The Lunchroom

Raya nearly flinched away from his hand, but bluntly refused to do so and looked at him with round blue eyes. "But she did it a long time ago," she tried to explain, tears springing into her eyes as she started to sniffle, her eyes going distant for a moment before she forced herself to calm down enough to rub the tears from her eyes and hiccup a couple of times. "Why won't it change anything? Evil people are always going to be there, and I can't fight someone that much bigger than me," she mumbled, crouching down and hugging her knees to her chest in misery and fear.

Luis sat down in front of the girl. He had really done it now. "You kiddin'? You beat me, and I'm twice your size." He said referring to his partner barrier. The only chance for him to fix this was trust. Something he was short on, and hated to part with. "Even if things go south I've got your six anyways." He boasted, trying to bring her back into some sort of comfort zone. "But they won't go south will they? You got that talent for proving me wrong. So I'll just be stuck with watchin' your back... Partner." He continued, his tone full of confidence that may, or may not have been genuine.

Raya sniffled again and rubbed her eyes, looking up at him nervously before crawling over to wrap her arms around his neck tightly, but gently, and buried her face in his shoulder. Her little body was shaking from head to toe and she looked so scared. She hated thinking about things like this, and she had to get her mind off of it. "I'm sorry," she mumbled, sitting back and sniffling, wiping at her nose with the sleeve of her robe, her small hands visibly shaking. "I didn't mean to cry. I won't do that again."

Luis was supremely confused by the girls gesture. Did she really just hug HIM? "You're a piece a work, you know that?" He laughed warmly, and got back onto his feet. "We have school to impress." He said holding out a hand to help Raya to her feet. He by no means intended for this to be an everyday thing. Seemed like even simple gestures could make, or break this girls mood though, and he needed he functioning.

Raya took his hand and let him help her up with a small smile of thanks, then hesitantly stripped off her robe and shook out her long white hair, blushing darkly. She was wearing leggings and a thin, button up blue shirt underneath, and she held the robe over her stomach, which she felt extremely self conscious about. She knew that eventually she would have to show him the scar, but she didn't want to right at that moment. She brushed her hands across her eyes again, her hair a mess and her eyes a bit puffy from crying. "Hey, um, Luis, where do you live?" she asked nervously.

Luis once again felt immensely proud of the girl he only met a few days ago. In the end, he had decided, it was her choice when he knew what ate her so bad, and it was his place to be patient with her till then. He gives another strange look at the question. "Death City, where do you think." He replied in immense sarcasm. "I have an apartment, why?" He relented after a short laugh. No matter how much he liked the girl. The teasing stayed.

Raya fiddled with the fabric in her hands and looked a bit awkward for a few moments before she opened her mouth to speak. "Can I go to your apartment?" she asked, her blue eyes round and pleading. "I don't want to go to mine, and I won't stay long," she promised, though the thought of going back to her tiny, dingy apartment was just about the most unappealing thing on earth. Besides that, she did not want to be by herself. She hated the very thought of being on her own, so the fact that she had had this little apartment by herself for several weeks was bad for her. She needed someone to at least be around, if not in the apartment with her. "Or you can come over to mine," she corrected herself with a small, appealing smile.

The smile was erased from Luis' face. This had gone south of what he wanted. It was obvious that the girl was just lonely. Never the less, if he let her LIVE with him she would get far too attached. If that happened the only way to get rid of her might jar her emotional health. Even still, most partners lived together, and he wouldn't be giving her a fair chance if he didn't comply. Luis rubbed his chin in thought. "I mean, you know it wouldn't work if I decide we aren't going to be partners right?" He thought aloud, his eyes scrutinizing the girls reactions.

Raya realized what he thought she meant and shook her head quickly. "N-no, I didn't mean that we should live together," she assured him with a small blush. "I... I just wanted to come over for maybe a little while. I didn't want to stay forever or anything," she murmured, her face bright red as she fiddled around with her robe, almost wanting to put it back on. She hadn't meant to make him feel uncomfortable, and she knew she had. Her face fell when she realized that he probably thought she was super weird. "I'm sorry," she said in a soft tone, fighting to keep tears from prickling her eyes.

Luis rubbed the back of his neck, thinking that that was probably worse. What was he supposed to do hanging out with a twelve year old. Looking down at the condition of the girls face, he doesn't seem to have any other choice. That her she'll crawl right back into that shell. "Sure then." He said in a tone that masked his doubtful thoughts. He went through a list of things he could actually find to do with a girl of that age. Somehow he doubted that they had similar hobbies. Even if they did, the truth is Luis was simply bad at keeping company due to the fact that he never had it. "I mean, I dunno what you think we can do, but... Sure." He continued in the confident tone.

Raya blinked up at him with round eyes, shifting slightly. "You don't have to if you don't want to. I don't want you to do something you aren't comfortable with," she assured him with a gentle smile, nodding slowly. She shifted a bit and sighed, hugging her robe close. "You could come over to my place and I can make you something to eat if you want," she said with a small grin, looking up at him hopefully and approachfully. "But yeah, you don't have to do anything you don't want to do right now. It'd be kinda awkward for you, I'm sure," she said quietly.

Luis rubbed the back of his neck, while returning the girls glance. She was right. It would be extremely awkward for him. Not to mention it would be a waste of time. Time being something he hated to throw away, he felt the need to refuse. "Maybe some other time. Baby steps, you know?" He spoke in a strangely relaxed voice. "Don't you have material to study anyways?" He added. Luis may always act, or look it, but in truth he was a driven individual, to whom the concept of second place was not to be realized. He tried to find something to off-set the bluntness of his answer, but found nothing.

Raya nodded with a small, reassuring smile, knowing that he would need some time to get used to things, and was perfectly fine about it. "Yeah, I need to study about how longswords are used, and I need to shower and see how we can resonate better," she said optimistically, a grin on her lips as she turned to head down the steps toward Death City, pulling on her robe again, though she didn't cover her head again. "Um, Luis," she said with a hint of nervousness before turning back around to smile brightly at him. "Thank you so much for doing this. It really means a lot to me, and I promise I'll do everything I can to be good enough for you," she said determinedly, her blue eyes round and bright as she looked up at him.

Luis' personality managed to muster the smallest amount of nervousness, as the girl told him she wouldn't disappoint. Once more this added to the hole he was in. If she felt she couldn't add up to his expectations she would only get worse. Or if he was lucky, realize she didn't have to prove anything to anyone. History did so have a way of showing him how unlucky he was though. He begins walking down the steps into the city as well. "Make sure you do that." He said blankly, in a near perfect monotone. "We wouldn't want any wasted potential."