[center] [h1]Face to Face[/h1] [img]https://i.imgur.com/tTVHMCk.jpg[/img][img]http://i67.tinypic.com/2njvpci.png[/img] [img]http://i.imgur.com/4uXzVBU.png[/img] [h2][color=B0C4DE]Brent[/color] | [color=ff57ff]Siena[/color] | [color=red]Chris[/color] [/h2] [img]http://i.imgur.com/3R5vYYi.png?2[/img] [hr][color=silver]𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟙𝟜, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝕎𝕚𝕤𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕕, 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕪𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 / / 𝕋𝕠𝕨𝕟 / / ~𝟙𝟠𝟘𝟘[/color][hr] [sub]Collab with [@Papitan][@dragonmancer][/sub][/center] The pain felt so distant...that was bad, wasn't it? When the pain faded and...no, it wasn't that the pain was fading, it was that the pain was...gone? Still feeling a wave of nausea wash over her stomach, Siena tried to glance at her injuries. [i]Tried[/i], only to find that they were gone. Entirely. The cuts, the nicks, the gouges and punctures--they were all gone. [i]'[color=ff57ff]Wait, who healed them...? I didn't...[/color]'[/i] Her thoughts went to the blonde boy, Christmas. Vague memories of his method of healing making her grimace...but Lily too, right? Lily had... Dizziness washed over her thinly, her view bursting with colors before she squeezed her eyes shut for a moment to block everything out. Her injuries were gone, so she should...walk. Right? Walk. No pain meant she'd be fine, right? The brunette released a breath she hadn't realized she was holding back, soft and weary. So tired still... "[color=ff57ff]I think...I think I can walk...[/color]" Was that [i]her[/i] voice? Despite her best efforts, it sounded weaker, wavering in stability...flat. She tried to put a little more energy into the next words, but found them barely any more lively than the first. "[color=ff57ff]You can put me down.[/color]" Still bland. She tried to correct that with a weak smile. "[color=ff57ff]Think someone else could use the help.[/color]" [i]But she felt so safe there, carried like...[/i] [i]'[color=ff57ff]Stop.[/color]'[/i] ...but she felt...so safe... Dimly, he could hear concrete and tarmac break down behind him, collapsing onto itself as Zoe dealt the final blow, slaying the subnaturals that had taken so much effort to kill. Dust brushed against his body, into his hair, as air was displaced, but Brent hardly felt it. He barely cleared the collapsing zone of death before it fell, and in the past, perhaps, that brush of death would have got his heart racing, but now… It was numb. And he was tired. So tired of this conversation, of this situation, of how little he was able to actually accomplish. Always so close to doing something, only for it to ultimately not matter. Zoe must have attained a new power that gave her flesh-rotting ability some degree of range, while his inability to prepare lead him to contribute less than nothing during the entire fight. Less than nothing, when he could have done more. Someone’s voice sounded through the cuffs, alerting them of the presence of Cat’s Cradle. Were they the ones involved then? Cat’s Cradle didn’t recruit weaklings, did they? Something else then. Something that didn’t matter. Brent didn’t turn, continuing to walk away and away, approaching the APC that had arrived. Ernie burst out of it, running away, but he didn’t pay the blooddrenched x-mark any heed. After all, Sander was in there. Sander, the bloodlusted vampire that had done more than his fair share of work. Amethyst eyes followed his friend’s path behind buildings, but that was all the concern he could feel. A bit melancholic now, wasn’t he? He chewed on the inside of his mouth, using a bit of pain to remind himself of the present. There was still work to get done. Siena was still…no, she wasn’t. Her injuries were gone, taken away by Lily. Fragile as she was, she still put others above her own needs. But her flesh was too pale, her voice too weak, her body too light. She could walk, but he couldn’t like that. It was one thing to encourage someone with atrophied legs to attempt walking, and another thing to let someone who’s dead on their feet to continue walking. Wait. Was it? [color=B0C4DE]“We’re almost there,”[/color] Brent said, smiling down at her, [color=B0C4DE]“You lost a hell lot of blood, so just rest up, alright? Did more than enough. Hopefully they have juice or something in the APC.”[/color] A bitter sensation spread on the roof of his mouth. [color=B0C4DE]“Anyways, there’s plenty of others to help out the restt. Not like the Lily Team is just gonna leave everyone to sleep on concrete after healing them, right?”[/color] Odd...maybe it was the blood loss, or maybe it was the familiarity of the situation, but Siena couldn't deny that she was...[i]relieved[/i] at Brent's response. Odd. It was odd. Weird, strange, [i]stop feeling comfortable.[/i] Her mind tried to rationalize it as a side effect of the exhaustion that threatened to overwhelm her. ...that was what it was, wasn't it? "[color=ff57ff]O-Oh...[/color]" Still flat, but...not quite. No. No, no, no. She didn't like this. [i]Focus on something else.[/i] Like what? The fact that Sav was dead? That [i]she[/i] had been the reason for that inopportune spike forest? That despite the literal [i]arsenal[/i] at her disposal she'd been worthless in combat against the clockworks. Been a liability in the fight against the subnaturals. But...[i]'[color=ff57ff]Stop.[/color]'[/i] Where was her phone? She wanted that creature comfort back in her hands. "[color=ff57ff]Thanks. You really do go above and beyond, huh?[/color]" A soft, breathy chuckle. "[color=ff57ff]I kind of like that about you.