006 ┼ I'm Finding Me Out, I'm Having My Doubts, I'm Losing the Best of Me

[stylistic_disloyalty]

Who: Luci & YOU
What: You know what sucks? Everything about the last festival-- especially all the chaos and running. You know what's probably a good idea? Ignoring all of that and having a party. On a yacht.
When: May 20th
Where: The bay outside Vista City
Warnings: IT'S A CARNIVAL CRUISE...!

((Luci just got a strange pay bump and she's using it to regroup after the intense clusterfuck at the last festival-- she's still not sure exactly what happened there, but even though it's probably significant, she'd rather celebrate like one usually does after a lot of work. By renting a yacht for a night. Like people usually do.))





((It's a nice boat. Plenty of food, a couple of bartenders, fire pits, couches, swimsuits for those who need, and music of course. The party is, of course, invite only to keep the paparazzi and gatecrashers and people looking to turn this into a work-venture out, but Luci's given the bouncer clearance to let friends of guests and anybody who seems interesting in-- she knows Luci's type.))

((Try not to get too blitzed and fall overboard!))

Comments

[worthlesspride]

"You're aware that's a yes in a lot of words, right?" He smiled sweetly and leaned back. "As it so happens I'm in the midst of planning a breakout, and I'm probably on Santiago's shit list, so tattling on you is counter productive to me."

He stretched out his leg, hissing in pain and looked over at her.

"Rupunzel-chan, there is very little that could freak me out at this point." This was the truth, talking to ghosts, seeing his knee broken... He doubted magic healing could be any weirder than that.

"Do it."

[lightthedarkness]

"Only if you use it against me, it is," she offered gently as she tilted her head. "A breakout?" she frowned and looked around. "We can't... talk about this here." Partially because Usagi knew the heat of the jacuzzi was not secure and anyone could be listening in, but also because she just didn't want to get too pruned by the water.

"Do you think you can make it inside and up the stairs?" Usagi recalled that there were some more private couches inside on the upper decks.

"Also my name isn't Rapunzel, my name is Serena Lapin."

[worthlesspride]

"Like I said, it's counter productive for me to do so." If it weren't? Well, Oikawa takes care of his own, and in this life and death situation Tooru is willing to do just about anything at this point to protect everyone in Pride. He's aware that this doesn't make him a good person, probably. But at least he's decent enough to honest with himself about it.

"Sure, it'll take me a minute to put my brace and get up the stairs, but yeah. Give me ten minutes."

He stood, grabbed a towel, and, with a hiss, out of the tub, beginning to dry himself up.

He flashed her a smile before pulling his tank top back on. "You didn't introduce yourself Rapunzel-chan, I had to come up with a nickname on the fly."

[lightthedarkness]

"Don't let some of my loved ones hear you say that." She could only imagine what Haruka and Minako would do, knowing that he was willing to hand her over for his own purposes.

She could appreciate the honesty, she supposed, even if he just admitted his willingness to hand her over to Pride if it suited his needs. She didn't like it, but she could appreciate it. She got out of the hot tub, grabbing her towel and wrapping it around her as she waited for him. All the movement caused her hair to tumble from atop her head.

Usagi waited beside him, not willing to leave him in that much pain to deal with it himself. She bit her lip.

"Is there anything I can do? And you've not introduced yourself yet either," she asked softly.

[worthlesspride]

He raised an eyebrow at her and gave her an amused smile. "I'm sure they can appreciate the fact there's very little I'll do for my loved ones." He began to tug on his brace. "Being good is nice and all, but I've found that sometimes you need to be selfish and do bad things." He looked up at her, smile gone. "When it's a choice between survival and morality no one wins."

He finished strapping his brace. "Hand me cane," he said as he stood, gesturing to the plain looking cane that fell over at some point.

"Oikawa, Tooru Oikawa," he said. "Though, I think that exchange is unfair as I know that's not your real name."

