-would know," he choked, swallowing hard. "I'm n-not...I'm not--"

His efforts are not rewarded with a lack of fresh tears, one quiet sob slipping past his defenses. "She's n-not even h-here t-to see!" Luke doesn't sound angry so much as desperate, pleading. Frustrated. "K-Koishi's not h-here to s-see and we h-have t-to be s-sad and...and think of what she'd w-want t-too? I...I can't--"

Luke looks up at Satsuki, shaking his head, eyes filled with tears. She unwittingly set him off, her gentle suggestion pushing him directly over the edge he had been teetering on. "I c-can't d-do all of that. B-being s-sad is enough."

Edited 2016-02-11 04:06 (UTC)

Satsuki falls silent for a moment as she glances to him; while his reaction isn't unexpected, she's seen him panicked a number of times, but this time around she doesn't feel she's made even the smallest bit of progress.

That said, she doesn't take his frustration personally. One of her hands raise to his shoulder. "That is fine, Luke. And yes, being sad is enough."

"I just.. Do not want you have to feel that you are alone."

Luke knows that he's young, and inexperienced, and childish. He knows that it shows when he's overwhelmed or scared, and that he panics far too easily. It's a large part of why he tries so hard to pretend he isn't panicking around Satsuki. He wants to show her that he's grown up, even if it's just a little bit.

Sitting on the floor in his closet, though, he's spent every single bit of his maturity and then some. There isn't an ounce left for him to realize what comfort was meant by the statement of 'think what Koishi would want'--not one iota. He scrubs at his eyes with his fist, hiccuping. Satsuki's words, her hand on his shoulder, reminds him suddenly of something that he would have asked ages ago if he could get his head straight.

"M-Miss Ki--" gosh, but Kiryuin does have a lot of syllables to get out when you're upset. Forgive him, Luke's gotten the hang of the it now but Kiryuin will always sound just slightly mispronounced in his very British accent.

There's a solid thirty second pause, full of shaking breathing and a determination not to lose his composure once again, small hands pressed over his face. There's no more energy left for crying. Luke is at least ninety percent sure he doesn't even have the energy to keep sitting upright, here, with Satsuki.

Finally, he croaks out, hesitant and uncertain: "Y...you're sad too?"

Satsuki doesn't appear bothered by the silence; she does seem the type to be used to it, but even as she holds her young associate close, she starts to look a bit distracted. It doesn't take him long at all to guess why that may be, but she addresses another issue. "You may shorten my name if you would like." she murmurs.

She then shakes her head. "I.. Suppose I am. Komeiji has done so much for me, some that I have never asked of her. The one thing she always wanted was to see me smile." ... "I.. Do not remember if I ever did for her, and that.. I don't know."

"Is there someplace we could lay down for a while?"

Edited 2016-02-12 23:09 (UTC)

Luke shivers, little nails digging into his forehead. "If...here, when you d...d--"

He hiccups. Coughs. Clears his throat uncomfortably, sniffling. The word 'die' is awfully final. "If somethin' like this happens you come b-back." Luke peers up at her, all the energy behind his tears long gone and replaced with defeat. This was last-ditch pleading. "So....so she'll b-be back. And we'll b-be okay. You can sm-smile for her then. Sm....smile really b-big."

After a few moments, he processes her second query. Exhausted, his eyes fall on his bed. "T-there's here." Luke's fingers have stayed griping the fabric of her jacket this entire time, a sign of his unwillingness to be any further away. He may want to be close to her, but that doesn't mean he's forgotten that she would prefer to have her space. Weakly, he adds: "a-and the sofa has s-space for m-me."

Edited (Spelling is very hard also so is wording) 2016-02-14 14:23 (UTC)

"That is true.." Satsuki replies, though she continues to feel uncertain. Eventually she clears her throat, then attempts to get to her feet- a quick glance is enough to tell her he'd need assistance so she keeps her arms in a manner to support his weight and help him up as well. "When you feel up to it, how do you feel about going out to get something for her when she returns?"

Another pause, then she shakes her head.

"No.. I would rather try staying by your side, if that would be acceptable to you." ... "If our heads are at opposite sides of the bed, I.. Ah.. Should be fine."

Luke wobbles just slightly as he gets to his feet, the byproduct of sitting on his legs for so long. Thankful for her support--literally and figuratively--he takes a few seconds to steady himself, to allow the throbbing headache to subside slightly, to get his bearings. His apartment is small but had come mostly furnished, and there is plenty of space on the queen-sized bed for the two of them, considering that Luke is all of an intimidating four-foot-five at the absolute best. Once his head stops swimming, he extricates himself from Satsuki's grip and stoops down to grab the pillow and blanket she'd found him sitting beside in the closet, toting them along.

"Today was laundry day," he mumbles, "so all the b-blankets are clean."

He's always found Satsuki's need for a larger personal bubble to be a bit odd, but never asked--instead, unless he was not himself he did everything he could to respect it. As such, he simply placed his hat on the bedside table and pulled down the soft brown blanket for Satsuki before crawling to the other side of the bed and settling at the foot of it, stopping only to grab his teddy bear and bring it along with him. He carefully wrapped himself up in the extra blanket, curling tightly with his teddy bear, trying to simulate the safe feeling of having been in Satsuki's arms. Exhausted, he didn't hesitate to curl onto the pillow he'd set on the edge of the bed, sniffling. He rubbed his eyes before squeezing them tightly shut, trying to shut out everything that had happened today.

"We...we'll g-get her s-something nice," he said weakly, voice watery. "M...maybe you'll h-have a g-good idea."

"I see.." Satsuki murmurs. She had already left her boots at the door, so she sits on the edge of the bed a moment while studying Luke's body language. The poor guy's exhausted- It was inevitable, really.

She positions herself onto the bed soldier style, perhaps to no one's surprise, upon her back and arms at her sides. Satsuki never thought to explain the situation to Luke.. Or to anyone, really, at home it was simply accepted that she was never to be touched, that she was always out of reach to those below her. Obviously trying to accept that she's no longer the top dog is extremely difficult for her to accept, even now.

But what she's thinking about now is what may happen tomorrow. She hopes that Luke will be all right; she's placed a lot of hope into him, and she's gradually accepting it's come to the point where she is responsible for him now. It's.. Not how she wanted things to turn out.

But.

Perhaps it isn't so bad, either.

As Luke sniffles, he may feel a drumming of fingers against the matress, her hand either near his back or his stomach. "We can consider our options later.. For now, I would like your hand. Please."

So.. He's going to have to undo that careful wrapping, buddy.

Luke sniffs again, a tiny hiccup hidden with his face burrowed into the pillow. In the few moments of silence as she settled herself in bed, silent tears started once again as his mind started to wander. The bed shifts as he unwinds himself from his blanket cocoon, finally getting one hand free enough to be able to grip hers. Satsuki will find that his hand holds on to hers quite tightly, much like how he'd held on to her jacket--almost for dear life. To ground himself in the reality that she is still here.

A few moments lapsed as he turned onto his side, burying his face into the pillow and curling as tightly into himself as he could, tears still occasionally running down his cheeks. Even though he was upset--more upset than he could ever remember being, and then some--overwhelming fatigue was winning far beyond everything else.

Luke tightened his hand around Satsuki's, his fingers lacing with hers. "Th-thank you," he mumbled, voice cracking. Already, sleep was creeping into his voice; if she were to peek down at the apprentice she would find his eyes already closed, his breathing already slowing. A tiny yawn slips past his lips, "for coming."

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The temptation to "I'm not a gentleman yet" is huge, but I'll restrain myself

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