RYSLIG; ic inbox

[isawallflower]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, CHEERYCHERRY. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 019.46.820.17 *** CHEERYCHERRY has joined 019.46.820.17 <CHEERYCHERRY> It's Riley! <CHEERYCHERRY> Please leave a message! <CHEERYCHERRY> Please be someone with their priorities sorted out properly!

main: CheeryCherry
anonymous: panthera, aed
retired: gflynn (anon)

Comments

[isawallflower]

[ They were a literal pain growing in, and they get in the way of everything. But Riley thinks the wings, they're the part of Ryslig itself that she found herself longing for, in that other world, without even realizing it. Carefully, relying on the other life, she runs her hand over the nape of Steve's neck, taking care not to scratch him. A tactile sensation, repetitive, to distract from the pain.

That's why she's talking, too, anything to provide a distraction, and this? This is a pretty easy topic. ]

Me too. Even though, I... I'd memorize them, [ remember? she almost adds, because that didn't change, memories of the two lives twisting together in a strange sort of do-si-do. ] Um. Still. To make sure...I wasn't screwing things up.

[ There'd be no one else around to clean it up, if she did, after all. ]

[hairday]

[ That's right.

She'd do that. He knows, because he thought he was so funny he'd sometimes confiscate the macaroni to hold a pop quiz before letting her have it.

Steve, who is and isn't that boy in his own memories, tries to adjust his body closer. He wraps his other arm around her in an effort to hold tight to the soft stroking he's felt both zero and a dozen times, reassuring him that this too will pass. ]

I don't think the box can tell us how to salvage it off the floor. [ For the first time since Riley's record dash down four flights, the transformation leaves Steve be long enough for him to get a full laugh out of the air in his lungs. ]

Maybe we can order some pizza from downstairs in a bit. That's close enough.

[isawallflower]

[ As if it's natural, Riley shifts to accommodate him, so she's not kneeling awkwardly. She moves on an instinct she never knew she had, one she never got to develop. A billion fragments of what never was swirl around them, and she finds herself somewhere between the time she'd crawled into Steffan's bed during a particularly loud thunderstorm and being carried home after she'd sprained her ankle while climbing a tree.

What her mind says is, this is her brother, one who's taken care of her. It's only right to return the favor. It's a terrifying thought, and yet... ]

We'll take care of it later. If...I had more in my pantry, I'd make us something, but— [ His laughter warms her ear and she sets her chin on his shoulder. He should probably have more water, before the waves of pain ripple over him again, but somewhat selfishly, Riley doesn't want to pull away. ]

...Pizza sounds perfect. [ He already knows her order, right? Large, extra cheese. That other world didn't have gluten-free, but she's been less strict about that in the last few months. ]

[hairday]

Great.

[ She can probably gauge that he's smiling from the motion of his jaw muscles. ]

I've got coupons for days and days. [ A couple from Clint, the rest from when he was working at the place for his inaugural months on the peninsula. Regardless of what his answering machine still says, he kind of is the free pizza hotline. ] Top left drawer by my bed.

[ But even as he tells her where to find them, he contradicts himself by clinging harder. He doesn't know how soon the drug's going to kick in, or if it will before whatever's happening to the bones in his legs leaves him convulsing out of his own skin. He just knows he's not as afraid now that she's here. ]

[isawallflower]

[ As if reading his mind, Riley squeezes him very lightly, continuing the rhythmic massaging of his scalp. ]

It's okay. Later. I'm not going anywhere.