willynilly | IC Contact

[mmmmmmmmrrrg. he could counter it, but that would be crossing a line. and besides that, he's damn tired and his eyes already hurt enough.]

...is this going to make you feel better? [he asks again, grumbling.]

Yes, sir.

[there's even a bit of pep added to her tone the more she responds. once he's lying back down she re-soaks the cloth and lays it fresh on his forehead, because wow, sensei, you're heating that shit up real quick.]

Okay, don't move- just try to rest while I get the cooking done. If you feel overheated, change the cloth and have a drink of water. I'll be right back!

[she's off before he can even think about protesting. sucks to be Aizawa, he just got himself a full-time nurse. gonna steal a sleeping bag for his door and everything.]

[.......shit. he really, really fucked up.

she's not supposed to be worrying about him, or looking after him or anything like that. even if it's just something he's allowing so she'll feel better, more useful, that's still not...

aizawa sighs, pulling the warming cloth off his forehead and dipping it in the bowl again to wring it out. back when he'd first arrived he'd told uraraka that despite the circumstances, nothing between them had changed, but that simply isn't true. it was a naive assumption to make, because back then he couldn't have comprehended being here so long, and getting so attached. not just to ochako, but to others in the fleet as well.

this isn't the same environment as a school. of course their relationship would reflect those differences.

when uraraka returns, she'll find him a little more compliant, though a lot less talkative as a result.]

[ochako fusses and frets her way through cooking the meal, burning it at least once trying to make it perfect. she's sure he won't care, but she does, and she's determined to make up for what happened even if he doesn't blame her. eventually she returns to the room carting a steaming bowl with her, tentatively poking her head in.]

Sensei, still awake? Sorry it took so long.

[he'd been dozing, actually, though he wakes with a sharp inhale as she pokes her head back in, glancing over at her blearily before rubbing his eyes and taking the definitely-warm towel off of his forehead.]

Don't worry about it. I'm going to be sleeping quite a bit for a while.

You do look pretty tired.

[no sense in beating around the bush about it, he looks like garbage. but better this than no longer here at all.

she offers out the bowl of food, plopping herself down in his desk chair.]

Well, don't worry about anything while you sleep! We'll make sure everything's okay.

[excuse you child, he always looks tired, and whose fault do u think that is

that's right, it's his]

And who's 'we?' [takes that bowl to start eating. slowly. he's not hungry but he's not gonna get out of this bed without some food in him.]

[look she wasn't gonna say anything

else]

Everybody else on the ship, of course. Besides you and, um. Mr. Max.

[she wilts a little at that; she hasn't seen him back yet, and she can't really celebrate everyone's return until everyone is actually safe and sound.]

...him too, hm? [aizawa feels like a jerk, but he's not exactly surprised. max comes off as the type of the person who wouldn't be anywhere else but the thick of things.] So everyone else is all right, then.

...N-no, sensei... a lot of people died.

[Her voice is thick, swallowing around a lump in her throat. Superheroes have been so effective at stopping crime her entire life that she's never seen a list of dead that long. It's been really horrifying, and it shows on her face.]

I saw. I meant just with our crew. [look, there's literally no way to sugarcoat this, and he wouldn't want to anyway. it's one thing to read about deaths and statistics in textbooks or on the news, and another thing entirely to see it with your very eyes.]

Mm.

[She merely nods her head, awkward and uncomfortable. Have they all come back now? Are they safe, can they go back to normal? Is there any going back after all of this?]

...Sensei... I don't want to believe that this is a real show anymore. I can't do it. I can't think about a whole universe of people... who would be this cruel.

Mmm. I think you're right. [at least, he agrees that it can't be your average reality show, but there's just not enough information to go on yet.]

[she swallows hard, taking a long, deep breath. and then, meekly:]

I want to go home.

[it's not like she's saying anything groundbreaking. he knows it, she knows it. she can fool herself into thinking this place is fun and exciting and so very interesting sometimes but she feels it in some way or another every single day: staring down at her phone, dialing familiar phone numbers she knows won't connect, decorating mochi and thinking of her parents, working on a new technique and thinking how much more fun it would be if Deku and Iida were around to help her develop it, trying strange alien foods and wishing Tsuyu was there to share it with her. Aizawa's not clueless, he knows how she feels.

it's just... she hasn't said it out loud for at least a year. sometimes she needs to hear the words out of her own mouth, because holding it in hurts too much.]

[there really isn't anything he can say to that, too. she knows it; she's young, but she's not an infant. she's not expecting a solution, maybe not even expecting any words of advice. this is...confiding. maybe if she had her friends from home, her family, she would be telling them this instead, but he's all she has.

aizawa lowers his spoon into his bowl, looking down at the top of her bowed head, before reaching out to rest his hand there like he had down on the planet's surface.] I know, [he murmurs.] ...me too.

[It's a familiar gesture, bittersweet now that it comes hand in hand with a reminder of why he'd done it. I'll come back, he'd promised. And died.

...but... sure enough, here he is.

She lets it sit there for a moment, considering the implications now that they're apart from all the chaos and heartache of the planet, of what it means for him to touch her like that- something gentle and caring, the way her father would, the way she'd seen All Might do with the boys sometimes. Not Aizawa. Never him. She lets it sit and then abruptly ducks free of it, stepping back and lifting her head with that bright smile back on her face, like she hadn't been a breath away from crying or hugging him (or both) a scant second ago.

It's not that she dislikes it. Maybe that's the problem.]

Um... okay, well! Not much we can do about it. What we can do is take care of that fever. I'm gonna get a couple of extra blankets in case you get shivers later. Finish your rice and get some rest, alright?

[lets his hand fall back onto his lap, recognizing the withdrawal from the gesture, kicking himself a little for it.] All right. Take your time.

[seriously. have mercy on everyone and just. take your time.]

IC Contact | Drift Fleet

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