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[lingeringwill]

Terra Mason


It's Terra. You can leave me a message. Actually, maybe you should just pop in and say hi, because I don't really check my messages that often. Oops. Sorry.

VOICE | TEXT | VIDEO | ACTION

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[lingeringwill]

[When Minako checks in on him, she'll find him sitting at his desk, texting.]

Oh. [The phone finds its way into his pocket.]

Hey, Birthday Girl. Yeah, let's go. My treat.

[complementing]

[A little arch of her eyebrow, but otherwise she grins at him and trots out.]

You sure you wanna do that? With my appetite?

[lingeringwill]

[He follows, giving her a little shove.]

I'm well aware, cupcake queen. It's the sacrifice I'm willing to make for your birthday.

[complementing]

Thank you for your generosity. [A playful huff as she shoves back and of course doesn't do much to move him.] Luckily for you, I'm craving curry today, so I won't completely drain your wallet dry.

[Out the building they go! She tips her head back and stretches her arms up, sighing.]

Aaah, I'm so glad it's sunny today...I've missed sunshine so much!

[lingeringwill]

Must be nice to be back in the city, yeah? Fitting that you get to come back right as spring kicks back in.

[And with that, a deep breath...]

The world makes so much more sense when the weather is nice, you know? No more rushing around to get out of the cold...

It's a good time of the year to have a birthday.

[complementing]

Mmhm! Everything starts to feel like it's being reborn after winter.

[She inhales deeply like him, breathing in all of the earthy and natural floral scents in the air. Off in the distance, on the path that they're walking, she can see some flowering trees, and starts hop-skipping that way. They can figure out if there's a curry restaurant that way after she sees them.]

Minato and I are heading to the Hinamatsuri festival later, too. That should be fun.

[HOPEFULLY.]

[lingeringwill]

[She just does as she pleases, doesn't she? Drifting through life like a flower petal in the wind, enchanting everything around her.

Terra touches his thumb to his temple––you've gotta stop thinking in terms like that, Mason. He follows close behind her, hands in his pockets with long slow strides, contrasting with her bounciness.]

Yeah? I'll stop by, then.

[And he turns his gaze up to the flowering trees. He gently rapts his knuckles against her shoulder.]

Don't wear yourself out so soon after getting back, okay?

[complementing]

[She glances over her shoulder at him, smiling wryly.]

I'll try not to. I was really homesick while I was gone. I missed the city so much it ached to have to go back to the mountains and finish the mission. So this month, I want to spend a ton of time with all my friends and family, and make up for being gone.

[A breeze kicks up, rocking the branches and pulling soft pink petals loose from their flowers. Not that many, because there are too many unopened blooms, but just enough to look pretty and poignant at the right moment.]

[lingeringwill]

Well, if you were home sick, then I was...Minako-sick.

[A pause...]

Oh, I...got you something, actually.

[complementing]

[Minako-sick...it's the first time since December that he's mentioned anything resembling his lingering affections, and she's not quite sure how to respond. Luckily he doesn't dwell on it, and the natural warmth of their friendship is enough to overcome any hint of awkwardness she feels, a pleased smile blooming on her face.]

Did you?

[Another small shower of petals falls over them, and after a moment

she realizes it's so much more sunny today, the sky a perfect blue and the heady scent of sakura in the air. Everything is warm around her, pressing in on her senses. Gently. Slowly. Until she can't tell where it's coming from anymore, surrounded by its weight. It makes individual thoughts difficult. They rise and fall, never breaking the surface, only there for a moment before the warmth overcomes it and they drown again.

But Minako, ever the fighter, tries anyways.

Aigis. Graduation Day. A promise made, and a promise kept. Barely holding on. On top of a roof. Tartarus? No, Gekkoukan. With Aigis. Graduation Day. Each thought takes a breath. The loop and the mantra it becomes is the only way she knows when to breathe. Then breathing gets harder, and she can't hold on anymore. She's waited for them as long as she can.

She lets herself drown. Closes her eyes to feel the slowing beat of her own heart. She feels the distant touch of Aigis' fingers on her cheek, and knows that Aigis knows that it's skin warmed by the sun, instead of her own blood.

It was a good life.

Minako gasps out, blindly reaching out to Terra and desperately drawing in air until her lungs are bursting with it to make up for the lack she'd just experienced.]

Oh my god-- oh my god--