pullmeoutalive | log > what is wrong with us THE SEQUEL

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log > what is wrong with us THE SEQUEL

It was hard to believe that only three hours ago, she and Jolt had been bar-hopping (with the best of intentions, of course) and now Naomi was soaring over a dense forest, zipping out of the way of a few directed lightning strikes, courtesy of one of Black Phantom's puppets.

She had bigger things to worry about, though. More specifically, she had one big thing who had somehow disappeared from the battle. It had been only a few minutes of leaving him to take down the other side's psychokinetic, but when she'd returned, Jolt had vanished. Hatsune and Akira were fighting on the ground, both too distracted to take the time to sniff him out. Sakaki was on hand in a nearby helicopter, but it had been made to land out of concern that the lightning would strike it. The Children could have helped, but they needed to stay together for Kaoru's cleansing ability to function properly.

That left a very frantic Naomi flying about in the hopes of locating one errant Autobot. The one controlling the other espers hadn't been very comforting, having glanced in the girl's direction earlier.

"Worried about your friend? You should thank me. I've taken good care of him."

She'd hardly been reassured-- if anything, Naomi's ire and worry had only tripled, until she'd not only knocked out the esper manipulating the lightning but picked up her speed. The fight was nearly over; she could see the bright light from The Children's area now, but she wouldn't be relieved until she knew her Autobot friend was safe.

"Jolt-san!!" She called now, skimming the tops of the trees and then flying a little lower. "Please, answer me!"

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Jolt watched her out of the corner of his eye for a moment and gave a shrug as best he could lying down. "Little bit. Less like I'm baking to death, anyway."

"We'll have to stay on top of the water, I think." Pointedly, she nodded at the glass he'd discarded the other night. "I'm sure you won't want to be stuck in here another day if this fever persists." And it better not, she thought stubbornly; she didn't like seeing her friend forced to be immobile for the most part.

Ah, right. He retrieved the glass and handed it over, a little smile playing on his face- mostly because he recalled what had happened after he discarded it. (Provided, of course, he hadn't dreamt the whole thing, and he really hoped he hadn't.)

"You got that right," he remarked. Being cooped up was never something he enjoyed.

Naomi also seemed to have had her memory sparked by the glass, although she turned just the faintest tinge of pink before she moved off the bed to fill it again. There were doubts, of course. He'd been feverish and frightened, maybe not in his right mind... but there were other feelings she couldn't discount either.

"Tomorrow," she promised, returning the water to him after a moment. "You're already doing this well on the first full day, so they shouldn't keep you here too long."

"That's good to hear." He took the water and drank it like a good patient- he really didn't want to stay in here all week. "Soooo... what do I do in the meantime?"

"Rest, mostly." This was safe ground. This was easy. This was procedure. "Sakaki-san will probably bring some food in later, run a few tests if you're up to it, that kind of thing. And I--" She frowned, glaring at the floor for a minute. "I'll be here to ensure that my supervisor doesn't come barging in again."

There was a sigh from Jolt. He'd been jarred awake quite violently and resting didn't seem like something he wanted to do- but no doubt as the long night caught up to him, that would change.

The mention of Naomi's supervisor had him frowning again, but this time in thoughtfulness rather than outright disgust. "When you said this wasn't going to be easy- you weren't kidding."

To that, Naomi shook her head with a smile, still staring downwards. "I'm not very good with joking. And he's... always like that, always claiming that nearly every single man out there wants me, I'm just too innocent to notice, so he has to keep me safe--" She hesitated at that, grimacing as she selected a better choice of wording. "Pure. I mean, he spent four years raising me to be the kind of woman he wanted to marry, so..."

And now she glanced away. "If he's too much to deal with, I completely understand."

He snorted. "Too much? I've dealt with worse- and am prepared to deal with worse. Especially for you." He punctuated his point with that affectionate smile, but it quickly became a teasing grin. "But I can't promise I won't hit him again."

"You'll be justified if you do," she assured him. "But try to do it when I'm not looking, so that I can say I didn't have the chance to stop you from doing it."

The girl lifted herself back onto the bed, assuming a solemn expression as she did so. "But while we're on the subject, we should probably talk about... um, last night."

"Duly noted."

He'd been wondering when this was going to come up- especially considering the disaster that had been their morning. He rubbed at the back of his neck, casting her an awkward grin. "Probably."

