come out of hiding, i'm right here beside you

[barehands]

[A while after the execution has ended, everyone will find a simple note slipped under their door.]

If you don't want to be alone after everything that's happening, some of us will be in the dining room. Even if you decide not to come, please remember that you aren't alone here.

[The note isn't signed, but the handwriting is feminine and neat.

For anyone who decides to come, there's a good array of food laid out on the table. There are some small and simple cakes, cookies, and pastries, a healthy amount of okonomiyaki, okayu, and other Japanese dishes (with a focus on rice and eggs), along with curry. In addition, there are pancakes, and a large pot of soup. It looks like a few people collaborated to make enough food for everyone here.

Just like the meal they shared together earlier in the week, the candles from the storage room lend a more peaceful light than the fluorescent lights above.]

Comments

[halleberry]

Your eyes only.

[ It's still odd to wear something like this in the open; she typically wouldn't be caught dead in anything that wasn't her uniform publicly: appearances to keep, an image she clings onto, her own bizarre way of expressing individuality. But an outfit like this is foreign territory, and a bit uncomfortable...

Still, she had promised, and there's no better time than now. She doesn't comment on the state of the room, though she quietly observes to herself, and she especially doesn't comment on her state of undress, though there's some kind of quip hiding on the top of her tongue, there.

Nonetheless, she enters. ]

Pardon the intrusion. I didn't see you for very long in the dining hall, and I didn't think you wanted to be alone.

[nachetanya]

I don't know if you could fairly say that I'm even the most upset though, Tsubasa.

[ Still, she isn't refusing her, or even kicking her out or anything. Her eyes linger around the other girl's form, memorizing it. She takes in the outfit as a whole, the skirt, the top. The way it clings.

She knows there's some oddity there.

The one-armed woman makes sure the door is shut, and then motions for Tsubasa to sit or stand wherever she pleases, Nachetanya herself going to sit on the end of the bed nearest to the bedside table. ]

Still, you're flattering me.

[halleberry]

Does that mean I have to be by that person's side, instead of yours? Just because you're not the most upset doesn't mean I shouldn't give you my company. It's not a contest.

[ Oddity, though. Interesting word choice. She takes a seat next to her at the foot of the bed. ]

I'm not trying to flatter you, though. And I'm not trying to get something out of you, for that matter. ...Other than your company, that is.

[nachetanya]

[ Nachetanya... pouts at that, actually. ]

... I wouldn't accuse you of that, Tsubasa. I have no reason to believe you haven't been genuine thus far.

[ But...

At the same time, she also seems a bit surprised? Confused? Something, she... blinks and - officially assuming Tsubasa sat on Nachetanya's right, her one arm reached out to reach for the other girl's hand. ]

[halleberry]

I appreciate that, but..

[ Tsubasa makes no effort to push her away. If Nachetanya reaches for her hand, she lets her take it; if that's how she's seeking solace here, so be it. ]

What is it? You seem perplexed...

[nachetanya]

[ Inhale, exhale.

... smile. Perhaps the bunny girl felt out of her element to be here in her room, more or less naked (okay she had an undershirt with no bra and underwear, but more or less, really. She didn't even have the bunny ears in) ]

I didn't see you coming here coming, that's all. Perhaps I expected that your own way to survive tonight would be to think it through yourself.

[halleberry]

I suppose that's a reasonable assumption to make. I've certainly been doing my own share of thinking here, don't get me wrong. I have a lot to mull over, about what went on today, and what we can do to make sure it doesn't happen again, if possible. If there's more I could have done, and more I can do for the people who are hurting from this.

But you're also one of those people. I don't blame you for being affected by it, of course, but it's a mere statement of fact that you have. And I can either get lost in my head thinking about that, or I can try my best to be a friend to you and do something about it. Faced with those options, and considering I couldn't talk to you about it before, my choice was an obvious one.

[nachetanya]

[ Oh. ]

What could you not talk to me about before? Simply what all happened today?

[ . . . She squeezes the other's hand. Gently. ]

[halleberry]

It's hard to imagine there would be much else to talk about. Still, the time and place seemed... inappropriate, to bring what happened back to the forefront, even though it was obviously on everyone's minds.

[ Still, she breaks eye contact. ]

I'm not sure if here is the right place to talk about it, either. I don't want skirt around the elephant in the room, but I also don't want to make the situation unnecessarily painful. Especially considering I came here with the opposite intention.

[nachetanya]

[ Nachetanya exhales. ]

... If you have confidence enough to wear that for my eyes only you ought to have the confidence to be make me as sad as you did happy.

[halleberry]

It was hardly confidence, Nachetanya. I made an arrangement with you, and I'm holding up my end of it. It's as simple as that.

[ In a way, based on both of their outfits, it's almost as though they're both laying themselves a bit more bare, here. Though, if this is Tsubasa's definition of bare... ]

But how horrific the whole event was aside, more worrying to me was that debate, at the end. Such a fundamental difference in the best ideals to prioritize as we keep moving forward...it's troubling, to see a divide like that. I've been trying to think of the ideal compromise between everyone's ideologies, but...

