rain rain go away;

[gameofsocks]

the rain meme

Ah, rain—the precipitation that the whole world has a love/hate affair with. It waters the garden for free and ruins baseball games. It cools you off in the summer and it causes more ice and sleet to appear in the winter. Sometimes it is lovely and falls at a decent pace for a few hours, other times, it blasts the whole eastern seaboard away.

Poems and songs have been written about it, people have danced in it, others have cursed its entire existence, and still more refuse to go out and drive in it.

Now it’s time to roll some dice and see what the weather will have in store for you today.

directions

1. Comment with your character, series, preferences, etc in the subject.
2. Roll a number between 1-5 with the RGN for an intensity.
3. Roll 1-15 with the RGN for a situation.
4. Reply to other comments and play the scenario out!
5. Don’t catch a cold!


intensity

1. DRIZZLE ☂ It’s not too heavy or too light of a downpour, just enough to wash away stuff in the air, water the ground, and clean up the streets.

2. MONSOON ☂ It’s horrible and awful! Rain is coming down in buckets, no one can get anywhere, the wind is whipping everything about, and now the cable is out.

3. SHOWER ☂ Reminds you of early spring, doesn’t it? A nice shower to make everything all green and smell fresh again. Lovely.

4. FLOOD ☂ While rain is good, it can sometimes be bad. Grab a boat!

5. CATS & DOGS ☂ You’re lucky with this one. It’s not the worst storm in the world, but it’s still pretty heavy. Be careful when driving!


prompts

1. A DARK, STORMY NIGHT ☂ You know all those stories that start off with a stormy night before something goes wrong: a murder, an attack by ninjas, a crime. It is one of the best known clichés in the world, and you’re stuck in the middle of it.

2. HUMIDITY ☂ It’s that time of the year again when the humidity rises and the rain has two options: make it worse or make it go away. Good luck getting the latter.

3. GRAY RAIN OF DEPRESSION ☂ We all know this one. Stuck in the middle of no where, or right after an argument, or something that leads to angst, the rain decides to express someone’s feelings in a physical form, serious or over the top.

4. QUIET MORNING ☂ Nothing to do, nowhere to be… sometimes the rain is a welcomed addition to a quiet day. Gives you an excuse to stay in, curl up in a warm blanket and a book, maybe a loved one or a cup of hot chocolate. With sprinkles.

5. PUDDLES ☂ After it rains, what is the number one thing you have to do? Go put on some rubber boots and splash around of course!

6. SUDDEN STORM ☂ It might have been predicted, but sometimes storms just sweep in and do their thing with little to no warning. Hope you’re not outside.

7. THUNDER & LIGHTNING ☂ Loud, surprising, scary, ominous, comforting, fantastic to watch or listen to… some like thunder and lightning, others not so much. Of course, if this happens before a big confrontation, the universe is telling you something.

8. CAN’T GET WORSE ☂ You did not say that. You did not just say that. How many times does this need to be seen in movies and books before anyone learns?

9. STUCK ☂ No, no, no, no. This cannot be happening. What happened to the ten percent chance of rain? You forgot your umbrella and now you’re stuck in it!

10. RUINED PLANS ☂ You had all these wonderful plans to go outside, have some fun in the sunshine, do some errands, maybe a date… and the weather goes against them.

11. DANCING ☂ Sometimes rain is a cause for celebration, or you just feel like doing something spontaneous. Grab someone to join you and get wet!

12. RAIN BATTLE ☂ The most intense, important battles happen in the rain. Verbal spars, punching someone in the guts; it’s all dramatic and climatic. And no one slips.

13. DATE ☂ Aww, don’t let the weather ruin your date! It can be really romantic, being out in the rain, and it’s always fun to go with the flow.

14. A DAY INSIDE ☂ Sometimes, it’s just better to stay inside and enjoy something simple and easy like board games or catching up on TV shows, or maybe the bills.

15. WILD CARD ☂ Was there something I missed? Did you want to roll again or choose your own adventure? Go for it!

Comments

[headspacedad]

[He'll hold her for as long as she likes. Because - holding her feels nice but...

but because he understand what sudden, incapacitating terror feels like.

He's been there too.

So he simply wraps her close in his arms and lets her have whatever she needs, lets her take as much time as she needs. Fear doesn't make sense. But that doesn't make it any less real.

