"Shuddup." Zanna's cheeks heated up as she heard him laugh. She made her way through the area her prosthetic clanking against the metal flooring as she looked around for a clean workspace. After a moment she found one and almost booked it over to it trying to see if there was anything there to work on, like fix. Not someone else's project. She would never do that. Instead, she found a half-taken apart plasma blaster (one of the newer models at that) that was clearly being used for spare parts and she felt pity for the poor thing. No weapon, especially a weapon like this one, deserved its treatment. She completely forgot about Kal as she began to get to work on the blaster.
Kal watched the emotions play across her face, slowly approaching the table and staying completely silent, afraid he might wake her out of her creative rush. His smile only grew at her capability to fix the blaster, to piece it together, to fix it. The whole deal fascinated him to the point in which he didn't feel like making snide comments, and just stood in silence, watching.
Zanna was so focused on fixing the blaster up her hands moved in a methodical purposeful way. She wasn't even really thinking just doing what she needed to do in order to fix the blaster, without taking any other weapons apart of course. As she put the final piece into place after almost a solid half-hour of silent work, it was fixed. With a few improvements, of course, Zanna could never leave something no better than it was than she started. She held up the weapon and was reminded that Kal was still there. She didn't really know what to say other than lift the weapon slightly, "Wanna test it out?"
Kal simply watched, amazed and definitely impressed. She had been working on the gun for a while, but time seemed to move differently as he observed her work. It was a beautiful dance of human ingenuity and mechanics, working together to create something majestically destructive. After she was done, Kal awoke from his trace, staring blankly at the weapon. "Oh… sure" He mumbled, his mind still reeling from the fact that she simply just made this.
He raised the gun toward a useless looking wall, squinting through the viewfinder. "Like this?"
"Yep," Zanna stepped back but hovered close to Kal in case something went wrong. Again. She had faith in the weapon she had just built, and some faith in Kal, but she knew shit could go wrong fast. Hopefully, the gun would fire properly, and not blow up in their face, "Try to do a test shot before going crazy."
Kal swallowed. I mean, he did have to admire the craftsmanship, But the thing was still a hodge podge.
He nodded as he took a deep breath, aiming the weapon and bracing himself as he pulled the trigger.
Luckily, it shiot, and didn't hit anything.
Kal excitedly spun around to meet Zanna, practically jumping up and down. "Oh my god it works!!"
Zanna let out a whoop as it shot perfectly. Perfect! She watched Kal jump around and let out a laugh. This was clearly the first time he had ever had a project go well, or, that was her assumption. She had a huge grin on her face, "Hell yeah it does! Try and shoot a little farther."
Kal grinned like a maniac nodding as he aimed to shot it again, closing his eyes and focusing before pulling the trigger a bit harder, causing the energy to blast through the wall. His expression turned to fear as he looked back at Zanna. "Sh-shit…"
"Shit is right," Zanna said staring wide-eyed at the hole. Her face split into a wider grin as she went to grab Kal's hand taking it within her prosthetic one. She then began to run partially taking the gun from Kal, "Let's book it!"
Kal didn't feel as daring, or excited. He limply yelped and let himself be dragged away by Zanna, his heart pounding. Shit!!
Zanna could feel the adrenaline pumping through her veins as she pulled Kal along. She loved the pounding in her heart as she ran back towards where Kal and her dorm(?) was.
(…yeah, sure! lmao)
Kalen was the opposite. The adrenaline only brought back thoughts of when he did something bad back home. The pounding of his boots against the floor only reminded him of trying to hide from her. The grip of Zanna's hand on his wrist hurt a thousand times worse than it should have, and he tried to break away, taking shallow breaths as his mind took him as a prisoner.
"No!! Please just… just stop!!" He cried out
Zanna stopped almost immediately when he cried out. She let go and turned to face him seeing he was clearly in some type of panic attack. There was hesitation afterward as she formulated a plan in her mind. Hesitantly she reached out towards him again as she said softly, "Kal? You there?"
Kal looked up, unable to conceal the fear that had engulfed him as he shook his head. "I-I-I just… I can't be alone. Please don't leave me alone." He stammered, genuinely pleading for any type of consolation. He jumped back again at the sight of her reaching towards him, sighing as he rested his head in his hands. "Im so sorry. I'm so so sorry… I'm such a fucking idiot."
"Hey, hey it's okay," Zanna kept in her soft voice. She felt guilt start to take hold, in some part she had probably caused this reaction. She gently went to move a little closer and attempted to touch him once more, "I'm not leaving you okay? I'm gonna move a little closer and touch you okay? If I can't or shouldn't do either just tell me. And- And if you can try and sit down."
Kal was still terrified, inching away from her touch with fear in his eyes before her gentle voice started to calm him. He closed his eyes, pursing his lips as he leaned into the touch, then immediately regretted it. The false pain shooting up his arm as he shook his head. "No I…. That's probably not the best i-i-dea…" He mumbled, slowly sinking to the floor
"Alright, I won't touch you," Zanna said sitting down across from him keeping her calm tone. She started beating a simple pattern softly into the floor 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8. She kept going over and over again, "Think you can match the pattern with your breathing? Or, or tap it out with your finger. It's fine if you can't, but it might help you calm down."
Kal watched through his fingers, then closed his eyes, beginning to copy the pattern as his mind was slowly distracted. As the sequence increased, his breathing slowed and after a few minutes, he was no longer in the state of panic, though strands of the fear still circled him as he lowered his hands and sighed shaikly. "I'm so sorry…"
"You're fine," Zanna said softly as she watched him calm down from his state of panic. She kept tapping the pattern though and moved slightly closer to him, "It wasn't your fault, and if anything I should be the one apologizing for triggering it. Are you could to be touched now? Or do I need to wait a little bit longer?"
Kal nodded, focusing on her tapping as his heart rate slowed to a somewhat tolerable level. "I… I think i'm okay now." He rasped, wiping some tears, but still not mustering the courage to look at her. He couldn't. He had never let anyone see him like this. What would she think of him now?
"Okay, do you want me to touch you?" Zanna decided to ask a different question. She did move so she was sitting next to him making it both easier and harder for him to look away from her.
( @Lynn if you want to continue here. If not that's fine.)
(Sorry! Im working on it!)
Kal sighed, looking up at Zanna with a vulnerable expression before leaning in for a tight hug. He sniffed slightly, holding his arms around the girl.
(It's fine! You had to remake your account and I figured it might be nice to get these into your notifs.)
