[ The realization of what she's going to have to say lands a few moments before she actually opens her mouth to say it. She lets herself frantically try and come up with any other option, even as she resigns herself to the embarassment that's about to follow, but... they really don't have any other choice if it's a matter of getting him seen to in a timely fashion.
[He's silent for a full twenty seconds as he cycles through half the gamut of teenage emotion, including at least three stages of grief. For all that, he still reaches the same inevitable conclusion.]
If it helps, I'm not any happier about this than you are.
[ She takes a step forward and sort of... awkwardly puts out her arms like she's trying to work out how she's going to lift him. His weight won't be any problem while she's transformed but that doesn't mean the height difference isn't going to make this awkward.
You know, on top of all the other ways in which this is going to be awkward.
Her arms drop back to her sides. ]
How exactly should we... do this? I don't want to risk dropping you if I don't have a proper hold.
[He’s turning red behind his hand. Yeah, it’s mortifying, but it’s also—
Well, part of him isn’t entirely unhappy, either. How could it be, when girls are always soft and smell nice, and it’s good just to be close to one, whatever the circumstance? No, focus. It’s Scuti, she’d rather be doing anything else.]
Uh, I don’t think my ribs can take an over-the-shoulder carry, so… [The suggestion feels ridiculous on his tongue, tripping out awkwardly.] …h—how about piggyback? Then I’m holding on, too.
[ Amiguchi's usually so unruffled that seeing him steadily grow redder, even if he's trying to hide it, makes it that bit harder for Scuti to keep an unaffected expression. She feels warmth blossom high in her cheeks and she knows the blush must be standing out starkly on her pale face, even in the evening gloom.
Eager to take the opportunity to hide her face as well, Scuti turns her back to him and leans over, thanking every God she can think to name that there's nobody else around to see this. ]
Th–then... let's just hurry up and get this over with.
[Anyone else, and Shu might not be so tentative. Even Fuyusaka-san and Kisaragi-san, who look like they just about share Shinonome-senpai's paper-fragile build, he's at least bantered with enough to laugh off the awkward. Sentinel Scuti's already gone off on him about taking this seriously.
The hand that touches her pale shoulder is careful, as if uncertain she won't collapse like a soap bubble, and then Shu clambers on with as little fuss and indignity as he can muster.]
Ow. Th-this okay?
[He makes sure not to squirm, keeps his weight from shifting to unbalance her.]
[ Though she knows how much stronger she is as a Sentinel, there's a part of Scuti that nevertheless expects to crumple under his weight. He's not a particularly heavy boy, but she's so used to being a fragile girl that she tenses a bit as he clambers up. But her body stays firm as she can hold it and though her cheeks are burning, it's oddly reassuring just how solid he feels – not splintered apart like a china doll like she'd been imagining.
She pulls in a breath, more to steady herself than anything and reaches back to grip onto him as firmly as she can. ]
[He makes an effort to keep his voice sounding mostly normal.]
Uh, yeah, I'm good.
[Later on, he might have to track down Okino--what can he say, the guy just projects an aura begging to receive your weirdest questions--to ask whether all of them smell amazing in Sentinel form, or if it's just Scuti. For now (and in more ways than one), it's all he can do to hold on.
He can feel it burn into his memory: the strength of her slender back as she bears him up, the delicate, diaphanous ribbons of her uniform brushing past, the scent in her hair. He clears his throat.]
[ Ready when you are he says like she could ever in any way be remotely prepared for this. It's evident in the stiff tension holding her entire body rigid but she just nods. The sooner she can get this over with, the better. ]
Fine.
[ One last breath in to try and clear her mind and then off they go. Even with Amiguchi on her back, her steps are quick and graceful and she knows it in no way matches the expression she's certain is on her face. And despite how effortless she makes this whole thing look, she sounds somehow breathless when she calls back over her shoulder to him. ]
[Good thing he's got these injuries to worry about, because otherwise, he'd find it hard to distract himself from just how good Sentinel Scuti feels in his arms. Maybe he's the one in hers, technically? Either way, even though Shu's far from inexperienced in the whole getting-close-to-girls department, being lifted and carried along like this while he's hurt--like he's what's fragile and rare here--would be too much even for him, if he could wholly take it in.
Sentinel Scuti's an all but celestial vision. Here Shu is, newly aware of his weight, his flesh and blood, making her flesh and blood, too, because his hurt body needs her to be. Feels like some kind of blasphemy, almost. And she's still so beautiful.
