midnightstar

She couldn't even put to words how happy she felt when he closed his arms around her and tucked himself against her. Talking to him on the Arcus was nice, but this, nothing could replace the real thing - the feel of his warm body, the sound of his heartbeat. "It's been too long since ..." Since she's been near enough to him to feel him like this. She hums softly, "I've missed you, Rean." she admitted, with a bit of a blush.

Honestly he was almsot tempted to just stay like this in the moment but it was simply not the time especially when there was the promise of getting to stay with her for the duration of his stay here. Rean closed his eyes and let his hand stroke along ALisa's back while he squeezed her a little tighter.

"It really has. I've missed this so much~" Everything about Alisa really. Now that he had her in arms he was loathe to release her. They had to be making qutie teh scene on the platform come to think of it...

OH they were definitely making a scene. The platform had yet to empty out fully after all. But the way he was holding her was ...so soothing, almost like his headpets! She let out a long sigh, "Rean..." ... ...

Wait, are they being watched? Alisa lifted her head from his chest slowly, glanced left - where there was a pair of girls whispering and giggling. And where she could see behind Rean was a couple about ten years older than herself and Rean, and while they weren't giggling or whispering, they did have Knowing Grins(tm), politely looking away when Alisa caught sight of them.

Meep. Abruptly she pulled back, her face red as an acerbic tomato. "U-um! We.. should.. I... I think we're holding up the people on the platform." They aren't. "Erm.. do you have any things...?" He must have a bag or something, maybe?

Rean was completely aware of the audience yet chose to ignore it to the best of his ability since this was his little shred of happiness after a long drought of any kind of true joy for him. He chuckled and goughed into his fist with a blush of his own before reaching down to pick up his traveling suitcase.

"Just what I have in here." he answered before holding it slack at his side again. "Lets be on our way then." He said with an enthusiastic smile.

Stepping back from Rean, Alisa nodded, clearing her throat as well, "Right." Uh, now how does she break it to him that they were going to be alone...

Gah, maybe she was too hasty offering to let him stay in the guest room - but she'd missed him! Also, the penthouse was MUCH too quiet and lonely with just her. Still as she walked at his side, she stepped onto the escalator heading back to the Reinford Building, tilting her head to look at him a few times.

".. did you get taller?" She asked curiously. She hadn't put on a few inches of height herself but it wasn't nearly as noticeable as with him.

Well Rean was no better since he didn't suspect that they would have that entire penthouse all to themselves. If he knew that he would probably be a lot more fidgety and nervous just like Alisa. After all this was her home and he was there in her home and....no no no he couldn't let his thoughts stray that far off the deep end or he might make Alisa angry.

Her question snaps him out of his musings and he nods shakily.

"Ah yeah I feel like I have. I didn't get the chance to check by how much but even I noticed the difference. Especially just now when we um...hugged."

"Y-yeah, I thought so too.." There's that blush again, and she suddenly seems a LOT more fidgety now that tey were on the same level as the Reinford Building. But she tried to distract herself from that with idle chatter - wondering who he's talked to from Class VII last, sharing a few stories when she visited other cities and caught up with their friends. She doesn't even notice the slightly raised eyebrows they were getting when she walked all the way into the building and tapped the button to call the elevator. Which was a fine time to drop the bomb.

"So um... listen, Rean? There's something I didn't get a chance to bring up when we were talking on the Arcus." She folded her arms, passing through the doors

Rean couldn't help but take notice of the weird looks from the reinford staff as well but before he could really try to piece it all together, the two were now stepping into the elevator cabin while Alisa reached out to push the button to the penthouse floor.

"Hm? WHat is it Alisa? Is there a problem of some kind?"

"NO! No no, nonononnonnonono," Alisa answers quickly. He takes on so much, the last thing she wanted him to do was worry. The elevator doors opened, and she shot a glance around, scowling at one or two employees before they quickly averted their glances (with small grins) before quickly stepping onto the elevator with him.

"The thing is, I didn't get a chance to bring up that.. um, well that...we'll be ..urm..." Oh my she's just getting more and more red, "We'll be--"

DING, the elevator doors open and Sharon is standing in front of them with a bright, sunny smile. "Welcome back Lady Alisa. Hello, Master Rean~! My you've grown into a fine young man!" Smile smile.

Alisa goes dead silent, the red in her face changing to the white of shock. "Wha... w... wh--!!!"

That was a lot of no's. At any other time he would definitely consider that to be a suspiciously vehement denial of his question. Still this was ALisa and she often got like that when really flustered so he just took her words for truth.

But then what was bothering her. Something about the two of them being what... Rean was about to ask to try and help Alisa along. That was until the doors opened and lo and behold the ultimate maid was right there in front of them waiting for both her mistress and her dear 'friend?'

"S-Sharon!" He didn't even process the praise she opened up with since yeah no one never could get used to the fact that Sharon could seemingly be everywhere and nowhere with merely a thought.

