Requiem of the Dead S03E04 - [Enjoy Your Company]

Nik tried not to look disappointed that Saiph could go, but he knew the Healer’s tent wasn't really the best place for her to be staying with everything that had happened to her here. "You probably should still walk with someone, just in case." It was blatantly obvious that he wanted to spend more time with her, and the thinly covered excuse wasn't hiding anything, but thankfully Christie didn't seem to notice.

"I could walk with her. I was going to head back to my room anyway, I need to find out your dress for tomorrow night anyway."

Kaci gave her an unreadable glance, but she was focusing more on what she could feel than what she could see.

Saiph looked at Christie with a little seriousness. "I think it's best if we don't go alone anywhere together for a while. It's only going to give the Necromancer an opportunity to take us both. I'll go with Rovelaen, or Nik, if he's willing." She gave him a small smile.

Rovelaen looked between the two and held back the urge to roll his eyes. "Actually, I have to deal with Heilyn. He's feeling a little moody right now, and we have to take some of his stuff out of his room to make it more comfortable for you." He was sort of lying; even though he didn't have a bond with Saiph anymore, he could tell that she would've preferred spending time with Nik.

"I can come by to check up on you later tonight, but I'll be talking to the other Guardians about doing extra patrols tonight to make sure no one gets in. The Circus has closed for the night anyway."

"All right," Saiph said, trying to hide her happiness at getting a chance to talk to Nik again.

Nik hid his smile by dropping his head down to hide behind his hair, glad he hadn't let Max persuade him into cutting it, but Christie could tell he was glad he got to spend some more time with Saiph. She stood up and avoided meeting Kaci's gaze by looking at the trays of food they'd brought for Saiph.

"While you're heading off then, Kaci and I'll take back the trays, save Nik having to do it when he comes back." Kaci looked like she wanted to object, but she just nodded. For once, she wanted to do her Guardian duty and patrol with Rovelaen and the others, but she needed to talk to Christie and the walk to the cafeteria would give her the perfect opportunity.

"We'll go now, give you some space to gather yourself for the arduous walk to Heilyn's room," she teased slightly, but her heart wasn't really in it, she was still giving Christie curious glances as she made the trays easier to carry.

Rovelaen glanced at Kaci in concern and walked over to her, wrapping his arms around her and giving her a long, slow kiss. He pulled back after a moment and rested his forehead on hers. "Don't do anything stupid while I'm out and about," he teased lightly. He wanted to spend time with Kaci alone for a while, since they hadn't had a chance to since the vacation. Being Guardians and working at the Circus was tougher than he thought it would be while trying to maintain their intimacy.

Kaci gladly let herself get caught in the moment, resting her arms on his chest and sighing when he pulled back. "I don't think it's me you have to be worried about." She'd hoped she would feel something from Christie, even annoyance would be good at this point, but she was completely blank. Even going as far as attempting to block their bond from her end, though she still wasn't very good at that. "Keep them safe," she murmured with a small smile, before giving him another quick kiss and pulling out of his grip. She wanted to stay there for a while longer, but she needed to know what was going on with Christie.

Rovelaen nodded and smiled at her. "I'll be in touch."

Saiph decided to look away while they spoke and she carefully walked over to Nik's side. She wasn't feeling exhausted or weak anymore, but her limbs felt sore and unused. "Okay, I'm ready when you are," she told him cheerfully.

Nik tried not to look at Kaci and Rovelaen as they had their moment, so he looked at Saiph with a smile. He didn't realize how much he liked her eyes until he hadn't been able to see them and it took more effort than it should've done just to form a coherent sentence while he looked into them. "Well then." He gestured forwards. "Ladies first."

Rovelaen reluctantly walked away and out of the tent, shifting into his peacock form so he could fly to the Circus entrance. He would be doing another quick patrol before talking to the other Guardians.

Saiph watched him leave before she looked back at Christie and Kaci, and she could tell that something was a little...off. Hesitantly, she asked, "Are you guys going to be all right?"

"Yeah, we'll be fine." Christie answered a bit too quickly and bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from caving under both Nik's and Kaci's gaze. Without looking at any of them again, she headed out of the tent, not even waiting for Kaci. The wolf watched her go with a worried expression before looking back at Saiph.

"I would like to say yes, but something's bugging her that she's trying to hide even from me." She forced a smile and looked between her and Nik as she headed after Christie. "Enjoy your walk, you two," she called over her shoulder as she ran to catch up to her.