...Man. He's always fallen in like with girls easily. It's one of the things that keeps him from being obnoxious, he's aware--that he's genuinely invested in the students who confess to him, or that he asks out, that he really wants to make them happy, for a time. He's comfortable with that breathless feeling, the excitement on a roller coaster cresting its very first hill. It's what he lives for, that electric moment before whooping and taking someone's hand.
Shu's not used to feeling... hurt, small, and like it's okay to be those things because someone safe will take care of him. That's never--he isn't sure what to do with a feeling like this. So, yeah, really great that he's got this pounding concussion and ribs that he's still really hoping aren't cracked to keep his mind off it.]
[ Even in the half a second it takes him to respond, Scuti's heart rattles around in her chest, going through every possible worst case scenario for how this could play out. They say to be careful not to move someone after an accident, to not make their injuries more severe and even though Amiguchi had stood up all by himself, maybe jostling him around like this has made things that much worse–?
His response pulls a little breath out of her, not quite a sigh of relief, not quite a laugh. It's infuriatingly, reassuringly like Amiguchi to have a worry like that at a time like this. ]
Not a bit. You're not even half as heavy as my shield. [ If he's an awkward bundle, it's for having to carry him like this, but she'll keep that to herself for now. ] Are you sure you'll be able to hold out until we get to Morimura?
[Shu Amiguchi's man enough to take the pain and the intense proximity to Girl both. Besides, what alternative do they have? They're not getting on the subway like this.]
[ With her breath heavy like it is from how fast she's pushing herself to run, it comes out sharper than she means it. So she pauses, pulls in a lungful of the air that loves him so much, and tries again. ]
You're... not a burden. Not like this, or at any other time. You might have gotten hurt, but I wouldn't have had much more luck trying to fight that kaiju by myself.
[He doesn't say anything for a while. For her--Sentinel Scuti, who's made clear her disdain for working with others, who finds Shu in particular particularly annoying--to be the one to say this, that he's not a burden and never has been...
It's enough of a surprise that it actually has a chance to sink in. Sentinel Scuti doesn't spare his feelings. If he accepts that premise, then what she's said must simply be the truth.
Holding on just a little tighter, Shu leans in close to her ear. If anyone somehow had eyes on them right now, they wouldn't be able to catch his lips move, screened as they are by the soft, dark, dream-scented cloud of her hair. If any of the enemy could hear like he can--but they can't. Even if they could, the wind their passage makes would protect his words, cradle them, bear them up, up, and away into the stars' distant silence.]
[ Scuti's grown so used to Shu trying to sweet talk her in one way or another by now that she's convinced herself she's largely immune to whatever might pass for his charms. Besides - it's all the sort of thing he might say to any girl who catches his eye, so it's not as though those words are truly for her alone. She's certain of it.
That certainty, perhaps, is why the unexpected sincerity of his words slips so cleanly and completely under her guard. She feels rosy warmth fill her throat and her chest, rising up to colour her cheeks as well until even the breaths she's huffing out with each step seem like they should be tinged pink as well. She wants to be annoyed with herself for falling for Amiguchi's usual bluster, but... this very much isn't Amiguchi's usual bluster and with that in mind, it's hard for Ryoko to work herself up about it too much. ]
... You don't have to thank me. [ Not when it makes her feel so wrong-footed and tongue tied. ] All I'm doing is telling the truth.
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Scuti sighs. ]
... I'll carry you.
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Yeah, I... I guess so. S-sorry.
[RIP, Shu Amiguchi's cool. RIP in pieces.]
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[ She takes a step forward and sort of... awkwardly puts out her arms like she's trying to work out how she's going to lift him. His weight won't be any problem while she's transformed but that doesn't mean the height difference isn't going to make this awkward.
You know, on top of all the other ways in which this is going to be awkward.
Her arms drop back to her sides. ]
How exactly should we... do this? I don't want to risk dropping you if I don't have a proper hold.
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Well, part of him isn’t entirely unhappy, either. How could it be, when girls are always soft and smell nice, and it’s good just to be close to one, whatever the circumstance? No, focus. It’s Scuti, she’d rather be doing anything else.]
Uh, I don’t think my ribs can take an over-the-shoulder carry, so… [The suggestion feels ridiculous on his tongue, tripping out awkwardly.] …h—how about piggyback? Then I’m holding on, too.
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Eager to take the opportunity to hide her face as well, Scuti turns her back to him and leans over, thanking every God she can think to name that there's nobody else around to see this. ]
Th–then... let's just hurry up and get this over with.
