The Arms Hotel, Room Number Handwavey, Late Saturday Morning

[angelo_wings]

Rinoa was curled up against Squall, not bothering to wake up just yet. They'd had a lovely picnic last night with Karla and Warren, albeit unexpectedly, and there were no classes today. She really ought to be working on her political science homework, but she --

And that was when the realization hit her. Rinoa sat bolt upright, panic flooding her veins. It couldn't be. It wasn't.

But it was.

Her sorcery was gone. The entire side of herself was -- missing. There was just a hole where that bit of her soul should be.

Rinoa opened her mouth, but couldn't speak. So instead she reached a hand out to flail in Squall's direction, helplessly. What could have taken her powers? Who? How?

(For her Knight, but open if anyone else wants to call / visit. Rinoa lost her Sorceress abilities and gained -- you'll see. :) )

Comments

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

Squall woke as soon as she had moved, and he was already reaching out to take her hand to comfort her. Something was wrong -- VERY wrong -- with the psychic bond that had been growing between them, and he didn't like it one bit. "What is it?"

[angelo_wings]

"It's gone," Rinoa said, squeezing his hand like it was a lifeline. It should be. It was supposed to be. But the answering warmth of his bond in her mind was gone. She had no tether.

"Everything. Everything's gone. I can't --"

She lifted her hand, concentrated, and tried to cast a simple ice spell at the foot of the bed. With her free hand, she gestured ....

... and nothing happened.

"Everything."

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

Squall watched in horror. Something -- or someone -- had stolen her Sorceress powers? How could that have happened?!?!

He pulled Rinoa close. "Don't worry, I'll protect you. We'll get to the bottom of this. It's probably just..."

Fandom weirdness.

But instead of those two simple words, a whole story spilled out. "Okay, so you know how the island is sort of sentient, right? And your powers are amazing, but they also kind of scare you and worry you and keep you from ever being able to relax properly? Well, see, what probably happened was the island saw that we'd come back to visit, and decided to give you the gift of suppressing your powers, so that you could better enjoy the weekend."

[angelo_wings]

Rinoa had been relaxing. Until that.

She pulled back out of Squall's arms and stared at him.

"Okay," she said. "What's going on with you?"

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

I don't know.

Somehow, the simple, straightforward answers seemed to be hardest right now.

"Well, clearly, in addition to relieving you of having to worry about your powers for the weekend, the island also decided to give you some decent conversation for a change. I mean, let's face it, I love you and I know you love me, but it's got to be frustrating trying to have a conversation with me, am I right?"

[angelo_wings]

... oh. Somebody broke Squall.

Or maybe he was a pod person? She ... was not sure how to handle Squall being a pod person. Maybe he was a secret infiltrating pod person and that was how someone had stolen her powers.

Was the real Squall in danger? How exactly did you determine that kind of thing!?

Reinforcements were needed. Immediately. Rinoa jumped out of the bed, grabbing for the pair of black slacks that had been tossed onto the floor rather enthusiastically the night before. It was while tugging them over her hips that she realized that they weren't hers, but his. Sigh.

Except -- that was when she happened to glance herself in the hotel's mirror. Whoa.

"Is it just me, or ... does my butt look phenomenal in these pants?" she asked.

Where was the rest of his suit? She was curious, now.

Look, this was kind of important.

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

"..."

Squall blinked at her, confused. "Yes, it does. How is that relevant?"

If she was going to steal the clothes he wore last night, then he'd need to grab something else to wear from their luggage. And his gunblade. He didn't know what was wrong, but he needed to be prepared... Wait.

"My GFs are gone!" he announced. "I'm sure it's nothing to worry about, and the island is just--" He clapped a hand over his mouth and glared angrily at nothing in particular.

[angelo_wings]

Okay, if Squall was being grumpy and hating things, then he was probably Squall and not a pod person after all.

"Can you not stop lying?" she asked, more concerned about that than she was with his GF loss. It made sense, if her powers were gone.

And neither of those outranked her finding his shirt and tugging it on to check her reflection in the mirror. Damn.

"Did you bring the jacket for this?" she asked. "Not your leather coat but the actual blazer? Please say yes."

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

Squall fished the coat, his tie, and -- yes -- a matching vest out of the bags. "We were going to go out to dinner," he reminded her as he handed them over.

"I can... stop lying, yes," he answered with some difficulty. "Just... it takes effort. We need to find other people and figure out what's going on."

...Soon. After he admired how good she looked in his clothes.

[angelo_wings]

"Screw dinner," Rinoa said, slipping the vest on and reaching for the coat. "I just said that so you'd dress up nice. I wanted to take the clothes off you again."

Which she had done, last night. Mission accomplished.

She was tying the tie and trying not to notice her reflection in the mirror. "We should call Jono," she said. "See if Karla's missing her craft. I wonder if Tara came home? People we know have abilities, see if Fandom put out some kind of a magic dampener. Maybe something evil is trying to block us from access, like in Ultimecia's --"

Oh. Oh.

"Hyne's wrath," Rinoa breathed. "I am wearing the hell out of this suit."

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

"If I look half as good in that as you do, then I understand why you can't keep your hands off me," Squall answered her. He reached out to grab her, but pulled himself together and leaned back instead, so that he could savor the visual.

[angelo_wings]

"Oh, that had better be you," Rinoa said, diving forward and wrenching his face down to hers. Because -- because he did look pretty amazing in this suit, and she looked unbelievable, and --

Oh, Hyne. Her powers were gone. No worries about losing control if she -- lost control. Meaning --

She was kissing him harder now. Why wasn't he naked? And she, she -- no, wait. She needed to leave the suit on. Most of it, anyway.

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

He kissed her back, savoring every moment of it.

The pants needed to go. If Squall just ripped them apart at the seams, she'd never be able to wear them again, and that would be a sad, sad thing. Squall reached for them, tugging as his mouth devoured hers.

[angelo_wings]

"Don'truinthesuit," Rinoa managed, all in one breath, as she started nipping at Squall's lower lip with her teeth. And then she was shoving him onto the bed. She couldn't kiss him hard enough. Was he going to mind if she drew blood? And if he minded, shut up Squall she never got to completely let go like this.

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

"I wouldn't dare," he breathed, as he clutched at her desperately. He wouldn't mind if she drew blood, no. He wouldn't mind if anything. She looked so good in that suit, and he really wasn't thinking much about anything else.