catch me if you can [c]

[Asia Nicole Sedgewick]

There was nothing profound and instantly healing to say. There was nothing but an empty void where her thoughts had previously been. Maybe the Dalai Lama or the pope could come up with something and have enough faith and force behind their words to make a difference, but Asia had nothing. Who was she to say everything was going to be okay, December was in a better place now? The junior didn't have the certainty of any religion to give credence to her words. Her thoughts on death were non-existent. There was no way to know, no way to be sure. Definitely no way to bring them back.

There was a faint reflex telling her to get away, to run from this pain and reference to death. There was no question that people avoided death and those associated with it. It was just too large and complex of a concept for people to rationally wrap their minds around and confront. A person could only be okay with it when it was a non-issue, when those that were closest to it had accepted it. And it was clear that Canyon was not over it. People ran from death, avoided those associated with it. It was true, and maybe it wasn't always wrong, but it wasn't right. Not now, anyway.

Her resolve hardened, scoffing at the urge to escape. She snarled at the idea, criticizing her mind for making this about herself. I don't run from these things. I can do better. The irony was, she was always running. The things she ran from were her own problems, and they kept her going 24/7. Maybe it wasn't clear to see, but the only time her backbone got any exercise was when she had to be there for someone else. Then she was all about kind words and confronting your problems.

Oblivious to the hypocrisy, she reached out and gave Canyon's shoulder a squeeze. He was considerably taller, so it was more like reaching up. No, there wasn't any way to make it better, so Asia was going to aim for honesty. "I think... you might have to let yourself miss her. Remember, and feel, and... look for normalcy to hold you down. There's no expiration date for grief." She felt the weight of her uncertainty and helplessness in her gut. Taking a breath in a vain attempt to lighten the feeling, she said, "I'm here to help if you ever need anything." That went without saying, but Asia couldn't stress that sentiment enough. Her grey-blue eyes shone with earnestness.

[CANYON HART PIERCE]

Her worlds comforted him… if only a little. No, they didn’t set his world back into orbit and its axis was tilted far beyond normalcy, but that didn’t mean he had to focus on the broken perspective. Maybe he just had to let the wound sit for a bit longer. Perhaps it was just a little too soon to try and get over her. It hadn’t even been half a year yet. It was close but not close enough. All he was doing was picking at the wound. Visiting her dorm would only rub in the salt. He needed to let her go and he couldn’t do that if he was still clinging so tightly to the air she used to breathe.

He was receiving so much help, though. Thank god for his gracious friends and the angel he has been blessed with so recently. If it weren’t for Asia or Graham or Jin – dear, little Jin – he didn’t know what he would do. He would probably lose his mind and never be able to find it again. He couldn’t do this on his own. No matter how strong he thought he was, even the Grand Canyon needs help and support. He can’t carry the world on his shoulders all the time. No one can.

Canyon just heaved a quiet sigh and wrapped Asia up into a tight hug. “What would I do without you?” The question was quiet, almost as if it were to himself, “Thank you, Asia.” He was genuinely grateful. Any advice he could get, he appreciated. It wasn’t like he magically knew all the secrets to the universe just because he shook hands with the grim reaper. Yeah, he had fought cancer and lived to tell the tale and that meant so much to him but it doesn’t make you too much wiser. All he learned was that life is too short to wake up with regrets. He had to live it to the fullest and rock it as hard as he could. Life was about taking risks because if he didn’t, he would always be wondering what if. He did his best to live in the moment and… at that moment, he wasn’t doing a very good job of it.

He let Asia go and wiped at his eyes. Yes, he had been crying but only a few tears managed to escape. That didn’t matter at the moment, though. “And you can talk to me whenever you need to, okay? I love to help people,” he smiled his friendly smile and watched her. “Ready to continue on our journey or do you think we should head back?”

[/blockquote][/blockquote][/justify]

[Asia Nicole Sedgewick]

A small smile flashed across Asia's face as she was pulled into an embrace. She hugged Canyon back tightly, the insufficient feeling becoming less acute. Knowing that she'd been able to improve his mood by even a few degrees, quite predictably, made her feel better. Her support and continuing friendship was all she had to offer, but maybe that was what he needed. People flee from death, but if you had enough loyal friends that stuck around and saw you through the grief, loss and pain it would lighten the burden. Feeling alone was probably Canyon's worst enemy.

