821/Water is Wet

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Water is Wet
Date of Scene: 08 January 2016
Location: Uminari City - Juuban Avenue - North
Synopsis: Ayana is searching for Takashi. Finds Ikiko instead.
Cast of Characters: Ayana, Ikiko Hisakata


Ayana has posed:
Takashi is missing. Somewhere, Ayana can sense that he is injured. But he hasn't contacted her, and he's clearly neither dead nor unconscious. This leaves the kitsune uncertain of how to deal with things.

Throughout the day, she has drifted through Tokyo, stealing little wisps of energy from passers-by, but never quite managing to take enough to overcome her own malaise at Takashi's unhealth.

Somehow, she's certain that the fog of the previous evening is connected to him, but where has he gone?

Ayana's feet carry her far from home, to Juuban Avenue's residential districts. She isn't really paying attention to where she's going, which is why not only is there a splash when she accidentally steps off a blind curb into a brook, but there is also a startled, loud, and unpleasant, "YELP!!"

This sound is so very distinctly the noise of an animal in trouble, and it carries very far. Foxes are not quiet when they're unhappy, even when they're shaped like girls.
Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko Hisakata is walking home with a small bag of groceries, running a quick errand for her family. The early January afternoon air is pretty comfortable, and the task wasn't an urgent one, so a casual stroll isn't out of the question. A nice, peaceful day of the winter break.

Which is why the yelp of an animal caught her attention so readily. She turns, trying to triangulate the source of the sound, wishing that she could borrow Tsukiko's ears without fully transforming. After all, it sounds like a nearby animal needs some help! Not to mention, the voice sounded very familiar...

While she might not have the empathic bond with Ayana anymore, Ikiko still feels a certain connection with the kitsune. Trusting her instincts to guide her through intersections, it's not too long before the sometimes-wolfgirl makes her way to the creek.

"Aya-chan?" Ikiko calls, looking around. The sight of movement in the right shape and color catches her attention. "Aya-chan! Are you alright?" she says, rushing forward to offer her girlfriend a hand up out of the stream.
Ayana has posed:
Ayana is soaked from her head to her toes. The water was just deep enough that with the added distance of the fall she managed to go entirely under.

The kitsune looks miserable as she wades her way to shore, soggy dress weighing her down. When she nears the shore, Ayana accepts Ikiko's hand to help her out. She's already turning blue from the cold of the winter stream's cold waters.

Ayana's ears are folded down defeated aside her head, and water drips in rivulets from her wet ears down onto her shoulders, then sluices off to the ground again.

Shivering, she shakes some of the water out of her head, then leans against Ikiko unhappily. "Sorry," she mumbles. "T--Riventon is hurt. And I don't know where he is. And I'm scared, and I'm lonely, and I'm worried, and I cleaned the whole apartment and the lab and I don't know what to do."

And now she's freezing cold and wet, too.
Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko Hisakata gives Ayana a quick hug. "Catching a cold won't do either of you two any good," she remarks, quickly taking off her coat and draping it on her girlfriend's shoulders. "You need to dry off and warm up, and we need to do it, now."

A quick tie of the sleeves helps keep the smaller coat on the larger girl. "Come on, we're not too far away from my house," Ikiko adds, one arm around the foxgirl to help keep her moving as they walk along.
Ayana has posed:
Ayana nods her head just faintly. She's operating on autopilot, now; hardly aware of what's really happening as Ikiko guides her. All she knows is someone responsible is caring for her, and that's all that really matters, at the moment.

By the time they reach Ikiko's house the cold has started to really set in: Ayana's teeth are chattering, and her ears have drooped even further down beside her head. She's hunched over and shivering so far that Ikiko seems the taller of the pair!

"Cold," Ayana whimpers unhappily to her girlfriend. "Too wet." All things Ikiko already knows, but Ayana doesn't seem to really be processing anything at full speed, which is perhaps the most alarming thing at all given her typical cleverness.
Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko Hisakata quickly bustles the freezing foxgirl into the entryway. She kneels down to pry off Ayana's shoes and socks; grabbing a towel for the initial dry-off before walking her through the house would be the polite thing, but would take time she'd rather not spend.

She walks the soggy kitsune to the bathroom, closing the door behind the two of them. Ikiko grabs a large towel, then removes her coat from her girlfriend. "Aya-chan, change into your fox-form," she urges, towel at the ready. Humans take a while to dry off, but animals? They have a shortcut, after all...
Ayana has posed:
Ayana's shoes are soft-leather mary janes. Those may be ruined. Her 'socks' are actually thigh-high black stockings. Those are probably salvagable. As Ikiko tends to her, Ayana simply stands still, shivering in the cold. As she's lead to the bathroom, Ayana says nothing.

