Never had Ziva really been an early bird. She was a gamer, and that package included staying up until three in the morning playing World of Warcraft, crashing for three hours, and then dragging herself out of bed to go to school that day when her endless alarms would finally sound and break through her sleep-deprived wall.
It was half past noon when she woke up, feeling warm all over and perhaps the most comfortable she'd been in a long while. She didn't want to open her eyes, but then a hammer slammed into her forehead and she gave a small groan, shifting a little. It was when her hand brushed against slightly curly hair that she stopped, what little sense she still retained hitting her like a ton of bricks. Her eyes opened slowly, and when she saw Diego's bare chest before her, and then became aware of the fact that the two of them were, quite literally, wrapped around each other in their purest form, well... She knew that a huge mistake had been made.
Muttering a single expletive, over and over, Ziva slowly untangled herself from Diego and stumbled out of the bed. Her head was pounding, and she felt like she was going to vomit. Judging by the dried, reeking pile beside the bed, she had done so at least once throughout the night. She stood on wobbly legs and looked down at Diego. "What did I do...?"
Feeling overcome suddenly by adrenaline and the fact that she had most definitely screwed up last night - the memories were blurry, but she had a general recollection - she slipped into her clothes, combed through her hair very quickly in a bathroom after relieving herself, grabbed her phone, and dashed out of the house. With trembling fingers, she called a taxi, and within ten minutes, she was safely tucked away in the back seat.
The sunlight made her head hurt even more, and she kept the palms of her hands flat on her eyes to try to block it out. "Sinagoga La Javura," she told the taxi driver. She had a lot she had to repent for today... How had she screwed up so badly?
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
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Posted: 1/6/2019 at 11:43 PM
Post #282
Because of football practices and such, Diego wasn't a stranger to waking up early. He was, however, a heavy sleeper. He usually had to make sure that his alarm was set to maximum volume and was the most obnoxious alarm ring possible. It was no surprise then that without his phone alarm to wake him, he had crashed hard with Ziva in the bed and not woken up when the sun began to rise or when she had gotten up and exited the room. He just kept on sleeping.
Strangely, it wasn't long before the emptiness in the bed beside him caused Diego to stir and slowly open his eyes. His head ached dully, especially with the light trickling in through the curtains, but this was not his first hangover. He rolled over wearily with a groan and realized quite suddenly that...well, that his clothes were missing. His eyes shot open as he searched the floor frantically and got himself dressed. As he pulled on his pants he struggled to make sense of the blurry memories of last night.
"I'm going to strangle Nico," he muttered darkly as he fought through the pain of his headache, "I shouldn't have drank that punch..." He felt like there were huge chunks of the night before missing from his memory, something important particularly, but he couldn't recall.
Outside the room, in the main part of the house, it looked like a disaster area. People were laying everywhere, some still passed out and others in various stages of nauseous. He shook his head dismissively and was about to head for the front door to find his car keys when something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. His heart seemed to stop and he turned his head to make sure he was seeing things correctly. Sure enough, he realized as he walked over and bent to pick up the object in question, they were unmistakably Ziva's glasses. Sweet Lord above that meant...
"Hey, ladies man," came a mocking voice behind him, "Was wondering if you'd ever wake up?" Diego turned to see Felipe walking up to him, looking not as bad as the rest of them (he probably knew what his brother had done).
"Felipe," he said to his friend urgently, "Was Ziva here with me last night?" He prayed that she had gotten a cab last night after he'd passed out, since he knew she wouldn't have taken the car. He was surprised when Felipe laughed.
"Uh, yeah," the other guy said to him, "I'm surprised you didn't notice her leaving the way you two were last night." It felt like Diego's blood veins had suddenly filled with ice water. The look on his face must have been enough for Felipe to pull out his phone and show him a video that made him suddenly feel as nauseous as those around him.
Feeling panicked, and confused, and...well lots of other things, Diego bolted for the front door. He paused only long enough to fish his keys back out of the bowl that had been collected last night. He hurried outside, the pain the sunlight caused him hardly even noticeable as he shoved himself into the driver's seat of his car. He stuck the keys in the ignition and then, after taking a second to think about it, he pulled out his phone and dialed with slightly shaking fingers.
"Z," he said when it went straight to voicemail, "Z, are you okay? I...look, we need to talk. If you're not at home thats where I'll be." He hung up and then drove quickly back to their apartment.
Creativity
Level 72
Cutely Creative
Joined: 3/4/2013
Threads: 255
Posts: 5,902
Posted: 1/7/2019 at 9:27 AM
Post #283
Throughout her whole life, Brain had never actually imagined she'd end up in a relationship, with someone she loved who loved her. Truth be told, very few people had actually ever loved her, and none in a romantic aspect. That made Tox all the more special, she thought. He had seen her, taken in all of her flaws, her stutter and lack of self-esteem, her dependence issues, and he called it beautiful. He called her beautiful. It was so strange, and new, and she found herself falling ever more in love with him, even if she didn't fully believe his compliments yet.
