{se} feels like I'm sleepwalking when you're gone

Hotaru

Somewhere my lifeline still hums and sings
In the mess of all I have thrown away

Given she's a sucker for looking at him, of course she catches the way he winks at her, and she wrinkles her nose at him in a vain attempt at hiding how it makes her cheeks go pink. Once upon a time they were on an even keel, constantly antagonizing and flirting, heedless of how strong their love would grow or how painfully it would end. Now, the defenses she once had are obliterated, and her confidence is tainted with her own awareness of how she feels. How he feels. It gives him an advantage in flustering her that she can't overcome without tossing caution to the wind.

Laughing softly, glad she has succeeded in refocusing him - from what, she couldn't tell - Hotaru straightens and begins putting her hair up in a messy bun as it gets in her face one too many times. "Are you out of the loop or am I just far too good at gleaning gossip?" Likely a bit of both, admittedly, but it might make him feel better about his hermit lifestyle.

Grinning when he agrees with her plan, Ru shovels a few more chunks of dirt until they have a decent-sized hole and then sets her shovel aside to crouch next to the sapling, beginning to untie the jute string around the burlap containing its roots with a shifted claw. "I met Isla recently in Torchline," she says instead, the casual nature of it sincere instead of leading. "Did she send you a letter yet?" Hotaru had hoped the Remedy would after their meeting, having intentionally shared that Sunjata was uncertain where they stood in the hopes of fixing what little she could between the two friends.

Hungry now,
I am gathering new seeds to throw wide