Kaci caught up with Christie without jostling a single thing on the trays. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Christie was watching her feet as she walked and had her arm hidden in the pocket of her hoodie. "Nothing's wrong, why'd you ask?" It was a clear lie; her tone was quiet and brooding and she wouldn't look up. Kaci narrowed her eyes slightly.

"No, there's definitely something wrong, you're trying to block me, Chris. You only do that if you’re trying to hide something from me." Kaci watched her shoulders tense, though she didn't look up, so she decided to change tactics. "You're pushing the Masquerade thing pretty forcefully, any particular reason?"

At her question, Christie looked up from her feet, puzzled. "I am? Maybe it's because I'm looking forward to it, it'll make a nice distraction." She looked away and silently cursed herself for walking into that head on, and Kaci didn't miss a single beat.

"A distraction, huh? Distraction from what?" Kaci didn't expect an answer, it seemed as if the direct questioning wasn't going to get her anywhere at the moment.

"Just a distraction."

There was something there and Kaci knew it, so she tried another way. "Have you written that letter to your aunt yet? If you want to get her to come see your performance, you might want to get that off soon."

Christie was bewildered by the pace Kaci was changing topics, but she was too focused on her own mind to pay too much attention. "Okay, what's with the twenty questions, Kay?"

The wolf shrugged, she didn't see the point in dodging the question. "You aren't answering the question I want to know the answer to, so I'm trying to get you to think of other things."

Christie looked straight at her, her gaze hard. "You're trying to trick me into opening up, aren't you?"

Kaci winced slightly at the harshness of her tone, but nodded. "You're not answering me when I ask what's wrong, and don't give me the bull that you're fine, 'cause you're evidently not. You have never spoken like that to Rovelaen before, or even me, and you definitely haven't whined about not being able to talk about something before. You know how any information is important to us to try and find the guy after you, preferably before he takes you." At that moment, they reached the cafeteria and Kaci sighed; she wouldn't get to talk to Christie in there. "Wait here, I'll be right back," she muttered, heading in with the uneaten food and leaving Christie to glare at her.

Kaci came back out of the cafeteria and her heart almost stopped when she couldn't see Christie. She spun on the spot before she calmed down enough to remember the bond and wanted to smack herself for being so stupid. She ran towards Christie's room, catching up with her charge pretty quickly. "Would you not do that to my nerves?! I get it you're pissed, but don't just storm off, not tonight."

"Well, didn't seem to do you much harm seeing as you caught up pretty easily." She didn't slow down, or even turn to look at Kaci next to her, and her grip on her emotions was slipping.

"Christie, for the love of god, will you explain what the hell is going on?!" Kaci was trying hard not to lose her temper, but it was hard when she was met with a wall of resistance that was unlike Christie, who was always so open with her emotions, no matter how stupid she thought it might be.

Christie kept staring forwards, her jaw tensing as she fought with herself. "No, because currently, it's none of your business."

Kaci'd had enough, so she stepped in front of Christie to stop her from walking. "Christie, you're my business, so whatever you're going through is as well. Don't think you can't talk to me Chris, I think ten years of suffering is enough. You have family now, real family amongst seeing as how your brother's here, so you acting like this isn't warranted. You don't need to push me out."

Christie finally looked at her, though her expression was blank. "Kaci. This. Is. None. Of. Your. Business. Guardian or not, I need to work this out myself, okay? So for now, just leave me be." They'd reached her room, and as Christie was closest to the door, she entered first, but she blocked Kaci from following her in. "Just give me a bit Kay, I need to think some things though. Alone." She put her hand on the door and it wasn't until it was too late did Kaci realize what she was doing. She tried to reach out and stop her, but something stopped her from passing the threshold. She pulled her hand back, feeling a similar pain that she had when she touched Saiph a few days ago. Christie removed her hand and there was a small sand flower on the door that looked suspiciously like their contract symbol.

"Christie..." She was shocked and hurt that she'd practically barred her out of her room, though strangely impressed that she'd managed to control that specific ability.

"Go round with Rovelaen, I'm sure he'd prefer your company. I'll be safe enough here." And with that, she shut the door, leaving Kaci out in the night just staring at the space where she had been.

Kaci stared at the door for another minute or so before she switched into her wolf form and ran in the direction she could sense Rovelaen in. It made no sense that she should stare at a door when she could be going around trying to prevent the girls from getting taken. Luckily enough, she could still sense Christie through the bond, so it shouldn't be an issue to tell if something happened.


