[Having been just as defeated -- defeated enough that he couldn't actually make himself say the damn words he had to switch to text -- Lalli takes the absent tone like a blow to his heart. He's moving before he really knows it, and he quickly finds himself in front of Cypress dorms. Running is second nature, after all. Maybe even first, for him.]
Emil! Let me in!
[Yeah, remember that time he screamed like he was being torn open with the rusty claws of death? Turns out he can use those lungs while awake, too, when he wants, and he most definitely wants to. He needs to be heard over the loud banging of his fist, after all.]
( When Lalli doesn't text back...well Emil doesn't really know what to think. Did he just get distracted by scouting again? (He assumes that's what he was doing at ass o'clock in the morning.) Oh snap, did he get accosted by one of those criminals too? Or is this as embarrassing to Lalli as it is to him.
It's...best not to think about it too much, Emil decides. He does lay there with his communicator next to his head though, just in case he hears something else, but sleep is going to definitely be elusive.
...And apparently it's going to be elusive for everyone else tonight too. Lalli suddenly screaming at the top of his lungs and causing the most ridiculous ruckus takes him completely by surprise. Sorry roommates, who are conveniently not here for some reason. Sorry to the rest of the dorm, probably filled with people wondering why someone is being murdered downstairs somewhere.
In an effort to put an end to the cacophony, Emil hurriedly gets out of bed, pulling a sweater over his sleeping shirt quickly before rushing to the door, out into the hall and down the steps to the dormitory entrance. He opens the large doors alarmingly fast -- the picture honestly isn't that bad other than the large bruise adorning his face. It's mostly on his nose but it makes a red and darkening circular pattern that covers a small portion of his cheek and underneath his right eye.
At least the redness helps to hide the dried blood covering his nostril? )
Lalli. ( He whispers with a hiss. ) You can come in but you have to keep it down!
Edited (i never learned how to fucking read) 2016-11-24 11:45 (UTC)
[Of course he can come in. He's already in, ducking through any open space he can get through as soon as possible, and then he's whirling around and leaning in close so he can inspect the damage that's been done. With eyes as critical as his, the dried blood unfortunately doesn't go unnoticed. Lalli growls low in his throat, the noise bubbling up from the pits of fury that had started roiling as soon as Emil's pain -- physical and emotional -- became clear. He knew when shame was deserved. Emil didn't deserve it, not for this. He didn't deserve any of this.
Lalli takes up his friend's hand and turns again, dragging him to a...comfortable spot... Fuck. Cypress dorm. No comfort here, compared to the "luxury" of Birch. Giving up on that, he switches to a hiss, as well.]
This is stupid!
[HE HAS A LOT MORE FEELINGS THAN THAT BUT HE DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO SAY THEM]
( What kind of whirling dervish? Throughout the entire process, all Emil can interject are little "Uhm"s and "Uh"s because he's entirely lost on how to handle the hundred pounds of stress suddenly vibrating angrily from one place to another.
Examined, grabbed, hissed at. It makes it kind of hard to cover up his new blemish. This sure is a morning already. )
Keep it down! ( Lalli is hissing too but his energy just sort of feels loud. ) What's stupid? What are you doing here?
( Because honestly he didn't ever expect for Lalli to just show up over this and it's actually kind of even more embarrassing!! Don't look at him!! What if someone comes down to find out what that ruckus was and they cause a scene??!! )
[DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO WHEN I'M ALREADY DOING IT
He wants to keep moving, because that's what he always does, but there's nowhere to go in this dorm. In this city! They were trapped with nothing to do, being things they weren't supposed to be, getting attacked by batcats and random stupid criminals... The question pulls him out of his internal ranting enough that he faces Emil again, mouth parted a little in incredulity.]
I'm here because I'm mad! Because you're my friend!
