"Heeey, you've reached Yang! Well, actually, you didn't reach far enough, 'cause I'm not here right now! But don't yang up! Just leave a message on this baby, and I'll get back to you soon enough, okay?"
[It's during a moment when he slips into an unwilling doze when it happens-- Naoki jolts into wakefulness, holding his breath and staring forward in the dark space of the living room, the sun trying to break through the curtains. He hasn't been sleeping much, if at all, as though he'll miss something if he closes his eyes for too long.
That's impossible to mistake, though. He thinks. He hopes.
His heart lurches up in his throat and he rises unsteadily to his feet, looking toward the door (closed, he's just left both of their room doors closed all this time, as if unable to bear looking inside after the first day) before walking to it.
Naoki opens up the door remarkably timidly, when his first instinct is to just slam inside. But he's still not sure if his senses are lying to him. He's keeping his breathing quiet, straining, even though there's a definite feeling of presence here and he can see her in the bed (though he wouldn't put it past his imagination, to be honest)--] Yang?
[ It's... taking a lot to adjust, to go from one bed to another, and to have that instant of complete disorientation where her memories surge back, and she can remember that there had been so many people around her, beside her, things to be happy about.
She can't remember the last time she felt genuinely happy, and as she lifts her head and sees him in the doorway... it's not quite happiness that seizes her, or relief, just a simple thought that she needs him and he's right there and she's probably going to cry. ]
Naoki... [ She sounds weary, but her voice still trembles and cracks, and her vision blurs.
It may be clear that she's been through a hell of a lot since the last time he's seen her, bandaged stump at least one indicator. ]
[Naoki notices at once, of course. His eyes go wide and his breathing stops altogether, if only for an instant. Why?
Something heavy fills his chest but, in the next second, he's not hesitating to close the distance between door and bed. The break in her voice kills him. He sinks onto the bed, just one knee on the edge of the mattress, the other foot planted on the floor, and leans over her.]
I missed you so much.
[His voice is fierce, breaking through his own tiredness, as he puts both arms around her and moves to pull her into him. His arms shake a little, at least before he reaffirms his grip and drops his forehead down against her shoulder, wishing there was a way he could surround her completely right now, this doesn't feel like enough at all.]
[ It really only drives it home, as the fingers of her hand twitch, that she can't hug him as tightly as she'd used to. That she won't be able to spar with him, or cradle his face in both of her palms to touch their foreheads together, and the misery from the moment she'd first woken up and realized what was lost comes crashing back.
There's a low, strangled sob that tears out of her throat, and she's suddenly shaking in his arms, her one arm gripping at him as best as she can. She hadn't been able to hug Ruby back, that first time. Now? Now, she's afraid he'll let go, that he'll be the next to disappear. ]
Yang, [his voice is soft, just saying her name, as if to remind her even more so than his touch does that he's here, for her.
Everything about this makes him tighten his grip and he doesn't ever want to let go right now, not when she's like this. It's not about how she's missing an arm to hold back at him, but the way she shakes. He brings himself even closer to her, practically curling around her as he gathers his legs onto the bed.
There's a tightness in his chest that wants to stop up his throat, but he swallows it down and focuses on her. Focusing on turning his face to press against the side of her head, breathing steadily above her ear.]
[ It's... painful. Everything's painful, and she'd been doing so well at retreating into a comfortable shell of numbness, where she didn't have to try so hard to be strong for everyone else (the way she'd tried when her father had shut down, when she'd needed to hold everything together). When all she did was stare out the window.
This sort of feeling scares her, because she can't control it, can't even speak through her raw, desperate sobbing. All she can do is try to focus on his breath in her ear, the knowledge that she's not alone, hasn't been abandoned. ]
[Naoki doesn't say anything-- One of his hands moves, sliding up to rest his palm against her cheek. His thumb smudges her tears away as best he can, his other arm still wrapped firmly around her. He wants for her to let this out, with him at least, and he wants to be here so she can cry on him. However long it's been, she's probably been struggling with this for too long.
He doesn't know what happened, but... part of him is furious. His thought is something like someone did this to her and that's inexcusable. Unforgivable. Not Yang, of all people. Never Yang.]
I'm here with you now, [he eventually says, softly.] So, don't hold anything back.
[ Truthfully, she'd like to. If just because she wants it to stop hurting so damned much, and it won't stop, not with Naoki holding her and murmuring reassurances. With every pass of his thumb, more tears stream down, and it's at least a good five minutes before she's a quietly shuddering mess slumped against him. ]
[Naoki's been speaking all that time, softly, nonsensical. He hasn't been thinking about it. But, when she's quiet, when those sobs have abated, his fingers slowly comb up through her hair, gathering it back, tucking it out of her face as much as he can.
He moves, to lean his forehead against the crown of her head, his eyes shut.]
... It's been months, [ she finally says, softly, closing her eyes against the gentle pressure of his fingers sifting through her hair. Stopping the Grimm from invading the city. Preparing for the tournament, the subsequent rounds, what had thrown her under suspicion, another invasion, and everything terrible that had happened after that. ]
[Naoki's fingers twitch. Months, she says, and his stomach drops, plummets. He swallows against his suddenly dry mouth and blinks hard. Months. His fingers comb through her hair again and he doesn't say anything yet, waiting to see if she is going to continue, or if she isn't.]
[ She isn't. He can ask questions, but recounting everything all at once is a little too much for Yang right now, and she's hardly in a state to try, even listlessly. It's all she can do to not let herself fall back into that almost comforting sense of numbness, because Naoki doesn't deserve that.
