Love is confusing. The fairytales never tell you this, but it is.

[blue_wayfinder]

Aqua wasn't sure when it started, but she recognized it for what it was a lot faster this time around than last time.

Not, however, soon enough to stop it. She tried, of course, because she shouldn't be feeling this way, because when you really loved someone it was supposed to be forever.

Besides, she could hardly give her heart away when it already belonged to someone. It wouldn't be fair. It just wouldn't. Not when there was a part of her that still missed Takasugi.

Because when you loved it was supposed to be with your whole heart and not just part of it.

So she buried it, and tried to act as natural as she can. (But she couldn't really stop it altogether.)

Comments

Sorry for the late!

[recitings]

As of late, Genesis Rhapsodos had been finding himself wanting to spend more time with a certain blue-haired girl. He himself was quite aware of his growing fondness for her, but to him it was more of a brotherly affection than something romantic.

Of course, it could just be him misinterpreting his feelings, but he prefers to keep things that way. After all, they were still technically workmates. And a romance might make it strange, especially when they weren't partners.

But above all that, Genesis had grown an irrational fear of seeing the people he valued the most disappearing. His superstition made him very wary of falling in love again.

That didn't stop him from trying to catch the girl during her patrols around the city, though.

No problem!

[blue_wayfinder]

Aqua, on the other hand, was going out of her way to try to minimize the time they spent together without being obvious. She was mostly succeeding in that it was probably unnoticeable but mostly because she's just not doing a good job of avoiding him at all.

Today, it seemed, was no exception. Which was strange, given that they weren't even assigned to the same area...

"Sir." She greeted with a smile that she looked a lot less awkward than she felt. "What are you doing here?"

[recitings]

Genesis beamed when he came upon Aqua. It always made him feel good to see the girl doing well. Given his position as a liaison for the Watch, he had free reign to go anywhere for this job-- which also meant having enough freedom to try to catch Aqua every so often.

"Just passing by, as usual. It's part of my job as liaison, after all. I want to make sure that if there's anything the Agency can help with, I'd be able to channel it as soon as possible.

How is your shift going?"

And a million years later I finally realized I never hit send. orz

[blue_wayfinder]

No matter how often she reminded herself to not be affected, she couldn't help the way seeing him smile (at her no less) made her heart flutter.

She looked away because she wasn't sure if she could keep her composure otherwise.

"I-it's going well. It's kind of quiet tonight."

<3 It's no problem~

[recitings]

"Oh? Well, that's good to hear. Would you mind it if I spent a bit of time with you on your shift, then?"

Practically speaking, it was safer to patrol in pairs. But from Genesis' perspective, it also felt good to be close to the girl.

[blue_wayfinder]

She couldn't think of a good reason to say no (and if she were being perfectly honest a part of her didn't want to). So, after a struggling with it for a second she asked, "Are you sure? I could do it on my own, if you have something else to do..."

[recitings]

"I am sure."

Genesis smiled warmly at her, looking right into her eyes.

"My shift at the Agency is done for the day. And I don't think Edgeworth needs me at home to take care of the dogs. He's a natural at it," he laughs.

[blue_wayfinder]

She made the mistake of turning to face him. Really, how was she supposed to say no when he looked at her like that?

She fought the urge to play with the ends of her sleeves, a nervous habit she thought she'd completely broken herself of years ago. Unfortunately, it tended to crop up at times like this.

Aqua broke ey contact first, deciding to focus her gaze on a spot just above his shoulder instead. "How has your partner been?"

[recitings]

Somehow, Genesis felt a little warmth cross his cheeks as he noticed the way Aqua's eyes darted away from his gaze.

"He has been well. Making great progress on his training. And you? Have you been up to anything aside from these patrols?"

[blue_wayfinder]

"I've been helping out at the clinic in the mornings." She was actually learning a lot just from doing that. "The clinic is still understaffed and I know some basic first aid so at least the doctors can focus on the more serious cases this way."

[recitings]

"That's good. Besides that, those skills will surely come in handy on the field. Were you a medic back home?"

[blue_wayfinder]

She shook her head with a quiet laugh.

"Not at all. Our Master," She faltered for a split second but she recovered quickly enough, "He wanted us to know how to cast healing magic, though. Because we were likely to travel by ourselves."

[recitings]

Genesis offers her a bit of a warm smile at that. He had a feeling there were special feelings behind her words.

"Well, you aren't traveling alone now. You have me here."

[blue_wayfinder]

It was easy to forget that when she was in the Realm of Darkness. It was easy to forget here too, especially since people were always leaving.

Any reminder that she wasn't alone, didn't have to be alone sometimes caught her off-guard, but more often than not, it left her with a warm feeling. (The fact that he was the one to say it meant something different.)

"...I know." And that was something she didn't want to lose no matter what.

[recitings]

Feeling a bit of warmth travel up to his cheeks at her words, Genesis decided to be a little daring right then and there. Usually, he'd keep his distance from whoever he was walking with, but somehow, he wanted to be much closer to Aqua. He lifts a hand to pat her on the shoulder, subsequently pulling her a little closer to him.

"Good."