( This kind of fervent emotional overload is still not something Emil's very good at handling. The worst of his own panic is over -- that was more than a few hours ago. But Lalli upset...his job -- what he wants to do -- is to make sure that doesn't happen. )
You have to calm down. ( The hand that was trying to pull him somewhere is now what he uses to pull Lalli towards the (again, horrible and lumpy) Cypress lounge seats. He doesn't get the scout urge to be moving all the time, but it's making him antsy. )
It's okay now; there's nothing we can do.
( This is said with a hint of sourness. Of course Emil is incredibly mad too, and he wishes he could have done something; could still do something now. But he's right: what's done is done, angry or not.
He missed his window of opportunity, he wasn't really on alert or paying attention. Lalli's not supposed to feel bad about this -- he is. )
[He stubbornly stays on his feet a moment, but then he sits with a huff and draws his legs up against his chest..]
It's not okay! Being over doesn't make it okay. You're still hurt, and scared, and... [His shoulders sag, and the lynx ears follow with a droop of their own.] And I don't like it. It's not fair.
( Following suit, Emil sits next to him and sighs softly. )
I'm not scared. ( Examining how he feels...no, he's not scared, really. On edge, maybe. Precautious? It's weird to feel like you need to be on your toes in this world, but maybe it's finally sunk in somewhere that that's how life is going to be from now on, wherever he goes. Maybe that was a lesson best learned after the bat cats, but he was naive. )
And it's...not that bad. ( Though that's said really weakly. It had definitely looked worse a while ago, but the pain is definitely pretty bad. Emil accidentally cements this by dabbing at it again and hissing. He'd take a cheek bruise over this any day, speaking to both pain and aesthetics. )
It looks really horrible. ( Trust and believe, that was another panic point of his. The asshole stole the nice scarf he bought so he can't realistically hide it unless he walks around holding his nose all day. ) But it's not anything you should be feeling bad about.
( Because the fact that Lalli's somehow hurt by this...that's making him feel worse than how much it hurts to touch it. )
[He curls his toes in his boots, then releases them.]
You're worried but not scared? I don't...understand.
[His voice is quieter now, a little desperate. Emotions were always kind of an elusive thing, for him. He wants to help, but how is he supposed to do that when he can't figure out what it is he's supposed to be helping with? Since he's...pretty sure there's a friend step before the track the asshole down step.
Lalli hesitantly reaches up, but his hand stops before he makes any contact.]
( This is a little complicated for him too. When Lalli told him he was hurt, he felt like there was something he could do. Maybe he wasn't super successful since that was all over the top, in retrospect, but even Emil isn't sure what Lalli is supposed to do here. Telling him seemed necessary, but he wasn't aware Lalli would go off like this.
Emotions are weird, as Lalli would say. He becomes very quiet again, despite there being no one around to whisper for. )
...I was scared afterwards. It happened really fast and I wasn't sure what was going on. It's over, though. As long as it doesn't scar, it's okay.
( It honestly isn't okay, but that's kind of on him. He wasn't paying attention, he doesn't have the reflexes or mentality that Lalli has about danger lurking around every corner. Emil lay there dazed and confused while any chance he had to get even ran off and into the night.
After he got up after being clocked in the face, Emil whirled around for a moment trying to see who hit him and where they went, but the drive to stand and fight sort of left him when he felt the blood dripping down to his lips and no one was still there to tussle with. What if the person still was there? He might have gotten a good slug in, maybe. But that's not what happened.
So yeah. It's not like it was his fault he got mugged, but the fact that it wasn't okay inwardly feels more like his fault than anything, especially if Lalli is so up in arms about it. The fact that he cares is of course great, but the feeling of friendship is squashed by a lingering guilt. )
But...they're still out there. And you want me to have my knife.
[He's having a really hard time separating all these facts from the feeling of "scared". It just had a certain nuance that escaped him. But alright... Not scared. Hmn.
Lalli looks down to his hands, which he's settled back into his lap.]
...Don't be stupid. Even if it doesn't scar, it still happened. They shouldn't have done that. Not to you.
