ladytakamaki | inbox ( recolle )

... [he sighs.]

I don't know. But according to the Retrospec employees, those memories are true "somewhere." Why we're remembering, and why that particular somewhere... I don't know.

But it's not true here.

...Yeah. I sure hope not.

[ another sip of her water, and then: ]

I don't know why it's bothering me so much... It's not really a big deal, but maybe it's because school's starting up soon, and I feel like my guard's gonna be way higher than it needs to be.

If you have a name, I can look into him for you. See if he's anywhere around here?

[a brief pause]

Do you think that'll help...?

Suguru Kamoshida.

[ she remembers it clearly. ]

I appreciate it. Thank you.

No problem. I'll get back to you if I find anything, alright?

[he tries to smile reassuringly]

Don't worry about it for now.

Yeah. I...doubt he's here, but it doesn't hurt to check.

[ a small nod in return. ]

Good thing we're eating. Food's a really good way to get my mind off of things... [ speaking of which: ] I could really go for some dessert, too.

There's a cafe near-by that's supposed to be really good at desserts. [he suggests helpfully, but admittedly... dessert is not his forte. At all.

Still, even better, the pho arrives. There are all the fixings for it, too.

Time to make a spicy pho!!!]

Yeah? Wanna grab some after?

[ look at how she's perking up mako. can you really say no to this face.

ann's gonna opt for pouring a lot of sauce into hers to make it on the sweeter side. and i mean a lot of sauce. ]

[that face............]

Uh, sure.

[he doesn't like desserts that much, but sure. he can go for that.

Also she must really like sweets. Judging by her pho set up. Bone appetite?!]

Yay!

[ look at how happy she is. GOOD THING YOU DIDN'T SAY NO. ]

Do they have crepes there? Those are my favorite! Cake's really good, too!

[ this was a Mistake ]

I think they're a cake shop.

[oh no. He didn't say no. But it's alright. He can join her for cake and get something different-- like tea. Or something like that.

But he is smart enough to not point out he's never tried crepes. So there is that.]

Perfect! I can't wait!

[ she's enjoying her pho, but dessert. dessert. ]

[he, unfortunately, does not share her enthusiasm for dessert... But it's a nice distraction after the rest of the week.

He'll allow it.]

First, gotta get through actual dinner.

[ it's fine! as long as he accompanies her, she's happy. he makes for really good company, after all.

she's still hungrily eating away at her pho, and she stops to look up at him with a grin on her face. ]

Thanks for inviting me out, by the way. It's been a really tough week for the both of us, I think.

Oh-- no problem. It beats trying to cook with one arm at home. And, honestly, I needed a little bit of a break from my team.

They're good people, for the most part. But...

[he's worried about his friends in group two, but he's not gonna say it out loud, so he shrugs lamely, hoping the trailing off will cover for him]

I think I get it. Is it one of those things where you've just spent way too much time with them? I'm fine with my group, but I know for some people it's a little hard to do that sort of thing.

[ she's also totally fine with mary, but it is nice to have some time to herself. she gets it. ]

Something like that. I'm used to working alone, so it gets a little overwhelming to have to work with others. That's... probably something I need to get over.

[at least, that was a pretty frank assessment on his part. He'd never really admitted it that way, though.]

Probably, yeah.

[ honest and straight to the point. ] Especially with Retrospec? We're all gonna need to work together to get to the bottom of this.

I know.

[a pause]

Actually-- one of the monsters triggered a memory for me. I recognized it, it was like someone's pet. If this is all supposed to be fake, but these memories are "real", why are the monsters something I remember?

[he sighs]

It wasn't even aggressive. And we still had to get rid of it.

You remembered a monster?

[ that's really strange. out of all the things to remember... ]

What was it? Was it one of those cows? If I remember correctly they weren't very aggressive at all.

No, it was one of the bunnies with dragonfly wings. Those were even less aggressive than the cows. The cows would steal from you, but the bunnies just wanted to nuzzle us.

I felt like a jerk attacking it.

[another frank assessment.]

Especially since they never attacked back.

...That's so sad...

[ NOW ANN'S SAD ]

Why did you guys have to attack it? I'm guessing it was part of your objective, right?

Yeah.

[she's sad, he's sad-- he leans back in the booth and sighs. He needed to stop thinking about the objectives. Because that just inevitably got him thinking back to his near death experience.

And he really wasn't keen to think about it.]

Anyway... There's not much we can do about it, no matter how weird it is.

Yeah...

[ man, his group's had it really rough. but it looks like he doesn't really want to talk about it, so she'll change the subject: ]

Man, I'm so full! That really hit the spot!

[oh yeah-- he looks placed with that. He liked this place a lot, so it's good to have that validation, even though... well, he didn't ask for it.]

This place is pretty good, I used to come here a lot with my brother when we were both in high school.

Anyway-- once we pay up, we can hit up that dessert shop for you.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject