revenance_rpg | TURRRRRRN AROOOUUUND

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TURRRRRRN AROOOUUUND

Who: Wash and Ziva
What: Time for a reconciliation. And possible aftermath.
Where: Traverse Town clock tower
When: After this
Warnings: These two. Come on, this is old hat by now.

Wash was sick and tired of fucking things up. It seemed like everything he was involved in - missions, relationships, anything - always went straight to hell despite his best efforts. His friendship with North was still on the rocks, and now he'd messed things up with Ziva. It was hard to hold out hope for fixing any of it - he was too accustomed to things staying broken.

For as much crap as he'd given York for fighting his way up a staircase full of Nightmares simply to find a place to mope, he'd done the exact same thing. He'd settled on the upper ledge of the Traverse Town clock tower and had perched on a crate, looking up at the stars that perpetually shone over the city and trying not to think about anything at all. Fang had perched on the crate beside him, keeping an eye out for any flying Nightmares that might think him an easy victim; Melody was guarding the doorway, making sure no Nightmares made it up the stairs.

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She'd looked almost everywhere. After smacking York for his part in this debacle, she'd started wandering, checking any place she could think of to hide in. Well, those that she didn't consider incredibly dangerous to go into. And there were two or three of those places left. So, she stopped for a moment, standing in the second district, mentally crossing off the places she'd been.

"I wonder if that armor comes with an invisible setting." She said to her spirits, and she heard a squeak come from Fluffy, sitting atop Abby's head, sounding like agreement. "Where do you think we should look next?"

Hearing that squeak, Fang perked up, quickly figuring out where it had come from. It was Fluffy, and Fluffy didn't go anywhere without his person, and Fluffy's person made Fang's person feel better! He chittered at Melody - keep him here, okay? - before hopping off the ledge and swooping down, making a beeline for Fluffy. Hey! Hey, his person was feeling sad, and your person can cheer him up, right? And it'll make your person happy too, right? C'mon, he's up on the tower! Fang nudged Fluffy and beelined it back towards the clock tower, pausing momentarily to make sure his fellow bat was following him.

Meanwhile, Wash had looked up just in time to see Fang fly off. "Wh- Fang- damn it," he groaned, burying his head in his hands. Just one more item on the laundry list of things going wrong around him. Melody left her position at the top of the stairs and pranced over, nudging his hand with her nose. Hey, it'd be okay, okay?

All three of the figures standing below looked up when they noticed movement, going into fight mode, like always. But, the other bat recognized his friend first, and squeaked a greeting, then another, causing Ziva to stop. He's where? Ok! If he wasn't launching off to fight, it wasn't a threat...for now.

As Fang got closer, she recognized him and dropped her hand from her gun. If he was here...that meant Wash was somewhere nearby. She watched as the other spirit nudged hers before taking off again, and Fluffy quickly following him. She shared a look with Abby before following.

"Where are you two going?" Abby following close behind, she realized they were heading for the clock tower. "...Really."

"Where are you two going?"

Wash's head snapped upright, eyes wide. He may have missed where Fluffy had gone, but there was no mistaking that voice. Fuck. Fuck. He was not ready for this. He pushed himself to his feet, glancing towards the exit. In the short span of time it had taken him to realize what was going on, Melody had taken up her post again, sitting smack in the middle of the doorway and looking up at him. "Get up, Melody," he told her, picking up his helmet. "We're leaving."

Melody simply continued to stare, giving a single, contrary meow.

"C'mon, we're-" It took about that long for it to hit him. "You're in on this, aren't you," he accused her.

Melody gave another meow, this one much more self-satisfied than the last, and set about grooming a paw. She wasn't moving, he wouldn't shove her out of the way, and this was the only exit, because multiple stories straight down was not an exit.