Well I don't want you to get hurt! ( Which there's an obvious reason why, but also...he's not ready to go through that again. Lalli being hurt is just Not Okay in any sense of the word. )
You're running around outside all night, and if crime is bad then you have to be careful!
( Honestly the only way he could feel any worse would be if he hadn't said something and while he was sleeping and fully aware of danger, Lalli got stabbed 50 times and oops, his bad!! Which is probably why Emil's more impassioned about this. He's over being scared for himself; that ship sailed. He's more so scared for Lalli.
But he sighs and quiets himself, following his own advice of remaining as quiet as possible despite being frustrated. ) I'm not stupid; I know it happened. But it shouldn't happen to anyone...like you.
( Which his own specificity is in regards to Lalli of course being a night scout, roaming around who the hell knows where in the early AM, but Lalli's specific mention of "Not to you" is kind of...odd to him. )
[He jumps a little, looking up with surprise plain in his eyes. That was...silly. But Emil was being so earnest it couldn't be a joke -- even one of the really weird ones that Tuuri would do. Then again, it also seemed like one of those things Onni tried to drill into his head when he was little that he wound up giving up on. Maybe it was something to consider again.
For now, though, he had a situation aside from "you deserved it less than anyone because you're too good a person".]
Okay. So we'll stop it. We'll be ready, and we'll catch them, and we'll make them stop.
( Someone had asked him if he was going to report it to the police but Emil still wasn't sure unless they had their own little communicator number. Even if there was a way to cover up 1/4 of his face, he'd still look ridiculous -- even though the police are incompetent; maybe he'll yell at them when he doesn't look like roadkill. In a week...
But if he didn't know who it was and they disappeared .01 seconds after it happened, how was he supposed to find who it was in a whole city ages after the whole thing happened? Lalli probably has the skill set to help a lot, but he's not sure if that's something he even wants.
Not that Lalli isn't useful, but it just seems dangerous. Putting him in danger...nah.
Speaking of which, he's not sure exactly what he wants (other than to not have his face wrecked and stuff gone), but something about what Lalli says is more ominous than what he hoped for. )
[It definitely sounds ominous, especially with how devoid of feeling his gaze has become. He's switched to that practiced blankness, something in him recognizing that his upset wasn't helping Emil any -- it was easier, anyway, to look at this as a situation rather than something more personal to him.]
We'll make them stop? I don't know what part you don't understand.
( DO WHAT? Emil is emotional in comparison still, but maybe the whole yin-yang thing works. )
I mean how. How do we make them stop? ( He says this while fidgeting by touching his still sore nose very gently. At least the damn thing isn't bleeding anymore.
Maybe the fact Lalli doesn't automatically get it should be concerning... )
[There's the slightest hint of...something -- irritation, maybe? -- before he crumples up the emotion again and reaches up to take Emil's hand away from his face. Stop that, you'll make it worse, dumb boy.]
...We will when we find them.
[They had to know their enemy first -- getting Onni or Tuuri to do something was a very different process than getting, like... Reynir or someone to do something. But then, Reynir was outrageously stupid.]
( To Emil the point of communicating this to Lalli was for his own safety and also...are you not supposed to tell your friend about a big, obvious thing that happens to you during the day? Lalli seems to be taking it in a very different direction. The point is to think about Lalli's safety, not to put him in harm's way.
He lets his hand be pulled away and removes it from Lalli's grasp to rub his arm weakly. )
You don't need to find anybody. I'll just tell the police about it later. That's their job, after all.
( Not that they're very good at it as of late, but it's better than vigilante Lalli running roughshod and meeting a similar fate -- or worse. It's not like it wasn't already an idea in his mind anyway. )
They deserve to hear about how incompetent they are, anyhow. There's no excuse for criminals to be crawling around with the police and the military nearby.
[It's...getting more and more difficult for Lalli to keep the emotions down. He shouldn't be surprised -- he is, but he shouldn't be. Emil's always been different, able to tug him free of the calm waters he set himself in.]
I could do it faster. I know I could. Why don't...you think I can help you?
