[She bites her bottom lip for a moment. There's no way to hide it-- no way to dress it up.]
I got a letter from the family doctor. Mother is very, very sick, and... I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.
[Even on the verge of tears she's still trying to apologize, but that's so her, honestly.]
I... I guess she had some kind of stroke. I didn't find this out earlier because they couldn't get through to my phone. I have to see her, Noah. I have to go.
[Ari's mother is sick? It comes to a shock to Noah, since he didn't expect to hear something like that-- honestly, the harsher part of him had assumed she wasn't human enough to get sick.
But if that's true...then that is terrible. Even if he hates that woman, it isn't fair to Ari]
Shit, I'm sorry....
[Ari didn't deserve this. Just when she got away from her mother, this happens. She must feel so...
The last part of what she said sinks in though, and he feels a bit of fear in it]
W-Wait what do you mean you have to go? Like- for a week or-?
[It's Noah's stricken expression that finally gets Ari to duck her head.]
A month at least. Beyond that, I... I don't know. I don't even know if she'll be the same when I get there. I don't know if I'll have to h-handle the business, or...
[And she can't hold back anymore. Tears course down her cheeks and she furiously wipes at them, trying to banish them with trembling fingertips.]
I'm not abandoning you. I promise I'm not abandoning you. I-I just need you to... to watch the apartment f-for me. I'll keep paying on it, money's fine, but... you'll be on your own until I get back.
[He...doesn't know what to say. It was so much at once. He can see that Ari is upset right now, that she's barely holding it together. That she's crying. And who can blame her, after getting a letter like that? Awful or not, that was her mother.
........
But there's the other part of him, the more selfish part of him, that just feels the bottom of his stomach fall out.
She says she's not abandoning him, but she doesn't know how long it'll take to get back? That she's leaving him on his own? How...was that not abandoning? What if she doesn't come back? Did she really just plan to just leave him here for some unknown amount of time? Why wasn't she asking him to go with? It wasn't like he lived here that long, and they were family and--
No, never. And even if they did I wouldn't listen. But--
[She lowers her hands. Tear-stricken or not, she has to look at him.]
You have school starting soon. I can take time off from college, but you have to finish school. You have a job, and you have friends, and you've only just started to settle-- I couldn't ask you to come up there with me, and see my mother in the hospital, and help her recover... The media is going to be all over this once they find out and then you wouldn't have a private moment.
[All of this counts for Ari too, and she knows it.]
[He holds up his left red arm for emphasis, shaking his head. He was turning into some kind of freak monster since coming to this place, and this was better?!
But he knows he can't exactly demand that she say, and leaving this city wouldn't stop him from having this problem. And he knows there wouldn't be much for him if he went with.
He's being selfish, he's upset. He doesn't want to be alone.
[Ari bites her bottom lip as more hot tears roll down her cheeks. It's true that Noah's gone through a lot... but how is making him deal with Bianca going to help any of that? Bianca hates him, and he's certainly not inclined to be merciful. Ari would rather not inflict that stress on either of them. That's not all of her reasoning, obviously, but there's nothing for him up there-- nothing but pain and heartache.
She reaches for his arm, the red one, not caring about how monstrous it might be; if allowed, she'll hold his hand between her palms.]
I promise. I promise I'll come back. We're family, all right? No matter what happens. No one can take that away from me or you.
[He freezes when she takes his hand, but when he doesn't feel that jolt of energy like he did when Ryoji touches his hand, he lets her take it.
She promises she'll be back. There's a very cynical voice in his mind, that whispers that he can't trust that, but he tries to shake it off. Ari's been nothing but good to him. She's cared for him when she had no reason to, nothing to gain. Over the past several months, he really had come to think of her as family as much as he did his father.
He doesn't notice his own eyes watering, threatening to cry]
[Ari notices, though. She doesn't even ask-- she just reaches out to hug him close. There's a difference of a few inches but that doesn't stop her from tucking his face against her shoulder.]
I'm going to miss you, [she whispers brokenly.] Maybe when I get back, we-- [Ugh, her throat's all choked up with tears.] We'll do anything you want.
