bamfsecretary | 6th book; up a creek without a boat or paddle {video/action} (dated to the 10th)

6th book; up a creek without a boat or paddle {video/action} (dated to the 10th)

{So, how bout those hideous weather conditions? Pretty bad time to be at the beach, don't you think?}

{Isn't it a pity that Nanao's house is literally just next to the beach... And the feed shows her staring despondently at the waves lapping at the top of the hastily-erected sandbag wall in front of her porch. A baby Absol is curled on her lap, whimpering unhappily.}

I suppose that even I know when it is more prudent to retreat than to keep fighting.

{Wheeling back inside, it seems that most of the movable furniture has been taken upstairs, but the upright piano sits defiantly in the middle of a bare room. Too big to be taken upstairs, and too unwieldy to really be moved, there is little chance of it surviving the flood. The light flickers overhead.}

I would really appreciate a hand in leaving, given that I'm stuck in a wheelchair, and my lone Water-type is too young-- {A massive crash of lightning rattles the windows, and the light finally gives up the ghost and dies, leaving the room dark.} ...well.

Help would be wonderful, the sooner the better.

{OOC: She'll be replying to video tags ICly an hour later, but action tags would be absolutely fabulous c:}

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{Wrestling the door down sends about a foot of water swirling into the house, and yep, that shriek was Nanao because aaaah okay not going as planned right now.}

Envy?!

Said I was coming, didn't I?

[WATER EVERYWHERE]

[Envy shoots her a quick grin out of habit as he hurries inside, although Kip the Swampert can only fit his front half through the door and has to wait there. He grabs the back of her wheelchair to start pushing it towards the door, because that seems faster. Especially with all the water coming in.]

Let's get the hell out of here.

I am so very okay with that idea.

{Upon reaching the Swampert, Nanao proceeds to display her ability to imitate a koala with the use of it's hind legs, and scrambles up onto the back of the probably very confused Pokemon.}

Can we go now?

Absolutely.

[Kip isn't too confused; Envy was just riding him, and he's the chillest all the time anyway. He lets out a 'Swaaaa' and backs out of the doorway so that Envy can climb on behind Nanao. It's not a very comfortable fit, even if Kip is big for a Swampert, but better than him having to walk through the rising water.]

[And then, they're off!]

Let's get to the hotel. The power's out, but it's drier than here.

Not to mention it's on higher ground.

{She may or may not have grabbed hold of his hand/wrist really tightly. Sorry about that.}

With plenty of higher floors to escape to.

[Yes he definitely notices the hand/wrist crushing. But he doesn't stop her. He remembers she said she couldn't swim, and it's not like she could anyway with her legs paralyzed right now.]

I'm not going to let you fall off, you know. [His tone is a bit wry, a habit in bad situations like his grin before, but not mocking.]

I know, I just... get very uneasy around large bodies of water. Very uneasy.

{She swallows hard, breath shuddering out of her.}

[He's curious as to why, but thinks that maybe he should ask later, when they reach the hotel. And aren't up to their knees in floodwater even riding on a Pokemon.]

[Still, he's not really sure what he could say that would help anything. So he squeezes her hand back, that always seems to work, and eventually mutters, frowning a little.]

Well...maybe if you close your eyes or something. It shouldn't take long to get there.

{When he squeezes back, her grip relents a little, and she leans back against him. ~~I'm assuming she's sitting in front of him.~~}

Thanks.

It's what brothers are supposed to do, isn't it?

[Although when a moment later he actually thinks about what he just said, he quiets down immediately. For all he's completely accepted her as his sister, thinking of himself as a brother...he can't help but be reminded of the Elrics. And how he used to think he would never, could never, have anything like that. How he'd been so convinced that he didn't want that sort of thing.]