She gave a little laugh at his speaking around his food and shook her head a little in adorement, her own face growing slightly redder. "I'd be fine if she took the job completely, but I really haven't seen much of her recently, and I worry that if she were alone on the job, it would consume her fully. Perhaps we could share it, though," she shrugged.
It was intoxicating, looking at Tox's smile (haha), and the entire trip to the infirmary, she didn't stop glancing subtly up at him. Her arm was linked comfortably in his, and she figured that it really couldn't get any better than this.
Upon reaching the infirmary, Tox had immediately launched into what he had been wanting to say, but... Well, Brain noticed something a little more subtle in the air. A sort of tension, she supposed. She glanced between Reach and Wire curiously, not quite saying anything yet. At least, until Reach made the comment about her and Tox coming to their senses.
"Yes, well..." Brain began cautiously, not quite sure whether she wanted to address the tension that went right over Tox's head or not. "Not everything quite makes total sense everywhere yet..." It was more of a musing as she considered the two girls and sat in the proffered chair. They were hardly even looking at each other, standing on opposite ends of the room, and both of their postures were very detached.
-
Perhaps it was the lighting, or her recent emotional state, or perhaps just a manifestation of her loneliness, but for a moment there, Wire thought she had actually seen a flicker of something genuine in Reach's eyes. And the way Reach had said her name... It had almost sounded caring, like it had been once. But then there was an intrusion upon the silent wore that was woven in between the gray area of words and the tone of a clipped voice, and Wire told herself that she simply could not have seen anything.
A venomous snake shows no mercy.
She was being dramatic, maybe. But manipulation was not something that Wire appreciated, and for all her worth, she worked so hard on not manipulating others. With her Ability, it could be so easy. But she told herself, promised herself, that her Ability would not be used as a weapon, but merely as a defense, when it was truly needed and she had no other way.
She glanced at Brain and Tox, and offered them a small nod in greeting. She was glad for the distraction, actually, and focused on Tox rather than Reach. "I would be glad to take you around and show you what I have done," she told him in a normal voice now, crossing over to the table and taking the now-completed chore list without so much of a glance at Reach.
"In fact, here is the chore list, if you want to look over it and give me your advice on it. I do not quite know fully who works well with who, and who should be kept apart," she handed the paper to him.
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
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Posted: 1/8/2019 at 9:53 PM
Post #284
The tension in the room was not lost on Tox. However, he was not particularly concerned about it. He found it hard to be concerned about much the last couple of days. He leaned back in his chair, reaching up to place his hands lazily on the back of his head. It was hard for him to remember a time he had ever felt so at peace, but the reality was they were all still stuck here in this compound. There was work that needed to be done, and he knew it was time he resume his mantle of leadership.
But, Tox hoped he wouldn't have to do it alone...
"Not bad," he said appreciatively upon reading the chores list Wire handed him, "Just one alteration if I may." He grabbed up a pencil from the desk, and with absolutely not emotion on his face took Holo's name and swapped it with one of the names on bathroom duty.
There was a part of Tox that would love to believe himself to not be a petty person. Unfortunately, in this instance there was simply no helping himself. He had made both himself and Brain a promise that he would not continue to go looking for reasons to get violent with Holo, but that didn't mean he couldn't find other ways to let the other guy know Tox had not forgotten what he'd done. He handed the chores list back to Wire with a casual smile, not daring to even glance in Brain's direction for the moment.
"I think there were some supplies due to come in tomorrow," Tox said to Wire, scratching himself absently under his chin, "Which means that we need an up to date inventory list of whats currently in storage. Why don't we both go do that and you can tell me about how things have gone these last few weeks." Now he did glance over at Brain, his eyebrows raised in question at her. Did she want to come along? Did she want to stay here? It made him feel warm inside to think that she would be able to understand his gesture without him needing to speak to her.
Creativity
Level 72
Cutely Creative
Joined: 3/4/2013
Threads: 255
Posts: 5,902
Posted: 1/8/2019 at 10:08 PM
Post #285
Now, Brain would never call herself an expert on anything related to romance, or really, feelings. Perhaps, memories. She knew a lot about that. How the past can haunt a person was something she had spent endless sleepless nights considering while within a dirty prison cell, but she had never paid much attention to actual emotions, only the mental states and pain. After all, back then, she was still trying to convince herself that she didn't actually have feelings. That made it easier.
But now, now she was more open to her emotions, at least a little. Still, she was no expert, but she was fairly certain that even the worst layman of emotions would feel all that crowded the infirmary room now.
