[Hannah Kerela]

Sherlock nodded. "There won't be any going further tonight," he agreed. "It'll be best to rest here and try to get Miss Rima's leg healed up." He watched Hana warmly, even once she stepped away.

Ok, yeah, he had feelings for her. He didn't know why or how - he'd never felt so strongly for anyone before. He cared about her, more than he could describe. But he wasn't going to push her; she needed her space. But then, she had run to his arms when she was scared. Perhaps... But, then, he didn't want to put her in danger, either...

Adelle continued to tend to Rima, pretending not to notice the internal struggles going on in Hana and Sherlock both.

[Atoli01]

"Okay, then who will keep guard... with who?" Rima-chan asked, glancing at me and Sherlock both. Luckily, from where I was standing, Adelle was blocking where her wound was.

I spun around and stared at her. Did she really hafta ask? I knew she would take any opportunity she could to talk to Adelle, and plus, if her wound ended up worsening, then it would be best that Adelle would be with her. And, I.... I wanted to spend more time with Sherlock, anyways.

I backed up and gripped Sherlock' arm, holding up my notebook, 'I'll keep guard with Sherlock! But that doesn't mean that you two can slack off! DX' Rima-chan started laughing, so I shot her a glare. I honestly didn't need and more embarrassment in my life right now.

[Hannah Kerela]

Adelle nodded. "That's the best solution, yeah," she said. "Even if we disregard the fact that you two are getting along so well; I need to be awake when Rima is to keep an eye on her knee, and if you two need help, I'm used to waking up at Sherlock's voice."

Sherlock shot her a small glare at her comment about how well he and Hana got along. Still, he nodded - it was logical, in addition to being... quite emotionally satisfying.

[Atoli01]

Rima-chan smiled at Adelle's comment, while I on the other hand, was standing there blushing. I quickly took a step away from Sherlock and turned the opposite direction, crossing my arms. There was absolutely nothing between us - all he was doing was basically protecting me. Him wrapping his arms around me didn't mean anything else, surely. Plus... even if he did like me... No, that was impossible! How in the world could he like someone like me?

'Adelle and Rima-chan can go to sleep first. After all, Rima-chan's wound seems pretty stable by now.' Well, I couldn't back out now - I was going to be keeping guard with Sherlock, then.

"Oh, how long will our shifts be? Half an hour would he kinda short, so maybe an hour to two hours?" Rima-chan asked, smiling.

[Hannah Kerela]

"Two hours would allow a reasonable amount of productive sleep, I believe," Sherlock said. He slipped his hand into his coat pocket, producing a pocket knife, which he tossed to Adelle. "I have my revolver on me, so Hana and I will be safe, but there's no telling what you and Rima might need."

Adelle nodded, pocketing the pocket knife. "Sounds good. But, uh, try and avoid killing any Akail? We are looking for one."

"Of course. But for emergencies, firepower is certainly an advantage."

[Atoli01]

So, two hours at a time? I sighed; there would be almost no way I would be able to hold up a conversation all the time, especially with Sherlock. I mean, I had to be careful around him right now, or incredibly unneccesary things would come spilling out. But... it was only two hours, what's the worse that could happen?I sighed and corssed that thought out of my head; plenty of things, good or bad, could happen in two hours.

'U-um, I'll take a seat over there...' I held up my notebook for a few seconds, gesturing to the other side of the room. Rima nodded and stood up, limping in the opposite direction and laying down by the wall, her arm under her head.

I sighed and walked over to the wall, sitting down and placing my notebook and pen on the floor next to me. A part of me hoped that Sherlock would judge it better to guard another area of the room, but at the same time, I wanted him to come sit with me. And honestly, I really wanted company more than anything else. I would never bother saying so, though.

[Hannah Kerela]

Sherlock stepped nearby - not right next to her, but close - and looked at her. "Don't worry," he assured her. He looked away, though he kept her in his peripheral vision, fighting the urge to say some very unwise things. He flexed and extended his fingers, trying to ease the emotional tension.

Adelle, meanwhile, stepped over to Rima, leaning against the wall near her. "Try and get some rest, okay? If it starts hurting too badly, let me know."

[Atoli01]

When Sherlock had started talking, I looked his direction, only to regret it a few moments later. I turned my head the opposite direction, a blush spreading across my face. After a few minutes, I turned my attention to my notebook; I started to reach for the pen, but though better of it and instead brushed my hair out of my face and placed my hand in my lap.

I really hated the silence, I really did, but I was most certainly not going to make an effort to put an end to it any time soon. Now, just having Sherlock in he same area as me made my heart beat faster, and I hated that, too. I sighed and brought my knees up to my chest, scanning the room. And to be honest, the only thing of interest to me was Sherlock, so naturally, my gaze kept drifting back to him; I grumbled - the two whole hours couldn't come any faster.

"Okay~ But aren't you going to get any sleep? I'm pretty sure you can't sleep standing up," Rima said, laughing at the end.

[Hannah Kerela]

"Don't worry, I'm fine," Adelle said. "I'm not overly tired quite yet."

Sherlock glanced at her every now and then, wondering how to approach what he was thinking in conversation. I find myself wanting to kiss you quite passionately. Is that quite alright?