When she shakes her head and says he can let go however, he does. He's already pushed into her personal space with his instinctive move and the last thing he wants to do is make her feel uncomfortable. His arms relax and let go and his hand strokes her hair, just once, before that retreats as well. He doesn't shift away from her though, still a solid presence in the darkness while the storm shakes the window, one hand on the chair behind her so she's still in the shelter of his body even if they're not touching anymore.

He realizes he wants to offer her his hand, to hold. But that's being physical once again and besides - its his mech hand. His voice stays calm and relaxed, a half-note lower than usual. There's no judgement in it.]

Not a fan of storms, huh?

[bunnyhopped]

[ Hana isn't one to readily display her vulnerability, much less to someone she's only acquainted with. It's why it's easy for people to see her as this infallibly confident (to the point of brashness), fierce presence. It's taken her quite some time to open up to a few of the Overwatch members, even.

Still, Shiro's own presence in that moment was--well, unexpected, but not unappreciated. In fact, something pulls at her when he lets go, as if telling her that it's okay to let her guard down. She sees that he doesn't completely move away, staying close to her and almost acting like a wall between her and the storm outside, and--it's nice. They barely know each other, but there's something about Shiro's demeanor that makes her feel like he understands exactly what she's going through even without her uttering a word. And it makes sense. He was the pilot of a mission that went terribly wrong and was missing in action for a year.

Hana lets her hands fall from the sides of her face. Where Shiro's arms had wrapped around her, she now substitutes with her own arms, shrinking a little bit more into herself. ]

They're not my favorite. [ And that's probably as close as she'll get to admitting that storms freak her out. ] It's just... so loud, you know? And then the power goes out like this. Huge pain in the butt.

[ She casts him a sidelong glance. ] I still can't believe you were walking around in all of that. Wasn't it... scary?

[headspacedad]

[She looks so small. So small and vulnerable and it tugs at his heart and makes his chest ache.

He doesn't think less of her for her fear. In fact, he finds her fierceness and brashness that much more endearing, because this fear now means she's fought for those. Means she knows vulnerability and she doesn't let it stop her, or even slow her down. Not for long. But - everyone has to splinter sometimes.

The way she hugs herself and shrinks makes him ache to wrap his arms around her again. Because - no one should be their own protector when they don't have to be. And no one should have to sit alone when their personal storm comes. He's had to do it often enough himself. He's sure she has too. And his hand reaches for her without thinking, even if all it does it cup her far arm gently. Not an embrace, but more than simply sitting without touching her at all.

He thinks - he thinks she's trusting him with a great deal, to admit to him what she is. And he thinks she's admitting more to him than she's willing to put into words. Is it all loud noises? Or something special about the thunder? And is the lack of power additional fear or just the human fear of darkness and lack of connection to the rest of the world? He's sat in his own darkness, cut off from everything else listening to his fear outside the door. It doesn't matter if they were different kinds. The feeling is the same. His head dips, bangs over his forehead for a moment.

How vulnerable? She's given him a glimpse past her guards -

how vulnerable are they going to be to each other?

He takes the step even if his body doesn't move. Offering his own without asking her to trade. Simply giving it to her because she's vulnerable and fighting and brave in the dark.]

You know I was missing for over a year. I know the official report but you probably believe it about as much as I do. There are lots of stories going around about what happened, I know.

[He pauses. Sorts through his thoughts while the thunder rolls at his back and thrums in his chest. Listens to the pelting rain. Remembers - ]

I was kept in an alien prison. It was - bad. I lost track of how long. I lost a lot of memories. Everything bled together in that place and nothing ever changed. [He pulls an inhale in and lifts his face to look at hers, watching the pale curve of it in the unreliable light.]

There's no rain in space, Hana. Day in and day out, no wind, no grass, no life. The first time it rained after I got out - I almost lost my mind. I'd never felt each drop of rain so distinctly before. It overwhelms but - that overwhelming drives back all those memories of dark and silence and stale air. It cleans all of it away and fills me up with something sharp and clear and real and it reminds me that I'm not there anymore. I'm here. [Tender, his thumb rubbed against her arm as his eyes lifted for hers.]

I'm here.

[bunnyhopped]

[ It was easier, at first, to act like she could be the best at what she does all hours of the day. It was easier when she had friends alongside her in the unit, other gamers-turned-military-mecha-pilots, friends that she used to stay up late chatting and playing games with that she then fought alongside with. But those were the same friends that she's seen taken out of battle and the same that she's seen crack under the pressure of what their country put upon them to shoulder.