[And unlike most people who try to hug him where he stands there or pushes them off, he'll actually return the hug. She's family, after all.]
Me too. [There's a small sniff from him, someone trying to stop himself from crying] O-Okay...I'm gonna hold you to that. We'll go to the biggest buffet I can find.
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no subject
I got a letter from the family doctor. Mother is very, very sick, and... I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.
[Even on the verge of tears she's still trying to apologize, but that's so her, honestly.]
I... I guess she had some kind of stroke. I didn't find this out earlier because they couldn't get through to my phone. I have to see her, Noah. I have to go.
no subject
[Ari's mother is sick? It comes to a shock to Noah, since he didn't expect to hear something like that-- honestly, the harsher part of him had assumed she wasn't human enough to get sick.
But if that's true...then that is terrible. Even if he hates that woman, it isn't fair to Ari]
Shit, I'm sorry....
[Ari didn't deserve this. Just when she got away from her mother, this happens. She must feel so...
The last part of what she said sinks in though, and he feels a bit of fear in it]
W-Wait what do you mean you have to go? Like- for a week or-?
no subject
A month at least. Beyond that, I... I don't know. I don't even know if she'll be the same when I get there. I don't know if I'll have to h-handle the business, or...
[And she can't hold back anymore. Tears course down her cheeks and she furiously wipes at them, trying to banish them with trembling fingertips.]
I'm not abandoning you. I promise I'm not abandoning you. I-I just need you to... to watch the apartment f-for me. I'll keep paying on it, money's fine, but... you'll be on your own until I get back.
no subject
[He...doesn't know what to say. It was so much at once. He can see that Ari is upset right now, that she's barely holding it together. That she's crying. And who can blame her, after getting a letter like that? Awful or not, that was her mother.
........
But there's the other part of him, the more selfish part of him, that just feels the bottom of his stomach fall out.
She says she's not abandoning him, but she doesn't know how long it'll take to get back? That she's leaving him on his own? How...was that not abandoning? What if she doesn't come back? Did she really just plan to just leave him here for some unknown amount of time? Why wasn't she asking him to go with? It wasn't like he lived here that long, and they were family and--
.... ]
Did...did they ask you not to bring me?
no subject
No, never. And even if they did I wouldn't listen. But--
[She lowers her hands. Tear-stricken or not, she has to look at him.]
You have school starting soon. I can take time off from college, but you have to finish school. You have a job, and you have friends, and you've only just started to settle-- I couldn't ask you to come up there with me, and see my mother in the hospital, and help her recover... The media is going to be all over this once they find out and then you wouldn't have a private moment.
[All of this counts for Ari too, and she knows it.]
... You deserve better.
no subject
[He holds up his left red arm for emphasis, shaking his head. He was turning into some kind of freak monster since coming to this place, and this was better?!
But he knows he can't exactly demand that she say, and leaving this city wouldn't stop him from having this problem. And he knows there wouldn't be much for him if he went with.
He's being selfish, he's upset. He doesn't want to be alone.
He drew in a sharp intake of breath]
Just...
Just promise me you'll come back.
no subject
She reaches for his arm, the red one, not caring about how monstrous it might be; if allowed, she'll hold his hand between her palms.]
I promise. I promise I'll come back. We're family, all right? No matter what happens. No one can take that away from me or you.
no subject
She promises she'll be back. There's a very cynical voice in his mind, that whispers that he can't trust that, but he tries to shake it off. Ari's been nothing but good to him. She's cared for him when she had no reason to, nothing to gain. Over the past several months, he really had come to think of her as family as much as he did his father.
He doesn't notice his own eyes watering, threatening to cry]
...Okay.
I believe you. I'll wait.
no subject
I'm going to miss you, [she whispers brokenly.] Maybe when I get back, we-- [Ugh, her throat's all choked up with tears.] We'll do anything you want.
no subject
Me too. [There's a small sniff from him, someone trying to stop himself from crying] O-Okay...I'm gonna hold you to that. We'll go to the biggest buffet I can find.