The heck just happened...?

[headfons]

Who: Luke fon Fabre and you
Where: Hospital, and then various areas of the city.
When: Backdated to yesterday (9/2), and then today.
Summary: Luke wakes up and it's a month later.
Warnings: TBD?

{closed}

At first, he didn't even open his eyes.

Then, after several seconds, they blinked open. His initial thought was a question of whether, or not, he'd wound up on a new world. Had he been dreaming that? Wait...where was he, though? A powerful sensation of confusion was pressing down on him, for a few minutes. The last thing he thoroughly remembered, was that he'd suddenly felt...weak. No, more like unbearably sleepy. If asked, he wouldn't be able to so much as recall his last thought, prior to everything going black. And, upon his waking, he didn't feel much better than he had.

Strangely enough...there were some vague memories. He could remember hearing the sound of familiar voices. One telling him stories (although, he couldn't begin to remember what they'd been about), one simply talking to him about various things, and...another telling him he was slacking off on training...

After sorting through his thoughts, his body shifted. Man, he felt...stiff.

{open}

The next day, he was taking a walk to clear his mind -- as well as to get his body back into the routine of moving around. He could be found in pretty much any of the districts...at some point throughout the day. Of course, he wasn't doing a ton of walking. Ugh, it was kind of annoying what a month of lying in bed could undo. Also, he was trying not to think about how worried the coma thing made him. Worrying wouldn't do anything, damn it. Still...since he'd fallen unconscious even with the whole...keeping up with the touch requirement...thing, that meant it could happen to anyone, right? Even if they, too, were being adamant on meeting the requirement.

Gaara...Diarmuid...his brother, Cu Chulainn...Kit...hell, everyone he'd come to know...

The replica let out a sigh as he cut that thought off, his expression tensing as he scrubbed a hand through his hair. Of course, he did try to take comfort in the fact that the place wasn't anything like the last world he'd been in. Expression softening, he folded his arms behind his head and began heading back home. It wasn't even dark outside, but he was already...tired.

Comments

[headfons]

Luke was under the assumption that Gaara had simply been here when the others visited (silly him), so he wasn't going to ask for an elaboration. Of course, if anything were to pique his curiosity, regarding it...maybe he would flat-out ask. He wasn't, exactly, shy about asking the ninja questions, after all.

Fortunately, for Luke, he had been in the company of many people. None of them had been afraid to tell him when and how he should respond to certain things. Everything had, in some ways, all been spelled out, for him. The thing was...the more comfortable the replica got with Gaara, the more he'd been willing to point things out, for him. He wouldn't have any problem with helping the guy out. Really, he just needed to know it was okay.

"Because it's not something you had to do," he said, rather easily, "I mean...I would have done the same thing, if the situation was reversed. Still, though...it's been an entire month. There are a ton of other things you could be doing, right now," he said in a somewhat softer tone, "So, I...really appreciate that you're here."

To the last two sentences, Luke was giving a fond smile. Even if those words didn't expressly match the speaker's face, he...could still appreciate the sentiment. While the replica wasn't the most keen at understanding the way Gaara thought and felt, he knew one thing for certain. That the guy didn't just say things for the sake of making someone feel better. He was to-the-point. When he said that he was glad that Luke had awakened, it meant just that: glad he was finally awake.

"I'll be careful," Luke said with that smile still intact.

The redhead glanced to the side, a moment. After that short pause, he was reaching up and pulling the other teen into a hug. Why? Because he could, of course -- on a serious note, however, Luke didn't have an active reason for doing so. When it came to things, like this, it wasn't as though he took the time to think it through.

[no_dreams_for_you]

…Silly Luke indeed, thinking Gaara was the social type. Or that he would actually admit he was spying on his friends, while they were visiting him in this room.

“I wanted… to ensure that you were all right,” he admitted in a soft tone, turning away for a moment. Luke was right; he could have spent his time doing other more constructive activities. But… he had felt worried about his… companion. Luke was the only person in this new city that he remotely cared for, even if he didn’t know the extent of those feelings. He shook his head, though, at one verbalized part. “You shouldn’t waste your time, Luke.”

Gaara paused briefly, wondering when he should mention resuming their training regimen. That would help restore his body at a faster pace, but his muscles weren’t strong enough yet, most likely. He wasn’t expecting that hug, and his eyes widened with mild shock. His body froze, on instinct, arms remaining stiff by his sides. Why was Luke embracing him? Out of relief? An emotional response, derived from relief or spontaneity?

As tension slowly eased out, he finally responded, lifting his limbs to hesitantly wrap them around Luke. He had experienced hugs before, at the facility, but they still surprised him, to present day. He exhaled evenly, eyelids drifting down, as his brain attempted to rationalize this simple gesture. His chest tightened with an inexplicable emotion, heart pounding slightly faster at their close proximity.

[headfons]

The admittance had Luke blinking, a hint of color appearing on his cheeks, soon after. While the replica had other people he cared about, there were certain...reasons he considered Gaara to be someone he felt closer to. Smiling with an air of gratitude within it, the look on his face quickly turned sheepish. Reaching to scratch at the back of his head, he started to saying something, only to wind up tensing his brow, "Waste my time with what?"

It wasn't until after he felt the hug get returned that he let the smile return. There was no need to rationalize the hug, in spite of Gaara's efforts to do so -- if asked, he would make it pretty clear he'd simply done it...because he'd wanted to. After about a minute, he pulled away. His hands lingered in their soft grip on the ninja's upper arms. Green eyes shifted across the other teen's face, a moment.

Suddenly, there was an awkward feeling. Looking to the side, he released the other redhead. With that, he gave a sort of awkward smile and attempted to distract from the fact that he was blushing, "So, uh...When do you think would be a good time to start training, together, again?"

[no_dreams_for_you]

“Because you have other responsibilities to tend to,” he answered in a reasonable tone. He knew Luke had a job, a number of friends, and training, on top of everything else. His time was far too precious to waste on something that he couldn’t actively affect. “Don’t be foolish.”

Feeling Luke’s intense stare on him, he turned his face away. It was uncomfortable, almost as though he had been exposed, and from a simple gaze alone. He didn’t want Luke to know how strong of an impact he had on him… what kind of attachment he was starting to form. Nothing could ever happen between them, regardless of their personal desires. Even if… he could feel happiness, it would not last. It was elusive and fleeting, like every other positive emotion he had experienced before.

“......”

Luke’s face was still red. Lingering aftereffects of his condition, most likely. Gaara ordered his sand to refill the glass of water, then stepped back from the bed. “After you have recovered, we can resume training. For the time being, you must rest. Your other friends will be visiting soon.”

He turned to leave, but paused at the doorway, briefly. “Contact me if you need anything.”

The sand that had carried the glass of water over to Luke, suddenly unraveled to wrap around his wrist, bearing the appearance of a bracelet. It was warm, humming lightly with the chakra of the sand wielder. In the next instance, Gaara walked out of the room and vanished into the shadows.