On exiting to the now dark and snow-gloomy halls of Mugen, Artemis follows along with you. The Mau stays close to Ami, offering her support should her battered body need it, concern evident on his face.
Professor Tomoe is rather reserved as you go towards the nearest elevator downstairs, seemingly lost in his own thoughts. Yet he does finally break the peaceable silence, with a simple question.
"How do you feel, Ami," he asks, as you step into the small little elevator that will take you underground. His voice does some a touch of concern, or perhaps mere scientific curiosity. You're tired and it's a touch hard to tell to your exhaused ears.
Ami tries hard to push the thoughts of the day from her head as they follow Professor Tomoe. She's more or less well enough to walk on her own, but she takes the support offered by her Mau partner, for expediences sake...and because there's a certain comfort in having him to lean on. Ami frowns inwardly, Minako flickering through her thoughts. I wonder if she really appreciated him...well, she might have, in her own way. She wasn't exactly a poster child for healthy expressions of emotion.
"Weary." Ami responds, sighing. "And still somewhat sore."
Professor Tomoe smiles slightly to that, amused lightly. "It's to be expected," he comments, as Artemis smiles himself. "The fact that you're walking after all of that is an impressive feat by itself."
She has wounds that would keep even a strong person in bed for a few days, and she's moving around fairly well on her own volition. I wonder if she realisies how strong she is...?
Artemis half nods to it, as he supports Ami. "You keep outdoing yourself, Ami-chan," he smiles to you.
Ami blinks, her cheeks going pink as the two men smile. She smiles embarrassedly back, shaking her head. "Ahm...It's not really that special..." she demurs, her face growing a bit hotter.
Artemis smiles, "It's good, Ami-chan. You did really good."
Perhaps as if to counterpoint, a slight bit of dizziness rocks you as your friend speeds, making you feel...woah...
Ami's eyes widen, and she stumbles as the hall seems to spin, clutching at Artemis to stay upright...
"Hey," Artemis says quickly, grabbing you and pulling you to him, providing a source of physical support. "Take it easy, Ami...you're still hurting." His voice is worried enough as he holds you, taking care not to touch your wounded sections.
Ami clings tightly to Artemis, breathing deeply to settle herself, and focusing on Artemis until the dizzy spell passes. She looks up, her face flushing, and smiling meekly. "I'm sorry...just a dizzy spell..."
I don't think I really noticed how handsome he is in this form before...She pauses slightly, then looks down, her cheeks flushing a bit more. ...Get a hold of yourself, Ami. He has Luna, and you have other things to worry about... A sudden image of Natsume flashes through her mind, and Ami sighs deeply, suddenly fighting off an urge to bang her head against something. What on earth is wrong with me....?
"Come on," he says, helping you to brace against himself. If he heard the sigh or picked up on any of your internal musings, he's not commenting right off, however. "Just relax here for the moment. It'll pass soon," he soothingly says to you, as the elevator goes down...
Ami gives Artemis a small nod in return, breathing deeply and trying to center herself as they descend, head bowed as she can't quite bring herself to release her grip on her Mau.
By the time the elevator ride ends, you feel better again. Less dizzy, more solid and steady. Stepping out, you find that walking isn't quite as much of a chore as it was...
Artemis parts from you a good deal, though still giving you a hand or shoulder if you need it.
She's holding up...whew. Glad Luna wasn't here for that, though, no matter how innocent...she really should stop being so possessive...
Heh...and I think I'll keep that thought about how soft Ami was quite private. I could just see Luna...
Chuckling out of the blue, Artemis gives Ami a smile. "Let's keep going, Ami-chan."
Ami smiles tentatively in response, straightening up a little as she feels her equilibrium improve, carefully and deliberately making her way along. " 'kay." she nods, smiling softly and trying to bury the vague disappoinment as Artemis moves back a bit, but pushing it aside as she focuses on walking carefully to ensure that she doesn't keel over again.
The longer this day goes on, the longer my bath at the end of the day turns out to be. She sighs inwardly.And Artemis, yet...if he knew... She hesitates, and wrestles with her expression, keeping the sudden smile off of her face as she remembers how...pleasantly firm Artemis' chest was...No, Ami. NO.
Led through the serpentine hallways of the Infinity Academy, Ami heads to the main laboratory area. Lit brightly once the lights are on, the myriad of machines beckon. Perhaps a single one will release this hanging doubt and allow you to go home with Artemis?
