[open] if you could only see

[exsoldier]

Who: Zack & YOU, plus some closed prompts!
When: Throughout Aguril
Where: Throughout Aefenglom and the Wilde
What: August catch-all: quests, Zack going feral, red string spell stuff
Warnings: Violence due to going feral

[ prompts are in the comments below! if you want a specific starter for anything, you can pm me or hit me up over at demonology! ]

Comments

[exsoldier]

[ While Zack can sort of understand Kaede's concerns, given that this is an awkward thing to have to tell someone who has no way of remembering, he's not sure why she'd thought his reaction would be anger. He shakes his head, causing hair and feathers alike to brush lightly across his shoulders. ]

How can I be mad about something I did? I may not remember it, but...

[ He could be upset that she'd kept it from him, but he can understand that choice too. It's not the sort of information you wanted to dump on someone out of nowhere.

The only thing that really has him anxious is not knowing what she might expect, going forward. If she's got a bond now, she probably doesn't intend for them to be "together" again, does she? ]

I'd still like to be your friend. If that's okay.

[ Anything more than that, he can't promise. He has no idea how things might turn out, but he isn't going to force something just because it was how it had been before. He just hopes that won't disappoint Kaede. ]

[long_live_the_queen]

[While a little color remains in Kaede's face, her ears came up and her shoulders straighten out of their unhappy little huddle. She flexed her hand where the thread used to be, and found no resistance from the tether that used to be there.]

Yes. That's enough.

[She doesn't smile, but the stressed lines pulling her mouth into an anxious grimace fade. Even after spending so long alone, absent friends still left ragged holes in her chest. Being able to patch one up again was an almost palpable relief, like pulling a thorn out of her foot.]

Is there anyone else you need to find?

[exsoldier]

[ That's enough. While Kaede may not seem outwardly exuberant, Zack can still piece together that she's relieved, if nothing else. He nods, also glad to have any unpleasantness out of the way. If this means that there will no longer be a strange strained feeling between them, then that's something worth celebrating.

At her question, he glances down at his hands but they're mercifully free of any red strings. He shakes his head. ]

No, guess I got lucky and only had the two. [ Which means that things can go back to what passes for "normal" in this place. ]

So, hey! [ He lifts his hand up in the air and then extends it toward her. ] High-five. We're free.

[long_live_the_queen]

[Kaede's ears twitched back when Zack raised his hand, but he didn't clout her shoulder, or...anything, just left his hand hanging there. What was he...?

--oh. Right. Uh. Shit, hold on.

Kaede's stretched arms made reaching easy, even with how tall Zack was. And he was leaning it forwards, so the red-feathered Chimera didn't even need to stand on her toes more than usual.

She didn't hit his hand very hard, somewhere between a tentative slap and half of an attempt to curl her fingers that she immediately rethought. And there was a noticeable pause beforehand.

Look, she's not good at this.]

[exsoldier]

[ That may or may not have been the most awkward high-five that Zack's ever been on the receiving end of, but he manages to hold back on actually saying that. Mainly because he doesn't want to make Kaede feel bad when they just reached an understanding of sorts.

It's something they can work on, if nothing else.

He reaches out to set his hand on the top of her head, between her ears and antlers, and quickly ruffle her hair. ]

All right, I should get going, but... don't be a stranger, all right?

[ They've passed the hurdle of what she wasn't telling him, and now they can move forward with a clean slate of sorts. ]

[long_live_the_queen]

[That...seemed to go well? Maybe? It sure felt horribly awkward, but Zack didn't seem deterred in the slightest. And it made that weight dragging on her shoulders stay gone.

His hand coming down on Kaede's head was a separate thing, though. And at first, she froze stiff, willing herself not to move. Kaede's eyes pinched closed, but only for a moment. One peeked open, to see what he was up to--

Oh. This wasn't so bad. This wasn't so bad at all. Kaede's hair was very soft, and some of the feathers in her hair started fluffing up under Zack's palm. Her ears even did a little flick-flop before settling back like the feathers did.]

Yeah. I won't.