Luna looked over at Kai, frowning once she realized her mistake, she quickly got up and limped over to him, helpping him up as she limpped back over to a chair and helpped him to sit in it. "Thank you for making tea, Kai. You just sit here and rest. I will take care of everything else." she said to him once she was sure that he wasn't going to get out of the chair, she limpped back into the kitchen and brought the tea back into the living room, setting them down on the table before she placed one in Vanc's hand, making sure he had it and was alright before he did the same with Kai's cup. "I am fine, Kai. Nothing some sleep can't heal." she said to him as she limpped into the kitchen, dealing a pizza place and ordering some food since she thought it was best for them to eat.

"I'm fine too," Kai said, shaking his head as she led him to the chair. He sat down at her request, and took a sip from the cup that Luna brought over. "Thanks again," he said with a blush, and shrugged a bit. He hated not being able to do anything - it wasn't becoming, and he didn't like being babied.
He listened to Luna order food, and smiled a bit - none of them were lacking in the funds area, so it wouldn't be hard to pay. "Feel like watching something?" he asked in the moments of silence, looking toward the large television set that sat not far from them. "I'm sure we could get anything we wanted."
-

Vance frowned, glancing over his arm when he felt Luna's hand on him. Sitting up, he took the tea from her wordlessly, staring at it for a few moments before giving her a half smile. That was the only thanks she was going to get from him, sadly.

Luna sat down and took a sip of her tea as she waitted for the food to be delievered, she watched both the men carefully before she almost dropped her tea cup when she remembered soemthing. "A movie sounds wonderful." she said as she looked down into her tea sadly, thinking about all the pictures she had drawn and lost, she blinked a few minutes when she cheered her self up by remembering that they were all a lie, een if they weren't all comepltely there. "Vance. You should get some rest....after all you been through a lot today." she said as she smiled at him, drinking soem more of her tea before she got everything ready for them to watch a movie.

Vance stared at the tea for a bit longer before registering what Luna had said. The Pyrate set the cup down, unable to drink any of it, and leaned back against the couch. With his broken arm still in a sling, cradled close to his chest, he let out a small sigh. Needless to say, he was asleep a few minutes later, leaning against the side of the couch.
-

From where he was sitting, Kai guided Luna about to finding the controller (which was in the third place he said it was), the movie itself (which had to be chosen anyway), and then let her sit down. "You don't need to do everything, Luna. You need rest too, love."
Kai felt badly to see her doing things for both Vance and himself, but there wasn't much he could do about it while he was still weak - while he was human. Frowning, he cast a glance toward the room where he knew his avatar was. He wasn't supposed to match up again, but . . . it couldn't be that dangerous, right? After all, he'd done it hundreds of times before, if not more. . . .
Shaking the thought away, Kai smiled a bit. "Avatar sound good? Or maybe you had another movie in mind?"

Luna smiled as she saw that Vance was a sleep, she limped over to him and placed a blanket over him before she made sure he was laying down on the couch, she then put Avatar in and took the remotes back over to where Kai was sitting and handed them to him before she sat down, only to get up to get the pizza and pay for it when the guy knocked on the door. She then set it on the coffee table as she limpped into the kitchen to get napkins and plates before she finally sat down to watch the movie. "Avatar sounds perfect...besides i don't mindd takeing care of everything. It helps me to keep my mind off of things." she said to Kai, blushing when he called her love, she found it rather nice but slightly embarassing.

"Just don't hurt yourself, okay?" The youth smiled, and then moved to help do what he could - which was basically just getting his own pizza. They ate together, quiet as the movie continued on in the background. Kai suggested that they not turn it up too loudly so that Vance could sleep.
-

Just a moment!"
Veronica combed her hair out with her fingers once again, twirling about. "Don't I look amazing?"
Vance muttered his agreement as he cleaned his gun. It was their first day in their avatars, and it was going well. While the Pyrate had chosen the life of war, Veronica was going to be a nurse. One healed, the other destroyed. Vance started when Veronica's hand came down on the table he was working on, knocking a few things over. When he met her gaze, brown eyes that matched his own, they both smiled.
Dropping the weapon he was cleaning, Vance launched himself at the girl, initiating one of many fights. It was always like that. Fighting, but it was a caring battle. Now that they had their surrogates, the Pyrate always won.
"Dinner time!"
The call from downstairs interrupted their battle, and Veronica ran from the room after dropping her pillow behind her. "Beat you there!"

