Here There be Witches

Untitled Part 11

Why?

Why, why, why, I don't wanna be here. Why do I feel like this? Who is this woman? Has she always worked here? I don't wanna be here, I don't like her. I don't like this feeling. I can't breathe.

Vaguely, Anara registered that she was beautiful. He didn't like her hairstyle, but she was elegant and cool and you could tell she was quite intelligent just by looking at her. She was the kind of person Anara wanted to be.

But this feeling. Being around her made him feel sick.

"Hey doc, what's up? Are you here to check on how Soul is doing?" Blackstar sat up in bed. How could he be so casual?

"Well, miss Maka?" Don't talk to her. Don't look at her. His foot twitched with the impulse to move to stand in between his friends and the supposed doctor.

"Yes what is it?"

"Can you do me a favor and help me out with your father? I can't get him off my leg."

As things slowly went back to normal with everyone else the conflicting panic responses calmed down enough for Anara to move more. He could hear everyone talking and fathers being injured as he left but it still barely registered. As he hurried out the door, eyes on the ground he knew how strange this would look but he didn't care. He had to leave. He felt like he was going to throw up. He felt like his head was full of cotton in the same painful way it always did when he had been crying. He wanted to cry. He felt like he was going to fall over. He wanted to go home.

As soon as he was out the door he broke into a run, keeping his stare firmly on the blurring tiles beneath him. He could have sworn he heard a familiar voice calling his name but he couldn't be sure. He ignored it anyway. He ran until the cool, fresh air blew his hair back and the sun assaulted his eyes. He ran all the way down the steps and past the basketball court and into the first dark, small place he found.

If he had been any more lucid he would never have let himself drop to the ground of the quite sketchy, very dirty alleyway. He especially would have stopped his nails from scraping against the concrete, causing a few to break. They flew to his head instead, tangling themselves in his hair tightly. Somehow that always felt like some kind of tether keeping himself...wherever he was at the time.The longer he was out of that room the faster he came back to his senses. The easier it was to breathe.

Slowly, the pounding of footsteps became very loud and very apparent, both as Anara reacquainted himself with his surroundings and as they got closer and skidded to a stop next to the witch. He looked to see who had followed him, uncomfortable with how jerky his movements were. "Wh-who's there?" There was no reason to ask, the monochrome boy crouched down to his height, careful not to let anything but his shoes touch the ground. As gently as he pulled Anara's hands from his face the other day, he coaxed them away from ruining the other boy's lovely locks. Even as the witch's grip was considerably less gentle and a jagged, newly ruined nail dug into his skin he held them firm.

"Are you alright? What happened?"

All at once everything came rushing back and Anara was suddenly mortified to be caught like this. That he had let his self control break so easily as to run away from--from a danger? No, of course not, it was just a stranger. This was ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous and foolish and not something any other normal young adult from he DWMA--or anywhere for that matter-- with any sense would have done.

All he could reply was a whimper, wishing desperately that Kid hadn't followed him, but simultaneously being more grateful than he would ever care to admit. "You're shaking so bad...come on, lets get up now." The reaper's voice turned firm and he helped (but more like dragged) the blonde to his feet. "I won't let you be this upset somewhere this disgusting. We can find some place sanitary and--well, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. But just...let me try to help." This time it was Kid's turn to hold Anara to his chest. He could already feel himself relaxing a little. A couch and more or this would be very much appreciated, Anara's subconscious decided.

Then a second presence joined them. Warm, safe, home. "Actually, that won't be necessary." It was one of the rare times that Stein's voice was soft, but his child recognized it immediately. Suddenly with Stein there he felt fine to stand in his own space and breath normally again (not that he wouldn't enjoy a hug any other time), but chose to grab the sleeve of the doctor's coat nonetheless, keeping Kid's hand in his other hand.

"I want to go home."

Stein nodded without a word and guided them out into the light. "Thank you Kid. I'll..." His vocal cords were still having a difficult time doing their job normally. "...be fine." As their fingers slipped apart Anara smiled softly to tell him it would be ok. He still felt foolish for overreacting so drastically, but hopefully if he could just get some of his composure back his pride could be salvaged. And whatever positive reputation he had in Kid's mind before this. He stood up straight as a giant lab coat was draped over his shoulders. Even so many years later he still felt like he was drowning in it and took comfort in that. It had been almost as long since he held the stuffed bear, made from an older lab coat of Stein's, but he couldn't help wanting to cling to the toy as soon as he got home. It's name was Victor.

Instead of the toy he let himself hold onto his father's arm and pull one sleeve of the coat up to his face like a security blanket, not caring who saw or judged.

I might not be good at writing panic and angst (idk) but I sure do enjoy it. this was probably (sort of) calmed down faster than it should have been but we're not done yet.