Closed household catch-all

[levelshift]

WHO: Barnabas Tharmr (odinpusrex), Cidolfus Telamon (levindicated), Nuvia (utinam) and Accelerator (levelshift)
WHEN: During Mission 004.
WHERE: Moorecroft.
WHAT: Various household things!
NOTES\WARNINGS: Accelerator died and that'll come up in one or more threads.

[Starters for this disaster home in comments. At least the lawn is being taken care of??]

Comments

For Cid

[levelshift]

[This is one of those many times when Accelerator wishes he was back in Academy City. While he's never been to suburban America before, he's guessing he isn't going to find a whole lot in the way of resources to make upgrades to his crutch. Still, Asuka had a good point, he needs to come up with a way to text if his choker's connection gets shut off, so he's looking into this anyways.

His first stop is his assigned house's garage. It seemed pretty standard and it'd be easier to scrounge what he can from there instead of heading all the way out to a hardware store. He figures he'll already need to go to an electronics store afterwards, and he isn't looking forward to that. Work lazier smarter, not harder!

Noises can be heard coming from the garage one mid-afternoon, as Accelerator is making no attempts to hide what he's doing. Once he finds a toolbox he empties it out and starts searching the shelves, tossing random tools into it when he thinks he's found something useful.]

about 48 hours after the night of the curfew break

[levelshift]

[Sometimes you're a dumbass fifteen year old who makes dumbass fifteen year old mistakes, and you have to live with the consequences. Literally.

Accelerator wakes up in one piece, in bed, and for several minutes just stares up at the ceiling. His brain is fuzzy, like his choker is malfunctioning, though as time passes it clears up and lets him zero in on his most recent memories. They're of that night and they aren't great, honestly. He remembers that while he was distracting that endless wave of bots and trying to analyse that monster there was a beep from his choker.

After that, essentially all of his memories come from passive observations - the noisy wind as he dropped out of the air, the pain from being fired on by the bots - but it's all muddied by confusion and fear, and at the time, an inability to connect everything into coherent thoughts. It's frustrating and kind of scary, and he's annoyed at himself for feeling that way. He should be used to it by now. Cursing under his breath, he throws an arm over his eyes and proceeds to spend several minutes carefully sorting through his memories, arranging them into something understandable. Clearly, his choker hit its time limit and the support for his brain function was cut off. Then....

He died. He died, and now he isn't dead anymore.

God, it's a good thing Last Order isn't here. If she was, she'd have been throwing a fit the entire time he was out.

(He's so, so glad she isn't here. He couldn't put her through this. Same with Yomikawa and Yoshi --)

He freezes, prominent holes in his memory when he thinks of the two women.]

.........................................

[His breathing starts to speed up and Accelerator curses again, working to get himself under control before he suddenly sits up. All of this sucks and he needs a coffee, so once he's forced himself to calm down he grabs his crutch, throws a change of clothes on, and heads downstairs. Making a beeline for the kitchen he goes straight for the fridge to dig out a can of coffee.]

[utinam]

[Nuvia quietly follows Accelerator, her heart aching. Finding his body in front of their doorstep was hard. Finding him lifeless just like Lily broke her heart because there was nothing, she could do for him. Her own experiences with loss make her want to offer comfort, though she’s too shy to speak up directly.

As she sees him heading for the fridge, she hesitates for a moment, wiping a tear from her eyem, preparing for this upcoming conversation that will most likely be met with rejection (and for good reason, she's certain). Gathering her courage, she takes a deep breath and approaches him gently.]

Um, Accelerator... [Her voice trembling slightly.] I... I couldn’t help but notice you seemed upset. If you need someone to talk to or just a moment of comfort, I’m here. You don’t have to go through this alone.

[Nuvia takes a small, tentative step closer, her hands clasped in front of her.]

I—I hope this doesn't seem intrusive, but if you’d like, I can give you a hug. Sometimes... it helps...?

[She looks at him with a hopeful yet pained expression, wanting to provide some form of support but not knowing on the best way to do it. It was clear from her pained expression she was feeling lost on what to do. How can she be useful to him?]

