[Somewhere on the trip back, they had disconnected. Each of them had gone to their respective charges with various levels of a panic that didn't fade. They'd made it back to Reims, with their physiology mainly intact. In their minds, though...]
[Aizawa deals with his stress by working. The rain drowning out little sounds gave him the freedom to move about town, to let his footsteps land heavier, and he took full advantage of it. That three hours of sleep Lu Li had coaxed him into were the last he'd had since. The bags under his eyes are heavier, his stare was more bloodshot, but he refused to rest until silence reigned again. He distracts himself. He retreats inside himself.]
[He notices Lu Li from the top of another residence, only distantly feeling the chill of the rain. He's soaked, not bothering to wear anything to keep rain off his body. That doesn't matter to him right now. It dawns on him, again, all the little signs he'd observed, that despite the body she was in this was a civilian. She'd been afraid and her fears had been entirely justified. He sucks in a breath through his teeth, feeling a pit of guilt in his gut. It's not anything new or unfamiliar. It's a guilt he's used to working through. He looks out over the skyline of Reims, considers his options,]
[then hooks the rope he brought with him around a chimney to make his way down. The impact of foot against the side of the house and against the wet earth is purposefully loud. It's half simply because he can and half to not be anything startling when he speaks.]
Lu Li.
[he approaches her side carefully. There weren't really any of her gestures, the changing of her eyepiece, the things that separated her from a machine right now. It's not like he had any right to criticize that right now.]
poooost-trauma
[Aizawa deals with his stress by working. The rain drowning out little sounds gave him the freedom to move about town, to let his footsteps land heavier, and he took full advantage of it. That three hours of sleep Lu Li had coaxed him into were the last he'd had since. The bags under his eyes are heavier, his stare was more bloodshot, but he refused to rest until silence reigned again. He distracts himself. He retreats inside himself.]
[He notices Lu Li from the top of another residence, only distantly feeling the chill of the rain. He's soaked, not bothering to wear anything to keep rain off his body. That doesn't matter to him right now. It dawns on him, again, all the little signs he'd observed, that despite the body she was in this was a civilian. She'd been afraid and her fears had been entirely justified. He sucks in a breath through his teeth, feeling a pit of guilt in his gut. It's not anything new or unfamiliar. It's a guilt he's used to working through. He looks out over the skyline of Reims, considers his options,]
[then hooks the rope he brought with him around a chimney to make his way down. The impact of foot against the side of the house and against the wet earth is purposefully loud. It's half simply because he can and half to not be anything startling when he speaks.]
Lu Li.
[he approaches her side carefully. There weren't really any of her gestures, the changing of her eyepiece, the things that separated her from a machine right now. It's not like he had any right to criticize that right now.]