Zombie: I was forced back here
Johnny: You were happy to…
Zombie: I know that, but I was still forced… S'a conspiracy…
Johnny: �� everything's a conspiracy with you
Zombie: ON WITH THE FIC!
About an hour later, the five teens had exhausted themselves, Tala having joined in the game. Only throwing towels had swiftly progressed to throwing paint. Turning into an all out paint war, decorating the room in the progress. Ghost looked like a rainbow.
The dark haired girl woke up in the room next door; she slowly opened her eyes and waited for the world to get back into focus. There was a dull throbbing at the base of her skull, feeling as though it was going to split her head in two.
Hannah carefully pushed her upper body up off the bed, trying not to dislodge any of the heavy packing on her chest that was holding her insides…well…in. She swung her feet off the edge of the bed, suddenly overcome by a rush of blood to the head; she propped her head up in one hand and swept the long dark bangs away from her face.
"Ugh…pain killers…please" She murmured to herself, waiting for the room to stop spinning enough for her to stand up. When it had, she levered herself slowly to her feet and, using the foot of the bed to support herself, wobbled over to the looking glass on the wall.
She looked at her reflection in the mirror, frowning at the damage caused.
A white bandage was wrapped around her head, her hair flopping over most of it. A black eye, and an intricate network of bruising all along her neck, a swollen lip. The white bandages wrapped around her useless arm, and the tight bindings around her torso. She really did look like she'd been in the war zone.
She sighed, glaring at the bruises and cuts wasn't going to make them go away. Although she wished it could.
Still gripping onto the end of the bed, she glanced at the sheets. "oops…" She said out loud as she looked over the once white sheets that were now covered with red splotches, her blood without a doubt and the shredded fabric caused by her fingernails.
Gradually finding her feet and sense of balance, she made her way over to the doorway, tripping over her own feet. Clinging to the door frame for balance, she peered around the door.
Five teen were lying sprawled around the room, Ghost included, all of them looking tired. Johnny and Tala were even asleep laid across one of the sofas in the room. Ghost swung her head around lazily to face the newly risen girl.
"Good to see you up, Han" Ghost grinned lazily at her friend.
"Thanks Ghost" Hannah replied in a somewhat cracked voice, her mouth felt like something had died in it. "Here" She held out her hand towards the white haired girl, who pushed her arm out to meet it.
Hannah dropped an object into the other girl's outstretched palm. Ghost fingers curled around the object, bringing it closer to her face to look at it, even though she already knew what it was.
She ran her finger over the silver dragon curling around the knife handle, and turned the blade so it flashed in the sunlight. "Thank you, I knew you would get it"
"Hey," Hannah gave a half shrug, "A promise is a promise…" She held her hand up to her mouth as she coughed harshly to try and clear her throat a little. "And a promise has to be kept" She finished, her voice a little clearer than before, but still sounding rough and hoarse.
"That's true…" Ghost mused, "But thanks anyway"
"Hey no problem, what happened in here?" Hannah looked around her at the multicolored walls of the room, and the paint splattered boys around her.
"Well it started out when Kai got some paint out of the cupboard…" Rei was the one to answer, he looked at her upside down, hanging his head over the arm of the chair he was laid across.
"Me? What are you talking about, you started it, you dolt" Kai shot back from across the room.
"Meh, whatever" Rei let the argument rest; he couldn't be bothered to even retaliate to the grey eyed teen.
"Heh, it's good to see you in colour for a change Ghost" Hannah grinned and gave one of the Ghost's bangs, one covered in bluey-purple paint, a small tug.
Ghost shrugged and pushed the smaller girl's hand away from her hair, "Don't get used to it." "And what about you? I'm not used to seeing you supporting the 'battered housewife' look"
"Oh this?" Hannah brushed it aside jokingly, "this is nothing, you shoulda seen the OTHER guy" She winked at the green eyes girl, who merely rolled her eyes in response.
"Speaking of which…what happened with Toshi anyway?" Rei asked suddenly, breaking the happy mood in the room.
"I'm not too sure…" Hannah said in a small voice.
"Probably waking up right now with a headache the size of Antarctica" Tala's voice said, waking up as if on cue.
"What did you do to him?" Kai quirked an eyebrow at the red haired teen.
