ɪɴʙᴏx [ᴇxᴘɪᴀᴛɪᴏɴ]

[chemex]

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[chemex]

[He's sweaty and scraped up, and wheezing to keep his breath, and waves a hand through the air.]

Sorry--, I almost ate shit. I'll leave in a minute.

[orphne]

Why did you climb up the side of the building?

[Her confusion is still audible in her voice, even if her face isn't quite matching it. Her expression still feels kind of frozen, like she's not sure exactly what face to make, so it settles into apathetic neutrality by default.]

There's rooftop access. Over there. [She points to the little trapdoor that opens to a ladder. Strictly speaking, she maybe shouldn't be up here, but... eh. The locals think the building is hers, so who's going to tell her not to?]

[chemex]

[He rolls, uncoordinated, onto his side, his lanky body parts following after like some kind of really awkward doll, and he forces himself to sit up, smudging a scrape on his cheek.]

...I was blowing off steam by climbing on stuff. [Parkour.]

[orphne]

Oh.

[She looks at him again, the scrapes and bruises, and for a moment almost leaves it at that. It would be a lot easier to just not care and let him go on his way.

A beat too long to be normal for her, and then she finally asks,] Are you alright?

[chemex]

[He makes a wordless sound, and looks over at her, frowning a little.]

Could ask you the same thing.

[orphne]

[Her smile rises to her lips by reflex and doesn't match her eyes, her mouth opening with a reflexive rebuttal: I'm fine. But it catches in her throat, because Akechi hadn't believed it, Chuuya hadn't believed it. What would be the point?

So she just shrugs and closes her mouth again, reworking what she wants to say.]

I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours?

[chemex]

[He hauls his sorry carcass to his feet and ambles over to her, dropping into a sit and leaning back on his hands.] You go first, I've already drama dumped on you once.

[orphne]

[In other circumstances, she might have laughed. Right now, she can only manage a weary huff through her nose as she hugs her knees and digs her chin into her kneecaps. It's probably not some big secret, anyway. The second Akira sees Akechi, he'll know.

And, honestly? She's not feeling charitable enough to keep Akechi's secrets right now.]

I tried to step into a fight that had gotten... really bad. It didn't go well.

[That tells him nothing, actually, but it's not intentional at least. She tilts her head to study Akira.]

You?

[chemex]

[Akira exhales in a rush, dropping back to lay flat on his back.]

I feel like a completely incompetent asshole on a constant basis lately and I hate it.

[orphne]

...Did you talk to Akechi-san?

[Like, recently? Like within-the-past-few-hours-recently?]

[chemex]

You mean was-choked-out and got-his-finger-broken and doesn't want to admit it reads like torture Akechi? That one? Yeah.

[He rolls onto his side, facing away from her.] I'm tired, Kotone. I'm supposed to be able to fix this stuff.

[orphne]

He wasn't choked out. [As if that's any reassurance. It's still a little scary to think about how fast Chuuya had been, how easily he'd lifted two men bigger than she is like they were a pair of unruly kittens. And now that the shock's worn off, it's even worse, since she knows that it wasn't any abilities that let him do that, not if he was holding Dazai. That must just be his strength.]

Chuuya grabbed him to get him away from Dazai-san. They were fighting. I tried to stop it, but...

[Her shoulder rises and falls with a shrug. She's supposed to be able to fix this stuff, too, and she can't.]

[chemex]

Oh, so it was helpful hand-shaped welts.

[A beat, and he belatedly processes the names Chuuya and Dazai. Chuuya he doesn't know, but Dazai--]

[He sits up too quickly and his vision swims.] Wait, Dazai broke his finger??

[orphne]

Mmhm.

[She pulls her knees in tighter to herself, staring out straight ahead over them.]

I don't really know a lot about how it started myself, but... something Akechi-san said really got under his skin. I've never seen Dazai-san like that.

[And she's not about to drop those names that had been so important to Dazai, even if by rights she really should just throw him under the bus. It wouldn't be right. It might even put Akira in danger somehow.]

[chemex]

[He just exhales loudly, dropping over backward again.]

Akechi does that. To a lot of people. Are-- Dazai, and you said Chuuya? Are they okay? [They mean something to Kotone, so he finds the energy to ask.]

[orphne]

[Boy, that's a big question, one she doesn't really have the answer to.]

They're not hurt, if that's what you're asking.

[That's the only answer she actually has for him, really. Her lips thin as she presses them together and digs her chin into her knees.]

I'm sorry. I tried to stop them before things got too bad. Chuuya said it could have been a lot worse. [For as thin a reassurance as that is.]

[chemex]

[He reroutes, because he's not sure he can address the notion of It Could Have Been A Lot Worse.]

Are you okay? [He reaches out, tapping the small of her back.]

[orphne]

Are you?

[C'mon, Akira. You know the answer to that already. She doesn't respond to his tapping her back, just tilts her head to gaze down at him with the same smile as before. Again, it's like her face is just stuck trying to look normal.]

[chemex]

I asked first.

[He's. Exhausted, is what he is. He shows that, in his face and his posture and the quiet way he persists, but he's still persisting, anyway.]

[orphne]

...I'm tired.

[She's been tired for months. How many has it been since the final battle with Nyx? Maybe it was even before that, when she had to tell Ryoji she wouldn't kill him. Maybe it was before that, when they learned the truth about what they were doing and how their actions had ushered Nyx closer. Maybe it was even before that, before all this started.]

I never know the right thing to say anymore. I never know the right thing to do. I miss my team. I've never had to do all this stuff on my own. I...

[She wants to go home, and the sheer emotion behind that closes her throat, because she knows what's waiting for her at home. She wants to see her friends on the rooftop, and then... that'll be it. She can finally sleep.]

...I just miss them, [she finishes more quietly, not much above a whisper.]

[chemex]

[Akira would like a day to go by in his life that he doesn't have to choose between letting someone he cares about have what they want and saying goodbye to them. He would very much like that.]

[He scoots a little closer, pivots, leans back against her shoulder.]

'm pretty tired, too. [He leaves it at that, because there's not much more he's sure he can say.]

[orphne]

[It's comforting, having someone to lean back against. The tense set to her shoulders doesn't disappear, but it does relax just slightly as she leans back against him, letting her head gently bonk against the side of his.]

Akechi-san seems like a lot.

[She huffs through her nose and finally uncurls herself a little, letting her hands rest more comfortably on either side.]

Is that what you think you can't fix...?

[chemex]

[He hums, the sound overall noncommittal, but also just affirmative enough that she'd understand. Akechi isn't all of what he thinks he can't fix, not by a long shot-- he's just a lot of it. He's just a lot to deal with, in general.]

I'll team up with you any day, Kotone. 'n Akechi, I'm sure he would too. Sumire, for sure. [He's avoiding the question again.]

[orphne]

[She huffs again. Yeah, he didn't even do a good job of dodging that question, but fine. Have it for now. She thinks she knows the answer, anyway.]

I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm weak. Or useless. Maybe both.

[Chuuya had said the only reason Akechi had made it out with just the broken finger was her, but... it doesn't feel like enough.

Without turning around, she reaches back, trying to find his hand.]

...Do you see us as equals, Akira? From one leader to another.

[chemex]

[He makes a guttural chuckle, shaking his head.]

No, no, see... if Akechi thinks anything about you, you're good in his book. If he thinks mean things about you it means he likes you, actually. Stupid asshole.

[He startles when she finds his hand, but turns his easily to twine their fingers.] I think so, yeah. We're pretty different, but I think we're also really similar. If anything, you're my senpai, because you really seem to have a clearer head about things.