Yeah, that'd go over well. Not for the first time, he ached for Watson's expertise. Or his brother's, even - that one was a first. He was lost as to what he was supposed to do. He looked at her again, silently this time - how was he to even guess how she would react? For once, he was out of his league.

[Atoli01]

You're supposed to be Keeping guard. But keeping guard was getting to be horribly tedious. Even trying to focus in on what Adelle and Rima-chan were saying - It was painfully obvious neither of them were asleep yet - was getting boring. On top of that, not even twenty minutes had passed, and I was already wanting to go to sleep. I sighed and looked over at Sherlock again, not even bothering to be subtle about it his time.

'Sherlock, I...' I quickly crossed it out and kept writing, 'N-never mind. But... could you... could you come over here? Or, talk or something. It's just kinda boring just sitting here.'

Smooth one. Yeah, it was sure boring, but was I really asking him to talk to me just 'cuz it was boring? I should've just sat there being bored; I mean, it was a much better alternative than embarrassing myself. Embarrassing myself in front of the guy I like, that is.

Rima looked over at Hana and Sherlock before turning back to look at Adelle, bringing her voice down to a whisper, "Hrm? Is it that you're not tired, or that you're simply staying up to keep an eye on Hana-chan and Sherlock? Just get some sleep and let things play themselves out. Nothing will ever happen if ya keep watching them like a hawk, y'know?" she rolled over and started talking again, but in a normal volume. "Staying up won't excuse you from your next guard duties, y'know! Well, night night~"

[Hannah Kerela]

Sherlock came over. "Hana..." he began, then stopped. "Hana, I just wanted to let you know... Um... I'm glad we got a chance to know one another. I... I've really enjoyed spending today with you." It had made this entire assignment bearable, if he were to be honest.

Adelle smiled, leaning over to Rima as she at, leaning against the cave wall. "I'm just worried about Sherlock," she said, quietly. "He's important to me. I want to make sure he's happy."

[Atoli01]

'Haha, me too! H-hopefully we can find an Akail, right? ^^ I don't... I don't really wanna go back home, to be honest...' I smiled despite myself.

We only had about... surely not a couple more days of searching, right? But it was true, I didn't wanna go back - I couldn't imagine being away from Sherlock and Adelle now. It was only a day, and I had already become so attatched to the both of them. I sighed; a bit too attatched. But I would be able to go out and see them again, right? Assuming we didn't get lost in here, that is.

Then I realized what he had said. People don't just go around saying things like that out of the blue, right? Only when something big or tragic or shocking is about to happen right? But then again, maybe I was reading too much into it. Yeah, definitely! But... why wasn't I so sure about that?

'Sherlock... what's wrong...?'

Rima smiled a little, still on her side. "I'm worried about Hana, too. But, I trust Sherlock. They should be fine, right? Plus~ Its only two hours that they have guard duty. What's the worst that could happen?"

[Hannah Kerela]

Sherlock considered her question, considered his response. Finally, he spoke. "It's nothing of note. I'm just... surprised, to end up enjoying myself here. When my brother informed me that he had a task for me, I was... less than thrilled," he admitted. "But... Meeting you... Sherlock hesitated, glancing at Adelle, then lowering his voice considerably. "It's made it entirely a different matter. I still want to find an Akail, to be sure, but... Meeting you has been a considerable success in and of itself." He hesitated. "My brother, however, will likely decide otherwise."

Adelle frowned when he lowered his voice. She picked up her pack, lying down with it as a pillow. "Why do I get the feeling that Sherlock knows something I don't?"

((Whaaaaaat? People -always- portray Mycroft as a lovable older brother. That's boring. xP))

[Atoli01]

A look of almost... How should I say it? Shock? Yeah, well a look of shock came across my face at what Sherlock had said. He... he considered meeting me a success? Why someone like me? There were so many other people out there that I could have been sure would catch his fancy much more than I. I mean, most others could talk, unlike me. From my point of view, almost everyone out there was better, prettier, just...

I sat there for a few moments, licking my lips. 'Y-yeah...' I glanced around nervously; this was exactly why I didn't wanna spend a whole two hours with him. 'Sherlock... I like you! >////<'

Because unnecessary thing like that would come spilling out. I quickly looked away from him, dropping my notebook and pen on the ground. Geez, why did I hafta be so stupid? What if he never talked to me again because of my confession? What if I had just ruined everything right then and there? But then again, maybe, hopefully, he was even more stupid than me and just ended up... y'know, not really understanding the true meaning behind those words? Pfffft. Yeah right.

Rima sighed, still rolled over on her side, "Well, he seems smart enough. I wouldn't doubt that he was hiding something, to be honest. Hana-chan too maybe, I duuno."

[Hannah Kerela]

Sherlock moved closer, gently pulling Hana's head around to meet his and kissing her lightly. "Thank you," he whispered. "If you hadn't said it, I would've had to." Foolish of him? Yes. But, at the moment, he disregarded all private worry about what Mycroft would do when he found out what Sherlock was doing. He'd deal with it, as he always did when he "displeased" his brother.

"I guess," Adelle said. "Either way, I won't get anything out of him, so... I'm going to crash. Wake me if you need anything."