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[2cool4guardian]

[And spot her he does! He approaches her silently from behind, presenting the paper bag in front of her face as a surprise.]

Can this little nurse take an ice cream break?

[saving_sound]

[And she jumps, although she does manage to keep herself from falling right over.]

Wha-- F-Frost-sa-- I mean--

[And now she is all a fluster. WHAT JUST HAPPENED.]

[2cool4guardian]

[He slightly bends his kneed to support her, but it seems she doesn't need it. Her reaction gets her a chuckle from him.]

J-a-c-k, Jack. No formalities, remember? [He crouches in front of her.] Hi, kiddo. Are you doing okay?

[saving_sound]

J-Jack, then...

[She's trying to correct herself at least!]

Um... I'm doing alright. What about you? Are you okay after everything that happened?

[2cool4guardian]

I'm fine. Healers fixed me up nicely.

[He looks at her with a expression that screams GUILTY all over.]

"Everything that happened" sounds about right, by the way. It happened so much that I lost you in the mess. Sorry I couldn't keep my promise.

[saving_sound]

[Phew... She just shakes her head.]

Mmm, it's okay. Some others were looking out for me, so I made it out safely. I'm just glad everybody seems to have made it out alive...

[2cool4guardian]

[Jack isn't really sure that everybody made it our alive, but considering the things he's heard about death, he'd rather not go there.]

We could say "mission accomplished" then, right? You were very brave, Hibiki. [He takes out a carton of chocolate ice-cream from the paper bag.] You deserve a break now.

[saving_sound]

Eh-- Well, I didn't--

[She went because she had to, but... now that she thinks about it, she once had a similar discussion with another kid her age...

So instead she'll just get flustered at the ice cream.]

Er... it's really for me?

[2cool4guardian]

[Flustered Hibiki makes for a very cute Hibiki, though Jack wishes he could teach her to be less shy.]

Yes. It's my "I'm sorry" gift, and why not, let's call it a reward too. I'm still not very happy that you went in the first place, but... [He winks.] ...you did a good job.

[saving_sound]

You don't have to be sorry. I should probably be the one apologizing for getting everybody worried...

[She chose to go herself, so... In the end, it was her responsibility, not his. And even though she knows she was able to help a lot of people as a result, she still feels bad for getting so many people concerned for her like that.]

[2cool4guardian]

So you're sorry, I'm sorry, everyone is sorry. Tell you what, why don't we call it even?

[He doesn't want her to thin so hard about this stuff. She should be around the city having fun, not healing war casualties in a hospital. Jack puts the ice-cream carton in her hands.]

If you don't like chocolate, I can change it.

[saving_sound]

Ah-- Umm...

[She looks like she wants to argue that for about a second, but in the end, she decides not to. Conflict makes her uncomfortable as well, so...]

...Chocolate is fine.

[2cool4guardian]

That's a good girl. With good taste, too.

[Since she liked it when he did it last time, Jack ruffles her hair again. Then he finally stands up and takes a look around.]

Wanna find a nice spot to have that break?

[saving_sound]

[The hair ruffling is calming. Even now, she can't disassociate the action from her Master, and as far as her home went he was likely the kindest and most loving person she had ever known.]

Alright. The park might be a little far, but... There's benches by some of the streets, so maybe we can find one of those?

[2cool4guardian]

Works for me. [He tilts his head, as if pointing the way down the street. He could've offered to eat and walk at the same time, but he really thinks Hibiki deserves that break. And sitting down is resting, right? Right. So off they go!]

You work at the hospital every day?

[saving_sound]

Not every day. I used to work almost all the time, but I started taking less hours recently.

[There's a bench pretty close by, if she's remembering correctly. She begins walking along, occasionally glancing to the side she thinks that bench is on.]

[2cool4guardian]

And that's how it should be. At your age you should be out there playing games, Hibiki, not working.

[Indeed, there is that bench! When Jack notices it, he bows a bit, still in mood for some teasing.] Little ladies first.

[saving_sound]

Oh, umm... Thank you.

[And so she sits, licking a little at her ice cream now that she doesn't need to worry about dropping it or, in the worst case, tripping. However, she does stop to explain.]

...It's not that I mind working. I like helping when I can.

It's just that... a lot of my friends started going home, so... I wanted to be able to spend more time with them.

[2cool4guardian]

[He sits next to her, but squatting. Yes, on the bench. He may be part monkey, ok.

Jack knows what is like to see people "leave" , but he can't really connect to spending more time with them. He'll still nod, because he does get the idea.]

That's a great idea. Have fun together, make lots of memories with them. Those stay with you after they leave.

[saving_sound]

Mm. And more of my friends left after that, so... I'm a little glad I did.

[And another small nibble at the ice cream.]

[2cool4guardian]

People leave often then?

[As soon as he says that, he regrets it. This is supposed to be about her, not to satisfy his curiosity.]

Nevermind. What is important it's that you spend more time having fun. I'm sure the healers can take turns in the hospital, so don't feel bad about it.

[saving_sound]

[She slowly nods.]

As long as we aren't in wartime, it's usually okay if I take more days off. Even some of the nurses told me so.

[Though when it came to actual times of danger, nurses or not, of course she would throw herself right back into healing again.]

[2cool4guardian]

There you go. Gotta think about your own peace of mind too, you know?

[Don't worry Jack, Hibiki. He's the only one who allowed to do stupid stuff around here.]

Are you friends with the other kids from the city?

[saving_sound]

Mm-hmm, a few of them.

[2cool4guardian]

They can keep you company and play with you during those off days. You have me too, you know. For games, or... [He steals some of the ice-cream with a finger and speaks before sucking it.] -just as a snack provider too.