paixaorpg | Wary friends... [COMPLETED]

While she had expected that this elaborately dressed man would stay somewhere more... elaborate as well, the room she followed him to is simply sufficient. But it is clean and it would be much more comfortable to sleep indoors rather than out there on the cold ground. Make yourself comfortable. Her attention is brought back to Howl who is picking up an upside down plate covering another filled with food.

Her stomach grumbles in hunger at the sight, but she stops herself from dashing and swallowing the whole plate in one gulp. It's cold, but I think it's still okay to eat. Asuka nods and walk as normally as she can without appearing rushed. She reaches for the fork but turns to Howl first, "What about you?"

Howl smiles thoughtfully, his attention turning elsewhere for the meantime. "I've already eaten my fill for the night." He wanders off to one side and picks up a clean white towel off the back of a chair. "I'll clean up first. You go ahead and eat." Heading towards and into the bath, he closes the door quietly behind him to give her (and himself) little privacy.

I'll clean up first. You go ahead and eat. It would be rude of her to think so, but she is rather glad that Howl had decided to go into the bathroom and leave her alone with her dinner/breakfast. She watches him walk to the door and right before he closes the door, she mutters softly to his back, "Thank you," not exactly sure whether she wants it to be heard or not.

The door clicks softly behind him and Asuka watches it for a moment, before turning her attention to the food before her. She picks up the fork and begins eating. Her throat is still parched from throwing up, but her hunger is stronger and she eats anyway. The food is cold, but it is about the best meal she has ever had in a long time.

She lets the fork linger in her mouth in thought; she really hasn't eaten anything for a very long time. The last meal before this that she remembers is... in Hikari's house. And that was before she ran away and-- she takes the fork out of her mouth and starts eating again; thinking about it makes her feel stupid and she would rather not remind herself of it again. Once she finishes eating, she puts down the fork neatly on the plate and covers it with the upside down plate again.

Wondering what she should do while waiting for Howl, she leans back on the chair she is sitting on and finds herself seeing the bright lamp right above her. It rather hurts her eyes to be staring at the light, but she has always wondered what the dummkopf usually sees in the ceiling...

Inside the bath Howl sets a hand on the counter and then looks up into the mirror to check his face. There are shadows under his eyes -- he hasn't slept properly since he arrived, and he would chalk it up to the way his sleeping habits have been unintentionally reversed if only the lingering memory of the burned area of the city way over in Muspelheim didn't continue to bother him.

Shedding his clothes like a shake, he reaches out to open the tap and steps into the tub as water begins to fill it. If he falls sleep after this bath, then well and good. If not, he'd head out and leave the girl to rest and come back a little before noon.

Thoughtfully he traces his finger along the curve of his eyebrow and into his hair. I never asked for her name. He muses and shrugs, reaching up to pick the bar of soap from it's place in the wall.

Her neck is starting to cramp and her eyes are starting to sting from looking up at the ceiling so much. She shifts into a normal sitting position and looks over to the door where Howl had disappeared to some time ago-- no, a lot of time ago. She stands up from her chair and walks over to the door. She feels like banging on the door and shouting insults at whoever is on the other side of the door like she usually does back home, but she thinks that is would be inappopriate to do to Howl who saved her and all.

Chewing her bottom lip for a moment, she raises a hand over the wooden door and knocks three times, "Hey Howl, will you still be taking long?" she knocks again, harder this time, "If you don't let me take a bath soon, I'm gonna strat stinking up your whole room, you know!"

He brushes his hair out of his eyes, the soap suds falling along his shoulder and upper arm. He hears her loud and clear, even if the door muffles her words just a little bit, and he frowns.

Back home, no one would dare disturb him. His baths ranged an hour or two, and no less than that. Damn girl, he thinks, just a tad bit annoyed at her. His baths were ritual and short of sacred. You'd think the girl would sympathize given that most women were given to the same habit.

Opting to say nothing, Howl continues on his way, cupping a handful of water in both palms and splashing it on his face to clear any possible soap from his skin.

