ArchivedLogs:Wished For

Wished For
Dramatis Personae Ivan, Rasa
In Absentia	2014-05-14 Aftermath from Perfectus
Location <XS> Front Gate
Situated along the long sweep of Greymalkin Lane, offset from the quiet hamlet of Salem Center, the Xavier Institute is a prestigious boarding school for young minds. Set on more than forty acres of carefully cultivated land, the mansion is not visible from the road. What can be seen are the rolling hills, forested grounds, and the sparkling blue of the large clear lake. The drive is gated, a small brick enclosure housing the security guard on duty to ID and vet visitors to the school. The morning is gray and only moderately humid. The cool temperatures are perfect for early morning exercise, inspiring students that run to run and those who free run to expand their territory. Rasa doesn't normally run anywhere near the gate, the one place where people from the outside might be able to catch a glimpse of the abnormally colored student, but today, ze is closer than ze would normally be, running on the side of the lake that is closer to the entrance to the school, moving into the trees for a bit of less familiar territory. Ze is wearing close fitting athletic gear, chosen specifically to not get caught on tree branches as ze climbs, runs, and leaps from tree to tree, using the different mutations ze has picked up from friends. Hir body is sapphire blue, furry, and almost scaley, the soft velveteen hairs appearing between the sections of chitin-esque material. Hir tail catches on a branch as ze catches hir breath for a moment, grabbing a small water pouch from a pocket on hir bright blue running shorts. After a sip, ze uses the belly of navy tee to wipe the sweat from hir face. Three digited hands move to undo and re secure the ponytail holding back midnight waves from falling in hir amber colored eyes. After a few more deep breaths, ze stretches hir left leg, hand moving around the midthigh section as if it were fragile. There's movement beyond the gate, accompanying sounds of a vehicle arriving and departing shortly afterwards. A student-aged visitor is delayed at the security guard's enclosure. After a brief exchange of words both with the guard and through the wonders of modern technology and phones and the teacher on the other end of the line of said phone, however, he is let through without issue. Once through, the visitor turns around to face the school grounds. School, meet Ivan. Again. Quite unsurely in a black peacoat, white shirt peeking out from underneath, jeans and slightly scuffed converses underneath. An ant crawls from his conveniently grown back curls, only to disappear into his hairline again shortly afterwards. Maybe it's shy. Maybe Ivan is too-- he takes a few steps forward, slow, almost cautious, and then stops again. Eyes scanning the grounds and those he can see on them. Until, eventually, they land on Rasa. Staring, because when isn't he. Still a ways off, Rasa finishes hir stretches, moving to hold on to the branch ze is standing on, swinging down to hang from it. Ze rolls hir neck as ze scans the trees ahead of hir, picking out hir next run over, around, and through the mess of vegetation. A stark darkness catches hir eye, down a gap between the trees all the way to the gate area. Ze turns hir attention to that, frozen for a moment, dropping down soon after to crouch low, studying it. Ze starts moving forward, fluid and animalistic at first, but straightening upward as ze walks, moving closer and closer. There are little starts of extra speed, but hir pace resumes it's slower, steady gait every time, a confused look on hir face. Ivan's face is as it often is- like he's forgotten to conjure up an expression to go with it. His eyes stay on Rasa's form, studying hir right back as he takes a sparse two steps forward. He watches hir movements as ze crouches, mannerisms as ze rises to move again, and face as it comes close enough to properly scan over. Eventually, his eyes beating his mouth to it, he smiles. A mix of hesitation and gladness, both of which make it into his voice as well, once he deems hir close enough to hear his quiet and perhaps slightly out-of-place statement of, "... My brothers call you 'the ladybug'." Hesitance is the word of the day, apparently. Rasa continues until ze is within earshot of Ivan's quiet voice, then stills to a stop. Hir body reacts to the sound of his voice, rippling pinks and yellow hues flood out from hir center, erasing the blue, the fur and the scales, leaving hir an Mediterranean flesh toned teen, barefooted, with dark brown hair and eyes. Ze is silent for a second, still wavering in place. Hir brows rise and hir eyes start blinking wildly, accompanied the sound of a quick breath in through hir nose. "As in... female bug? Or an actual ladybug, red with black spots?" "... As in," Comes Ivan's voice back in a stolen echo, the words noticeable foreign as if he's having some trouble switching the English-speaking part of his brain back on, "they know I like bugs, and that I like you, and their English is worse than... understanding... things that..." He trails off into a mumble that's too quiet to hear, his smile widening with distraction as his fingers curl idly in and out at his sides as he leans eeever so slightly forward. Hesitance maybe, but-- it is slowly making way for something else as he somewhat more confidently states, "You are prettier than a ladybug. Now and a minute ago. But I like it when you look... /happy/." Then, without pause, "I came to move. I am not going back." And again, quiet still but somewhat uncharacteristically /talkative/ as two ants and a spider chase their way across the side of his neck and into his collar, "Are you okay?" Rasa listens intently, blinking still as he speaks, hir brow crinkled, more sniffing to follow. "Oh, so... ladybug in English." It's a distracted reply when he grows too quiet to be heard. Ze falls silent when he starts up again, this time with more energy. Hir eyes widen as ze takes that in, leaning forward with him. Ze swallows hard as ze nods at first, then shakes hir head, then inflates hir chest as ze takes a huge breath, confusion covering hir facial features again. "Can... may I touch you? Please? I ... need to know you're real... really here." The confusion is mirrored on Ivan's face, his head angling oh so slowly to one side as a pang of... something hurt makes it across his features, smile weakening slightly. It takes him until Rasa's latest few words to straighten up and finally start moving again. And when he does, it's sudden- Rasa better be ready for a hug, because it's incomin'. Right after some Russian words that seem to come much more easily than the alternative. "{Never ask that. You never have to.