bubblywishes | ☆ Eighteenth Wish ☆ - [Action

[Waking was like bursting through a veil of frigid water. Gasping and jerking into a sitting position, Norma casts her bleary gaze left and right quickly, half expecting to see herself surrounded by ash, blood and cultist soldiers. Her chest burns with her quick movements (as well as other parts of her aching body) and her fist clutches the middle of it, digging her fingers painfully into the fabric of her clothes.

With each breath, Norma tries to get a grip on what happened and where she is. The air isn't thick with smoke and ash and the smell of decay like she remembered being in. Truth be told, the air now was fresh, crisp, fragrant... Pushing her hair from her face and just forcing herself into a calm state, she finally manages to make sense of where she was.

It was the Memory Garden. Snorting at the irony, Norma tries to get up, wincing at the cracks and pops of her stiff muscles and sore bones. She really does feel like she just came back from the dead... And as she thinks back on the memories right before it happened, her fingers brush insistently into her clothes, searching for any sort of bullet holes or marks that would give away what really happened. The others may or may not know...and she isn't sure she even wantsto tell them. Norma knows she has to, eventually, but she can't bring herself to even think of going home right now. So, as she gropes around, she finds her journal and shoves it under one arm without even thinking. Her mind's working automatically right now.

So, instead, she drags herself to the bar (it was the closest establishment, and the first she could think of), enters through the back, and just...collapses in a heap in one corner, head in her hands and tears welling up in her eyes. She can taste something sour in her mouth and idly wonders if she's going to throw up - wouldn't that be fun to explain to whoever finds her here - but thankfully the contents in her stomach remain there. But her ears are ringing and her head is a mess of thoughts and memories and fears. She died. It finally happened and she really died in Luceti. She got shot and died and now here she is again. Who knew? Would she have to come clean to her housemates? To Grune? To Sophie?

...No, Sophie shouldn't know. She has to bite her tongue and hope to high heaven nothing was told to the poor kid.

It's a good hour or more that Norma stays crouched in a corner in the back of the bar, shaking and letting the tears dribble down her face before she gets a grip on herself and decides she has to come clean sooner or later. Her intent was to write a written message, but as she presses her pen to the paper and tries to write, all Norma can see are weird shapes and sqiggly lines before it blurs together into one big mess. She thinks nothing of it - just post draft nerves and her own mental instability - and instead takes a massive gulp of air and puts on her well-practiced mask of cheerfulness and indifference.]

Everyone, I'm back! Tell me some good news, too. I could use a serious pick-me-up.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Norma anticipated being found at some point, but she had hoped it would have been a little bit after the whole scene she was making right now. She kind of wanted a bit of privacy to have her episode and the bar's back room seemed (in her mind) the perfect place. She's not entirely surprised to be found in general, but to be found by this particular person makes her stomach hit the floor, and with a loud sniff, she turns her face into her knees wordlessly.

She doesn't even flinch when she sees that frying pan of his. Caring would just take too much effort, and Norma doesn't have enough of that to spare right now.

Yeah, go ahead, big guy...kick her out or laugh. She kinda deserves it, doesn't she? Karma is karma, after all.]

[Surprisingly enough, he does neither. He stares at her for a long moment, genuinely surprised, and then he silently backs out of the room, half-closing the door behind him. When he returns a minute or so later, he's armed instead with the bathroom's tissue box and a bottle of something reasonably strong. Still wordless, he crouches down beside her and offers them out.

There's no honour in kicking someone when they're already at their lowest, and it's really none of his business. He's not a complete asshole.]

[Sniffling, she looks up again and seems a little taken aback by the sudden kindness being shown to her. This is completely unexpected, considering her opinion of her so-called boss has never been the best since she first met him long ago. They never got along, and she always expected him to be a sour puss, especially towards her. Norma knows she doesn't exactly deserve kindness from Asch.

Still, she's thankful and appreciative, and wipes her face quickly before reaching out for the drink first. She's no booze-hound or anything, but even Norma understand when she desperately needs a drink.]