She leans on the door to hear whatever Howl might have to say in reply to her but heard nothing. She turns and leans her back to the door with a soft 'hmph!' and slides to the floor. Asuka looks blankly to nothing and feels the constant smarting on her left eye and right hand. She lifts up her right arm and examines it; the wounds have dried up already, revealing huge vertical gashes on the sides of her hand. She can twitch her fingers a bit now, too, at the cost of some pain however.

Asuka turns to the door again, giving it a soft knock and shouting across the door, "Be quick, okay?" Not waiting for a reply from Howl, she walks over to the mirror to examine her eye. She had taken off the bandage covering her head but not the one covering her eyes as she had been scared that if she took it off roughly, her eyes might get hurt or something. She leans on the dressing table to peer closer at her face, noticing the black eyes and messy hair. She winces at how she looks; only now realizing that she looks just as awful as she was feeling, is feeling.

Her hand hovers above the bandage covering her left eye for a moment before reaching to where it is tied up at the back of her head. She fears what she might see below the bandage, but she tugs at the knot anyway and peels the layers of bandages slowly. When she has peeled off all the bandages, she hesitates for a moment, wondering if it would be a good idea to take the piece of cotton off and look at her wounded eyes. She chews on her lower lip and closes her eyes before taking off the cotton slowly, glad that it is not making any gross noises whatsoever.

The pain on her eye suddenly increases when it is exposed to air and she is scared now, of opening her eyes. But she has come this far, and it surely cannot be so awful, right? right? She closes her eyes tightly for a moment before forcing both of them to open abruptly. The motion makes her dizzy and all she can see at first is a blur of colors.

Her vision focuses and she finds herself staring at a normal eye with blue iris and a red one, an eye with completely red surface. The sight triggers memories of the Doll and blood and pain and the EVA units coming to kill her, tear her apart, eat her. Asuka screams more in fear of the demons in her head than her own eyes. She runs toward the bathroom door and starts pounding on it while still screaming shrilly, never stopping to take a breath.

He nearly slips when he hears the scream, but Howl manages to get back his footing just in time, avoiding smashing his knee onto the tub surface. Stumbling out of the tub he grabs the towel where he left it earlier, wrapping it quickly (but securely) around his waist beforehe flings the door open to catch the redhead in his arms.

He feels the tremors racking her body and he hugs her tighter, unsure as to what to tell her to make her stop. He spots the bandages now littering the floor and his blood runs cold. "What is it?!" He asks sharply, finally, fingers curling on her shoulders as he attempts to put her at arm's length so that he can check her.

Asuka quickly covers her face when Howl puts her at an arm's length. She does not want to ever see her eyes again, let alone let anyone else see it. She swats one of his hands and backs away while still crying hysterically and covering her face. She lets herself fall down on the floor and curls herself into a fetal position.

"Don't look," she makes a gesture for him to go away. "I'm weak and worthless and ugly!" she closes her eyes and hugs her knee to herself, muttering the sentence over and over again like a mantra that might make it all alright. I'm weak and worthless and ugly. weak worthless ugly. weakworthlessuglyweakworthlessugly...

The swat caught him by surprise and for a few seconds, Howl just stared at his own hand before he finally looked up to her again. Frowning, his eyes narrow, I'm weak and worthless and ugly! and upon hearing her words he marches over to her and catches her wrist, firmly pulling her up to her feet, his free hand roughly catching her chin to lift her face up so he could see.

He says nothing, it is his manner of handling her that says STOP THAT, it is the chilled quality in his gaze that he trusts will cease her hysterical tantrum.

He looks at her eye, at the damage there, and thinks that it is nothing rest and time won't fix. He sighs and lets her go just as roughly as he pulled her up and runs a frustrated hand through his dripping blonde hair.

"Yes, fine, of course you're all those things." He snaps, though his voice remains level. "Tch." He shakes his head, droplets of water dripping onto the carpet or trickling down his skin. He walks back to the bathroom. "And here I thought some idiot had come in here to hurt you."