Shifting slightly in his sleep, Vance frowned. Veronica was on his mind both awake and sleeping.

Luna smiled at Kai before she kissed him on the cheek, the movie was over and it was early in the morning, she needed some rest and as did Kai. She turnned everything off and cleaned thier mess up before she walked over to the man and helpped him out of the chair, she was still limping. "Time for bed." she whispered to him so as not to wake Vance up, she helpped him to his room, limping as she did so, helping him to lay down in the bed as she pulled the covers over him, smiling as she turnned the light out. "Good night Kai." she said to him before she closed his door, leaveing it open a crack so she could hear if he was in trouble while she was sleeping. She then walked back into the living room and checked on VAnce, kissing his cheek lightly as she brushed some of his hair out of his face. "Good night, Vance....i hope everything is well with you." she whispered to him as she limped about and turnned off all the lights, leaveing the bathroom light on as she went in her room, leaving the door open as she crawled into her bed and turnned the light off, quickly falling asleep.

((For me not giving you much to work with, that was really good! :lol:))

Kai seemed to dread having Luna help him do everything, but smiled when she eventually got him into his room. "Thank you," he said once again, and blew her a kiss as she stepped out of the room. She really was a good person - the poor thing went through torture with her own pain just to make sure the her friends were doing alright.
He listened as she moved about turning lights off, and then finally went into her own room. With a smile, Shusuke let himself drift into unconsciousness. I wish I could be the one taking care of you.
-

Vance frowned slightly when Luna messed with his hair. The Pyrate took a deep breath when she kissed his cheek, stirring lightly. She was gone before his dream woke him.

"Remember, you promised you wouldn't do anything stupid. No hero stuff that'll get you killed, alright?"
Vance smiled at her, yanking the woman into a bear hug. "As agreed. No dying."
"I don't want to be treating you as my first patient! You'll end up ugly with scars from my terrible stitching or something." Veronica stepped back and messed with her hair, trying to get it to fall right again. When she'd succeeded, Vance could see the tears in her eyes. She was going to miss him just as much as he was going to miss her.
Pulling her into another hug, the Pyrate frowned. "Love you," he whispered, and she nodded and sniffled in response. The sound of the vehicle pulling to a stop made Vance pull away, and he headed toward it with a bag slung over his shoulder. It was all he would need.
As the truck pulled away, Vance looked back one last time. Veronica's tears, accompanied by her small wave, made his throat tighten. "See you soon!"

In the original memory, he moved to base, and got there just in time for a mission briefing. But in the dream . . . something dark entered the arena, twisting everything.

As they went over a bump in the road, Vance looked back. Veronica's back arched, and she was flung forward. "Wait!" Vance shouted for the vehicle to stop - it was moving too fast for him to just jump. "Please, turn around!"
Blood seeped through his sister's chest as she sank to her knees, reaching out to him. Her mouth formed his name, and she fell forward, letting out her last breath as he left her behind.

Vance shot up, his breath coming quickly. Heart racing, coated in a sheen of sweat, the Pyrate glanced about in confusion before realizing he was in Kai's home. Raking his good hand through his hair, the male tried to quiet his breathing - he felt too loud in the silence.
Squeezing his eyes shut, Vance took deep breaths. She never got shot. She hadn't died . . . not like that. Laying back against the couch again, he fingered the edge of the blanket that had gotten flung over him at some point that evening. It would be a while before he felt tempted to try and sleep again - his night terror wouldn't let him drift off so easily.

