trans_9 | Just a Little Bit Closer, Just a Little Warmer [Closed to Steve]

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Just a Little Bit Closer, Just a Little Warmer [Closed to Steve]

Miku didn't like the observation deck anymore. Ever since the Punishment had occurred, she couldn't stay very long without hearing things that had been past days ago. She figured it was probably worse because it was "newer" than the events that had already happened on the ship.

Regardless, the moment she heard Stacy's voice quietly admonishing Big Zero for her actions in that cold voice of hers, Miku started to hurry across the deck like someone had lit her on fire.

Anywhere would be better than hearing or seeing this. Anywhere at all. She pointedly kept her eyes on her the ground to avoid seeing any of the Punishment again. Once was enough. Once was more than enough.

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"It's not always, though. Just when something happens really bad. How do I explain it..." Miku looked thoughtful for a bit and tapped her finger against his stomach.

"Think of it like... a water ripple. When something bad happens, it reaches out. People who can see into the future see a brief flash, but people who are unlucky like I am can see it always, because it's already happened. Eventually, though, the feelings caused by the event fade over time, so things that are older are harder for me to see than things that are brand new." Miku walked her fingers up and down his stomach. "Does that make sense?"

He seemed to squirm a little bit when she poked at his stomach. Ticklish, was he? "Yeah, that makes sense. And I guess there isn't much in the way of good things around in a place like this."

Steve sighed and twirled a finger in a lock of her hair. "Still... be careful. I don't want you to overdo it like last time."

An impish smile curled up over Miku's lips, and for once she was thankful that Steve couldn't see her face.

Just wait until he recovered. Just wait! "I will be, that really scared me," she assured him. "Cargn-sensei is making me take smaller steps. I guess I learn quickly, but when it comes time to apply it..." she shrugged. "It will just take practice. Anyway, I know that if something really bad happens, you'll make that face I hate. That keeps me from running too far ahead of myself, too."

"Yeah. I'll sit by your bed in medical and just make the face, all day long. You'll be sorry."

He shrugged his shoulders again, looking a bit guilty. "I guess I'll be training harder too now that Luke and I don't have to worry about... you know. I'll have to try not to overdo it, either."

"I will! I really hate that look!" Miku laughed again and poked his stomach to punctuate her sentence. "Just remember, that I will give you the same look if you decide you need to overdo it suddenly, Steve."

He tried to hold back a bit of a squeak when she poked him. He didn't succeed all that well. "Okay, okay. Don't worry. The very last thing I want to do is get stuck in medical all over again now."

"Besides," he added, "I'm still kind of tired. I don't know how I'm gonna get up from this spot, much less train too hard."

"Well, I'll help you get up... I'd be fairly useless for training, though. Sorry," Miku lifted her head and smiled.

"It's okay. I can use all the help I can get, no matter what kind."

Steve stared thoughtfully into the distance for a moment, then glanced down at Miku. "I've got a weird question for you... have you ever shot a gun?"

Miku stopped walking her fingers up and down, and looked back up at him. "Eh? No. No, of course not. They're illegal for regular citizens in Japan. Why do you ask?"

"I'm just curious," he replied. "This place gets pretty dangerous sometimes and... I don't know. I was thinking maybe I could show you how to shoot."

"Hm..." Miku picked at his shirt in thought, and was quiet for several minutes. On one hand, he was right; she would need to learn to defend herself in the event Steve wasn't around, and she was alone with something that wasn't already dead.

But on the other... it was illegal, and that thought kept ringing in her mind as she tried to weigh it. Stacy wasn't Japan, did those same laws even apply here?

"I guess... that would be good. I don't know how comfortable I feel about it, but you're right."

"It's really not that scary," Steve assured her, hugging her close to his chest. "It'll be just like riding a motorcycle. Scary at first, but with some practice you don't need to worry. I can show you how to do it."

"Motorcycles are still scary," she protested with a smile. "Just less scary when you're driving." At least she could go faster now, right?

"Oh, come on. You're a good driver!" he insisted. "It just took a lot of practice." A lot of practice. "And I can teach you on my guns. They're not so hard. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to use 'em both at once."

"Yes, but you're just... you." Miku sighed. "I just... don't want to hurt anyone."

"Better them than you."

It was clear in his voice that Steve absolutely meant that. "If somebody's gonna hurt you, you gotta fight back."

She pulled away from Steve, "I just don't like it. I'm allowed to dislike it." Making other people suffer was so far out of Miku's realm of thought that it might as well have been from a different universe.

Steve flinched a bit at her sudden disagreement. "Hey... I don't really like it either," he murmured, shrinking a bit into his shoulders. "But that's... just the way it is."

"I know, I know, but... I just..." It was hard to be willing to let someone suffer, even if they were attacking her. Unfortunately, Miku knew that sort of attitude was probably - no, definitely - going to get her killed.

"I'm sorry, Steve."

He was quiet for a few moments, before he finally sighed. "You don't have to be sorry," he said. "You're the normal one here-- most normal people couldn't hurt somebody, just like you said. I'm just..."

He sighed again. "Nevermind. You know. I don't want to make you do something you're not comfortable with."

"And that's why you're a good person, too." Maybe not a "normal" one, but she wasn't really 'normal' either. Miku lifted his chin so she could look him in the eye with a finger. "I'll learn, if you teach me, Steve. Just... I'll only use it in a dire emergency." Don't expect her to go all Yakuza on the Ohm, after all.

Miku tilted her head and studied his features.

He was turning cherry tomato red again.

"That's all I meant," he said. "I don't really expect you to go out and fight on the front lines, don't worry!"

"I don't think anyone would let me do that," Miku smiled and pushed his hair out of his face. "You especially. Besides, I'm much happier as support."

He grinned, leaning down to kiss her on the forehead. "I didn't think you'd be into the glory of battle anyway."

"No, no," she assured him. Her ears turned pink. "I'm just one of those people in the background with the bandages, remember?" She laughed a little and put her arms around his neck, ruffling the hair on the back of his head.

"What about you? What are you going to do now that you're better? Aside from train with Luke, I mean."

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