After a few more seconds of frenzied consideration, Wash gave up, heaving a sigh and pulling his helmet on. He could do with that extra layer of protection for the conversation to come, he figured. Maybe he could even figure out something not massively stupid to say before she got there. Given that Fang had just landed on the ledge, squeaking in a very self-satisfied manner, he figured Ziva wouldn't be too long in coming.

Edited 2013-02-28 05:41 (UTC)

She sighed as she started for the door, preparing herself for the group of Nightmares she knew was coming. Fluffy flew back down to join her charge, watching as Abby stormed in first to slam a few of them out. At least this would help get any frustration at the situation out of her system.

It took a bit, and some bullets, before she reached the top. Once there, she stopped on the other side of Melody, trying to gauge what position the cat was taking in this.

"I just want to talk."

He'd stayed silent, listening to the sounds of battle, hand twitching reflexively over his pistol. If he heard a scream - if he heard any cries of pain that didn't come from Nightmares - he was going down there. She'd come looking for him, and even if he wasn't sure where they stood and didn't think he could handle finding out, he still couldn't let her get hurt.

It didn't come to that. The gunshots abated soon, and before Wash knew it Ziva was standing at the top of the staircase. Melody leapt nimbly aside to let her through. The cat had been part of the plan to get Ziva up here; of course she approved of Ziva's presence. Wash, on the other hand, wasn't so sure. Recently, he hadn't been able to open his mouth without breaking something; given that he was pretty sure this friendship was already broken, he didn't want to make it worse. "Go ahead." Because nothing else he could think to say sounded remotely passable.

Watching as Melody moved away, she walked through the doorway and leaned against one of the walls. It wouldn't do to make anyone feel trapped. Gripping the hem of her shirt, a nervous habit she hadn't broken yet, she took a breath before talking.

"I want to apologize. I may have taken things a bit too far with the joke York started. And do not worry, I have already spoken with him and smacked him for even starting it. I understand if you are angry, but I had to come and say I am sorry. I do not want to lose what we have."

She abruptly stopped, looking away from him and towards the balcony, where Fluffy had landed. She had mentally worked on what she was going to say while searching for him, and that wasn't it. That had just come out without her thinking, and wasn't on her list of 'Most Elegant Things She'd Done'.

What she said was out there anyway. She'd work damage control later.

It was too late for that sentiment - Wash had felt trapped the entire time Ziva was making her way up the tower. Knowing that he'd cornered himself there in the first place hadn't helped matters.

He fought to keep still, not to fidget or give anything away. It was a habit he'd learned out of necessity from lying to the Counselor, and it came back easily. Plus, it helped that he had his armor to hide behind. He didn't know what he'd been expecting Ziva to say, but he didn't think that had been it. "It's not your fault. I-" Panicked, he thought, choking the word back. "-overreacted." For all that he knew how to lie, he was still grateful that he had his visor to hide behind.

"We both overreacted, in a way." She said, looking back towards him. He had an advantage with his helmet on. She couldn't see his face, and couldn't read him. She walked over to where Fluffy landed, leaning against the balcony and looking over the district below.

She didn't know what to say at that moment, hating the awkward silence that had fallen. She reached over to scratch Fluffy behind the ear, feeling that anything she said would make it worse.

He didn't know what to say to that. They'd both overreacted - well, that wasn't exactly wrong. The question was, now what? He opened his mouth, thought for a moment, and closed it again without making a sound. He didn't know what - he had no idea what he could do, what he could say to make things better, if anything.

Melody huffed. Honestly, people were so bad at this. She pranced behind Wash's legs, braced herself, and pushed, meowing for Fang to help her. Their person needed to do something, and it was up to them to encourage him. It wasn't as though they'd have any luck moving someone in half a ton of armor, but they could at least try.

That didn't mean Wash didn't notice. "What- hey! Quit that!"

Ziva glanced over when she heard Wash say something, noticing Melody trying to interfere and chuckling behind her hand. What she didn't notice, was Fluffy making a motion of 'push her' towards Abby, then pointing towards Wash. Their person was stubborn, and needed some help.

