[[ Heehee, I missed you too. ; -; I hate school. -- Aw, D; I hope it's not too painful. >x< My parents are throwing me into day-stuff too (like V-ball camps), so we can be in misery together?.. Unless your summer school is really awesome. Dx Then I got nuthin'. .w. ]]

Seth blinked once when Michael was on the ground with him. He was out of his dark cloud but somehow he was still chained to it. He shifted uncomfortably for a moment, seeing that his companion was still seriously injured. A moment of strange silence passed and Seth realized that he didn't mind being out and alone like he had once been. His entire internal clock was thrown out of balance as well as anything that had rooted anywhere. Seth had no solid memory to look back on besides the reality that spanned his lifetime of a few days. They all seemed to include Michael, which brought the somewhat ambitious twinkle back into Seth's eyes. That kept him going every day, every minute. "To Marcia's," he clarified after that short pause.

[[ 4hrs of listening to boring lectures... We can be in misery together -hugs- Plus I'm either sick or getting sick and forcing myself to get up and go T-T -sigh- ]]

Michael glanced at Seth for a moment as the silence passed over them. Without really thinking, and after Seth had clarified where they were going next, Michael gently pulled Seth to him and returned the kiss that Seth had given him on the day of his confession. It was late and sudden, but he felt he needed to return it.

[[ x=x if you're sick, even partially sick, then you shouldn't have to go >:c ]]

Seth wasn't necessarily paying attention to Michael's actions when he walked, so he didn't register what had happened at first. He knew he was definitely not walking forwards, and Seth realized a little late that he was suddenly extremely close to Michael. A crimson color appeared on his cheeks for a second as he was caught so off-guard. However, his eyes soon softened and Seth embraced Michael and his kiss just like he had previously. He felt so comfortable in Michael's grasp that he completely forgot that even a simple hug pulled too tight might topple them both over due to injuries that challenged their physical ability. Nevertheless, he was still with Michael so nothing else could possibly matter.

[[ yea well my parents are strict and i really need summer school or i'll never be an actual sophmore T-T the only exception is fever, vomiting, or doctor's order *sigh..* did go the doctor however a few days ago for constant dizziness and guess what? i have/ had Sinusitis, Hypokemia (low potassium), and my white cells are low along with high anxiety x0x ]]

When Seth embraced him and kissed him back, Michael was surprised that they didn't fall over onto the ground or something. Michael held the kiss a moment longer before slowly pulling away and smiling that million dollar smile of his with his forehead against Seth's. "I love you, Seth. Nothing will ever change that... I promise." He murmured quietly in a soft voice, his deep midnight blue having that special gleam in them.

[[ Dx;; Jeeze, Nova! Are you going to be alright with those diagnoses..? .x. ]]

Seth kept a light hold with his arms still around Michael as he listened. His storm-colored eyes were captivated by Michael's midnight ones. He felt like he was in the eye of a storm. The sick temptations and twisted thoughts that plagued him day and night ever since he was injured seemed to melt away a little more with each moment Seth spent with Michael. It caused a warm glow to stir up inside of him, but it was tainted with fear. The fear of losing Michael was a lot more to take in than Seth was ready to even think about, so all he could sense through the veil of repression was an ill edge to the glow. 'But he's so different..' Seth thought. Then, a small smile formed across his lips. Despite his confusion, Seth still held an unusually strong trust between Michael and himself. "Michael," he said aloud for the pure sake of saying the name. "I love you, too. I won't let anything change that."

[[ I had to re-write this twice because my server timed out before I posted. ;~: ]]

[[ Haha, yeah I'll be fine ^-^ I'm not dead yet so it's all good (bad choice of words I realize but it's the truth 'cause of what I've been through growing up *shrug*) try not to worry too much dearie ~<3 -hug- ]]

Michael's smile stayed in place as he looked at Seth and listened to him. It hit him hard that Susie's ambush, causing Ariel to cry, getting the Tree House back and returning Seth's feelings had all happened in one day. He looked down at the exposed bandages Sophie and her friend had wrapped his stomach with, where he had a whole pretty much- not quite but close enough, and sighed inward. "I'll be right back." Michael said quietly before heading back up into the tree house. He came back to Seth's side only a few minutes later with a buttoned up T-shirt that really suit him and his figure. It bothered him to have to reminded of having plasma go through his stomach- again not quite literally but close enough, and the look Seth had every time he saw it.