[And yet here they were. He keeps on holding her hand for the rest of the ride to the hotel, but doesn't say anything else. He slides off Kip's back when they get through the doors, and the Swampert follows him inside with Nanao still on his back. The lobby is crowded and dark, but the only water comes from the puddles people are tracking in. Envy manages to lead them to a back corner, out of the way.]

{She has... no real reply to that, and instead she stares out at the surreal sight of Goldenrod under water. Her human family was absolutely massive (hey, it was the 1850s), but she'd been such a solitary creature for such a long time that actually allowing herself to recognise that she really, honestly did need a family rather than just subordinates or friends was like rain to a desert - she hadn't realised just how much she needed that emotional closeness and investment in their wellbeing that was part and parcel of being someone's sister.}

{She only just manages to beat back the tears.}

{Once there, Nanao just slides off Kip's back to puddle onto the floor in a vaguely boneless heap, slumped against one of the walls. Emotional exhaustion hurts, man.}

[Envy recalls Kip, since they were definitely getting some dirty looks for having a big amphibious Pokemon in the lobby, and sits down next to her with a thunk, leaning his head back against the wall. Now that he's resting he's realizing just how soaking wet and tired he is, but he doesn't feel like moving yet.]

[For a few more long minutes, he even stays quiet, a testament to how exhausting the past week has been.]

Can you swim when you're not in a wheelchair?

[He doesn't want to get back on the siblings topic just yet. Too many feels and confusion in that direction.]

{When he sits down, she lets her head rest on his shoulder, and she stares down at her probably freezing and definitely soaking legs.}

No. I never learned how - never really needed to.

{A pity that wasn't the case any more.}

[Yeah Envy's gonna go get them some towels or something soon. It's a good thing the weather's been so warm.]

Guess there's not a lot of reason when you can just float. [He remembers her mentioning that a few days ago.]

Is that why you were nervous before?

{Hopefully neither of them will get too sick.}

That and, uhm. Other things.

{How on earth does she tell him about her death like this..}

[He shifts, trying to get comfortable against the wall, and glances at her curiously. And he is curious, very much so, but...he also knows about having secrets. He shrugs, looking back out at the moving shadows in the darkened lobby.]

You don't have to tell me. But if you want to, I'll listen.

[Heather had done something similar for him, back when he'd been sick and dealing with memories of his own death.]

{She looks over at his feet, not fully willing to meet his gaze yet. There's so much to tell, and she's never told anyone about it - although she has dropped a few hints to Heather, she's never faced anything like this before.}

{It really is a measure of the trust she has in him that she actually begins to speak at all.}

I... drowned. I think I've told you that before, but it doesn't... quite end there. It was a murder - I was murdered.

[And it's a measure of how much he cares about her that he's asking in the first place. With the other homunculi, he either already knew or avoided the topic save to joke about it. He tenses briefly in surprise when she says she was murdered, and after a long moment of hesitation lifts his hand to put it on her shoulder.]

[There's an awkward unsurety to his grip, the way there always is when he's trying to give comfort, but there's also something possessive about it. Someone hurt his sister, and he doesn't like it. He'd go back in time to kill whoever it was if he could.]

Why? [He breathes the question without really thinking about it, some of that possessive protectiveness showing up in his voice too.]

{She shudders under that grip, and she has to force herself to not push him away, to not try and run. She isn't a coward, she isn't, she isn't. It's Envy beside her, not him, Envy would never hurt her, he wouldn't dare.}

{Breathe. Breathing is good.}

He was jealous. Jealous and angry and more than a little touched in the head. So he took it out on my mother and my sisters and me. Thought in some twisted way that he was doing the world a favour by slitting our throats and dumping us in the river to die. {She's started to cry, heavy, fat tears rolling down her cheeks. It had been brutal, it had been painful, and she'd tried so hard so very hard to forget.}

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6th book; up a creek without a boat or paddle {video/action} (dated to the 10th)

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[Action] i think i just ripped out my own heart

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[Action] bb Nanao ;o;

[Action] so many threads with feels ;o;