Abby was mostly behind Ziva, so she didn't see her walk up before it was a bit too late. Placing her paws at her person's back, she shoved her forward, watching as she didn't catch her balance in time and ran right into Wash. A paw to wing tap with Fluffy and she stepped back again, knowing Ziva wasn't going to be really happy.

"Abby!" She shouted, not really getting much out before running into Wash. She wasn't amused that her sneaky tendencies were rubbing off on them. She sighed, well, this was fun.

Wash had been too busy trying to get Melody to quit interfering to notice Abby doing the exact same thing to Ziva. He looked up at her shout and had only a split second to process the situation before Ziva ran straight into him. He wrapped his arms around her reflexively, trying to steady them both.

It was only when they were no longer in danger of toppling over that his brain caught up with his reflexes, and he realized he was holding Ziva against his chest. He couldn't feel anything through the armor, but that didn't mean she wasn't still there.

Um.

Uh.

For a few long moments, his brain whirred frantically, trying to process just what had happened and what it could mean for them when he wasn't even sure of their friendship and what he could do to fix this and-

And a very small part of him rather liked having her in his arms. Just because he couldn't feel her didn't mean it wasn't nice.

It was that input from that little part that finally caused his brain to overload, and he let go. It was also that little part that let him hold on just a moment too long for it to be casual before releasing her, and he knew it, and it did not help.

"Um- um- I- uh-" He sputtered incoherently for a few seconds, trying and failing to find words, before finally giving up and dropping his arms to his sides. He was pretty sure he needed to do something - he just had no idea what it was.

Even though Wash had caught her, Ziva's hands had reflexively grabbed onto the top edge of his chest armor. She was somewhat expecting to knock him over, and when they didn't fall, she was surprised. She was more surprised when he didn't immediately let her go when they were in no threat of falling.

She unclenched her hands from where they were on the top edge of his armor, realizing, finally, that they were steady. The armor wasn't as cold as she expected it to be, and she looked at the blue color of it as she rested her hands there for a moment.

He wasn't letting go. And she found that she really didn't mind. She relaxed for the moment, letting herself enjoy this moment, because she knew something was probably going to happen...considering the entire situation at hand.

After a bit longer than she expected, she felt him let go. She didn't step back though, looking up when he started sputtering. That damn helmet was still in the way.

"Stop." She said. She didn't have anything to add right then. But, she'd figure something out.

He stopped.

He stopped moving; he stopped trying to figure out something to say that wasn't inchoate stuttering; he may have even stopped breathing for a moment or two.

It took him about that long to realize that she hadn't moved away, even though he'd let her go. It took him even longer to find something to actually say in response to that. "Okay?"

"Good." She was mainly concerned that he was going to overreact again. Then, they would be in the same position, only over a different incident. That wouldn't be good. Stepping back to put a bit of space between them again, she sighed.

"And, would you take your helmet off?" After a few seconds, she added, "Please? I would rather speak with you face to face." Not face to shield, as she considered it.

"I promise not to bite, hit, or claw." She added with a raised eyebrow.

Wash nearly balked at the request. Taking his helmet off would make this conversation that much more difficult for him.

But it was Ziva, and he trusted her. The edge of his lip twitched as she promised no violence, at least of those specific types. If he weren't so anxious already, it might have even been a smile. "You didn't promise not to shoot," he pointed out, reaching up to undo the two latches that held his helmet in place. Once freed, he lifted the helmet off his head and tucked it under his arm. He tried to keep his expression blank and impassive, but the situation was too fresh and too complicated for him to be completely successful, not after he'd already relaxed so much in this dream world. Wash still had a strong poker face, but Ziva might notice it was fraying and unsteady at the edges.

"Too messy." She said with a shrug. The comment of not wanting him dead stayed as a part of her internal commentary. She watched as he took off the helmet, storing the information in the back of her mind of how it worked... In case of emergencies, of course.

