ic contact;

[condoner]

This is Tsunemori! I'm sorry, I'm not here right now, but please leave a message. I promise to get back to you once I'm able. Thank you very much! ( action → text → voice → video )

Comments

[zitteraal]

That's...

[ Cue him clearing his throat. ]

...Not the issue.

[ She's suddenly being so straightforward?! ]

[condoner]

[ do you like this new akane, adolf? ]

I'm glad to hear that.

[zitteraal]

[ Akane is suddenly threatening Vietnam's ranking of "most seme girl in Cerealia"...

So he heaves a sigh, deflates just a little. ]

If you're going to use the 'friend' designation, know that it goes both ways.

If there's anything you need, speak up.

[condoner]

I believe I've made my request already.

[ yup, she did. maybe about twenty seconds ago. ]

[zitteraal]

Is it...

[ He really needs this spelled out for him, jeez. ]

...The cake. [ Akane is too powerful... ]

[condoner]

I'll slice it for the both of us.

[ off she goes back in the kitchen to get a knife and slice the thing. she comes back with two plates later, and a thin slice of cake for both of them. ]

[zitteraal]

[ When she comes back, she'll notice that he's finally taken his scarf off, that it's sitting on his lap instead of around his neck. The left side of his face is mostly burned off, which isn't exactly the greatest thing to look at, as advertised, but he doesn't look as awkward about it as he could've.

He looks up, nods, and takes his portion of food. ]

...Thanks. [ That's almost inaudible, before he adds: ] How old are you, Tsunemori.

[ Asking a girl for her age, scandalous. ]

[condoner]

[ she doesn't verbally react to it, but rather, just commits the image to memory when she passes him. she's seen much worse. and even then, she kept to herself. so this is nothing. ]

I'm twenty-two now.

[ and it's not as scandalous as you may think, adolf.

she sits down in front of him and adds: ] You don't look bad at all, if that was what you were worried about.

[zitteraal]

[ 22 now. God, she's really not even that much younger than he is now— she looks steadier too, now that he thinks about it.

The comment about his face makes him breathe a little softly, as if he's just slightly amused by that assessment. ]

It still isn't 'good'. [ But he doesn't want to be a total wet blanket, so. ] Disappointed, are you.

[ A mean tease... ]

[condoner]

Disappointed? Why would I be?

[ okay, she doesn't get it. ]

[zitteraal]

You might have been expecting a grander reveal.

[ But he tips his head to the side once he starts eating, to keep his open jaw out of sight. ]

You're not fazed by much.

[condoner]

There's no reason to be.

[ that's all she says until she takes a small bite from her cake. ]

[zitteraal]

In general. Things don't seem to agitate you much.

[ He also eats his own cake, and vaguely hopes that it's to Akane's taste. ]

You're the kind of person that people want to try to rile up, probably.

[ Adolf... what kind of a thing is this to say to someone... ]

[condoner]

[ it's true... and it's so close to home because she just came back from cerealia after somebody attempted to paint her hue black.

akane nods, a smile on her face after taking a bite of her cake ]

It's definitely happened before.

[zitteraal]

[ He'd laugh if that didn't feel like something strange to do in reference of someone trying to be rude to Akane.

But at the same time, he isn't terribly surprised. ]

Recently?

[ Because he'd beat them up but no, he's actually a little curious. ]

[condoner]

That's right.

[ she looks away, trying not to frown too much. but her eyes really have drooped even more that her sadness is obvious. ]

I've been tested.

[zitteraal]

...Tested?

[ He stops mid-motion in drinking his coffee to flick his gaze back towards Akane, mildly questioning. Somehow, this reminds him of when Akane told him that she doesn't have it in her to be unjust. ]

Back in your world?

[condoner]

[ quietly: ]

In an attempt to cloud my hue, one of my colleagues murdered my grandmother.

[zitteraal]

Cloud your—

[ That term doesn't really resonate, but that last bit does. ]

—They killed someone close to you, to bring you down to their level?

[condoner]

More or less.

[ a sip of her coffee, and she looks adolf directly in the eye. ]

When someone's hue gets clouded, where I'm from, it alerts the police and the person is asked to seek therapy. Someone's hue reflects one's mental stability and likelihood of committing a crime. If one's hue is still cloudy after therapy, then they're deemed as a latent criminal and are arrested.

[zitteraal]

[ Well, that sounds... impractical? He's not sure what to make of this, but it's easy enough to tell that Akane isn't lying by the way she locks her eyes on him, so Adolf doesn't do the disservice of looking away. ]

...That system doesn't sound too reliable. [ Briefly, he wonders if Akane sees people that way— clouded or unclouded. But he remains steady despite his mild trepidation. ] And you walked away from that without 'clouding'?

[condoner]

It was a challenge.

[ a beat. ]

But I did.

[zitteraal]

[ He's not sure whether to find this alarming or not, so he keeps himself carefully neutral, takes a sip of coffee while he thinks. ]

And that's fine with you?

[ What he wants to say is 'is anything bothering you', but, again. Too awkward for that. ]

[condoner]

I'm not going to break the law.

[ her tone is light, but firm at the same time. you can tell it's very important to her. ]

[zitteraal]

[ He knows that look, and he watches Akane for a careful second before breaking posture, settling back into his seat. ]

Enough people worry about the law. What about you.

...How do you feel.

[ That's such a hard question for him to ask... ugh... ]