[attr="class","mila2"] They could've roped her up and strapped her down and still, nothing would have stopped her from trying to wrestle her way into Gunner Graves's hospital room, short of being actually arrested.

[break][break] Maybe it was because of her screaming. Maybe it was because of her causing a ruckus.

[break][break] Maybe it was because GIDEON GRAVES wasn't as exasperated as he seemed on the phone.

[break][break] Or maybe it was because of the same reason that things always seemed to come down to, at the end of the day.

[break][break] Gunner Graves.

[break][break] Mila ripped the door open to his room as soon as she was given the okay, her tear-stained cheeks flushed with color as she looked wildly about the room. Her eyes swerved frantically about until they locked onto his.

[break][break] "Gunner," she breathed.

[break][break] Then she was stumbling forth, hands grasping at his blankets, burrowing her face into his neck.

[break][break] "You stupid. You idiot. You stupid-fucking-idiot!"

[break]

[attr="class","ooc"] Gunner Graves [break]
POST-TSDT

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[attr="class","mila2"] Mila didn't like hospitals. She hated them.

[break][break] In fact, in many cases, she did all she could to avoid them.

[break][break] It was luckily that her current career and choices in the last several years had never warranted a need for her to enter them, aside from the occasional stomach pumping. There was just something about the cold, sterile walls, the sound of beeping machines and sight of endless wires that brought her back to that moment. That brought her back to lykaios athanasia —

[break][break] "Ow! Easy, Mila! That hurts!"

[break][break] His shout brought her back to her senses and Mila blinked, pulling back slightly. A palm rubbed her tear-stained cheeks but she still stayed close, content with his arms around her, and more importantly, the sound of his heartbeat beating inside his chest.

[break][break] Alive.

[break][break] "You're stupid," she said, sniffling. "I hate you."

[break][break] However, when she pulled away, it was obvious that her eyes were glimmering with tears that were made of something that was very much not hate.

[break][break] "Why are you here? What the hell happened, Gunner?"

[attr="class","ooc"] Gunner Graves [break]
POST-TSDT

☉

[attr="class","mila2"] Knowing and seeing that he was alive and well — or at least, well enough to speak — settled her heart a considerable amount, however, her fingers still tangled in his blankets. As if she was still afraid that if she blinked, or stepped back an inch, he would just be a dream that disappeared from sight.

[break][break] "A-a pokemon attack?" she balked.

[break][break] Mila knew that Gunner's job was dangerous. He wouldn't have been assigned to her case all those years ago if he wasn't involved in that sort of thing. It still sent her stomach twisting at the thought of it — there was a reason that Mila herself was deathly afraid of those kinds of events, and why she did all she could do avoid them.

[break][break] But she couldn't stop him. She didn't have any right to stop him, so she didn't say anything as he continued.

[break][break] Mila bit her bottom lip as he tried to reassure her, mentally cataloguing away the fact that he would be at Gideon's. I can still see him, she told herself. Tried to calm herself down. It wasn't like he was going away. It wasn't like he had left.

[break][break] "I want his address," she said instead, stubbornly, instead of voicing her fears outloud.

[break][break] However, as he reached forward to brush back her bangs, she softened.

[break][break] Mila let out a sigh, wiping her face again to remove the remaining tears.

[break][break] 'And I can't stand seeing you hurt.'

[break][break] "Then don't make me," she huffed. Then more quietly, she said, "I was worried. I thought..." She bit her lip again. "I thought you left."

[break][break] In hindsight, she knew it was ridiculous. Especially considering their last encounter, which was at the party, had ended on good terms. Well more than good terms.

[break][break] But Mila had never been accused of being rational.

[attr="class","ooc"] Gunner Graves [break]
POST-TSDT

☉

[attr="class","mila2"] She hadn't meant to say it outloud.

[break][break] It had just come out.

[break][break] All of this felt like unprecedented territory for them — for the both of them. They weren't supposed to be honest or vulnerable, at least not when they were both sober and not entangled in one another's sheets. But all that had transpired in the last couple of hours had made her tender.

[break][break] She hiccupped as he pulled her into a fierce hug, her voice muffled as her face pressed against his shoulder.

[break][break] "I-I just. I know it was stupid. But you weren't answering any of my texts, or my calls."

[break][break] It was just like last time, all over again.

[break][break] Her fingers clutched at his chest, tears feeling hot behind her eyes.

[break][break] After a moment, she sniffled.

[break][break] "This is going to sound stupid, but can I... can I climb into bed with you?"

[break][break] She needed to feel him against her, feel his body's warmth against hers. Or she felt like this was all a dream - or a nightmare - and that he might disappear completely again.

[break]

[attr="class","ooc"] Gunner Graves [break]
POST-TSDT

☉

[attr="class","mila2"] Relief filled her chest when Gunner complied with her request, and Mila didn't waste any time in following through — kicking off her shoes, she quickly climbed into bed alongside him. Her body slotted naturally against his, her small hands going to rest on his chest and she let out a small, restful sigh.

[break][break] She would never admit it to him - not outloud, anyway - but feeling his hard body beneath hers was a comfort like no other. Not even a... sexual way. It was just that nothing ever felt more right than being close to him, and even now, she could feel the anxious flutter of her heartbeat ease now that she was beside him.

[break][break] Her eyes fluttered closed, head pressed against his chest to hear his heartbeat thudding. Alive. He was here. He wasn't gone. He wasn't -

[break][break] "You're not stupid. You know that, right? You were afraid, and I… I get that."

[break][break] She was. She was stupid, because she knew that there shouldn't have been a reason that he would've just up and left, especially after everything she'd said to him, but she worried anyway. It was a comforting thought to hear that he didn't think so, though. Her fingers tightened over the blanket in response to his words, letting the silence pass through them, before she let out another sigh.

[break][break] "I.. know," - she didn't - "I just... I hate your job. I hate how it puts you in danger all the time." Her face screwed up. "Can't you just stay home?"

[break]

[attr="class","ooc"] Gunner Graves [break]
POST-TSDT

☉

[attr="class","mila2"] It was a ridiculous thing to ask, even Mila knew it the moment the words left her mouth. But Mila had never been accused of being logical, especially when it came to the likes of Gunner Graves. She was selfish, both for herself and for him, and she wanted nothing more to keep him safe.

[break][break] In reality, she shouldn't have hated Gunner's job too much. After all, it was the reason they had met in the first place. Without it, she and Gunner would've likely been strangers.

[break][break] And that thought - perhaps more than anything - was the most hurtful.

[break][break] His hand squeezed against hers and she found herself clinging to him more readily in the bed, not even caring if anyone else saw him. Fuck them if they judged her. She didn't care.

[break][break] 'But I'm counting on you too,' she wanted to whine. 'I'm counting on you to be alive.'

[break][break] Because she didn't know what she would do if he wasn't.

[break][break] "I hate those people too," she grumbled, mostly to herself, before she looked up at him. Eyes glancing over the sharp curve of his jaw, and his soft blue eyes.

[break][break] "Why did you even decide to work for the department?" she said instead, huffing slightly. "I bet you could still take the bar."

[break][break] She tried to think about what Gunner would look like in a courtroom as a lawyer, wondering if he would've rather been a persecutor or defense attorney. Either way, she thought, he'd look good in a suit. Maybe even a suit that she could make for him.

[break]

[attr="class","ooc"] Gunner Graves [break]
POST-TSDT

☉