Visiting

Lincoln eyes visibly shake and his mouth that opens and closes shows his hesitance. Groaning and scratching his neck, he looks bothered, should she have not asked? Tulip is curious anyway and awaits for his answer.

"None of your business."

Lincoln replies and pinches Tulip cheeks when she puffs out dejectedly. Tulip cries out and attempts to pull away from his unrestrained prodding.

"You secretly like cute stuff don't you?"

Tulip manages to get out after Lincoln quell pulling and pinching her cheeks until red and sore. The boy face contorts and ignores as if denying it, but his steps quicken and he avoids Tulip who starts to tease him.

They reach where Tulip and Noah would part every school morning, about to turn where the houses are when Lincoln halts and Tulip does so too, tilting her head to why he stopped.

"Shoot, I forgot I went to school with a bike this morning."

Lincoln says, and throws his head back irritated. Tulip sighs and veer to where Noah would turn to go to school, tugging Lincoln to follow. He gives her a sorry look and she smacks him in response.

"Don't look at me like that, it's okay."

"Sorry."

"Hurry up."

Sorry? Sorry for what?

Tulip is happy to go visit where Noah goes to school. Lincoln doesn't know these thoughts of hers, If he did she would definitely be stained and judged as a forever weirdo.

They reach the school, entering the gate and making their way to where the bikes are parked by going past the soccer field.

"Is this where you do sport?"

"Sometime. There's a bigger field at the back of the school. This is used like an extra if the other is occupied. We like to spend our break here."

Hearing that got her interested, looking at Lincoln who is talking while shading himself from the sun with his hand.

"It's a good place to eat and chat, people only hang around here after school to play soccer."

Nodding along, the words this is where they hang out during break resounded in Tulip's head. She visualises Noah there, in the centre of the field. Sitting, standing, running around. Has he laughed here? How hard? Directed to who?

"Squeeze through here, it's tight but it's a shortcut to where the bikes are parked."

"Be careful, there are shards of glass."

Lincoln kept watch of her steps as Tulip went first through the narrow alley. It was a shortcut sheltered from the sun and looks unsettling, broken windows that lead to an empty looking shed that doesn't connect to the school building.

"Ah."

Tulip tripped on a small bark that was in her way, her voice not coming out with how silent it is. Lincoln behind her caught her in time, his arms that reached out got hold of hers and the his other arm pulls her towards him by wrapping it around her shoulder.

Tulip breath hitch when she notices the big shards of glass she would've face planted into if it wasn't for Lincoln. Exhaling a shaky breath, Tulip was about to turn around when Lincoln arm that was around her shoulders tighten.

"Don't. Don't turn around."

"Ah?"

Heeding Lincoln's abrupt demand, Tulip doesn't turn. Stagnant and confused as to why, did he hear something? Or see? In the silence with no movement in a shaded narrow alley, her senses became sensitive and she then notices.

A broken window that reflects their position, Lincoln pressing his back against a tattered fence and Tulip up against his chest with his arm wrapped around her with his fist clenched. Black hair that is routinely styled is disordered, entangled with the fence, and his face that was unbothered and calm is scrunched up looking bothered and embarrassed. The rest is cut off from the window being broken.

This..have they ever been this close before?

With everyone except Noah, Tulip keeps her distance. Not in a way where she's uncomfortable, just not putting the same effort to get close to them like she does with Noah. Of course, she listens to their vents if they have any, she comforts when needed, through that she does get close to them, but not quite what she considers close. Tulip isn't interested, there is no point if she's not interested.

So when she listens to these vents, when solace is needed, she draws the line there. They rant, she'll comfort, even give advice. However she wont rant, she wont want comfort from them. Noah is enough, no, Noah is the only one she wants to do that with.

Now with her and Lincoln, she's mot sure. She hasn't been sure since this peculiar relationship of theirs formed, she guesses she hasn't thought much into jt because, well, it's Lincoln. Does that make sense? Its him, so it felt fine.

Now that she thinks about it, as a still weird but aware 13 year old girl, it was weird. Why had she dismissed it? Why had she let it get so far.

There's no point, so why?

"There's no bug or anything, it's just it's tight and if you turn-"

Lincoln whispers in a disjointed way when the silence turns unbearably awkward. A first between the two. However Tulip pressed her palm against before he could himself, quieting him. He looked at her puzzled of her action, but stays silent when she wore a concentrated expression.

Years have passed, 3 years to be exact, her senses are still abnormal to an average human but it has dulled significantly either way. Above average or whatever, her hearing and eyes aren't improving, instead it's declining, as if the cells in her body that support them is becoming extinct.

It has her frustrated, the only time she wants to throw a genuine fit is when thinking of how these parts of her that made her of Seathe is dulled. It has Tulip thinking just what is in this air of Earth's people. They could be mighty and great if it wasn't for whatever is in their air. The choice of confiding in someone isn't an option, if Noah isn't an option then anyone else is most definitely not.

These dulled senses of her reacts to a distant sound. Chatter, it's two people talking.