[[ aw... that stinks .x. -- neh, on the downside that Michael does die... he will so totally be brought back to life by chief what's-his-face and the spirit stone thingy ^0^ (I had a hunch so yeah... >.<) ]]

[[ Pshno, Nova! Don't say that so harshly about yourself. I'm going to do what you asked, I'm not going to worry (Buddhists say that worrying has no purpose anyway), but I'm going to care a lot for you and I'm going to freaking try and help when I can. I'm not going to sit around pretending nothing ever happened like "ohey you're fine now because medical complications poof overnight <3" because horrific things could happen if I did that! I'm not 10 years old and I'm certainly not naive anymore. ]]

Seth's gaze followed Michael's for a moment when he, too, took another notice of the bandages. His heart skipped a beat about the same time that the scarring memory flashed across his mind. Seth looked down to his own side to shake the thought away as his love headed into the tree house. There was still a dark stain in his jacket but the pain was more like a cooling cinder rather than a full-blown piece of magma in his shirt. The burning existed everywhere else. It was dizzying for Seth at times, too, like a full-body migraine. Somehow the pain dimmed and sometimes vanished when Seth was near Michael, depending on how close. Seth blushed curiously with that thought and leaned against the trunk of the tree house, not waiting very long for Michael's return. He shifted a bit and lightly pushed himself away from the tree. "You look nice," he commented with a small grin.

[[ Nyuu, Michael can't die~~ D; Seth pledged and sealed his life over, he'll break something(s or some people) and shrivel away to the Onyx. QQ; -- I swear, if I could draw I would so doodle that picture of Seth freaking out over Michael. xD ]]

[[ i know, i know. that's not what i was saying... *sighs and tightly hugs* you too good a friend for me to say something like that :) ]]

Michael grinned lightly and looked down at his shirt then back at Seth. "Thanks." He held a hand out to Seth. "Now we can go tell Ariel about the tree house." Michael said with a light chuckle.

[[ eh, iz short >.< -- O.o oh noes.. that not good x.x i will try my very best to avoid the death of Michael, promise! -- xD ]]

Seth took Michael's offer without hesitation- he couldn't deny that he liked being close, or rather how he appreciated Michael in such a way that was difficult for him to describe. Seth's memories wandered a bit as he attempted to make a comparison between the emotion he felt for Michael, but there were none. His expression was dulled when reality caught up to him and Seth realized that he had walked off on a hostile note with almost everyone he knew that day. "Yeah," he agreed, unsure of whether or not it was a plus.

Michael held Seth's hand and off they went to Marcia's house. With less than 1/5 ways to go to reach Marcia's place, Michael paused a moment, seeing how Ariel was already waiting for them in front of the door. When she saw them, she smiled sweetly and waved. Michael smirked and starting walking again.

[[ Kyahh, it hurts to type.. ;~: I tried playing guitar for too long and between calluses and hangnails my hands are shot. ]]

Seth stayed pretty close to Michael the entire time, though he made sure not to completely ruin the whole personal-space rule. As his eyes fixed on Ariel, he maintained a pleasantly blank expression. He didn't smile nor did he scowl- Seth simply watched. 'Michael seems to be alright with her, so maybe..' He was distracted soon after by the sudden force of the spirit rock as Michael and himself crossed the invisible border that it protected. It happened so quickly that Seth flinched ever so slightly due to the stress. 'Such a strange version of safety,' he thought through the opaque awareness that he clung to. Seth wanted to get rid of the spirit rock for putting such a powerful gravity-like effect on his consciousness, but he knew it was better than letting the pure die.

[[ ooh, ow. Sorry love- but if it hurts to type then don't. ^-^ ]]

Ariel couldn't help but hug Michael, which naturally caused him to wince and Ariel released with a bow. "Sorry!" Michael just put a light hand on her head and smirked. "C'mon, we've got something to show you.." He said with a lightly grin. Ariel blinked and looked at the two with curiosity. "Really?"

Seth grinned when Ariel hugged Michael, since he knew he would have ended up doing the same thing. He looked off for a moment and then back to her. "Yeah," he said, maintaining a smirk. "You need to see it." Despite the scenario Seth was in, he never crossed the thought of Susie ever stepping foot into his life. He had already begun to repress that memory with the rest of his unfortunate ones.

Ariel blue eyes sparkled with excitement when Seth agreed with Michael, but wasn't all hyper-mode like most girls would've been at a time like this. "Let's go then~" She chimed with a faint smile. Michael laughed lightly and picked her up to place her on his shoulders, she was surprisingly light-weight. Ariel giggled but held her dress down. He glanced at Seth with that special smile of his, he'd offer a hand if he wasn't keeping a hold on Ariel's legs so she wouldn't fall off his shoulders. "Ready to go back?"

