"Oh, sure, uh... here." A moment's fumbling produced a small glass orb attached to a kitschy molded base, a submerged bucolic pasture frozen within. "If you want it."
"Thanks. Sorry, I just... I just think it'd be safer in the padded pouch than your bag." Gingerly, Patyu took the snowglobe the two had purchased from Raya and slipped it into her backpack, making sure to nestle it snugly between her camera and a travel pillow. It'd make a good knickknack for her bedside, she thought, at least if Raya didn't want it, and more importantly it'd be a nice reminder of this moment. That most of all was what she wanted. The past seven months had been odd and stressful and chaotic and rootless and above all else sheer beauty, and every moment, every flavor, every sight and sound and smell was precious to Patyu. Especially those involving Raya.
Patyu was completely unconscious of how long she'd spent in that moment, but when it finally ended, she was bluntly aware of how profound its loss was. Especially considering that it was ended in a rather blunt and noisy manner by a veritable herd of security personnel drowning in heavy weaponry blustering past the small crowd they'd found themselves in. The noise alone would've unsettled Patyu, but when compounded with the fact that so many instruments of death were in such close proximity to her and more importantly to Raya she found herself utterly terrified. In the brief moment the soldiers were passing by them, she'd managed to both interpose herself between her girlfriend and the source of all the loud sounds and to inflict on herself the early stages of a panic attack.
Those were always so annoying.
As the noise and the men dressed in black began to recede she felt a familiar hand running its way through her hair and rubbing the base of her ears. That gesture too was familiar. Ever since Raya had noticed it stilled Patyu's nerves she'd taken it up as a comforter, something Patyu was incredibly grateful for. Her already racing heart was finally beginning to still once more, and closing her eyes she pressed herself against Raya and wrapped her in a hug. "Thanks," she muttered, voice quivering. "Are, uh... y-you alright?"
"Yeah," Raya replied, though her eyes remained fixed on the far exit of the terminal. "I'm fine, just a bit worried."
Gulping, Patyu nodded. "S-so am I..."
"Well, then we should probably get to the bus before anything else happens. Besides, maybe we'll see someone you know there? You know, apart from... them." They, in this case the royal children, had already left. The mix of deference, fear, and awe Raya showed them had always confused Patyu. They just seemed like... people doing a job. But it didn't really matter. She was right- there was a good chance that Ari was hear, and meeting Ari was the vastest portion of why Patyu had come, after all.
Unfortunately, as Patyu made her way onto the bus hand in hand with Raya, clambering step over steep step into its interior, she saw no face she recognized. A pair of dark-haired, amber-skinned women sitting together stood out, but before she could get a better look at their faces she'd already been ushered past them, and in no time she was facing a seat- and a dilemma.
"Ah, uh..." Tapping Raya on the shoulder, Patyu cleared her throat. The former, who'd been about to get into the proffered luxuriant seat, turned to look at the latter with a quizzical furrow in her brow. "C-..."
"Yeah?" The questioning look became one of the mildest concern, and her hand drifted to Patyu's shoulder.
"Ah, sorry, I'm fine. I just- could I sit on the, uh, inside?" Patyu felt her face flooding with heat. "S-sorry, I don't know why this is a big deal all of a sudden..."
Now for the second time in just a few moments the emotion framed in Raya's face changed, concern passing into affection just as swiftly as it had overtaken curiosity. She stepped back and gestured for Patyu to slip into the seats, then followed her companion in, taking a place in the aisle seat. Then, of course, she wrapped her arm around Patyu's shoulder, a sigh slipping from her lips as she pulled the smaller woman close. It took Patyu no time at all to nestle herself comfortably into the crook of Raya's arm.
From her post Patyu was offered an excellent view of the surrounding landscape: the cushy seats of the bus, the wall and window beside her, the, uh... on second thought, she could really only see Raya. Not that that was a problem, of course, but Patyu had thought she'd maybe seen one or two people she'd recognized earlier, and it would've been nice to see if just possibly Vhi and Aphi and perhaps even Ari were here as well- seemed a sure deal, Ross was- but instead all she could see was Raya.
A moment's consideration brought to her mind the realization that there was precisely nothing she found wrong with that.
Looking around the bus, with a view much inferior to Patyu's own, Raya's eyes grew just a tad wider. "Impressive," she whistled. At that Patyu had to nod- the two's flat wasn't the largest even before it became an impromptu residence for an extra mouth, after all, and this bus's furnishings alone probably cost more than that room did. Then again a dictator could afford that sort of expense. That particular thought summoned an involuntary shiver from Patyu and a sweet murmur from Raya. The soldiers still fresh on her mind, this bus, the strict security at the terminal, all served to further unsettle Patyu and shake her nerves. If it weren't for the prospect of meeting Ari she would've never have come.
But, she thought, as long as she was with Raya things would turn out fine. As the blonde began to make small talk with the bus's other occupants- Ross, ugh- the short brunette felt her worrying slip away. Her mind wrapped around the lilting, confident tones of Raya's voice, took hold of the heat in her side and stowed it deep within, and she felt peace. Her grip on Raya's hand relaxed. And Patyu smiled.