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

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

[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.]

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[ 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.

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...

[ 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?

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. ]

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. ]

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. ]

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. ]

[ 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. ]

[ 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...

[ 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.

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.

[ Nachetanya laughs at this. A real, genuine laugh at that clever retort. But then untangles her hand from Tsubasa's to instead use that arm to try to pin her down on the bed, getting atop her with a grin.

She wonders how the other will react ]

Shall we get to know each other more, then?

E-eh?

[ It's surprising to her how dexterous Nachetanya can be; one moment she's sitting up on the bed, and the next, Nachetanya is on top of her, holding her down on top of the mattress.

Cool and collected as she normally is, this is just far too much for her. From this angle, starting up at Nachetanya...

Her eyes go wide, her composure utterly shattered. ]

N-Nachetanya! Slow down, slow down!

[ That could very well be the first time she's raised her voice all week-- ]

[ Oh.

Oh, she got her?! The princess's red eyes seem to sparkle, and she ... laughs. The laugh grows and grows as the mirth spreads down her body and out from there. She remains atop Tsubasa, but her hand reaches around to grab the other by the chin, thus sort of resting her forearm on the other's collarbone and chest. ]

Couldn't I have been intending this the whole time?

[ But then, just as quick-- she sits up. That said, she keeps herself straddling Tsubasa, but no longer is her arm right there or their chests and body hear at too much risk of being shared.

... That said, she is still straddling her while mostly naked. ]

Nachetanya, if you're going to do something like that, at least give me the decency of a warning, please!

[ She's glad that Nachetanya can get a laugh at her expense (and goodness, is it a laugh), but she has to catch her heart before it flies out of her mouth, from how startled she is! All she can do when Nachetanya grabs at her chin is offer a chiding glare in return, as she pulls her upper body up on the bed with her arms propped behind her.

She doesn't say "get off me", though. Not once do those words even occur to her. ]

Honestly, I was thinking in more of a conversational sense, but to think you jumped right into that...you're truly something!

You recovered quickly, Tsubasa.

[ The laugh trails off into a little pout, but even that can't last, so great is her mirth. The two are very well entangled now, aren't they? Nachetanya straddling the other's waist, her naked and scarred thighs surrounding her, and Tsubasa sitting up a little closer to her.

That said... ]

I had thought that it should be more conventional too, though. Should he exchange questions? Stories?

Edited 2017-06-11 08:46 (UTC)

Should I take that as a compliment?

[ Tsubasa's expression oeters out quickly, going from a scolding face to something a little more akin to resignation. It doesn't even occur to her to adjust her positioning here; it's as if she just said, "This might as well happen," and decided to stay put.

That's kind of just how Tsubasa Hanekawa is. Though her angle doesn't leave much to the imagination... ]

Whatever you'd like to know is fine by me. Consider no holds barred.

[ Within reason. ]

[ Putting a hand to heer chest, Nachetanya's first question might be seem as odd. ]

What do you want to know about me?

[ Tsubasa just adjusts her glasses on her face as she mulls the question over a bit... ]

Does it have to be just one thing?

If we are doing a question exchange, one for one, then perhaps it should be. But no, it doesn't need to be.

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