Fragments of a Shattered Home [Hana/Josh]

The rest of the night went on quietly, at least for Hana, who had fallen asleep in her own bed for the first time in a very long time. She had not slept so comfortably in so long, at least physically. Her emotional state was a mess, and the constant nightmares were proof of that. She never stirred from her sleep, no matter how much she desperately wanted to, and was able to power through the night with only a few light fearful moans and cries out into the night.

When Hana finally woke up, her eyes slowly opened to see the sun peeking through a small window onto her face. In that moment, Hana was granted a small bit of tranquility... feeling at peace. It only lasted a second though, and everything came back to the forefront of her mind. The war, her friends, and her family... the danger they had all been in. Hana didn’t move for a while, but when she finally did, a creak in the wood floor echoed throughout the house.

Hana left her room and was wandering down stairs to the kitchen when she sensed something... She wasn't alone. Looking around, the panic immediately began to set in when she didn't see who or what it was. She moved cautiously through her home to find what may or may not have been there...

The creak of the wood echoed through the house, and roused Joshua only for a second or so before he drifted back into the half-sleep he’d been in most of the night. Understandable, considering this was hardly the first creak the house had given out; large old homes with lots of wood tended to creak a great deal as the heat of the day faded in the night, and as the house settled. When you grow up in such a house its a noise that doesn’t pull at the senses much; Joshua did not grow up in such a house. The first two times that creak had happened had him up with a hand at his sword hilt, his senses reaching out for a nonexistent intruder. After that, those creaks only stirred him long enough to ‘feel’ with his spiritual senses before he settled back. The night had otherwise gone without interruption, save for one notable case.

Now Joshua continued his snoozing on the couch, in clear sight of the front door. It wasn’t until Hana began to move about the bottom floor that Joshua sensed the movement, and his head popped up over the couch with a surprising amount of clarity in his eyes. He blinked twice at the sight of Hana sneaking.
“Ah, mornin’,” he said with a yawn.

Hana’s gaze wandered everywhere, trying to spot this intruder when suddenly Josh’s head popped up over the couch. She let out a quick scream, a high pitched, “eek” that echoed through the quiet house. Realizing it was him, Hana put her hand over her heart and took a deep breath. “You frightened me…”

Hana walked over to the back of the couch and stared down at him, eyes hard, but uncharacteristically alert. "You stayed... Why? I did not require it."

Joshua winced at the shriek that echoed through the house, and rubbed at one of his ears as it rang slightly.
“So I see; sorry ‘bout that,” he said simply, opening his eyes again and looking up as Hana loomed over him.

How often did he get to say that?

“Precaution; there are still some Hollow about causing trouble. Also, it was late already and I didn’t fancy the walk,” Joshua said; he was even being half honest here. If Hana hadn’t thought of the other reason, then Joshua wasn’t gonna bring it up just yet. It would be important to do at some point, but it didn’t seen necessary just yet. Just like the snarky answer he’d thought up but didn’t say to Hana. Some jokes fell into the ‘too soon’ category and this certainly was one of them.

Even if she was down, a lot of her despair was being suppressed at the moment. She had finally rested, she was home, and Josh helped her feel safe, even if she wasn’t aware of his presence throughout the night. However, there was also another thought that helped it all suppress. “Don’t move,” Hana said as she backed away from him and the couch a couple of feet. A moment later, there was a sound like rapidly rustling clothes and Hana suddenly came belly-flopping over the back of the couch and landed on Josh like a pancake.

Joshua raised an eyebrow, unsure of what exactly Hana was up to as she backed away. He obliged all the same, and a few moments later he was ‘rewarded’ for this by being body slammed.

Now, if Hana weighed more than a feather pillow this might have been a problem.

Joshua, never one to miss an opportunity however, played along. He gave a yelp of surprise and mock-wrestled for a moment as though trying to get away, playing up the moment.
“And what have I done to deserve such foul treatment!?” Joshua asked, with a straight face and enough mock outrage in his voice that it was clear he was joking along with her.

Hana truly figured Joshua was going to get mad, but she could tell with the silly wrestling and attempt to get away that he wasn’t actually angry. When he asked her his question, Hana’s face slowly moved into an actual smile and she poked at his sides and tummy… and when she poked his tummy, she saw. He jerked away. Hana’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped like she found buried treasure.

"Josh, are you ticklish?" she asked and Josh probably saw the fire light in her eyes. She didn't wait for the answer and tickle-attacked Josh's stomach.

“Oh no,” Joshua said, and that was about all he could get out before Hana launched her attack. Joshua was, in fact, ticklish. The house was filled with sudden laughter for several moments as Hana pressed her advantage. He rolled around under her, trying to get space as Hana continued to tickle him.

If he couldn’t get away, then turn the table.

Joshua squirmed a little more then reached out and returned fire, tickling at Hana’s sides in an attempt to turn the tides.

Hana was going to do exactly what Dad used to do when she was little. She was going to tickle Josh so much that he was gonna get close to wetting his pants. Of course, Josh turned the tables on her. The moment he started, Hana stopped tickling and made her escape attempt. She failed at first, as he held onto her and kept tickling, but then he let go. She turned away and rolled off the couch as her “flight” instinct took over, causing Josh’s letting go to make her fall to the ground. She crawled away and pushed herself to her feet.

“No tickling me,” she said, wiggling a finger at him and still giggling a little.

“Oh no, that ain’t how it works. If you want to start the game you best be ready to play it out,” Joshua said, full of mock-menace before he broke out into solid laughter once more, falling back on the couch with it. After a moment he took a deep breath, letting the laughter calm down as he breathed.
“Glad I called that right though, otherwise I was gonna have to toss ya off to the other couch,” he said, sitting back up and smirking at her. He had certainly not expected a flying tackle or a tick-fight to be how this morning started. He also wasn’t about to complain about it either.