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[ Around 10 in the evening, Sonic lightly raps on the window by White's bed checking if she's in. He's pulling on his face to give his best Leo impression. On him is a note written in Leo's neat writing: ]

Hi White,

Are you going to bed soon? Do you want to meet me at the beach in half an hour? Dress warm.

If you're not up for it, send a message with Sonic back.

Leo

[Leo really has such cute handwriting. It's also pretty cute he sent Sonic - who she'll let in and onto her shoulder, leaning against the window with a glance at her closet. Warm clothes...]

He could've just come by himself and asked, you know? He's stupid. I'll tell him that when I see him.

[Because she's absolutely going. Sleep still doesn't come to her as easy as she likes-- and when it does, it doesn't feel like it. The beach sounds nice, too. If romantic. Which is just a passing thought, nothing she'll dwell on. No stamina for that.]

And you can tell him that I'll be there. [White pets her little friend's head.] Thanks for the speedy delivery, Sonic. You're the best monkey ever.

[ Sonic responds to the petting with a happy Ki Ki and in the next moment he's gone to deliver the message to Leo.

After Leo gets the yes to his beach date invite (he may or may not have pumped his fist), he makes his way to the beach with extra blankets and snacks consisting of some candy and trail mix from Tasteful Delights, apple slices (he's heard enough about needing to include some fruit in his diet. Sonic will enjoy these) and some hot water with tea bags.

He places a blanket on the floor. It's a cloudless night perfect for stargazing. The moon provides a certain amount of light already, but he takes out the jack-o-lantern with the Sonic design that White had made for him and lights the candle inside. He sits down and covers himself in blankets. It's a chilly night especially by the water. Idly eating some of his snacks, he (and Sonic) waits for his friend to arrive. ]

[Once Black's been informed of her goings and approves of her wear - double checking to make sure she'll be warm enough, of course - White heads out early, leisurely enjoying Verens' nightlife and still making it at the appointed time. She thought it'd be hard to spot Leo under the cover of darkness - moon out or not - but there's a familiar glow of a jack-o-lantern she figures is him and sneaks as best she can, pressing a finger to her lips in case Sonic sees

and drops onto him with a surprise hug!]

You're stupid, Leo. What's wrong with just asking me out face to face? Don't tell me your shyness is finally coming back after your bold moves on our coffee date.

[... Oooh, he has a blanket and snacks and everything. This is cute. Black's gonna get a kick out of this.]

[ Sonic zips off Leo's shoulder mere moments before White launches her surprise hug catching him completely unaware. ]

Wha- White?! [ If emotion effects weren't dulled at this moment, Leo would be glowing so bright pink, they might have to call off star gazing because of the light pollution. ]

Well. That's because... Sonic needs to earn his keep! And he's a little tubby around his middle.

[ Sonic shoots Leo a look that says Get a load of this guy. ]

[White rolls her eyes, grinning at Sonic and patting Leo's head before going to sit beside him, grabbing an apple slice to wiggle at him.]

You're the one who's a little tubby around the middle, Leo, [giving him a firm prod.] You didn't think that Black would say no for me, did you? Or interrogate you at the door? Give you a curfew to bring me home at?

H-Hey! [ He squirms when she pokes his middle.

And maybe he was afraid of all those three things. ] ...You don't have a curfew, do you?

Nope. As long as you don't keep me out too late, then it's fine.

[... And to keep an eye on her. If she starts getting in a daze or distracted then she's tired and needs to come home. Things like that. Crunch crunch. Apples are fine.]

But honestly, I don't care. [It's been a while since she just went out to look at the stars without something on her mind. They're so pretty...] I could sit here and watch the sunrise. Black can live a night without me, don'tcha think?

He's just worried about you. [ Also Leo has no intention of giving Black any reason to think Leo's not showing proper care of his sister.

He shifts the blanket over to cover her legs. Then he pours some hot water of a flask into a cup and puts a tea bag in it to hand over to White before preparing his own. ] Let me know when you get tired.

[Pfft. Considerate. But that's Leo being Leo, and she shakes her head as she sets her cup aside to steep, leaning back to look at the stars. They're so different than the ones back home. There's not a single constellation that looked familiar that Black was reading -- though she didn't exactly stick around long enough to see them all.]

... I actually haven't been sleeping that well anyway, [casual and matter of fact, what she's been avoiding talking about,] so I couldn't really tell you if I was or not. That stays here, okay?

[ He didn't expect her to come out and say it without him having to coax it out of her first. ]

So Black can't know about it?

Definitely can't know. If you promise you won't tell anyone - not even Black, especially not Black - then I'll tell you when it started.

[This is why. So they can get it out of the way and she can have his promise of secrecy.]

[ He thinks on that. He doesn't feel right keeping things from Black when it involving his sister, but White's not going to tell him anything otherwise. ]

All right. I won't tell anyone. Not even Black.

