Action/Video;

[moonlitrequiem]

[Wearing a jacket, beach sand behind her, Yin is well aware she hasn't been around for a month - she checked the network and noticed the date - but she doesn't address that. The video shows her stockings and shoes nearby. Unseen by the screen are her bare feet in the water.]

[Hei, July and Mao are likely getting visits from her specter as she runs this.]

[She might look just a slight more worn than she looked before her disappearance, but not many people would even notice that. You would have to have noticed she was looking down in the first place.]

For those that arrived while I was away, welcome to the City. I hope you have received sufficient information on your location and the situation you've been placed in. If not, the Welcome Center might still provide help.

[Yep, that's it.]

[Click.]

Comments

video; 1/2

[anunluckypenny]

Yin! I'm so glad you came back!

video; 2/2

[anunluckypenny]

...Unless you don't want to be here. I mean, I'd still be glad to see you, but I wouldn't be happy that you're back.

video;

[moonlitrequiem]

[Happy.... Yin is quiet for a time.]

I would prefer to be here. [After all, it's either this or oblivion, and Hei and Mao are is here.]

video;

[anunluckypenny]

Then I am glad you're here. It seems like a lot of people have been leaving and not coming back lately.

Do you want your job back? I won't be offended if you don't.

video;

[moonlitrequiem]

[Want? Well, it was her job, and from a logical standpoint? A strategically well placed one. But:]

Yes.

video;

[anunluckypenny]

Then it's yours! You can start again whenever you're up to it, okay? If you want to take a little while to settle in?

video;

[moonlitrequiem]

I will go in tomorrow, and Monday return to my regular schedule.

If that is acceptable?

video;

[anunluckypenny]

Of course, whatever works for you.

[She wants to insist that Yin take more time off to readjust and see her friends, but she's been around the girl enough to guess that she'll refuse. Regardless...]

Yin? Would you tell me if you needed something?

video;

[indecent_butterfly]

Welcome back. Although, that is not always good news.

video;

[moonlitrequiem]

It is not bad news. [Even though, she should be saying she doesn't care, or nothing at all, huh?]

video;

[indecent_butterfly]

[Ne doesn't know that though; Yin still has her secrets.]

Either way it is pleasant to see you once again.

video;

[moonlitrequiem]

[There's a nod meant to return the sentiment. At least, seeing Hatter is not unpleasant.]

video;

[anatural]

Oh, hey! Welcome back!

[Not that she knew Yin was gone...]

video;

[moonlitrequiem]

[She gives a nod to Korra.]

video;

[anatural]

You work at the Welcome Center, right? I guess we'll be coworkers then.

video;

[moonlitrequiem]

Yes. [Then a nod. Working together is not the same as spying, so it should be all right.]

video;

[anatural]

[...............right. Korra, in her desperate hope to have some company to enliven her hours at the Center, forgot how unlively Yin is.]

Should be fun. [sob]

video;

[moonlitrequiem]

[This time, Yin just stares. A prelude to their future working together.]

video;

[anatural]

...what's your schedule?

action; \^^/

[mortemscintilla]

[ The specter -- definitely not July's -- is impossible to miss. ]

[ One glance at the Network feed is enough to determine her location. Unexpectedly, Hei feels a jolt in his chest, excitement flaring in a rush that makes it hard to breathe. It doesn't even cross his mind that this might be a trap. Or, if it does, he disregards it immediately. Yin is back. That's more important than anything. ]

[ It doesn't take long to reach her location. One moment he spots her in the distance, the next he's sailing forward, and Yin is right there in front of him, ten feet away, then five, and then he's grabbed her into a hug that astonishes even him. He's not sure he's ever embraced her like this -- or anyone. Always before there was that cold layer of reserve that made even his most emotional moments ever-so-detached. Yet here he is now, hugging her, tight, motionless, and for a long time -- long enough for the rest of his mind to catch up a little, to realize -- ]

[ Shit. Probably suffocating her just a bit. ]

action;

[moonlitrequiem]

[There wasn't any change to her feelings when Yin saw him through her specter's eyes, but when Hei approached, Yin felt something swell against the muted section of her being referred to as emotions. He came to her. He didn't covertly arrange a meeting place, but instead seemed to have lost all care for what might happen if people noticed.]

[What about his cover?]

[When he hugged her full force, she felt a pang, deep and sweet, echo through that empty space of emotions.]

