Endgame: This is the Way the World Ends - MACHINE ROOM

[animusmods]

Characters: open to those staying in the machine room
Setting: machine room
Format: any
Summary: The time has come to make decisions about what will happen after everything is over.
Warnings: psychological horror (eventually)

Comments

[attheclocktower]

[... okay no still not computing.]

H-huh?

[She leans out of the hug a bit to try to get a better look at his face, though it's hard in the dim light. It's so rare for him to be straightforward about something like that though - not to mention he's never said anything like it to her before - that her brain is having a hard time trying to parse it.]

[pitiedthefool]

[Oh dear, he may have just broke her brain. There's an apologetic but sincere look in his eyes when they pull away just enough to look at each other, and he repeats himself.]

I love you, and no matter what we decide to do to fix the worlds after this, I will always cheer for you.

[He knows what she wants to do, and he's always supported it. That's why he's going out there: so that they can save their friends and secure a future in which she can do whatever she wants.]

I wanted you to know before the fighting begins in earnest.

[attheclocktower]

[Oh Light, he meant it, didn't he? He meant...

During the time he'd been gone she'd sort of realized, to herself. How she'd felt around him. And why. Some of what Reno had said had helped her figure it out. Maybe she'd even started to realize it a little while he was there. But then, he'd left. And she'd sort of just kept the knowledge locked away in her heart, where it'd hurt less. And where it wouldn't interfere with what was going on in the Tower, because there was so much going on, all of it important.

Besides, he'd had people back home, didn't he? Someone he cared about that way. And as wonderful of a person as Yu had been in her life...

How could she even think about taking him away from them?

But he'd said it. He'd just said it, to her. Right now, with death banging on Zo's barriers and in the air around them, pressing on all sides oppressively. She didn't know what it meant, or what it'd mean. But it was here now.

Maybe now was enough.]

Yu... I...

[And then... then the impulse seizes her. Even so, for a moment she bobs up and down on her feet indecisively - her good foot more than anything (she's very glad he's still hugging her, she's not sure she'd be able to do this otherwise) - before she throws caution to the winds, standing up on tip-toe to try and kiss him.]

[pitiedthefool]

[Yu honestly didn't know if he should have expected the reaction he received, the stuttering, or the leaning up and closer. In fact, a part of him had feared it was only going to be one-sided.

Yet he didn't care if it was or not, for when you're alone with nothing but time and your thoughts... you learn just how much even the little things mean to you. Her sincerity, her innocence, that fragile smile she wore in the face of the horrors that filled their lives... he found her in his thoughts and prayers most. Always wondering how she was holding up, always praying that she would not fall to the games of Jason's and Ruana's, always hoping to return so he could say it.

When he did return though, words had failed him. He could never think of how to say it, and when she had admitted to her plan of returning and trying to shape her own destiny... he couldn't say it. He didn't want to give her a reason not to, as she was so sure about doing so.

Now that he had, he wasn't sure if she felt the same way. That she actually did try to reach up to kiss him in the dim light provided by their souls was enough of an answer for him. He lowers himself, knees and back bending his knees a little to make it easier on her, until their lips meet.]

/cough

[miseris_socios]

[... Well. That. Sure is a thing. Oh well. He's glad Yu seems happy.]

[Still, that won't stop him from clapping in the background. Sorry Yu, little bros gotta little bro.]

[attheclocktower]

[It's warm, where their lips meet, so much more than she'd ever expected. To be fair she hadn't known what to really expect but... All the same. She's happy, the warmth spreading through her-

Until there's a distracting noise in the background, enough to make her slowly - reluctantly! - pull back. And turn and see they're being applauded.

And then she just... quietly turns beet red (or at least as much as she can when they're only wireframes). And doesn't say anything, yet.]

[pitiedthefool]

[The warmth, despite their bodies, was something he had expected. The clapping, however, was not. When they do pull away, he too would be rather red were it not for their current state of no glamour. Especially when he recognizes the shape and glow of the frame of who is applauding.]

... Ken.

[Little brother... Little brother, please.]

[miseris_socios]

[Ken grins and waves, before withdrawing. All right, all right. He had to just tease Yu. He's going.]

[attheclocktower]

[Xion waits, still pinked-faced, as Ken vanishes back into the crowds. It's half a minute (and maybe a few seconds of leaning her face forward into his chest) before she feels able to speak.

She'd never really... replied verbally to his confession.]

I... I knew. For a while. And I think I felt it a while before I knew but... by the time I did, you'd left. And I didn't know if you'd come back...

[So she'd pushed it aside. Focused on protecting the worlds and stopping the admins, everything she could do. And in a way, that had been the best she could do for him, while he was gone. Because of the danger Ruana posed to the worlds, to everything.]

I didn't ever think I'd get to say anything. But I'm glad.

[Even if she's scared now of what will come.]

not here;

[acceptedoblivion]

[ And somewhere in the destroyed worlds... Ira felt the inane urge to approve the little brother brand of trolling.]