voicetesting...

[boings]

Ehhhh? Can Ami-chan really come out to play now? [ it's about damn time, mun. ] I'm so excited to get the chance to see everyone~! I hope they're all here, like Takasu-kun [ only ] and Yuusaku [ maybe ] and Kushieda-san [ pass ] and, yes, even Aisaka-san! [ barf ] I know Aisaka-san probably wouldn't want to see me since she's always so angry and violent... but I'm sure that's only because she doesn't really have many friends, so she's just not used to acting like a decent human being around people~!

[ she laughs lightly. ]

She just needs a lot of help, that's all. Of course Ami-chan will try and offer her own, but everyone's always telling Ami-chan that she tries too hard to help others all the time, so Ami-chan isn't sure she'll be able to do much good... Maybe Aisaka-san needs a little more!

[ delicately, she places a finger to her chin in thought. ]

Mmm mmm, that's right! Maybe Aisaka-san needs professional help~!

Comments

OK THAT IS SATISFACTORY.

[taigabite]

[It hasn't been quite as long for her, but the conditions she's had to live in lately made it seem much longer. And now that he's right in front of her, her eyes start to burn and her lips quiver just a tiny bit.]

I missed you, too. Ryuuji-

[He wanted a hug? Well he's getting one, the sort of hug that's got plenty of force behind it.]

[notdelinquent]

[ Ryuuji plants his feet firm on the ground as he returns the hug, arms enveloping the small frame of her body and soaking up every bit of her presence, a sense of relief washing over him almost immediately. But he can't relax yet, at least not completely. It may have been brief, but he had caught a glimpse of her eyes just as she moved in to bury her face into his center, initiating their embrace, and now he's worried. So pulling back enough to look down at her face properly, he begins to survey her. ]

Are you okay? Your mun hasn't placed you in a dangerous place like I was telling Kawashima about, have they?

[taigabite]

[The fact of the matter is, she doesn't want to let go, and she really doesn't want him to study her face too closely because she feels like an idiot for crying- but if there's anyone she can cry in front of without judgement, it's Ryuuji. (Or anyone in the family they'd cobbled together, really, any of the pieces of the puzzle that made up the life they'd woven around themselves.) Still, she wipes her eyes with the back of her sleeve and sighs.]

Of course she did, she's a complete brat. [SNIFF.] Haven. It's been...a month? [And a watery, irritated laugh.] There's no calendars...no writing there at all so I have no idea.

[notdelinquent]

[ He knows how difficult it can be for Taiga to open up, has been witness to the effort she puts into the appearance of someone much stronger than what she truly is; but at the same time, he's watched as her walls have crumbled before him on countless occasions. She has allowed him to see her at her most high and down, when she is the both most vulnerable and beautiful thing he has ever seen. The renown "Palmtop Taiga" most people hear about is but only Taiga to him, and yet that is somehow a far more lethal force against him -- he sees the pained look on her face and it causes a pain in his heart that no punch or kick served by the petite girl could ever come close to. It almost hurts, loving her this much. ]

[ He gives her a moment to compose, idly taking the pad of his thumb and running it across her flushed cheek, wiping away at the wet trail left behind from a tear. He feels somewhat a failure, knowing that his girlfriend has been having such a troubling time and, he, unable to be there for her. ]

What kind of place is it? [ A pause. ] Have you been eating properly?

[taigabite]

[It's not like she blames him. When she first arrived in Haven, it was particularly hard being alone, and sometimes the ache of missing him is so acute that it threatens to overtake her, but then she remembers the promise she made. That she wouldn't run away, that she would confront her feelings head-on and keep pushing forward no matter what obstacles stood in her path. Every day brings new hardships and every day she has to remind herself that somewhere, the source of her strength is waiting for her, and that has to be enough.

It has to.

She catches his hand and presses a kiss against his palm. Draws in a shaky breath.]

Our food comes from cans. We forage for them in the ruins like a pack of wild beasts. Our only source of water is a well- except when it's sealed off. Then we've got nothing until the hyenas in charge decide to be generous and allow us access again. [And then there's the psychological torment. The monsters in the tunnels. The chaos that's currently sweeping through their already beleaguered city.She gives him a wry smile.] It's not a nice place at all.

[notdelinquent]

[ It takes everything in his power not to shudder at the thought of Taiga's current living conditions; it makes his stomach churn knowing she is eating processed or canned food rather than his freshly cooked meals! That being the minor offense compared to the rest of the horrors, of course, but it digs at his nurturing tendencies like crazy, okay?!

When Taiga mentions having to live in a company where acting primal is the general means for survival, Ryuuji tells himself not to worry because he knows she is capable of handling herself when pitted against others (she could take down someone three times her size with ease), but his mind won't stop tormenting him. He's so caught up in his own thoughts of worry, in fact, that he doesn't even notice when soft lips brush against the skin of his hand. ]

I'm sorry.

[ For not being there , he leaves out, perhaps on purpose. ]

[taigabite]

[HER KINGDOM FOR A LUNCH MADE BY RYUUJI. Sometimes people bring back novelties from Haven North, but...with everything that's going on now, those left in Haven proper or traveling through the bombed out tunnels beneath the apartment buildings will be lucky to get a can of creamed corn a day.

(And never mind that a fair number of the people she's met have abilities that could come straight out of a comic book. She knows Superboy, dude. And a huge scarab-man straight from a nightmare. Sure, she's no pushover but she's definitely at a disadvantage power-wise.)

Still, she can tell he's distracted and it hurts her to cause him pain.]

Don't be. I'm a tiger, remember? Knock me down and I'll surge right back up.