[A long, long pause--long enough that it seems as though maybe this entry was just an accidental touch.
But then Asuka speaks.]
Hito's gone.
[He's not looking at his journal. He's looking at the empty room around him. When Hito hadn't responded to any amount of nagging or cajoling or pounding on his door, he'd set his expression and teleported
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...Asuka?
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[Whoa. It's like he just ran into a wall of cushioning or something. The sound of her voice immediately brings him back from what's been mounting anger at the situation--it doesn't -fix- things, but the vague danger that's been coloring his voice while talking to Sollux, or Ryn, or Equius is missing here.
He sounds tired, albeit a touch more cheerful than in his original post.]
Aara.
Haven't seen you around in a little while. You been holding up all right through everything that's gone down?
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[Some part of her had worried Asuka had vanished. That he was gone forever. Or maybe--maybe even dead. And he hadn't come back. So hearing his voice fills her with so much relief she doesn't know whether to laugh or cry. She almost laughs--then almost cries. Well. This won't do her any good.
It takes her a moment before she is able to compose herself enough to respond.]
I... am well.
[There is a small bit of confusion at that, but she is healthy, and better than she had been in comparison to other moments here at the Keep.]
How are you? No, I imagine I must know, if Hito is--
Asuka, I am so sorry.
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[Why is it that hearing it from her is so much different than anybody else saying it?]
It's... all right.
[It's not all right.]
Before we came here, we... there were times we'd been separated before. But there was always something to prompt it.
[Like diving into a pillar of light with no idea where it went while chasing after a madman who'd just thrown a knife at him. A perfectly reasonable reason!]
But this is different. I don't know how, but it just feels different. You know what I mean?
Something happened.
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Oh, Asuka. We'll find him! If not here, then somewhere else! I promise you I will help you find Hito.
[A sigh.]
I know. This place is nothing if not different.
[A pause.]
Would you--that is to say--are you adverse to company?
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[He doesn't respond to the guarantees that they'll find Hito. It's odd, but it feels like something he should do himself. Maybe because he's tried to be such a pillar of strength for Hito in the past, it feels like cheating to accept help? He doesn't know.]
Just give me a moment to get out of his room first. 't'd be kinda weird to meet up in there.
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Very well. You are welcome to my room, if that is your wish, though I will gladly meet you wherever.
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[He's expecting the pang of guilt he feels when he leaves the room. Part of him feels like he shouldn't be, because surely it's just like every other time they've wound up apart, but at the same time... there's something more final about this.
And that's shaken him.
It doesn't take him long to make it down to Aara's room. Knock-knock?]
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Asuka?
[She swings the door open, wide eyes taking in his familiar form, and her lungs feel oddly restricted for a moment. Her grasp on the door tightens.]
Please come in.
[Biting her lip, Aara's brows knit together with a worried frown.]
I have missed you.
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He's used to human contact--at home he and his friends were constantly draping over each other's shoulders or (in Cel's case, mostly) sitting on laps or (in his case) leaping onto Az's shoulders or anything else they might have imagined. He's grown accustomed now to doing the same to Hito, to ruffling the other boy's hair all the time, to knocking him off-balance and laughing when the kid grumbled about it... but outside of Desuya, that's an anomaly. It doesn't seem like people -touch- each other all that often.
All he wants right now is human contact. He needs it.
And he trusts Aara enough to go to her for it.]
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She would be here for him. She would give him whatever it was he needed. She would keep him company and be sure he rested and when he came out of his stupor he did not find himself alone.
Her grip tightens for a moment, then gentles once more as she waits for a sign from Asuka. Any sign to show her what she could do to help take his pain away--pain that caused an echoing pang in her own chest.]
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...thanks.
[A sheepish grin comes to his face as he rubs at the back of his neck.]
Didn't mean to just--fall on you like that.
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You may always seek me out whenever you need, Asuka.
[His sheepish movements have her blushing and ducking her head, the breath catching in her throat for a moment at his words as her blush intensifies.]
You--you didn't fall...
[Ducking her head even lower at the words she couldn't seem to think of, Aara hopes Asuka doesn't notice how red she was.]
I... like hugging you. [Embarrassed, Aara realizes too late how that might sound and turns her body to one side, hoping to hide for a moment. He had been hurting. She'd gladly hold onto him any time he was hurting, if he would allow it. She doesn't want to bring it up again only to remind him of his pain, however. Taking a deep breath, Aara straightened her shoulders and turned back towards Asuka once more. Gathering her courage, she lifted her gaze to ( ... )
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