[b]VI: Worries and Cares – A D2 Short Story[/b] Tetra throws herself onto her bed, and hurls two knives at the door to close it. She blows some wisps of brown hair out of her eyes as Trinity materializes above her face. “Well?” “Well what?” “Girl, if you don’t start talking to me, I swear on the Light I am going to publish your journals to everyone you hold dear—in a font that is super easy to read. Get my drift?” Tetra grins. She did love her Ghost's sense of humor. “Fine, Trinity. You want my thoughts on the day?” “Like a kid wants a gumbang machine.” “Gumball.” “I. Don’t. Care.” “Sorry.” Tetra sits up and leans against the wall behind her. “Rys seemed weird today.” “Girl, he’s ALWAYS weird.” “He was preoccupied. He’s mentioned that some stuff has come up with his family; I wonder if it has to do with that.” “I don’t see anything in the news that could be linked to them.” “Probably means it’s private business. Which means it’s none of OUR business.” Tetra adopts a look of authority. “So we aren’t going to poke around in my boyfriend’s life. Right?” “Right. I’m not; YOU’RE going to call him and ask him what’s up.” “It’s eleven at night, Trinity! We can’t just…” Trinity's eye blinks and projects a screen in front of Tetra’s face. “Contacting now. He’s super quick to answer his calls. One of the reasons I like him.” “You hate him.” “Did I say like? I meant strongly disagreed with.” There is silence in the bedroom for several moments. Tetra notes the length of the silence. Rys WAS quick to answer his calls, so it was odd that it had already taken this long. At last, a very disheveled Rys appeared in the screen. “Tetra?” “Hey, Rys.” He blinks sleepily. “It's eleven at night. Are you okay?” “Oh, yeah! I’m fine. I was actually calling about you.” Rys blinks again, and sits up as he rubs his eyes. “What about me?” “Are you okay? Did anything happen recently?” “As far as…?” “Your family.” Rys pauses and looks away from the camera into the distance. “No.” “Then did something happen elsewhere?” Again, Rys pauses. This concerns Tetra, who knows Rys is not one to stay silent for long. “Gerald is missing.” Tetra blinks in surprise. “The Titan who came with us on the Fallen op?” “Yes,” Rys nods. “He went with a squad to Russia and they were ambushed. Nothing’s been heard of them since. I’m…” He looks away. Tetra notices his shoulders shaking. When he looks back at the camera she can see wet streaks on his cheeks. “I feel like I’m responsible for him,” he says with trembling breath. “Like I owe it to him to try and get him back.” “So that’s why you were preoccupied today,” Tetra says with a glance at Trinity, who surprisingly says nothing. “Is there any way I can help?” Rys again is silent, but only for a moment. “Can you meet me at the crystal gardens?” “I’ll be there in ten.” His face vanishes, and Tetra found herself looking into Trinity's sad eye. “Let's move.” - - Exactly ten minutes later, Tetra dismounts her sparrow and moves through the glowing plants until she finds Rys sitting alone on the bench overlooking the orchards. She took her place beside him and wrapped his hand in hers. “What can I do, Rys?” He suddenly leaned his head on her shoulder. “Just be here.” Nodding carefully, she ran her fingers through his hair, doing the best she could to ease his troubled mind. The gesture didn’t startle him; she had done this many times before when he had felt anxious or worried. He had done similar things to ease her emotions as well. Like the perfect fireteam they made sure of each other’s well-being on a regular basis. After several minutes Tetra realizes that Rys had fallen asleep on her shoulder, his breathing almost completely silent. She smiles quietly and continues to caress his dark hair. Trinity appears by her face and looks down at him. “You must really like him a lot.” “He’s my best friend.” “And he would say the same of you.” Tetra looks at her Ghost with a raised eyebrow. “Don't tell me you’ve gone soft on him.” “Oh, no. I just like making you think I have.”