AFTER-ICE-CREAM-PARTY

[pecker]

[Boy everyone is so bloodthirsty tonight. And now a kid is dead and another is gonna execute. Do y'all need some baskin robbins, because it seems like you do!!! So before everyone can leave, Niwatori raises her voice louder than it's gone before now to draw a little attention, and then deflates immediately when she actually gets it.]

Excuse me, please! U-um... this case was really hard, and I think we could all use some time to cool our heads before we finally go back. So... ice cream? Who's with me?

[she'll lead the pack there and anyone else can go home or to visit Clarisse on the set of Orange is the new Black.

Niwa's not that good of a host though, she just gets her own ice cream and lets everyone serve themselves. Who is she to limit your freedom. (Someone who doesn't want to be partly responsible for a Millium Monstrosity, that's who.)]

Comments

wandering

[robitussin]

[She avoids the party and wants to avoid most people, but when she leaves to clear her head, she happens across him. He's... one of the few people right now who could make her stop in her tracks, even if she hesitates before she says anything to him.]

...Hey. I wanted to, um...

[She trails off before revealing what it was she wanted to do, though.]

[unfashionably]

[ He has to admit, he didn't expect to run into anyone else wandering around the streets. They're a more popular place than he expected, but... maybe that's not a bad thing. He's always been better at talking to people than dealing with his problems by himself.

Slowly, he reaches up to rub his neck. ]

Talk? [ He helpfully suggests it for her. It might be more than that, it might not be, but regardless he continues. ] If it's about the trial... Don't worry about it. We all do and say some crazy stuff during those things.

[robitussin]

...Apologize, actually.

[As prideful as she can be, it sounds like it's hard for her to say those words - even as he says not to worry about it, she gives a small shrug.]

I'm sure you're, like, fine at what you do. I could have said you were acting weird without saying that you weren't acting like a good leader. That's it.

[unfashionably]

Oh.

[ There's a short pause as he tries to gather his thoughts and figure out what he wants to say. But he's never been good at that—it's always been easier for him to blurt out what comes to mind first. So, that's what he does. ]

No, when it comes down to it? I really am inexperienced as a guild master. That's just how it is, and it might hurt to hear but... can't argue with the truth. [ Quickly, he glances away before he steps just a tiny bit closer. ] ... how are you holding up after the trial anyway? You were talking to Clarisse just as much as I was. That must've been hard on you.

[ The whole thing was probably hard on her, come to think of it. ]

[robitussin]

Sure, but - in the end, you were right.

[She's not good at distributing praise, but that's a fact. His instinct was the right one to follow, regardless of whether he was under suspicion too.

Either way, she pauses as he steps closer, and blinks in surprise as he asks that. She's never too comfortable with people showing that kind of concern; it's too foreign for her to know how to respond.]

I'm... fine. I mean, it's not like we decided on the wrong person or anything. You don't need to, um... I'm fine.

[unfashionably]

[ Just like before—she's right. He can't deny that. While he could say more, that doesn't seem like the best option for either of them right now. So, hesitantly, he nods in acceptance.

Then, he focuses on what she says next. ]

Are you sure?

[robitussin]

[There's a shrug. As used to she is at playing it off if she's doing poorly, she's not used to circumstances like this at all; it's more difficult to make her evasion convincing.]

Yeah. I mean, as fine as anyone else. As fine as someone can be with everything going on.