epidemiology | ( open + closed ) i bet you didn't know that i was dangerous

[ it's a lot to take in, but fear is definitely not one of the emotions she's feeling right now.

overall, she is just overwhelmed, ping-ponging between her surprise and her confusion, trying to piece together what she sees with what she's known and what she hears — and even in that, there is much to process. his tone, his words... the way he looks at her.

after a few moments, it is not fear that grips her, but a wild panic. her voice comes out hushed, apprehensive: ]

The bugs again...?

[ her hands have fallen to her knees at this point, which at least allows the cloak to fall shut around her shoulders, granting her some extra warmth and him some reprieve. (saffron remains on his back on the ground, far less interested in this sudden change of development.) ]

[ he quickly throws up his hands in a placating manner when she mentions the bugs. god. never again, he hopes. ]

No, no, it wasn't the bugs, don't worry! This was, uh... [ how is he supposed to explain it? even he doesn't really know what happened. ] Some kind of hiccup in the timeline, I guess. It felt like I was actually gone for an entire year, even though here it was only a day or so. It's happened to a couple of my friends.

[ he pauses and shrugs at her, still obviously happy despite how weird this is. ]

But the stuff the bugs did was just temporary. This... should be permanent.

[ her relief is palpable, seeming to shudder right through her spine, down to her bones. saffron, at this point, finally rolls over onto his side, glancing between the two as the tension emanating from olivia finally reaches him. but just as quickly, she seems to be relaxing, even mustering up a nervous little smile. vaughn is definitely not the only one who would rather not have to deal with those bugs again. ]

That's... good to know.

[ the bugs thing, that is. she hasn't yet had a chance to really digest what has happened to him, though she allows herself a few moments to now, finally looking him over. a year doesn't sound like much, but having been here in alastair for just as long, she knows how much change a person can go through in just those 365 days. the vaughn before her now certainly looks different... but more than that, he feels it too. standing a little straighter, smiling a little wider, meeting her eyes with perhaps a little more intensity than before. it's an odd feeling... almost surreal.

she remembers the time she had been missing here for two days, when back on nalawi she'd spent three whole months. it had been quite strange for her then. she can't imagine what a whole year away must be like. ]

How, um... How do you feel?

Better. [ there's no hesitation here. he felt better once he'd had a little time to process what happened, and he feels better still now that he can see her again. he won't elaborate that much, but he's probably not a subtle as he thinks he is, either. ] I mean... different, and kind of weird, obviously, but... I dunno. Almost like a new person. A better one, hopefully.

[ actually, forget that wishy-washy nonsense. he's just going to address her confidently instead, practically beaming, because it's true: ] I feel good.

You look good.

[ the comment comes fairly easily, without any real prompting. she can tell from just listening to him, how much more easily he seems to find his voice, even as they stand out here in the crisp air, biting at their skin.

speaking of...

she rises back to her feet, absently pushing a lock of hair behind an ear. it occurs to her after the fact that her words come off a little more... intimate... than intended, which in turn forces her to think in that way and. well.

she isn't wrong. ]

Um — should we continue inside? I think Saffron's ready to get warm again...

[ ah yes let's blame it all on the lion cub. sorry saffron. ]

[ ah, there it is again—that feeling. the one that will probably get him in trouble one of these days. he'd just said he felt good, but he feels even better now. she probably didn't mean anything by it, he knows, but for the moment he's just going to allow himself to pretend. that's what they're going to be doing anyway, right? pretending.

it's fine. ]

Thanks.

[ "so do you" is what he might say if she wasn't in her underwear. not that she doesn't look good, of course, but he's in better control of what comes out of his mouth now, fortunately for everyone. instead he nods firmly, kicking himself a little internally for not bringing something warmer that he could have offered her. ]

Oh, yeah, definitely—sorry, you must be freezing. Saffron, too. Let's go.

[ he still feels a little warm, himself, but that's irrelevant. he smiles and beckons for her to follow him back inside, assuming Saffron will follow her in turn. ]

[ she follows along after, her steps quite slow as if fully intending to walk behind him the entire time. saffron is less hesitant, padding softly after them both, but after catching up, continues on in his own pace, even if it meant bypassing them. he knows the way back "home" after all.

in due time, olivia winds up at vaughn's side, idly tugging on the ends of her cloak to keep it tight around her shoulders in a meager attempt to keep most of the cold out. of course, the stones against her feet are cold as well, but surprisingly there is no quiver to her tone when she talks. ]

So... a whole year. [ she cannot help but sneak glances at him whenever she can, doing so so often that it's far past subtle at this point. ] It must be very weird for you to find yourself back here.

[ he notices her pulling on her cloak easily enough—she's not the only one sneaking glances—and again he feels guilty for not having anything warm to offer her. about all he could do to warm her up would be to hold her, but that wouldn't get them back inside any faster. it would also probably weird her out. oh, well.

eventually he ends up catching her glance at the same time, and he can't help but laugh a little at himself. busted. ]

It's really weird, yeah. Especially since I didn't really... remember any of this while I was gone? I kinda gave up trying to make sense of it. It all came back to me pretty much the second I came back, though. [ he glances at her again with a sincere smile. ] But I'm glad to be back, to be honest. Especially in time for the mission.

