𝓵𝓪𝓫𝔂𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓱𝓾𝓶 ❀ 𝓲𝓷𝓫𝓸𝔁

[girlybruiser]

ＩＮＢＯＸ 𝕥𝕖𝕩𝕥 💬 ✦ 𝕒𝕦𝕕𝕚𝕠 📞 ✦ 𝕧𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕠 📹 ✦ 𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 🎬 𝕔𝕠𝕕𝕖 𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕕𝕚𝕥

Comments

text; un: whitman

[diedeliberately]

Hello, Haru. Are you doing alright?

It was bad out there for a while. I'm just checking in.

un: garden05

[girlybruiser]

[ Oh, it's Neil! ]

I'm alright! Dr. Maruki let me stay over at his temporarily.
How are you feeling now, Neil-kun? Your friend told me you were recovering.

[diedeliberately]

My friend? Who?

[He might not have worded it that way himself...]

I'm not hurt or anything. Just a little shaken, I guess. [It's embarrassing to admit to a girl...]

[girlybruiser]

Charlie.
I'm glad to hear it. I won't lie, I was rather worried when he reached out. I assumed if you couldn't yourself then you must have been injured.

[diedeliberately]

Charlie's good. He was probably just looking out for me. I've been sleeping a lot. Just feeling tired.

It's been a long couple of weeks.

[girlybruiser]

I know... it seems as if my friends had a hard time with everything that happened with those wishes.
Were you alright after that wish you granted for me?

[diedeliberately]

You think all that had something to do with our wishes?

[If not, the timing would be a coincidence. Neil doubts it now that he thinks about it.]

I didn't get sick. I didn't change. And I granted plenty of wishes.

[girlybruiser]

I'm not really sure... but the timing seems too suspicious.
But what happened then? My friends were transformed and they needed some time to recover.

[diedeliberately]

That, I don't know. Something to do with all that crystal being broken up in Visium, I guess.

I'm sorry your friends had to go through that. I can't imagine. It's terrible.

[girlybruiser]

They'll be okay. They're strong people, after all.

[ She's seen and been through worse.

She can't tell what is going on with Neil, or if she's imagining it. Charlie said they were two normal boys and Haru had to pretend as if she couldn't summon a giant, gun blazing demon. ]

So both you and Charlie are doing alright now? Do you need anything?

[diedeliberately]

Listen to us, both worrying.

I'll be alright, Haru. I'm still looking forward to your café opening! Hopefully nothing will interfere now that everything has settled a bit.

[girlybruiser]

It's what friends do for each other.

[ She may not know him all too well, but a friend is a friend; she just wishes she knew what might have happened with him. ]

I hope not. I took a few days to rest, but I've been back in the cafe setting up. It's almost done!
Charlie offered to perform with you the night of the launch party, too!

[diedeliberately]

Did he really? He hasn't told me.

He had that look about him the other day, though. Up to something...

It's going to be spectacular, Haru.

[girlybruiser]

I wish I could see that look! I imagine you both are going to perform wonderfully together.
Thank you! I'm trying not to get overexcited, but my stomach is full of butterflies!

[diedeliberately]

It's a wonderful feeling, isn't it?

Who else do you expect will be there?

[girlybruiser]

I've invited a few people, but it won't be that big of an affair.
Let's see... I have Dr. Maruki, Owain, Kazuya-kun, Aurora...
Akira-kun and Minato-kun are going to be working at the cafe, so they'll be there! I hope you get to meet them.

[diedeliberately]

I've heard wonderful things about both. Kazuya and Charlie are friends, I think. I've spoken with Dr. Maruki a few times too.

This sort of thing is suited to a smaller affair, I think. It will be...intimate.

[girlybruiser]

I really do think you would get along with Akira-kun. He's kind, but he's got a bit of that mischievousness in him.

[ And a million hobbies apparently. Poetry is probably one of them. ]

I think so, too. I sort of want to emulate that feeling of community my grandfather fostered when he ran his own cafe chain.

[diedeliberately]

Oh! I didn't realize that's where you'd drawn your inspiration from. Did you grow up visiting your grandfather's cafes?

[girlybruiser]

When I was very young, yes. Father used to take me when the cafe was still open. I remember trying coffee for the first time and thinking it was so bitter!
I don't have many memories of the cafe because of how young I was, but the chain unfortunately shut down before I could really appreciate his vision.

[diedeliberately]

Oh. I'm sorry to hear that.

It sounds like you have lovely memories otherwise, though.

I didn't know either of my grandfathers very well. They were strict, I remember.

[girlybruiser]

What are your parents like then? You're from an earlier time than myself, so I'm curious what the American culture is like from that time.

[diedeliberately]

[Ah. Well, he doesn't want to reject her question completely. That would only draw more attention to this terrible shame he feels. He's grateful they're not talking in person, even though it feels odd to write his thoughts down instead. Whatever he says will be there in their message history for who knows how long. He should choose his words carefully.]

Strict. They had a lot of expectations for me.

Could have cared less what I wanted.

[girlybruiser]

[ She had had a different perception of American parents, just based on movies and TV shows she had seen from overseas, so she's a bit surprised to hear that. But those were supposed to be fiction... and Neil is from an older generation, with certain values her own father upheld in her time. ]

My apologies then. That must be frustrating.
I know that feeling, too.

[diedeliberately]

I'd wondered. If you understood, I mean. I didn't want to assume.

It's something I don't have to worry about here.

[. . .]

I miss my mother. Still, I think it's worth it. Maybe I should have just run away.

[Too damn late for that now.]