( Forgetting his own advice of keeping it down. He'd...thought that much had been clear? Which makes him unsure as to what he said or what he should say to make that understood.
He quiets down again, trying to find a better way to sit on these stupid seats. At least one part of him should be comfortable. )
I know you're good at the whole scouting thing. You could do it fast and everything but...I just don't want you to.
( "to get hurt." or "to have to do that." might both be better ways to end that sentence. )
[He jerks back a little automatically at the louder voice, but he doesn't shut himself off and doesn't get up.]
I don't understand. [Obviously. Good ol' mental kick for that.] Why don't you want me to? Won't it make things better? I want to make things better again.
( Emil's patience is thinning slightly. How do you perform the conversational equivalent of shoving someone's head into a pillow? Why is it so hard for Lalli to understand his concern here? )
It's obviously dangerous. It doesn't matter if it makes things better for me if it makes things worse for you. You shouldn't be involved in something like that!
[For a while he just stares, arms limp even though he feels like he's scrambling up a mountain. He was clearly meant to be getting this, but it just... It was ridiculous, and strange, and trying to force his thoughts into the shape needed to figure out this apparently very simple thing was making him shut down.]
That's okay. Everything is dangerous. It wouldn't make things worse for me. The only thing that would make things worse is you staying sad, or mad, or...whatever this is.
( In the meantime Emil's trying to manage his irritation, which is something he's unaccustomed to. Usually when he's mad or being pissy, he feels totally justified and victimized by what someone else has supposedly done. The frustration of feeling so strongly for someone else isn't something he's completely used to yet.
It's not that he has a problem with Lalli thinking he's mad necessarily -- oh boy, he's been mad at Lalli before. In this instance though, the point is to save Lalli, feelings or otherwise, and that's something he's tried to do over and over. So good job, that went swimmingly. )
I'm not mad! ( Exclaimed as softly and quietly as possible. ) I'm...worried, not mad. Everything isn't dangerous, but this is.
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Emil! Let me in!
[Yeah, remember that time he screamed like he was being torn open with the rusty claws of death? Turns out he can use those lungs while awake, too, when he wants, and he most definitely wants to. He needs to be heard over the loud banging of his fist, after all.]
Let me in, let me in, let me in!
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It's...best not to think about it too much, Emil decides. He does lay there with his communicator next to his head though, just in case he hears something else, but sleep is going to definitely be elusive.
...And apparently it's going to be elusive for everyone else tonight too. Lalli suddenly screaming at the top of his lungs and causing the most ridiculous ruckus takes him completely by surprise. Sorry roommates, who are conveniently not here for some reason. Sorry to the rest of the dorm, probably filled with people wondering why someone is being murdered downstairs somewhere.
In an effort to put an end to the cacophony, Emil hurriedly gets out of bed, pulling a sweater over his sleeping shirt quickly before rushing to the door, out into the hall and down the steps to the dormitory entrance. He opens the large doors alarmingly fast -- the picture honestly isn't that bad other than the large bruise adorning his face. It's mostly on his nose but it makes a red and darkening circular pattern that covers a small portion of his cheek and underneath his right eye.
At least the redness helps to hide the dried blood covering his nostril? )
Lalli. ( He whispers with a hiss. ) You can come in but you have to keep it down!
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Lalli takes up his friend's hand and turns again, dragging him to a...comfortable spot... Fuck. Cypress dorm. No comfort here, compared to the "luxury" of Birch. Giving up on that, he switches to a hiss, as well.]
This is stupid!
[HE HAS A LOT MORE FEELINGS THAN THAT BUT HE DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO SAY THEM]
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Examined, grabbed, hissed at. It makes it kind of hard to cover up his new blemish. This sure is a morning already. )
Keep it down! ( Lalli is hissing too but his energy just sort of feels loud. ) What's stupid? What are you doing here?
