[She doesn't miss the way he perks up at the mention of the name, and it makes her smile just that little bit wider. Finally, a name and a face to go with one of Shinji's friends... not to mention that expression on his face. She won't call him out on it, but it's heartening to see. She makes a mental note to be sure to do something extra nice for Astralin when she has the chance, if only because he's made such an impression on Shinji.]
It's for you, so yeah! He said it won't ever melt, even though it's made of ice.
[She gently passes it over, relinquishing it to him as her smile softens. Even if the mini-Koromaru is cute enough that she'd almost considered keeping it for herself, this reaction is totally worth it.]
[Ohhh my godddd, this dog... Shinji takes the little Koromaru as gently as he possibly can, holding it in both hands. Not going to melt doesn't mean it won't shatter if he drops it, and since this is both the cutest thing after the real thing and something made for him... Well! Well, no one could blame him for just staring at it for a lengthy beat, caught somewhere between touched and impressed.
Give him a second; he's still in the adjustment period when it comes to having friends besides Kotone who will do nice things without several layers of emotional arrested development, himself included. Wow!! Dog!]
Not sure I get how that works, but... thanks. For asking him. This little guy really does look like the real thing.
[don't get emotional about koromaru do not do it it's like 7am--]
Guess I'll have to bring Astralin more pies sometime, too.
[It's okay to get emotional about Koromaru at any time of day! And about receiving gifts. Kotone just settles back comfortably in her seat to let him have his moment, unable to stop smiling herself. Not that that's abnormal for her, but it's special this time because she was able to (ask someone else to) make one of her friends happy.]
Yeah! Let me know if you want help making them again.
[It's fun to cook with Shinji and have plenty of nice things to show for it. Cooking with Fuuka had been fun too, but the yield size always had to be... way smaller... for some reason...]
He said it was magic, but it wasn't anything like ours. He just kind of started forming it... [She holds out a hand, palm up, as if to demonstrate, but of course nothing happens.] It's nice being able to use magic to create stuff, huh?
[Ahem, ahem. He's got a nonzero number of soft feelings about this, both the way that people liked these pies and the way Kotone and him have made a great cooking team. It's double the good feelings one gets from merely cooking alone for the whole squad, so, great times. Pies 2: coming soon.
Anyway, magic that's useful, huh... He shrugs.]
I wouldn't expect anyone else here to have something like what we've got. Sounds like it'd be useful, to do things like that... You really don't have anything that can do that?
[She tucks her hands under her thighs and just beams with a nod. 2 Pies 2 Delicious, coming to a kitchen near you.
As for his question... she frowns, furrowing her brow as her gaze goes a little bit distant, the way it does when she's trying to decide which Persona to switch to. Considering she's with Shinji, Sandalphon is in the front of her mind, but even just a cursory glance over what she knows she has leaves her shaking her head.]
Not really, no... I mean, I can buff us and do a lot of different kinds of damage, [she counts those two things off on her fingers,] But I didn't bother with a lot of status effects because it didn't seem like it would be much help. [Wait, no, wait, that's Later Talk, time to use Dazai's advice and just pretend that it's not something that bothers her. She smiles and continues as if she hadn't said anything potentially worrying at all,] Even if I tried using Bufudyne, it wouldn't last very long. It's more of a cold snap than anything solid.
Edited (not me being an english teacher and still messing up affect and effect smfh) 2023-04-02 02:47 (UTC)
[It's not like Shinji knows overly much about Personas with, like, real magic; Castor's only "magic" is being intimidating and hitting harder, so what does he know. But he'd have assumed that there had to be something in all those Personas that would be different. Surely someone has, like, a nice Persona that does cool and productive things...]
Guess that makes sense. Can't exactly picture a Persona making something like this.
[The wee Koromaru, that is... Nice Cool Persona was a good dream for all ten seconds he thought about it, alas. Now, he's obligated to at least ask, even if she defers him to Later-]
What's that supposed to mean, though? Not much help? Kinda sounds like the opposite to me.
