week four | mingle

[showhost]

Welcome to your fourth and final week, teens!

There aren’t many changes around the house today: it seems everyone is dialed in on what needs to be done and the upcoming week. Everything that was on the fritz last week is now back to normal, aside from the Dress Up Your Blorbo curse. You can still do that at will.

Anyway, it's fine that all seems quiet.

There’s plenty going on anyway this week.

Dates | Embrace Space | Property Damage, etc | CR Event | A Thing
Truth Booth Voting | Match Ceremony Submissions

Comments

[hgeegh]

[What is she saying?

Sanji's hand lingers around the handle in a tight grip. His gaze, though trained on the lever, is unseeing. Something warm trickles from his nose as he swallows down the sudden lump in his throat. His hand grips hers, more out of reflex than a conscious decision on his part, while his lips tremble in tandem with his pounding heart.

All throughout his early childhood, only a single person had ever been happy to see him. Years of trying hadn't changed that; if anything, trying and failing had made it worse. Nothing he does now will change that fact. But Asa . . .

It does change something, because the part of him he desperately wishes to believe is dead quavers at the unspoken love in her words. It changes everything when his heart aches from gratitude insofar that he almost collapses then and there. He clutches the handle and her hand like precious lifelines, desperate to stay afloat and put this behind him, but all he manages is a choked sound as he continues to stand before the door in a stupor.]

[warhawks]

[ Oh... now she feels guilty for making him freeze up. But rather than put him on the spot with an are you alright or is everything okay — both of which she already knows the answer to — Asa stands on her tip-toes to give him a quick peck on the cheek; soft and feather-light. ]

C'mon, pirate. You've got this.

[hgeegh]

[An explosive breath escapes him at the fleeting kiss, cheeks flaring. He heaves as he works through the torrent of emotions welling up inside him, and then he yanks the door open.

Light from the house floods the darkened staircase, warm and bracing unlike the cold basement air. Sanji's hand squeezes around Asa's before he leads them through the threshold and into the kitchen, where he exhales heavily. The foreboding door behind them has already vanished, tucked out of sight and mind as if it had never been.]

Phew! We made it . . .

[warhawks]

What a relief...

[ She braces herself against the counter, still unconsciously holding onto Sanji's hand. Normally she'd try to make herself feel better by thinking of ways she totally could have handled it alone, actually, but for once, she doesn't even try. ]

Thanks for coming to get me. I really owe you one.

[hgeegh]

["That place was never meant for you," he wants to say. After what he just said to her at the door, however, it would be hypocritical of him to bring that place back up.]

No, you don't have to thank me . . .

[If anything, he ought to beg her forgiveness for putting her through all of that. He takes a tentative step around, facing her halfway with his heart still pounding.]

Do . . . do you want something to drink?

[warhawks]

Sure... [ She pointedly waits until he's not looking at her anymore to add: ] Um, but what you said about showing me what else you can do... n-not in front of the cameras.

[ wow ]

[hgeegh]

[Smiling, he releases his hand to start on that drink. He pauses in the middle of reaching into the pantry and looks over his shoulder at her stipulation.]

No? That's going to be difficult . . . Then we can't use the garden.