Professor Tomoe goes right to a console, nodding absently to a steel bed in th emiddle of the room. "Lie there, Ami, and please remove your outer clothing. It interferes with this sort of scan."
Ami blinks, blushing slightly redder. Wonderful...she sighs to herself, hesitating briefly before nodding and reluctantly and shyly beginning to disrobe. Deep breaths, Ami...calm down...It's just like getting a physical. Though I've rarely had a physical examination while my mind keeps springing such...'interesting' thoughts into my awareness...
Finally, Ami undresses down to her bra and panties, closing her eyes as she climbs up onto the table, not daring to meet the eyes of either of the two men...
In respect, Artemis simply turns away once he sees Ami blushing. Professor Tomoe doesn't seem interested in your body at all right now, the console taking all of his attention.
"Tell me when you're ready...lie still. You can close your eyes if you want, it only takes a few seconds."
Ami nods, taking some comfort in the Professor's...professional attitude. Settling herself on the table, Ami nods and closes her eyes. "I'm ready." she reports quietly.
There is a flash of light as Professor Tomoe merely nods, a feeling of being slightly warmed...then it's over within a few seconds. Not even tingly, simply functional. "Stay there while I analyse the basic readings. If anything is going badly off course right now, this should raise a flag."
Indeed, he doesn't even look up as he examines the first readings.
Ami doesn't even bother to nod. It's nice to be lying down...she feels as though she hasn't gotten any rest in weeks...so much so that despite her state of dress and the seriousness of the situation, she finds herself drifting off a little...
Like this, it's easy to drift off...off and away. Vivid, non-linear and surreal images assault your fading conciousness, as your unconciousness rears it's head. Like momentary photographs that your aware mind cannot comprehend, they flash in a hectic montage of images as you fade away...
...
....
"Ami," Professor Tomoe calls, raising his voice slightly from where he is. "...Ami."
Ami snaps awake, disoriented briefly by the utter peculiarity of the images...which are fading from her memory even as she tries to recall them. It's like trying to grab hold of smoke.
Finally re-orienting herself on Professor's voice, Ami blinks, shaking her head. "Yes?"
"The initial scan doesn't show anything catasrophic occuring," Professor Tomoe confirms with a slightly relieved smile. "Your Talisman and the energy around you and it will require a fair bit of work to analyse, however.
But regardless, I think you're safe to go home for the night. I'll go over these results with what I get from Miss Nakahime." He pauses a moment, consiidering. "I've cancelled classes for tomorrow, but would you come in around noon? I can have Eudial take you here underground to avoid the transportation issues."
Ami smiles wearily and nods. "Alright." Sleeping until noon tomorrow? Sounds like a plan... She sits up, perching on the edge of the table for a brief moment, nodding to the professor's request. "I'll try and be awake by then." she agrees wearily.
"Don't push yourself," he says with a half smile. "I'll be here all day if you need to rest longer." With that, he moves away from the machine. "Eudial will have to come this way to take the others to her car, so if you like, you can stay here and I'll let her know to stop in for you."
Artemis turns back around, nodding after he sees Ami. "That's probably a good idea," he agrees.
Ami nods agreement with Artemis, slipping off the table and padding over to the neatly folded clothes she'd left behind. Faint echoes of her earlier, conflicted feelings still echo through her, enough to make her blush and hurry to get dressed once again, but they're dimmer now, somehow, as exhaustion truly begins to take hold...
Once Ami is mostly dressed and while Professor Tomoe excuses himself from the large lab, Artemis turns back around. "Go ahead and lay back down," he offers, coming over to you. "I'll stay up and make sure we get home.
You could use the rest," he concludes. "This feels up there with end of the Dark Kingdom for exhaustion," he notes, yawning slightly himself. "Go, go, go, go."
Ami smiles faintly. "Want to wait 'til we get home, but I'm too tired to argue..." she agrees, climbing back up into the bed. "Thank you, Artemis..." she murmurs, closing her eyes and feeling the pull of sleep almost immediately...
Artemis simply nods. "Sleep well, Ami-chan."
As the girl falls into sleep quicker than Usagi falls into Rei's arms or an ice cream sundae, Artemis watches her. A unrestrained, honest smile paints his face.
"Good work, Ami. Fine work..."
OOC - And Ami rests. You'll be mentioned in the other thread, but you're resting for the rest of the afternoon OOC at least. I'll get your things going a bit later once we organize everything.