[P] There's Good Days... And Then...

Noah's eyes widened. "Really, you did that?" he asked. Those stories were always all over the news, and he'd figured what the real cause had been that the world was blind to - but he hadn't thought it would be Rei. "Who knew you were capable of that," he mused, a grin playing on his lips that showed he was proud.

As her lips pressed against his cheek, he couldn't help but blush a little. It was nothing more than friendly, affectionate gesture, and he knew that - but he just couldn't help himself. They were close enough for it, though, so he decided to think nothing of it.

"All right, fine, Mother," Noah said, rolling his eyes teasingly at how protective Rei was being. Scarfing down the rest of his cereal, Noah stood and placed the bowl in the sink before going to his closet and pulling out a shirt, yanking it down over his head.

"Soon as you're done we'll go," he said, completely nonchalant about the fact they were both still in their pajamas.

"How selfless of you," Noah said with a snicker. It was nice, being able to joke around with someone like this. Close friends were somewhat hard to come by, if only because he kept secrets and because sometimes he didn't get to know people as well as he should have. It was a flaw he couldn't help.

Noah lifted his hand, mimicking the motions of Rei's mouth as he spoke. "Not mothering me, pshhh," he said, laughing. "You're already a good friend, so that has to be what you're doing."

A part of him understood why Rei wanted to get changed, but another part of him was feeling a little less impatient. "By the time you do all that we could have been there and back already," he told her. "You look fine, you don't need the makeup, in all honesty... We can go fast?" he tagged the last question on to try and persuade her.

"You know I'm kidding," Noah said with a smile. "What you did was a good thing."

Nodding now that he'd been corrected, Noah shrugged. If all she wanted to do was change, that was fine - it probably wouldn't take her very long, even if women did take forever sometimes. Noah began to walk toward the door, figuring he'd let her have her privacy while she got changed.

"That's fine," he said. "I'll... probably go back to sleep when we get back." He laughed, opening the door. "Just come out when you're done," he said, exiting into the hall and closing the door behind him.

A grin snaked its way onto his mouth when it turned out they hadn't had very far to go. At least Rei didn't have to worry about him passing out, and it wouldn't be a very long travel from her room to his own. He waited in the hall behind her while she opened the door, confused and concerned when she spoke out in shock. What was wrong?

That question was answered as soon as he followed her into the room, standing in the threshold with wide eyes. He wanted to repeat what she had said, numb with anger and disappointment. Who would have even done this to her? What the hell, why were people so stupid...?

With a great deal of caution, Noah moved to where Rei had thrown the paper, crouching down and taking it up within his hands before standing up again. Unfolding it, his eyes swept diligently over the words, the color draining from his face, which had already paled due to the pain he'd woke up in. What was he supposed to say to that? How could he say anything? He didn't know where to begin, or how to make it better.

"Let's... get your stuff..." he mumbled, pocketing the slip of paper. He'd look into it.