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In the Depths of Winter...; [Open to respondents to the thread "Emergency."]
Topic Started: Feb 3 2014, 09:44 AM (1,438 Views)
Czernobog
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Best Influence.
Shin watched his nephew with a furrowed brow and pursed lips. He was also analyzing the same issue that Jiro had asked: there was something about Naoya's new persona that made him uncomfortable, but his nephew wasn't behaving in an overtly threatening manner.

For his part, Naoya caught the hat, and then put it on, straightening it.

He was reminded, though, that everyone was still worked up as soon as Hanako's open hand impacted his cheek. He paused, and put his hands on her shoulders. When he spoke, it was very quiet and directed solely at her.

"I deserved that. I did. It was stupid, what I did, and I'm done with it. Promise."

He took a breath, and looked at Jiro.

"Hell if I know. Don't think I'm goin' to until I get more time to get to know the new guy, y'know? I don't think so, and it's late. We can deal with it once we've had a bit more rest."

He shouldered his backpack, and then walked toward Chika. He still wore the same expression he had put on to talk to Kyo -- the smile of someone who was sharing a private joke with the person he was looking at, which couldn't quite be communicated to someone else -- and had still not blinked once.

Taking her hand, he pried the automaton's legs off, and there was a loud clank as whatever engine inside it started up again. It fluttered into the air and floated by his shoulder.

"Got that out of your system?" he asked it, as if it could possibly respond. He looked back over at Chika, a note of gratitude added to his expression. His voice was quiet, the intonation slightly closer to how it had been back when he stuttered and stumbled through his words: "Thanks for bringin' it back. Thought it was gone for good."

He put his hands to his backpack's straps, and began to lead the way back to where he had left his bike, passing by Kakeru. Naoya looked over at him and said: "Good to see you, Kagami-san. Didn't really expect you to help out. Thanks for comin' along."

With that, the boy began to pick his way back towards the path, plodding slowly so that the others could easily catch up. He called back: "C'mon, it's cold as hell, and my brain's here for the pickin'. Just not out here, y'know?"

Shin remained where he had been standing, his furrowed brow having graduated into a full-blown frown. Whatever the boy had gone through out here had changed him, and they were going to have to have a talk, and soon, about this.
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The One True Nobody
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"...does this clockwork hand follow you... or guide you?"
Kyo watched Chika out of the corner of her eye. There was a tinge of annoyance at her for voicing what Kyo had hoped to just not bring up at all until they were alone and could talk about things without people trying to have six different conversations at once, but mostly she just looked apprehensive over Hanako's slap. Kyo had a feeling Chika wouldn't take it well if she knew about Naoya trying to hang himself, especially if what she suspected was in Chika's letter actually was in Chika's letter.

Chika's look at Hanako was confused and chiding, though. She hadn't seen... alright, that was good...

Still hoping to keep things secret for the good of everyone's mental ~wellness~, hmm...? Cereza noted in a weary but oddly careless singsong voice. Kyo frowned a bit at the Persona's tone, which was neither chiding like Morrigan's would have been or taunting like Nevan's. Even after the debacle with Suzume and that oh-so-heartwrenching letter. Have you learned anything, or are you just tricking yourself into thinking you've learned?

It's not down to me to decide if she learns or not, Kyo answered in a stiff way, trying to keep her face and body from reflecting the same tension conveyed to her Persona with the thought. I just don't want this backfiring at a bad time, that's all. It'd be better if she found out when everyone's cooled off and not... like this.

If she found out like this, it might make things easier.

...No. No! Just no. I'm not going that route. Chika isn't a game piece to move around on a board--

But you're still trying to use her like a monkey wrench, aren't you? Maybe a pre-programmed monkey wrench that you set next to the broken thing so it'll do all the work on its own, but...

...Guh...

The worst part about this exchange for Kyo was how casually her Persona stated all this, as if neither agreeing or disagreeing with Kyo's chosen course of action, but merely curious of how it should work. For the first time since deciding to try nudging Chika closer to the person she wanted to help, Kyo began to seriously doubt whether it was a good idea. Would it make things worse in the end? Would it make things better? Would it--?

"I don't think that was necessary," Chika said in a low voice to Hanako, snapping Kyo out of her thoughts--the entire exchange had occurred over the span of seconds. The redhead looked back at Naoya as he worked the lightning bug off her arm. Kyo noticed that Chika was keeping her hand determinedly limp, fingers open, while Naoya worked. She wondered what that meant. Trying to puzzle it out just looped her back around to the subject Cereza had just brought up, though, and she didn't want to think about it now, or here, or... anything.