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The hand that touches her pale shoulder is careful, as if uncertain she won't collapse like a soap bubble, and then Shu clambers on with as little fuss and indignity as he can muster.]
Ow. Th-this okay?
[He makes sure not to squirm, keeps his weight from shifting to unbalance her.]
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She pulls in a breath, more to steady herself than anything and reaches back to grip onto him as firmly as she can. ]
It's fine. Do you feel steady enough?
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Uh, yeah, I'm good.
[Later on, he might have to track down Okino--what can he say, the guy just projects an aura begging to receive your weirdest questions--to ask whether all of them smell amazing in Sentinel form, or if it's just Scuti. For now (and in more ways than one), it's all he can do to hold on.
He can feel it burn into his memory: the strength of her slender back as she bears him up, the delicate, diaphanous ribbons of her uniform brushing past, the scent in her hair. He clears his throat.]
Ready when you are.
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Fine.
[ One last breath in to try and clear her mind and then off they go. Even with Amiguchi on her back, her steps are quick and graceful and she knows it in no way matches the expression she's certain is on her face. And despite how effortless she makes this whole thing look, she sounds somehow breathless when she calls back over her shoulder to him. ]
Are you managing fine back there?
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[Good thing he's got these injuries to worry about, because otherwise, he'd find it hard to distract himself from just how good Sentinel Scuti feels in his arms. Maybe he's the one in hers, technically? Either way, even though Shu's far from inexperienced in the whole getting-close-to-girls department, being lifted and carried along like this while he's hurt--like he's what's fragile and rare here--would be too much even for him, if he could wholly take it in.
Sentinel Scuti's an all but celestial vision. Here Shu is, newly aware of his weight, his flesh and blood, making her flesh and blood, too, because his hurt body needs her to be. Feels like some kind of blasphemy, almost. And she's still so beautiful.
...Man. He's always fallen in like with girls easily. It's one of the things that keeps him from being obnoxious, he's aware--that he's genuinely invested in the students who confess to him, or that he asks out, that he really wants to make them happy, for a time. He's comfortable with that breathless feeling, the excitement on a roller coaster cresting its very first hill. It's what he lives for, that electric moment before whooping and taking someone's hand.
Shu's not used to feeling... hurt, small, and like it's okay to be those things because someone safe will take care of him. That's never--he isn't sure what to do with a feeling like this. So, yeah, really great that he's got this pounding concussion and ribs that he's still really hoping aren't cracked to keep his mind off it.]
Ngh. Not heavy, am I?
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His response pulls a little breath out of her, not quite a sigh of relief, not quite a laugh. It's infuriatingly, reassuringly like Amiguchi to have a worry like that at a time like this. ]
Not a bit. You're not even half as heavy as my shield. [ If he's an awkward bundle, it's for having to carry him like this, but she'll keep that to herself for now. ] Are you sure you'll be able to hold out until we get to Morimura?
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[Shu Amiguchi's man enough to take the pain and the intense proximity to Girl both. Besides, what alternative do they have? They're not getting on the subway like this.]
...Sorry for. Heh. Literally being a burden.
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[ With her breath heavy like it is from how fast she's pushing herself to run, it comes out sharper than she means it. So she pauses, pulls in a lungful of the air that loves him so much, and tries again. ]
You're... not a burden. Not like this, or at any other time. You might have gotten hurt, but I wouldn't have had much more luck trying to fight that kaiju by myself.
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It's enough of a surprise that it actually has a chance to sink in. Sentinel Scuti doesn't spare his feelings. If he accepts that premise, then what she's said must simply be the truth.
Holding on just a little tighter, Shu leans in close to her ear. If anyone somehow had eyes on them right now, they wouldn't be able to catch his lips move, screened as they are by the soft, dark, dream-scented cloud of her hair. If any of the enemy could hear like he can--but they can't. Even if they could, the wind their passage makes would protect his words, cradle them, bear them up, up, and away into the stars' distant silence.]
...Thanks, Shinonome-senpai.
[It means a lot to him.]
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That certainty, perhaps, is why the unexpected sincerity of his words slips so cleanly and completely under her guard. She feels rosy warmth fill her throat and her chest, rising up to colour her cheeks as well until even the breaths she's huffing out with each step seem like they should be tinged pink as well. She wants to be annoyed with herself for falling for Amiguchi's usual bluster, but... this very much isn't Amiguchi's usual bluster and with that in mind, it's hard for Ryoko to work herself up about it too much. ]
... You don't have to thank me. [ Not when it makes her feel so wrong-footed and tongue tied. ] All I'm doing is telling the truth.