fortunefail | Appointments

[He's...willing to put that into doubt, but it might not be such a good idea to ask straight away. Probably wiser to continue on to something else, for now.] Fair enough point. [...Hm.] Do you mind company right now? [He's also not sure of how to read him at the moment; Yuan doesn't seem like he's against having someone around, but he's worried he might not be in the most festive of moods (...hah, like he's ever in a good mood because of this place? :S); so, best to be sure, right?]

[He was just about to go and prepare some food, but he supposes that can wait a bit longer. If Souji came all the way over here to visit someone like him, he can't exactly turn the boy down.]

I wouldn't mind at all. [With that, he turns the key all the way to open the front door.]

[That's good enough for him; he'll nod in gratitude and quietly follow suit. There's probably quite a bit they have to talk about; he...hopes so, anyway.]

[He waits for Souji to enter before shutting the front door again. Looks like Kratos is absent from the house, but that's really nothing new. It just makes things easier. He leads the way to the dining room, just outside the kitchen.]

Can I get you anything?

Just something to drink. [He doesn't feel the need to munch on anything, really. Probably should be fine if he takes a seat ahead of time, too. :|a]

[That didn't tell Yuan as much as he would've liked, so he just lingers in the doorway between the dining room and the kitchen.]

Water? Tea?

Tea sounds good. [Sorry, he's made it a habit to be rather passive. :|]

Just a moment.

[With that, he wanders into the kitchen to put the kettle on. It's going to take a while for the water to boil, so he grabs an apple from the fruit bowl and heads back into the dining room to join Souji at the table.]

[Hmm. He'll prop his chin on his hand and eye the rest of the house for a moment.] Was it always this empty? ...I could've sworn there was someone else...

My housemate is out right now. [Which doesn't entirely answer the question. He's sure Souji is thinking about Martel, that's a topic he'd like to avoid if he can help it.]

[He is, yeah. Thankfully, he doesn't recall her enough to directly mention his 'mom', so it doesn't take much to misdirect him. ...At least, for the moment.

When he does, though, surely it'll get a little pressing for Yuan once he asks again. <_<;] Nothing to worry about, then, I guess. [...A little saddening, isn't it?] Anything that I need to know of? It'd be nice to know if something's changed.

[Something that's changed... It takes Yuan a while to come up with something. Luceti's been going through the same cycles of arrivals and departures, the same incidents of experiments and drafts. Same old, same old.]

I don't know if you were told, but Catherine- the Malnosso's CEO was targeted by the rest of the organization. They were desperate to retrieve him from the village, but he died in our care a few weeks ago, if I'm not mistaken.

He's gone?

[...Well, that's news to his ears...a Malnosso of all things, dead. And from the sound of it, they couldn't bring him back from the brink. That's...troubling, to say the least.] ...What led to this in the first place?

It's hard to say. There's been conflict within the organization for years now, possibly even centuries. We can't claim to know even half of what truly keeps the Malnosso occupied, nor can we distinguish the truth from lies.

[He absentmindedly rolls the apple between his fingers, thinking.] Catherine died of old age and sickness. He was likely revived outside the barrier within a week, but nobody's heard from him since. There's no telling who got to him first.

Edited (Whoops, used the wrong word to describe that) 2012-07-24 22:04 (UTC)

...That isn't a good sign, is it? [Granted, it's someone he didn't have the best of chances to talk to, but...]

Tno telling how much longer it's going to last, either, is there? [Maybe he's looking into this too deeply. Maybe not. Still, it's a legitimate worry as long as they're stuck here as far as he's concerned.]

Edited 2012-07-24 23:47 (UTC)

No, there's not. We can only hope he still has enough influence outside the barrier to keep himself safe. We can't count on the Malnosso to keep us updated on the situation, or even to tell us anything remotely useful.

[Oh, how much he would love to get to the bottom of all this.]

[He does, too, Yuan. Trust him on that.] Or in general, for that matter, if things are as messy as they sound.

Indeed.

[He takes a bite of his apple, still contemplating the matter. It's not like anything they know can be considered the truth, taking the Malnosso's Shifts into account. For all they know, they already got to the bottom of it all a while ago and the Malnosso altered their memories of it.

Are thoughts like that paranoia or common sense? It's hard to tell.]

[It wouldn't surprise him if it was the former, given everything the Mallies are willing to do...

...Still, he'll peek over in the direction of the stove after a brief beat.] Is it ready yet?

[One might think that Yuan's forgotten about the kettle, but he's been keeping tabs on it just by listening. His hearing will pick up on it the moment the water starts to boil.]

Not quite yet.

Mm. [A little more waiting, then. :|a In the meantime...what else is there to discuss...? Oh, right.] Has Shirogane-san been well? [He couldn't find out from Kouki...who he vaguely recalls as being close to Naoto during that odd shift.]

[It takes Yuan a few seconds to realize that by "Shirogane-san", he meant Naoto. He'll never get used to this habit some people have of referring to people by their last name.]

As far as I can tell, she's been just fine.

That's good to hear. I can't help but worry, though, seeing that she's been stuck here without me to help. [A little guilt there in his tone. ...Given his long-term disappearance, is it so surprising? >_>;]

Hm... [He remembers visiting Naoto after she announced that her friend had been sent home. She was obviously upset, but the way she handled the situation was still more composed than anyone would expect from a girl her age.]

Naoto is stronger than you give her credit for.

...I know that much from experience. It's just... [It's just hard, being unable to support her over the last year. He shakes his head, looking a bit more visibly unhappy with himself.]

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