It's not until Ikiko asks her to become a fox that she really registers anything at all. Ayana blinks at Ikiko, stares at her for a moment ... and then simply collapses in on herself, folding in and downward. Her clothes are apparently real, rather than illusory, because the dress collapses in a sodden pile on the ground around the soggy wet black fox.

Instinct kicks in, and Ayana begins to shake herself dry, sending water spraying everywhere.
Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
That shake was what Ikiko had been waiting for; as Ayana changes shape, Ikiko quickly converges with the towel, forming a tent of sorts to catch the water. It's not a perfect solution; there's still a moderate amount splashed across the bathroom, but most of the water was soaked up by the towel.

Once the fox has shaken herself mostly dry, Ikiko tosses the now-soggy towel to the side, then grabs another dry towel and scoops up Ayana. She fluffs the kitsune to help speed the drying process, then makes a small cave out of that towel, with Ayana in the middle.

Ikiko turns on a blowdryer and places it in front of the towel-cave, blowing warm air in towards the fox. "Back in a moment; let me get you something warm to wear," she smiles in caninespeak, stepping out of the bathroom and heading upstairs to grab Ayana's flannel pajamas.
Ayana has posed:
Ayana kicks her legs and three tails (three!?) free of water as well, then stares at the evil blowdryer for a moment before leaning forward to try and eat it. Except it's hot and she pulls away immediately with a grimace.

The little fox hops up and down on all four feet and bats at the blowdryer, and then it occurs to her to shift back into a girl.

Ayana kicks her wet clothes away and wraps herself in the dry towel, then picks up the blowdryer and begins a more meticulous job of drying out her hair.
Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko Hisakata soon returns, having taken a slight detour on the way back to bring the groceries to the kitchen. She slips back into the bathroom, then walks up to Ayana and gives the taller girl a warm hug from behind. "Feeling better, Aya-chan?" she asks, looking upward over the kitsune's shoulder.
Ayana has posed:
Ayana leans into the hug, but her ears are still drooped down to either side, and her tails are definitely not wagging where they stick out beneath the towel. She's dryer. She's warmer. But better?

"No," Ayana mumbles unhappily as turns off the hairdryer. Her hair isn't completely dry, but at least she isn't literally soaking wet anymore. "I thought he trusted me, now," she mumbles unhappily. "But he still doesn't tell me anything. He just goes off ... and makes me worried sick. A few days ago he promised he would come home. I cooked him dinner, and he didn't come home. So I did the laundry and he didn't come home. So I cleaned the house, and he still didn't come home. He was out trying to collect some magical artifact with my friend."

"He forgot to tell me," Ayana whimpers quietly to Ikiko. "And now he's out there, somewhere. He's hurt. And he's scared. And he's tired. And I can feel him. But I don't know where he is. And he forgot to tell me what he's doing, again."

"What did I do wrong?"
Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko Hisakata circles around to hug the kitsune from the front. "You did what you could," she murmurs, reaching up to rub the foxgirl's ears. "You took care of his home while he was away; you made sure things were ready for him and his return. You did well, Aya-chan."

She leans forward to kiss her girlfriend on the cheek. "If he doesn't have the foresight to rely on your help, then it's his fault for not acknowledging your skill and helpfulness," she adds with a slight hint of hesitation. Badmouthing Riventon within earshot of his familiar might not be the wisest move, but in Ikiko's eyes Ayana is worth much more than Riventon's seemingly dismissive appraisal of the foxgirl.
Ayana has posed:
"He always has a good reason," Ayana mumbles quietly, unhappily to Ikiko. "I just ... wish he would tell me." She sighs and huddles up deeper in the blanket, then leans forward and puts her forehead on Ikiko's shoulder.

"I don't know when he's coming home," Ayana mumbles. "I should be there when he gets there, but I can't sit around that apartment all alone, anymore. Can I stay here until I sense him looking for me?"
Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"Of course," Ikiko replies softly, holding Ayana close and gently kissing her neck. "You can stay here and warm up with me, for as long as you need to."

On one hand, she hopes that Riventon returns so that Ayana can cheer up; on the other, the longer he stays out, the longer Ayana can stay with her. It's a rough dichotomy to deal with.

"I brought your pajamas so you can have something to wear while we run your clothes through the laundry," Ikiko offers. "Plus I have some snacks in my room, and I can make us some hot drinks."
Ayana has posed:
Ayana smiles just a little at Ikiko's thoughtfulness. She wraps her arms around her girlfriend and hugs gently, then whispers a quiet, "Thank you." Then she disentangles and draws the towel up off of her back so that she can rub her hair the rest of the way dry before tossing it to join the rest of the sodden mess of wet dress, wet underthings, and wet towels.

