Nova + Chisaki: Home

[taking_names]

Who: Nova and Chisaki
When: Sunday late morning
Where: Nova's house in Omghan
Before/After: After Nova attacks Ravi with happiness
Warnings: TBD



The fact that Omghan had been merged with some unfamiliar earth city complicated Nova's homecoming a bit. He had expected the trip to be effortless once he emerged from the warp into the small town, but the familiar twists and turns bled into some mysterious streets dotted with tropical vegetation.

He wandered long enough that he began to consider calling someone (how? he could find an old conversation to reply to, maybe...) for help. Just as he was near to surrendering, though, he caught sight of his house, nearly hidden as always through its own collection of bushes and trees.

He walked up to the door and let himself in, seeing no reason to knock at his own place. He stepped inside, looking for housemates.

"Is anyone home?"

Comments

[a_wrong_turn]

Chisaki never had gotten used to not having Nova around. She hadn't even really accepted it. Things felt too quiet without him; even with Iravati, who ws a cool roommate, it just wasn't the same.

She was spending today being lazy. Her feet were kicked up on the sofa and she had a snug-fitting dark grey shirt on that she had grown fond of for being comfortable and baggy, tan Saftan pants. She had a book laid on her legs, which she was reading, with a cold beer sitting on an end table. She forewent the coaster; a bad habit of hers that she never broke.

She was in the middle of sipping at her mug of beer when she heard the door open up. She sat up straight and turned, wondering who it was at first. Then, she saw Nova and she stared. Her book, forgotten, dropped to the ground. She was quiet for a moment, before she jumped over the back of the couch and bolted towards him.

"Nova!"

[taking_names]

"I'm back!" he announced, smiling from ear to ear as he watched her jump the couch.

She was happy to see him! He hoped it lasted.

He was dressed as an earther, wearing jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, which he had found perfectly comfortable even in the summer heat.

[a_wrong_turn]

The beer was put down on a table on her way over, which was otherwise the only interruption in her run over to him. The clothes drew no particular reflection as she came in close. Chisaki almost threw her arms around him and hugged him, before she remembered a very awkward conversation with Harriet that made her fluster and look suddenly awkwardly. She stopped right in front of him, instead, hands halfway reached out for that hug, and then dropped down quickly to her side.

"You're back!" she said, cheerfully, looking up at him. That awkwardness was forgotten promptly, now that she said it. "Oh, man, I missed you so much! You're really back!"

She bobbed up and down with excitement. "Nova!"

[taking_names]

Laughing a little at the aborted hug, he stepped forward and pulled her into one anyway, picking her up off her feet a little with it.

"I thought it would be forever!"

He assumed that nonsense word she kept saying was his name...

[a_wrong_turn]

She laughed at that, then threw her arms around his neck to keep herself up. Her strength was enough that it was easy despite the differences in their heights. She looked at him and grinned. It was slightly embarrassed, but clearly happy about it, and she nodded. "Yeah, no shit! I was gonna have to kick reality's ass at the rate it was going! It was--"

She shook her head. It didn't matter, anymore.

"How did it happen?" she asked. "I haven't been outside today." Which probably explained a lot; she was completely unaware that Disney World was now just a short walk away.

[taking_names]

"This continent appeared in an ocean on earth, and the city I was in went into the empty spaces in..." He made faces while he tried to think of a way to explain Bastan without its name.

"The holy city?"

Maybe that explanation hadn't actually explained anything.

[a_wrong_turn]

A look of disbelief crossed her face. He forgot Bastan's name? That was a very common name; it seemed as impossible as forgetting what the name for Los Angeles was. Chisaki tilted her head to the side and raised an eyebrow, uncertain.

"Bastan?"

[taking_names]

Without any other words around it, that could be anything from a confirmation of the city to his own name again.

He just smiled at her awkwardly, hoping the question would go away.

[a_wrong_turn]

Chisaki squinted at him. Something was definitely up; she wasn't sure what it was, but that was far from an ordinary reaction to her question. Was he not sure what its name was? Did he hit his head? She frowned, slightly, and pulled back from the hug. She let herself down to the ground, standing up on her toes for a moment, and reached a finger out to poke him in the chest.

"The name of that city," she said. "It's Bastan. Come on, you know that."

[taking_names]

"Actually..." He took a deep breath.

"I did an experiment to make myself smarter and accidentally deleted my memory of all proper names!"

He looked at her hopefully, but he had definitely told better lies in his time.

It didn't help that he'd never gotten around to telling her he was an alchemist again.

[a_wrong_turn]

Her eyebrow raised and her mouth flattened out.

It was far from a convincing lie. Chisaki folded her arms over her chest and gave him a long look that grew slowly in irritation as she took a long look at him. Was this some sort of joke? He was a berserker. Even if he was an alchemist, she had never heard of any side effect like that before. She let out a long, annoyed sigh at him.

