mikangirl | [Voice/Action]

[Voice/Action]

[What a cheerful week it's been. Almost like a vacation away from this place.

Or not.

Nami doesn't have the energy to complain when she finds she's been returned out at the orchard in the early hours of the morning. Not that much of a problem, bar the fact that it's freezing and she's dead tired. The cottage isn't heated, but there's still a bed in there, and she collapses across it for a few hours' sleep.

...and at some point, rolls herself up in the covers, because that's smart.

When she finally wakes up around 8am, her journal's sitting on the floor next to the bed, and she flicks it open with a finger, not bothering to work up a filter to the crew. Too much effort, and she's just not in the mood for things that require concentration today. Or in much of a good mood at all. Valentine's is... still a little too raw. Among other things.]

[Voice]

I'm back. [Not that anyone but the crew knew she was going somewhere. Details. She doesn't much care.] You guys weather the storm okay?

[Later she'll make her way home, and then inevitably make her way into town and collapse in Good Spirits for a while in the evening. She's catchable wherever, and probably not that hard to cheer up if you want a lighter conversation.]

((ooc: and I will be slow for a bit, so bear with me.))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[She had a right to not expect hearing from him. In any other situation, he'd end up avoiding her to high hell until he decided to grow a pair to confront what he did. This is a little bit of a special case.]

Listen. [What does he say? He wants to go about this delicately, but Ragna is as delicate as a truck driving over a flower field at 120 miles per hour.] ... Look, I'm sorry.

[Also unexpected. It takes her aback, and for a second Nami just stares back at him thoughtfully. That's...well. There's something she has to ask first.]

What part are you sorry for?

[He's just full of surprises today, isn't he?

Ragna spends a moment considering what he was really sorry for. He was only a little bit sorry for barging into their house and threatening Sanji over something out of his control. Sure, he feels bad for doing that, but at the same time he really felt a little justified. Just a bit.]

The things I said. Everything I said. [Does he sound sincere enough?] All that crap... I didn't mean any of it. [Sanji being at fault, the empty threats, and... the time comment.]

[Okay. That actually does make her feel better. But she's sort of in a bad mood and she can't help but troll him a little.] Are we talking about everything you said before or after you came back to your senses?

[And Ragna isn't realizing that it's trolling and is taking that more than seriously.] You know I mean after. [Hopefully.]

[No sputtering, total seriousness... there's a pause, then Nami sighs. And gives him a faint smile.]

It was a rough morning for everyone. Don't worry about it.

Edited 2012-03-03 03:09 (UTC)

[Ragna doesn't reply right away. He's trying to decipher that and see if that should be that, but Ragna should honestly know better than that. Nothing is ever this easy. It shouldn't have to be.]

It was more than just a rough morning. Telling me not to worry about it isn't gonna do jack.

[You just have to go and complicate things, don't you, Ragna.]

Are you talking about the conversation or about Noel?

[For once?] The conversation. [It's actually bothering him, what he said. It could be what happened during the experiment that is helping fuel this feeling, but it's just there.]

... But what happened to Noel isn't helping me feel at ease, either.

[She...really doesn't know what to say to that. Apart from that sinking feeling of realisation that Noel's not back yet, but that's a separate issue. Nami just sighs, flopping back out of sight of the journal window. But she does speak again after a moment.]

Don't suppose you've talked to Sanji-kun at all.

[He doesn't answer right away, kind of like how she took a little pause. His wasn't accompanied by a flop or anything of the sort, though. Just silence and a somewhat guilt look on his expression, not that he's privy to showing it right now.]

Did you think I would before talking to you? [That's a resounding no. Ragna isn't even sure if he should do it at all.]

[Ask a stupid question, Nami...]

No.

[And then there is an awkward silence. Because. She's really not sure what to say. Experiments suck, shit happens doesn't sound particularly helpful.]

[Ragna doesn't know to say either, and he's perfectly fine with the silence. But he figures that if he was going to go through with this apology (which he isn't great at doing in the first place as Nami should know), he might as well go the full hundred yards.]

... You want me to?

I think that's up to you. [They didn't get on well to begin with, did they? It's easier if the people who care about Noel aren't half-minded to kill each other, but...

She hesitates. And changes the subject, filtering this conversation.]

Did Noel ever tell you about the request I made of Catherine?

[Suddenly, a filter. And the subject changes to something that Ragna isn't the most privy about.]

... I don't remember. What did you do? [What exactly is she talking about?]

Just...

You know what happened with Noel last time they did this.

I made a request for a failsafe.

[She's uncomfortable saying this without Noel's permission. But Noel isn't here, and this is Ragna, and that means she really should say something for everyone's peace of mind.

And despite that, it's a less awkward subject than Ragna and their week together.]

[This... was something Ragna didn't know. He wished he knew this already, and he wished he knew it sooner. But he can't complain about lack of information told to him, especially not to Nami. He's guilty of it himself, but he might have to have a word with Noel later. Maybe. When she gets back.]

A... failsafe? What do you mean? [Ragna knows what she means. He just wants validation.]

Nothing sinister. [Her eyes close. So tired. But now she thinks of it, with Terumi wandering around Luceti this has become even more important to know. Just in case.] You'll remember the first time I took Noel to the Malnosso when she... when Terumi got to her, way back when. I just asked Catherine how he got her back to normal.

Bottom line, he's set up a specific Shift in one of the battledome rooms. If Noel enters as anyone other than Noel, it'll Shift her straight back to normal.

[That's... This is amazing news to hear. And it's so simple to accomplish that they don't need anymore Malnosso intervention to fix. He doesn't even need Nami's help. He just needs to lure her to the battle dome.

This is just great news to hear, you can hear the relief in his voice.] ... Go figure. You went and set up something like this, and I didn't even think of it. That's great to hear, you have no idea.

Edited 2012-03-11 01:50 (UTC)

You wouldn't have thought of it because you didn't have the specific context. [That's actually a brusque sort of comfort; if Nami hadn't seen first hand the Malnosso work to fix Noel, this sort of solution would never have occurred to her either.]

But I'm glad it helps. Just thought you should know, you know, if...

[Well. Worst case scenarios and all.]

... Yeah. [He knows where that "if" was going. He doesn't need it to be said, because with how long Noel has already been gone, he's been considering it everyday he wakes up. It's like a recurring nightmare he keeps waking up to, but now there's a light at the end of the tunnel.

Really, Nami. You amaze him with that kind of forethought.] This just makes it easier to handle. [He's not sure what else he can say.]

[It's an awesome subject change, isn't it? But she's rounding back to the first point.]

We're friends, right? [That's all there is to it. Right?]

[...]

Yeah. We are. [That really is all there is to it. He's really thankful, Nami.]

Then.

Let's just put it down to one more reason to kick the Malnosso's ass. I'm not holding either of us responsible for something we couldn't control.

Sounds good enough to me. [Even though he feels like that whole debacle with Noel was under his control, and still his fault.] ... Thanks.

[Private]

mikangirl - 2012-03-16 01:35 (UTC) - Expand

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only