136. Tenacity

[corrinesbell]

[As with the others, Sheena's returned from her mission to a crisp February day. Climbing out of the tunnel and looking at the plaza, she decides this is the place she's going to be for the next little while.

Carrying this out by sitting down immediately beside the fountain and resting her head against its freezing stone surface is the best plan she can come up with. It will be hours later before she writes anything down in her journal, home by then and unable to sleep.]

I still hate the jungle.

[[ooc: Backdated, of course, to yesterday when the mission ended. Finding her at the fountain is totally cool.]]

Comments

[vulcanblazer]

[Adell will happen by the fountain during the cold day, seeing Sheena resting up against it, looking... presumably exhausted, among other things. He'll come closer and kneel down next to her.]

Hey, you okay, Sheena?

[He can't really mask the concern in his voice. He knows she's physically fine, not wounded or anything, but it's not really like her to do something like this.]

[Action]

[ombra_lira]

[Off on his way shopping, so he spots Sheena leaned up against the fountain. So he takes a detour and sits down next to her.]

Welcome back. Are you cold?

[corrinesbell]

Just great. Haven't been better in days.

[The jungle is too hot. ...The frozen winter is too cold but right now it's the best thing since the microwave, okay? Especially against her face like this.]

[Action]

[corrinesbell]

Absolutely.

[This is the goal. For now. She even decided to forgo the coat.]

[Action]

[ombra_lira]

[Sounds like she planned it to be that way. Okay.] All right, but if you get too cold, tell me.

[vulcanblazer]

[...Yeah, that's. Well, he'll sit down next to her, wordlessly at first. He breaks the silence after a moment.]

...It was that bad, huh?

[corrinesbell]

I hate that place. Nothing really bad happened but I still hate it.

[Action]

[corrinesbell]

I think it'll be days before I get too cold. But I'll definitely tell you when it happens.

[She's tired - exhausted - and maybe not making very much sense.]

[Action]

[ombra_lira]

[Yeah, he can tell. Quietly he puts his arm around her shoulders. He can't have her getting too cold.] Do you want to go home?

[Action]

[corrinesbell]

Yeah. Yeah, in a minute. Right now I just wanna sit here.

Anything...big happen?

[vulcanblazer]

...The bad memories?

[Action]

[ombra_lira]

Nothing comes to mind.

[corrinesbell]

It's just...the whole feeling, I dunno.

[Now that she thinks about it, though.] It's the kinda thing I used to feel here - like I could always be in danger. Every minute.

[Action]

[corrinesbell]

I guess that's good. Better than something awful happening, right?

[vulcanblazer]

...Always watching your shoulder, being on constant alert, never knowing when some son of a bitch would try to put a knife in your back, or an arrow in your leg, or a bullet in your head. The kind of feeling that all it takes is one misstep and it could be over. And sometimes even if you've done everything right.

[...In a sense, it's something Adell himself has felt too. More so in the Netherworld and his earliest months in the village.]

...Hate that feeling too.

But I'm glad you're back. And more importantly, that you're all in one piece.

[Action]

[fortunefail]

[It's already been quite the week for running into fellow Aselians for Yuan, but that's not stopping him from approaching Sheena when he spots her. In fact, with what's been going on recently, it's all the more reason to speak to her.]

Sheena.

[Action]

[ombra_lira]

Indeed. [He glances around.] What about you? Is everything all right?

[Action]

[corrinesbell]

[This fountain is the coldest pillow she has ever had and it is wonderful.

...That's Yuan's voice.]

Hey, Yuan. ...This is always gonna happen, isn't it.

[corrinesbell]

Yeah, all that stuff.

Oh, if I came back in more than one piece there's a lotta people who'd just kill me for being so reckless, I think. I'm okay.

[Action]

[corrinesbell]

Yeah. I'm sore and tired but I think that's it.

[Action]

[fortunefail]

[He sinks to a crouching position in front of Sheena.]

Are you hurt?

[Action]

[corrinesbell]

[Shaking her head as much as its position against icy stone will allow.]

Not anything big. I'm just sore.

[Action]

[fortunefail]

Did something happen?

[Nobody told him about that mission Sheena was on. It could just as well have been a Malnosso kidnapping.]

[Action]

[corrinesbell]

I was on a mission in the jungle. [With people she didn't entirely know she could trust - which didn't make it easy.]

[Action]

[fortunefail]

[He's silent for a moment, giving a bit of a nod.]

How long were you away?