Together (Gio/Nim Saga)

She tried to let it go. It was easier now that the big burden was gone, yet something kept pulling on her. Something like; you could have said it earlier, see nothing is happening. Something something. She was making a little joke, she was trying to not be too serious but she was hurt and she wasn't sure when that wound would be repaired, time would heal but how long does such a thing take. She had to bring up what she had in mind. But that was difficult, she did not ask for money, she would never want to. But bringing it up now made her shy and embarrassed. Her eyes were fixated on him to see how he would react, he was just curious, which came as a surprise. She blushed when he made a sound, a sound that was the indication that he got what she meant and why she asked. It made it even more embarrassing. She did not know where to start about it but he did not say anything. He just leaned back in his chair and looked at her, so she would continue to talk. Maybe to fill up the silence that she was afraid that would come. They had no one, they could provide some love, tender and care and such and just make sure they were okay.

She finished. Waiting for the silence to come. Ready for his no. "Oh." It surprised her so she would not immediately be able to give the answer. Technically she said nothing at all and walked to her desk (which was in the bedroom) and brought back the little list she had, "Twelve kids." She put the paper on the coffee table before walking back and taking a spoon of ice cream. "I thought just, nothing too much but twelve plushies maybe," those things were surprisingly expensive, you did not know. "just I don't know if we can find twelve different once or eh you, I don't know." She felt still like she was doing something stupid. She did not know how to point it out but that's why she took another spoon of ice cream so she couldn't talk and she fixed her gaze on the bowl of it. There was nothing more to say at this point right?

She was actually quite happy that Giovanni did not mind doing this for her or well for the kids mostly but it was directly for her as well and she was glad he did so, she was glad they talked too. It could obviously have been done better and the first fight that they had still gave her the chills but this is how it was going and this is what they would do now. She would just snuggle in his arms late at night, she had promised she would be honest to him and no further hide anything. They would just do the dishes together and watch a movie together and finally, she snuggled close in his arms to sleep. But she couldn't, staring at the ceiling she was reliving everything that sucked before. Her father, and now this fight, that was pretty darn something that scared her and she did not want to think too much about it. However, eventually, she fell asleep, being able to let go of the issue and simply going on with what she had planned for the next day. It would be fine.

They woke up early in the morning, Giovanni first drove to his house to get some stuff before going to the shopping centre in Musutafu where they would go around a few shops to get twelve different plushies for the kids. They weren't that big and they fitted into one bag, they quickly went to get lunch at his restaurant before finally going back to Nimue her house and get everything she needed for the medical check-up at the orphanage. Nimue was quite a bit nervous because she had not done this before and her students were obviously not the same as the kids in an orphanage. She would maybe talk to some of the volunteers to make sure everything was going fine here and so on. She just wanted to make sure she was doing right. When they arrived, she checked the time, fiddled with her hair that was up in a ponytail and just looked at it. Sometimes in the normal days, she no longer felt like herself as if the persona of Witch Doctor had taken over. Maybe that was another reason why she kept putting off to tell Giovanni about her alias, her alter ego, or something alike. The fact that her green hair was something hidden when she used her hero outfit and that the red marking on her face was hidden in her daily life. She had before the fight with Lady Lavande, never hidden the markings because no one had cared, she had not thought about it. But now Nimue Nakahara had no red markings on her face anymore, the pictures on her social account either edited or deleted, it was a strange thing. It was another strange phenomenon how often she ignored the calls of her mother ever since October. Nothing would bring back the old days, nothing would make it better. He was gone. He would remain gone forever, a man who was happy, who was everything to her, was gone and she did not know what to do about it and how to fix it. What to think or what to do, the days of grieving would never be really over but the days of lingering at home and doing nothing were. She had been working hard for everyone and everything, trying to put herself into such daily stuff that she would not feel alone or bad about it. That she was truly exhausted when she came home and would just read, scratch Kuro's little head behind his ear and do nothing. That was life now.