... When she thinks about it, Ruby hadn't either. ]
[As much as Naoki wants to know-- he doesn't want to ask. So there's a struggle, as she doesn't continue, as he continues to let his fingers drift through her hair. He doesn't know what he would ask, honestly.
So, he doesn't, he just shifts to settle close and presses a gentle kiss against her cheek.]
[ Ruby will tell him, she thinks-- or eventually, she will, because he was friends with Pyrrha, and if nothing else... he ought to know that. But then she'd have to explain what had happened with Cinder, what had happened with the tournament, what had happened with Blake, and there's a miserable little noise trapped in her throat as she automatically curls closer. ]
[ She can remember it, faintly-- sharing a bed with him, the first time they'd fallen asleep together on his couch, and how hard it had been after a while not to have Naoki there, drawing on his warmth. She hadn't remembered, back home, but there had been a thought... that something important was missing.
Yang finds it here, and it's not as though it really solves anything or snaps her out of the weary hopelessness that's been plaguing her for the last while... but he's here, and that helps. ]
[Naoki's palm smooths up her back. His touches, everything, they're gentle right now. But, at the same time, there's no give to them. He presses his palm against her back like there's a lingering anxiety, a recollection of waking up with her gone.
His eyes are closed and, whether she realises it or not, he's feeling as much from her emotions as he can. He's letting all of them wash over him, pained as many may be. He's not a mind-reader... but this will do.]
[ There sure are a lot of emotions he'll get to contend with. Grief. Anger. Frustration. Fright. Betrayal. A lot of things that Yang doesn't usually feel, let alone at the same time, and it may bring up more questions than it clarifies anything.
[It's definitely a lot, and ones he's not used to feeling from her. Betrayal most of all-- even if it's hard to make that one out. It helps that he's felt something similar in the past.
His eyes open and he stares off at the wall over her head with a frown. What's happened to her? he can't help but think. Why did things have to happen to her to make her feel this way? He rubs his palm along her back.]
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That's impossible to mistake, though. He thinks. He hopes.
His heart lurches up in his throat and he rises unsteadily to his feet, looking toward the door (closed, he's just left both of their room doors closed all this time, as if unable to bear looking inside after the first day) before walking to it.
Naoki opens up the door remarkably timidly, when his first instinct is to just slam inside. But he's still not sure if his senses are lying to him. He's keeping his breathing quiet, straining, even though there's a definite feeling of presence here and he can see her in the bed (though he wouldn't put it past his imagination, to be honest)--] Yang?
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She can't remember the last time she felt genuinely happy, and as she lifts her head and sees him in the doorway... it's not quite happiness that seizes her, or relief, just a simple thought that she needs him and he's right there and she's probably going to cry. ]
Naoki... [ She sounds weary, but her voice still trembles and cracks, and her vision blurs.
It may be clear that she's been through a hell of a lot since the last time he's seen her, bandaged stump at least one indicator. ]
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Something heavy fills his chest but, in the next second, he's not hesitating to close the distance between door and bed. The break in her voice kills him. He sinks onto the bed, just one knee on the edge of the mattress, the other foot planted on the floor, and leans over her.]
I missed you so much.
[His voice is fierce, breaking through his own tiredness, as he puts both arms around her and moves to pull her into him. His arms shake a little, at least before he reaffirms his grip and drops his forehead down against her shoulder, wishing there was a way he could surround her completely right now, this doesn't feel like enough at all.]
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There's a low, strangled sob that tears out of her throat, and she's suddenly shaking in his arms, her one arm gripping at him as best as she can. She hadn't been able to hug Ruby back, that first time. Now? Now, she's afraid he'll let go, that he'll be the next to disappear. ]
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Everything about this makes him tighten his grip and he doesn't ever want to let go right now, not when she's like this. It's not about how she's missing an arm to hold back at him, but the way she shakes. He brings himself even closer to her, practically curling around her as he gathers his legs onto the bed.
There's a tightness in his chest that wants to stop up his throat, but he swallows it down and focuses on her. Focusing on turning his face to press against the side of her head, breathing steadily above her ear.]
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This sort of feeling scares her, because she can't control it, can't even speak through her raw, desperate sobbing. All she can do is try to focus on his breath in her ear, the knowledge that she's not alone, hasn't been abandoned. ]
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He doesn't know what happened, but... part of him is furious. His thought is something like someone did this to her and that's inexcusable. Unforgivable. Not Yang, of all people. Never Yang.]
I'm here with you now, [he eventually says, softly.] So, don't hold anything back.
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He moves, to lean his forehead against the crown of her head, his eyes shut.]
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... When she thinks about it, Ruby hadn't either. ]
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So, he doesn't, he just shifts to settle close and presses a gentle kiss against her cheek.]
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[He'll finangle his way underneath the blankets with her. That way, there won't be any space or anything in the way for him to pull her in.]
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Yang finds it here, and it's not as though it really solves anything or snaps her out of the weary hopelessness that's been plaguing her for the last while... but he's here, and that helps. ]
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His eyes are closed and, whether she realises it or not, he's feeling as much from her emotions as he can. He's letting all of them wash over him, pained as many may be. He's not a mind-reader... but this will do.]
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Someone had a rough time. ]
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His eyes open and he stares off at the wall over her head with a frown. What's happened to her? he can't help but think. Why did things have to happen to her to make her feel this way? He rubs his palm along her back.]
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At any rate, Yang may explain things eventually, but for now... nothing. No words. Just weariness.
Sorry, Naoki, your girlfriend may be useless today. ]