answering machine

[rivalappeared]

"Hey, you've reached Green Oak. If this is League business, leave a message. If not, I've got caller ID. What are you, 70? Whatever.

BEEP."

[Feel free to leave Green a voice message or a text message here, with date and time.]

Comments

[travelingbelle]

She wanted to say she was fine. She wanted to pretend everything was okay so she could hang up the phone. There were a few shaky breaths in and a few shaky breaths out before Blue ignored the question entirely.

"I'm sorry for calling. I shouldn't have I just..."

The lightning came again, a quick flash. The storm was coming in faster than she thought. Blue fell mostly silent, bracing herself for what would come next.

[rivalappeared]

Falling into his old habits, Green inhaled a deep, deep breath, loud enough for Blue to hear over the phone, and then exhaled it just as audibly. Then, it was her turn.

"Slow your heart down. Don't apologize."

[travelingbelle]

It was effective enough. Her eyes closed as she listened to him, trying not to think about it too much and letting herself draw in a long breath of her own. It hadn't occurred to her as she braced for the following thunder that she had been holding it. She released it slowly. Took another one in. Let it go.

"... Please don't hang up yet," she whispered into the receiver, knowing full well how selfish it was and hating herself for it, but not nearly enough to keep her from doing so.

[rivalappeared]

He felt just as selfish in that moment, really wanting nothing more than to hang up the phone and just go over there to do what he had never been able to do on the road: wrap his arms around her until she fell asleep. However, the fact remained that the idea of this was just as much for his benefit as it was for hers, and the way things were... this would have to do.

"I'm here," he promised, though his voice was still not quite free of the sound of sleep. He kept on breathing for her.

"What do you want me to do?"

[travelingbelle]

"I don't know," she murmured, her other hand tangling in her hair as she pressed her palm against her ear to block out everything but him.

"I... just want to listen to you for a bit. Sorry, I know that's stupid..."

[rivalappeared]

"It's fine," he assured her, settling in to a pose more comfortable. Take care of this now, worry about the other issues later. He hummed.

"Hm. What should we talk about... ?"

[travelingbelle]

Blue's brows still furrowed slightly as she stared ahead of her at her wall. She couldn't shake the nervous tension, knowing she must have been bothering him. And yet she couldn't bring herself to stop.

"I don't know," she said again, unable to think of anything. "How... mm." She shifted with her pillow again. "How was your day...?"

[rivalappeared]

Green couldn't help a short laugh at her words.

"Uneventful," he sighed, "I didn't do much at all. Got up... had breakfast... read a little... I even took a nap."

He kept his voice at the same level through the description, slow, deep, and lazy.

"What did you do?"

[travelingbelle]

She listened intently, putting more focus on each word as they came. Her breathing tried to match his, slow and steady.

"Woke up a little late," she said softly. "Got lunch. Played with Jock a while. Visited Blake while he was napping."

Thought about him. Blue closed her eyes.

"Nothing very exciting."

[rivalappeared]

"Sounds relaxing." He suppressed a yawn, and the sound of his pillowcase rustling could be heard through the phone as he nestled his head into it deeper. He knew there were probably not a whole ton of relaxing moments alone since their last conversation, but...

"Am I helping... ?"

[travelingbelle]

Her eyes opened slightly as the thunder boomed once more.

Blue took a deep, audible breath as it passed, easing it out as she whispered, "Yes. Just like always."

[rivalappeared]

There was silence on his end, as his own breathing hitched.

"... You don't have to say things like that. But I'm glad you're starting to calm down."

[travelingbelle]

Oh. Right. Those kind of things just made more trouble, didn't they?

"...Sorry..." She frowned. Apologizing for it was kind of stupid. "It's true though. You've always helped..." She didn't feel completely calm yet this time though. Her heart was still skipping and her face felt a bit hot. That was just the tail ends of her panic though, she assumed. Probably. That's what made sense.

"Um. Thank you."

[rivalappeared]

It came through in the tone of her voice-- and he immediately felt guilt about turning the conversation into one about that.

"It's fine. You don't sound calm, though."

[travelingbelle]

She didn't want to talk about how she didn't sound calm. She didn't want to confront the fact that even if she assumed it was her own panic, it didn't feel like it was entirely due to that and that kind of confused her at a level she didn't know how to piece together.

So her response was a breathy, slightly nervous bout of quiet laughter at first.

"One does not simply calm down," she said, trying to make light of it.

[rivalappeared]

Unaware of Blue's constantly running internal monologue, there was a smile in his voice as he replied,

"You want me to sing you a lullaby?"

Sardonic as ever, even in the middle of the night.

[travelingbelle]

The suggestion struck her oddly. Lullabies were something she used to do. For him, anyway. There were still plenty of times she would sing them to her Pokemon. But for him... When had the last time he let her been...?

"Oh goodness," she said in actual surprise. "Be careful, I might take you up on that."

[rivalappeared]

"You wouldn't," he chuckled, "I don't even know the last time you've heard me sing."

[travelingbelle]

"Were you not already indulging me too much, I would have to do it just because," she replied with a very small giggle.

[rivalappeared]

He quieted down, as if contemplating something, and then started to softly hum psyching himself up to quietly sing.

""I'm so tired, I haven't slept a wink... I'm so tired... My mind..."

He stuffed his face into his pillow.

"Haha. Nevermind."

[travelingbelle]

He had done it anyway. Blue pressed her lips together firmly for a moment as he sang his nasally little song, focusing more on the familiar melody than the strange warmth she felt. She couldn't really help the little smile that followed.

Probably she should have teased him a little. There was another soft giggle.

"...My is on the blink... I wonder should I get up and fix myself a drink..." she picked up after him instead, still more concentrated on the sound than the words that were supposed to follow.

[rivalappeared]

"No, no, no," Green replied, very firmly not singing, but a smile in his voice. But, before long the melody drifted back in.

"I'm so tired," he sighed, "I don't know what to do. I'm so tired, my mind is set on you... I wonder should I call you..."

The song drifted away, and he cast a glance over at the phone in silence.

[travelingbelle]

"... But I know what you would do..." she ended up whispering before her voice drifted into quiet as well.

The song resonated a bit more strongly than probably either of them would have liked, she realized. Her hold on her phone increased slightly. I wonder should I call you. There was a nervous tightening in her chest as she shifted against her pillow, the sound filling the silence as she moved.

"You've gotten a lot better," Blue chose to say instead of anything else she might have said, trying to sound light hearted.

[rivalappeared]

Green's speech was muffled by his pillow, as he tried to ignore the sinking feeling that had suddenly developed in his stomach.

"You've always been a good singer," he replied, thoroughly embarrassed that he had just done that.

[travelingbelle]

And honestly Blue was just touched.

"The only witnesses are very biased parties," the girl rebutted disbelievingly. It wasn't like any of her team or the boys would have told her to shut up. Well, asides from the few times that someone might have actually done so. An awfully embarrassed someone.