((Talk about an uber post. xD DIdn't mean for it to be this long . . . ah well. Morning time now, or what? *laugh*))

((hmmm i gots an idea lol not morning yet))

Luna tossed and turnned, she was dreaming about what had happen, she woke up nd looked around the room, rubbing at her face for a few minutes before she got up and decided to check on Kai. She peeked into his room and saw that he was still sleeping, she couldn't help but smile when she saw that he was asleep, she then turnned and slowly made her way to the living room, checking on Vance and seeing that he was a wake at the moment. "Vance?" she whispered as she tip-toed/limpped over to him, sitting on the edge of the couch as she looked him over to make sure that he was okay.

"Having trouble sleeping?" Vance asked, looking off into the darkness of the room. Swallowing thickly as he took a deep breath, the Pyrate finally forced his gaze over to Luna. "I guess I'm not the only one."
It was the most he'd said since the incident - and for some reason, Vance wanted nothing more than to have her sitting there beside him. It felt nice to have another's presence, even if they were both silent. Shifting so he was sitting on the couch normally, he sighed and ran his good hand through his long hair. "How's your ankle?" he asked quietly, looking down at her foot. "Feeling better?"

"Bad dream." She said as she smiled softly at him, leaning back on the couch as she closed her eyes lightly, she then looked over at Vance as she say that he was more responsive to her then he was earlier. "My ankle...it is fine. After all i have been through worst." she said to him as she smiled at him, looking him over, she then stood up and limpped towards the bathroom as she dug around the med-kit. She pulled it out and limpped back over to him, setting it on the coushin next to him as she slowly and carefully began to change his bandages. "How are you? I mean i am very concerned about you....and....." she couldn't bring her self to say anything else as she tried hard to keep her happy prosonia in tact, even if it was just for others benifits.

He nodded when she said she was feeling alright - and he gave her the beginnings of a smile.
Watching as the woman headed toward the bathroom, Vance frowned. When he realized what she was doing, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. More fixing up - it always seemed necessary with him. The first bandage was just above his brow, and Vance flinched when she started. By the time she was done with the first, the rest of them didn't seem to affect him in any way. Just as Luna had said about herself . . . he'd been through worse as well.
He could hear the straining of her happy "mask," but didn't comment on it. It seemed like everyone was being someone else at the moment. Listening to her concerned question, the Pyrate cleared his throat quietly. "You shouldn't worry. I'm fine." He was uncomfortable talking about weakness - and his response to Veronica's death was just that.
For many moments, there was silence. Then Vance slowly shifted so Luna could get to a particularly nasty gash on his back. He couldn't help her much in ways of moving the shirt out of the way, but the Pyrate sat still and offered what help he could as though it was completely natural. "My sister worked at the hospital," he finally whispered, his expression the perfect mask of stoic neutrality. "I saw her while we were there for Kai."

"I pray that she made it out. I wouldn't want you to be sad.....besides i know how it feels to lose someone you care about." Luna said softly to him as she didn't want to wake Kai up, she took far longer with chaanging his bandages then a nurse would, but she didn't want him to be in to much pain, she even ended up having to cut his shirt off hm so that she could get to the wound on his back. "You should stay here and heal up some before you go and see her. But you should call her since i believe she would be releaved to know that you are safe." she said to him as she smiled softly, not even thinking that she was dead and that was who he was trying to dig up, she just went on about the thing, not even realizing that she must be hurtting him with all her talking.

((:cry: How sad.))

Vance listened in silence, his expression unchanging. If only it were that simple. "Of course," he muttered, his gaze frozen on the remains of what was his shirt. He'd pulled it around so he could get it off completely, but the action was only to keep himself from being too idle.
She didn't know. It wasn't her fault - but hearing about Veronica as though he could just give her a call, as though nothing was wrong, stung. He would never be able to see her, to hear her voice, again. Vance's eyes moved to the ragged tips of his fingers. They were still bloodied up and raw; they were still open wounds. Just like her loss. He swallowed thickly at the thought, and clenched his good hand into a tight fist.
"She'll never hear that I made it," Vance whispered, swallowing emotion once again. "She won't hear me." His vacant stare lifted, and grit his teeth in pain. His fist was so tight, he could feel the serrations from the stone burning.