He makes another irritated sound and grabs his clothes off the floor. He doesn't bother to look at her, and instead opens the cabinet door to bring out one of the robes provided by the hotel.

"I'm done." He murmurs nonchalantly. "You can use it now."

She was dumbfounded when Howl catches her chin and forces her to look at him. She stops her muttering and holds her breath as he looks into her eyes. Whe he finally lets go and pulls her up to her feet, she stumbles a bit to get her bearing, in a way glad that Howl did not scream in fear and call her a freak as she had expected him to. Yes, fine, of course you're all those things. She quickly looks up at him when he snaps at her. Her mind is still reeling with so many things, so she is not yet able to decide on any reply to him. And here I thought some idiot had come in here to hurt you.

Asuka realizes that Howl is probably very irritated about her, but she is already used to making that effect on people and it did not bother her at all. What truly disturbs her, however, is that he was the first person who did not treat her as a deranged girl, but more like a girl with tantrum issues. I'm done. You can use it now. Despite that however, Asuka does not like people snapping at her.

"I don't want it," she replies curtly, fisting her hands on both sides of her body. "I don't need any fucking bath!"

Howl shrugs nonchalantly as he slips on the robe, his back turned to her while he does so. "Whichever you prefer." He replies and runs his fingers through his hair as he brushes past her without so much as a sidewards glance.

"If that's what you plan to do though," he stretches, "you sleep on the floor."

If that's what you plan to do though, you sleep on the floor.

When Asuka is angry, she gets her wits back. "So if I take a bath, you sleep on the floor!" she smirks victoriously at him, even though the effect is weakened by one of her hands covering her injured eye. Asuka does not care that this is the man who probably saved her from death by beatings from the tavern's goons. What matters is that he is being annoying and she really doesn't like it.

He doesn't know why, but her temper amuses him. I'm getting daft. He grins and runs one lazy hand through his gossamer locks.

"No," he all but laughs. "You take a bath and you get one half of the bed." He teases her sortly. "What sort of gentleman would I be if I let you sleep on the floor?"

No, you take a bath and you get one half of the bed. What sort of gentleman would I be if I let you sleep on the floor?

She snorts at him but walks over to the bathroom anyway, looking at him over her shoulder when she reaches the door. "Just make sure you put pillows on the floor 'cause I'm gonna kick your smug ass off the bed!" And with a flurry of scarlet hair, Asuka disappears behind the door with a slam. She looses her plug suit and starts taking, or rather, peeling it off when she suddenly remembers something. She rushes to the door again and shouts through it, "And I'm not ugly because I know you don't tease ugly girls!"

Content with what she just said, she steps into the bathtub with a smile on her face. Victory is always sweet, after all.

Howl shakes his head upon hearing her somewhat muffled retort and walks over to pick up his previously used clothes again. Silly girl. He muses as he walks to the dresser where he opens a drawer to lift up a small vial. He sprinkles a little of the contents onto the fabric and smoothes the powder over the cloth, channeling his will to aid his little spell into doing what it was meant to.

It will take fifteen minutes, but by the end ofthat his shirt and pants will be as if they were newly washed.

The warm water washing over her feet feels pleasant, but she lets out a muffled yelp when the water touches her wounds, which is not as pleasant. She gingerly puts her injured hand into the water, nonetheless, feeling the prickling pain subside to dull throbbing in a few moments. With that settled, she leans back and stares at the ceiling once more, this time noticing subtle molds forming on the white surface. I kinda miss the idiot.

Absentmindedly, she takes the bottle of placed on the counter beside the bathtub and pours the contents on the water. Her wounds start stinging again but she keeps her eyes on the ceiling and ignores it. She reaches the knob with her foot and turns off the flowing water; silence dropping over the room abruptly with only the subtle sounds of rippling water echoing on the walls. Still preoccupied with the ceiling, she starts scrubbing herself, taking care not to reopen the wounds even if some seemed to have reopened, judging from the pain.

