Current State of Affairs [Lucien|Open]

[Lucien DeChain]

At her whimper, he would cast a gaze of concern, not knowing what to do in the situation. Once she recovered and spoke, he would smile softly at her.

"I don't mind at all. Though, truthfully, I'm not very good in these situations--"

Lucien had forgotten the time. He was overdue to call in.

"Please excuse me for a moment." He would say as he would stand up, crossing the room and clicking on his earpiece. Speaking softly, he would give his report. "Brother DeChain here, reporting in. A strong storm has forced me to take cover in a safehouse. As it doesn't look like it will stop storming before morning, I'll head back to the Crow's nest tomorrow."

A reply crackled over. "Acknowledged. Wouldn't want you to get blown away by the wind, eh? Hahahaha..." Lucien clicked it off.

BOOM

Lucien quickly returned to the couch, not wanting his guest to freak out too much, but still unsure of what to do about it... He might have sat an inch closer to her than he had before.

[Reira Ling]

Reira just smiles backs softly at his response before letting him go about his business. She didn't want to intrude any longer in what he had originally planned to do before she interrupted.

Of the issue he raised, she felt that he had already done her a great favor for taking her here to the safe house given that they were complete strangers. He had offered her tea, blankets and shelter for the storm. Yes, he was definitely good at being a good host, if not in the skill of comforting.

Reira brings the cup to her lips and lets the steam of the hot tea warm her cheeks before she stole a quick sip from the rim of the cup. She mildly wondered what kind of green tea it was, perhaps
Genmaicha?

Her musings distracted her long enough until the next violent roar from above. This time just a sharp inhale before she sank deeper in her seat.

"M-my brother used to play rock music when there were storms." she laughs nervously, "and he'd also give me pots and pans to play with so we could drown out the noise."

[Lucien DeChain]

Lucien retrieved his teacup, and took a small sip from it. It had been a long time since he allowed himself to have tea, but being on a water only diet had to have a few "slips" here and there, right? Not right. His stomach took the hot drink, but just barely, as his mind reprimanded him for having flavour in his mouth. How dare he.

At her words, Lucien would think for a second. He couldn't stand the sound of clanging pans. "Well, uh, we could just talk more to drown out the noise? Or cover our ears? Like this?" He placed his teacup down and cupped both his hands over his ears.

He silently wondered what normal people did in these situations. There's a female guest here, with a fearful expression, probably spending the night... Comedy? No, I'm horrible at that.

He became fearful that her jumps would spill the tea, so he gently took her cup in his hand, setting it on the table--

BOOMKRAKOOM

[Reira Ling]

Reira slowly turns to glance at Lucien as if moving would somehow irritate the sky even more and causing more rumbling. She'd smile lightly at the gesture of him cupping his ears and she nodded very lightly suggesting that she was willing to give that a try.

The girl herself would have moved to put the teacup on the table to free her hands but it seemed Lucien was one step ahead of her. Thankfully, Lucien did remove it because Reira immediately jumped and screamed at the next roar.

Her arms reached out and clasped onto the next best thing other than her cup...Lucien.

[Lucien DeChain]

As soon as Lucien sat back in his seat on the couch, he heard the thunder again, and looked to Reira to gauge her reaction. What he wasn't expecting was a full on glomp.

Her arms, though shorter than his, wrapped themselves all the way around Lucien's skinny torso. As he was pulled in by her, he kind of allowed it to happen, trying not to disturb her when she needed comfort.

Still...

OhmyGodohmyGodohmyGodohmyGooooood.... She's hugging me what do I do she's in my personal space what do I do..... Ok, Lucien, breathe. Whatever you do, don't start hyperventilating, vomit, or pass out, and please, do NOT--

Lucien reached his own arms out, and nervously returned the strange hug, placing his arms on the middle of her back. He didn't DARE pull her in tighter, that would be going TOO far. Still, Lucien had to admit, he hadn't had a good hug for a long time. It felt nice. Warm--

BOOOOOOOMMMMMMMRUMBLERUMBLErumble

[Reira Ling]

Unlike Lucien, Reira had always been the rather affectionate type, even to strangers. Perhaps affectionate isn't the right word, perhaps it was the fact that she never adhered to social norms in terms of personal space and distance. Here is a perfect case! Though arguably, the fear of thunder is a rather legitimate excuse to be hugging a random stranger.

She curls her hands around his back a little tighter as he returns the hug but when the next rumble came Reira immediately tenses and digs her face into his oddly slim shoulder.

"W-when will it stop...?" she whimpers.

[Lucien DeChain]

Lucien, now in a full embrace with a girl he had met only a few hours ago, tried his best to keep his cool. He felt her shake, and heard her whimper, her face close to his ear. Although his intentions were mostly ALL good, he couldn't help feel like he was sharing an intimate moment with her. Lucien hadn't experienced much of anything like it, so he, still, wasn't sure on how to proceed.

So, he started talking.

"When I was a child, I was scared of everything. I couldn't play outside, or be around animals. Noises in the night would keep me from sleeping. I was so scared of the world, I didn't want to be in it."

Then, I got medicated.

"As I got older, I learned to ignore it, to push it all to the back. But it never went away, it always stayed..."

