distressedude | 019 ~ [Action]

[After a certain incident resulted in Ion leaving House One for a week, it was finally fime for him to make his way back home. He'd spent more than enough time feeling guilty about what had happened, and for leaving in the first place. He couldn't just keep avoiding things forever, could he?]

[Of course, it'll take him a little while to actually get there, and not just because it's a long walk. After leaving Luke and Asch's apartment around noon, he wanders around the village in the snow for awhile before eventually returning to the plaza, finding a nice, quiet corner of the library to read. But he might seem a little more spaced out than usual today. After all, while he may have decided he's ready to return home, he knows he's going to have to talk to Anise about last week... and he's not quite sure how he's going to go about doing that just yet. Perhaps he should find someone to ask for advice...]

[Either way, he'll finally make his way back to House One shortly after sunset, still feeling more than a little nervous but glad to be home all the same.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Ion? [forget just asking, she's moving to his spot on the counter to check on him. He did just come in out of the cold.]

[He's already set the knife down and is holding one of his hands tightly in the other.]

A-Ah, my hand must have slipped while I was cutting... would you mind getting a bandage for me?

Yes. But let me see it first.

[Nephry has had her fair share of kitchen mishaps. Let's have it.]

[BUT MOM IT HURTS fiiine. He winces when he opens his hand, having been keeping pressure on the wound. It wasn't a serious cut by any means, but it was still bleeding quite a bit.]

[Nephry frowns, getting a hand towel out of one of the drawers under the counter. She wets it in the sink before handing it to him.]

Use that for pressure first. It looks small, at least.

[He nods and takes the towel, pressing it against the cut.] I guess I should have been paying closer attention...

Really? [This expression asks you not to lie so soon after coming in the door.]

It's not as though I cut my hand on purpose, Nephry. [Really!]

[And if he'd been paying closer attention, he wouldn't have been so surprised by her suddenly bringing up that last experiment.]

[...Well of course he didn't. Nephry actually takes a step away when he says that - is that what he thought? She fumbles for something to say for about half a minute, then leaves the kitchen to get the first aid kit.]

[Well... that was kind of awkward. Maybe it's because he's been gone so long? And now he's gone and bothered her while she was making dinner. He should have come back earlier...]

[It wasn't him. Nephry's had a lot on her mind lately, is all.

When she comes back into the kitchen it's pretty much forgotten, anyway. She puts Dist's first aid kit on the counter and reaches for Ion's hand again.]

[And he'll give it, though he winces again when the towel is removed. Though Nephry's reaction before still wasn't quite sitting well with him.]

...is everything all right, Nephry?

Of course. Other than this, at least.

[But since he's not bleeding all over the place and he wasn't slicing meat ~~she knows better okay~~ she'll just run a little water from the sink over it and find a band-aid of appropriate size.]

[If he were any other person, he might very well just echo her "Really?" from before... but, no, perhaps he's just imagining things.]

[The cold water might get a bit of a squeak from him though. At least, it feels cold, given his hands are still in that between phase of just-starting-to-defrost after being outside for so long.]

[Actually, it's warm water - she's been washing off the food, and everything.]

No wonder you slipped. Your hands are frozen. ...How long were you out in the cold?

...a few hours, perhaps? I was wearing gloves, but I suppose they got a little wet from the snow.

Did you fall?

[Sorry Ion (or perhaps not sorry), she's holding your cold hands inside of hers to warm them up. If you get sick Anise will kill somebody.]

Not exactly...

[A smile. Sometimes it's easy to forget how young he actually is... but then again:] Though I did get into a snowball fight.

Oh. [Nephry smiles. That's something Ion should do, anyway] How was it?

It was actually rather fun. Although it did take me a little by surprise, being hit with a snowball so suddenly...

[Seems like it was good for him, though.]

Why don't you warm up a little before doing anything else with dinner?

All right... I'm sorry I wasn't able to be of more help. [He cut the carrots at least!! Mostly.]

[Though after he gets his hand bandaged, he'll just go into the living room and curl into a blanket for a little while to defrost. And if there's a fire going in the fireplace, he'll likely be sitting in front of that as well. Maybe he should have left a few more layers on...]

[Of course there's a fire in the fireplace. This is Nephry's house. In the snow.

Once she's through assembling the soup, she might just come into the living room and join him by the fire.]

[Ion doesn't notice her right away, his eyes staring into the flames as though lost in his thoughts. Though he's set in his decision that he's returned here and wants to stay here, he still hasn't sought out Anise to speak with her yet.]

[It's silly... why should it be so difficult to talk to his best friend? He pulls the blanket closer around his shoulders and sighs.]

[Far be it for her to interrupt him. She'll lean back and watch the fire as well.]

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