"Okay," she said, with a note of resignation in her voice. "What the hell's going on? Science experiments don't delete your memory of proper names. Blow off your eyebrows or something, maybe."

[taking_names]

Chisaki, why!

HE SHOULD HAVE PRACTICED IT IN THE MIRROR.

"...I was dead for a little while yesterday and lost them in the Dark."

[a_wrong_turn]

She stared at him, not comprehending for a moment. Nova had died yesterday? But she talked to him by e-mail; whatever awful things she said to him before, they had put those things behind them. Irena dropped off a present. He was here, safe and sound, and right in front of her. She looked at him -- believing he was saying the truth, while still thinking that he was wrong about this. He couldn't have died. It made no sense.

She looked away from him.

Things began to occur to her. He said that she was his favorite earthgirl. He not only said the right thing, he said the perfect thing. She knew that she mattered, then; that she had always mattered. It was not just displaced guilt over his role in transforming her into a molavvas. Those were the sort o words one might say if he thought he would never get another chance. A last memento.

Her eyes settled on the top of the red squid plushy, which came to a triangular point that flopped over the edge of the sofa.

Her eyes stung. She tried to ignore that, when she looked back at him. Her lips curled back -- into a frown, into a shaking quiver, into a furious glower. Then, she reached back her hand, and slapped him hard across the face.

"You IDIOT!"

[taking_names]

He...

He hadn't even gotten to the awful part yet.

The slap knocked his head to one side, and he brought his hand up to the spot, a little stunned.

"How do you know I did it on purpose!?"

[a_wrong_turn]

She had started yelling. It did not stop now; her fingers bunched up into balls and she somehow managed to loom up at him, despite the differences in height. "You did it on what!"

[taking_names]

He stepped backwards, in awe of her rage aura, his heel finding the entry door close behind him.

"I WASN'T ADMITTING IT!"

Why was he an idiot if she didn't know he'd planned it?!

[a_wrong_turn]

She did not calm down, so much as not get angrier just yet. She stared at him; the door was closed, so there was no easy escape. She stepped forward to get closer to him. She did not continue yelling, at least, but her voice still had that anger in it.

"Did you do it on purpose?" she asked. Her voice shook when she said it, her mind finally catching up with that idea. "The gift and the e-mail--were those supposed to be your last words!?"

[taking_names]

He cowered, a little. He knew he was in no actual danger, but her anger was formidable. Before he knew it, he was completely pressed against the door, his expression sheepish.

"Were they good?"

[a_wrong_turn]

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY!?" she bellowed.

This time, her voice was loud enough to make the boards of the walls and floor shake. Chisaki's balled up fists shook as she stared at him, while she looked at him, almost but not quite pressed up against him.

[taking_names]

"The...wrong thing?" he asked.

The only plan he could think of was to try to be endearing so she'd feel bad for being mad at him.

[a_wrong_turn]

"No fucking shit!" she snapped at him, angrily.

She tried to ignore the way her eyes stung and felt hot. Her composure was failing fast while she kept talking, though. Her lips quivered again. "They were awful last words!" she said heatedly. "They were the worst last words ever!"

Her shoulders shook and she looked downward, quickly, so he couldn't get a good look at his face. "Because you weren't supposed to get yourself killed over there. You were supposed to come back," she said, finally getting quieter. Except her voice shook with emotion and tears rolled down her cheeks. "We were supposed to be reunited."

She wiped at her her eyes with the back of her hand, but it just brought attention to it. "You idiot," she repeated. "Idiot, idiot, idiot."

[taking_names]

Oh no, was she crying? Don't cry, Chisaki, he hasn't even told you the bad part yet.

He reached his hand out a little, then drew it back when he realized he didn't really know what he meant to do with it.

Maybe he had underestimated the extent to which this was also the bad part.

"If it helps, I changed my mind at the last minute, it just didn't work."

[a_wrong_turn]

"Idiot, idiot..."

She sniffled and hid her face in both of her hands. She never noticed that hand reaching out nervously for her, then retracting. She mostl noticed the tears streaking her fingerless gloves and felt a wash of embarrassment that bordered on humiliation. A whimper got out, albeit strangled.

"Why did you decide it in the first place?" she managed, though it came out muffled by her hands.

[taking_names]

"It's hard to explain -- and I don't believe it anymore... but do you remember when we were drinking and I said all of those things about thinking I wasn't who I was supposed to be?"

He folded his arms in front of himself. He hadn't expected her to react like this. It... it meant she cared, he guessed...

[a_wrong_turn]

She looked up, without quite looking at him. She felt embarrassed now, which made it hard to meet his eye. She had enough awareness to know that speaking was dangerous and likely going to get her in trouble again. She settled for nodding her head.