When her neck is cramped already she turns her head to the door, wondering what Howl could be doing behind it. She wonders for how long she would want to tag along with the man before running away from him like she did with her previous companions. I'll tag along until I find Baka or Misato or Hikari, if I ever would.

She turns her attention back to the bathtub, which is now filled with reddish-water because of her wounds. Snorting in disgust and annoyance, she steps out and drains it, glad that there is no stain left on the white ceramic. Asuka steps into the shower and starts rinsing herself off, while thinking back on many things that are still unclear in her mind. How she got to this place, what happened beforehand, where her wounds are from, they are all just jumbled mass of questions without answers until she finally comes to the most important question of all. She peeks her head out of the shower and shouts to Howl through the door, "Hey Howl, do you happen to have any extra clothes I can borrow?"

He looks up at the sound of her voice, his fingers still preoccupied with adjusting the sleeve of his shirt. Walking to the closet, he pulls out the other bathrobe and goes to stand by the bathroom door.

"You shouldn't expect that I'd have soemthing on hand for you." He tells her through the door. "It's not as if I keep extra clothes in case a girl drops by." He sighs and runs scratches his cheek lightly with one finger. "There's a spare bathrobe here and I'm holding it right now. I don't think you'd appreciate me coming in, so you might as well open the door a crack and take it from me."

You shouldn't expect that I'd have soemthing on hand for you. It's not as if I keep extra clothes in case a girl drops by. There's a spare bathrobe here and I'm holding it right now. I don't think you'd appreciate me coming in, so you might as well open the door a crack and take it from me.

Asuka steps out of the shower while her hands are busy drying her hair. She walks to the blurred mirror over the washbasin and rubs the mist off the surface with the back of her hand, turning her head slightly to shout back at Howl, "Fine, just hang it on the handle of the door and turn around!" she secures the towel over her head before walking over to the door, "And don't even think of peeking!"

She bends down to peek to the room through the keyhole to make sure that Howl already has his back turned already before cracking the door open.

He hangs the robe on the doorknob and turns around to walk over to the bed, his back turned to the bathroom door. "You can get it now." And without another thought to her for the moment, he slips out the electronic journal from where he last left it and occupies himself with the network.

She cracks the door open when Howl has said for her to get it and snatches the robe from where it hung on the handle. Fastening the belt around her, she gathers her plugsuit and steps out of the bathroom. The bath has succeeded in lightening her mood, and even if her wounds are stinging a bit, Asuka feels much better now that she does not have the plug suit on and she does not smell like blood anymore, "That felt nice!"

Noticing Howl sitting on the bed and tinkering with the journal, she hops onto the bed and peers over his shoulder, the thought that the gesture might annoy him did not cross her mind even once, "Whatcha doing?"

He had just responded to the comment (http://thewizardhowl.livejournal.com/556.html) left by someone on his journal entry when she'd come up behind him. "Just checking the network." He smiles, fingers fiddling with the tiny keys. "I'm trying to find out how this nice lady found my entry." Tinkering a bit more with the contraption, Howl is not the least bit bothered by her presence.

"I assume you're feeling much better now?" He doesn't wait for her response, and instead puts forward the question that has been seeking his attention for the past few minutes. "I didn't catch your name, Scarlet." He looks up and smiles, the corners of his mouth just tilting up slightly. "It's polite to introduce yourself, you know."

Just checking the network. I'm trying to find out how this nice lady found my entry. Asuka is suddenly reminded of Jenet, Auron and The Prince and how they might be able to find her by tracking where she is using the network on the journal. After all, if the journals can connect to each other, and it has such a sophisticated map, it should at least have some kind of GPRS installed into it. Frowning in thought, she asks slowly, "Do you happen to know how to block some people from accessing your journals?"