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Saiph watched with a concerned gaze as Christie and Kaci left, and some of her happiness ebbed at the thought that Christie wasn't her usual self. It couldn't have been just because she didn't get to talk about the Masquerade dresses. She sighed as she pulled back her hair, draping it over one shoulder so that it wouldn't keep falling into her face. "Well, I hope that Kaci can help Christie with whatever is wrong. Let's just leave it to her." She looked down at her bare feet and realized that she didn't have any shoes with her; she didn't know if it had been raining or not during the time she had been asleep, but it probably didn't matter. She wanted to take a shower eventually, so she might as well just walk outside barefooted.

"I'd like to stop by my room first to take some things, so I hope you don't mind," she said.

Nik nodded absently, staring at the space Kaci had left. "She's been there for her this long, she should be able to help her now." He looked down at Saiph's bare feet and tried not to smirk. "Yeah, we can stop by your room." It means I can spend that little bit longer with you. He didn't know where the thought had come from, but he wished it hadn't as he looked away with his cheeks on fire. "Try not to go too fast, you don't want to push yourself."

Saiph scoffed. "I've pushed myself harder before, this should be nothing. I'll admit, I haven't slept for three days straight...but, I've been through worse." She tried to sound upbeat and optimistic, and it showed through a determined gleam in her eyes. She didn't want to brood about the Necromancer or the possibility that he would arrive at any time. She just wanted to live in the moment.

As she started to walk out of the tent, she looked back at Nik and said sheepishly, "Uh, sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to...uh, stare." She knew what she had really been doing, but she didn't want to admit it. She still couldn't believe that she had even thought about doing that. It almost baffled her.

Nik shrugged, a bemused smile playing on his lips. "Don't worry about it, no harm no foul." Though he wouldn't admit it, he was a little peeved Heilyn and the others had come back when they had. He tried to change the subject before he started blushing again. "I heard Christie tell you about your dress, and I must say, I'm looking forward to seeing you in it." He looked up from his feet and smiled shyly at her; he didn't want to sound like he'd been eavesdropping or anything.

Saiph frowned at him, but she wasn't particularly bothered. "Well, as long as you haven't seen it, I guess you hearing about it isn't too bad."

As she talked, she focused her attention on her feet. She had said that she'd been through worse, and she had, but she hadn't expected her limbs to feel like wet noodles. She was grateful she had enough stamina not to wobble around, but it was taking more effort than it should've to walk normally.

Nik shook his head. "Christie's description was pretty vague, so she might've known I could hear or something." He wasn't sure how, but she did know where people were at all times, which had always freaked him out. He looked at Saiph carefully, making sure he would be able to react if she fell again. "Are you sure you're okay? To be walking, I mean?" He didn't want to sound overbearing, but she'd only been awake for a few hours after not moving for three days straight.

Saiph smirked at him. "Well, I feel fine. Why, do you want an opportunity to save me from falling over?" She pretended to trip over her own two feet before she caught herself, then she laughed. "Whoops, seems you missed it." She continued to laugh at how stupid she was being.

Nik rolled his eyes but laughed along anyway, skipping over the part where she was right about that. "I'm a Healer, I'm allowed to be worried, it's part of the job description." Well, he wasn't supposed to be as worried as he was being, but she didn't seem to worry about her own welfare as much as she probably should. "It seems like you need saving from yourself more than anyone else. If you're always going to be this chipper when you wake up, maybe I should be there more often when you wake up." He realized how that sounded and tried to splutter out a reason. "W-Well, not like...what I meant was…I didn't..." He shut his mouth to stop himself from going any redder than he already was.

Saiph turned around and grinned. She wasn't feeling embarrassed anymore, and she was enjoying watching him struggle for words. Maybe she'd tease him a bit. "Oh, I think I know what you meant. Why don't you say it anyway? I never thought I'd see you tongue-tied," she said playfully.

Nik couldn't look at her, so he dropped his head forwards ever so slightly so she was hidden behind a wall of hair. "If you already know, then where is the need for me to explain? And me tongue-tied isn't something that happens often, so don't get too excited." She had every right to get excited though, he only got this way when he was suitably embarrassed.

She kept herself from giggling as she straightened her back and continued walking towards her room. They were taking the same route they had walked a few days ago, when Nik had walked her back to her room to get over her flu. It was fairly dark outside, considerably more so since the Circus lights were off. If the lights were off, it must've been close to midnight.

"Well, I'll just have to savor those rare moments, won't I? You know, you could always get payback for me making you 'tongue-tied'," she said honestly. It seemed only fair she would give him a chance to redeem himself.

Nik tilted his head back up so he could look at Saiph, struggling to keep a smirk off his face. "Oh yeah, care to elaborate on how that could be possible?" He had an idea, but he wanted to see what she said first, if anything at all.