trans_9 | Bendytimed to Shore Leave [Open]

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Bendytimed to Shore Leave [Open]

Negi was smoking. A holo-cig but still.

And he had a big goofy grin on his face.

For his first cigarette in, well, forever, he was being rather good at it. And he was humming and walking around like he was floating on air.

The night before had been just fantastic. Wonderful food despite the tiny portions, the wine was great, the amazing not!date...

Yeah, he was on cloud nine at the least. And dressed in sunglasses, hooded shirt and shorts with sneakers, he was humming loudly and a little off tune.

Chamo chuckled to himself. "You think the way he was acting he got laid..."

"I heard that!" exclaimed Negi and Chamo laughed.

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"Well um, it's just on the cheek really a couple of times," stammered Negi, twiddling his thumbs and poking his fingers together. "Oneechan are you trying to make me feel on the spot?"

He was whining, just a little like a kid should, but he couldn't help it. Katara was amused and Nanashi, well, he didn't quite understand why she was so upset.

"It's... not like I wanted to forge a pactio with her," said Negi, going red, clearly having thought about it. Her lips are soft too and... oh gosh... "I wouldn't want to put her in any danger from it..."

Nanashi was tapping her foot impatiently, giving Negi a very motherly "you are in trouble now" look. Nanashi did not like the idea of love. It caused too much pain. But what she was more concerned about was, "and what is this pactio that you were considering forging with her?"

Kano's well timed whisper chimed in now, "You know that there is no such thing as love. Why don't you tell him so? Ignore his tears! Break his heart."

"I'm just playing with you," Katara said, giving Nanashi a what are you doing look. This was another one of those times where Nanashi started think of love as this horrible thing, even though it was possible to find love again. She shook her head.

"It strengthens your magic, doesn't it Negi?"

Negi nodded. "And protects the wielder of the pactio as well."

Negi pulled out a sheath of cards and held them up, fanning them out. "These are my students, the ones who I made a pactio with. They're still active which means they're here, in the pods somewhere. Otherwise it would have been broken."

"With this one," said Negi, holding up a card with him on it, "I can access all of their artifacts. And the power flow is mutual, I get stronger, they get stronger."

Nanashi felt relieved. That did not sound too bad after all. If you could not come out on top, coming out even was the next best thing.

"Still, be careful little one. Love is not always as wonderful as it first seems. Like all living things it eventually wilts and fades. It is the one thing that my blood cannot freeze in time."

Even if Katara was giving her a look, Nanashi felt how she felt, and Kano's nagging only made it worse.

"Love is something that Negi doesn't know anything about quite yet," Katara insisted, "and even if he does, he'll be the one to find out what he thinks about it, not be told by any of us. But I'm glad the pactio can protect those friends of yours that you care about. Make sure if you ever do that with this Sasami, she knows exactly what it can do, okay?"

Negi was young, and this encounter of his sounded relatively innocent between him and the little girl. There was no reason to make a big thing of it more than it was, and certainly not to doom him before it began.

So this was how it was like to get fought over. One of them wanted him to remain a child, the other knew he was an adult on the inside. Oh man...

"Still though, I'll be fine." insisted Negi, trying to steer things away from his love life. "I'll be fine, really. And Sasami-chan and I are friends. Really!"

He blushed. "I'll... make certain."

Edited 2010-06-28 18:21 (UTC)

Friends. Nanashi could live with that. Children needed friends.

Nanashi put her hand on Negi's shoulder, with her face rather concerned, "As long you are careful, little one."

The last thing she wanted was for Negi to get his heart broken.

Katara sighed. She was hoping to make Negi understand that of he cared a lot about her, they didn't have to be just friends. In her opinion though, whatever was going to happen with them would happen, regardless of what she or Nanashi said.

"I agree," Katara said, giving Negi a smile. "And if you ever need any advice or have any questions, just ask, okay?"

Negi smiled and nodded, beaming at the pair. "I will, count on it!"

He smiled and impulsively, hugged the pair one after another.