She caught Tox's look, and tilted her head slightly toward Reach, to let him know she was going to be staying. Hopefully, he'd figure it was just for infirmary reasons, and not see through the conversation she was about to corner her kinda-friend with. Once he was gone, she turned to Reach curiously, leaning forward on the table between them.
"So, spill it. Something's not r-right with you and Wire. I've learned a lot over these past few d-days, Reach," she grinned playfully, though there was a seriousness within her own gaze. She prayed her no-nonsense message got through to the English girl, because quite honestly, Brain had never been super savvy with words, and if Reach fought back and didn't cave soon... Well, she was fairly certain she wouldn't be able to force the girl to tell her anything she didn't want to say.
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,041
Posted: 1/8/2019 at 11:19 PM
Post #286
Watching Wire walk out of the infirmary with Tox was both a relief and something akin to watching a surgeon amputate your leg; there are no feelings because you've been numbed, but its still upsetting to see. Not for the first time, Reach felt her fingers twitch to reach out to Wire, but the other woman's back was already resolutely to her and so she sighed and clenched her fingers into a gentle fist. She felt likt things had officially slipped out of her control, and she wondered how things had taken such a wrong turn.
The fact that Brain had lingered here in the infirmary with her did not escape Reach's notice. It was likely that the redhead wished to talk to her about the goings-on of the infirmary just as Tox had wished to talk to Wire about the rest of the compound, but there was a chance that Brain had picked up on the tension in the room upon entering. Whatever had transpired between Brain and Tox had changed her other friend's demeanor in a major way and it was nice to see her happy. She wasn't entirely sure she was ready to talk about...
Of course, that was exactly what Brain wanted to bring up.
With a sigh so heavy it was though the weight of the entire world was behind it, Reach crossed her arms loosely across her chest and pushed back slightly from the desk. She stared at the ceiling as she gathered her thoughts, momentarily entertaining the thought of simply lying to Brain. However, she knew the redhead would likely see straight through that charade, and besides she did not consider herself to be a dishonest person (though she knew that at the moment Wire would disagree with that assessment).
"Its complicated," she said finally, pinching the bridge of her nose beneath her spectacles, knowing that was not an adequate answer and struggled to find better words, "I...well, I used my ability on Wire while she as ill, and...and instead of her past I saw a part of her future." She paused, feeling awkward and restless but knowing she now had to finish what she'd started. "What I saw included myself, and in an effort not to tamper with the future I think I might have erased that possible timeline altogether." She hadn't realized how heavy with emotion her voice had become, and was embarrassed to realize her eyes were once again brimming with tears.
Creativity
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Threads: 255
Posts: 5,902
Posted: 1/8/2019 at 11:38 PM
Post #287
Well, it was true that Brain didn't really know Reach's Ability, like, at all. The max of what she knew about the girl was that she wore gloves as to avoid touching people for whatever reason, refused to accept her new name at first, and knew German. Really, besides that, Reach was a bit of a mystery. Hell, Brain didn't know all of the Abilities in the compound, but any that she did know, well, she didn't forget them.
"See the future, huh?" Brain nodded, scratching the back of her head as she contemplated what Reach had said. It was utterly absurd, almost hysterically so, and it took true effort not to laugh, since this seemed to be a genuine problem for Reach, and laughter would likely not dissuade any tension or anxieties.
But seriously, did Reach never watch any films or whatever, or read any books, where the main person or group tried to change the future? Because Brain most certainly had, and the fun thing about having such an extensive memory is being able to remember each and every detail of each one, and draw comparisons in her spare time, just for the sake of fun.
With only a moment's worth of hesitation, Brain reached out and rested a hand on one of Reach's, making sure she touched no skin and only the glove on the hand. "Look. I get you're st-stressed; running this place is no easy task, and you've done well. There's been no d-deaths, after all," she smiled at her twisted little half-joke. "But did you consider that perhaps, making disruptions to your normal lifestyle and interactions was not the b-best decision to achieve a future that was, at that instant, guaranteed?"
She quirked an eyebrow up in inquiry, but kept any hostility or harshness out of her voice, merely offering an encouraging grin and trying to impart whatever wisdom she could think to possibly be able to impart. "Now, I've only been in touch with emotions for a few weeks now, but I think I've learned a lot. One thing being, well, they have a tendency to get in the way of reason."
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,041
Posted: 1/8/2019 at 11:59 PM
Post #288
Resting one hand back upon the desk while the other massaged her temple, Reach felt slightly like a child being chastised by a parent. She knew that Brain was not fully aware of her ability and what she could do, but even so, everything the other woman was saying to her was true. It was a hard pill to swallow, but she sat there and took her medicine like a good little girl. There was still some tension nestled within her chest, but there was still some measure of relief that came with confessing these things to someone else.