Rising, Ayana strides over to the clothes Ikiko brought for her and dresses quickly. "Snacks and hot drinks sound really good right now," Ayana mumbles. "I ate all of my Christmas jerky already." Which is terrifying given how much she got.
Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko Hisakata nods and escorts Ayana up to her room. She sits the foxgirl on her bed and wraps the blankets asymmetrically around her, leaving enough space for two. "Here's the snacks," Ikiko smiles as she hands the stash over to Ayana. "Back in a few minutes!"

She hurries downstairs, filling the portable kettle and setting it to heat. While it warmed up, she dried up the wet footprints leading from the entry to the bathroom, then took the towels and Ayana's clothes and started up the laundry for that load.

With the kettle now plenty warm, Ikiko takes the drink tray upstairs, placing it near her bed. She fills up Ayana's mug, then her own mug, and then snuggles in next to the kitsune, the blankets wrapped around the two of them.

"My lovely Aya-chan," Ikiko murmurs, leaning her head on her girlfriend's shoulder with a cheerful smile. Warmth, like happiness, is best when shared!
Ayana has posed:
By the time Ikiko returns with warm drinks, Ayana has already eaten through a quarter of the snacks she was provided with. There are crumbs on her pajamas, and a little chocolate on her fingers, and she's licking them clean when Ikiko comes into the room.

Ayana looks up at Ikiko with still sad, but obviously more focused eyes, and smiles at her girlfriend pleasantly.

When Ikiko cuddles in next to her, Ayana's ears perk up. She puts her arms around Ikiko and gives a gentle squeezes. "That took a long time," Ayana notes to Ikiko in a rare moment of awareness. "Did you do all the work of cleaning up after me, yourself?"
Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"It gave me something to do while the water heated up," Ikiko replies, tilting her head to kiss Ayana's cheek. "And it wasn't a thorough job; just the laundry and the footprints."

She glances at the clock, making a note of when the washing machine would be done. "The time-sensitive ones are taken care of; the rest can wait for now," she adds, taking a sip of her drink.
Ayana has posed:
Ayana hesitates thoughtfully at Ikiko's explanation. She reaches out for her mug and wraps her fingers around it, letting the warmth suffuse her. She leans over the mug and breathes in the steam, then takes a sip of the hot drink in silence.

"I am a very selfish person," Ayana observes into the silence. "I think it is how he made me. I think it's part of who he is. But ever since you broke whatever spell he had put on me ... I've begun to understand that I am not normal. I don't think like you do. I don't ... act like you do."

Ayana takes another drink, swallows quickly and continues, "And it's not just you, but everyone. I am like a vampire: stealing bits of people's energy because I can, and because I'm a predator, and so I feel like it's okay. But ... but you wouldn't think that's okay unless I had no other choice. And you'll forgive me because you are blind to my cruelty, but it's true, Ikiko." No honorrific. No name-shortening. It's an intimate way to call her girlfriend, but then: aren't they? "I'm still a bad person. I'm better than I was. But ... I'm still a bad person." She looks to Ikiko uncertainly, wavering. "And I love a worse person than me. Why ... why are you so blind to all of this? Why do you love me so?"
Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko Hisakata listens thoughtfully, taking the occasional sip of her drink. When asked those questions by Ayana, she carefully places her mug down, then clasps her hands around the foxgirl's.

"I've seen you at your best, Ayana," she murmurs. "I've fought alongside you when all you had was illusions and phantom foxfire, where you bravely helped me through cunning and determination. I remember the night when you debuted Still Night, and how happy you were to be able to take a more active role as a magical girl. I recall how sad you were when you told Reiko-chan and I that you had to be a villain, and how much you tried to scare us away in order to keep the two of us safe."

A gentle smile settles on Ikiko's face as she gazes into the kitsune's eyes. "I felt all of your emotions," she reminds her girlfriend. "All of their nuance, all of their undertones, experienced as if I had lived them myself. You were willing to sacrifice our friendship in order to keep me safe, because you loved me so much. The raw truth of your emotions is what spoke to me -- you loved me deeply; how could I do anything less in return?"
Ayana has posed:
Well that doesn't make Ayana feel any more guilty. What should fill her with inspiration and hope instead just makes her grimace and look away, unwilling to meet Ikiko's eyes. "I lied to you," she reminds her girlfriend gently. "As Black Fox, I lied to you. You didn't know Foxfire was just an illusion; you didn't know I wasn't a real magical girl. I was just there to learn about you. To use you for information to take home to my master."

She looks back to Ikiko now and murmurs, "Even with Still Night ... yes I was glad I had real power, and ... and yes I wanted to help you. But it was still just to better complete my mission for him."

