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[glorifies]

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[glorifies]

There's also butter and sugar.

[ He gets up to go get those, then! ]

[unhappy]

[ She knocks a pillow onto the floor leaning up to reach for his wrist. ]

Hey. The bread's fine. The honey's good too.

[glorifies]

[ Oh. Well. Okay.

He sits back down, sinking in the couch a little. His eyes aren't on her, but on the table instead. He isn't really sure what else he can do to make her feel better. He's not good at these kinds of things, and the last time somebody told him bad news, something else happened afterwards to comfort that person and he's pretty sure fingering Emerald and making her see stars isn't the best way. :s Not that he is thinking it in the first place. That's just his only experience of comforting somebody who's lost family. ]

[unhappy]

[ Yeah that might not be the best approach. Emerald mostly just wants him to stay instead of leaving over and over to try to get her things she doesn't want. She doesn't really let go of his wrist even after he sits down, just holding it but barely touching as if she isn't sure if this is okay, and staying quiet. ]

Just stay.

[glorifies]

[ Akashi doesn't mind. He actually looks down at where her hand is. If she wants him to stay, then he will.

He twists his arm a bit and tries to wiggle out of her grip so he can reach for her hand, cupping it with his own. They aren't lovers or anything, so he doesn't entwine their fingers together, but he holds her hand tightly. ]

[unhappy]

[ It's fine. That's all she wants. Emerald doesn't really think touching someone's hand means much, but she's found on the rare occasion it isn't an excuse to get close to someone, to establish contact so they don't focus too hard on anything else, so they look at her and not her movements-- she's found that it's comforting. The same way it was with Mayuzumi, though that hadn't been an attempt to seek comfort. It just had been, in a way she hadn't expected it. Right now, she's reaching out. She needs it, rather than finds it incidentally.

After a few moments of silence, not really touching the bread, she does at least try to make an effort. She needs to move on- that's what everyone's telling her, even though she just learned this. So she'll make an effort. She'll push it down, and try to act how everyone else wants her to. She doesn't smile, but she does at least try to take a jab at him. ]

I don't have to play dress up for you now, do I?

[glorifies]

[ He's not sure what she's talking about... ]

Dress up?

[ If this is about what he told her at the housewarming party, he's completely forgotten it. :') ]

[unhappy]

[ He seems so oblivious she actually genuinely believes that he has no idea what she's talking about. She almost looks exasperated. ]

Poor Chihiro.

[ Akashi so casually ruins his life that he doesn't even remember what he did.. She's not even going to explain beyond that and just lean sideways against the back of the couch, peering at Akashi with her face pressed against the back pillows. ]

[glorifies]

[ Emerald's not helping!! ]

What are you talking about? What happened to Chihiro?

[ Chihiro now, instead of Mayuzumi-san. ]

[unhappy]

Nothing.. he was just saying how his underclassman doesn't treat him like a real senpai, since he does things like off-handedly mention his weird basement-dweller kinks to girls and then forgets about it. I can see what he means now. You're even calling him by his first name instead of senpai, that's like the opposite of senpai status..

[ She shakes her head, pity in her eyes. It's genuine, but only for the part that Akashi forgot about. The best liars tell the truth and all that. Though in this case it's not really a lie so much as exaggeration of observed facts to distract her from her own problems. ]

[glorifies]

I've never called any of my senpai "senpai". [ He does not explain why, though. ] I respect them regardless of what I call them.

[ But he thinks he gets what she means, now. ]

I did think that the two of you like each other, though.

[unhappy]

I think he'd like it if you did. But I was just teasing you since you're the one holding my hands now, for similar reasons.

[ She shrugs and looks down at their hands again. ] I didn't actually lose you, so it's a little different.

[glorifies]

He would think it's weird and would demand that I call him by what I usually call him.

[ He knows Mayuzumi... That's what he'll tell Akashi.

Speaking of hands, though, when Emerald mentions it, he glances at theirs. He isn't the Akashi Emerald's gotten to know, but they're still friends. Long ago, he would keep friends at an arm's length. He'd never let anybody in. His friends were also his pawns, so to speak. Now that he knows better, though, he won't treat anybody like they're disposable.

At least, those whom he likes to keep in his life, anyway. ]

Is it a bad kind of different?

[ She hasn't exactly punched him in the face for it, but... who knows what she's thinking right now. ]

[unhappy]

Are you going to think I'm mean if I say that would cheer me up a little?

