week four | mingle

[showhost]

Welcome to your fourth and final week, teens!

There aren’t many changes around the house today: it seems everyone is dialed in on what needs to be done and the upcoming week. Everything that was on the fritz last week is now back to normal, aside from the Dress Up Your Blorbo curse. You can still do that at will.

Anyway, it's fine that all seems quiet.

There’s plenty going on anyway this week.

Dates | Embrace Space | Property Damage, etc | CR Event | A Thing
Truth Booth Voting | Match Ceremony Submissions

Comments

[singurarity]

[ With a wry little smile. ]

Is it bad that this month has been the best month I've had in a year?

[newlugers]

[ he likes to think he's been doing a pretty good job playing it cool and distancing himself from his feelings here - since she and Lessing got together, he'd essentially decided to kill his affections so their inevitable break at the end would be cleaner - but that single comment from her suddenly has that protectiveness bubbling back up inside him. Damn it. It's so hard not to care. Steve frowns; for once, his irritation isn't motivated by any selfishness. This time, it's purely on her behalf. ]

Yeah, it is. It's sad. You shouldn't be dealing with - with all this garbage. [ gesturing vaguely at the vast expanse of nothing around them as he speaks. ] You should be partying like we do in the house every month, not saving the world or whatever. Why's it gotta be you?

[ it's a rhetorical question. life's not fair, he knows - but sometimes it feels good to rage against that unfairness just a little. ]

[singurarity]

[ She doesn't expect it, honestly. Maybe she's used to hearing that it's just best to focus on the reprieves and the happy memories while she can make them, and that's not a bad way to think.

But Steve sharply saying that no, it does suck, that it's unfair--

Ritsuka looks over at him, a little surprised but touched; she needs a moment to swallow the lump in her throat. But all the same, she still looks like she's trying not to cry. ]

Why's it gotta be either of us, right? And all we can do is deal with it.

... But we can't go back to being normal again, either. Even when that's all we want.

[newlugers]

[ he's not expecting her to look so upset when he sees her face; immediately, he feels guilty. Guilty, and even more irritated - not at her, but at her circumstances, and at Chaldea, whom Steve sees fit to blame for all that's happening to her, even if she won't. She's so good at putting on a brave face that it makes the moments where the mask slips worse. ]

Ritsuka -- [ don't cry, is what he wants to say, but you know what? Maybe she should, even if he doesn't want to see her like that. He clenches his fists. He wants to reach out and touch her, but he knows he can't. It's not him. ] -- Then screw 'em. Use your wish and get out of it! If it's real, this is our only chance.

[ her answer is practically a given; regardless, he's not afraid to be selfish on her behalf. ]

[singurarity]

Steve...

[ She takes a breath, then exhales slowly and shakes her head with a rueful smile.

It's okay. No tears shed. ]

I can't. At this point, I need to see this through, or I don't think I'd be able to hold my head up anymore. But I hope you get a better life for yourself--I mean that.

[newlugers]

[ and there's the quick deflection back to him. Steve wouldn't normally notice these things, especially for how much he likes to be the center of attention; it's probably a bad sign of how much he likes her, he thinks. ]

Yeah? Why can't I hope for a better one for you, too? If you're not gonna do it yourself, then I'm just gonna do it twice as hard. [ he folds his arms, almost defiantly. ] You're busy fighting for the world or whatever - me, I'd rather fight for you.

[ which is an embarrassing thing to say, but he says it anyway while he's riled up, even if his ears are a little pink. ]

[singurarity]

[ ... His ears are a little pink, aren't they. And Ritsuka's once again caught off-guard by the fervency, blinking at Steve somewhat owlishly. Oh.

That's not a declaration someone makes lightly. ]

You're something else, really...

[ It's a little awed. ]

[newlugers]

Y-yeah! Took you long enough to notice!

[ he'll play off the embarrassment by leaning into it. It's a futile display of confidence, but bravado is really all he has left, at this point. ]

Seeing those guys make you sad ticks me off. You're not responsible for what they did to you, anyway.

[singurarity]

It is what it is.

[ With a sigh. ]

There are a lot of people who lost their lives. I can't stop now.