A grin spread across Tala's face. "A full on blast from the new stunners…remind me to thank the Chief for those when he gets back!"
"Where is 'The Chief'?" Hannah asked quietly, placing one hand slowly on the back of Ghost's chair.
"Grocery shopping" Rei smirked, "He doesn't trust any of us enough to go and do it"
Tala laughed, "I don't think he even trusts anyone! He goes out with a stunner gun under his jacket, even if it is only to the shop around the corner."
Ghost smiled at the thought, that kid was way too paranoid, he should get out more.
"He's gonna flip when he sees this place" Rei nodded, "I say we buy him one of those stress ball things, or he's gonna have a heart attack very soon" The Chinese teen laughed.
"Another one?" Tala raised an eyebrow
Rei grinned sheepishly, "Or not…"
Totally oblivious to the conversation going on around her, Hannah busied herself by pulling at the bottom edge of the bandages strapped around her stomach, pulling out loose threads.
"Stop unraveling those" Tala's voice sliced into her content little world. Startled, she turned her face upwards to look at him.
He looked quite funny, with a purple streak of paint running diagonally across his face and various other colours splashed all over his clothes and hair. Hannah bit her bottom lip to stop herself laughing.
"You wanna keep your insides on the inside?" He looked so serious. It really contrasted against the bright paint splatters..
"Yeah I don't wanna have to strap you up all over again" Rei laughed from across the room.
Biting her lip further, she just nodded and moved away from the red haired teen. She pushed one of the dozing Scottish teen's feet off the sofa and carefully sat down, leaning backwards into the comfort of the seat. Johnny just slept on, with his purple bandanna sliding down to cover one of his eyes.
"I like the new colour scheme" Hannah mused to herself, glancing around the room.
Kai turned to face Ghost, he knew that if he wanted a straight answer she would be the one he had to talk to.
"Ne, Ghost?"
"Hmm?" The white haired girl turned to face him, her swirling eyes bored into his.
"Where are you two going to stay?" Kai asked casually.
"That's a point," Rei joined in, "You can hardly go back to your own place, Toshi knows where that is"
"Ne…" Ghost began slowly, thinking the words through in her head. "I hadn't really though about that yet…"
"Well, I just wanted to say…" Kai began, looking slightly uncomfortable under the girl's piercing gaze. "That you're welcome to stay with us"
"Really?" Ghost asked suddenly, "But what about your team mates? Not everyone would accept us here"
"Why's that?" A sleepy voice entered the conversation; Ghost looked at the Scottish boy, newly risen from his slumber.
"Think about it" Ghost said shortly and sent a brief glare at the red haired teen.
Johnny's eyes glanced upwards for a moment, seemingly concentrating. "Oh…" He said simply when the cogs in his head finally stopped whirring slowly and clicked into place.
Rei covered his eyes with his hand, but a smile still pulling at the corners of his lips. "Johnny…you are truly an idiot"
"Hey!" The said teen glared mockingly at the ebony haired boy. "You love it" He said with a grin. "But I'm not a total idiot…"
"Ok maybe a halfwit" Tala decided to join in the conversation, mocking the oblivious Scottish teen even further, "You may know it all when it comes to machines…but you have no commonsense"
Johnny glowered at the other red head. "Shut it" He said half warningly, half jokingly.
Ghost just shook her head and smiled. She could tell that these play fights and verbal wars were a regular occurrence for the arguing teens. The bickering continued, everyone seemingly knowing how to mock the Scottish teen further. They were right, Johnny was an idiot.
She glanced over at the dark haired girl on the other side of the room. She was curled up into the corner of the sofa, dozing peacefully with her head resting against the arm of the chair, blissfully unaware of the conversations and insults hurling around the room.
"So," Kai said to Ghost, ignoring Johnny and Rei's arguments going on behind him. "What say you?"
"I think…" Ghost said slowly, "I think I say yes," She nodded her head slowly, "Yes. We would like that" She finished firmly. "But I'm going to need to go grab some stuff from our apartment…I won't be gone long" She got quickly to her feet and pulled the trench coat off the back of the chair. She pulled it over her shoulders, wincing a little as the fabric brushed up against the tender skin of her back.
"Wait!" She stopped before she stepped onto the ladder leading into the sewers. "I'm going with you" She turned to see the slate haired teen hurrying after her.