I assume you're feeling much better now? I didn't catch your name, Scarlet. It's polite to introduce yourself, you know. Smirking at the realization that the man is actually very handsome, she thinks about how lucky she is that it was not some ugly perverted guy who found her drunk. Asuka hops off the bed and poses proudly, "My name is Asuka Langley Sohryu! I don't really mind you calling me Scarlet, though, it does have a ring to it as well."

He nods, almost sagely and returns his attention to the journal, unfazed by her sudden enthusiasm. Fingers click rhythmically, and the screen shows the journal settings. "I'm not sure what you mean," he looks over the newest comment. "But if you mean preventing others from viewing your entries. I suppose this could work." He points to the screen, and taps lightly on the option that allows for viewing settings.

"I suppose if you tick this box here," he moves the journal's pen-like tool to the box labeled 'Private' and shrugs. "Maybe that will keep people from reading it." He glances briefly to her, the look on his face similar to that of a child on Christmas morning, "There's an option for customization as well. I suppose that means you can choose select people then."

The truth is, this new toy amuses him.

Rather disappointed by how he seems to be unfazed by her introductions, she then realizes that this is simply not Earth anymore and no one here knows who Asuka is. She finds that she cannot help but pout in annoyance. I'm not sure what you mean, but if you mean preventing others from viewing your entries. I suppose this could work. Dropping her pout, she jumps on the bed to peer at the journal he is tinkering with. I suppose if you tick this box here, maybe that will keep people from reading it. There's an option for customization as well. I suppose that means you can choose select people then.

Noticing the strangely amused expression on his face, Asuka chuckles, "You seem so interested in the thing that you remind me of someone from my place!" Even thought Kensuke could never look as charming, the expression on both their faces are disturbingly similar.

"Really?" Howl nods, "That's nice." He pens down a second reply, this time inquiring on the woman's name. "Aren't you tired yet, Scarlet?" He murmurs softly, lifting his hand to cover his mouth as the yawn comes from deep in his chest. "You've had quite a long day. And those wounds must still hurt."

Really? That's nice. Asuka chuckles at this, thinking about how upset he might be if he actually knows who it is she is thinking of. Aren't you tired yet, Scarlet? You've had quite a long day. And those wounds must still hurt. Letting out an audible 'hmph!' she crosses her arms in front of her in defiance, "I'm not that weak! Besides, my wounds aren't that bad."

She plops down on the bed anyway, trying not to wince as her wounded right hand makes contact with the rough surface of the sheet. "I won't say no to sleep though; it won't be long before my eyes decide to stop cooperating with me."

Defensive, aren't we? He thinks to himself, and feels a little more confident that she won't break into another hysterical fit at least tonight. If she has the strength to act the way she does, then there isn't any need to worry.

"Good night then. Sleep well, Asuka." He sets the pen-tool away and opts to reply using the buttons on the keypad instead.

Asuka slips under the thick mattress and makes herself comfortable while still making sure that she only takes half of the bed. Good night then. Sleep well, Asuka. She smiles from under the mattres that covers the lower half of her face, muttering a "Good night, Howl," back. It would be petty wishing is she expects her sleep to be dreamless, but maybe there would be less nightmares and more dreams tonight.

She tries to think of beautiful things, like how her mother taught her to do a very long time ago so that she would not have bad dreams. Asuka tries to imagine slumber parties with Hikari, fighting over the television with Shinji, and laughing or being silly or simply smiling. The thoughts bring a smile to her lips and Asuka dozes off to slumber with an almost-invisible smile plastered on her face.

[ooc: this will be Asuka's final post on this thread then :)]

When her breathing evens out he rises and lifts his hand to flick the light switch, and smiles thoughtfully as he makes his way to the window to unfasten the ties to the curtains so that the room is dark again, as if morning was not creeping awake outside. He sits down on the nearby armchair beside the bed, perfectly fine with sleeping there instead. A good thing I chose a room facing West then. He leans back, his bangs falling over his eyes as sleep takes him in her embrace.

[ooc: aww, Howl's so sweet!!]

Wary friends... [COMPLETED]

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