}" Rasa thuds up against Ivan's body when he comes in for a hug, hir arms wrapping tightly around his neck and shoulders, pulling him down or hoisting hirself up to accommodate the current height difference. Hir cheek presses to the space between his neck, cheek, and ear, the contact coming with a flood of telepathy, a possibly overwhelming rush of everything bottled up inside Rasa's being. Ze is focused entirely on the feel of his body against hirs, the weight of it important as it is checked against memory. Hir attention shifts rapidly to the feel of his mind, the hum of insects and the way he processes thoughts, looking perhaps for emotion, hoping he is glad to see hir. Ze is also filled with questions, a endless thrum of 'what is going on?' 'why are you here?' 'how are you here?' 'is this real?' 'CAN it be real? Please? please?' - that never really lets up enough to answer. Behind all of this is a horror-filled ache that follows after something terrible happening. It's stronger than it's ever been before, but balled up tight and blurred so it stays far, far, far back in hir mind. There's a breath and then, << I (was/am) afraid. So bad in here, was going to warn. >> Hot tears slide down hir face as ze clings to him, holding him tight. The full extent of Ivan's happiness to be here (and more specifically, with Rasa) does its best to tidal wave itself against incoming information. In an attempt to keep up with the questions, his mind seems to conjure up images all of its own; Amongst the buzz of insects, memories flit to and fro - a familiar sharkish face showing on a laptop screen, packed bags, a wild scramble to find a phone after being awoken from a nap in a train's sleeper car, a message. Sea gulls. Helping with cargo. Looking out over the sea. Some of it seems sort of random, but it's the only communication he manages for a moment, being all too content just holding Rasa close, leaning his head to plant a kiss on hir forehead as his face tries to decide between concern and cheerfulness and ultimately settles for somewhere in between. He swallows, inwardly attempting to stifle some of the /bad/ that's floating between them as his relief about /this/ moment tries to overtake whether he wants it or not. Any unsteady wobbliness there might have been is made up for by a brief but TIGHT SQUISH. Russian versions of his words overlap English, << I am real. I am late, but real. >> This is one worry he means to squash right away, arms wrapped around shoulders. The Russian pings new recognition in Rasa's mind, the class ze is taking starting to pay off. the English helps concrete the associations between words and phrases as ze absorbs what he is telling hir. << Wished for youso many times, >> here, there is a flash of desperation from the ball of horror, the impression of wishing to die or be with hir Vanya, two desires that were stronger than the hell ze was experiencing just then. << Wished for you. And... you're here. >> Late means nothing to the teen who has had a very difficult time registering the passage of time as of late. Here is more important. Now is all there is. Ze turns hir head, pressing more of hir face against his when he kisses hir forehead. The rush of every overwhelming thing starts to fade as the relief grows, hir mind latching on to that feeling in hirs, hir arms start to relax their vice grip hold for a more shaky one. "{Missed you.}" Valiant attempts continue to me made in Ivan's mind, with him attempting to stay as steady and calm as he can, trawling through thoughts and inputs and filtering out those that can wait until a a later point in time. The Russian words spoken by hir next only help to cement a thicker layer of positivity, catching him off guard with a breathy chuckle. "{You've been getting better. Soon my mother'll be complimenting your pronunciation.}" Good things. Focusing on good things. So much so that, for now, the pinprick wave of insect and arachnid-flavoured information starts to fade into near nothing. It's as much quiet as he can manage. "{How can you tell from two words?}" Rasa teases lightly, hir throat still tight with emotion. Ze rests most of hir weight on hir feet again, still leaning heavily against Ivan, but pulling away a little more so ze can actually see him. The question and the chuckle are enough to jar hir out of hir head and back to things physical and real and present in hir arms. "{Your mother? Oh. Should we call her? She must be worried about you.}" Hir arms relax further, forearms resting against his neck as hir hands seek out his curls, looking to run hir fingers through them. Slowly, but surely happy is welling up inside hir, putting a small smile on hir lips, even if ze is still leaking liquid emotion from hir eyes. And clearly that can't be allowed to happen, can it. Without thought, Ivan sloowly lets go as well - but maybe just so he can reach a hand and carefully wipe a tear away with a thumb. Nope. Off you go. No tears here. "{That's easy. Hell, you can tell my English accent's terrible after less than that.