☈ strike #19 (action)

[thestormishere]

[ It's absolutely freezing and the village is covered in snow, but although Lightning would usually be all for avoiding that kind of weather like the beach-town native from Cocoon she is, today she's out anyway... and accompanying Baldr, who has definitely been inside way too much lately.

Hard to believe that a year ago saw her struggling with what to do with the little puppy she suddenly found herself saddled with, but now? That little black fluffball is a full-grown dog: long-haired, well-muscled... and currently bounding about, snuffling through the white covering, and chatting back to his pink-haired human about his various findings. Still a puppy at heart sometimes, that's for sure.

And while he doesn't run up to just anyone and bowl them over or anything - look at who his trainer is, come on - he does pay special attention to anyone else who happens to be out as well, ears perked forward, snow in his ruff, and a hearty Hello! to most who cross their path.

As for Lightning herself, she's... a noticeable contrast, solemn and distracted as she keeps an eye on the dog, making her way slowly into the middle of town. A visit to the flowershop later, and she's carrying something pretty unusual: a small bunch of pale pink crysanthemums. Where she's heading after that, however, remains to be seen. ]

Comments

[thestormishere]

... I'll lead you back.

[ Well, I = her and Baldr, of course. If that's what Seto wants, anyway. Before he freezes to death and all. ]

[presumablyalone]

You'd really do that??

[He's back to smiling now. In the back of his head, he's telling himself to just let her go on with her day since he doesn't want to be a burden or stop her from whatever she was doing... but he really wants her company.]

[thestormishere]

Yeah.

[ Though she doesn't sound all that excited about it. She motions with her free hand to Baldr, who takes it as signal to move away and does just that, going out in an arc to go back to his exploring.

Not that Seto will probably even notice; Lightning sneaks another look at the young man's eyes as she tugs him towards a way a little more worn down in the snow. ]

... Where is it?

[presumablyalone]

[Seto just moves with Lightning, glancing around at everything to try and get a good idea of where he is. Which is of course impossible with his vision, so he just looks back at where he thinks Lightning is again.]

Building three.

[thestormishere]

[ Lightning breathes in and out- a long sigh for the distinct lack of the sort of humility she'd expect if Seto had been a resident of Cocoon rather than someone she'd met in Luceti. A year later, and it's still difficult to believe just how odd some people can be here. ]

Got it.

[ She just pulls him in that direction, her gaze and thoughts drifting. ]

[presumablyalone]

[Seto just lets Lightning pull him and he stays quiet for a minute or two, just thinking to himself. Eventually, he starts moving his arm around to get it out of her grasp and once he does, he grabs her hand.

It isn't that he wasn't comfortable or anything, but he just wanted to see something. He can't help but smile now that he's confirmed it]

You're warm, Lightning.

[thestormishere]

[ What the-- what?

Lightning's fine when Seto chooses to pull out of her hold, but kind of flinches when he goes for a hand-in-hand act instead. It took her a while to get used to that kind of thing with even her close friends, okay? With even her boyfriend.

And that comment... just, what? Suddenly, she turns into a woman who flusters irritably, stiffening, her actions jerky as if she's an old-timey robot. ]

Well, yeah.

[presumablyalone]

[Oh Lightning, you're funny. He can't see her reaction, but he can feel her start to tense up. Did he make her feel uncomfortable? He honestly didn't mean it. He just likes a person's warmth... ]

I-I'm sorry. I just... [-like to be reminded this is all still real.] ...thought this would be okay.

[thestormishere]

[ ... Lightning doesn't jerk away or anything - even though it would be extremely easy - but she also doesn't really offer any reciprocation, either. Mentioning what has her so tense would require explaining that she's not really fond of being touched and hesitant to open up, which would... require opening up a little, so yeah. She doesn't know what to say, so instead, she just says nothing.

J-just a little further to his building... ;; ]

[presumablyalone]

[ ...Did he upset her? He frowns now, giving her hand a small squeeze]

I'm sorry...

[thestormishere]

[ Hnnn. After a few steps, Lightning looks over, brow drawn, but then-- oh, right, it's not like he's able to see very well... ]

Don't be.

[presumablyalone]

B-But I... I made you upset, didn't I?

[He wishes he could see her face, to see if she's angry or sad or what... ]

[thestormishere]

Seto...

[ Gosh, her tone is definitely one of frustration, but though it sounds like something you'd say before finally tacking on a forced explanation or such, she resists again and just trails off there, eyes firmly ahead, breathing out a sigh. ]

[presumablyalone]

Hm?

[DID HE JUST MAKE THINGS WORSE.... sob he's really horrible at this]

[thestormishere]

Don't worry about it.

[ Back to that, yes. But gosh, what more does he want? Outright admittance of her standoffish nature from her own mouth? You'd think that was already pretty obvious... although then again, he totally missed the hint that first time they met too, so... ]

[presumablyalone]

[Don't mind Seto, he's pretty oblivious to the fact that some people are standoffish. Okay so no, taking that back, he is very aware of people who are like that, he just has a tendency to want to squeeze into their trust zone because he wants friends]

'kay...