Respite

[Felix Nicholas]

It had been a few weeks now since Felix had made the uneasy realisation that Addy, a friend he held close to his heart, was suffering with some form of repressed memory. She had nearly begged him to allow her to remain in blissful ignorance, at least for a few precious days before she had to potentially confront her ghosts. Felix had reluctantly agreed; She had been such a frail shadow of herself in the days before that seeing her then, practically glowing... However false it was... Well. Allowing her a few days of remaining like that felt like compassion she truly needed.
But then days had become a week.
And that week slipped effortlessly into weeks.
Each time Felix gathered his courage to address the situation, he found it faltering under the warmth of her smile. Addison looked... Happy. Knowing that eventually he'd have to insist on potentially ripping that from her... It made his heart lay heavy in his chest. He'd found a battle fighting within himself each time he considering his next step, a war against the need to help her condition and the desire to just let her be happy as she was. 

"Ah, my foe appears to be smarter then I expected!" Felix declared, grinning at the bundle of excitable fluff currently staring down the ball he held in his hand. The teacher made a flinch to his left, the puppy making a dart in that direction, before stopping still again when he realised that Felix had stopped to, his tail practically wagging up a storm. "Ah... Mr.Z, you are quite an opponent!" He chuckled a little, tossing the ball to his other hand, the puppy watching it intently before giving the teacher an inpatient yap. "Okay, okay!" He smiled, pulling his arm back to throw the ball, pretending to throw it. Off went the puppy, bolting for a short distance before he stopped, looking back at Felix.
The teacher blinked, mocking innocence before smiling, finally tossing the ball, much to the young dog's delight.
"... He makes me puppy broody," Felix chuckled, casting his goofy smile to Addison. His smile faded a fraction however as soon as did so;  Even now... As happy as she was... He couldn't shake the knowledge of her memory repression. For a moment, he considered bringing it up... But then he found himself looking out over the park, decorated with shimmers of light snow, Z bounding after the ball... And sighed softly. No... He'd let grant her this continued respite, even just for one more day.

[Addison Sloane]

Watching Felix play with Z made Addison giddily happy. Z had taken to the young man so quickly that it surprised the songstress. Then again, the puppy was so friendly. And growing at an alarming rate. He was halfway up to her knees and energetic as ever. She couldn't even imagine him as a full adult.

They were at the park and Addison was sitting cross legged on the bench while Felix played with Z. "Maybe your puppy needs to meet Z. Pawn off his energy because he's like...a little too much for me." She chuckled, taking note of the slight drop of Felix's smile, briefly wondering why. The memory of their discussion about her condition plagued her for a moment and her smile waned just a little.

She tried to concentrate on Z as he bounded back; not to Felix but to her.

"Oh my God no!" She squealed in delight when the dog jumped on her lap, pressing his front paws against her chest and started licking her face. "Z! Stop! You're gonna make me cold." She whined half-heartedly, not really minding it. The dog didn't stop, obviously. "Felix, help!" She squeaked.

[Felix Nicholas]

Felix slipped his gloves hands into his jacket pockets, smiling at the puppy as he bounded excitedly across the light snow, the ball victoriously held in his mouth. Felix had gradually been spending an increasing amount of time with Addy and her puppy, the dog having taken to him exceedingly well; But Felix had always had a way with animals. He glanced to her when she spoke, giving a soft hum before holding a hand up. "No, no, I don't have a puppy," Felix corrected, giving a light shrug of his shoulders. "I meant Z is making me wish I had one... Although he is pretty... Tiring." The teacher gave a grin, before flinching back as the pup in question, having grown tired of his time playing with the ball, proceeded to tackle his owner.
Felix blinked at the sight, and tried to catch a chuckle with his hand, failing as Addison's desperate attempt to get Z off her looked increasingly comical. The teacher burst out laughing, waving his hands at her defensively. "Hey, I don't want to be Z's next victim!" He spoke in return, before sighing softly, approaching the hyped up bundle of fur. "Hey! Come on, pup! Leave the poor lady alone!" He took hold of the dog's collar, pulling the animal as gently as he could off of Addison.

"Come on, the ball is far more interesting!" He grinned, letting go of the dog and retrieving the ball, tossing it a short distance away. He watched as Z bolted after it once again, before looking back to Addy. "You okay?" He spoke softly, moving to seat down next to her on the bench. He smiled, raising an eyebrow. "New makeup?" He chuckled, gesturing to the dirt and slobber Z had left on her face, before delving into his satchel bag to retrieve a pack of tissues, offering the musician the pack. "For the puppy slobber."

[Addison Sloane]

The mistake she made had her chuckling. "Whoops. Clearly I need more lessons in the listening department." A curious little giggle escaped her. She was not one to giggle, but she supposed the situation called for it. "Tiring might be an-" Addison couldn't finish her sentence as the dog came bounding over to her.

