[The text pops in midflight, for Jack, the vibrating in his hoodie pocket drawing him down to a rooftop after a couple of minutes. ...Which is the only reason there's a bit of a delay in his reply at all, really--because as soon as Jack catches a glimpse of the sender, he's practically scrabbling at the reply button, with a sharp surge of relief to accompany it.]
[He'd been meaning to track down Enma eventually pretty soon, after all--he'd been trying to avoid too much contact out of deference, after their encounter last week, knowing that his own presence hadn't exactly been helping anybody at the time--but now...]
[This is a better response than he could have ever hoped for, really.]
[He prods at the keyboard a few times before remembering that--oh, right, with these kinds of messages, he could....like a phone, sort of? Leaving messages? It's an idea Jack's familiar enough with, but actually trying it is a bit of a new experience involving some poking around at different buttons. Eventually, though:]
--thing should be--oh. [A satisfied huff, at the other end of the feed, and then Jack speaks up properly.] Hey, kiddo! S'great to be hearing back from you, I was really--it's good to know you're okay, now.
[Wow that sure tapered off pretty awkwardly...and there's a small pause, after that, as Jack reads over the text again. Sending a message like this feels kind of weird--different, in a disarming sort of way that he hadn't quite expected--and there's figuring out how to word this right...]
[But at least the pause doesn't stretch on for too long, and when he speaks up again his voice is warm.]
Seriously though, you don't need to worry, or--apologize for anything, okay? It wasn't your fault. Not gonna be doing anybody much good blaming yourself for something you couldn't exactly help. --Everybody'll mess up on a job like that sometimes, I understand. [That resonates pretty strongly, after all--that Enma should have the duty of protecting others back home too. It's a pang of sympathy, because it's hard, and he knows--but still, actually figuring out how to say it...]
[He settles for a middle ground instead, in the meantime.]
Really, it's up to you whether you'd wanna meet up or not, but--I'd definitely like to see you, if we could. You're right, we should talk it out properly. I'll be, uh... [A few shifting sounds, and a strain of stronger wind whistling through speakers, as Jack leaps up onto a higher rooftop on an adjacent building to get a better look around at his location.] I'm pretty close to the outside of campus, right now, so I could hang around here for awhile. See you soon, huh?
[Beat, beat, and then--figuring that's about all there is to say for now--click.]
as soon as he gets this, his stomach gives a drop. he had probably not seen his device beep, too late to pick up as jack speaks and reply back. jack sounded-- he sounded great. he sounded okay. for what had happened, he still sounded . . . he still had his cheer to him, somehow.
he was okay. he was okay with it. everybody'll mess up on a job. but he couldn't mess up on that, he-- he couldn't. failure meant their lives. ]
I--
[ but he wanted to meet up in every which way he could. enma fumbles with the device as the playback comes to an end, taking the location to thought as he heads out as quickly as he could. it's almost funny-- he had nearly just received the message and he's already dashing out here, looking up and about as if he was about to miss a low flying plane overhead, stepping and searching. ]
Jack-?! [ it wasn't alarmed-- more of a call, a call to grab attention and echo through a fairly empty campus ground ( at least around here. ) he was worried, and he personally wanted to make up for it, for everything. ]
[It's a testament to just how quickly Enma makes his way to the campus grounds--Jack's already there himself, but it's a close thing; he'd only just alighted on the upper branch of an old tree next to one of the sidewalks, when he hears a familiar voice calling out. It echoes through the grounds, indeed, but it's still fairly easy to pinpoint--Jack takes a spanning leap from one leafless treetop to the next, crouches low on the new branch, eyes scanning around--]
[Ah, there--]
[The smile on Jack's features is a genuinely warm one, as he takes to the air again and lands almost right beside Enma with a few yards to spare, bringing a tug of chilly wind and a scatter of old leaves with him. Not quite a low-flying plane, no, but plenty close enough...]
Oh, here you are! Man, that was pretty fast--you didn't run all the way here, did you?
[ he begins to come to a slower stop when jack makes himself known, turning quickly to face him. he doesn't give much time for jack to keep talking. at first, enma only stares, as if in some kind of shock. he's still like that, he thinks. you didn't run all the way here, did you? ]
I--
[ he did. but, he doesn't say that. instead, enma takes quick steps forward to close their remaining distance between them, and --
embraces him. zelos had mentioned something about giving jack a hug, but to be completely honest-- he didn't remember it at the moment. it was something he felt that--
felt right at the moment-- he actually the one to go around to go hugging people but the guilt was a bit too large to go around normally. ]
1/2 omg yes FINALLY A CHANCE TO USE THIS ICON.....
[Of all the responses Jack had been expecting, this...was most certainly not one of them.]
[If anything he only really has time for a confused blink, as Enma seems to try to start saying something, stops, simply moves forward instead--and the process ends up proceeding so quickly from there that there's no interval of wondering why he's getting closer than usual. One moment he's addressing Enma cheerfully enough, and the next--]
[He's being hugged.]