[A lot of Personas have gone through her-- skull? heart? soul? -- and while many of them have their own unique attacks or abilities, none of them really come close to creating something that isn't just meant for combat. Makarakarn and Tetrakarn might be the closest things to creating something that's solely for defense.]
Well, if they're out there, I guess I can't summon them. [Theo and Igor had said something like that before, that there was a limit to how many Personas she had the potential to access. It's possible there are nice, cool ones out there that they don't know about!
She presses her lips together briefly and glances up to meet his eyes.] Well, you remember those powerful enemies that would block off floors every so often on our way through Tartarus...? They were usually almost impossible to hit with a status ailment, so... I kind of stopped passing those abilities onto my Personas so I could focus on hitting anything we came across.
[She could rely on the other SEES members if it was necessary, but odds were that it would be a waste of time to use status ailments against the Appraiser, and worse than useless to use them against Nyx.]
"Hit really hard with no advanced strategy" sounds like perfect enough logic to Shinjiro, all things considered - that is really his only move, but even so, something about it seems to be... bugging her? Hmm.]
Sure, makes sense. Guess there's always whatever Mitsuru does if you're really desperate.
[Marin Karin has no rights, the end, but anyway - this other, more important thing: that something is off, here. Shinjiro looks down at the little Koro-chan, tapping its tiny head with a fingertip, considering. Soooo...]
She snorts a little laugh at the mention of Mitsuru, a small, lopsided smile rising to her face. Yeah, whenever she'd want to use it, it was almost always useless, but it was nice to have just in case. At least having the option was nice!
What is the problem, exactly? She wrinkles her nose and kicks her feet a little in the chair, thinking about it.]
I was just thinking about how it was so easy for Astralin-san to make something, when all I can do is destroy, I guess? At least with magic.
[She wrinkles her nose again.]
If we can even use our Personas here. I know they're still in there, [and she taps her temple briefly with one finger.] But I haven't tried to summon any of them. Have you?
[Hah... does he seem super eager to whip Castor out at any time in the near future, or ever? He's already written it off as inevitable; after just those things whispering in the forest, there's no doubt in his mind that something here will demand they make their Personas work for them eventually— But.
Until then. He sighs and leans... toward her, but to the side, to reach the pockets of his hanging coat, where his Evoker lives at all times. He takes it out and sits back, turning it over a few times to scrutinize it.]
It didn't look any different from back home, so I figured it would still work. Maybe not as well as during the Dark Hour, but... [do they. want that. necessarily. just saying!!] Guessing yours came with, too.
[He is not suggesting they start playing Persona roulette, he is merely sharing that they both could—!! Now, hm,]
....Don't think too hard about that stuff. [trust him lol] You're better off.
[She huffs another quiet laugh, because yeah, no, of course Shinji wouldn't be summoning his Persona without a really good reason. She doesn't move when he leans in, just watches him curiously until he draws out his Evoker. It does look the same as it always had, which she guesses makes sense.]
Yeah... it's in my room right now. I usually keep it hidden because it seems like it would be annoying to have to explain...
[The only person who even knows she has a Persona is Dazai, but she made a point not to tell him anything about Shinji's own power, or even imply that she had teammates who all had it. He just didn't need to know all that!
She watches the Evoker in his hands for a long few seconds before glancing up to study his face. Yeah. Shinji gets it. Out of everyone in SEES, Shinji probably understands it the most.]
Alright, I won't, then! [And a smile, more for his benefit. Ah, wait, that reminds her-]
Even if our Evokers hadn't come with us, I think we'd have been provided them anyway. I mean... look what I found in my room this morning next to my bed. I definitely didn't have this with me before, and I didn't hear anyone come in.
[She turns to rummage into her bag and pull out a certain photograph in a tasteful frame. She presents it to Shinjiro with both hands, watching his face for whatever expression he might make at what's clearly a photo of the whole team except him, from an event he definitely wasn't there for.]
