linkingup | yoon's palace

[ giving her a wave!! your mean lady presence was missed!! ]

[One wouldn't be expecting this to get a response, but after a long pause of silence for her to adjust to life coming at her fast, Kainé's fingers lift just about halfway and wave back - a movement of literal inches.

Maybe she's just still startled about where she ended up. Her voice drops low.]

...Shit.

[ Amusement flashes in Aerith's eyes, bright and full of mirth. She won't comment on that slip for now in a true moment of mercy for Kainé. ]

We all made it out okay, if you were worried.

[Bless Aerith for the opportunity to save her image. Maybe that's why, at that reassuring report, her severe features breathe out a small smile.]

That's good. [Her tense, fight-ready body language releases slightly.] Anybody hurt?

Nothing more than a few scrapes.

[ And some trauma, nbd. ]

I think right now... we're mostly tired. Probably hungry, too.

[Who among this cast would ever have trauma, and why would it become a problem for them? That sounds fake.

Kainé's expression betrays her doubt that anything would ever be that easy, but she'll get the full explanation shortly here.]

Yeah, all that invasive navel-gazing works up an appetite. Should probably get out of here before somebody makes a scene. [This is coming from Miss Scene-Causer herself, but it's probably true. With the amount of times someone has really, really wanted to call an "ambulance," the only saving grace on their side is how apathetic most of the town still is.]

Yeah, good plan.

[ Kainé definitely caused a scene already, but Aerith has a feeling that won't be the real catalyst for any ambulances being called. If anything, the haggard look of the lot of them will be the reason for that. ]

I think... I might go back to the dorms and get some rest.

Yeah. [That doesn't sound like a bad idea... to someone like Kainé, who has been perpetually struggling with the constant basin of raw emotion they all seem to be swimming in and keeping every feeling she has about any of the other "chosen" like a secret. Aerith always seems to be doing something cheery or supportive or encouraging...maybe that fire's burning out as bright flames do.]

You gonna go by yourself? [Aerith's a big girl. She can get there alone. Weird to ask. Anyway.] Like I said: not a hugger. So this isn't exactly my scene.

Yeah, that doesn't surprise me.

[ After all, Kainé doesn't seem like the type to really enjoy outwardly emotional moods like this, especially when she all but stumbled into it. ]

You're welcome to accompany me back to the dorms if you're worried about me, though.

[ She lets that little teasing comment slip, but it is a good way for Kainé to get out. ]

Should I be?

[It might have been a little extra teasing comment that Aerith let slip through, but Kainé responds to it directly.

She wasn't here to see what happened, but the piecemeal reports she's getting from others are filling in the blanks just fine.]

We've got people disappearing left and right when they start acting weird. I'm not gonna let that happen.

[ That direct response... it makes her think of Cloud, just a bit, and the way he would often respond to her little teases directly too. She can't help but be a little amused by it in spite of herself. ]

You know... I can't argue with that. It's pretty concerning, isn't it? How many people it's happened to.

[Did he also get a little grumpy and pouty about being teased? Not that she'd ever do something like that. Aerith is a little too...kind, in a way she can't snark back against the way she can with some others.

Kainé nods.] It blows. It's not like there's that many of us to begin with. Some of us aren't so good at waking others up. If something happens to you, I don't know how much I'm gonna be able to help.

[Aerith can handle herself, no doubt about it... but that doesn't make her any less of a sitting duck nice girl if she goes off on her own while she's feeling disoriented.]

I dunno... you're pretty direct. Maybe your words would reach right through to my heart.

[ She smiles, just a little. People like Kainé are the ones who often mean what they say, and Aerith has a feeling that that's the kind of person she would need when she's in dire straits. ]

... Yeah. Maybe. [There's a lower, kind of defanged way that she says this. It's hard for her to wrap her mind around what makes someone gentle, what keeps them that way. It's worth keeping.

She can try.] Be careful what you wish for, but I'll keep it in mind as long as I'm around.

[Now it's time to get Aerith back for her beauty sleep because happy hot pot dinner celebrations for a fight she didn't even participate in definitely don't feel like a place Kainé should be invited.]

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