PC: Adlet

[rizomata]

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[querencias]

He's not my friend, we're allies—or close enough. [ a pause here, and he smiles just a bit brighter. ]

Maybe I should say we're friends though, it might annoy him.

[rizomata]

What, like one of the Braves?

...

You were relieved when the evidence cleared him, right? So how the hell are you still smiling now?

[querencias]

Yeah, he's one of us. He has a crest like I do, but his is on his chest.

[ waves his hand at her, to show off his flower tattoo on the back of his right hand. ]

...cause the strongest man in the world is the strongest cause he can smile through anything.

[rizomata]

Do you think that makes you look cool or something?

If you're mad or upset or whatever, you should just show it! I can't even tell what you're thinking half the time.

[querencias]

It's not about looking cool.

[ he drops the smile though. ]

Are you worried about me?

[rizomata]

O... of course not.

[... she looks like she's trying to think of an excuse but she's coming up empty.]

[querencias]

[ im sorry hes just smiling at her dumbly. ]

I was mad earlier. If you hear about the mannequins in the mall, that was me. [ oops. ]

[rizomata]

[... Well, she can guess what's happened to the mannequins.]

And now?

[Surely he's still mad?]

[querencias]

Hmm, a little bit. But being mad doesn't really help me right now, so I'd rather smile through it instead. We always figure it out, so this isn't gonna be any different.

...Hans has died before and we brought him back.

[rizomata]

What...? How?

[querencias]

One of the other Braves is the Saint of Spilled Blood. So anything to do with blood, she has control over. So when Hans died, and he actually died, she was able to restart his heart and pour all the blood he lost back into him.

[rizomata]

That's...

[her eyes are wide. it's hard to process the idea of people coming back from the dead.]

I've never heard of magic like that before. I didn't think it was possible...

[querencias]

Yeah, me either. It's a long story, but he had to die cause of a contract one of the other Braves had with a fiend. But she had that plan in place to make sure his death wouldn't be permanent.

[rizomata]

... You think he can come back again? Your Saint isn't here this time.

[querencias]

No, not really. But I'm the only one here who knows what fighting him is really like, and he's not going to go easy on whoever it is. I believe in that.

[rizomata]

He'd be a pretty lousy assassin if he didn't have a few tricks up his sleeve. But we've got a lot of capable fighters here, so... I wouldn't bet on him getting out alive.

[querencias]

The strongest man in the world believes in him, just like he believes in you.

[rizomata]

[???????

she doesn't know what to say to that. it just completely catches her off guard and it shows.]

[querencias]

It's true! Want me to say it again? You can punch me after it if you want.

[ which is to say he feels like hes gonna get punched but cannot stop himself. ]

[rizomata]

You make it sound like you want to get punched!

Ugh... I still don't get you at all.

[querencias]

Haha, not really but I can take it!

[ perhaps there is some show of deference that he doesn't catchphrase here. ]

...I think I'm pretty straightforward, but you're the second person who's told me that. What don't you get?

[rizomata]

Why would you believe in me, or whatever? It's not like I've been nice to you.

[querencias]

[ he does take a moment or two to think here. ]

I'd like to believe in everyone. [ "like to" because even he isn't that head empty. ] But you haven't really given me a reason to not believe in you either. I'm used to people discounting me, that's part of being the strongest man in the world.

But I guess... it's also just a feeling I have too.