revenance_rpg | TURRRRRRN AROOOUUUND

Entry tags:

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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"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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