[/color]" Unexpected. Thanking him now? No, she could probably only show her gratitude because she wasn’t aware of how much he had fucked up all over the place. That one moment of emotional weakness, of a winning that one small victory, fucked everything up. It was a bullet that could weave through all obstacles to accurately strike a minuscule target upon someone’s body. The matter manipulator wouldn’t have stood a chance in hell if he held his fire and waited for a fleshier target than a gargoyle that could take a punch from Callan without exploding. But he didn’t voice that bitter truth. Almost a man but still a child. [color=B0C4DE]“You’re welcome,”[/color] he replied, averting his gaze to the APC, [color=B0C4DE]“But, well, I only go this far because everyone else can do so much more. Hazel’s a god of destruction, Sander’s an invincible juggernaut, Emma’s range is infinite, Grant’s a tactical savant, and you’re me except way smarter and more versatile.”[/color] Ah, he didn’t like his smile right now. [color=B0C4DE]“Don’t want to become a liability and fall behind, you know? I want to be able to help everyone."[/color] "[color=ff57ff]A liability?[/color]" Siena questioned faintly. "[color=ff57ff]I'm pretty sure Hazel 'n the rest of us would have been mincemeat if you hadn't been able to tell us what was happening.[/color]" Not that it had done much with their relative lack of a strategy in the midst of combat. Not enough communication--probably something that could have been avoided. Peering up at her comrade, the bookworm flashed a grateful expression. Genuine. [i]'[color=f7976a]How utterly shameful.[/color]'[/i] "[color=ff57ff]I'm a far cry from [i]everyone[/i], but you certainly saved my skin more than once this time.[/color]" Holding back the urge to close her eyes and just [i]rest[/i], the mage gave a weak laugh. "[color=ff57ff]You could just as easily have left it to Chris and hope my Wishalloy was still useful if I fell. Wouldn't exactly call that a liability.[/color]" Chris remained in his spot, his eyes were closed to aid in his resting; however Brent and Siena's conversations occasionally caused him to peek every now and then. He'd be lying to himself if he said he wasn't a tad bit jealous. Siena in Brent's arm, talking to each other even with compliments. He tried to reason with himself that he shouldn't focus on such things in these situations. They had all nearly died and Brent was at least trying to help her out. If Chris were to transform now and pick her up instead he would have been naked anyhow, so he convinced himself that Brent's cradling wasn't something he should be jealous of. He still felt it creeping on him though, it probably would have been worse if he wasn't so tired with physical pain still stinging him. [i][color=red]You probably didn't have a chance with her anyway"[/color][/i] [color=B0C4DE]“But…”[/color] Brent stopped himself before he went any further. He let out a deep breath, forcing his expression not to crumble apart. How would it make her feel, if he told her just how little he felt about his role, regardless? Of how much more he could have said, if he wasn’t so obsessed with trying to make his power seem useful? He could have noticed that Sander was coming as well, that the anti-gravity mage was the most dangerous one, not the gargoyle. He could have spotted the entire incident that messed Lawrence up and immediately fired, instead of trying to get all three of them at once. There was still so much that could be done. His regrets remained unvoiced. [color=B0C4DE]“…thanks. But it’s still my theory that Hazel could have rolled through the entire clockwork army if she just made a hamster ball and ran around.”[/color] He managed to laugh.[color=B0C4DE] “And you still owe me knife combat lessons, ‘ena. No way was I going to let you drop into rubble just to make things easier on myself.”[/color] … A bit of honesty. [color=B0C4DE]“Though I was desperate to do something, after letting the situation spiral out of control as much as it did.”[/color] [i]Familiar.[/i] [i]'[color=ff57ff]Stop.[/color]'[/i] But it [i]was[/i] familiar. She reocgnized the hesitation. The careful wording. Recognized the parts that had become like second nature in the short period she'd been in USARILN East...and it drove a spire into her more effectively than any of the spike-generating subnatural's attacks had. Too familiar. [i]Uncomfortable. Too familiar.[/i] Ah, and there it was. The truth, regardless of how muted it might have been. Something that Siena had evidently grown an aversion to recently. Damn, was she in any state--[i]did she really even have any right to meddle?[/i]--to say anything? [i]No excuses.[/i] "[color=ff57ff]'nless you have some secret clairvoyance, I doubt you were [i]letting[/i] any of that happen.[/color]" And a thought. No, she wouldn't have accepted anything as simple as [i]that[/i] as an excuse. Wouldn't have let it go so easily. The smile flickered, then faded out as her desire to keep up the facade lost out to her desire to [i]do something right.[/i] "[color=ff57ff]But I guess that's hard to believe right now.[/color]" [i]Who would even believe that?[/i] "[color=ff57ff]Still, you did plenty.[/color]" A fraction of a second where she hesitated...then a smile of some sort of genuine emotion. Gratitude? Camaraderie? [i]What?[/i] It felt out of place from her usual expressions. Did she really keep herself from [i]actually[/i] smiling that often? "[color=ff57ff]So again. Thanks.[/color]" When had his pace slowed by so much? When had he started using her pity as a salve? His eyes narrowed incrementally, even as some part of his mind was glad for her kindness. He made his choices, and they turned out to be wrong most of the time. He wasn’t sure he really did plenty, but perhaps it was fine to believe in someone else’s opinion for once. Amethyst eyes flickered down, and something inside Brent cracked. Ah, there it was. Something real. Different from the few that he caught while walking through the cafeteria. Different from the ones that emerged while in Crimen Culpae. Different from the one that set him off during Angelic’s training session. [i]This was worthwhile.[/i] [color=B0C4DE]“That smile’s the only recompense I need.”[/color]