< HSoS 85 | High School Of Scenes | HSoS 87 >
< HSoS 85 | H So S Timeline | HSoS 87 >
Antares lets go of Furud's hand after a second, almost guiltily, and pushes herself up again to stagger to the bathroom. "You got any clothes I could borrow?" she calls, a little muffled through the half-closed door.
Furud just stares at the bathroom door for a long time before he breaks from his reverie, "Uh, yeah sure I got some...jeans... and stuff."
Furud puts his head in his hands and mutters to himself "Damnit this is never this difficult."
Antares Brief sound of running water, then she says, "Good. When I get the energy to crawl home, no way can I let my sister see what happened to the costume."
Antares "You okay out there?" she says after another few moments of silence.
Furud listens to the sound of the water a little longer, replying with an "Uh, be right back," before painfully getting to his feet and making his way slowly to his bedroom to find some clothes for her. Jeans and a T-shirt, both well-worn and well-loved.
Antares In the bathroom, Antares stares at the mirror, water dripping off her face, braced up on one shaking arm.
Antares "Thanks, Furud," she says indistinctly through the door.
Furud opens the door a crack and sticks his arm through with the clothes. "Uh huh."
Antares grabs the clothes a little unsteadily, glad he can't see. A few seconds of rustling and thumping follow, then she steps out carefully, wearing the new clothes and placing her feet carefully as if she's still drunk.
Antares "Is it okay if I hang here for just a few more minutes? I'll be okay to go soon, really."
Furud smiles and leans against the wall next to the door. "Of course. Stay as long as you want... I don't really want to..." he trails off, as he always does instead of saying anything.
Antares "Want to what?" she says, then looks over at him and flickers a grin. "In line for the bathroom? All yours, Caesar."
Furud "Stick around," he smiles back at her. "I'll be right back." He grabs his own set of clothes and walks into the bathroom.
Antares While he's out of sight, Antares leans against the couch and looks around the room. "You're still messy," she calls in to him. Her tone is light, but she's brooding at the door as if he could feel it on the other side.
Furud snorts, turning the water to chilly. "Yeah, well if you wanna pick up go ahead."
Antares "Do I look like a maid?" She almost smiles as she finishes her survey of the room and collapses onto the couch, sprawling over the whole thing and staring up at the ceiling.
Furud "That could be arranged," he calls back
Antares "Gonna be hard to wash yourself with two broken arms, Caesar."
Furud grins and returns "Nurses are good too."
Furud finishes up his shower, taking longer than normal due to the fact it still hurts to breathe, much less move. He towels off and gets dressed, then heads back out.
Antares When Furud steps out Antares is staring through the ceiling with a bleak, faraway look on her face, which she quickly replaces with a smile as he returns. "You think I'm too tired to kick your ass, boy, it's going to be a rough day for you."
Furud holds up his hands in a gesture of surrender, "I've had my ass kicked plenty enough for one day, I give in."
Antares scowls at him for a second, then a guilty look flashes across her face and she folds up her knees to free one end of the couch.
Antares She looks away, like she's not sure what to say for a moment.
Furud sinks into the couch, running his fingers through his wet hair and leaving a trail of spikes behind.
Antares "What don't you want to do?" she says suddenly.
Furud looks startled, then embarassed and he looks away. He mumbles it beneath his breath.
Antares "What was that?" Antares says, half-sitting up with a grimace.
Furud sighs, then raises his voice to an irritated mutter. "I said I don't want to be alone right now, ok?"
Antares freezes, then pushes herself the rest of the way up and curls her legs under her. "Yeah, it's okay," she says softly. "I'm not... I'm right here."
Furud leans forward on his knees, and puts his head in his hands. "Fuck."
Antares "Hey." Antares throws out a couple of half-formed phrases about things being okay, and instead leans forward to put an arm around his shoulders and squeeze lightly.
Antares "Things get too bad, you know the way to the bus station, right? One-way tickets are cheap." Her tone is half-joking.
Furud shakes his head, "What's the point?"
Antares "What, you mean for life?"
Furud "Yeah, I guess."
Antares "Well, uh, near as I can tell, there isn't one." She squeezes his shoulders again, then pulls back. "Shit, I'm sorry. You deserve better company right now."
Furud laughs mirthlessly, "Well at least we've got that meaning of life thing straightened out." He reaches up to clasp her hand as she pulls away from him. "I wonder how long we've got before they come back."
Antares freezes but doesn't quite pull away her hand. "I dunno," she says. Then she glances away, a flush creeping up her cheeks. "Look."
Furud looks over at her, and releases her hand, leaning away, against the arm of the couch instead.
Antares Still looking away, Antares clenches her hand when he lets go. "When we were locked up, I said some stuff I shouldn't've."
Furud "But it was true, wasn't it."
Furud closes his eyes and slumps back on the couch, still leaning on the armrest.
Antares "What if it was?"
Furud "I... don't know. I don't have the right answers anymore. I'm sorry. I've been asking too much of you. I don't want you to go, God, I don't. I know you don't want me to need you, so yeah, I... fuck. I'm gonna stop talking now."
Antares reaches her hand toward Furud's closed eyes, stops, and stares at his face as if the answers are written there. After a long silence, she says in a choked voice, "I don't know what to do about you."
Furud murmurs, without opening them "That makes two of us."
Antares "I'm not good at fixing things, you know? I just push back harder." She sounds like she's picking her words carefully. In the temporary safety of his closed eyes, her hand traces the curve of his face, an inch away from actually touching him.
Furud rubs his wrist, nodding a little.
Antares "I don't, I mean. I don't want to hurt you."
Furud opens his eyes, and looks over at her sadly. "I know. It might be too late for that though."
Antares actually flinches, making a little tremor in her hand, now caught guiltily by his jawline. "I'm real tired, so I'm gonna say this once and then I'm done. Everything I said to you back there was true. Straight up, I'm kind of an ugly person, and smart money's not on me. I know that if I really care about you, I'll get up and leave now."
Furud "I'm not looking for a sure thing, or a safe bet."
Furud "But I'm not going to push you. I'd rather be your friend, than not be in your life at all."
Antares slumps down next to him, rubbing at her eyes with one hand and then reaching up to brush his hair with her fingertips. "You win," she says quietly. "I think you're an idiot, but I'm not gonna fight about it anymore."
Furud looks at her, surprised, then smiles and shifts to lean his head on her shoulders, slipping his arms around her waist. "I do love you, Antares, though it makes me a fool."
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