You're not gonna tell anyone I'm here, are you? [Because she really, really doesn't want to explain herself right now.]

[If she wasn't sitting there crying he'd probably snort at her stupid question and wander off to leave her wondering. But, again, he's not an asshole. Entirely. Erm.]

Not if you'd rather I don't.

[His confusion at her question isn't exactly hidden, though. Doesn't she have friends around who'd drag her home and coddle her appropriately and make her feel better? Don't normal people have that kind of thing?]

Please.

[It wasn't a request or a question. Honestly, Norma's really hoping Asch won't alert anyone to her presence - she really does not want to explain herself or face anyone just yet about her death - and she'll probably sneak out sooner or later anyway. But for now, she'd much rather just be left alone and polish off the drink Asch offered her. The stinging alcohol at least provides something to fill the sickening emptiness of her gut. She sniffs loudly and dabs at her face with a napkin, muttering over the rim of her glass--]

...Thanks. By the way.

[He does snort quietly at that, glancing aside. He should... probably go. Honestly, he's only stayed this long because she didn't violently chase him out already. Still, he can't help but linger. It's not often that he's thanked, least of all by her.]

You're thanking me for acting like a decent human being?

[Well, she has kind of thought terribly of him this whole time, and he hasn't given her much reason to think otherwise. She probably pegs him as something of a monster. Or a robot. Or both.]

Don't sound so surprised.

[But Asch's mindset is spot on. She only treated him poorly because of the way he acted outwardly and the continued quarrels they got into every so often. Her opinion then on has only became cemented in what she assumed Asch to be from what she saw on the outside. She never cared to try and learn anything else about him either, for the same reasons. He was never worth the effort nor the trouble. This is a bit of a shock and a blissful surprise.]

Guess I know what some people see in you now.

[OI, WOMAN, DON'T LOOK ALL SMUG JUST BECAUSE HE WAS NICE TO YOU 8(]

D-don't go reading anything into it! All I did was bring you tissue so you don't snot all over the bed!

[And she'd better not throw up the booze anywhere, either!!]

[AND THEN HE HAD TO GO AND RUIN IT.]

Keep pressing your luck, and I'll stamp the tissues to that big forehead of yours.

[It wouldn't be Asch if he didn't, really.]

...That's disgusting and totally unnecessary.

[Goddamnit, Asch.]

Worth it though. And it'll make me feel loads better.

[Why does he always end up with such weird co-workers? God.]

You have strange ideas about what's enjoyable.

[Because Asch's life is suffering.]

'Least I'm not boring! [Which is more than she can say about you, sir. Though Norma's actually feeling a lot better now, actually... Weird, but Asch's poor attitude and arguing with him again is actually lifting her spirits considerably. He's actually kind of swet, isn't he? Grumpy, oh hell yes, but sweet.]

People underestimate the value of "boring". Maybe if the word was "uneventful", instead...

[But then, when has anything in his life before this place been uneventful? No wonder he's never felt at home here.

And it's a good thing he can't hear what she's thinking.]

Those words are still pretty synonomous with eachother, y'know...

[Pulling the scholar card here, so don't you try to get smart with her, mister. It sounds like you're just trying to make excuses to pardon you from being so darn dull.]

They can be, but aren't always. You can have an uneventful day without it being boring.

[HE WILL GET SMART IF HE DAMN WELL PLEASES, he is not boring thank you very much.]

Lame, then. Or plain. Ordinary. Dull...

[Want her to continue? Norma's enjoying this.]

[Asch glowers at her for a long moment, then makes an exasperated noise and turns towards the door.]

I'm going back to work.

Okay, okay...I guess I can head out then myself. Thanks, Asch.

[She wipes at her face, just in case she missed anything, then downs the very last of her drink as well. She's feeling better now - a little bit - so she can probably go as far as to show her face in public.]

Don't mention it.

[Seriously, don't. The last thing he needs is to start forming some sort of bizarro Nice Guy reputation around here. it would ruin him!]

☆ Eighteenth Wish ☆ - [Action | Voice]

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