Nanashi beamed back at him and laughed a bit. "Though, if you come to both Katara and myself, you are likely to get two rather different opinions. I am still more than happy to give you whatever advice your might need, little one."

"Well that goes without saying," Katara said, looking slightly abashed. Yes, the two of them were definitely different from each other, Katara preferring a more positive approach for Negi. Still, she knew negative reinforcement had its own part: Toph had shown her that in her training of Aang.

"And we'll be more than happy to accept help from you if you're offering," Katara added. His help with Haku's river had been greatly appreciated.

"Ah, I'll do that. Thank you you two. And yeah, I'll avoid drinking and other stuff from now on." He smiled at them both and rubbed his head. "Sorry for worrying you two."

Nanashi scooped up Negi into her arms, holding his arms with one hand and his legs with the other. With a soft laugh, she kissed him on the forehead. "That's a mother- er... my job, to worry. Worrying helps to keep you safe. It might be irritating at times, but I swear I just want you to live happily."

She had only known Negi a short amount of time, but already she viewed herself as a mother figure for Negi- and even for Katara.

Katara was a little startled to see nanashi acting so motherly toward Negi, but only for amoment. She was beginning to see taht despite the quirks, Nanashi truly did care for children, him included. She could see what Nanashi was attempting, and though she was a vampire and supposedly different, love her for it.

"We all do," Katara said softly. "Enjoy your vacation, but take it easy, okay?"

If she had known Nanashi's thought, she would have been surprised and a little happy.

"I will! And don't worry, I've learned my lesson."

Negi smiled brightly at the pair as he leaned into Nanashi's shoulder. It was funny, seeing a teenager being carried like a sack of potatoes but for now, he decided it was alright.

Nanashi was very happy that he decided that it was alright. She slid her hand up and gently cradled Negi, her hand on his head.

She closed her eyes softly and smiled, looking truly happy.

Her mother had been terrible, but Nanashi's hate for her poor excuse for a mother made her that much of a better mother. And knowing that a child cared for her one one of the few things that made her feel content.

Katgara had waited, seeing her friend cradle her younger friend. Katara wasn't stupid: she understood what this meant to Nanasahi, and chose to quetly watch Nanashi cradel Negi.

For a little while before another villian came, anyway.

"Watch him," Katara said. "You care."

"Alright. You take care too Onesama," said Negi. "I'll relax here."

"I will see you soon then, little one," Nanashi said with a warm softness not usually found in her voice.

Then Nanashi realized she was still holding onto Negi. She set him down gently, her hand on Negi's shoulder still, keeping him close still with her arm around his shoulders. "I will be sure to watch over Negi, and I shall be watching over you too, Katara dear."

Katara said nothing for a moment, staring down at Negi. She was worried of course, why wouldn't she be? Things were happening fairly fast, and Negi was having to mature fast enough to keep up with it all. When it got down to it, she was too really, but with Negi Katara was sensitive to what he had to deal with.

She looked up when she heard her name mentioned and why. She was about to remind Nanashi that she could take care of herself and then thought better about it. It wasn't a bad thing, after all, to be watched over, and she might even need it.

"Thank you," she said. "That means a lot."

Negi grinned. "Don't worry, we'll be okay." He chuckled softly at the way he was being held. Like an overgrown kid.

Nanashi smiled brightly at Katara, "I am glad." As Negi chuckled she pulled him tighter, beaming down at him.

For once thoughts of possible betrayal were not on her mind. Just a feeling of warmth that she had only ever felt for children. Children who she began to think of as her own.

Katara smiled, watching the two of them. She had an idea of what Nanashi was thinking, even if the two of them reacted differently to Negi and hsi more mature behavior.

"He's something, isn't he?" Katara said, pausing to touch a strand of his hair. "He's really powerful and strong, but so easily led into things he'd not ready for. I just want to mkae surer he makes the right choices."

Negi reddened just a little as the women talked around him. He was a kid still yes, highly impressionable. He HAD learned a few things but it never really crossed his mind about girls and other things.

"I'm not that bad..."

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