Ayana sighs and turns her hands over to grabs Ikiko's. "I fell in love with you," she agrees quietly. "I fell in love with you because you were so giving. So caring. So open. So warm. So willing to forgive me. So willing to save me. I would do anything to protect your innocence, Ikiko. Anything except hurt him. But you don't have to feel the same way. You don't ... have to love me just because I love you. You don't have to do all of this," she motions towards the house gently, "because you think it's what I want. I am lazy, selfish, and thoughtless. I take your food, and your clothes, and your identity, and I sell them to the first jerk to pat me on the head and say, 'Good Job, Fox.' He knows who you are," she reminds gently. "He knows your name. He knows where you go to school. He knows how you transform. How can you love someone who has betrayed you as much as I have?"
Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"Like this," Ikiko responds softly, raising her hands to her girlfriend's head and kissing her on the lips with a gentle, yet definite, passion. While the empathic bond is no longer there, she's doing what she can to wordlessly show Ayana how she feels. <3 <3 <3

After several long moments, Ikiko finally breaks the kiss. "I've long liked you as a friend," she admits. "A really, really close friend. Learning about your love for me made me realize that I felt that way about you as well."

She leans forward, forehead-to-forehead with the kitsune. "I want you to be happy, Ayana," Ikiko murmurs. "I want you to be able to do things because you like them, not because you feel forced to do them."

Ikiko skritches the foxgirl's ears. "If you were free to do whatever you'd like -- if you had no bonds beyond the ones you chose for yourself... what would you do?"
Ayana has posed:
Ayana's heart skips a beat when Ikiko kisses her. They've kissed before--more tenderly than this--but something in this kiss takes Ayana's breath away. She's still trying to catch it when Ikiko touches her forehead to the kitsune's.

And then Ikiko asks the hardest question of all, and Ayana is caught in her own conflicting emotions. Part of her desperately wants to say 'free Riventon from the darkness', but is that really her speaking, or the emotional bond she shares with him?

Another part of Ayana wants to say, 'protect you forever', and she's fairly certain that part of her is manipulated only by her own love, but is that truly the answer she would choose, even over Takashi?

Ayana stares at Ikiko wordlessly, caught between two warring answers, and failing to find her breath after that chaste, yet somehow deeply intimate kiss.

"I don't know," she manages to squeak out.
Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko Hisakata nods. "That's fair," she acknowledges with a kind smile. It's a question that most people have to think for a long time about; asking it of a familiar or other person who has existed for a long time with such a bond is not unlike asking someone to visualize a completely new way of thinking: it's very unlikely to be accomplished immediately.

She blinks and tilts her head; did she just hear something? A glance at the clock reveals that it was probably the washing machine sounding its 'load complete' chime. "I'll be back in a few minutes; I need to put the laundry in the dryer," she remarks, kissing Ayana on the cheek before climbing out of the blanket and bounding out of the room.
Ayana has posed:
Ayana reaches up to rub at her face when Ikiko leaves, then slowly falls backwards onto the bed. She stares up at the ceiling, dwelling on the question Ikiko's asked her uncertainly. "Takakun," she whispers to the air, as if he could hear her, "Where are you?"

But he can't hear her, and right now he probably has forgotten about her, for the moment. After all, he doesn't experience the bond like she does.

Before Ikiko can return, Ayana rolls back over and sits up, then moves the tea tray off of the bed and sets it on Ikiko's desk. Then, she flops back down hard, bounces once, and clutches the little wolf plushie Reiko gave her for Christmas tight.
Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
The little wolf plushie had been right next to the little fox plushie; with just a bit of imagination, it's easy to have imagined the two plushies cuddling as they sit on the bed.

It takes a bit longer than expected for Ikiko to return, but return she does -- with a small plate of cookies, even! "Mom came home," she remarked to the foxgirl. "I mentioned that you were visiting because of a mishap with the creek, and she gave me some cookies to share with you."

She smiles at the sight of the kitsune cuddling the wolf plushie, then sits down on the bed and scoops up the matching fox plushie. "I like cuddling both when I sleep," she remarks shyly. "It seems wrong to have them apart, and when I hug them together it makes me think of hugging you."
Ayana has posed:
Ayana looks up at Ikiko, then smiles a sad little smile and opens her arms wide, beckoning the wolf-girl to cuddle with her; to bring the little fox plushie with her.

There are no more words from the kitsune. She simply clings to Ikiko, hugging tightly and desperately to the girl's decency and her love, as if letting go might kill her.
Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko Hisakata needs no second prompting; she snuggles face-to-face with the foxgirl, the two canine plushies tucked between the canine-girls like kits and cubs protected by their loving parents.

She wraps the blanket around the two (four?) of them, the barest hint of their heads sticking out. While Ayana might be a very magical person, having more warmth, love, and rest should help keep her from catching a cold.

And extra cuddles never hurt, Ikiko thinks to herself as she hold her girlfriend close and nuzzles softly. <3