lili & kaoru need less money

[coastal]

Comments

[coastal]

[ . . . ]

I get scared.

[even if she won’t say what about, because the answer is in front of her. lili generally lacks a regard for her own life and it’s difficult to say if that’ll ever change now, when she thinks that the world will continue to turn regardless of her own place in it. but here -

here, she’s tied to kaoru.

and so she can’t always take care of him, and if anything were to happen to her, then he would have to live in fear of his own life. she can’t allow that. she can’t let anyone else suffer because of her.]

Do you still really believe I’m here for a reason?

[twinsightful]

[He considers that for some time before there's another slow nod. She's here for a reason, but it's likely not the one she thinks it could be. It's also likely not for the one she wants it to be if she ever wanted on. So, he chooses not to elaborate.]

I do. Even if it's not a reason chosen by the universe or whatever. [He pushes himself away from the counter, approaching a little and looking at the batter for banana bread.]

...do you think if we send a lantern it will reach them? [Curiously. He still has a lot of thoughts on Lili and her near death experiences, but he'll keep those private for now.]

[coastal]

.... you’re changing the subject.

[a little irritatedly, to be honest. she watches him for a moment and doesn’t choose to respond to the lantern comment just yet.

because it’s so obvious that even lili won’t let herself be led astray by it]

[twinsightful]

An astute observation. [Hrrgh...] Why does that bother you so much?

[coastal]

If you think I’m an idiot, at least do me the bare minimum of saying so.

[because she just automatically assumes that he’s judging her negatively, because lili’s social skills are godawful and often revolve thinking that people assume the worst of her]

[twinsightful]

[There's...a faint laugh.]

If anyone's the idiot here, it's me for underestimating you and your ability to take care of yourself. I don't think you understand.

[coastal]

[




sorry hold on]

What?

[twinsightful]

[WHY.]

You're entirely capable of taking care of yourself and I don't know if I am in comparison. My bad for thinking it was the other way around. [A blasé shrug. It's too casual but he doesn't want to actually discuss everything and make things even more annoying for her. But she's stubborn, so...well. Whatever.]

[coastal]

[ . . . hrrrrggghhhhh. the problem is that lili thinks that she’s capable and able to do anything she puts her mind to, but she almost never hears other people come to the same conclusion. she’s still absolutely baffled for a moment when kaoru explains, even though there’s definitely a blush that’s starting to color her face at the recognition

and then she’S JUST GONNA HUFF AND WALK AWAY TO THE FRIDGE even though she doesn’t need anything from it]

... I said I’d protect you, didn’t I?

[still enjoy the fact that she’s like half a foot shorter than him And Yet]

[twinsightful]

[This...tsundere...princess....he blinks after her even if he's actually trying not to grin, doing nothing to follow her but watching her for a moment.]

You did. [Is he actually going to explain?] ...Hikaru...[Nah.]

Have you spoken to Ookurikara much?

[coastal]

[lili has nothing she needs from the fridge she’s just gonna kEEP TRYING TO LOOK FOR STUFF AND HOPE THAT HER FACE COOLS DOWN]

Enough...

Why?

[twinsightful]

[This is so funny why the fuck. But he allows this...]

We've spoken a bit...he seems to think there are only certain forms of training and work we should be doing here. I was curious if he said anything like that to you.

[coastal]

[LEAVE HER ALONE

her faces remains in the fridge]

Training and work... He’s a pretty serious type, but I believe in what he tries to accomplish.

[RECKLESS REBELLION also he’s hot. wow is that boy hot.]

He’s been helping me learn swordplay, and cook.

Do you mean like that?

[twinsightful]

I got the impression he was incredibly serious. [But he looks up at the ceiling.] Something like that. I told him I was attempting to do some research on this place and the people in it and essentially learned that it's pointless if I can't get the answers right away.

[He doesn't take Kara too seriously, but it annoyed him because he's not really a fighter.]

[coastal]

He’s bad at getting along with others.

[like. incredibly bad.]

What you can do is different from what he can.

[and that manages to calm her down enough that she can... pull her face out of the fridge and go back to the batter wordlessly as if she wasn’t looking for anything at all]

So... don’t listen to him, if you’re discouraged.

[twinsightful]

Yeah. I noticed. [Bluntly. But he watches her and kind of mulls over that.]

I understand his point, but I want to also prove him wrong. That's the problem I'm finding here.

[coastal]

[lili shrugs]

Then work around him, and faster. Then give him information that he wants.

[is she into kara? unfortunately - hell yea.

is she even more into the idea of proving people wrong at every turn?

hell yea]

[twinsightful]

I do work best out of spite. [But he may as well share what else he knows.]

I've started something of an alliance with Milla as well to trade information. I thought you may as well know that for future reference.

[coastal]

There are worse people to ally yourself with.

[and she'll go back to the cookbook that she brought along to see what else she needs to do with this batch of batter...]

I told Ookurikara to go to Shess for help, because - oh, he doesn't know anyone's names. That's how stubborn he gets. [juST SO KAORU KNOWS]

Shess told me that a group was sent earlier this week to deal with the darkness in the gateway.

I also gave Shess our shared list of trustworthy people, since I figure if he's that old, he probably has a better way to find information than us.

[twinsightful]

[This also explains a lot about Kara, so he nods.]

Darkness in the gateway? So they were right about that? [The NPCS? Were useful?] Shess seems fairly well connected. He and Axel are perhaps our best bets for ensuring we hear about anything sooner or later.

Did he agree with that list?

[coastal]

He said 'thank you' for it... so I don't know if he plans to listen to me or not, but if nothing else I was heard.

[twinsightful]

That's about all we can expect in a place like this. But I'll keep that in mind whenever I speak to him again.

[coastal]

Right...

At the very least, you’re personable enough that you should be able to get more information. Then you can help spread it, and hold it over Ookurikara’s head.

[PLEASE be nice to kara]

[twinsightful]

I do like the sound of that, actually. It'll drive him crazy and that's what makes it fun. I'll see how much I can get in the next week.

[coastal]

Okay, okay, just make sure to share and don't annoy him so much that he hits you.

[she has none trust]