[She says she won't, but will she, actually? Will she? Shinjiro knows the messy spiral of that kind of thought all too well, and even knowing just a fraction of the burden that Kotone has to bear as their leader, he knows it's going to be more difficult than just... saying no. He looks down at the Evoker for a long beat, then back up; he'll just have to keep an eye on her. That's all.
No sense beating the point into the ground, so. He hums and puts the Evoker down on the mattress, giving it one last wry look while she speaks about her mystery item. Oh, like--]
Like the bike. Uh, this girl I met said her motorbike just... showed up one day.
[And he's really not sure how to think about that, or how to think about the idea of an Evoker just showing up one day, or his axe or something, how does one explain just having a big fucking axe around the house--
But anyway, this picture. He leans forward again to see, elbows on his knees, looking at... oh.]
....Is that Mitsuru's dad?
[No, not the correct thing to notice, but wow, getting two whole Kirijos to participate in a group photo, impressive--
He isn't sure what to feel about it, is the thing. There's a tightness in his chest that threatens to collapse him entirely; he misses them plain and simple, and yet it's-- it's a funny picture? He could laugh? He doesn't laugh.
Overwhelmingly, above all else, is the thought that they're okay without him. Bittersweet all the way down.]
[Well that's way cooler than some picture! Even if these are some of the most important people in the world (according to her). It does make her wonder what else might show up. Other pictures? Her cool feathery naginata she had to sacrifice one of her Personas to get? Other Personas??
But right, no, the picture. She nods and winces a little bit, rip Mr. Kirijo. Is... is she supposed to be the one to tell Shinji that he was killed, too? By Ikutsuki? Man there is a lot to get into with that, so maybe that can be Later, too.]
I'm pretty sure it was all Junpei's fault. I think he was trying to get all of us girls to stand around him...
[Better to throw Junpei under the bus than bring up why they were all together with Mitsuru's dad. She keeps her eyes on him, wishing she could read his mind. Even if they're the same arcana, Sandalphon is absolutely no help at all.]
Do you want it...? [It's a soft question, gently probing. Talk to her, buddy.]
[A Whole Bike. Weird, right, much weirder than this picture, which at least is small enough to fit on a desk. There's nothing in particular Shinjiro can think of that he'd like to show up, mostly because, uh, he left almost all of his worldly possessions in a box on his desk at the dorm and it was only like four things, soooo--
Well, not much to wonder about there. This little magical ice dog is now 200% more personal trinkets than he'd previously owned, which is something.]
Of course he was. Idiot.
[Sorry, Junpei... He means that with at least some lingering affection? Granted, he spent arguably the least time around Junpei during his brief return to SEES, but the guy's... okay. He liked the food, that one time; that's the bare minimum.
Still: oh, and his expression tightens when she asks him that, and he glances up at her with a furrowed brow and some shade of a grimace before he looks at the picture again. Don't ask him that, why would she ask him that, what the hell is she thinking—]
It's yours. [This is not an answer, oops.] You keep it. What would I do with a picture, anyway...
[Look at it and feel sad, probably, and he's gotten enough practice at that. He's not even in the picture, so wouldn't it be weird to keep it for himself—? Whatever. Whatever!]
[C'mon, senpai, that was an easy one to hit back. She draws it back into herself, keeping it in her lap as she gazes down at it. It's a pleasant reminder of the fun they'd had before even more things had gone wrong, but it is a visible reminder of someone who's here with her now, but wasn't with them then -- and everyone else in this picture isn't here. It's a weird mix of emotions to have.]
They're your friends, too. I thought maybe you'd like to have it.
[And that's really what it boils down to -- why would she keep something for herself if there's someone who might be happy to have it? It doesn't even have to be happier than she would be, but just happy at all.]
[Don't use logic at him, that's unfair. He doesn't have anything to say back to that; yes, yes, she has a point, but he just can't conceptualize a picture of his friends sitting on the desk in this room, like it's...
Well. It's not important. He frowns more pointedly, eyebrows lifting; now he sees the other half of what she's doing here, and ah - no? Stop that. Again:]
It's yours. Don't give it away.