[White glances hard at him for a moment before settling forward, hugging her knees and looking out at the lake. This place is actually supposed to be pretty dangerous right now with Sosyne in it and all, but it's so peaceful she can't imagine the whale's anywhere near them.]

... After those pods fell from the memory tree. You remember, right? How they showed you different things? The one we saw was really bad, but it's not the one I had nightmares about. Sure didn't help though. [She laughs softly, feeling like she should probably be embarrassed by nightmares of all things, but just the thought of them catches her breath and she sighs, hugging tighter.] It was actually one of the "good" ones. There was just a lot of fire, that's all.

[ Leo stays quiet. He doesn't think she has any reason to be embarrassed. If only she knew the reoccurring nightmares he has about Michella giving up her eyesight in his place. He wakes up from those covered in cold sweat, but the nightmare never ends for him, not really. ]

...Do you have a bad memory involving fire?

There was a lot of it during the Great Collapse. Not... the same color, and really it probably should be more of a comfort than anything [because it's connected to her brother, but that's nothing she'll tell him] but it was just consuming everything when...

[She trails off for a moment, chewing her lip, before finishing the sentence ind of lamely.]

When everything was falling apart. So I don't like it that much, and Peromei's memories had an entire town just... burning to the ground. It ended nicely and the tree they planted in the middle is the one that's growing here now, I think, but I can't stop dreaming about it and the one we saw.

[ He listens... putting this all together (although the part about how the colour of fire could possibly be a comfort confuses him). He remember what Black told him. They're a family of casters. Black and White lived through the Great Collapse. That was probably when their parents perished...

He hesitantly puts his arm around her, not entirely sure what to do. ]

I would probably lose sleep over that too.

Mm.

[She doesn't lean into him but she's not pulling away either, closing her eyes with a soft exhale. Gotta finish. Be quick.]

So I had nightmares. I decided not to sleep anymore and that didn't work out so well, so I figured I'd just deal with it by getting some medicine to skip the dreaming part. That was a little bit before Sosyne.

After that... I still can't sleep that well, even now. Even if I'm getting all the hours I need, it feels like I haven't slept a wink. I didn't want anyone to worry - least of all you or Black - so I started doing anything I could to at least have a reason to be so tired in the first place. I guess that's the bright side of the whole destruction.

[Even if it, too, reminds her of the Great Collapse. Destruction just does.]

I still have the nightmares now and then, but it's not every night anymore. It'll go away. I'll be fine, just like how I was then. It just takes some time.

[... And she had it easier before, back in HL, because Black didn't see her every day, because she could twiddle her time away away from others, because Leo didn't exist in her life yet.]

Edited 2015-10-12 06:43 (UTC)

[ ...He really can't relate. The Great Collapse was something he watched on the news. A couple weeks ago he even excitedly watched a HD streaming video of the tentacles when the portal first opened. What could he even say to that?

He reaches over White's tucked legs and grabs the tea she had left forgotten at her side. Hopefully the warmth will bring her some comfort. He tries to make a comforting smile as he says this: ]

Here. Drink.

[She looks up at it, surprised, and there's a flash of guilt before she takes it from him and does as asked. It's nice. Probably should've let it steep just a second longer, but it's fine.

And then turning the most determined look at him and Sonic.]

Remember, you said you wouldn't tell anyone. It's a secret between you and me.

[... But it honestly does kind of feel better to get it off her chest. At least this is something she can talk about, unlike the everything else that is her life.]

Pinky swear.

[ He offers his hand to make it official. ]

[And she'll hook hers around his, giving it a shake, and letting go as she finally leans into his half-embrace.]

You're such a big brother, you know that? I bet you thought you'd have to drag the truth out of me too, huh. [White shakes her head, giving him a tiny grin.] Now it's your turn, Sonic. Pinky swear.

[Because he absolutely has to do it too. The boars she faced down speak telepathically, what's stopping Sonic from being able to do the same thing if he tries enough?]

[ Well, Sonic probably does have the intelligence for it. He climbs up to White's knees and holds his tiny arm out. Ki ki. ]

[Yeah, so. Pinky promise.

Once she gives his little hand a shake too White seems more or less at ease, taking a pack of trail mix for herself. Her thanks will be her presence, okay. And her little monkey friend gets to share her nuts.]

So that's that. What'd you call me out here for anyway? Just stargazing, or was your whole plan to butter me up to get answers out of me? Or maybe your intentions aren't as selfless as that?

[She could use the relaxation anyway, so she's mostly just teasing.]

[ Sonic is all too happy to share ~~deez~~ nuts. ]

I thought stargazing would be nice way to celebrate finishing the restaurant clean up. And maybe you might feel like talking. Or not. [ He didn't really think she'd talk. She rarely shares anything. ]

It's peaceful and you can't see the stars back home.

[ Those are his reasons. White appears better, so Leo wonders if he should remove his arm from her shoulder. His hand twitches and he moves it to drink his tea. There. Absolutely not awkward. ]

10/12

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