She needed a little push from Giovanni to get out of the car, she took his hand when he extended it to her and together they would go into the orphanage. She might even feel like an orphan herself, she no longer a father and she rather did not want to think about her mother. She looked at Giovanni, realizing that apart from his brother, she had not asked him many questions, she knew he had sisters but that was about it too. She might ask him later, she stepped indoors and went to find the woman that was like the headmistress of this place and talked to her. She was here as just Nimue for the people that worked here, she had first thought about doing this as Witch Doctor, remembering what Wagyu had told her before, but she was a little too afraid what it would bring as consequences for the kids, the orphanage and Giovanni now too. She got a little office and the women of the orphanage would bring the kids. She could first set up shop so to say and she snuggled again in Giovanni's arms. "I don't know why I suddenly feel so nervous." They had done everything right, it should be fine why was she so nervous. She worked with kids every single day. She looked up to him, "I am glad you are here."

She blushed a little when he kissed her and spoke those motivational words to her and she smiled at him. "Yes," She would be able to do this, considering she was doing this on a daily basis, that she had quite some medical knowledge, why did she keep on doubting herself? It actually made no sense at all. But she did had to admit that she was very glad that he was here, also because it helped her at moments like this, "If you find this boring though, don't feel like you have to be stuck in this office with me?" She wasn't sure if he wanted to go or stay and watch, she knew some people liked to watch, she knew he liked to watch her working on her class preparation. She loved it when he gave her little nicknames, "One day, teach me Italian?" She might have considered right before arrival that she knew so little about his family and never spoke of her own much that she could maybe ask for this. But for now, there was a focus on something else. Now that she had hung the stethoscope around her neck and put the swaps and stuff on a clean plate she would be sure to be ready to make this a quick stop for every child that was there. She had asked Giovanni if he minded giving the kids the plushies after they were done.

Now when everything was ready, she would check the first kid. First explaining what was going on and make sure the child was comfortable, she would listen to the lungs and asking the boy to breathe in deeply, and checked the eyes and reflexes, and the throat tonsils, well it was something especially if kids seemed to have issues with it. When it was done she let him go off and go grab a plushy, she would help the next kid.

Niso wasn't entirely sure what he was doing here. He had his reasons he knew what they were but... why he'd come to those conclusions was what bothered him. Was he trying to talk himself out of what he was going to do, or just further convince himself it was the right thing to do? He hoped it was the latter. He didn't like the idea that he might be going soft... Yeah. Yeah. He'd stick with that. He'd arranged a day with a local orphanage, not st Marta's of course, to just... walk around the facility, check on the kids, do a bit of a write up. He was lying and saying it was a pre-check to see if Freya might be able to do an event there sometime for the kids. Who didn't want a visit from a pro hero afterall? In truth he just... wanted to see what it was like. All for himself. Hell hound wasn't even gonna hear about this most likely. At least, if he could help it.

That morning he'd gotten a call that things might not be business as usual as they'd double booked visitors for the day. Niso wasn't sure what that meant, maybe some prospective parents looking around for a kid? He didn't think to pry but he made it clear he still wanted to visit, arriving much later that day when a certain round of check ups had just finished getting done on the kids. Niso had a brief tour elsewhere in the building, but ultimately was allowed to explore on his own so long as he... well, behaved. He was careful not to let any of the kids know his fake reason for being here. He didn't do well being mean to kids. Seeing the light in their eyes that a pro hero might visit only for it to be a lie? Yeah he... he couldn't do that.

Everything had seemed rather nice. It wasn't a perfect place but what place could be? It was like your average, low income household. At least, he assumed. He didn't have a strong frame of referance. And to maintain that with so many kids? It was kinda impressive in it's own right. At the end of the day Niso was gonna leave here knowing not only was St Marta's a shithole... but it was THE shithole. If a place like this could exist st Marta's had no right to...

Maybe if he'd been raised here...

He shook the thought from his head, dismissing it. The past was the past. It had been what it had been. No use worrying about it. His eyes drifted about the final room he was touring through when a flicker of green caught his attention, his brow rising with some surprise...

He... he should maybe get out of here but... this could be good. Helped to have his fake identity get some more legitimacy and... Oh. Oh he recognized that other face. Yeah. This could be juicy in the future. For now though, he just had to play it cool.