}" It's an active effort, keeping positivity on the foreground, but the mere sight of Rasa appears enough to keep it going without fuss. "{My mother'll be fine for a little while, she was a little mad when I left, but she knows where I am.}" He wipes another tear away from hir cheek, then leans to leave a kiss in its place. "{Are you hungry? Should we sit?}" "Ha." That does not need translation. Rasa hovers ever closer when Ivan kisses hir tear away, hir eyes remaining closed as ze gently rubs hir nose up against his. "{Sitting, yes, good. Don't know or care about anything else.}" After a hard morning's run, hir stomach is grumbling loudly and even as ze denies the need. Mentally, ze concedes, querying him silently to see if he is hungry. "{I should tell them I will be missing classes today.}" this is a very firm statement, hir attention turning to look down the road in the direction of the school, not actually able to see it just yet. Ivan begins to slowly move again, pulling back with a warm smile before turning and attempting to, gently, usher Rasa toward the direction of FOOD. The grumble of hunger is met with a firm nod, as his gaze begins to trail off toward the school's path. "{Then we'll sit and eat. I haven't had anything in too long. And we'll talk. And if things get too sad or scary then I'll tell you about the many ways Lev embarrassed himself in front of a number of women while traveling.}" "{Lev traveling?}" Rasa questions quietly, turning to go inside. Ze loops an arm around Ivan's waist and snuggles up close. Hir hand reaches up to keep at least one of his arms around hir neck and shoulders. "{Do you have luggage? Do you need a place to stay? I don't know what the rules are for having guests in ones room, never mind what B might think. What do you mean /move?/}" The questions are peppered verbally the knots inside hir are relaxing as they move on to other things, but part of hir very definitely just want to drag Ivan off somewhere and just sleep with him until the world stops hurting - oh, but there are warnings to sleeping in the same room with hir now and how is ze going to bring that up. Instead, ze chooses to focus on more pressing matters. This moving thing is a very distracting thought. Ivan, a little stiffly, keeps his arm where it's desired as he walks. He'll get used to the whole-- publically affectionate thing. If nothing else, at least his lingering smile should indicate he doesn't mind it one bit. Even if there is the briefest frown at-- a THING that needs to be brought up. But then it fades again in favous of yes, pressing matters. "{I have a small bag. Lev has more.}" Mind still racing, he attempts to file questions away in order to answer them as well as he can, though... there IS a little trickle of other information pouring through, somewhere. It's a little lots-of-bees-shaped. Just checking up. As though he manages to focus better with the quiet background noise in his head. "{You're-- really good with the Russian. Okay.}"  He takes a deep breath, stifling another chuckle, and then answers, "{I've got enough money for a room for a few days, with Lev and Aleksandr. As for the moving, I... my family is moving over.}" He says this matter-of-factly, but his mind betrays the fact that he's still a little baffled by it, himself. "{Not all of them. But with Regina and her problems with keeping her ability stable, and Russia... being... what it is. And...}" There's more to this, but he falls silent in the midst of a sentence, finishing it instead with, "{But they'll be near, now. That's good. And so will I.}" "{I have reason to be good. Talking to you.}" Rasa replies, a little proud of the compliment, but then hir mind betrays, << but I am also cheating. >> Ze whispers the thought into his mind, as if waving hir arms from the language center of his brain. << I only can because I have been studying and watching lots of movies, and practicing with Shane -- Plus, well, I know your brain better than most other brains. If I were not touching you - I would stumble more. >> Ze looks a little sheepish and begins to step a little away, reacting to his discomfort to public displays, granting him space so long as ze can hold his hand. "Really?" Ze squeaks out in English, blinking up at him and holding his hand with both of hirs as they walk. "{You're moving here, Lots of your family? Lev is here?}" There is a stir of cringe/amusement at the idea of Lev in New York. "{Regina will go to school here maybe?}" Then there's a pause and a mutter, "{Oh. You have a room. With brothers.}" This seems less than ideal. As usual, Ivan seems more than content to just do what is convenient. Handholding, listening, wandering in the right direction. Steal from his brain all he wants, there doesn't seem to be much in the way of taking offense or minding. The squeak gets his attention more than anything, and causes him to look back at Rasa again. "Really." He replies in English, smile broadening. A pause, then, conflicting thoughts of his little sister going to this school clashing up against each other before they're promptly snuffed out by entirely something else. "{I mean, there's still paperwork to figure out before this is anything but a prolonged vacation, but the plans are... good. And don't remind me about the room. It's one thing being stuck in a tiny apartment and another being the only one who thinks we shouldn't clear out the veryexpensivefridgethings on a daily basis. I've been thinking of maybe... hiding here. For the night.}" His eyes grow a pinch wider, the equivalent of a teeny tiny alarm bell going off in his head as he picks up the pace, hand still held. "{I was supposed to go to administration.}" "{Yes. We should get you to Administration and see if you can hide here. And have breakfast. And maybe take a nap. And... talk.}" Rasa squeezes his hand a little harder, hir face turning to press against his arm. << Glad you want to hide here. Not sure I could say goodbye today. >>