[ It wouldn't do much but she does appreciate teasing Mayuzumi. And Akashi. And Kuroko, though he's way harder to get than the other two. ]

We could both call him Chihiro-senpai all day. Tetsuya should too.

[ She holds his hand still, turning her back partially to him but only so she can lean against him instead. Slowly, hesitantly, cautious for any physical signs of a wall going up because of it- the second he reacts negatively she'll pull back and give him space. It's fine if he shoves her away. She doesn't know what the distance is here. What is physical affection between friends even. ] Obviously it's bad. No one likes actually needing comfort. Your part in it isn't bad, though.

[ One of the people she values most is dead. That's a bad kind of different. That's not Akashi's fault though. ]

[glorifies]

[ Others may find it funny, and he would want to cheer up Emerald some, but... Akashi shakes his head. ]

I shouldn't. I've been mean to Chihiro more times than I should have.

[ Even if it's just a joke, he can't do it.

Akashi is comfortable with Emerald, though. This is something he would never do with his friends from home, but they would probably hug every now and then. He finds Emerald's company to be comfortable and relaxing, and there's nothing wrong with good friends being close to one another and holding each other's hands. ]

I suppose you have a point. You can let go whenever you want.

[unhappy]

This would be one of those friendly teasing things rather than mean. [ A beat. ] Which is what I was doing commenting about the outfit thing, but I'll let go if you want me to.

[ She was the one who initiated it, though. She's not going to stop unless he says she has to, and she's not sure if that was a "you can and should" let go or just permission. ]

Seriously though, if you think someone likes him, don't tell them what he's into when it's embarrassing stuff like that. You're going to end up making him into a 40 year old virgin. If you don't want to be mean to him, anyway.

[ That's a bit of friendly advice. She genuinely means well with it, even if it's phrased embarrassingly. ] Don't tell him I told you.

[glorifies]

I didn't realise that was embarrassing. [ Mayuzumi may be quiet about his preferences, but Akashi never saw them as something to hide from people. Or maybe it was because he practically told somebody what he believed Mayuzumi's kink might have been. Yeah, that's probably it. ] It won't happen again.

[ See? He can listen to Emerald after all! ]

[unhappy]

[ It's both, Akashi. It's both. ]

He'll appreciate it, I'm sure.

[ It's nice, talking and thinking about something else other than what she's upset about. She does reach for the bread again to take a bite at least, since she really only had one. She doesn't want Akashi to tell her off. ]

[glorifies]

I'm sorry for embarrassing you, as well.

[ Or asking her to dress up like a slut. He doesn't know. ]

[unhappy]

I wasn't embarrassed. Annoyed you were trying to "bros-before-hos" me, but not embarrassed.

[ He probably has no idea what that means, but she doesn't elaborate. He'll figure it out one way or the other. ]

[glorifies]

[ He definitely has no idea. ]

I was trying to do what? [ A part of him wants an explanation because he hates not being knowledgeable of something, but they don't need to keep talking about Mayuzumi and Emerald's dating life (or lack thereof). ] Never you mind. It was a misunderstanding on my end, and I know better now.

If you don't want to close track of either Chihiro or Tetsuya, you should never stop looking them in the eye.

[unhappy]

Grabbing them works pretty well too.

[ She can't do that in basketball or anything, but outside of the court she doesn't particularly care. Emerald doesn't shy away from touching others as long as it's clear what they're doing and why or she's the one who initiated it. She gestures to her head with her free hand. ]

When I use my semblance, I have to be able to imagine everything from another person's point of view and account for everything around what I'm changing or it becomes obvious it's not real. So if I'm trying to pay attention to them, I've got enough practice paying attention to my environment that it's not hard if my focus isn't split. I'm not good at multitasking, so grabbing Chihiro is way easier.

[glorifies]

Semblance... is that what it's called? [ He waves his free hand, drawing an invisible circle with his wrist. ] The illusions.

[unhappy]

Yeah. Semblances are abilities born from a person's soul, so they're mostly unique. They're supposed to be... they come from who you are as a person, deep down.

[ She's not sure what that says about her. It isn't as if her abilities manifested after she met Cinder, she could already do this. Someone who can literally manipulate the minds of others can't be a good person. ]

[glorifies]

If it's born from a person's soul, then is it determined upon birth?

[ He can't imagine a specific semblance being forced on someone... Sometimes, he thinks about how he would be able to play without his Emperor Eye, but he never truly had any need for it until he had the unhealthy need to keep people under his thumb. He wonders now if he would have been able to awaken a different ability then. ]