[It's more than enough to elicit something of a startled wheeze on Jack's part, probably more than a little undignified; his entire frame freezes up from the moment of contact, and stays that way for a couple of seconds before slowly, tenuously relaxing. Pulling in another breath, exhaling sharply again...the arm not holding his staff, after a bit of an outward jerk out of pure reflex, eventually unlocks, shifts to automatically curve around Enma's back in return. Still kind of awkward, and more than a little tentative, as if he's trying to pat glass instead of an actual person, but...hugbacks are still something he's working on, for certain.]
[It's so warm. Just shy of being too warm, just as it had kind of been with Jamie, except that Enma's a bit taller and the feelings are a bit different...]
[But in the end, it's still nice on such a novel level.]
[Jack gingerly pats Enma on the back again, frame relaxing another incremental bit after he takes another breath, a bit of a startled but warm smile creeping onto his features as the surprise continues its steady ebb away.]
[ he gives a small pat in return-- albeit not like he was touching glass, but . . . it was light. like he just now saw what he did. he intakes air, making his chest expand as the arms that are around the other's back loosens and falls to his sides, taking a step back.
he's looking at the ground, but sure enough-- his eyes are up. ]
I'm just-- [ the smile jack was giving was . . . in its own alleviating. ]
I'm . . . glad you're okay. [ the i'm sorry goes on forever, and if you let him, it'll just keep going. ]
[The hug falls away, at length--as hugs are supposed to do, as Jack reminds himself, before he starts missing the novel warmth of it too much--and Jack draws back a step himself in turn, awkwardly letting a more casual looseness seep back into his posture as he shoulders his staff again.]
[The smile that had slipped into place earlier refuses to leave now, though--and widens a bit, if anything, as Enma glances up from the ground at length and goes on to say that.]
[Far better than yet another apology, though somehow Jack finds he can pick up the strains of one in there anyway--and so he finds himself determined to dispel that, somehow, take care of this particular thing first and foremost.]
[He steps forward, and puts a free hand on Enma's shoulder--probably cold on contact, same as the rest of him probably was with the hug, but Jack hopes it manages to come off as bracing somehow anyway.]
...Hey. I know I might not look it, but I promise, it'll take a lot more than something like that to keep a guy like me down for too long. Okay? [He tilts his head a bit, smile turning a bit wry in a sad sort of way.] --That wasn't you back there, I know. You're not like that. And the way you're going out of your way to--check up, on me, like this--
[Jack pauses, breaks the sentence with a slight laugh as he glances down to the ground himself for a moment.]
--Actually, nobody's--ever asked me if I were okay, like you did, just then. In that message. ...I really appreciate that. But that's just the kind of guy you are, and even when we were talking then--with all the fires--I think you were fighting it even then, weren't you? And it helped. And now things are okay.
[...Man, did that even make any sense...Jack's honestly not sure, but then again, it's still an eternal thing in practice. Being able to directly assure people like this. But he squeezes Enma's shoulder a bit anyway, to emphasize that last bit, searching out whatever eye contact he can manage.] You don't need to keep beating yourself up over it, alright?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
voicemail!!
[He'd been meaning to track down Enma eventually pretty soon, after all--he'd been trying to avoid too much contact out of deference, after their encounter last week, knowing that his own presence hadn't exactly been helping anybody at the time--but now...]
[This is a better response than he could have ever hoped for, really.]
[He prods at the keyboard a few times before remembering that--oh, right, with these kinds of messages, he could....like a phone, sort of? Leaving messages? It's an idea Jack's familiar enough with, but actually trying it is a bit of a new experience involving some poking around at different buttons. Eventually, though:]
--thing should be--oh. [A satisfied huff, at the other end of the feed, and then Jack speaks up properly.] Hey, kiddo! S'great to be hearing back from you, I was really--it's good to know you're okay, now.
[Wow that sure tapered off pretty awkwardly...and there's a small pause, after that, as Jack reads over the text again. Sending a message like this feels kind of weird--different, in a disarming sort of way that he hadn't quite expected--and there's figuring out how to word this right...]
[But at least the pause doesn't stretch on for too long, and when he speaks up again his voice is warm.]
Seriously though, you don't need to worry, or--apologize for anything, okay? It wasn't your fault. Not gonna be doing anybody much good blaming yourself for something you couldn't exactly help. --Everybody'll mess up on a job like that sometimes, I understand. [That resonates pretty strongly, after all--that Enma should have the duty of protecting others back home too. It's a pang of sympathy, because it's hard, and he knows--but still, actually figuring out how to say it...]
[He settles for a middle ground instead, in the meantime.]