"Thank you." She noticed that his normally steady 'neutral' expression was as steady as it should be, but she made no comment on that. Taking a deep breath, she said the question that had been on her mind since she'd found him. "So, where do we stand?"

She was blunt, she knew. But, it was better than dancing around it forever.

He really should have been expecting that.

As it was, the utter bluntness of the question threw Wash off, and he fought to keep his expression neutral, with more success than he expected given his recent track record. Coming up with an answer to Ziva's question was proving to be more difficult - every possibility he came up with wouldn't work for one reason or another and was discarded as soon as he thought of it, until he was left with nothing but the bare truth. "I don't know," he admitted, voice quiet. "Not anymore."

"Not anymore?" She asked quietly, turning to lean against the railing overlooking the district below. She looked up at the sky for a moment, not wanting to look back at him at that moment. She didn't exactly trust herself to not show everything in her eyes at that moment.

Fluffy hopped over, nudging her arm before giving Wash a look. He could tell something was wrong with his person at the moment, she just didn't want to show it.

"And...where do you want to be?"

"Yeah." He thought he'd known before, back when he'd thought they were still just friends and had been more than happy to leave it that way. Now, Wash had no idea, and he didn't know how to go about finding out.

Of course, Ziva could always throw him headfirst into it. Again. He at least managed to avoid choking audibly this time, but there was no way he could keep a straight face; luckily, Ziva wasn't looking at him at the moment. He swallowed hard, unable to push back the thoughts that swamped his mind at Ziva's question. Where did he want to be?

With her, that small part of him insisted. She made him smile without trying. She made him happy; she was good for him.

The other part of him balked at the thought. He was broken. He didn't have anything to offer her that wasn't already twisted or tainted by Allison, and she deserved much better than that. He winced, struggling for words he just couldn't manage to grasp and settling for another lame answer when he couldn't manage anything else. "I...don't know that either." He swallowed again, trying to push through; it beat dwelling on his words. "What about you? Where do you want to be?"

She thought back to the conversation with York she had a few days prior, remembering what he said about Wash, his past, and...other certain things. He may actually know, and not want to say it, or maybe he didn't at the moment. She couldn't be sure.

She raised an eyebrow when he turned the question on her, but took a deep breath so she could buy time to gather her thoughts. If she said something wrong, she was afraid of things falling apart...again.

"Well." Her voice started softly. "For one, I do not want to lose the friendship we have. But, I do not believe I would be satisfied with that. I wish we could be more." She was hoping she wasn't crossing a line here. "But, if you do not agree, I will take what we have."

She wanted to be more.

Wash fought to keep his expression still even as those five words rekindled the war within him. That was what he wanted too - but he couldn't have it, it wouldn't be fair for her to be stuck with him - but she wanted it, she'd just said so herself - but she didn't know what she was getting into-

He tried not to wince as the pressure built. Both sides had a point, both parts of him were right, and he didn't know which to choose. He did the only thing he could think to do: he gave himself an out.

"We could try," he said, feeling the words out. "To be more, I mean. We could try it." He'd long since given up on the losing battle of trying not to sound like an idiot; for now, he just wanted to keep things from getting too messed up.

She waited, watching as he had his inner discussion over things, then listening as he gave his answer. She kept her face straight, even though part of her was ecstatic on the inside.

"And that is all I ask. If it does not work out, we cannot wonder about what could have been." But, she wasn't willing to let it fail easily, if it looked like it may. She glanced between her spirits for a second.

"And...they seem to somewhat approve." She laughed, watching as Abby tried to act innocent over the shove earlier.

"Right. Sounds good."

And just like that, he was in a relationship. Or at least trying one out.

At that realization, the bottom dropped out of Wash's stomach and his world tilted sideways into dizzying panic. What was he doing- he couldn't do this to her, it was- he was crazy- well yeah, but-

She started laughing, and his world righted itself again. Right. They were trying it out. She wanted this. It was a good thing. "Yeah," he agreed, looking down at Melody, who had started pushing at his knees again. "You know, I think they insist." She looked up at him, meowing insistently - get on with it! Fang landed next to her and squeaked, adding his encouragement.