"Felix!" She mock whined when he refused to help until he did. Once the dog ran away, Addison was left with the cold wind hitting her slobbered face. "I might get hypothermia." She said in a matter of factly tone of voice before chuckling and reaching out for the pack, the long sleeve of her coat pulling back to reveal the small tattoo on her wrist.

As she wiped her face, she watched as Z started roughhousing with the ball in the distance. "Thank you." She chuckled at Felix's statement. "Your arm getting tired of throwing? I'm starting to think we need a dog park here so he can burn off that excess energy because we are clearly not doing a good job of it."

[Felix Nicholas]

The teacher smiled at her warmly as she took the pack of tissues, watching as she began to clean herself up. His smile faded slightly however, his gaze narrowing as he caught sight of the tattoo on her wrist. Felix had known Addy had a tattoo, but he'd never paid too close attention to what the ink depicted. He tilted his head slightly as she spoke about the dog park, raising an eyebrow. "... No, no, I'm fine," He assured her. "It's doing me good to stretch my legs outside of the Academy... The dog park thing might be a good thing to put down a petition for at the town council though, considering the growing size of Kalispell." He paused a moment, before pointing to her wrist. "Hey, Addy... What did you get the tattoo for?" He questioned curiously. He couldn't quite see from where he was sat, but it appeared to be some sort of date scrawled in handwritten text. "... Is it a date?" He spoke, before casting her a playful smile. "It's not the date you met me, is it?" He then chuckled, waving his hand at her. "I'm joking... Considered a tattoo myself once, you know... But the whole needles thing threw me off."

For her to have wanted whatever it was down on her skin permanently, it must have been something significant... Something important. It might be a long shot considering the sheer amount of things it could mean, but could the ink link to her trauma? Potentially... Felix leaned back on the bench, trying to seem casual while watching his companion intently, waiting for her answer.

[Addison Sloane]

"Well then, I'm glad we can be of service." Addison bowed her head with flourish, adding the waving hand gesture. When Felix asked about the tattoo, the young woman turned her gaze down to her inked inner wrist. "It's a date." She nodded before chuckling and shaking her head, turning to look at Felix again. It surprised her that he didn't like needles. "I would have thought you had a few tattoos on you. I don't know why." She chuckled again before showing Felix the tattoo.

"It's actually a date close to my manifestation but...I don't know why I chose this date. Something must have happened to trigger my manifestation then." She shrugged, not really thinking too much of it. "It was awhile ago. Kinda hard to remember these things." She grinned, though there seemed to be something missing that she wanted to recall but couldn't.

Z came back then and started panting by Addison's feet. "Oh, I think he's thirsty." Addison rummaged in her bag to take out the foldable plastic bowl before pouring out water from the small bottle she brought from home, setting it down on the ground by Z, who lapped up the water noisily.

"So what tattoo were you thinking of getting?"

[Felix Nicholas]

Addy seemed... Strangely a little unsure of what the reason for her tattoo actually was. The date she manifested seemed like a significant enough date to have tattooed on your wrist, but to only think it was "round about" that time was odd. Surely if you were going to get something like a date marking an event permanently marked on your skin you'd make sure you were certain of what day it actually was?

Kinda hard to remember these things.

It was difficult for her to remember what had caused her to walk into a tattoo shop, and ask for something as specific as a date forever inked into her skin? The whole thing sent red flags up for the teacher, who merely smiled and nodded with interest. Could the date have something to do with what had triggered her memory repression? It was another fact to store away and bring out in question when Felix got the chance to speak to one of her other close friends.
Felix gave a sheepish laugh when she mentioned not thinking he'd be afraid of needles. "You'd think I'd have gone for tattoos?" He chuckled. "I just... I don't know. Needles freak me out just a touch." He gave a small shrug. "I have a low pain threshold." He joked, before pausing, furrowing his brow in thought. Since he'd always been a little too nervous of walking into a tattoo parlour, Felix had never considered formally selecting a design. It would have to be something important... Something that meant a lot to him, and always would. "... Something music related. I considered having the frequency of Bellefonte Academy's radio down my arm."
His radio show that he ran for many years at Bellefonte and which he continued to run even as a teacher had been his pride and joy. It had been there when he needed it, throwing himself headlong into making improvements and focusing on it whenever something painful had happened in his life... It was like an old friend. "What would you have now, if you had to get another one?" Felix questioned, before looking to the puppy as Z came bounding back, now eagerly lapping up from the water bowl and creating quite the messy puddle.

[Addison Sloane]

She didn't notice the look on Felix's face at her uncertainty but she was glad he brought the subject over to himself. "Aww, needles aren't that bad. It actually feels cathartic after awhile." She shrugged, though knowing it wasn't for everyone.

Perking up at the mention of music, Addison gripped Felix's arm and beamed at him. "So do I! I mean not your radio show, obviously but just something to do with music. I thought of doing a music sheet or song lyrics. We should go together, Fe! Whaddya say? Come on, we haven't done anything to cement our friendship. Might as well do something that bonded us in the first place!"