Really, it's up to you whether you'd wanna meet up or not, but--I'd definitely like to see you, if we could. You're right, we should talk it out properly. I'll be, uh... [A few shifting sounds, and a strain of stronger wind whistling through speakers, as Jack leaps up onto a higher rooftop on an adjacent building to get a better look around at his location.] I'm pretty close to the outside of campus, right now, so I could hang around here for awhile. See you soon, huh?
[Beat, beat, and then--figuring that's about all there is to say for now--click.]
no subject
as soon as he gets this, his stomach gives a drop. he had probably not seen his device beep, too late to pick up as jack speaks and reply back. jack sounded-- he sounded great. he sounded okay. for what had happened, he still sounded . . . he still had his cheer to him, somehow.
he was okay. he was okay with it. everybody'll mess up on a job. but he couldn't mess up on that, he-- he couldn't. failure meant their lives. ]
I--
[ but he wanted to meet up in every which way he could. enma fumbles with the device as the playback comes to an end, taking the location to thought as he heads out as quickly as he could. it's almost funny-- he had nearly just received the message and he's already dashing out here, looking up and about as if he was about to miss a low flying plane overhead, stepping and searching. ]
Jack-?! [ it wasn't alarmed-- more of a call, a call to grab attention and echo through a fairly empty campus ground ( at least around here. ) he was worried, and he personally wanted to make up for it, for everything. ]
no subject
[Ah, there--]
[The smile on Jack's features is a genuinely warm one, as he takes to the air again and lands almost right beside Enma with a few yards to spare, bringing a tug of chilly wind and a scatter of old leaves with him. Not quite a low-flying plane, no, but plenty close enough...]
Oh, here you are! Man, that was pretty fast--you didn't run all the way here, did you?
no subject
I--
[ he did. but, he doesn't say that. instead, enma takes quick steps forward to close their remaining distance between them, and --
embraces him. zelos had mentioned something about giving jack a hug, but to be completely honest-- he didn't remember it at the moment. it was something he felt that--
felt right at the moment-- he actually the one to go around to go hugging people but the guilt was a bit too large to go around normally. ]
1/2 omg yes FINALLY A CHANCE TO USE THIS ICON.....
[Of all the responses Jack had been expecting, this...was most certainly not one of them.]
[If anything he only really has time for a confused blink, as Enma seems to try to start saying something, stops, simply moves forward instead--and the process ends up proceeding so quickly from there that there's no interval of wondering why he's getting closer than usual. One moment he's addressing Enma cheerfully enough, and the next--]
[He's being hugged.]
[It's more than enough to elicit something of a startled wheeze on Jack's part, probably more than a little undignified; his entire frame freezes up from the moment of contact, and stays that way for a couple of seconds before slowly, tenuously relaxing. Pulling in another breath, exhaling sharply again...the arm not holding his staff, after a bit of an outward jerk out of pure reflex, eventually unlocks, shifts to automatically curve around Enma's back in return. Still kind of awkward, and more than a little tentative, as if he's trying to pat glass instead of an actual person, but...hugbacks are still something he's working on, for certain.]
[It's so warm. Just shy of being too warm, just as it had kind of been with Jamie, except that Enma's a bit taller and the feelings are a bit different...]
[But in the end, it's still nice on such a novel level.]
no subject
...Guess I should figure that's a yes?
no subject
he's looking at the ground, but sure enough-- his eyes are up. ]
I'm just-- [ the smile jack was giving was . . . in its own alleviating. ]
I'm . . . glad you're okay. [ the i'm sorry goes on forever, and if you let him, it'll just keep going. ]
no subject
[The smile that had slipped into place earlier refuses to leave now, though--and widens a bit, if anything, as Enma glances up from the ground at length and goes on to say that.]
[Far better than yet another apology, though somehow Jack finds he can pick up the strains of one in there anyway--and so he finds himself determined to dispel that, somehow, take care of this particular thing first and foremost.]
[He steps forward, and puts a free hand on Enma's shoulder--probably cold on contact, same as the rest of him probably was with the hug, but Jack hopes it manages to come off as bracing somehow anyway.]
...Hey. I know I might not look it, but I promise, it'll take a lot more than something like that to keep a guy like me down for too long. Okay? [He tilts his head a bit, smile turning a bit wry in a sad sort of way.] --That wasn't you back there, I know. You're not like that. And the way you're going out of your way to--check up, on me, like this--
[Jack pauses, breaks the sentence with a slight laugh as he glances down to the ground himself for a moment.]
--Actually, nobody's--ever asked me if I were okay, like you did, just then. In that message. ...I really appreciate that. But that's just the kind of guy you are, and even when we were talking then--with all the fires--I think you were fighting it even then, weren't you? And it helped. And now things are okay.
[...Man, did that even make any sense...Jack's honestly not sure, but then again, it's still an eternal thing in practice. Being able to directly assure people like this. But he squeezes Enma's shoulder a bit anyway, to emphasize that last bit, searching out whatever eye contact he can manage.] You don't need to keep beating yourself up over it, alright?