Your Voice(please, I want to hear it again.) || TOMMYINNIT

10:

- Oh my god, I see you.

Nana had let out a small puff of air that quickly turned into white smoke, her eyes scanning her surroundings while trying to find a legal child.

- What the fuck—? How do you see me, and yet I can't see you? - Nana muttered to herself, though still hoping to get a response from the other receiving end of the call.

- I am currently holding a knife.

The girl could only see crowds surrounding her. However, none of those groups of people contained Tommy in them

The day had seemingly turned into a late evening even though it was only half past four in the day. Nevertheless, the sky had already turned pitch black with no stars making their way to the scene to shine.

- I feel like I'm in one of those true British crime documenta— TOMMY!

She could see him now. Nana could see the epochal-like blue jacket of his seemingly swimming past a few other bystanders. That same shade of blue had begun to swim towards her now.

Nana's feet had begun moving by themself while the girl's thoughts struggled to catch up with her quickly moving body that reacted faster than her mind could at that moment.

In one singular swift motion, the air around Nana had abruptly changed its course from still to as if she were collapsing.

- Oh my— Nana, are you okay?! - Tommy had exclaimed, feeling the girl's hands grip his forearms for support.

The grasp itself almost seemed like Tommy's muscles had tightly clenched themselves together. Nevertheless, Tommy still firmly held the girl until Nana hastily regained her unexpected loss of balance.

- I'm fine! Just— I don't know, must've had a whiplash or something.

Tommy could care less about the messy meet-up. To him, what mattered now was that she was finally here. She was here with him.

- Your voice, by the way, sounds so much nicer in real life.

She looks even paler than the last time I saw her on call.

- Do I then sound like shit on discord?

Tommy laughed unexpectedly, a little surprised by Nana's response:
- No! No! Of course not. It's probably your shit set-up, isn't it?

Nana looked away for a second, avoiding the gaze that searched for her own again:
- You seriously have to come after something that I can't deny, huh.

- HAHH— NO! Sorry! Sorry! - Tommy exclaimed, almost losing his balance.

Nana chuckled along, finally reciprocating Tommy's wish for more eye contact.

- I mean, you look a lot better in person than online.

Tommy paused, his smile suddenly turning into a confused frown:
- Wait, do I then look like shit with my camera?

Nana had a playful smile occupy her lips as she responded:
- Not at all. I'm just joking.

- Then do I not look good in person?

- You know what I mean! - Nana exclaimed, grabbing Tommy's hand.

His hands were warm, unlike hers. Though, Nana did not let that distract her:
- Come on! Let's get going now. The rotavirus is spreading around here, and I don't want you catching a cold or some other virus.

Nana's grip on Tommy's forearms had almost hurt to endure when he caught the girl's fall. Now, Nana's grip on his hand was a lot softer, almost as if her hands had lost all of their strength. They did. The only thing that remained were bones covered by a thin layer of pale skin?

Where had all her power gone to?

...

Tommy's eyes had lurked along the bus's windows, finding nothing through them but the city & his & Nana's reflections. Sometimes he'd watch other people get on & off the bus through the window's reflected pictures.

The girl had looked beat, dead tired. Had she always had such big eyebags? When was the last time she slept? She hadn't seemed so exhausted back in Ela's stream with the weird chair. Why was she so tired now?

Nana's head lay against the bus window gently, her eyelids separated by a few millimetres of space.

They close softly & slowly, Nana's facial muscles relaxing as her hair gently fell against her fa— Nana jolted awake back into a straight posture rather than her previous slumped one. Her eyes were now fully opened.

For a second, Tommy swore that he had seen an element of fear in her eyes. Nonetheless, that sight of anxiety withered away mere milliseconds afterwards.

- You okay? - Tommy gently asked, keeping his voice low & quiet. - You look tired.

Nana did not look tired. She was tired, drained of each bit of energy she had.

Nana brought her hands to her head slowly, rubbing her temples before doing the same to her eyes:
- I'm so sorry. I must've fallen asleep again. I wish I could stop... I'm so sorry, Tommy.

- Don't apologise so much. If you're tired, then you're tired. What else can you do about it?

- Mmh... I guess you're right. Sor—

- What did I just say?

Tommy chuckled as Nana kept quiet after that, trying to figure out a response that did not entail another meaningless apology. Although, what else could she say besides sorry?

- How many more stops before we reach your flat? - Tommy asked, shifting his voice tone to something more relaxed.

- Five more.

- Then rest. I'll wake you up before we need to get off the bus.

Nana had silently agreed with hesitance. She closed her eyes slowly again, yet willingly this time.

To someone who knew nothing, they would've probably assumed that the girl was already fast asleep, even passed out. Barely a minute had passed & by that time, Tommy felt her tensed shoulders relax, the signs of fatigue showing themselves clearly like a quartz crystal. 

Though, Tommy could tell that she was not asleep. Only her eyes were shut, giving that sort of illusion.

Tommy had wondered how much energy Nana had to conserve for the simplest conversations like they had about— what was it? 10 minutes ago? Now, Nana's head lay still, shaking every few seconds once the bus would hit some sort of bump.

A/N: Crying rn 'cause it's been like 7 years since I started learning English & I still don't know how to spell georgoeuhs.