Seth blinked once before nodding in answer to Michael's question. He took a breath similar in type to the one a person takes when they first wake up- a bit of freshness to clear out the old air. "Yeah," he replied simply. On the inside, however, he was truly proud of himself for correcting such a terrible event that had previously gone wrong.

Michael smiled and started in the direction of the tree house. Ariel flickered her curious blue eyes around. 'Are we... Going back to the tree house...?' She thought to herself with soft eyes.

Seth followed quietly behind Michael and Ariel, mindlessly paying attention to the scenery. A wave of relief struck him after some time, like being released from a tackle hold, and it took Seth a moment to realize that he was outside of the spirit stone boundaries. He turned around a little to see if the barrier was visible but it was still completely unseen. So, he shrugged and kept walking.

Upon reaching the tree house Michael set Ariel on the ground and gave her a light push. "Go on, have a look around." He smirked lightly. Ariel couldn't believe her eyes she was so amazed, and a little taken back. She looked up at Michael when he gave her a little push before climbing up the stairs and going to have a look around inside. Michael sat on the grass and would until she came back down. He needed to rest, just for a little bit.

Seth could only smile when he saw how excited Ariel looked to see the tree house back to normal. The happiness drained away slowly, though, when Seth noticed Michael retreating to a sitting position. It reminded him of when he had to walk around with an injury close to the size of Michael's. So, he sat down next to his companion. "Michael.." he started to say, looking him in the eyes. "We can stay at the tree house and you can rest if you want."

Michael glanced at Seth with a soft expression and shakes his head lightly. "I'll be alright." He smiled tenderly. Plus, with little Susie out and about he wasn't too comfortable with staying out in the open for too long.

[[ Yume-chan I love your avi! <3 ^-^ ]]

[[ thank you c: ]]

Seth's eyes showed concern, but he didn't know what to say. That ended up with him simply clasping his hands in his lap and just being next to Michael. Seth didn't want to run him around the entire day if he needed rest, but somehow he couldn't bring himself to break the mood and make Michael lie down somewhere safer than out in the open.

[[ how've you been? ]]

Michael watched the clouds until he heard Ariel coming back down. He laughed lightly at her happy attitude then smiled. Ariel paused when she heard something and looked around, her face got all serious she hurried to Michael and Seth. "We have to go, now." She insisted as she helped the two up, one hand each in an ask-questions-later kind of tone.

[[ i'm okay, a little frustrated since it's already July and i haven't gotten anywhere with anything. what about you? ]]

Seth looked back up when he saw Ariel. He hadn't heard quite the sound she had- Seth could only make out small ambient noises within the trees- but he wasn't ready to question her. The only thing that concerned him was where he'd be going and why.

[[ rofl'd at the edit <3 -- kyahh, 1.5-liner x_x ]]

[[ ah, makes since actually. I'm.. ah... okay? .c. JUst just say I'm stressed out more than an 18 year old girl should have to be x.x -- it's okay ^-^ ]]

Ariel lead the boys closer to Krystal who was away from the village and closer to the lake. Krystal lifted her head and tilted her head curiously before gently nuzzling the boys and nodding her head lightly at Ariel. She felt it too. Why the boys couldn't feel what they felt, made no since. She nudged Ariel forward a little in a way of telling her to go to the village and stay put, she'd look after the boys. Nothing would hurt either of them. Ariel nodded lightly and hurried to Marcia's. Michael looked at Krystal with worried eyes. "What's the matter girl?" He asked quietly. Krystal growled deeply, a growl that only one person could cause, and it started with a "S". Michael glanced at Seth with uneasy midnight blue eyes.

[[ .-. what's making you so stressed? ]]

Seth was as confused as he was living. 'Why is she taking us to the lake...?' he wondered on the way. His gray eyes were so lost that he could have pulled off being blind. "Where is she-" he started to ask before he heard Krystal growl. The sound sent a chill down Seth's spine that cut his sentence off forever. As he glanced over at Michael, Seth figured that both of their faces looked the same way. Quickly, Seth reached out for Michael's hand on instinct. It wasn't so much that he was afraid anymore- something of pure determination had clicked inside Seth's mind that sent his fear on a long hike away from home. So, he figured that if he could act on his toes and keep Michael near him, he would be able to save the one person he cared about. That was all that mattered. 'Dammit, Ariel!' he thought angrily. 'Why did you have to disappear at a time like this?'