( Because honestly he didn't ever expect for Lalli to just show up over this and it's actually kind of even more embarrassing!! Don't look at him!! What if someone comes down to find out what that ruckus was and they cause a scene??!! )
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[DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO WHEN I'M ALREADY DOING IT
He wants to keep moving, because that's what he always does, but there's nowhere to go in this dorm. In this city! They were trapped with nothing to do, being things they weren't supposed to be, getting attacked by batcats and random stupid criminals... The question pulls him out of his internal ranting enough that he faces Emil again, mouth parted a little in incredulity.]
I'm here because I'm mad! Because you're my friend!
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You have to calm down. ( The hand that was trying to pull him somewhere is now what he uses to pull Lalli towards the (again, horrible and lumpy) Cypress lounge seats. He doesn't get the scout urge to be moving all the time, but it's making him antsy. )
It's okay now; there's nothing we can do.
( This is said with a hint of sourness. Of course Emil is incredibly mad too, and he wishes he could have done something; could still do something now. But he's right: what's done is done, angry or not.
He missed his window of opportunity, he wasn't really on alert or paying attention. Lalli's not supposed to feel bad about this -- he is. )
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It's not okay! Being over doesn't make it okay. You're still hurt, and scared, and... [His shoulders sag, and the lynx ears follow with a droop of their own.] And I don't like it. It's not fair.
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I'm not scared. ( Examining how he feels...no, he's not scared, really. On edge, maybe. Precautious? It's weird to feel like you need to be on your toes in this world, but maybe it's finally sunk in somewhere that that's how life is going to be from now on, wherever he goes. Maybe that was a lesson best learned after the bat cats, but he was naive. )
And it's...not that bad. ( Though that's said really weakly. It had definitely looked worse a while ago, but the pain is definitely pretty bad. Emil accidentally cements this by dabbing at it again and hissing. He'd take a cheek bruise over this any day, speaking to both pain and aesthetics. )
It looks really horrible. ( Trust and believe, that was another panic point of his. The asshole stole the nice scarf he bought so he can't realistically hide it unless he walks around holding his nose all day. ) But it's not anything you should be feeling bad about.
( Because the fact that Lalli's somehow hurt by this...that's making him feel worse than how much it hurts to touch it. )
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You're worried but not scared? I don't...understand.
[His voice is quieter now, a little desperate. Emotions were always kind of an elusive thing, for him. He wants to help, but how is he supposed to do that when he can't figure out what it is he's supposed to be helping with? Since he's...pretty sure there's a friend step before the track the asshole down step.
Lalli hesitantly reaches up, but his hand stops before he makes any contact.]
But... But it isn't okay. Emil...
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Emotions are weird, as Lalli would say. He becomes very quiet again, despite there being no one around to whisper for. )
...I was scared afterwards. It happened really fast and I wasn't sure what was going on. It's over, though. As long as it doesn't scar, it's okay.
( It honestly isn't okay, but that's kind of on him. He wasn't paying attention, he doesn't have the reflexes or mentality that Lalli has about danger lurking around every corner. Emil lay there dazed and confused while any chance he had to get even ran off and into the night.
After he got up after being clocked in the face, Emil whirled around for a moment trying to see who hit him and where they went, but the drive to stand and fight sort of left him when he felt the blood dripping down to his lips and no one was still there to tussle with. What if the person still was there? He might have gotten a good slug in, maybe. But that's not what happened.
So yeah. It's not like it was his fault he got mugged, but the fact that it wasn't okay inwardly feels more like his fault than anything, especially if Lalli is so up in arms about it. The fact that he cares is of course great, but the feeling of friendship is squashed by a lingering guilt. )
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[He's having a really hard time separating all these facts from the feeling of "scared". It just had a certain nuance that escaped him. But alright... Not scared. Hmn.
Lalli looks down to his hands, which he's settled back into his lap.]
...Don't be stupid. Even if it doesn't scar, it still happened. They shouldn't have done that. Not to you.
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You're running around outside all night, and if crime is bad then you have to be careful!