[Slowly, her arms rose to embrace him in kind, any suffocation unnoticed. Even without being a Doll, she no longer needed to breathe, and a small bit of pressure brought no remark from her. Yin's only reaction was to hold onto Hei, eyes closed, allowing her world to consist only of him for a time.]

action;

[mortemscintilla]

[ Self-preservation -- for his cover, for himself -- is a habit Hei usually has no idea how to break. But it's surreal how little that matters in the City, in the face of Yin being snatched away and returned like it's nothing. Anger, relief, pleasure, reluctance, confusion, all pop up like a stupid game of whack-a-moles as she passes her arms around him. But he doesn't try to examine any of the feelings too closely. ]

[ It's enough that being around her makes him capable of feeling at all. ]

Don't -- [ Not a croak. Not a whisper. His tone is even and controlled as always. But there's an edge to it that's almost threatening, if only because Hei has no idea how to beg. He's can't react to vulnerability except with barbs and shields. ] Don't leave me like that again.

[ Such an irrational demand. She didn't leave by choice. The City took her away. But it's another sign -- among the many -- of how out-of-balance Hei's restraint is just now. The implication unsettles him, enough that he loosens his hold on her. Drawing back, he frames her face in his palms, then clasps her shoulders, arms and hands, doing the head-to-toe inspection as he tries to get his bearings back. His gaze is dark and shuttered, but it's not without emotion. He looks like he's not sure whether to hug her again or interrogate her. ]

[ Eventually, ] Let's get you indoors.

action;

[moonlitrequiem]

[The lack of his usual habit is obvious enough Yin notes it. Her own emotions crackle and explode briefly, like firecrackers and lightning against a darkened sky.]

[Her arms, as he speaks, ever so softly, tighten against him. The idea of being left alone. Her eyes widen. To hear it from him, her own words remixed, Yin can only shake her head.]

[It speaks volumes to her, Hei's state of being. She has to give some sort of response to that.]

I won't by choice. [Besides, there's no where else for her to go, she knows now. As he looks her over, she inspects him as well, searching for signs of fatigue. A month. It was a long time to be parted from each other, and apparently a month can do a lot. She felt everyday slip away from her while she floated in nothingness. No longer anything but part of a void.]

[What was it like to still be a person for a month, while the sun set and people moved around you and you floated? Was it like that for Hei? Or would it only be that way for Yin if he left?]

action;

[mortemscintilla]

[ Intellectually, Hei's aware of where City Dead go after vanishing. A sort of limbo -- an aether between the City and their own homeworlds. He'd press Yin for details, except right now he's in no mood. It's his fault she's in this state to begin with. It seems like gratuitous cruelty to make her recount where she's been, and to rub his own face in being the catalyst. ]

[ What's done is done. She's here right now. That's all that matters. ]

[ Somewhere in the midst of Yin's statement -- I won't by choice -- Hei's pulled her close again. Not as tight as before, but enough to let himself relax a little, to welcome the cool feathery rub of her hair against his chin. Her familiar scent mingles with his own muted sweat and the staleness of a sleepless night. Apart from the shadows under his eyes, and a particular bilge from the Underground clinging to his hair and skin, he's no different from before. But if he could read her thoughts, he'd snort at the idea of being a person. In her absence, he works and functions as well as ever. But when not working, he's become shadowy. He lives his ordinary life on standby. ]

[ He has no ordinary life. Yin's absence has made that clear. ]

[ After a beat, he lets her go. Stoops to gather her discarded stockings and shoes. He doesn't order her to slip them on. Instead, kneeling, he does it himself, letting her hands settle on his shoulders for balance. Simple movement. Matter-of-fact silence. Something to do so he won't start flailing her with more embarrassing overwraught words. ]

action; I'm sorry I'm getting shorter over here

[moonlitrequiem]

[If he doesn't want to ask, Yin doesn't want to offer.]

[In his embrace, she leans against Hei, and the scents are noticed only because she purposefully breathes in. Against him, she steadies herself. As he kneels, wordlessly, Yin switches his hands on his shoulders as they switch from one foot to the next.]

[This is what she focuses on: thigh high socks, shoes, Hei, and his shoulders. Touch.]

[His words, while telltale signs and disconcerting in their own right, weren't nearly as loud as this simple action. Yin's eyes opened - enough to be called a widening - when he started, and as they continue on, she just stares at him, soundlessly.]