[lightthedarkness]

"So you can appreciate how they might retaliate, really," she offered easily. "And I don't really agree with you on that." Although, yes, she did selfish things, but she supposed it was the debate about doing the right things for the wrong reasons and whether that truly mattered. "Besides, if I followed your advice, for my own safety, I wouldn't do anything about your knee." She wasn't trying to hold it over his head, that was the last thing she wanted, but she wanted him to understand. "My survival would say to leave you here, wounded knee and all and just play off everything you've said. I'm not trying to scare you, but if I thought the way you did, I could just ignore you and leave it at that."

Fortunately for Usagi, Oikawa didn't know her well, he would know she'd never be able to leave him wounded now that she knew, or she hoped he wasn't that good at reading people. She glanced about and handed him the cane.

"So long as you keep talking about wanting to possibly turn me in, that's the name you're going to get, sorry," and she did, admittedly sound quite upset about lying to him regarding that. She always felt bad about giving the false name.

[worthlesspride]

"I wouldn't respect them otherwise," Tooru said with a dismissive wave. They could also suck his dick for all he cared at this point. "Though if they tried to hold moral ground over me they would fail. They would be getting vengeance for one person, whereas I would act out for the benefit of the group. My group, not their's, but the point is the same. It's all equal in the end." He smiled cheerfully at her. "I wouldn't hand you over if it only benefited me. I'm not that much of an asshole. If I felt I had to it wouldn't be an easy choice. And one that would weigh on me for the rest of my life, but one I would make again and again if I felt it was the right one.

"But like I said; in this situation, I have no plans to do any such thing. You're safe from being backstabed from me. Not that I do a lot of backstabbing, I prefer to do it from the front. Metaphorically speaking of course."

He stood and took the cane. "But, you're wrong about that. For you're here for a reason, and healing my knee would help that reason. I'm an asset." He grinned broadly. "I'm smart, and I have good eyes. Very little escapes my notice. Helping me now will help you later on. And if you really can heal my knee that makes me even less likely to do anything of the sort."

Like the fact he could tell her conscience wouldn't let her leave him with out healing him. He felt a little bad, but his knee, which had been threatening to give out since the beginning of high school... He desperately wants that healed.

"Fair enough," he said and took his cane. He stood, and beamed at her. "Shall we?"

[lightthedarkness]

"Oh, don't worry about your knee," was all she could think to say, looking around at the guards and other bands as they walked, trying to see if they were listening in, if they were trying to follow. She swallowed, s she kept close to him.

When they reached the location she suggested, there was no one there and she let out a sigh of relief. Small favors, she thought. She then gestured for him to take a seat on a cushioned bench.

"Oh ah... place your back towards the stairs," she said. She rather someone get the wrong impression of what she might be doing than have her abilities be easily seen. Usagi waited for him to sit, letting him take as long as he needed, incredibly patient regarding his injury before she moved to sit next to him.

"It ah.. it won't hurt," she whispered. "But just... don't look directly at my hands, I don't know how bright it will be depending on the damage. And uh... don't... be surprised if you feel different too."

[worthlesspride]

He nods and sits in the chair with his back to the stairs. He can't help but snicker a bit because he's a giant child but otherwise he keeps quiet. He thinks about taking off his brace, but figures it should stay on.

"Okay then, do your worst," he said as he settled back in the plush seat and closed his eyes. "The damage is pretty bad. I almost tore the muscles there when I was fifteen. And it has multiple fractures in the kneecap."

[lightthedarkness]

"It'll be alright, promise," she smiled at him before she watched him close his eyes and she concentrated on gathering her light and powers from her crystal. She placed her hands in front of her chest and the crystal appeared, if this was real damage, true damage, then she would need it's help.

She allowed her magic to seep into his leg. The wound was nothing compared to healing the earth. Even now, in this world, while she was weaker and it was different than it had been before, she knew she could do this. She felt the light grow and grow as it incased his knee, then the rest of him, and then her as it was always prone to do. She poured her will into the crystal, and the ginzuishou answered her desires. It seeped deep into him, and it healed as she bade it to.

It curled around every torn muscle and crack in his bones, every ache and pain. It wrapped around them and then? With her power it healed it without an ounce of resistance.