((i know :cry: *huggles*))

Luna stopped her talking and looked at Vance, concern and worried on her face as she tried to piece everythin together, her barin was moving much slower then it would normally. "Is she hurt?" she whispered to hiim as she slowly got the med-kit back together and closed it up, pushing it under the coffee table as she sat on the couch next to him. Taking his fist into her hands as she tried to get him to lossen it up so that he wouldn't make his wounds worst, slightly needing his hand as she looked down at it. "Were you trying to dig her up?" she whispered to him as something in her head connected, the sad emotion in her voice was clear, even through her fake happy mask, soon she started to shake slightly as she felt a little cold but was trying hard not to let him notice as she concertrated on him.

"Yes."
The answer was a breathed word, blunt and without extra sugar coating. Vance let his fist open, and he took a slow breath. "I watched her die."

"Vance!"
Her raw fingers grazed his, but the crumbling stone pushed her away. She succumbed too quickly for him to reach for her again.

His brown eyes closed, and Vance felt his hand enclose about one of Luna's without prompting. The Pyrate swallowed again - he was trying valiantly not to show how much it affected him. "I won't be seeing her again."

((Just to let you know, I'm not ignoring her responses . . . Vance just isn't seeing them. :sweat:))

((i know lol cause i get like that when i am emotionally distressed))

"Oh Vance....." Luna said to him as she then hugged the man close, crying sliently as she continued to comfort him as best as she could. "It will get better....me and Kai will be your family now." she whispered to him as she continued to hug him until she pulled back slightly to wipe at her tears, sitting back on the couch as she looke down at his finger tips, pulling up close to her face as she looked at them even more, frowning slightly until she kissed the tips of them like her mother used to, unable to keep from doing so.

At first, Vance didn't respond to her embrace. Then, after her comment about being family, the youth leaned into her hug. He listened as Luna wiped her tears, and then sucked in a quiet breath when he felt her lips caress his fingertips. There were a few moments in which nothing happened, and then Vance felt the warmth of his own tears beginning to fall.
Watching as Luna kissed his fingertips, the male leaned against her, both seeking comfort and wishing she wouldn't cry. He hated it when people cried. He'd always stopped Veronica's tears before they fell. Leaning over, Vance kissed her cheek, ignoring the salty taste of her tears. Thank you. He rested his forehead against Luna's head, ignoring the drops of water that ended up gracing her shoulder.

Luna smiled sadly as she reached a delicate hand up and wiped Vance's tears away, bitting her lip slightly as she tried to keep her heart racing, this was the second time a man had done this to her and now they were both in the same place as her. "You want to come with me and Kai to the ranch?"she whispered to him as she ran her fingers through his hair before she had to pull away so that she could calm down enough to make rational decesions. "Get some sleep so we can talk in thr morning." she said to him, herface was flushed slightly from when he kissed her, she stood up and gentle pushed him until he was laying down once more, pulling the blanket over him as she smiled down at him before she started to limp to her room.

Vance lay still for many moments, silent. "Thank you," he said just loud enough for her to hear as she left the room. Her offer meant more to him than the Pyrate would ever care to admit. Watching Luna's uneaven gait as she headed back to her own room, the male closed his eyes. She was an odd sort - gentle, yet fearful. Careful, yet open. An angel.
With a small sigh, he forced himself to try and sleep. She isn't yours, Vance. Back off. Regardless, his last waking thought was of Luna herself, sitting beside him and sharing his sorrow.

You have no idea how much this means to me.
-

When morning came, it found Kai already up and in the kitchen. He started hot water for coffee, and began to mix together the ingredients for pancakes. Thank goodness for non-perishable boxes of pre-made mix. As he worked, the youth told himself that he would do things without help that day. He didn't need it - he could be strong. Unfortunately, thoughts only carried one so far. He would try - and would succeed for a while.
Glancing back into the other room, Kai smiled a bit. Vance was already waking, and he knew that Luna wasn't bound to be too far behind.

