#a.drafts

[milkyberryjsk]

alssooo.. harunui doesn't exist (yet) so i was compelled to conceptualize it

[milkyberryjsk]

^_^

[milkyberryjsk]

draft

EDIT: finished!

     Pearl Pangan wasn’t really one to dwell on things. She’s accustomed to always having to move forward. Her life just couldn’t afford for her to stay still, constantly having to work towards something in order to keep things going.

So… why is she here?

On the coast of a secluded beach somewhere in Mindoro, perched atop the edge of a sea stack as she looks off into the seemingly endless fields of blue that stretches both above and below her. Despite the vast openness of her surroundings, she feels…suffocated. She just sees her in everything, doesn't she?

She thinks of her when that shade of light blue enters her vision.

She thinks of her when the trees around her home dance with the wind in the afternoon.

She thinks of her when she passes by big cities when she's out on missions. The buildings, the infrastructure, all of that bustling life just for one person to permeate her consciousness.

"How about that one?"

Lei Ling turns around, taking a quick glance at the small building Pearl's pointing at before she lightheartedly scoffs.

"That truncation on the roof was unnecessary... and it doesn't look all that stable, come a natural calamity. I could probably construct a better blueprint for it's foundation with my eyes closed." She says in a semi-serious tone as she puts a hand to her hip.

Pearl chuckles, moving some hair out the sides of her face as they soar through the skyline of a city somewhere in Metro Manila.

"Ha! Why don't you do it yourself then?" She jests.

"...Doesn't sound like a bad idea, actually. It would genuinely be a beneficial venture for me."" Lei Ling says, putting a hand under chin.

Pearl smiles, shaking her head as she chuckles.

"Plus, we'd see each other more often if I actually go through with it, so..."

Pearl frowns at the memory.

Funny how they ended up seeing less of each other after that specific interaction. But that's not what hurts Pearl. It's that every interaction they did have thereafter, she just seemed to mess up and cut short every time. She's not blind to herself, she sees all of it. The shift in Lei Ling's demeanor whenever she does it.

How her eyes will dart in a different direction when she says something too intimate. The way her shoulders shrink when she turns away. How her breath ever so slightly hitches when Pearl finds herself in too close of a contact with her. That sheepish, almost nervous look in Lei Ling's face that Pearl reads as nothing but a sign for her to stop.

And it's a pain she's never truly had to tackle in her life. Her love has always been directed at something rational to her. The love she has for her grandfather, the people in her hometown, the entire country and all of it's people, she understands all of that.

Lei Ling, however... she can't wrap her head around it. Her heart surely can, but that just confuses her further.

The guilt of her lack of understanding in it haunts her. Hanging over her head as if it were mocking her. It's why no matter how much it slips from her mind and into her words or actions, she can never get herself to say it out loud. Because she dreads the moment Lei Ling will ask her,

"Why?"

She... doesn't know why.

Or at least is what she tells herself, anyway.

This back and forth in her mind repeats as she brings her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs. Eyes focused on the movement of the ocean before her as her body sits still against the wind. It's almost as if it's nudging her with the way it blows her hair out of her face softly. But that's the thought of her that's taking up her mind again.

Surely.

[milkyberryjsk]

draft/wip

Walking home from school was something Linda always looked forward to every single day. It wasn’t so much about going home, really, but because of who takes her there. 

Ira and Linda walk along a narrow sidewalk. The sounds of passing cars and people chattering drown out the noises their shoes make on the cement to everyone around them. Linda likes to zone in on that sound, though. It’s a reminder that someone’s with her. That Ira is with her.

“You should be the one to walk in front next time. It’s not so bad! It’s your house anyways.”

“I’m fine where I am.” 

Ira shakes her head.

“But you can’t be like that for-ever! You’ll need to grow out of it soon enough. I mean, I can’t always be here for you... Why do you like it so much anyways?”

Linda sighs, biting the inside of her cheek before promptly speaking,

“...I get to look at you.”

It’s a short answer, but it told Ira more than enough that she needed to know. Her playfully stern demeanor melts as the smile forms in her lips before she can even think to do so. She sighs, pursing her lips in a poor attempt to stop her smile from getting bigger.

“Then… let me get the chance to look at you soon. Okay?”

She turns around, expectantly looking at Linda. Had she blinked then and there, she would have missed the way the ends of her lips curved into a small smile, with a slight tint of pink on her cheeks to compliment it.

"Okay." 

Ira lets out a satisfied hum as she turns back around and continues walking. Linda follows along as the neighboring life surrounding them frames around Ira, making an image that's sure to stay in her mind forever.

With shared laughter they continue down their usual route, like they usually would, but with hands interlocking as Ira moves both of their arms in small swings, humming a tune familiar only to the two of them. Linda just lets her as she listens, watching as her movements sketch the perfect portrait that could only be crafted by her. She'll draw it someday, Linda thinks. Cementing this memory on paper using the hands that held Ira's and the eyes that saw her that way.

-

Ever since the very moment the spirit inhabited her body, Ira had hoped to god that she wouldn't cross paths with Linda anytime soon. But she was an idiot to think that it was even a reasonable ask. Linda just can't help but to care. It warms her heart but chokes it at the same time.

Ira watches as her body moves absent of her autonomy. It’s all she can do. Her movements felt so alien to her. Every step and turn that inched her closer and closer to Linda... it felt monstrous.

A familiar feeling of suffocation wraps around her head as her eyes begin to sting. How it hurts to watch Linda look back at her with nothing but fear. She's never seen her so terrified. 

It pained her to be the reason why.

[milkyberryjsk]