On the one hand, at least now she couldn't say they would be alone.. on the other.. SHARON. This might actually be WORSE. There was no telling what the shipper troll of a maid would do to get her amusement! "Wh.. what are you doing here? I thought you were with Mother!?"

"Your mother requested me to pick up some documents from her office, but when I saw the two of you, I simply had to be here to greet your arrival. It's been ever so long since I've seen Master Rean too." Sharon answered, smiling as she beckoned the two of them into the penthouse.

"Are mother and grandfather actually getting along?" Alisa asked, warily. Then a moment later, "WAIT A MINUTE. What do you mean when you saw - When did you..!?"

"Fufufu," Sharon closed the door behind the two and followed them into the massive, MASSIVE living room. "As a matter of fact, I was privy to the romantic, passionate embrace the two of you were sharing on the train platform. In full view of e v e r y o n e."

"W.. WE WEREN'T IN A PASSIONATE EMBRACE!" Oh Alisa's gone from rosy to vivid crimson at this point, and Sharon is just eating it up.

"I suppose that's true," Sharon agreed, glancing over at Rean to check his reaction. "It was much too public a venue for that. Perhaps if i hadn't come back so quickly to meet you, on the other hand... after all it's been such a long time since the two of you have seen each other."

"S..Sharon!" Alisa fought the urge to look at Rean, stubbornly focused on the maid.

"Don't worry Lady Alisa, I won't be long. I must get back to your mother and grandfather soon - but don't worry, I won't tell her you'll be alone A L O N E in the house. With Master Rean. My my what WILL you two get up to in my absence..~ ❤"

"SHARON!" Alisa is just.. mortified! And so embarrassed. Which is exactly what feeds Sharon, so temporarily sated, she sneakily moves over to take Rean's luggage.

"I'll take care of this - you two just relax~" Well. If they even notice her, but she'll stealth deliver Rean's luggage into the guest room if he notices and allows it.

Rean was only mildly in a better state than Alisa. His face had still gone completely beet read even if the main target of the unrelenting teasing was Alisas rather thn himself. Though the situations Sharon described were certainly taking root in his mind with ease. STartlingly so to the point that he just kept quiet after the first attempt to try and speak up. It seemed Alisa had a better job voicing her protests than he did at least.

He does notice Sharon use her shadowstepping skills to snatch up his luggage as little as there was but does nothing to stop it mostly because he realy really did not want to become the target of the teasing directly since it was plenty mortifying to be involved in ssecond hand.

"Ahahahah....I see Sharon is the same as always..." Reach chuckled very very awkwardly. SO they would be alone...all alone in a big place like this. Well now he would not be able to stop thinking about that fact. This was srisque to the maximum extent!

Alisa covered her face with both her hands when Sharon slipped out, still chuckling over the embarrassment from the two. Oh yes, this will sustain her for a week, tops. But now that she knew Rean was present, she would definitely be stopping in to check on them, both for support and trolling means.

"She never changes.." Alisa grumps, "I'm sorry about her." He was more than used to her trolling though, and when Alisa glanced over at Rean, her face reddened again.

God, now she couldn't get it out of her head - being along in the penthouse with Rean. "A.. and don't get any funny ideas either~!" She warned, just a bit flustered.

Because they were totally going to get funny ideas at some point.

This was actually refreshingly embarrassing in a way. It took him back to the first time Sharon had made her shipper commentary since the day she first arrived into the lives of Class VII. It felt nice. Very nice at that. If only also very very highly mortifying because goddess he's not able to get his imagination under control now.

"Oh-OH no no no of course I am not." Except he it but the ideas flooding his mind are not what he would describe as funny. He had dreamed of Alisa. Of moments just between the two of them. After all they were both young adults now and their flourishing love had grown over the months since their separation. Desires and deeper feelings had taken root only to now come roaring back up to the surface like a slumbering dragon roused from its hybernation.

Alisa narrowed her eyes and stared at him suspiciously, then nodded a little, ".. okay." She would love to hug him properly, but after what Sharon said -- not a good idea right now. She needed to calm her thoughts down.

"S-so..." Fidget fidget, "Do you want something to drink?" She could prepare a drink, that should calm them both down.

Rean let out the breah he'd been holding in after his reply. He wasn't sure Alisa would let that slip by but in the end she did so there was a hint of relief while his imagination kept betraying him at every step as he followed the fidgeting Alis a into the penthouse itself.

"Ah. Then I suppose if it's not too much of a bother, some coffee would be nice." Rean said, unknowing that Sharon would likely have heard that beore Alisa even made it to the kitchen.

Since Sharon hadn't left yet, and she certainly wouldn't want to leave without seeing to the guest first. Alisa smiled, motioning over to the couch, "All right, just... make yourself comfortable and I'll go -"

"Not to worry~!" Sharon interrupted, already emerging from the kitchen with a tray in which there was tea, coffee and some snacks. "Please help yourselves to this for now. I'll prepare a proper dinner for you both - I'm certain you're quite hungry, Master Rean."

