onepassingnight | We need to work deeper

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We need to work deeper

Mercury is in a vast, open room made of marble with elegantly carved pillars and supports, that all could have come from a temple in ancient Greece. But instead of an altar, pride of place is given to a massive supercomputer. The terminal and viewscreens take up the entire far wall, where she gives them her full attention.

Her eyes barely move as she studies the computer intently, scrolling through lines of code and occasionally taking down notes. There! She sees exactly how to fix that problem now, one that's been nagging at her for what seems like weeks. But after long enough, her head starts to droop over the console and the words on the screen blur into her thoughts, and then into darkness as she falls asleep.

Ami wakes with a start. Nighttime shadows remind her of how long she's been sitting in this chair, with a can of tea leaves and a hot cup of strongly brewed tea to keep her company while she works through the long hours. The marble hall becomes a comfortable room, modern and spacious, with heavily-laden bookshelves and tropical fish. The massive supercomputer is none other than her laptop. With a pang of irritation, she realizes she can't remember the answer that was so clear a moment ago in her dream. She sits up straight, and goes back to her task right away.

Her eyes barely move as she studies the computer intently, scrolling through lines of code and occasionally taking down notes...

(ooc: since it's a dream in a dream, people can feel free to choose which to catch her at/flit through both)

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He had a lot of choices. There was a park within a short walk, and within a short drive there was an entire range of possibilities, from movie theatres to the amusement park.

They seemed to be heading in the direction of the park first.

Ami seemed to be rather irritated. "Don't think you can just take me wherever you want." On the other hand, she didn't seem to be walking back the other way, either.

Kanda didn't bother with her moody response. If she wanted to play that game, he would too.

"Don't think I just came here to watch you study. I'm sure you do that enough when you're awake, don't get me involved in that too."

And it was true, why would she want to study with him around? Not that he wasn't entertaining enough but they never had a problem with this. He figured she was stressed, that's the only time he knew Lavi to mess around with books. The park would be a good choice. He pulled her onward down the path.

"I'll forgive it this time."

There was really nothing else to do but to accept the fact she was going to be taking a break for awhile. The truth was, she needed one. Ami gave the programming she'd been working on a last, longing thought, and then turned to Kanda.

She'd justify it with the same excuse as the last time, but this time it was Ami who reached to take Kanda's arm, without a single further word of explanation.

Kanda didn't mind the contact, after all, this was a dream and they had done much worse in his opinion than a chaste touch of skin. Unfortunately, Kanda's anger didn't allow him to register their touch. He was known for his blinding moods and right now he wouldn't be satisfied until he had found somewhere to settle.

Parks were different now than they used to be, no to mention this park was big! He came to a fork in the path and glared from one side to the other.

"Dammit. Why do they have to make everything so complicated."

There were still trees, there were still bushes and a few flowers that braved the weather. There was even still a pond, where a few hardy men showed off their strength by rowing rented boats.

"The path to the center is this way. It comes out at the other side, almost exactly in the middle." A slight nudge guided Kanda in the right direction.

Kanda moved in the direction she proposed only to find himself going towards the edge of what appeared to be a very decent-sized lake? There weren't a lot of people here, the day was rather chilly after all, but they were still renting those boats on the pond. He watched.

"What is this, a fishing pond?" In the middle of a park? Strange.

"No," Ami said, with a slight nod towards one of the nearer boats, which had no gear or tackle. "They're just for boating."

Suddenly, she turned to Kanda, with a mischievous smile. "I want to try one!"

Kanda watched. Most of the people on these boats were men rowing for some girl. He didn't exactly have a name for it, the behavior was strange but his senses were tingling. Something strange was amiss.

"Try one? Go ahead. I'll wait right here."

He was going to follow his gut even if he didn't really know what was wrong. He also didn't do very well with that much water.

Ami just happened not to let go as she headed towards the rental stand. Kanda was coming with her, like it or not, evidently.

As she approached him, the boatman greeted her and her companion warmly. A few minutes earlier, he'd yelled at a couple for being short on money and wasting his time. "It's such a nice day," he decided this time, for Ami and Kanda, "I'd like to give you both the hour free." Ami's bright smile in return was too innocent.

Humans were so easy.

Whatever Ami had done to convince the man to give them the boat rental for free, Kanda wasn't going to question. Instead, he bothered himself with other things, like the fact she was forcing him to row a boat. He had done this before, that wasn't a problem. The problem was why.

"I guess this is the part where you tell me not to complain since you're not sitting in front of your computer, right?"

Ami's smile widened, never a good sign. "You got it exactly!" she informed her unlucky victim. "You decided we should come out, so I thought I'd decide what to do."

Free tickets were not to be turned down. If she had any twinge of guilt for the boatman out a fare, it didn't show. Instead, she headed towards the dock where the boats waited.

Kanda gave an annoyed grunt. Ami got him, she had definitely tricked him into this. Sure, he wanted her to put some attention on him, but this? Boat rides? What the hell were they doing, some sort of da-

And then he decided that sort of thought wasn't entirely a good thing to dwell on. He went silent and instead he just did what he was told. He had mesed with these before and before stepping in himself, he extended his hand out to help her on the boat.

"Don't think I'll be rowing the entire time." He muttered. That was never his job.