[nachetanya]

[ Not to mention the hand holding. But Nachetanya blinks a little and- ah, that is... She smiles a little to herself. Her thumb moves to brush at the back of the other girl's hand. ]

Is that really something to worry so much about?

[halleberry]

I think it has potential to cause problems down the line, but if you believe I'm overthinking it, I'm open to you telling me so.

[ The hand holding certainly helps matters, though Tsubasa is content to remain reciprocal. ]

[nachetanya]

The way I see it, Wesker and I were able to cooperate well, that last disagreement aside. Unless you're referring to his antagonism with Rose or the others.

[ Well good it's continuing. ]

[halleberry]

I think that Ace-san snapping didn't quite help matters, either. I understand that tensions were high, but...

I just think it has the potential to grow into a bigger issue, here. You cooperated for now because your interests align, but there's no guarantee that all of our motivations will always be in alignment. We all want to survive, but that doesn't mean we're all going to act based on what option would be best for the survival of the group at large. And I'm afraid that if we're all not on the same page here, operating with the same kind of approach, we may fall into a bit of a Hobbesian trap, and it'll just be a matter of time before someone else decides to go through with trying for Rule Seven.

[nachetanya]

As I said to Mr. Ace, I don't entirely disagree with him. For her motivation to be revenge... you can't call that an ambition, or even a dream. To kill over that still feels small to me.

[ you know, as long as we're being honest here, she responds in kind. ]

Is it possible to make everyone be on the same page though, Tsubasa? I'm not sure you're wrong, but I also don't know a solution there.

[halleberry]

That's why I'm trying to think about it. If there's a way, I'd love to implement it. But if not, at worst, it could be a vicious circle, a negative feedback loop.

[ Her free hand clutches at sheets, but her face doesn't contort at all, as she looks back to her. ]

I don't blame Ace-san for being upset, of course. I don't think he should have yelled at Arietta-san, but his point, at least, was a viable one. As for revenge, though...it seemed almost as though she lived by a code of sorts. One that was almost encouraging a sort of perpetual cycle of it.

I think to her, it was more like justice. And while revenge may feel like a petty thing, justice is a different beast.

[nachetanya]

I don't think you can call a hurtful code like that "justice."

[ ... She seems to realize what she's saying, laughs, and shakes her head. ]

Or maybe I should say, "if you don't mind me saying so?"

[ She hums, and...

Leans in towards Tsubasa. Not quite leaning on her, but gettign their upper bodies to touch a little. ]

To discuss this in particular with me though, Tsubasa. Do you think I'm the most admirable one here, like Rin told me? I understand you're here to be my friend, but to strategize like this is a different thing.

[halleberry]

I don't think so, either. But someone like Arietta-san may not have been able to recognize the difference. ...By the way, you don't need to add pretense to your opinion like that.

[ But she does laugh, too, that she made the effort to do so. ]

"The most admirable one here?" Goodness, Rin-san spared no expense at stroking your ego, then...I came to you with this because I value your opinion, Nachetanya. There isn't much more to it than that. Though, if you're fishing for compliments, I do think that you have many admirable qualities. But, then, I think everyone here has at least quite a few.

[nachetanya]

In the name of continuing to be "assertive," I feel I should tell you that your stoking of my ego and compliments matter to me far more than Rin's. After all, I value you, Tsubasa.

[ she says this lightly, a little bit playfully - as she leans her head on the other girl's shoulder. ]

[halleberry]

And you don't value Rin-san? That's not very nice, you know, Nachetanya. She seems like a spirited young woman, with a strong ambition.

[ Unlike at the party, they're not in public, so she doesn't particularly mind her head there. ]

[nachetanya]

[ This was (is?) a serious discussion, but you know what, Nachetanya, leaned in here, is going to blow a whisper for the next thing here: ]

Rin is spirited, but she doesn't make my heart flutter like you have, Tsubasa.

[ She says this with that same husky voiced seriousness, but really...

they both probably know it's her game. ]

[halleberry]

[ It is a game, but with the somber mood of the evening, it's one Tsubasa is more than content to play along with.

Even if she does make it sound awfully convincing. ]

Your heart flutter? Please, Nachetanya, you really are trying quite hard to butter me up for one reason or another...

[nachetanya]

[ She had discovered the line back in the dining hall back at Asgore's dinner.. but it's possible, now, that she either blew her chance there or that she has misinterpreted what that was. That the deciding factor was the fact that it was public.

So she, of course, slightly shifts gears. ]

I'm a little offended that you think os little of my intentions, Tsubasa. You're the first one that I had in my room, even.

[halleberry]

It wasn't my intention to offend you, but are you truly that broken up over it? I wonder if you're not simply being impulsive...ah, but recklessness and impulsiveness are to be our enemies, are they not?

[ She's just being coy, now, using her own words against her-- ]

You only hardly know me, after all.