"Witch Doctor?" He chimed in, peeking into the room Nimue had been using for her checkups.Civilian Niso was a hero nut as far as Hellhound knew so he tried to maintain that act, an ecstatic smile on his features as he stepped inside. "Oh my god when they said they had another visitor I never thought it'd be a hero!" He walked in, eagerly offering his hand and shaking Nimue's if she took it. "I'm sorry for the intrusion I'm just a big fan but... Maybe you've heard of me? I'm Niso Gottschalk. I'm Hellhound's new PR manager. I was just checking this place to..." He glanced across to Giovanni... trying to heavily suppress the fact he recognized him by offering his hand to him too. "I'm sorry that was rude of me. Are you friends with Miss Witch Doctor?"

She felt flustered and confused, why did Giovanni say this? He was simply well not simply her boyfriend but she looked between the guys and turned her attention back to Gottschalk. Right, now it felt like she tried to compete with Freya which wasn't true and she just looked at her feet. For someone that thought she was doing good, this made her feel so uncertain. She did not want Freya to think that and she should maybe text her later today that it was a joke and it was her boyfriend, yea-yea. She could do that and she shook her head and looked back up, brushing the hair out of her face. A trend? Oh yea, she glared at Giovanni, he could answer this part on his own. She raised her eyebrow only when he used the wrong word, but laughed softly when he asked if it was right, "It means I am sorry, arigatou is the word you are looking for." She said kindly and smiled at him, it was nice to see everyone from around the world to be honest. With a surname like that it was obvious that somewhere he wasn't from Japan, hers was a lot more difficult then as she had her father's Japanese surname. There was no need to stick too long to his idea.

She blushed a lot when Niso complimented her for her caring attitude and she gave much shy smile but a happy one none the less. "O-oh I don't know, I just-I just consider what I can do." She put a hand on her cheek, kya fans, that's not what she thought about! Honestly, this was for the kids. "I do still think Freya might be able to raise their spirits a little more." But this was so great though, eh...

She looked serious though when Niso seemed to be a little bit wary about what he was saying next and she listened very carefully when he explained and she nodded. She nodded, she wasn't sure if the uniform thing in Japan worked but she would shift that on his cultural differences from wherever he was, but he still made a fair point. "Wait." She thought he was leaving without giving her the information, "Where is that?" She would definitely go, she wanted to make sure if that's possible to make an appointment there and go look. She looked at Giovanni for a second as a silent apology. "If those kids are mistreated, we need to stop that."

"Ah, right. Sor- er. Tha-" Niso paused as he pretended to try and get his words right for a moment, ruffling his own hair in thought before bowing his head a little as he explained. "I am sorry for confusing my words, thank you for correcting me.~" Yeah that worked out well enough, Niso even lifting his head with a brighter smile as he looked between the two of them. Even trying to lay on the nervous, anxiety ridden charm of his alter ego Giovanni seemed very stand-offish, leaving Niso with the impression he'd intruded on this guy running some sort of play at the worst moment. Interupting some crucial move... it could be something else but why would you work with a hero otherwise.

"And as far as Freya is concerned... I'll run the idea by her.~ I suppose we all need to do our part to give these kids a bit of hope in bleak times like this huh? Freya has her faults but... her energy... I think she'd do great keeping the kids in good spirits... yeah I think I'll run this place by her and maybe give it a little push at that.~" He gave another strong nod before returning to the sour topic.

"Well..." He hesitated... this could really sort out his problem, legally. Giovanni had enough criminal contacts he could probably feed Nimue some information on the illegal goings on of St Marta's if he so chose but... No. This was his. For better or worse, St Marta's was his moby dick. He was going to be the one to slay it... or die trying. Heh. As if he could die though... "It's probably nothing. Just... a small orphanage in musutafu. Had some irregular fostering habits too. Place was called er... Madame Corolas?" Of course Niso did have some reason to be suspicious. He had actually visited the place. It was no st Marta's but... a lot of kids with long sleeves, and a few shifty looks his way from the staff... he'd bet good money something was going on. "Er... here." He pulled out his 'gottschalk' phone and pressed a few buttons before holding it up, offering to bluetooth Nimue his number as most Japanese phones could do. "Here. My number, if you do find anything or even if it's just my paranoia... would you mind letting me know? I had a bit of a rough childhood myself so... I'd like to know they're safe ya know?"