The gratitude in his voice was obvious. If Asia was the crying type, her eyes would be stinging by now. Displays of emotion weren't things that came easily to the junior, however, so she stuck with her warm smile. Leaning away, her brows drew together when she caught the glimmer in the senior's eyes. Yeah, she would definitely be tearing up. She could feel it, even if she couldn't figure out how to exhibit the sentiment. "Anytime - It's what I'm here for."

The truth was, Asia never felt like sharing any personal information with anyone, but now she was particularly disinclined. She didn't doubt that Canyon had meant what he said; she could gauge his character enough to see that he was being completely honest. Her problem was that she never felt like her troubles were worth sharing. If they got her down then that was her problem, her weakness, her inability to shrug it off and get over it. Sharing that would just be embarrassing. Asia the Unflappable, complaining about such minor things? Especially to someone like Canyon. Looking into his eyes, all she could think was that if she thought her problems compared to his then she wasn't worth the airspace she took up. So she just laughed, masking her thoughts with the musical noise. "I'm good, but thanks."

The dismissive tone was probably not the most endearing thing she could have come up with, but it was her immediate outlet. Sure, it could make her come across as cocky, but better cocky than weak. It was not just a hasty cover up. She'd been working on it for years. But it wasn't like it was a complete lie, either. Little things did not set her off. Most big things did not either. She was a happy person. In a lot of ways, she was unflappable. Everyone had a chink in their armor, though. Hers was just hard to identify, because she couldn't bring herself to reveal that vulnerability. So, with a shrug, she turned to look around the park. Happy for the change of subject, she said, "Up to you. Like I said, I don't have a schedule."

[CANYON HART PIERCE]

Canyon’s eyes rolled up to the sky as he tried to judge the time it was by the position of the sun like he had learned when he was in cub scouts. Unfortunately, that was, like, forever ago and he wasn’t that skilled anymore. All he knew was that when the sun was at it’s peak, it was noon and, at the moment, it was well past noon. Canyon didn’t wear a watch though he should probably start doing that. He never knew what time it was without his phone and sooner or later that would make him late for one thing or another. Like his job. God, that would be horrible. Canyon did his best to keep his record spotless. He was such an efficient worker and he always did his best. He didn’t want to develop a bad reputation about being irresponsible… Though, he probably had nothing to worry about. Nothing like that has happened to him yet so he was pretty sure it never would. Besides, if he had a watch, he’d probably just end up counting down the minutes of the day if he got bored enough.

All he knew was that it was late enough for the sun to starting setting behind the horizon. He knew he still had to shower and finish his homework. God, he hated homework so much and he’d much rather be out here with Asia than doing work but it would help take his mind off of… everything. And he didn’t doubt that Asia had some work to do as well. It was hard to escape even a day without homework at this school. Ugh…

“Maybe,” he paused, chewing on his bottom lip and looking at Asia, “Maybe we should start heading back.” The lanky teen turned back in the direction they came. Of course, they didn’t have to hurry and Canyon was not going to hurry at all. He’d take a slow, leisurely jog. “So much homework.” Was all he said as an explanation as to why he choose what to do.

[/blockquote][/blockquote][/justify]

[Asia Nicole Sedgewick]

Asia waited as Canyon made up his mind, not caring either way. She did have some homework that wasn't gong to go away any time soon. She'd be able to finish it in time to go to bed at a normal hour, which never hurt. This was a prestigious boarding school, after all. Being alert and focused was a necessity. Just because the school welcomed shifters and taught them some specific skills related to their ability didn't mean the academics weren't grueling. Asia wasn't really sure how the school managed to turn away likely candidates that were non-shifters and keep from arousing suspicion. She wouldn't have minded running more, either. It would just mean reorganizing her work load a bit so that she'd get everything in on time.

Still looking up at the senior, she smiled and nodded her agreement. "Sure. I've got a paper I should be working on. Research is a pain." She sighed dramatically to add sincerity to her words. Once you had all of the information together and outlined it wasn't that troublesome to write the essay, but digging through all of the sources and keeping track of it all was her least favorite part. With that in mind, she matched Canyon's easy pace and focused on the path ahead.

It had been a fun run, even with the little heart to heart they had had. She simply felt a reaffirmed sense of friendship toward the senior, and from now on she'd take care to pay more attention to how he was doing in his dealing with the loss. Besides that, the running had relaxed her, draining the excess energy she'd built up over the course of the day. She knew she'd have no trouble keeping up her mellow demeanor, which would no doubt make her roommate happy. Asia with extra energy meant restlessness and impromptu cleaning. Ironically, it was difficult to concentrate when someone was energetically restoring order to your surroundings.

ooc:: so... pretty much assuming the thread is finished?