[Wholly unrelated to his own unresolved mess of emotions about the rest of their friends, he's completely sure in his insistence that she not give up the picture if it means she's not looking out for herself. He's a pro at that one, no amount of bubbly cheer can pull this particular wool over his eyes. Hmph!!]
If you want, I... [god he feels stupid saying something like "I'll share it" but that's fundamentally what this suggestion is about to be, do not get on him for this-] I'll come by and look at it. Sometimes. But you should hold onto it.
[She hums, not entire convinced, but alright. He's the only one she'd give it away to, anyway; it's not like there's anyone else (yet) that she would want to.
She can't help but snort a little laugh at his suggestion, though, because sorry but it does sound really funny when he puts it that way. It is kind of what she'd been suggesting herself, though, isn't it? So she's laughing at the both of them, really.]
Are you saying you'd be okay coming to my room, Senpai?
[She can't not tease him when he says things like that, throwing in a wink for good measure, but she does tighten her grip a little on the picture and nod. Alright, alright, she gets it.]
[And the melancholy mood goes right out the window--]
Y-You— You're in my room right now!
[Oh my god! He's going to evaporate into thin air, one of these days, and then who will she tease? He knows it doesn't help his case to react with so much huffing and puffing, but he earnestly can't help it; it's all he can do to grumble and drag a hand over his face, exasperated. A regular comedy routine, here...
[She breaks out into proper laughter, some of it from Shinji's reaction, most of it from the heavy atmosphere bursting like a bubble. It's all she could have hoped for, really; a little embarrassment for Shinjiro to reset the mood.]
Sorry. I really don't mind, though.
[It isn't like the dorm. She's pretty sure nobody cares who goes to whose room.]
Have you made any more friends? Kept yourself out of trouble?
[People who, once she finds a camera, she can take a picture of for Shinji to keep?]
[Grumble mumble he endures so much, let him rest. But it's absolutely true that no one cares about going into each other's rooms here, because every time he tries to deliver snacks and disappear he winds up invited into a room for Friendship and he's still getting used to that.
He shrugs, though. Kept himself out of trouble, hah...]
Who put you in charge? [ha ha, his little leader joke,] I haven't met anybody else since the last time you asked. Only got in one fight, too.
[Now, in his defense, casually talking about how often he and Akihiko punch each other in the face is normal to him, so why wouldn't he just tell her this too... ahem.]
[Oh, look at the clock, it's time for friendship. Oh no, the clock's broken, it's always time for friendship-
His little joke does make her giggle a little, but it fades almost immediately because excuse you.]
What? With who? [She sits up straighter, leader mode: activated! Because it's one thing if it's him and Akihiko, that's like, their weird thing, but if it's just random people...] What happened?
[Her voice is a funny mix of concern and something that almost sounds like she's offended, because how dare someone fight Shinji. Sure, he looks like a punk, but you only have to talk to him for like thirty seconds to see that he's a softie.]
[Now she's just confused and kind of skeptical. Is this another one of those weird boy-things where they fight each other because they don't know how to express their emotions in any other way...]
Did you cut the inside of your mouth again? [Like when Akihiko punched him...]
[Why didn't he just say "dodge" louder so Mikey would miss? She just looks more exasperated than anything, scooting her chair in one solid motion until she's directly in his personal space and leaning in to look for a bruise.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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[She doesn't miss the way he perks up at the mention of the name, and it makes her smile just that little bit wider. Finally, a name and a face to go with one of Shinji's friends... not to mention that expression on his face. She won't call him out on it, but it's heartening to see. She makes a mental note to be sure to do something extra nice for Astralin when she has the chance, if only because he's made such an impression on Shinji.]
It's for you, so yeah! He said it won't ever melt, even though it's made of ice.
[She gently passes it over, relinquishing it to him as her smile softens. Even if the mini-Koromaru is cute enough that she'd almost considered keeping it for herself, this reaction is totally worth it.]
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Give him a second; he's still in the adjustment period when it comes to having friends besides Kotone who will do nice things without several layers of emotional arrested development, himself included. Wow!! Dog!]