Chika took a step back after the lightning bug detached from her arm. She spared it a few seconds' glance, and then looked to Naoya. She wondered if his ascension had actually "fixed" him physically, well and truly fixed him. If that were true--

...Well...

Good for him.

Kyo rubbed at the back of her head, and said, "A-ah, let's all just... get goin' and cool off about all this, yeah? We can talk it out when the tension's a little less... uh... tense."

Chika nodded quietly to Kyo's suggestion. Yes, she definitely didn't want to... talk to Naoya right now. Not here or in this kind of atmosphere or ever when there were people around to hear it.
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Prince Arjuna
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-insert something witty here-

Kakeru just shrugged when Naoya spoke to him. "Don't mention it..." he said. "And I didn't even do anything..." and he was saying the truth. He hadn't contributed much in this, much to his annoyance. He wasn't even personally involved in this, but he could live with that part. He was just a little annoyed that he couldn't do much besides standing at the sideline, watching things unfold without his intervention. "Good to see you too..." he said, nodding.

Now that everything seemed to have calmed down a bit, he remained standing on the same spot, waiting for the next thing to do. He could use his power to get rid of the petrified trees. At least he could contribute something. And he couldn't even return home alone due to his 'condition'. He would rather not have the others to spend another day searching for him at the wood.
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Nonsequitur
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Yellow Bubblegum
There was in fact, little to clean up. Within moments all the trees crumbled into unrecognizable rubble and dust. The gaze was in fact, sheer, brute force magic with the petrification as a cosmetic curiosity after. She didn't give it a second thought.

Ugh, everything was hazy and blurry. She couldn't remember the last time she cried, either. And in front of all these people, too! It was pathetic. It was embarrassing. Of course she was glad that Naoya was…more or less okay, and still quite furious at him, but even more than that she was upset with herself for having such an outburst.

She couldn't even get words out without choking back sobs, ugh, that damn lump in her throat. "You…we…were…worried sick!" She wiped away more stupid tears, stop. Stop, stop, STOP. "A winter storm, you can't…come on, we all need to go!"

She followed him with her gaze when he moved and spoke. Annoying sobs still escaped and she was shaking.

Enough. She closed her eyes, left her clinched hands at her sides and bit her lower lip. Sharp, distracting, visceral physical pain. The taste of her own blood That helped get her to a less uncomfortable mental state.


When she looked up, her eyes were red, inflamed, a bit puffy, but no longer misty. "Well, that's that then. The rest we can discuss someplace warm and dry and weatherproofed? I'm going back to the car." She said, flatly. "Get my head back together…"
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Exodin
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MAHHA
Jiro shook his head, still upset. He wanted to scream, he wanted to cry. It was all ridiculous, what was he expecting? Did he want Naoya to personally apologize to each and every single one of them. That was a stupid way to think. He tugged the hood tight over his head with a silent snarl.

"Whatever..."

The boy put distance between himself and the others, charged his legs with a Bash and leaped into the sky to get over everyone. He dropped down behind them some distance away and began to jog down the middle path with a scowl on his face. Dealing with his negative emotions "healthily" was something he wasn't good at. Well at least there was boxing soon. All he needed was a gloved fist and the excuse of a match to beat the shit out of someone.

---

"Hanako-san...it's alright. This is going to sound maybe a little stupid, and feel free to scream at me or...or hit me. Whatever you want, but do you...do you need a hug?"

Daichi followed close by the girl. Hesitant to initiate any sort of physical contact with her until she explicitly stated she was alright with it. If she wasn't? He perfectly understood. He wanted to be there for his friend. Yet he wasn't exactly keen on just outright hugging her if she wasn't okay with it, especially if that could just upset her more.

Ultimately, everyone else seemed like they were alright. Jiro was out of his line of sight, jogging down the path. Not that he could do much about the boy. He wasn't even sure how he felt about him. So for now? Time to focus on someone that was clearly upset and needed support.
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Czernobog
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Best Influence.
Naoya paused, and glanced back at the others. The Lightning Bug hovered around his shoulder, and then headbutted him to indicate that he should get moving. Naoya didn't, though, looking over all of his friends. His eyes lingered, momentarily, longer on Jiro and Chika than on the others, though he only spoke after he had run through them all and then looked down at the ground. The Lightning Bug headbutted him again.