He paused for a moment, considering. "Um." If they were trying this, he actually had to...well, try, right? "I guess..." Pushing past his hesitation, he slowly offered her his hand, a little half-smile on his face. It wasn't much - it probably looked pretty stupid from the outside, actually - but right now, it was the best he could think to do. They had to start somewhere.

"I believe they do." She felt Fluffy push at her shoulder, in the same manner that Melody was pushing against Wash's knees. Abby was staying out of it this time, although she was sure the spirit was encouraging them in her own way.

Leaving her place on the railing, she walked closer, before reaching out to take his hand with hers. She seemed to stop to think about something before leaning up to kiss him on the cheek. Even if this didn't work out, no one could say she wasn't bold enough to try.

"Thank you. For being willing to try."

She took his hand, and Wash was smiling before he knew it. There was just something about her that brought this out in him, and- and maybe he could actually have this. They were trying, right? Maybe it would actually work out.

And then she leaned in and kissed him, and his face went slack and the bottom dropped out of his world for the second time in about as many minutes.

Oh.

He'd almost forgotten what that felt like.

It took him the space of a few breaths to get his brain back into what passed for working order, and then he was smiling again, squeezing her hand gently. "Well, yeah," he managed, more coherent than he expected himself to be. "You don't get anywhere if you don't try, right?" Of course, he had an unfortunate tendency to not get anywhere no matter how hard he tried, but that wasn't something to think about right now.

"Not really." She said, stepping back again. She didn't mind getting into his personal space, but she didn't want to linger too long, and bother him. She squeezed his hand in return, a smile still not leaving her face.

"How about we do something that does not involve killing Nightmares?" She threw out the suggestion after thinking about the fact that they mostly fought Nightmares together. "Or alcohol." Oh, and that.

"Coffee, maybe?"

Some small part of Wash - the same part that had been making opportunistic remarks throughout the entire conversation - protested at her stepping away. The rest of him was just glad that the protest was silent. He didn't want to have to explain that one. Plus, she was still holding his hand, and he now had a smile on his face to match hers, and...well, for the first time in days, he felt good. Maybe he could actually do this without screwing it up.

"Coffee's good," he replied without thinking. "I like coffee."

...shit. So much for that plan.

"Maybe tonight?" he continued, trying to salvage the conversation and what was left of his dignity. "Or tomorrow?"

Ziva laughed a bit at his response, keeping herself from making any comments about how she found his reaction somewhat adorable. She was about to open her mouth to answer 'tonight', but that small, very girly, part of her her brain piped up first.

You have nothing to wear that is appropriate. And it had a point. She really didn't have anything that she could wear that wasn't her normal clothes at this point. Nothing cute, or ladylike, or Stop. This can be remedied.

"How about tomorrow? Just for timing purposes." She said, motioning towards her watch. "It is getting late." That, and she really wanted time to pull herself together. "Deal?"

"Deal." Tomorrow would probably be better anyway - it would give Wash time to sort himself out, at least. This was a lot to process, and he wanted to have some semblance of a grip on himself before their date.

...dear God they had a date.

He knew some sort of panic would set in later; right now, he couldn't have kept the smile off his face if he'd tried. "So. See you tomorrow, then?"

"Yes. Tomorrow. Say, six-ish?" Details Ziva, make sure you know the details. She let go of his hand at that point, biting her lip for a moment before reaching over to give him a quick hug. Stepping back, she had one more question.

"Meet at the tea shop? Or at one of our places?"

Much as Wash would have liked to, his mid was still too addled and reflexes too slowed by the overwhelming realization that they had a date to be able to react in time to hug Ziva back. At least he'd have another chance later. Right?

"Six works," he nodded. "And how about the tea shop?"

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TURRRRRRN AROOOUUUND

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