She turned away from him. "There's no need" She said shortly, "I can do this by myself" She jumped down the entrance, avoiding the ladder completely. She landed neatly on her feet at the bottom of the ladder; she stiffened as the movement caused a slight jarring of the bones in her back. Shaking her head as the small pain ebbed quickly away, she moved swiftly down the dark tunnel.
A slight thudding sound behind her alerted her to the fact that Kai had ignored her request to be alone and had decided to follow her after all. She quickened her pace, but Kai only did the same and was soon walking along side her.
"I don't need an escort Kai" Ghost said testily, her mottled eyes whirling in the darkness. "I can do this by myself"
"Hn" was the only response she got. Rolling her eyes in dark, she quickened her pace again, soon emerging out into the dimming light in the dusk. The city was bathed in an orange glow as the sun was going down. Ghost sighed happily, at times, even the city appeared beautiful.
The two teens walked on in silence, not a word exchanged between the two of them until they reached the door of the two girl's apartment. Ghost pushed the door gently and it swung inwards slowly and silently, unlocked.
She stepped into the room, skirting swiftly around the red splotches that stained the thick carpet. The grey eyed teen peered cautiously into the room, watching the white haired girl. "So, how much of this blood is yours?" he asked casually.
"None of it" Ghost replied simply, grabbing a backpack a cupboard and walking quickly into one of the adjoining bedrooms, stuffing clothes into the bag carelessly.
Kai made a 'hmm' sound and wandered around the main room of the apartment, picking up one of the knives that were scattered randomly around the room, a simple black one.
He ran his finger lightly along the edge of the blade. 'Good taste' he thought to himself.
"Put that down please" Ghost's voice sounded a little tetchily to his right. Not letting go of the knife, Kai tipped his head to stare back into her multicolored eyes, he raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"Put it down." Ghost said again, more firmly this time. She frowned at the slate haired teen, who slowly put the knife back down on the table, a smirk playing on his face. "As you wish" He said softly, and inclined his head towards her and moved his hand a little, a small half bow to the white haired girl.
The frown turned quickly into a small glare. Sighing, the pale girl shook her head and turned away.
"What's wrong with you? You were fine back at the base, now you're all twitchy" Kai ventured.
"This place…" Ghost started, "It makes me a little uneasy now, after what happened…" She looked away from the slate haired boy.
"Hey don't worry about that" She felt his place his hand on her shoulder, she half turned her head and gave him a little smile. "After all, I'm here too, I'll protect you"
The smile half slipped from Ghost's face, "I don't need protecting!" She said loudly, looking at the other teen pointedly.
"Ok, ok!" Kai smiled at the white haired girl, "If you say so…"
Ghost's eyes narrowed slightly, "I do say so!" She glared at his when he just carried on laughing. "Hey! What's so funny!" She punched him lightly on the shoulder. Upon receiving no answer she punched him harder. "Stop laughing at me!" She swung her fist again.
Kai ducked under her fist and pushed her stomach, laughter still pouring from his lips; she took a few steps backwards, and then ran at him, hurling her body into his. Taken aback, Kai stumbled backwards, and was knocked over by the impact. He twisted them around so that he landed on the bottom of the pair, cushioning the injured girl's fall.
Ghost smirked down at his triumphantly. "That'll teach you to laugh at me". She sat on his stomach, pinning the boy to the ground.
"Guess you got me" Kai admitted slowly, neither of them made a move to push the other off or get up. Just laid there staring back at one another. Cold grey meeting whirling green.
Suddenly, Kai pushed himself up on his elbow, pressing his lips against the girl's. Ghost seemed to freeze as the velvety lips brushed against her own, but she didn't seem able to pull away, all she could do was respond. Moving her lips against his, the kiss seemed to go on forever. After an eternity, Kai pulled away, looking uncertainly at the girl. She seemed more shocked than anything else.
"I…I'm sorry Ghost" He tripped over his words, avoiding looking at the girls swirling green eyes.
"Sorry for what?" The next part surprised him, as their lips met again. With a renewed passion.
Zombie: At last!
Johnny: you enjoy writing bits like that don't you…
Zombie: Yes…
Johnny: You're a pervert
Zombie: Speak for yourself player-boy!