The moment that Brain actually placed her hand atop Reach's gloved one, Reach realized just how much change the redhead had undergone. It made her smile ever so faintly, made the pressure in her chest lessen just a smidge. She did sigh again as she listened to everything Brain was saying, mostly because she suddenly felt like quite the fool. She'd had her reasons for reacting to the vision the way that she had, and she couldn't fault herself for them, but having Brain lay it out for her like that made it very clear she'd made the wrong decisions.
"I appreciate your approval," she said to the redhead, brushing at her eyes with her free hand, "I know I've been foolish, but I just wasn't sure what to do. I...I've tried to actively change things in my visions before. I thought it if I did my best not to take action that I would avoid the same disaster." She could feel her body begin to tremble slightly, but it was not necessarily an unpleasant feeling. She realized that it felt more like she was cleansing herself.
It was the truth, about the last time Reach had seen the future. Her boyfriend Ronald had had a bad episode of PTSD, and she had seen that it would happen and that he would hurt others. She tried to prevent it all from happening, tried to get him help before the event occurred, but in the end not only had he taken the lives of innocent people, he had ended it by taking his own. That guilt was still with her, still caused her anxiety when she thought about it.
"I don't think it matters much at this point," she said sadly, "Wire believes me to be uncaring, that I don't care about her, and I don't think I can change her mind."
Creativity
Level 72
Cutely Creative
Joined: 3/4/2013
Threads: 255
Posts: 5,902
Posted: 1/9/2019 at 12:10 AM
Post #289
(Timeskip 1 day)
At some point, early in the morning of the next day, Ziva had taken a taxi home from the synagogue. That's where she'd been since leaving Felipe's house. She needed to repent for her sins, to make up for the injury she had caused to her God. To rebuild her faith. So, for the day and night, she fasted and remained awake in silent prayer, to the point of which her back began to ache from bending over, and she'd frequently need to sit down on a bench and pray there rather than the altar.
She'd only left when she remembered she had work in a few hours, and that was when she returned home to the apartment. Of course, Diego was asleep, and she was grateful. She wasn't ready to face him yet. But she showered, charged her phone, left a note on the mirror in her usual style to tell him that she had visited and she wasn't angry, and left in her car for work. She had heard Diego's voicemail, but the heartbreaking tone of utter regret and worry he had... Well, she couldn't quite deal with it. When she had shown up early for her shift, her boss merely shrugged it off at first. He eyed her a few times throughout her shift, though is wasn't predatory - rather, more concerned, but she brushed him off every time he'd say something about her going home early.
At four o'clock in the afternoon was when her shift ended, and by five-thirty, she was standing outside the door to the apartment, trying to build up the courage to go in. "C'mon, you little idiot..." she muttered to herself and took a deep breath. She couldn't not go inside...
So, she unlocked the door and carefully maneuvered the bags she carried inside, shutting the door with her foot.
"I've brought dinner," she called, struggling to keep her voice at its normal tone. She flung the bags of takeout onto the table and unloaded the rest of the groceries she carried. "I also swung by the tortilleria, since I figured you likely forgot again."
When Diego came into view, she avoided looking at him. She couldn't bring herself to, not yet... But her tone remained jovial as she sorted out the small amount of groceries she had brought home and began distributing them throughout the kitchen, acting as if nothing had changed. Why should it?
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,041
Posted: 1/9/2019 at 9:42 PM
Post #290
The last day and a half had been the absolute worst that Diego could ever remember experiencing. There had been no sign of Ziva when he had gotten home yesterday, which would have been concerning if he didn't know her so well. Whenever she was faced with situations that overwhelmed her she was always either at home on her computer, or at the synagogue. It hadn't helped him to feel better when he realized it was the latter option.
Sitting on the beaten up, old couch in the living room, Diego kept fiddling with game controon his hands. The television in front of him wasn't even on, but he just kept staring at it anyway. He had thought maybe playing some video games would be a good way to distract himself from worrying while he waited for Ziva to get home from work. It hadn't even worked long enough for him to turn anything on, then he found himself unable to think about anything but Ziva and what had happened last night.
As soon as Ziva's voice reached his ears, Diego felt as though he'd just received a massive electrical shock to his whole body. He must have leapt at least a foot off the couch, his grey eyes darting sharply in the direction of the kitchen. Everything he had been trying to rehearse in his head for when he finally saw her suddenly seemed to disappear completely from his brain when he finally saw her. She was doing a pretty good job trying to hide it, but he knew her too well not to see that she was upset. It was obvious in the way she avoided looking at him and the slightly too forced sounding tone to her cheery voice.
What could Diego possibly say to her that could make everything that had happened alright?
"Z," he began quietly and cautiously, walking into the kitchen and leaning against the wall, "Z, we really need to talk about last night. You know we do." He had never been the type of person who held back, especially not when it came to Ziva, but deep down he felt nervous and mixed up.
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