Fu re ru

[apassingafternoon]

Alain was having none of their shit and that was just by the mere virtue of being completely and utterly out of it. Kaine had thought it would be alright to use an extra drop or two but ... Well, it was that or his own exhaustion that kept him out of it. For as much as Kaine wanted to lie around and ignore everyone, tend to her house and hardly the people inside of it Nariko had a point. They were to rest for a week before moving on. The quicker they dealt with the out of the way errands the sooner she could sit in her room for as long as Nariko would allow before inevitably dragging her back out.

Which explained why they were on the road to The Village, or Arpagio as it was now known. The name changed was ridiculous (Aelious must have somehow gotten his way) but Kaine accepted it with a shrug. The journey was a boring one for her, she stuck to Nariko's side a bit tighter, more anxiously than usual but otherwise kept her words to a minimum. She didn't feel like talking, didn't even feel like going anywhere near town and the last thing she wanted was to even heart Cuthbert's voice, which she had already spent the morning blocking out. And yet he somehow felt well enough to come along. Fantastic.

The doors pushed open in their rhythmic fashion and her first question of the day was directed at Roland even though she didn't bother with looking over at him.

"What are we here for again?" They had barely taken two steps in and she was already quite tired of everything, and it showed in her voice, and the fold of her arms over her stomach. If her oversized sweater and skinny jeans didn't make that just as clear then nothing else would.

Comments

[apassingafternoon]

Well, since Bert was still entirely capable of throwing her into a proverbial sea of embarrassment that materialized as a bright red flush on her cheeks, Kaine figured he was fine. She disappeared briefly to get the bottle and simply put it down on the table.

"I'd hate to accidentally throw myself at the wrong person-"

"Oh, I'm sure you'd pick him out just fine, even drunk!" By now Nariko was taking explicit joy in teasing while she dumped some vodka into her tea.

"-So I'm the sober friend today, your new clothes and back will be fine."

[toweredingly]

As Bert laughed, Roland found himself a seat next to Nariko, sitting down wordlessly and picking up one of the spare cups of tea. He didn't apologise for walking out midway through making it, but he did give Nariko and Kaine each a little nod of acknowledgement before he took a drink. After a moment, too, he let his hand drop onto Nariko's leg, looking back over at Bert. "There's clothes upstairs. New and old. You don't need Al to hold your hand."

"No, but sometimes it's nice," Bert responded without rancour, leaning over Alain's back with his chin on the shorter man's head and his arms slung around his shoulders. "You've got no heart, Ro', that's your trouble. Kaine, is there anything up there I oughtn't to touch?"

[apassingafternoon]

The Bert-Alain hybrid of limbs was funny and it was what put a little grin on Kaine's face despite the question. "No, everything that's private has already been locked up and put in the attic. They're just clothes, so take whatever you'd like." It was still a little odd to see them in her father's clothing, but her memory was still so fuzzed and uncertain when it came to both of her parents that she didn't feel any sense of invasion in letting them use whatever.

Kaine lingered to watch them go before she would inevitably return to the kitchen, but Nariko looked over at Roland. It was nothing but a questioning glance an is everything alright look. It wasn't her place to ask what had been discussed, and she had no intention of doing so, but there wasn't a force in the world that wouldn't override her concern for them both. Bert just really tested that idea sometimes, that was all.

[toweredingly]

Roland answered her with a little nod, taking a moment to drink his tea before adding aloud, "He's going to town with me in the morning. He needs breathing space, and I can use the help getting those guns back to Wei." He considered for a moment, then mimicked Nariko, sloshing a generous tot of vodka into his tea and taking another drink. "Ought to give Alain and Kaine both some time to recover. You, too.

[gunslingerqueen]

She raised a brow at Roland as if the words he dared to speak were revolutionary. There was a chance she was just kidding but it was a little difficult to tell. "I'm fine, Roland, it barely hurts anymore." Of course she got the feeling he wasn't exactly talking about her wound, but the fact remained. "Hopefully it does him some good."

She could leave it at that, even though she still wondered why he'd go through the trouble of hefting the guns all the way back. But, whatever, maybe it was more for his own and Bert's sake. "Are you ready for tacos? They'll amaze you." A better question was, did Roland have enough patience in him to deal with her whole drunk?