[ there's plenty of subtlety to go around, here. ]

[ his words catch her off-guard, and with him not bothering to hide his glances now, he can plainly see it on her face.

as well as the faint blush creeping across her cheeks and bridge of her nose. ]

Y-You remember that...?

[ of course he did, olivia, he just said as much two seconds ago. hastily, she looks away, reaching up to try and tuck a lock of rebellious hair back into the high bun she'd put it all in, in hopes of avoiding getting wet on the lake. it more or less worked. ]

Of course I wouldn't wish to saddle you with such a task so soon after returning... if you need more time to adjust, it wouldn't be a bother to me at all...!

Are you kidding?

[ he sounds incredulous, but his smile doesn't falter. if anything, he looks excited. again. ]

No way! I'm totally adjusted already. I'd be ready to head there now if that's what they wanted. [ he pauses, toning it down just a bit. he's still a little self-conscious. he continues more reassuringly. ] And anyway, you're not saddling me with anything. I agreed to do it because I wanted to, and it was a good idea. Nothing's changed about that.

[ though some small part of him does have to wonder if she really wouldn't be bothered by ditching the plan altogether. he'd be pretty gutted, even now, but then again... their circumstances are somewhat different. he can admit that to himself, at least. ]

I-If you're sure...

[ where there is a definitive lack of uncertainty in vaughn's tone now, made all the more distinct considering the last time she'd heard from him wasn't more than a week ago, and the contrast is quite stark, the same can't be said of olivia's own voice, wavering somewhere between grateful and nervous. ]

I wasn't... I couldn't be sure if you still... after so long...

[ she is such a very different person from who she was a year ago, or so it feels. it didn't feel right to expect the same of him now than she did when he had been a year younger.

she gestures vaguely. ]

It seemed silly to hold you to something you agreed to a year ago, that's all.

[ as hesitant as he is to keep her from getting inside even a minute sooner, he feels like a point needs to be made. so he stops abruptly, turns toward her, and brings a hand up to rest lightly on her shoulder. ]

Hey. [ he gives it a gentle squeeze. ] I'm positive, okay? I really appreciate your concern, but you don't need to worry about that stuff. Like, at all. Trust me.

[ her feet stutter to a stop when he's suddenly in front of her, and she stiffens briefly under the gentle weight of his hand. it stems more from her surprise more than anything else, but it still takes her a moment to summon a response, too preoccupied at first in meeting his eyes. ]

I-If you're really certain...

[ sensing he may have startled her (and feeling pretty bad about it), he lightens his tone with her, though he sounds no less confident. ]

I am.

[ he lets another moment pass before sliding his hand off of her, flashing a warm smile as he turns to head forward again, motioning for her to follow. then he throws up his arms enthusiastically like something awesome just occurred to him, cheerfully proceeding. ]

Besides, the cover story we came up with is genius. We can't waste that, right?

[ if nothing else, his enthusiasm is infectious, if only because of how genuine it is. she has to actually reach up with a hand to stifle a little laugh, ducking away from his gesticulations. ]

It is a pretty good story, isn't it...? [ she smiles down at the floor, cheeks warming with a little burst of pride. ] I've done a little more thinking about it, if you'd like to hear it...

Really? [ he sounds way too excited about this. he is way too excited about this. any attempts to hide it seem to have flown right out the window. whoops. ] Yeah, of course I'd love to hear it!

[ her lips purse a little, and she merely gestures with her hand once they reach the stairs. from there, it's easy enough to lead him back up to her room, where he's already been once before. happily, saffron trots in front of them, beating them to the door by minutes.

once in, olivia invites vaughn to make himself comfortable while she excuses herself. both she and lion walk into the little bathroom where she begins to disrobe and towel both herself and saffron off in earnest. not wishing to leave him in silence for too long, though, the door is left open a few inches, and from the crack her voice filters. ]

Do you know of a man here named Sigma? He has agreed to be my brother in this story. According to him, he will be staying with his girlfriend Ramir and her "relatives" Giorno and Fugo. We've been invited for family dinners already!

[ he's more than happy to follow her (and Saffron) back to her room—it feels like it's been forever, even though he knows it hasn't. it looks pretty much the same, of course, just like all the other places he's visited since coming back, but it feels a little different this time. maybe because in the back of his mind, he knows in a week or so they'll be sharing a room?

dear god.

he takes a seat carefully on the edge of her bed and waits patiently for her and her lion to emerge. ]

I don't, no. Can't say that I've met any of those people, actually, but I guess that'll be changing soon, huh? Sounds like fun! [ yes, even the concept of in-laws excites him. ] I'm glad one of us thought about that stuff, because I definitely didn't. Maybe I'll just say I'm not originally from the area or something—moved to Woodhurst for college and stayed because of you. How's that sound?

Oh, that sounds so romantic... [ her voice carries dreamily for a few moments longer, before she seems to bring herself back down to earth. ]

—um. W-Well it's really nothing too impressive, [ she insists. ] I just thought it might help make maintaining contact with others much easier if we were to expand our relationships. You know?

[ he smiles to himself, a little proudly. tee hee, he thought of something romantic. ] I thought so, too. But yeah, you're totally right. Extended family will work great for that. I feel like there are plenty of roles you can fill before people would start to wonder why your family's so huge. We're gonna be just fine.

[ you know, aside from the whole... zombie thing. ]

( open + closed ) i bet you didn't know that i was dangerous

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