catchall for emma

[leaberator]

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[leaberator]

Sorry. I'm not-- not for that, but I should be cheering you up, not making you... I'm sorry.

[ what the hell is he even saying. ]

[foodbin]

[She drops her hand down to the side of his arm, shaking her head.]

We could probably... both use it.

[Cheering up, that is.]

[leaberator]

[ i will let you decide if that's the arm with his booboo or not, but it's bandaged up and his forearm so it doesn't really matter

either way, he can't help but huff, a small smile on his face ]

Yeah. No kidding. Want me to fetch us some ice cream?

[ it's meant as a joke. mostly. ]

[foodbin]

Can't say I really have an appetite.

[...]

Tell me something happy.

[leaberator]

[ he looks. bemused, for a second ]

What, like-- "and they all lived happily ever after"?

[foodbin]

...It'd be nice to hear something like that at least once, wouldn't it?

[leaberator]

... Yeah. I've seen it happen a few times, but... it kinda always seemed like something that was meant for other people.

[foodbin]

...Maybe it doesn't have to be.

[her hand shifts down to his.]

[leaberator]

[ alright, he's-- a bit slow on this stuff, but not that slow. yet somehow, he feels like he's moving through molasses as he stares at her hand on his. ]

What are you... saying, exactly?

[foodbin]

[There are a few things she could say to that, a few responses that she considers—

But in the end, she puts her hand back to his face, gently tilting it down as she leans up to kiss him.]

[leaberator]

[ oh. oh.

for a second he doesn't react, feeling-- shocked, somehow? but then he meets her fully, cupping the back of her neck to deepen the kiss with one hand a bit clumsily. ]

[foodbin]

[She smiles against the contact, and then... Well. It takes a whole deal to get used to changes like this, especially when you’re preoccupied with other things.

Which is to say, she’s trying to bring her other hand (that is very much gone) up to his face, which means he’s just getting prodded in the face with her gross arm stump. That’s fun. Or not, given how she immediately recoils, either in pain or embarrassment.]

...Um.

[leaberator]

[ the prod is enough to startle him out of it, too, and he stares at her for a second before he hides his face in a hand, shoulders shaking

is he... crying...?

no, because even though there are tears at the corner of his eyes, it's because he's muffling laughter, a bit on the hysterical side, his skin an alarming shade of red as he tries to register what just happened. ]

Sorry, sorry-- [ he's still laughing, though. it's not funny? okay, it's a little funny, if you're horrible, but not nearly that funny. ]

[foodbin]

—Don’t laugh!

[She says, as she also starts laughing. The sound is more shocked than anything else.]

[leaberator]

I'm not, I'm not--

[ he still is, very clearly, but after a while of muffling it he manages to stop himself, letting out a shaky breath to look back at Emma again. There's a pause before he rubs the back of his neck with another short, helpless laugh, looking away and biting his lip. he looks like a fuckin tomato. ]

... So, you... [ he trails off. it's pretty hard to get him to shut up so congrats emma ]

[foodbin]

So, I...?

[lea talk about your feelings challenge]

[leaberator]

[ ... ]

Were you hit with that "Hunk of Burning Love" power?

[ challenge IMMEDIATELY failed ]

[foodbin]

...You really don’t know how to take a compliment, do you?

[leaberator]

[ immediately splutters, gesturing widely, probably nearly hitting emma in the face because Romance ]

Wha-- Hey, I can take a compliment fine when they're true! [ he can't. ] That's not why I'm-- [ he falters, shaking his head before continuing, just as... heated? ] I'm just saying, the first thing you do after is-- kiss me?

[ his voice definitely cracked a little on that last word there. he is going to die of embarrassment. ]

[foodbin]

I mean, we’ve kind of been... Haven’t we been dancing around it for a week?

[leaberator]

[ dumbly; ]

We have?

[foodbin]

I...

[ohhhhh nooooo]

I thought we were...? Look, if I got the wrong idea, I’m sorry, but...

[leaberator]

[ everything is terrible right now? ]

I... I wasn't doing it on purpose? [ was he doing it at all? WAS HE??? but he gestures towards her, as if trying to say he's not done ] But it's not like I don't... [ he's obviously struggling to say words, waving a hand around like the words will magically fall from the sky into his hand so he can throw them at her ] I just-- I don't, I mean I haven't-- I've never really--

[ he's going to die. he's literally going to die. he stops talking only for long enough to let out a really. long breath. ]

I haven't ever done this kind of stuff before, I guess?

[ he looks mortified. ]

[foodbin]

[After a few moments:]

Well, what do you want to do...?

[leaberator]

[ why would she ever pass the ball to him. ]

Like, right now? [ of COURSE right now, what is he SAYING? ] Is this... really the best time to be having this conversation?

[ she just lost a hand but also like, they kissed, so when else should they have it, dumbass, and he has that realization enough that he rubs at his face instead ]

Okay, so, what I wanna do right now is sorta bury my head in the sand a little, bear with me here.