"Well, first and foremost, we're friends." So far, so good. "And allies and partners and... you understand. So-- even if we... I mean, you should probably have time to think things through, and... I know your first day you said you didn't have anyone like that, but with your war-- there was-- you were feverish-- n-not that it wasn't very ni-- um!"

The poor girl was already incredibly flustered thirty seconds in.

Just because he had said he didn't have someone didn't mean he never would. And, granted, that that someone would be a human had never occurred to him. But there were friends first, and they knew each other. Trusted each other. Cared about each other. And somehow that had changed, deepened.

"Naomi, this is new for me, too," he said, and to his credit he wasn't teasing Naomi about how red she was turning. "But I know I care about you a lot- more than a lot. Probably more than a friend and ally should." A pause. "Maybe I was feverish, but that doesn't mean I didn't realize what I was doing, and given the chance, I wouldn't do a thing differently."

She was silent for a few minutes after he'd finished speaking, eyes lifting to his almost uncertainly. She could have blamed it all on his hologram, on what others would call his semblance of humanity, but Naomi knew better than that. She'd known him as a car first, a robot second, and Jolt overall, and no matter the form, her feelings regarding him hadn't changed.

"Good," she whispered finally. "Because I feel exactly the same way."

He waited, catching her gaze with his and holding it. This was bound to get more complicated when they changed him back- if they changed him back, but he was determined not to think on that particular issue until he was fully recovered.

That smile was back on his face, the one, it seemed, that was specially reserved for Naomi. "Does that mean I can give you another kiss, then?"

Naomi returned his smile with a soft, warm one of her own, followed by a nod. It might have been selfish to think this, but she was glad this had happened when it did. Not that she would have minded if it had happened at the bar, but Jolt got to experience more this way.

"For the record," she replied, head tilted, "you're more than welcome to do that whenever you want."

"Good to know." He caught her chin with his fingers and brought his lips to hers. This kiss was different- more deliberate, deeper almost. And this might be spoiling him a little. There was no way he could feel everything he was feeling as a hologram, and he was hesitant to change back if it meant losing this.

But those were thoughts for another time.

The first couple of times, they'd been awkward, testing the waters, so to speak. This time, Naomi was still nervous, but better prepared, and it was easier to respond to him with an intensity that matched his.

She reached out blindly, cupping her hand around his neck and pulling him closer. They had a week. If he was going to lose the sense of human touch afterwards, the decent thing to do would be to allow him to experience as much of it as he could while he could.

Kissing had been an enjoyable experience before, but now that he was more coherent, and the initial awkwardness had gone, it was fantastic.

Jolt had only the instinct of this new body to rely on, and right now it was telling him that close was good. One arm slid around her waist and drew them together further.

Close was good. Close was also raising the temperature-- although she wasn't sure if it was the fever or the kiss or the proximity that was making her feel warmer the closer she got to him.

She did have to pause for a breath, but she didn't move away, choosing instead to rest her forehead against his before she sought his lips out again for another kiss-- this one a little briefer, almost teasing.

It was likely a combination of all three- at least that was what he surmised. He also surmised that this probably fell under the heading of "not taking it easy", right along with tickling.

And now that his lips weren't otherwise occupied, he was grinning broadly. "I could get used to this," he murmured, and caught her lips with his again, determined to turn that brief kiss into something longer.

One part of Naomi had detachedly surmised the same thing, but the rest of her logic-- the part that wasn't distracted anyway-- pointed out that he'd have the rest of the day to take it easy.

"We--" She was cut off by his mouth, but didn't have it in her to protest, making a tiny sound in her throat that could have almost been called the beginnings of a moan. A very, very restrained one.

"... We wouldn't get anything done," she finally got out, although the argument lacked any real conviction.

Naomi was making noises, but he figured that was only because he cut her off and didn't think on it further.

"Sure we would. Somehow. Later." He was teasing, as evident by the grin on his face.

She struggled to keep a straight face, failing only seconds later when she grinned in response. Leave it to him to still find time to tease her, no matter what he was doing. "And that is exactly why you need to learn how to multitask, Jolt-san."

One arm still encircled her waist, but his free hand found its way to her hair, gently combing through her locks. "I always like to think I'm a fast learner."

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