( Honestly the only way he could feel any worse would be if he hadn't said something and while he was sleeping and fully aware of danger, Lalli got stabbed 50 times and oops, his bad!! Which is probably why Emil's more impassioned about this. He's over being scared for himself; that ship sailed. He's more so scared for Lalli.
But he sighs and quiets himself, following his own advice of remaining as quiet as possible despite being frustrated. ) I'm not stupid; I know it happened. But it shouldn't happen to anyone...like you.
( Which his own specificity is in regards to Lalli of course being a night scout, roaming around who the hell knows where in the early AM, but Lalli's specific mention of "Not to you" is kind of...odd to him. )
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For now, though, he had a situation aside from "you deserved it less than anyone because you're too good a person".]
Okay. So we'll stop it. We'll be ready, and we'll catch them, and we'll make them stop.
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( Someone had asked him if he was going to report it to the police but Emil still wasn't sure unless they had their own little communicator number. Even if there was a way to cover up 1/4 of his face, he'd still look ridiculous -- even though the police are incompetent; maybe he'll yell at them when he doesn't look like roadkill. In a week...
But if he didn't know who it was and they disappeared .01 seconds after it happened, how was he supposed to find who it was in a whole city ages after the whole thing happened? Lalli probably has the skill set to help a lot, but he's not sure if that's something he even wants.
Not that Lalli isn't useful, but it just seems dangerous. Putting him in danger...nah.
Speaking of which, he's not sure exactly what he wants (other than to not have his face wrecked and stuff gone), but something about what Lalli says is more ominous than what he hoped for. )
What do you mean "make them stop"?
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We'll make them stop? I don't know what part you don't understand.
[They'll just Do It, see.]
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I mean how. How do we make them stop? ( He says this while fidgeting by touching his still sore nose very gently. At least the damn thing isn't bleeding anymore.
Maybe the fact Lalli doesn't automatically get it should be concerning... )
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...We will when we find them.
[They had to know their enemy first -- getting Onni or Tuuri to do something was a very different process than getting, like... Reynir or someone to do something. But then, Reynir was outrageously stupid.]
I don't know how yet. But I will.
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He lets his hand be pulled away and removes it from Lalli's grasp to rub his arm weakly. )
You don't need to find anybody. I'll just tell the police about it later. That's their job, after all.
( Not that they're very good at it as of late, but it's better than vigilante Lalli running roughshod and meeting a similar fate -- or worse. It's not like it wasn't already an idea in his mind anyway. )
They deserve to hear about how incompetent they are, anyhow. There's no excuse for criminals to be crawling around with the police and the military nearby.
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I could do it faster. I know I could. Why don't...you think I can help you?
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( Forgetting his own advice of keeping it down. He'd...thought that much had been clear? Which makes him unsure as to what he said or what he should say to make that understood.
He quiets down again, trying to find a better way to sit on these stupid seats. At least one part of him should be comfortable. )
I know you're good at the whole scouting thing. You could do it fast and everything but...I just don't want you to.
( "to get hurt." or "to have to do that." might both be better ways to end that sentence. )
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I don't understand. [Obviously. Good ol' mental kick for that.] Why don't you want me to? Won't it make things better? I want to make things better again.
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It's obviously dangerous. It doesn't matter if it makes things better for me if it makes things worse for you. You shouldn't be involved in something like that!
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That's okay. Everything is dangerous. It wouldn't make things worse for me. The only thing that would make things worse is you staying sad, or mad, or...whatever this is.
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It's not that he has a problem with Lalli thinking he's mad necessarily -- oh boy, he's been mad at Lalli before. In this instance though, the point is to save Lalli, feelings or otherwise, and that's something he's tried to do over and over. So good job, that went swimmingly. )
I'm not mad! ( Exclaimed as softly and quietly as possible. ) I'm...worried, not mad. Everything isn't dangerous, but this is.
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Mrrrh...
[He frowns down at his hands, then at the ceiling, and his cat ears droop.]
Uhn. Okay... But it's not more dangerous than a lot of stuff I do. They're just people. Bad people.
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