She then reached out and let it heal any other ache and pain he had, any fatigue, any weariness, and any soreness that he had been forced to deal with because of his knee and what it may have done to the rest of his body.

The light was warm, welcoming. It was a cool breeze on a hot day, or a glass of cold water on a sore throat, and she made sure to make him feel that everything was well once more.

Just as quickly as her light spread through his body, she pulled it out of him. But it was not a harsh yank, rather it was a gentle goodbye and her magic would leave comfortable traces along his limbs, as if he had gotten the best night's sleep.

When that was done, the light dimmed, and she made the crystal vanish before she pulled away.

"Alright, you can open your eyes again," she said with a smile. "How do you feel?"

[worthlesspride]

Even with his eyes closed he could tell the light was bright. It was there and then gone. He drew in a shaky breath and opened his eyes, first staring at her with amazement and uncertainty and then down to his knee.

There was no pain.

He had forgotten what it was like to not feel pain in his knee.

"Th-the pain's gone," he said in a rush, voice shaky. "Oh. I..."

He swallowed back a sob and his eyes prickled with tears. It had been years since he felt like this. While Santiago had broken his knee and had her doctor minions purposefully setting it bad so that he'd always be in pain for the past few months had been awful, he hadn't truly been pain-free since he was fifteen. Not since he had overworked himself because of feelings of inferiority that Kageyama Tobio and Ushijima Wakatoshi had brought out in him.

The memory of his first collapse came to him. The Aobajosai's gym, a month into his first year there, the late hour, the pain that shot through him like the arrow through Achilles' heel. How he crawled on his stomach to his bag to call his best friend, the ride to the hospital as he clung to Iwaizumi. Ever since that night the pain of his limitations, the pain of the knowledge that he was not a gifted athlete like Kageyama and Ushijima. The pain of the knowledge that he might never overcome the wall that was Ushijima. The pain of the knowledge that one day Kageyama would surpass him in skill. Especially once he had injured his knee in his attempts to break down Ushijima's wall and stay ahead of Kageyama's growth. That pain had been a physical reminder of those facts.

That pain, the physical part was gone. The pain that had been with him for almost four years was gone.

Quietly he said, "I can barely remember a time when it didn't hurt." And then he sobbed in joy.

[lightthedarkness]

She moved to wrap him up in her arms, gently stroking his back and offering him support. She still had her own glow around her and the feelings she had put into the crystal and light were her own. She held him tight to let him cry as much as he needed. Admittedly, she was a bit tired from using her powers, but it wasn't the same as it had been a few months ago. She leaned back a bit and merely held his hands, give them a squeeze.

"And it won't go away," she offered. "It'll be like that permanently. You don't need to worry about it acting up or having to still be cautious about it like you might a knee after surgery. It's as if you've never been injured at all. Do you want to walk around and give it a try?"

[worthlesspride]

He didn't care if anyone saw him crying like this. Though he wished that Iwaizumi was here to tell him he was an ugly crier. He just couldn't believe that his knee was healed.

"Thank you," he said, still sobbing. "Thank you, thank you," he repeated before slipping into Japanese.

When she pulled back, he wiped his eyes. "Yeah," he said. "Yeah. I'll try."

He stood. He felt a little wobbly, he had gotten used to the cane and having pain, the recent sharp pain, and the old dull ache.

"Holy shit, you're the real deal."

He looked at her, smiling hugely. A real smile, not one of his fake smiles.

There was no way he'd ever turn on her now. Not after this. He owed her now.

[lightthedarkness]

She didn't have a handkerchief while wearing a bikini and cover-up, so she merely reached out to gently wipe away his tears with her fingers. She only pulled her hand away when he moved to stand up.

Usagi watched, wanting to make sure this place hadn't affected her powers to heal completely. She smiled when she saw him walking around without any trouble. At his smile, hers could only grow brighter and she blushed waving her hands in front of her.

"Ah well, I try, and a lot of people are depending on me, so I can't let my heart and thoughts be clouded by doubt or confusion. Besides," she offered. "You were in pain, I couldn't leave you like that when I had the ability to make it go away."