forum 𝙵𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚛𝚎, 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗. // 6/6 // CLOSED

Started August 25, 2022 by @EtherealDreamer

tune

Ronni felt bad. She hadn't meant to correct him last time, just help fill in some of the gaps.
"You don't have to let me, I don't have any right to your thoughts or your journal…" she said softly.
He was being very kind, even in his sickness, and the idea that he might-… not get better planted a weight on her chest and a lump in her throat.
Don't you die on me…

Lucas smiled smally.
"No, honestly, please." He insisted in an honest tone. "I'd be honored."
He clasped his hands together and continued to smile.
"I was so shocked the first time, I didn't expect it to be me, out of all the people, that you'd open up to." He paused and winked at her. "I'm proud of you, I know how hard it can be to trust people."

"But you did, you opened up to me, if not all the way, at least a little." He laughed softly. "And that takes a lot of effort, I'm glad you gave me the effort."

Ariella happily let him tug her inside. "Okay. Wh-where do u want me to wait?" She asked, glancing at him. She blushed and turned her gaze forward.

Lucky glanced at her and raised an eyebrow. "Wherever you like, Ari… you don't need to wait on me specifically." He still couldn't say her name through his accent, and cutting it down happened naturally.
He ducked into the room they'd shared and dug around in his backpack for clothes, before giving her a smile. "I'll be quick."
He headed into the bathroom and locked the door.

( @EtherealDreamer)

Ronni blushed, entirely unsure of what to do with that praise. She didn't look up, didn't make eye contact, though she couldn't contain her smile.
She carefully picked up the pen and the journal and opened it to his newest entry.
She wrote in August 15 next to his uncertainty about the date.
The rest of it, she just read, giving Lucas sympathetic looks every so often. There wasn't anything to correct, or add, so she just read and tried to empathize.
You're not great at that… Tanya said gently.
There you are! Holy Cow, I wondered where you'd gone!
I've been watching. You've done very well with all of this. Tanya said quietly. Just stay healthy.
Ronni nodded slowly, then smiled at Lucas again. "Does it make you feel a little better to have someone with you?"

He headed into the bathroom and locked the door.

Ariella flushed at his name for her, or rather, nickname. She found she quite liked it. Perhaps it was the accent, but whenever he said her name, or at least tried too, she felt herself warm inside.
Despite tell her not to wait for him, she said on the edge of the bed, legs crossed, waiting. Everyone else seemed asleep or occupied and she didn't want to interrupt. She wasn't that kind of person to butt into a conversation even before. She may had been outgoing and extroverted before, but she wasn't rude.

( @Davadio )

Lucas nodded.
"Yeah," Lucas said, in agreement. "It is nice."
He looked at her again, his smile small but yet strong.
"I see you're talking more too." He said, slightly proud. "I really am proud of how far you've come in such a short amount of time."

Lucas laughed gently and waved a hand.
"Enough with the flattery," he said and smiled. "I do like having you here, having someone here with me makes it a lot less surreal."

Lucky showered quickly, and got out, drying off with one of the towels in the cabinet. Apparently, looters hadn't bothered with towels before.
He got dressed and stepped back into the room, smelling of soap and not week old sweat. His blonde hair was less frizzy, while it was wet, and he hadn' bothered to put is pncho back on, giving Ariella the first good look at his physique.
He wasn't body-builder chiseled, but he'd spent a lot of time living outdoors and making his own way, and it showed, even through the soft cloth of his t-shirt.

Ariella looked up when Lucky finally walked back in. She would enver admit that her eyes wondered, taking in his physique, studying him. Her eyes trailed down to his feet and back up again, only to blush when she had realized what she had done.
She cleared her throat and her eyes looked anywhere and everywhere but him, clearly embarrassed though she didn't want to look as though. "A-are you hungry? I can grab us some food."

( @EtherealDreamer )

Ronni just smiled at him and wondered what he'd think if he knew she had a therapist who lived only in her head now.
"You're worth talking to…" she said quietly. She didn't use her voice often with people she didn't know well, but…
You're enjoying all of his praise, that's a good sign!
Shut up!
Ronni managed not to blush. She was glad he felt slightly better with someone there.

Lucky's stomach rumbled just then. "Yeah, I guess so." He hadn't eaten since breakfast, over 9 hours ago.
He had noticed her noticing him, and that was… new, for him. He'd not had much of a dating life at all, or even really time to get attention from anyone, and certainly in the last few weeks it had been completely off his list of things to do.
So he did his best to not revel in it.

Ariella popped up off the bed. She held her hand for him to take and led him to the kitchen. She looked at their rations out on the counter. "What are you in the mood for?"

Lucky took her hand and walked with her.
"A hamburger." he mumbled. The packaged food he'd been living off of for a while was beginning to drive him a bit crazy. He wanted to get out of the city and go hunt.
"Whatever you like, I'll eat." he said, a bit louder.

Ariella gave him a chuckle and squeezed his hand. She wished she could have a burger too. The next best thing they had was beef flavored Ramen, so that was what she made. Thankfully, there was still some gas in the stove which she was able to heat some water with it.
She slid over the bowl when it was finished to Lucky. She hoped up on the counter with her own bowl, blowing on it until it cooled.

Resourcefulness was a necessary trait to have to survive, and Ariella displayed it regularly. The stove had no power, like other things in the apartment, but its gas lines were still open.
Hit them with the lighter in Lucky's pocket and she was cooking up ramen, which he likely wouldn't have thought of in his current frame of mind.
He felt… off. His shower had been short, but there'd been time for shower thoughts, and his mind had gone to his now-dead family.
He took the bowl of ramen gratefully, and gave her a small smile. "Thank you."

( @Davadio )

Lucas smiled at her playfully.
"I must say," he told her. "I feel a little better than before, but not much."

Lucas looked out the window and frowned, growing serious.
"If I die, will you take care of yourself?" He asked. "And Wally and Marti too?"

( @EtherealDreamer )

Ronni scowled and shook her head, hard.
"You're not going to die, don't go there."
She'd take care of her and the dogs, of course, but she wasn't going to entertain the thought of him dying just yet.

Ariella swung her legs back and forth. The silence was alright for a minute or two before it began to eat at her. It wasn't one of those comfortable silences. At least not to her.
She scooted along the counter until she was right beside Lucky. She leaned her head on his shoulder, placing the bowl next to her. "Is everything alright?"

( @Davadio )

Lucas shrugged.
"I mean, I don't feel like I have the Deluxe, I thought it would feel more like I'd be dying." He told her, with a small smile. "but, I'm trying to make sure everything is taken care of, in case I do."

"But, dying or not aside. I'm starving…" He told her, rubbing his stomach which gave out loud growls.

Lucky glanced up at her, startled. He hadn't realized he'd been staring into space while eating.
He set his empty.bowl down with a sigh and turned so her head would be a bit more comfortable.
"I don't know…" he said quietly, becore correcting himself. "Oh, wait, you mean with us? Yeah everything's fine there. Just… Thinking."

( @EtherealDreamer )

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Ronni said firmly.
She stood, realizing he hadn't eaten in a while. "What sounds good?"

( @Davadio )

"Anything really." Lucas said. "You can't really be picky in an apocalyptic setting."
He smiled up at her.

He dug into his bag and pulled out a measly Slim Jim.
"Want some?" He asked, opening it and splitting it in half, holding one half out to her. "It's all I have right now."

"I meant with you. You're staring. I was wondering what you're thinking about." Ariella tilted her head to get a better view of him. It wasn't hard to guess what he was thinking about. It was either his family or the future. It was just in what way the worried her.