[levelshift]

[He opens the can of coffee and takes a long sip, glancing over at Nuvia as she approaches. From the look on her face she probably had to deal with his corpse, or at least saw it, so that isn't great. Those stupid robots should've taken him back to Eos' hospital, that would've been a lot less trouble for everyone.

At her offer, his answer is coming bluntly:]

Absolutely not.

[She looks like she's about to burst into tears though, which he supposes is a more normal reaction for having to deal with a dead body being dumped on your doorstep than his response of acting irritated. He stares hard at her for several seconds, then reluctantly offers an explanation instead of just shutting her down.]

I don't like being touched. It isn't a big deal, I just miscalculated a few things.

[utinam]

[As Nuvia approaches, the weight of the recent events presses heavily on her heart. The sight of Accelerator’s lifeless body had shocked her to the core, a harsh reminder of past losses she had never fully come to terms with. She had been up, using her endless nights productively, studying for exams when the unthinkable visual confronted her. The pain of finding him like that, much like the losses of Kael and Lily, had left her whispering apologies to the still air, her heart aching for powers she did not possess.

His blunt refusal to her offer jolts her, but his discomfort with being touched anchors her back to the present. Her eyes brimming with tears, she nods in understanding, her voice barely a whisper.]

I’m sorry... I won’t touch you unless it’s absolutely necessary. I... I'm just so relieved to see you alive!

[She wipes away the tears, struggling to maintain composure.]

You’re important, you know! Who else is going to help me study or walk with me to school?

[levelshift]

[When you grow up being able to murder people with even the smallest touch, physical contact is something you very quickly learn to avoid. He knows it's far from normal, and he at least appreciates that she isn't pushing the subject. He doesn't want to argue, and she definitely isn't in the mindset for it.

Following that, Accelerator can't actually bring himself to try and physically comfort her. It would be the right thing to do, but the idea of it makes him want to crawl into a hole. Instead her leans against the counter, frowning.

.... Ah, well. It sounds like part of her issue is tied to the mission. Maybe he can provide a little help by explaining things.]

You know other people who can help with that shit. [He takes a sip of his coffee.] This entire family structure is fake. You're not under any obligation to play into these fucking deluded roles, and you shouldn't, because all of this is just temporary. It's just another mission, like that stupid labyrinth and those stuffed animals. I screwed up, that's all that happened. I'm not dead now, so there's no point in dwelling on it.

[utinam]

[Nuvia blinks back tears, taking a deep breath to steady herself as Accelerator's words sink in. She appreciates his straightforwardness, even though the reminder of the mission's artificial nature stings a bit.]

I know it's all temporary and just part of the mission, but, I only wanted you to walk with me to and from school. It felt like... we were actually getting to know each other...even a little bit.

[She looks up at him, her expression earnest and open.]

I like having you around. You treat me differently—you treat me like I'm normal, not like I'm fragile or a tool or a monster. That means a lot to me.

[Nuvia's eyes are sincere, conveying the depth of her gratitude for the normalcy he brings to her life, even within the confines of their fabricated roles.]

You might not think it's a big deal, but your kindness has been really important to me. [She smiles weakly.] And I know you're not comfortable with physical comfort, and that's okay. Just talking to me like this, trying to help, it already means more than you might realize.

[levelshift]

..........

[Accelerator is quiet, listening, and there's the growing temptation to just turn and walk out of the kitchen. She likes him, good god, and she's being way, way too kind to him. It's awful, he doesn't deserve this, and his expression tenses as he responds lowly.]

You don't know me at all if you think I'm kind.

[Not that she could know since it hasn't come up, but someone who has murdered as much as he has can't be kind. That's not something he'll ever accept.

He clicks his tongue, continuing.]

I'm not interested in talking about it for emotional health or whatever, but I want data on what happened after I died. [He moves to take a seat at the table. She's willing to talk, and it might help her out a bit to discuss what happened.] The robots left my body here, right?