[Felix Nicholas]

Felix gave a flinch as she grabbed his arm. It was something now he'd grown used to over the past few weeks, although it still felt strangely unlike her. The teacher found himself blinking at her with widened eyes, a small shiver of nerves sweeping his spine. "W-Wait, you want us to cement our friendship with tattoos?" He spoke, a wide, nervous grin finding it's way onto his lips. "Isn't that a bit... Permeant? What if I... accidentally... Break something of yours and you never want to see me again?" He was joking, of course, but part of Felix had tensed at the idea of actually going through with a tattoo; Talking about it was one thing... Casual, playful discussions of potential inks... But actually stepping into a tattoo parlour felt like a big step.

"... Not that I'm nervous or anything," Felix chuckled, running a hand through his hair sheepishly as he averted his eyeline, well aware that it was painfully obvious that he was. As much as the idea of a tattoo was an appealing idea, the whole... Getting it process... Was very much not. Felix wasn't exactly sure why needles unnerved him, but he suspected it was the memories of getting his childhood inoculations.

[Addison Sloane]

Addison pretended not to notice the flinch and instead concentrated on the fact that Felix suddenly looked scared. For the four years she had known Felix, she had never really seen him nervous. It was odd seeing him with that expression but the grin on Addison's face was genuine. "What could you possibly break of mine that I would choose over you, Fe?" Addison asked, rolling her eyes.

It was the tiniest thing but when Felix ran his fingers through his hair, Addison couldn't help biting her lower lip. She found it oddly attractive. Shaking her head of the thought, she poked Felix's side and smirked.

"Come on Felix. It's gonna be fine. I'll go with you, obviously. I'll be by your side the whole time. I won't go anywhere, I promise!"

[Felix Nicholas]

It was a rare occurrence for Felix to feel genuinely unnerved, but needles were one of the few things that riled that uncertainty. He pouted a little, shrugging his shoulders. "Oh, I don't know... Your music system? I could trip and crash into it, just at the moment you'd paid to have it all updated..." He then gripped his hair, one of his nervous traits, and raised an eyebrow when his friend poked him in the side. "Ow," He mumbled, mocking being hurt, being casting her a goofy grin, letting his arm fall from his hair with a sigh.
He let a moment of silence fall between them as he mused on the idea; What if he actually went through with it? ... How bad could it genuinely be? He rubbed his upper arm with his other, turning a nervous smile to Addy. "... Ha... Um, would you... You know. Hold my hand through it?" He then playfully bumped his shoulder with hers lightly. "Just don't tell anyone. I've got a street cred to uphold."

He had to admit, having her there would be hopefully enough support to get him through the entire ordeal... At least it wasn't as though they were going to go off and step over the threshold of a tattoo parlor that very day... Felix had time to get used to the idea. "Although I apologise in advance if I end up hurting your hand..." He grinned. "I'll owe you one dinner afterwards in apology, okay?"

[Addison Sloane]

Snorting, she looked at Felix incredulously. "Really? You really think an updated sound system is more important to me than our friendship? You wound me, Nicholas. At the very least choose my car to total." She raised an eyebrow with a mischievous smirk on her lips.

Furrowing her eyebrows and narrowing her eyes when Felix turned to look at her, she tilted her head and listened to his request before pursing her lips from grinning too widely. "Oh." She squeaked when Felix bumped into her shoulder. "Oh sweetie, what street? Sesame Street?" She snorted.

The promise of dinner had Addison nodding. "All you can eat sushi buffet." She held a hand out. "Gotta shake on it. Make it official. Come on." She wiggled her fingers and eyebrows at Felix.

[Felix Nicholas]

"Hey, our music systems are important to the both of us!" Felix pouted. "I value it more then my car!" This was true... Felix's custom music system back at the Academy meant the world to him. It was the result of years of customising, improving the systems and designing his own music programs, all for the benefit of the school's radio. It was priceless now... He'd never be able to get those hours back, those long coffee filled nights spent modifying equipment... His greatest achievement was editing it to cater for his ability, so he could manipulate sound from the speakers without frying them. His nerves almost fell away instantly at Addy's joke, Felix unable to prevent a genuine belly laugh. "Sesame Street?!" He snorted, before breathing out, still chuckling as he continued. "Come on, someone has to keep that damn grouch in line."

He then grinned, the idea of an all you can eat sushi buffet did sound... Pretty good. Something to look forward to after his traumatic decision to ink his arm. He glanced down to her outstretched hand, biting his bottom lip slightly; This was it. A handshake was as good as a promise, as good as a blood pact to Felix. He then looked to his friend, her resolute confidence in the situation calming his own nerves. "... You got it!" He grinned, taking hold of her hand firmly and giving it a shake. "You and me, in a secret tattoo pact, followed by eating our own body weight in sushi. What better way is there to spend a day?"