2015-01-04 - Best Friends Forever
| Title: Best Friends Forever | |
|---|---|
| Summary: After the fight against Jaren, Lera speeds Yukimi off to safety. | |
| Who: | |
| Where: Lera's dorm room, Infinity Institute. | |
| OOC - IC Date: 01-04-2014 - 05-04-2014 | |
After the battle with Jaren, Lera decided to bring the unconscious Lux Lapsa back to her dormitory. It was safe, she reasoned, and it was somewhere that Yukimi (and for that matter, Himiko) knew. She dropped her off in the dorm room's futon, and left the eponymous green jacket of her Barrier Jacket hanging from a hook on the wall. That left her wearing the solid white shirt, without sleeves, and form-fitting black pants of her outfit. She hadn't transformed back to her clothing, yet, for safety's sake.
The problem with flying there, while quicker, was that it was obvious. If Jaren wasn't down for the count for awhile, he might have decided to follow. She might later realize that is unlikely, but she couldn't quell the panic of seeing her friend hurt entirely.
She is sitting down on the desk chair, which she pulled out to be closer to the futonn. She has a glass of ice water in her hand, in an effort to try to calm her nerves. It isn't working.
A mixture of worry, panic, and guilt rush through her. She doesn't know what Yukimi will say, when she wakes up, and she remembers that sick feeling when she saw her fall down. She has to worry, too, if the injury was worse than it looked somehow. What does she do, then?
Partway through the trip, Lux Lapsa's transformation dissolved, leaving behind only Yukimi. This can largely be considered a good thing, given that it'll be much easier to get an unconscious civilian into a dorm without questions being asked. Better news is when she actually gets Yukimi back; if Lera's observant enough, she'll realize that Yukimi is not so much unconscious as asleep. Perhaps it was Himiko's doing... Either way, a while after Yukimi's set up on the futon, she stirs, yawns, and then slowly sits up and stretches.
"Morning, Mom," she mumbles, blinking blearily around the room. After several seconds, she squints at Lera.
"You're not Mom," she says slowly, as if uncovering a major revelation. "what'm I doing...?" She blinks a few more times, then rubs her head. "...Oh. I guess that fight didn't go so hot, huh, Lera-chan?"
The transformation kept Lera from trying to sneak in from the roof. She had to do it once before, when Fate was hurt and she didn't know where to take her. She looks up with surprise, though, when Yukimi speaks; she had been worried enough to not be sure that the other girl was sleeping. She wasn't sure that she knew the difference between someone being asleep and someone being out cold. Her eyes widen, before she smiles.
"Yukimi! You're up! Do you want water? Here, have water--" She thrusts the glass of icewater that she was drinking in her friend's direction, before she pauses. "--I-I mean, um, I can get you fresh water or something, whatever you want!"
Her relieved rambling trails off, and she looks down at her feet.
"I managed to run him off," she says, her voice more subdued. It didn't go well; it wasn't a victory. Her fingers tighten around the water glass nervously. "I just got a lucky hit, though. If I hadn't..."
"Oh, sure!" Yukimi reaches for the glass of ice water until Lera lets on that she'd been drinking from it--something that Yukimi hadn't noticed or realized, as still groggy as she is. "Oh, uh... Well, anything's fine... Maybe some soda would be good?"
Having no memory of the fight after Jaren clonked her on the head--on account of she was no longer participating in that fight after that point, Himiko was--it makes it difficult for her to take it as seriously as Lera clearly is. "My head hurts way less than you'd think it would," she offers. "I guess the halo protected me? Oof, though," she adds, rubbing her crown. "Maybe some painkillers would be a good idea... Oh, /wow/, yeah, that's some waves of pain coming in," she concludes, going pale.
Lera talks of lucky hits and running villains off. As the reality of the situation sinks in, Yukimi grows continually more sober. "Oh, well... At least you managed to beat him, haha, right? I guess I wasn't that much use..."
"Oh, I have painkillers! Traditional American painkillers, too!" Lera stammers immediately. She nods and stands up, walking into the tiny kitchen area. She plucks a bottle of painkiller tablets from the cabinet, and then a cold bottle of soda from the fridge. The pale look in her friend's face has her worried; the sober tone of voice adds to that. She slows, a little, as she walks back from the kitchen and looks to the side.
