Private communications

[foolishjustice]

Moshi moshi!

Comments

[hairpincurves]

Um... can we talk about it once we're in private? I'd... rather not risk people overhearing... It's... [She pauses and glances to one side, frowning.] Something kind of personal.

[foolishjustice]

Alright.

[But he will wrap an arm around her to give her a light hug. She seems like she needs it.]

[hairpincurves]

[... Given the way she practically latches on, she definitely needed that.

She only lets go to shakily open the door to her room, and closes the door behind her when they're both inside.]

... I, um... saw some other visions in that sub-Fissure.

[She glances off to one side, rubbing at one of her arms.]

[foolishjustice]

[Worry intensifying...]

Unpleasant ones, I'm assuming.

[hairpincurves]

... Yeah.

[She sits down on the bed, hugging her knees to her chest.]

One of them was the interrogation room, with me and Akechi-san... but...

[She takes a breath. Might as well get it out there instead of...]

... I was shooting her, instead of the other way around.

[foolishjustice]

Ah...

[He sits next to her, draping an arm over her shoulders.]

A lot of what makes people who they are is their circumstances. That version of you...the fact that something pushed her to be willing to kill doesn't reflect on who you are, here and now.

[hairpincurves]

I... I know. [She leans against him, tearing up but not letting those tears fall.]

[foolishjustice]

[He hugs her close, leaning the side of his head against the top of hers.]

And...the fact that it's possible for a version of you to be pushed to that doesn't necessarily mean there's something wrong with you. Even I had noble intentions in the beginning...but traveling the Metaverse, seeing the worst of everyone around you, without friends to provide emotional support...it could turn just about anyone bitter and cynical.

[hairpincurves]

Y-yeah, I-I can... imagine... [Well, an effort was made, but she can't really stop the tears from falling now... She just leans as much into the hug as possible.

... She might be clinging a bit, not unlike how she did during their talk after her first finding out he was dead.]

... There were... other things that bothered me about it, too...

[foolishjustice]

[....Ah. He wipes some of her tears away, then nuzzles against the top of her head in...what he hopes will be a comforting gesture.]

If that truly was a role reversal scenario, what died was probably nothing but a cognitive being. Just a manifestation of Sae-san's mental image of that version of me.

[hairpincurves]

[She leans into the touch and nods, but she hesitates before speaking again. When she does, her voice is quieter than usual and... almost uncharacteristically small.]

The... the worst thing, though... i-if we'd first met in any other Fissure... I would've probably mistaken you for her, you know? S-so... seeing that cognitive version dead like that... it was like... like...

[foolishjustice]

...Like seeing me just as lifeless. And I'm sure the fact that I'm in female form just as often as male doesn't help that connection...

[If his female counterpart looks so similar to him, he doubts his own female form is much different from what she looks like.]

[hairpincurves]

[She nods as her desperate cling grows tighter and she sobs.

She just--she just needs to hold onto him for a while.]

[foolishjustice]

Here...

[He nudges her toward his lap, holding out his free arm to wrap around her as soon as she's in proper reach.]

[hairpincurves]

[She moves into his lap, without even the slightest bit of hesitation, leaning against him. As long as he's still breathing... As long as their clothing can hide his lack of a heartbeat... as long as she can feel his warmth... she'll be okay eventually.]

[foolishjustice]

[He is, in fact, breathing. He's perhaps a little clammy from fatigue, but nothing more than the sort of coolness that suggests someone might be feeling sick and should be resting.

And his grip as he moves his free arm to pull her tight against him definitely does a good impression of a living person's.]

[hairpincurves]

[Goro Akechi, you are so lucky she's too caught up in her own distress to notice that clamminess.

His grip makes her own hold relax, just a little--it's not quite as desperate now as it was before, but...]

[foolishjustice]

[Nightmares make it hard to get restful sleep, alright?

He'll just hold her tight for a while, then slowly loosen his hold to start rubbing her back.]

I'm here, I'm fine. I even have a Persona that would protect me from an attack like that.

[hairpincurves]

R-right, you have Rangda...

[She'll... try to take a few deep breaths to calm down.]

[foolishjustice]

[He nods.]

And even if I didn't...Loki has Tetrakarn.

[hairpincurves]

[Nodding more.]

R-right...

[foolishjustice]

And even if I couldn't access the Metaverse, I have multiple powers that would let me avoid being affected by normal attacks.

[Granted, he sucks at phasing...but if he shifts to the SG, any attempt to hurt him from the RG would just pass right through.]

[hairpincurves]

[As long as Goro keeps talking, that means he keeps breathing...]

Right... at least... at least there's that.

[foolishjustice]

[He makes a habit of breathing, anyway. Especially when someone is sitting close enough to notice if he stopped.]

I know it's easy to worry anyway, but that sort of situation wouldn't be able to hurt me. I've developed a lot of ways to protect myself, lately.

[hairpincurves]

Yeah, I know... It just doesn't... stop the kneejerk reaction.

[She's just glad that the male Akira was kind enough to get rid of the nightmares already...]