A Shoulder To Lean On [Nagi/Sara]

[Marshmallow]

Nagi tossed off the quilt with a defeated grunt, sat up and promptly yawned. Goddamnit.
It was well past midnight on a work night, the house and surrounding suburbs were silent, but the kirin was inexplicably still awake. Physical fatigue kept nagging at him that he really ought to be asleep, but despite all efforts to do so, his mind simply wouldn’t slow down long enough to let him get any rest. It kept replaying the events of that night, over and over. Although he hesitated to use the phrase "traumatized", there was certainly something to be said for the memory's persistent presence. The sounds, the smells, the voices and screams… When he had chosen to keep the memory intact at the end, he didn’t expect it would remain so vivid. He was not normally prone to dreaming in any meaningful way, so the night of Halloween had left a heretofore unknown impact on his subconscious. Every attempt to rest was met by the same replay: The heartstopping moment they had all thought Aaron was lost, the rasping voice that chased them through the alleys; The distorted howl screaming his name, the thundering footsteps…

He absently thumbed a button on the stereo remote, beginning the third loop of the current playlist. Stereo speakers kept up a steady stream of musical distraction, filling the room with a backdrop of comforting white noise in place of suffocating silence. Since he had the house to himself, the kirin didn’t have to worry about keeping anyone else awake with the noise. Except Okudo of course, but then the jay bird was stubbornly awake regardless, warbling concern as his master got up from the sofa to make another trip to the kettle.

The idea of picking up a new project to pass the time crossed Nagi’s weary mind. And he had wanted to do something nice for his colleagues in the wake of that shared nightmare. Yes, what a perfect distraction! Just one more cup of tea to steady his hands, then he would pull out his knitting needles and get to work. Winter was just around the corner - perhaps a scarf or a set of mittens.


An unexpected knock at his door interrupted those wandering thoughts. Now, who could that be at this time of night?

[tsukikoko]

Sara wasn't even sure what she was doing, anymore.

She'd woken, been unable to sleep, felt too tight and confined even within her own skin. Fears and terrible 'what-ifs' swirled, especially the longer she'd looked at Aaron while he slept beside her. She wanted to help him, didn't know how, couldn't get him to talk to her even as he hurtled further down an overworked spiral. She worried what that meant for their relationship, that she was doing something wrong. Her experience to draw on was severely lacking and the idea of even asking about it, what the answer might turn out to be, scared her half to death.

Before she'd known it, in the midst of a full-blown panic attack, the shifter had found herself outside, running on four paws through the dead of night. She hadn't a clue where she was going, or what she was doing, she simply ran until her lungs burned and her feet were scuffed and aching.

Aaron would be furious if he knew she was out here, alone. The thought only made her run further.

The cold, the feel of wind through her fur and an exhausting, physical release, had helped some. Enough that the canine had slowed to a panting stop, looked around herself and collected her bearings. She knew this area. Had apparently run to it subconsciously.

With a tired, distressed whine, she'd approached the front door of an abode she knew well; had listened out for signs of anyone else out at this late hour, but found none. After transforming back to a ginger-haired woman, Sara knocked upon the door, shivering slightly. She might be born and raised in the North of England, but being out in little more than nightclothes, with nothing on her feet, was too much even for her cold-bearing limits.

So, when Nagi opened the door, her voice trembled from lightly chattering teeth, while her hands created a sound of skin over skin as she rubbed her arms.
"'Ello luv..." She murmured, immensely apologetic for disturbing her friend at such a late hour. "I- I'm reet sorry for botherin' ya, like I just... I don't know what tah do with meself I-" A shaking hand ran through her fluffy, windswept hair, then down the back of her neck. "Could I talk tah ya... Please?"

[Marshmallow]

Nagi’s perplexed expression suddenly cleared when he discovered not a drunken stranger on his doorstep, but dear Sara instead. He had been prepared to tell off a stranger, or shoo off one of Kail’s random odd-hour visitations that he was not in the mood for. All of that evaporated when he heard Sara speak. His battle with insomnia suddenly didn’t matter anymore, and abruptly he was fully awake and on high alert. The clear exhaustion and distress in her voice made his heart seize with worry - which wasn’t helped by the rush of cold wind blowing across the threshold.


“Sara, what are you…? Jeez, it’s freezing out there! Come on, get inside,” Nagi exclaimed as he ushered Sara through the door and shut it firmly behind, closing off the chilly night air. The kirin almost stumbled over his own legs as he hurried her from the foyer and toward the sofa.

“Come now, don’t you ‘sorry’ me, young lady. Here.” The blanket he had been wrapped up in just minutes before was hurriedly bundled across her shoulders. “You’re in luck: I was just putting the kettle on. Wait right here, warm up, take some deep breaths, and I’ll be right back with a cup. Then I’m all ears for you, okay hon?”


He was loath to leave her there for even a minute when she was clearly upset. But a night that had her at his door at such an ungodly hour called for every comfort he could offer.
And so, leaving her in the company of the ever-faithful Okudo, Nagi hustled off to the kitchen where the kettle sat waiting. He felt his way to a particular cupboard, to a particular shelf, and a particular box. He wasn’t able to get his hands on the imported stuff very often, so it was usually saved for special occasions.


Soon he was making his way back out to the living room, the faint rustle of his personal breeze heralding his heroic return with the tea tray. The tray found its way to the coffee table, and a steaming cup of Yorkshire tea was placed in Sara’s hands, prepared just the way she liked it - or as well as he could manage at 2-something in the morning on less than an hour’s sleep…

With a huff of breath, the kirin dropped onto the sofa at her side and took up a cup of his own. “Talk to me. What’s got you all the way out here so late at night?”

[tsukikoko]

By the time Nagi returned, his unexpected guest had drawn into herself on the sofa; her knees drawn up to her chest, arms wrapped around, eyes downcast and tail curled tight around her body, as though to act as a defensive shield. One of her fingers gently stroked Okudo's breast, a rhythmic motion, but there was none of the usual vigorous affection and smiles. Rather, it seemed Sara was doing so out of reflex - mostly because she'd feel bad if she didn't give her avian friend some level of attention... and the softness of his feathers were, admittedly, a comfort.

Even when a cup of tea was placed in her hands, all the shifter could manage was a softly whispered 'thank you' as she cradled the hot drink. She stared down at the liquid, fixating upon tiny ripples in the surface. Tracking as they smoothed out in an attempt to force her racing mind to do the same thing.

It didn't really work.

“Talk to me. What’s got you all the way out here so late at night?”
Nagi's question drew the shifter's attention. She lifted her gaze to look sidelong at him, but the first time she opened her mouth to respond the only sound to escape was a broken, cracked syllable that amounted to nothing. A gentle cough, clearing her throat. She took a sip of tea to provide an excuse for the dragging silence, even though the liquid scalded her tongue a little from the speed she drank it. In the few seconds she had, Sara's thoughts turned to Aaron; would he be awake now, wondering where she was? She didn't even have her phone on her, which was another source of anxiety.

God, why had she done this?

Yet, for the first time, the idea of going home, right at that moment, filled her with even more stress than the repercussions of staying out for longer. She wanted to talk to Nagi. Didn't know what to say. Appreciated that he'd taken her in without question. Felt guilty that he'd had to.

In the end, when her voice finally did emerge, Sara's voice was a tiny, defeated whisper,
"I just... needed tah git away. For a while." She released a slow breath, a pained, groaning whine escaping along with it. "I don't know... what tah do..."