"Hold on Sharon, wait -" Alisa protested, even as Sharon pressed the tray into Alisa's hands.

"It's no trouble at all my lady - you two have quite a bit of catching up to do." Sharon beamed, "I won't be long! You two just enjoy each other- oops, I mean, the snacks. ♥"

Sharon's eficiency was still bordering on the super natural even now. THen again that was to be expected of a Enforcer from Ouroboros. Honestly the fact that such an elite agent had willingly chosen to serve anyone other than her employer so faithfully and eagerly was one of the most baffling mysteries in the entire continent. He really wished he knew how all that came along but previous attempts to figure that out had ended in diversions or outright teasing about his relationship with Alisa or potential interest in older women.

"Ahaha...Still the same." he chuckled awkwardly before reaching over to take his cup and plate up, leaning in to take deep whiff of the aroma seeping up from the cup itself before turning his eyes over to Alisa.

"So um how have you been?"

Alisa sat down on the couch, setting the tray down in front of her on the table. "I've been.... good. Sorting out things within Reinford has been taking up a lot of my attention. I knew it was going to be a challenge, but I kind of wonder if I haven't bitten off more than I could chew, soemtimes."

She laughed a little awkwardly, "But I'm still going to prove Mother wrong about the company." She glanced over at Rean, cupping her tea with her hands. "Ah.. how about you? How are things in Trista?"

"I have every bit of faith that you will succeed." He answered with a warm smile. Alisa was strong after all and few people had a heart as big as hers to power through all of the potential obstacles in her way. It was just one of the many reaons that Rean had fallen for her as hard as he did.

When the topic of Trista came up there was a brief flicker of something a little darker before he quickly covered it up with a chuckle.

"It's pretty much just as you last saw it. Everyone busy with courses and Towa alway buried under work every time I actually get the chance to run into her." He totally was not going to mention how Sara had resigned shortly after everything had ended thus leaving him even more alone than anyone might have expected. But that was the role he had landed himself in life and until he could regain a bit of freedom to negotiate, there was nothing he could really do about it.

If she knew he was alone, she would have wanted to be there with him even more. It tore her up knowing he would have to go back to Trista in a few days. If things were more stable in Roer she would be free to take visits more often.

"Hehee, I'm not surprised. Towa msut be even more in demand now than before." She crossed her legs, leaning back to take her tea, relaxed. Sharon was here and they were both responsible adults! She didn't want to give Sharon any more ammo to troll them with. Although she did want to move closer to Rean very much.

"And.... how have things been for you...?"

And that was exactly why he suppressed those feelings to the maximum extent possible. Because the last thing he wanted was to let his troubles drag Alisa off of her path and cause her to fail that goal she set for herself. He would never ever forgive himself if that were to happen.

"Hahaha yeah it seems everyone heard of how she handled her duties as captain aboard the courageous to say nothing about her name spreading even further beyond the empire making all sorts of NGO's and government organization to look into her track record and go all starry eyed about her potential if she were to accept their offer." Rean laughed politely taking another sip of his coffee. But then there was a moment of pause as Alisa asked more about how he'd been personally. His smile lost some of that luster from before.

"I've been well. Very busy on my own end between getting ready to graduate and any last minute missions I get called out on. Still it's not so bad..."

She frowns at mention of the graduation. "It's not fair," Alisa frowned into her cup of tea, taking a sip. "After everything you've done in the last year, during the war, liberating towns and saving Princess Alfin and Prince Cedric... after all of that, you still .. you should have been able to graduate with the rest of us. We wouldn't have been able to do any of that without you!" Bunch of ingrates!

Though she might be a little angrier about that than she means to, taking it so personally. But by him not graduating with the rest of them, it split them up - if he had graduated, he would have been more free than he was. Well. She could blame his blood-related father for that too.

He smiles ruefully hearing that outrage on his behalf. It warmed his heart really to see her that upset about it. But then Rean had already realized he would never be truly completely free. Not as long as he was Valimar's Awakener. It's not like he could do something so selfish as just give up on his partner either. The two had grown close after all and he had no blame for his fiend of a father roping him into his plans in such a way that Rean would have no way out if he didn't want to be confined to the Imperial army full time.

"Alisa..." He murmured softly before his hand found hers and gave it a brief grateful squeeze.

"It's true! You put so much of yourself on the line to protect what's important to you, and this is how they repay it. You should have graduated with m... with the rest of us too..." How could he not feel even a LITTLE big angry over being drawn into a conflict that threw his life into turmoil?

"None of our friends are even in Trista anymore, except Instructor Sara -" because she didn't know Sara resigned. "And you're always taking everything onto your shoulders. You don't have to, I.." she trailed off feeling his hand find hers with that little squeeze.

She glanced up, looking over towards Rean, a blush covering her cheeks again - a hand squeeze must translate to an 'off' button for Alisa's outrage though, because she lets it drop there, turning her hand a little to curl through his. "...Rean..."

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