Not sure I get how that works, but... thanks. For asking him. This little guy really does look like the real thing.
[don't get emotional about koromaru do not do it it's like 7am--]
Guess I'll have to bring Astralin more pies sometime, too.
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Yeah! Let me know if you want help making them again.
[It's fun to cook with Shinji and have plenty of nice things to show for it. Cooking with Fuuka had been fun too, but the yield size always had to be... way smaller... for some reason...]
He said it was magic, but it wasn't anything like ours. He just kind of started forming it... [She holds out a hand, palm up, as if to demonstrate, but of course nothing happens.] It's nice being able to use magic to create stuff, huh?
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[Ahem, ahem. He's got a nonzero number of soft feelings about this, both the way that people liked these pies and the way Kotone and him have made a great cooking team. It's double the good feelings one gets from merely cooking alone for the whole squad, so, great times. Pies 2: coming soon.
Anyway, magic that's useful, huh... He shrugs.]
I wouldn't expect anyone else here to have something like what we've got. Sounds like it'd be useful, to do things like that... You really don't have anything that can do that?
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As for his question... she frowns, furrowing her brow as her gaze goes a little bit distant, the way it does when she's trying to decide which Persona to switch to. Considering she's with Shinji, Sandalphon is in the front of her mind, but even just a cursory glance over what she knows she has leaves her shaking her head.]
Not really, no... I mean, I can buff us and do a lot of different kinds of damage, [she counts those two things off on her fingers,] But I didn't bother with a lot of status effects because it didn't seem like it would be much help. [Wait, no, wait, that's Later Talk, time to use Dazai's advice and just pretend that it's not something that bothers her. She smiles and continues as if she hadn't said anything potentially worrying at all,] Even if I tried using Bufudyne, it wouldn't last very long. It's more of a cold snap than anything solid.
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Guess that makes sense. Can't exactly picture a Persona making something like this.
[The wee Koromaru, that is... Nice Cool Persona was a good dream for all ten seconds he thought about it, alas. Now, he's obligated to at least ask, even if she defers him to Later-]
What's that supposed to mean, though? Not much help? Kinda sounds like the opposite to me.
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Well, if they're out there, I guess I can't summon them. [Theo and Igor had said something like that before, that there was a limit to how many Personas she had the potential to access. It's possible there are nice, cool ones out there that they don't know about!
She presses her lips together briefly and glances up to meet his eyes.] Well, you remember those powerful enemies that would block off floors every so often on our way through Tartarus...? They were usually almost impossible to hit with a status ailment, so... I kind of stopped passing those abilities onto my Personas so I could focus on hitting anything we came across.
[She could rely on the other SEES members if it was necessary, but odds were that it would be a waste of time to use status ailments against the Appraiser, and worse than useless to use them against Nyx.]
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400 smt demons looming in the bg"Hit really hard with no advanced strategy" sounds like perfect enough logic to Shinjiro, all things considered - that is really his only move, but even so, something about it seems to be... bugging her? Hmm.]
Sure, makes sense. Guess there's always whatever Mitsuru does if you're really desperate.
[Marin Karin has no rights, the end, but anyway - this other, more important thing: that something is off, here. Shinjiro looks down at the little Koro-chan, tapping its tiny head with a fingertip, considering. Soooo...]
If it's not a problem, what's the problem?
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She snorts a little laugh at the mention of Mitsuru, a small, lopsided smile rising to her face. Yeah, whenever she'd want to use it, it was almost always useless, but it was nice to have just in case. At least having the option was nice!
What is the problem, exactly? She wrinkles her nose and kicks her feet a little in the chair, thinking about it.]
I was just thinking about how it was so easy for Astralin-san to make something, when all I can do is destroy, I guess? At least with magic.
[She wrinkles her nose again.]
If we can even use our Personas here. I know they're still in there, [and she taps her temple briefly with one finger.] But I haven't tried to summon any of them. Have you?
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[Hah... does he seem super eager to whip Castor out at any time in the near future, or ever? He's already written it off as inevitable; after just those things whispering in the forest, there's no doubt in his mind that something here will demand they make their Personas work for them eventually— But.