"You did great, Yukimi," she says. Her voice is quiet instead of the usual energetic, even slightly frantic tone she has when she gets worked up. She sounds somber, now. "I could barely hit the asshole, and you were giving him everything you had and then some. I should have had it together, so I could have done more more. Then, maybe..."
She extends the soda and medicine bottle out for Yukimi to take, but her eyes don't quite meet the other girl's. "I'm sorry."
Yukimi laughs--traditional American anything is a pretty good bet on making her laugh--and although she winces afterwards, she accepts the painkillers and soda and takes them in silence. It gives her time to think about what Lera has to say, and also get the pounding in her head under control. Himiko's still here, too, so everything checks out, but... It's weird. She freaked out way more when she lost a fight to that hammer girl. But then, that was Himiko's doing, wasn't it? When she thinks back to how much of a mess they were when they weren't fighting together... then no wonder things went back when she got knocked out.
"Hey, it's okay," she reassures her. "You beat him up in the end, right? And I'm glad you were worried about me. I mean, I'm not glad that you were worried, I don't want you to be worried, but I'm glad you cared. You know?"
Another pause. "...I guess we'll need more people to fight him next time. But then, he kinda jumped us, huh...?"
"I guess I did beat him up a little," Lera admits with a small smile that starts to grow. "I can't get too confident about it--um, I kind of surprised him because he just assumed it took me out too." Maybe, though, that was something: he was arrogant, and they could probably use that. She files it away as a thought for later. He had always been arrogant, really; he didn't get along with her mother for a reason.
"We can get more people," she agrees. "We're going to need to be careful, because I think he'll jump us if he sees an opportunity, you know? But he's after Ren's Device, and if we can find out why, and who he's working for... that'll help us."
It would be dangerous, though. This scene could play out again -- and it could involve more people, like Ren, Maron, Endo, and Nanoha. The significance of their help wasn't lost on her; some of it came from the danger that Jaren posed, already, to others.
"Hey, Yukimi..." Lera's grin turns back into a small smile. "...thanks. I didn't think that when I came to this planet that I'd ever make a friend like you, who'd help me with something crazy like this--" She realizes she is rambling. Her cheeks redden with embarrassment, then. "--and that's why I felt bad that you got hurt, I mean, not the only reason, that would be kinda selfish, but it was part of it, since you're my cool Earth friend, and... and you know."
"He was a stupid jerkface. He totally thought he was better than us," Yukimi grumps. The painkillers are already working, thankfully; she can feel the pounding start to ease away. She takes another sip of her soda and looks over at her friend. "Himiko says he got upset when he thought he was being judged. Oh, and he said he was the only one allowed to judge him. Oh, which reminds me! He *was* working for somebody, wasn't he? I mean, he said so himself!"
More people. They already have Ren and Endo, right? Yukimi's so-so on Endo, but Ren seemed okay. And maybe Jaren underestimated them, and so didn't use his full power. The idea is worrying. Yukimi decides it'd be better not to burden Lera with that thought. She's already got so much to worry about.
"Hm?" She lifts her head, tuning back into the conversation when Lera says her name. What follows is enough to make her cheeks turn back and a slightly doofy smile spread across her lips. "Really? I'm your cool Earth friend?" She giggles in reserved delight at the thought. "Wow! Nobody's ever called me their cool Earth friend before!" A beat. "...If it makes you feel better, you're totally my cool alien friend. I always have a lot of fun with you, and I'm always happy to help you out." She rubs the back of her head. "It makes me feel good if I *can* help you out."
Lera doesn't stop blushing after that. Her fingers tug on the braid hanging from the side of her head. "I always wanted to be someone's cool alien friend!" She pauses, then she laughs nervously. "I-I mean, I was trying to keep my identity secret, so I guess more like someone's secret cool alien friend? Um--" She realizes, after saying it, that she isn't making sense. She laughs again, fingers playing with her braid, until they slide down it.