Hana doesn't want to crack, too. It's easier to admit to herself that she has to fall apart now and then when she's alone. Just so she can put herself back together and act like she was the same as before.

She nods at him, solemnly, recalling what the official reports did say about Shiro's return. Hana thought it was much more telling to think about what the reports didn't say about what happened to him. But then she doesn't have to wonder for much longer. Her eyes widen as he speaks, brows furrowing in concern, lips pulling into a frown, her hands and arms tightening around herself, and her head turning slowly to look at him.

Forget herself. How many times has Shiro had to put himself back together?

There's a sympathetic side to her that she rarely shows in this way, and it just aches. Yet in spite of that, he's the steady presence between the two of them. He's learned to put himself back together into someone stronger than he was and he's here. He's here. Caught in the same storm that has her shaking and hiding, but to him it's something entirely different. Her eyes finally meet his. ]

You're so brave. I can't-- [ be strong in a storm like he is. ] The lightning and thunder, they remind me a lot of my missions. The ones that don't go well.

[headspacedad]

[He hadn't been expecting reciprocation -

but when she gives it to him, something in his chest untangles a little and he can breathe. What she tells him though...

suddenly so much makes sense. And it makes his cheat ache.

He shifts, just the slightest bit but the arm behind her and the hand on her arm are the openings now for an embrace. It's one he doesn't initiate, because its her choice and sometimes people want to stand on their own feet but - he's there. If she wants him. Nothing but acceptance and a place to not have to face things alone for a little while. His face dips, just a little, so that there's no breaking that eye contact and his own eyes are understanding. Because he's been there too. Not over thunder and lightning but he's found himself frozen in the face of something that snaps his fears out of the depths of him and throws them in front of his eyes before.

He doesn't prod for more. But he leaves it open, just like his arms, if she wants to give it. Needs to bleed some of it off.]

I don't know if it ever gets easier. But... being brave is feeling the fear and going on. Its being scared in the dark and hanging on until the next day when you go out and do it again because someone has to. But sometimes... you have to fall apart a little in the dark. It's the only way to stay whole. Isn't it?

[bunnyhopped]

[ it's being scared in the dark and hanging on until the next day when you go out and do it again because someone has to.

Hana's face dips as well, but she can only hold his gaze for so long before she finds herself having to look away, all at once confused and comforted by the fact that he's gotten it so right. How could he have gotten it so right>? Hana knows the answer is because he's had to do the same thing. But it doesn't stop her from feeling so vulnerable to the point that she's almost frustrated with herself.

She doesn't embrace him--in fact, she retrieves into the ball she's curled up into even further as she ducks, forehead resting against her knees and face hidden behind her arms and legs. But she does lean toward him. Let herself fall into his arms. Because it's annoying but sweet how he just gets her. In the end, she can only agree, and she says as much even when her voice is muffled from the way she's sitting. ]

Yeah. [ And then, after a beat, ] Don't tell anyone, okay? I'm gonna kick your butt if you tell people.

[headspacedad]

[He thinks she retreating from him when she curls even more into herself and he tells himself that that's all right, even if it does make his chest feeling painfully tight.

But a second later, the little ball she's made herself into leans enough to thump lightly against his chest and his face relaxes even as he exhales in relief and wraps his arms around her. Not too tight, she's already wrapped into herself enough that he doesn't want to make her feel constricted if she wants to move, but his arms and body shift to shelter her completely and he rests his cheek against the top of her bowed head. Smiling. He realizes he's smiling and he's glad she can't see because he'd hate for her to take it the wrong way. His eyes shut -

and then open and he chuckles, just one exhale of it, that rumbles in his chest. She gets a very light squeeze.]

I promise. Not a word. [He resists the urge to kiss the top of her head. Pauses and then gives her a distraction if she wants it.] Besides - I hear bunny kicks can be pretty tough.

[bunnyhopped]

[ Right now, she's thinking that Shiro feels like a really strong teddy bear. It's not an unwelcome feeling, even if she doesn't unfurl from her ball. Partly because she can feel him resting his head on top of hers and it's--so warm, like this. She'd be embarrassed at herself if she was the type to get embarrassed, but mostly she's a weird mix of annoyed but unapologetic. ]

Damn right they are! So it's our little secret.

[ One that she didn't expect to be sharing with someone she doesn't know all too well, much less someone like Shiro. But somehow, the fact that it is him--someone she doesn't know all too well, except that he knows all to well how she feels--makes it worthwhile. ]