"Are you saying you can't do it?" Ami stepped lightly into the little flat-bottom boat, which had just a bit of water in the bottom, and took a somewhat facetiously proper seat. She deliberately put her hands in her lap, nowhere near the oars.

Mostly because he'd said that.

"Unlike you in your future world, we don't have the luxuries of horseless carriages." Once she was inside, he settled himself at the oars. Damn, this boat was wet. He made an annoyed sound before starting to row.

"We travel on foot, on train, and by ships and boats." Kanda's pretty damned strong, look at this boat pick up a good speed as he heads to the center of the pond.

If Kanda weren't strong, Ami would never be even this close to him. She didn't bother hiding a tiny smile as he was persuaded to row after all. Instead, she relaxed in her seat, and let herself take in their surroundings.

They were headed towards the center of the pond, and Kanda's strong pull on the oars was attracting some attention from curious girls - and boys suddenly keen to prove themselves by quickening their own paces to impress those girls.

"You're good at this," the girl seated in his boat observed lightly. "I think I'll let you continue awhile."

Edited 2012-10-28 12:26 (UTC)

"Tch. Nice try." Kanda had no intentions of rowing this boat all over the pond for an hour. He was heading to the center of the lake because that's where he intended to let the ship float. There was nothing wrong with just taking in the surroundings after all, right? He rowed a few more times before slowing down as they reached their mark.

"I'm not rowing you around for an hour." He all ready proved he could do this, no need to prove anything else. He came to a halt, letting the boat steady itself before setting down the oars and leaning back in his seat.

Ami didn't mind. She'd been teasing Kanda, for the most part. What was enjoyable about being out on the lake was the simple act of being out on the water. For awhile, they drifted in silence, and she found herself looking up to the clear sky, and down into the depths of her reflection. She didn't linger too long with the latter.

"I'd like to stay out here like this for a long time," she admitted when she finally spoke. "I like it."

Although Kanda wasn't a big fan of open water, he definitely appreciated the calm that came with the element. The day was cold but the wind wasn't so strong. The water rippled the boat soothingly swayed from left to right and he couldn't really complain. His anger was and annoyance was swept away in a few minutes. Now, he was just calm.

"It's refreshing to see a place like this within a forest of concrete." He really wasn't sure he liked these big buildings. He didn't like them in his time but that was mostly because he had grown too accustomed to living in a tower surrounded by dense forest. He turned his head towards Ami.

"Are you cold?"

She didn't know to say she was cold, so that he'd come to close to her or let her borrow a jacket, like another girl might do.

"No," she said instead. "This cold doesn't compare to the North Pole." It was the truth, if a rather extreme example. She felt at home among landscapes of ice and glaciers and frozen lakes.

Edited 2012-10-28 12:46 (UTC)

That wasn't exactly the response he had been expecting but he didn't think too much of it, he shrugged and then began to move, shooing her aside in order to slip in beside her.

"Don't complain later if I end up falling asleep." Because he couldn't help but feel comfortable here. He had a hand holding his head up at the edge of the boat while the other slipped around her front. "This wasn't such a bad idea." The boat thing, of course.

It was strange, how people could get used to something. She'd told herself she was used to loneliness. She'd told herself she was used to the Darkness.

She hadn't expected that it was also possible to get used to someone sitting next to her, touching her, or stolen moments of calm, even if they were only in her dreams. She moved to give Kanda room, and if she didn't relax into his touch until a few seconds had passed, it was from surprise rather than distaste.

Silence again. She wasn't good at knowing what to say, when she had these feelings like she wanted to say the right thing. What came out instead was terse from thoughts she couldn't label.

"If you do that," she said, looking down to where Kanda's arm held her firmly, "Don't talk about being ready to give in to your Innocence any longer. I won't accept you disappearing."

Edited 2012-10-28 12:58 (UTC)

To Kanda, the gesture had been bold to say the least but not as bold as Ami kissing him in the last dream they shared. He wasn't sure he could do that, at least not right now. There was always a time and place, he figured. Regardless, he was confused by her words, tilting his head to the side.

"Do what. I'm not allowed to hold you?" Yet you can shove your tongue down his throat? That just didn't seem very fair.

Ami knew, in that simple misunderstanding, what a part of her had already known anyway: Kanda would follow the path he chose, wherever it led.

Like her. And that determination and strength were something she admired.

She argued anyway, stubbornly and even unfairly. "Not if you won't be there." She had no intention of becoming used to it, if she was also going to lose it.

The pieces were starting to click and he realized she was talking about his potential death. He couldn't promise her anything and he wasn't going to try to. He grunted, shifting a bit before turning back to Ami.

"You're really going to ruin the moment talking about this?" He knew what he had to say wasn't going to be of her liking and it wasn't like Kanda to lie.

A part of her might have known he was right, once: Maybe an end was inevitable, maybe saying she liked this moment on this lake wouldn't lead to happiness, maybe feelings would change or maybe something else would happen. But they could have this moment on this lake right now.

Right now, she wanted to grab on to it anyway and refuse to give it up. Without naming it, she wanted to close herself off to anything that would end in being left behind and forgotten. She wanted to be enough to stay for.

A part of her knew that she wasn't. A part of her didn't want to push him out of this moment by insisting, after what he'd said. But the last time she hadn't known what to say, she'd regretted not finding the words for far too long.

"If I don't say anything," she finally said, "I won't be able to make you understand me at all."

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