Until then. He sighs and leans... toward her, but to the side, to reach the pockets of his hanging coat, where his Evoker lives at all times. He takes it out and sits back, turning it over a few times to scrutinize it.]
It didn't look any different from back home, so I figured it would still work. Maybe not as well as during the Dark Hour, but... [do they. want that. necessarily. just saying!!] Guessing yours came with, too.
[He is not suggesting they start playing Persona roulette, he is merely sharing that they both could—!! Now, hm,]
....Don't think too hard about that stuff. [trust him lol] You're better off.
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Yeah... it's in my room right now. I usually keep it hidden because it seems like it would be annoying to have to explain...
[The only person who even knows she has a Persona is Dazai, but she made a point not to tell him anything about Shinji's own power, or even imply that she had teammates who all had it. He just didn't need to know all that!
She watches the Evoker in his hands for a long few seconds before glancing up to study his face. Yeah. Shinji gets it. Out of everyone in SEES, Shinji probably understands it the most.]
Alright, I won't, then! [And a smile, more for his benefit. Ah, wait, that reminds her-]
Even if our Evokers hadn't come with us, I think we'd have been provided them anyway. I mean... look what I found in my room this morning next to my bed. I definitely didn't have this with me before, and I didn't hear anyone come in.
[She turns to rummage into her bag and pull out a certain photograph in a tasteful frame. She presents it to Shinjiro with both hands, watching his face for whatever expression he might make at what's clearly a photo of the whole team except him, from an event he definitely wasn't there for.]
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No sense beating the point into the ground, so. He hums and puts the Evoker down on the mattress, giving it one last wry look while she speaks about her mystery item. Oh, like--]
Like the bike. Uh, this girl I met said her motorbike just... showed up one day.
[And he's really not sure how to think about that, or how to think about the idea of an Evoker just showing up one day, or his axe or something, how does one explain just having a big fucking axe around the house--
But anyway, this picture. He leans forward again to see, elbows on his knees, looking at... oh.]
....Is that Mitsuru's dad?
[No, not the correct thing to notice, but wow, getting two whole Kirijos to participate in a group photo, impressive--
He isn't sure what to feel about it, is the thing. There's a tightness in his chest that threatens to collapse him entirely; he misses them plain and simple, and yet it's-- it's a funny picture? He could laugh? He doesn't laugh.
Overwhelmingly, above all else, is the thought that they're okay without him. Bittersweet all the way down.]
Well, that's pretty typical of everyone, huh.
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A whole bike...
[Well that's way cooler than some picture! Even if these are some of the most important people in the world (according to her). It does make her wonder what else might show up. Other pictures? Her cool feathery naginata she had to sacrifice one of her Personas to get? Other Personas??
But right, no, the picture. She nods and winces a little bit, rip Mr. Kirijo. Is... is she supposed to be the one to tell Shinji that he was killed, too? By Ikutsuki? Man there is a lot to get into with that, so maybe that can be Later, too.]
I'm pretty sure it was all Junpei's fault. I think he was trying to get all of us girls to stand around him...
[Better to throw Junpei under the bus than bring up why they were all together with Mitsuru's dad. She keeps her eyes on him, wishing she could read his mind. Even if they're the same arcana, Sandalphon is absolutely no help at all.]
Do you want it...? [It's a soft question, gently probing. Talk to her, buddy.]
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Well, not much to wonder about there. This little magical ice dog is now 200% more personal trinkets than he'd previously owned, which is something.]
Of course he was. Idiot.
[Sorry, Junpei... He means that with at least some lingering affection? Granted, he spent arguably the least time around Junpei during his brief return to SEES, but the guy's... okay. He liked the food, that one time; that's the bare minimum.
Still: oh, and his expression tightens when she asks him that, and he glances up at her with a furrowed brow and some shade of a grimace before he looks at the picture again. Don't ask him that, why would she ask him that, what the hell is she thinking—]
It's yours. [This is not an answer, oops.] You keep it. What would I do with a picture, anyway...