"I understand," he said, though whether to the others or to the automaton was unclear. He snapped his fingers, and the small bronze insect zipped in front of his face. "Stay with Kagami-san -- " he pointed at Kakeru, " -- and always float on the side of him that's closest to the motorcycle. You know what I'm sayin'?"

It bobbed up and down as if it were nodding, and then moved to orbit Kakeru, floating to the south and slightly to the west of him.

"C'mon. Let's get back home. I promise, I can account for everything, and that it was all necessary. If it ain't, then you're free to call me an idiot and feed me my own teeth. C'mon."

He began to walk back in the direction of his motorcycle, assuming that was where the others were parked.

Shin, face still dark, waited until the others began moving, and then began to follow the group.
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The One True Nobody
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"...does this clockwork hand follow you... or guide you?"
...Did Daichi just unironically ask Hanako if she needs a hug? Kyo couldn't help thinking, giving her apprentice a weird look from behind. But, she shrugged and just started walking back toward the motorcycle, stuffing her hands in her pockets. For Chika's part, she followed behind Shin--taking the car was a lot safer for her than riding on a motorcycle. Kyo glanced back toward Naoya and called, "I'll find the helmet with the bike, right? I don't wanna get pulled over for not havin' one on, yeah?"

The redhead just stayed silent. Now that it was all over, she just had to go with the flow and let everything take what course it would. She kept a short distance away from Naoya, and unconsciously folded her arms over her stomach to rub at her elbows, keeping her eyes on the ground, closing herself off from everyone around her, physically and mentally. She didn't want to talk right now. Not to Naoya, not to the others.

"...Hanako-san," she whispered under her breath, but not loudly enough for Hanako to hear. The only one who had any chance of catching it was Shin, and he was unlikely to say anything.
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Prince Arjuna
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-insert something witty here-

Kakeru looked at the insect-like automaton that orbited around him in curiosity. He could vaguely remember seeing such thing before, but he couldn't recall where or when. Well, everything seemed alright in the end, so Kakeru didn't have anything to say about this. Even so, he could only hope that he could contribute something in this mission.

Or he could watch over the Lightning Bug that was moving around him. At least that was something that he could do right now.

Hanako was crying her eyes out while Daichi offered a hug to her. Kakeru didn't know whether to smile or to laugh while looking at this kind of scene. At least he could feel, unlike before, when he was just an unfeeling machine with flesh and blood. With a sigh, he put one of his hands into his pockets while holding his wrapped sword in his other hand, watching the insect-like automaton circling around him. Then he followed the others.
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Nonsequitur
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Yellow Bubblegum
It was a weird question. Well not weird in of itself. But the timing and how it was asked was peculiar. peculiar enough to have Hanako pause and turn around and stare at Daichi for a moment. Her arms drooped to the side and she sniffled a bit.

Then, without warning, she ran to him and threw her arms around her taller friend. Much to her dismay, now that she was crying, it was like opening floodgates and she was sobbing with tears falling freely again against her will.

"Maybe…"

It wasn't good, she had to get herself under control but it wasn't just what she saw. There was plenty she had to cry about and never did, and now it was all coming out at once. Mostly all over Daichi's jacket.
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Exodin
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MAHHA
All Jiro felt was angry. He made sure to stay ahead of the rest of them. He craved an outlet. Some sort of punching bag, whether it was an actual punching bag or a person didn't matter much though. For now though? All he could do was grumble and make sure that he was far enough away from everyone else that they couldn't ask how he was 'feeling'. He'd dealt with enough of people being nice where they shouldn't have been.

No use thinking about it now. It would just make him angrier, and the boy had enough self awareness this moment to know that becoming more negative wasn't going to do any good.

---

When she had looked at him for that moment, he had been fully prepared to get slapped or screamed at. Instead, he found that the better outcome was happening. Daichi welcomed the hug, and wrapped his own arms around the girl. Tightening the hold ever so slightly. He began to whisper what was hopefully words of comfort to her.

"It's okay Hanako-san. You can let it all out now. I'm right here. Nobody here is going to judge you."

He sent a cursory glance to everyone he could see. Fully prepared to start glaring if they had some sort of condescending or judgmental look to them. Then he directed his attention once again downward towards his friend. The wetness in his jacket was regrettable. Not because of the wetness itself, but because Hanako was crying. At the very least, he could be there. Her shoulder to cry on, and that was a good thing.

"If you ever need a hug, just come to me okay? You don't even need to ask. I'm here for you Hanako-san."
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