IC Inbox for Asgard

[damselled]

"Oh, dear. It appears you have attempted to contact me while I am unavailable. Please do leave a message. Thank you."

Comments

[windbreak]

I... guess that's a yes, huh...

[Wow, and he'd thought Kanji was the worst possible person to accidentally copy in on crap like this. How awkward. Fidget, fidget.]

Ahaha, ha, but it's not like anything's going on... Um, sorry! Just do me a favour and ignore all of that, would ya? ...Pretty please? I-I seriously have no idea...

[He trails off.]

[damselled]

[Wrong move, Yosuke.]

Yosuke, do you think me an idiot?

[windbreak]

Wha? N-No! [Crap, what was it he said this time?] No, I'm serious, it was his name! I mean, I've never seen the bracelets glitch out before, but what else could it be...!?

[damselled]

Yosuke, I do wish to help you. Won't you talk to me?

[Hot and cold? Very Maribelle. Good luck with that, Yosuke.]

[windbreak]

[He's so glad he decided against a video message now. He feels like it would have melted the screen.]

But it's just like I said, nothing's really going on. It just messed up when I tried to call him... I mean, there's no way it'd just be because he's with you right now...

[Belatedly, he realises he's already going in circles, and lapses into another silence. It lasts for several eternal seconds.]

Um, I can explain...

[damselled]

[Rather than press him, she elects - for now - to simply hear what he has to say. Enjoy it while it lasts.]

Yes?

[windbreak]

Yeah... [He does intend to, but... jeez, this is weird.] Things got awkward the other day, and I'm just worried 'cause I didn't hear from him for a couple weeks now... That's the gist of it.

[Yup, and the yelling and the pitching people headfirst into walls and the kissing are all window dressing. ...Man, he wishes he believed that.]

[damselled]

Gracious. What happened, Yosuke?

[Because judging by his voice, it's worse than the usual "I made an arse of myself and I don't want to admit it," sort of tone Yosuke usually had.]

[windbreak]

W-Well... [... No, he could spin his mental wheels for the rest of time and it wouldn't get him any closer to a non-terrible starting point. He sighs.] I think maybe I went a little too far... again. Now I don't know how to make it up to him.

[damselled]

And how, pray tell, did you manage to do that?

[Because if there was anything Yosuke could do well on a regular basis, it was stick his foot in his mouth. Maribelle was rather fond of him, but there was no denying that.]

[windbreak]

I... [No doubt about it, he's gone from sounding uncertain to outright uncomfortable.] Is that the important part? [It's the part that runs the biggest risk if pissing her off, but that's hardly the same thing! ...Probably.]

[damselled]

Yosuke, you are hiding something. If you do not wish to tell me, then say so. But do not assume me to be an fool.

[windbreak]

It's not! I mean, I'm not. If he took it badly, it really doesn't matter what I was freaking out over for a second... Don't you think so too?

[It's embarrassingly clear that he has some answer in mind, and that he's mainly just waiting to hear it.]

[damselled]

And what exactly did you take badly, Yosuke? He is your dearest friend, is he not?

[Nope, you're not wiggling out of this one, Yosuke.]

I do not, as a matter of fact. If it did not matter, then surely you would not be so affected.

[windbreak]

You... don't think so? [An immense, unexplainable feeling of relief washes over him.] You don't think getting stuck on it is letting him down somehow...? A best friend is there to back you up when you need it, no matter what... That's what the word means.

[The way it immediately loosens his tongue might not be in his best interests, though.]

[damselled]

I believe so, yes. Everyone has things they don't do well with - but tell me, what has caused you to react in such a way?

[She notices. And don't think she won't take advantage of that, either.]

[D561] [Misfire Shinanigans] [Voice]

[sleight_of_hand]

[A familiar, frustrated noise comes over the bracelet.]

Dammit, kid, I don't know why I bother trying to call you. You never pick up.

[There was another sigh, and Adachi muttered that he should probably just hang up. After a moment, he gave up, pressing on.]

...so, look, kid. I need your help.

[He paused, and it was probably easy to picture the look on his face.]

...don't get used to me sayin' that.

A-anyway... I didn't get a chance to do anything with Harley before she left. Didn't get a change to make things right. But Mari-chan is still here; you gotta help me with her, kid. I don't care if she's dating your 'partner'; she's gotta know that I didn't want to treat her like that. I...

[He trailed off, letting out an almost pained, shuddering breath.]

Oh, and speaking of Hanamura, we gotta talk about him too. That kid's obsession with you is getting creepy.

Look, just finish petting all the cats in the city and get back to me, will you?

[Voice]

[damselled]

[It takes Maribelle awhile to respond. When she does, her tone is as cold as ice, and twice as unfriendly.]

I do believe you may have sent this message to the wrong person.

[Voice]

[sleight_of_hand]

[...the noise that Adachi lets out is somewhere between a horrified squeak, and like someone kicked him straight in a place that did not deserve to be met by human feet.]

M-Mari--! I--!

[He let out a disgruntled noise.]

No way! I sent this to Souji! I got his voicemail and everything!

Re: [Voice]

[damselled]

It appears you did not.

[Obviously.]

Well, then, what is it? [Besides the whole "didn't mean to treat her like that" thing... whatever that means.]

[Voice]

[sleight_of_hand]

I-I...

[Oh dammit. Oh dammit, dammit, dammit; he's not prepared for this. He needs his help. Souji save him.]

W-well I...

[Voice]

[damselled]

Yes?

[Patience: Maribelle has none. Especially not with you, Adachi.]

[Voice]

[sleight_of_hand]

[She was going to need to be, because he was struggling to scramble up from being unprepared for this conversation. He needed to do this though, because he had a feeling he was never going to get this chance again.]

...I never wanted to hurt you.

[Well, that was a good start.]

If that... whatever it was had never happened, I... I never would have.

[He paused a moment, letting out a breath.]

All I ever wanted was what I was promised in my life. I spent my life focused on the future I was promised. I never reached out, because it wasn't what I was supposed to do. But it was wrong, everything I lived was wrong, so when I was told I was supposed to have a soul mate, and showed me who it was supposed to be, I believed it!

[There was a scoff on the other side.]

Yeah. Stupid. I know. I know that now.

But... I didn't think of you like them. You weren't supposed to be anything like my 'soul mate' or any of that crap. You were a pain in my ass, you dragged me around and made me do things I didn't want to do. And I put up with it because, hey, someone actually was interested in what I could do, even if it wasn't going to last.

And... well, I... uh...

[Voice]

[damselled]

[A stunned silence follows Adachi's words, and Maribelle's breath catches in her throat - despite herself, she can't quite bring herself to berate him.]

Tohru... what are you saying?

[She knew that he regretted it already, and she also knew that he felt something for her - something that she had, until fairly recently, very nearly returned. But now, things are different. She's not sure she doesn't hate him, for once thing. She's also not sure she can ever forgive him.]

[Voice]

[sleight_of_hand]

[Adachi fell quiet for a long moment, to the point where it almost seemed like he hung up. Finally, he let out a shuddering breath, somehow keeping his voice calm.]

I... think I realized what it meant to actually let someone into your life because of you. And I didn't want to let that go, despite... everything.