[Look at it and feel sad, probably, and he's gotten enough practice at that. He's not even in the picture, so wouldn't it be weird to keep it for himself—? Whatever. Whatever!]
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[C'mon, senpai, that was an easy one to hit back. She draws it back into herself, keeping it in her lap as she gazes down at it. It's a pleasant reminder of the fun they'd had before even more things had gone wrong, but it is a visible reminder of someone who's here with her now, but wasn't with them then -- and everyone else in this picture isn't here. It's a weird mix of emotions to have.]
They're your friends, too. I thought maybe you'd like to have it.
[And that's really what it boils down to -- why would she keep something for herself if there's someone who might be happy to have it? It doesn't even have to be happier than she would be, but just happy at all.]
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Well. It's not important. He frowns more pointedly, eyebrows lifting; now he sees the other half of what she's doing here, and ah - no? Stop that. Again:]
It's yours. Don't give it away.
[Wholly unrelated to his own unresolved mess of emotions about the rest of their friends, he's completely sure in his insistence that she not give up the picture if it means she's not looking out for herself. He's a pro at that one, no amount of bubbly cheer can pull this particular wool over his eyes. Hmph!!]
If you want, I... [god he feels stupid saying something like "I'll share it" but that's fundamentally what this suggestion is about to be, do not get on him for this-] I'll come by and look at it. Sometimes. But you should hold onto it.
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She can't help but snort a little laugh at his suggestion, though, because sorry but it does sound really funny when he puts it that way. It is kind of what she'd been suggesting herself, though, isn't it? So she's laughing at the both of them, really.]
Are you saying you'd be okay coming to my room, Senpai?
[She can't not tease him when he says things like that, throwing in a wink for good measure, but she does tighten her grip a little on the picture and nod. Alright, alright, she gets it.]
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Y-You— You're in my room right now!
[Oh my god! He's going to evaporate into thin air, one of these days, and then who will she tease? He knows it doesn't help his case to react with so much huffing and puffing, but he earnestly can't help it; it's all he can do to grumble and drag a hand over his face, exasperated. A regular comedy routine, here...
God. Okay. He's fine.]
Come on. Don't be like that.
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Sorry. I really don't mind, though.
[It isn't like the dorm. She's pretty sure nobody cares who goes to whose room.]
Have you made any more friends? Kept yourself out of trouble?
[People who, once she finds a camera, she can take a picture of for Shinji to keep?]
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He shrugs, though. Kept himself out of trouble, hah...]
Who put you in charge? [ha ha, his little leader joke,] I haven't met anybody else since the last time you asked. Only got in one fight, too.
[Now, in his defense, casually talking about how often he and Akihiko punch each other in the face is normal to him, so why wouldn't he just tell her this too... ahem.]
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His little joke does make her giggle a little, but it fades almost immediately because excuse you.]
What? With who? [She sits up straighter, leader mode: activated! Because it's one thing if it's him and Akihiko, that's like, their weird thing, but if it's just random people...] What happened?
[Her voice is a funny mix of concern and something that almost sounds like she's offended, because how dare someone fight Shinji. Sure, he looks like a punk, but you only have to talk to him for like thirty seconds to see that he's a softie.]
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Huh? This Mikey guy who wanted to fight me... I'm fine. Don't worry about it.
[Oops, did he miss a memo, was it not cool to let Mikey kick him in the head. He shrugs, like, really! He is fine!]
It wasn't a serious fight.
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[Now she's just confused and kind of skeptical. Is this another one of those weird boy-things where they fight each other because they don't know how to express their emotions in any other way...]
Did you cut the inside of your mouth again? [Like when Akihiko punched him...]
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Nah, he got me higher in the head than that.
[Here, he points at the side of his head, like that's fine. It is fine.]
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[Why didn't he just say "dodge" louder so Mikey would miss? She just looks more exasperated than anything, scooting her chair in one solid motion until she's directly in his personal space and leaning in to look for a bruise.]
What happened?
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