It hadn't taken Luna long to fall asleep once she had laid back down in her be,but when she woke up, she yawned and rubbed at her face a little before she crawled out her bed and went to the kitchen as she rubbed at her eyes a little more. She was a little surprised to see that Vance and Kai were up before her, but what seem to surprise her the most was that Kai was making them breakfast. "Oh, good morning. I thought you both would have slept in so i was going to make breakfast." she said as she smiled, taking a seat at the table as she watched what was going on, she was still limping some and the wounds and bruises that she had gotten from her dead abusive boyfriend were nicely fading so she was looking better then she had before.

"G'morning," Kai said, flipping one of the many pancakes. "I anticipated that you would want to make us food, so I thought I'd do it for you." The youth grinned crookedly, and then moved to set a plate in front of Luna. "Yours is first. I'll have the rest done in a few moments."
A cup of coffee appeared a few seconds later, as well as sugar and cream. Drawn by the smell, Vance ended up coming into the dining area as well. "Smells good," he commented. The Pyrate still looked tired - it was a result of being woken repeatedly by dreams. But other than looking like he didn't sleep well, the tall male didn't seem ready to fall apart. His arm was still broken, and there were still a few small scrapes on him . . . not to mention the bandages. . . .
Kai had a cup of coffee set before Vance a few moments after he'd sat down, and the two shared a glance of appreciation. Taking a sip of the drink, Vance looked over Luna's features before chuckling a bit. "You're looking a bit better."

Sitting down with two plates of pancakes for both Vance and himself, Kai nodded in agreement. "Bruises are fading," he commented, and then looked to Vance himself. And all of us are still wracked up from yesterday.

"Thank you, Kai. That was very sweet of you." Luna said to him as she smiled, looking down at the plate that he had set in front of her, smelling it before she put some butter and syrup on them, taking a bite. "This is delicious." she said after she had taken another bite and drank some ofher coffee with lots of sugar and cream in it, she then looked up at Vance when he walked in and smiled at him. "I talked to our agents last nightbefore i went to sleep again and let them know we are taking a month off to go to the ranch. All three of us afterthe funeral....i think it would do us some good to get out the city after wards." she said to softly to them to try and ease the blow to Vance, after all they should have one for his sister since she had died. She then bluhed slightly, which was no more noticable as the bruise on her face was smaller, she looked down at her food and ate some of it. "Thank you...." she sid shily as she sipped soem of her coffee, trying hard to think for a few minutes.

Kai lifted an eyebrow as Luna spoke of a funeral, but he said nothing. He didn't want to prod any open wounds. "The time off will be good for all of us," the youth said, taking a bite of his food. Beginning to eat, he watched the others out of the corner of his eye.

With a blank expression, Vance nodded. "Thank you," he said quietly, and then slowly began to eat his breakfast. For a while, the only sound was the scraping of forks on plates. Kai waited until everyone was finished before taking the plates, still eager to show that he could do things normally without his avatar.
Watching him, Vance took a deep breath. "I have a few phone calls to make," the Pyrate said, standing. He left his coffee on the table, giving Luna a grim smile before leaving the room. His family, or what was left of it, would want to hear about Veronica's death. And when it came to funds, the funeral would be covered sufficiently.
Flipping his phone open, Vance stared at the first number he came across. Dad.Though he was 25, and hadn't spoken to them in over four years, the youth still remembered his old home. It was . . . a real memory. They would be torn about their daughter's death.
With his finger hovering over the call button, Vance closed his eyes and pressed it violently, trying not to think too hard on the matter. He would talk to them, and then he would call the hospital authorities - they would know what happened to Veronica soon enough.

"Kai....thank you for doing all this. After all i could have done it for us and itwas very sweet of you." Lyna said to him as she had finished eatting her food and drinking her coffee, smiling at both the men, once Vance was outof the room she had gotten a said smile on her face before shaking her self out of it andwatching Kai go about working. "The only thing is that my parents don't allow avatars on thier land so we have togo in ourreal bodies. They believe hard work helps keep the body strong and that avatars make people weak." she said loud enough for both the male's to hear what she was saying, back before she landed the modeling job her parents wouldn't allow her to use her avatar unless itwas to go into the big city and even then it wasn't very often.