[PCs] team trust no bitch aka team hat aka chuuya & caren

[doublesmall]

[but is it really team hat if only caren has one, though? that's the real question here.

threads in comments!

(there is age difference ship content here but nothing nsfw)]

Comments

[doublesmall]

...there. Even if one of us gets erased-- we'll still have this, whether we have to make a pact with someone else or not.

[they'll be bound to each other first.

chuuya's own cut heals quickly enough, hand glowing faintly; he reaches out for hers, then, intending to do the same.]

[sexorcism]

[Before she returns her hand to his to be healed, Caren looks down at the open wound, still trickling a little blood just visible through the red mess already there.]

Is it the same if it heals immediately, I wonder...?

[It's odd to think of its quick disappearance in tandem with its lasting importance, and the erasure of pain before it can cause more pain is still strange to her.]

[doublesmall]

Hah-? .... well, I guess you have a point there.

[if she's keeping hers then sure, let him just. take the knife and open his own palm back up? it's got their mingled blood on it, it's still good.]

You think it'll leave a mark if we wait long enough?

[sexorcism]

[Caren turns to the side and looks back at him, a little curiously, as if examining him.]

It might; the wound is shallow but we could see how long it takes for an injury to leave behind a mark.

[It won't matter either way. She doesn't need to see this cut, at least, to know that it's still there.]

You'd cut yourself again that quickly just because of something I said. There wasn't any need to follow my lead.

[She almost touches his face - with her bloody palm - then reconsiders and brings her hand back close again.]

[doublesmall]

Let's find out, then. It'll be a good test for the psych.

[that, and he's the type to like having proof of things, in one way or another. he doesn't need it for this, but it wouldn't be an unwelcome reminder, honestly.

he's only kept the sheep heavenly outfit as proof that he still had his old clothes, so excuse him while he just tears the pink shirt into strips of fabric, winding some around his palm before taking her hand and doing the same. they can ditch this stuff before they leave the area.]

And besides-- you were right, I already said that. I've just gotten used to healing everything immediately here, I didn't think to leave it.

[sexorcism]

...All right. [Caren flexes her hand, testing the bandages as a far thin lines of red appear on the pink.] This makes it feel realer. We will reexamine things a little later.

[After examining the torn-up pastel abomination of a shirt a while longer and remembering the pile of bloody ashes their clothes later became, Caren follows that up.] I still believe you owe me a new dress.

[doublesmall]

-shit, I do, don't I? We'll have to make one more shopping trip before the week's up. Who knows what we're going to get next time...

[gotta get clothes while the #aesthetic is good!!

chuuya pauses for a moment there, looking her over, before he asks-]

How're you feeling, after today?

[sexorcism]

There isn't anything you have to worry about; please don't trouble yourself asking after me.

[It's a default answer, and Caren seems to recognize this, her gaze sheepishly darting elsewhere.]

I am quite tired. I thought I would be afraid, but I do not even think the opportunity crossed my mind.

[But if the end comes and she was truly wrong about Madara, Caren is prepared to repent for that.]

[doublesmall]

Yeah, adrenaline will do that. Keeps you going so you're fine while everything is happening, then you feel like you could just pass out.

[the small, almost tired grin he gives her says that he's beginning to feel it, too, now that things are calmer.]

We'll have to keep going for a little while tonight, but we can rest after that.

...no regrets?

[sexorcism]

Yes, I am familiar with the feeling, though never quite in a situation like this.

[There are plenty of people to check in with, and she knows the exhaustion they show them will have to be normal tiredness and not anything more severe than that. Caren lingers for a moment, regaining her composure, and then she draws herself up tall.]

I am not sure. For now, I have no way to answer for the mistakes, so I'll have to say...I cannot regret it.

[doublesmall]

... good.

[he reaches up to ruffle her hair, then finally steps away.]

There's no room for regret, all right? It's over now. If we've made a mistake, we're just going to have to live with whatever consequences end up coming.

[sexorcism]

It is as you say: We don't have time for that. Where everything leads us will be answered later.

[For the final time tonight, Caren lets herself look started when he ruffles her hair. The gesture is unfamiliar, and friendly in a way she normally doesn't deal with. Even if he's treating her like a child (she wouldn't suspect him of that), it's more the shock of the action than any emotional response she has that makes her react.]

We should be going soon so Assassin doesn't miss us.