Lucien reminisced about all those years, about everyday, trying to keep his compulsions buried, but trying desperately to feel emotion. It nearly killed him, quite literally.

Pulling her slightly away so he could look her in the eye, he said softly, "So, instead of ignoring our fear, we have to overcome it. Right?" He smiled.

BOOMCRAK

Maybe one step at a time, He thought.

[Reira Ling]

Reira had no concerns for the physical proximity or the soothing voice that Lucien offered. Instead she found comfort in his speech, and a sense of concern for him. It served well to send her mind whirring with conjectures and questions about his past but she remained silent, and tense. Her body continued to shake lightly from fear, but she definitely seemed to calm down.

When he pulled her away slightly, green met green as she matched his gaze. She swallowed the lump in her throat as he suggested to overcome her fear rather than just try and brush it under the rug and hope it’ll go away.

For Reira, thunderstorms were just terrifying. The way the deep rumbling shoots straight to her core and radiates out was...odd to say the least. But most importantly, the memories tied to thunder was not easy to forget.

“H-how--AHH!” she squeaked as there was another roar.

Reira ducks her head back to his shoulder as she trembled.

“At...at least I-I’m not alone.” she admits with a nervous laugh. “T-thank you.”

[Lucien DeChain]

As they made eye contact, Lucien felt a pang of something, like his heart might have skipped a beat, metaphorically speaking. Mind you if his heart actually skipped a beat then he would go intoapanicattackandmakehisheartbeatthatmuchfastereventually
KILLINGHIMJUSTFROMMAKINGEYECONTACTWITHAGIRLLLLLLLL

Lucien held her close as he felt the tremors go through her body. He tried to think of a time when he was that afraid, that terrified... And what managed to calm him down...

"Tell me a bit about you, Reira."

His hope was that by talking, she would open up, and not be as afraid. If that made any sense at all. And, a small part of him also wanted to hear it..

RRRRRmmmmmmmm........ The storm sounded like it was moving away, but the rain wasn't letting up.

[Reira Ling]

"E-eh?"

Reira cracks open an eye to look at Lucien for a moment before swallowing and started rambling on about her life story. It was the first thing that came to mind!

"I-I was born in China...before my family moved to Philly. I spent most of my life there. I was then taken in by the Miyamoto family before we went our separate ways." A pause to move onto interests and pretty much whatever came to mind. "I like music, and animals...."

She laughs nervously and clenches tighter as she heard the rumbly rumble of the sky.

"cookiedoughicecreamandlearningnewlanguage~" She gets a little high-pitched near the end of her fast-paced rambling due to fear.

[Lucien DeChain]

Lucien would smile as he listened to her rambling on. Her life seemed a whole lot more interesting than his did, for the most part. Of course, if they were to get into specifics, Lucien thought, She'd still probably win.

When she sped up due to the rumbling, Lucien would chuckle slightly, and say in a soft voice, "That's interesting. How many languages do you know? I only know two, but I've been thinking about learning a third, since three is a good number.."

He realized he was rambling, now. Pausing and blinking for a moment, he continued.

"Uh, anyways, what do you--"

BOOM.

[Reira Ling]

"Which two?" she inquires with another peek, "I-I know a few...four? Five? Depending on dialect and it's always good to learn more..."

BOOM!

She ducks again.

"W-what do I-...?"

[Lucien DeChain]

As the rumbling died down again, Lucien would get slightly nervous, though, since he already was nervous, it wouldn't be a noticeable change.

"I know English, and I can speak conversational Japanese. I'm not quite fluent, and I haven't practiced in a few years."

As for the other question... Lucien was trying not to let his nervousness show. Hadn't done this in a while, and, Nature permitting, it would be as smooth as possible..

{OOC Note: This is going to be hilarious. The bracketed and italicized words are the ones that cannot be heard over the din of the thunder.}

"What.. Uh.. Well, what do you think.. That is to say.."

He tensed up and blurted out, "Do you (like me?)"

BOOOOOOM

[Reira Ling]

"I-I can practice with you then." she manages to smile briefly at the fact that new Japanese. No wonder he responded when she had spoken it earlier. It was refreshing to know that there were others that spoke the language. It was a welcoming notion and it actually felt like he was a closer friend already!

Reira...didn't hear Lucien's question.

She glances up at him blinking after the boom, "Do I ....what?" she tilts her head to the side.

[Lucien DeChain]

{OOC: EVE I'M SORRY IT WAS ALL LUC'S FAULT. LET THE SUPER AWKWARD COMMENCE}

GAH, come on, get a hold of yourself, Lucien.

He was growing nervous now, having tried desperately twice already. He could only try one more time, and then there was no more opportunity...

"That'd be nice, Reira." He would reply to the notion of practicing Japanese with her. It was nice to find someone else he could speak with, it had been a long time since he had been at full immersion level.

He was shaking now, and a cold sweat had made its opening drops. This is it! He thought.

Lucien stayed silent, thinking that the thunder booming was going in a pattern, and that if he was only patient enough to wait until after the thunder boomed, he would have a chance to say it.

What resulted was about a minute and a half of awkward silence as Lucien sat, hugging Reira, shaking and sweating.

BOOM.

"I- I like you, Reira." He shakily said, finally, like exhaling after holding his breath. Which he had been for a while. He would sit in silence while waiting for her response.