"You've helped a lot," she says, finally. "Not just with finding Jaren and that he did it, but you listened, too. If you ever need help, um, y'know, I'm your girl!"
It comes out squeakier than she intended, thanks to nervousness. But sincere, nonetheless. She looks slightly embarrassed, though, as she realizes she neglected to answer the question about the situation they found themselves in. "Oh, yeah--it's, um, it's a shadowy figure." She skips a beat. "Like the recording device didn't capture who he was talking to. But it must be important, shadowy figures are always important!"
"Nonono, being a secret cool alien friend makes it /even better/!" Yukimi reassures her, setting her soda can to one side and splaying out her fingers. "I mean, it comes with being a superheroine and magical girl! You can't just let people know who you are, it'd just be--it just wouldn't be right! Secrets are just a part of that." She nods firmly, then hesitates. "...oh, but only for people who might get hurt if they get caught up in it! You should, you know, be honest to your friends and stuff..."
She trails off, then smiles a little as Lera speaks. "...thanks. I'm really happy to hear that I made a difference." And the shadowy figure-- Yukimi grimaces. "*Now* I remember that. Ugh, it's been so long since I saw that video, I completely forgot all about that. Well, whatever. You're right, it must be important, but it doesn't change the fact that Jaren's a giant asshole and we need to take him down before he hurts anyone else!"
She sighs. "Too bad we couldn't have... you know, planted a tracking device or spell or something on him, though. That'd make this *so* much easier."
"Really? That makes it cooler? It is kind of mysterious!" Lera replies with a sheepish grin. She raises a finger up by her head, eyelids half-lowered, and she nods along while she talks. "I always wanted to be an amazing mage adventurer who travels to other worlds and does exciting thing and flirts with cute people and help out a lot, so it's like I'm doing that and I have an amazing secret, but--oh!"
Her finger droops a little. Right, she must be honest when it matters. "Yeah," she says, briefly guilty. "Honesty is important. So are tracking devices. If we had one, then we could have--"
And then the finger shoots straight up into the air, and her eyes light up. "Wait, my mom's this self-described brilliant engineer who makes Devices all the time!" she says, as if she just remembered it (and in an immediate sense, she just did). "If I ask nice, she could make something, I bet!"
"That does sound pretty great," Yukimi says wistfully. How amazing would it be to travel to brand new worlds and see new places and people and get into all sorts of crazy adventures? ...Pretty lonely, actually, she realizes as she looks back at Lera. It sounds great on paper, but it's not all fun and games, is it? The proof is right in front of her.
Something to think about.
"Oh!" she utters, eyes lighting up. "Oh man, that's right! That's a great idea, Lera! Oh--" Her lips purse. "But will your mom do that? You know, without giving you any hassle?"
It is lonely. While Lera has experienced it firsthand, sometimes she forgets that. Earth feels like home now; the idea of being pulled away from it is too immediately awful for her to consider that she might have to choose to leave it, to pursue that kind of life. She doesn't think about that often.
Yet.
"U-umm, well..."
Lera pokes her fingertips together sheepishly, eyes looking everywhere but at her friend. "She kind of always gives me hassle, but it might help, right?" she asks. "So she couldn't give me that much hassle. I think. I hope." She sighs and hangs her head down. "She'll probably find some way to give some hassle."
She skips a beat, while she considers for a second. It will take a few days to be able to get a good uplink with the communications system she has here. "If--um, if it's not a lot of trouble... you could be there when I call her," she says. "It might help her see that Jaren's causing trouble on Earth, and um--I kinda want her to meet you anyways? Since, y'know, best friends forever, like they say in America! So it'd be like eating dinner at my house except that Mom would be on a video screen."
Lera did all the cooking anyways.
"I guess," Yukimi says, a touch reluctantly. She hasn't forgotten that text she read. It wasn't her business, but still... she doesn't like the way Lera's mom talks to her. ...Even if she later sent her a nicer text. /Still/. On the other hand, being introduced to her mom--maybe it's all a misunderstanding on her part? It'd be good to see a better side of her. Yukimi perks up at the thought.
"Yeah, that sounds good," she replies. "Just let me know when, and I'll be there!"
Best friends forever. She beams at the phrase.
