This is the Sound of Settling

[unfavorableinstigation]

Who: Nita and YOU!
Where: All around! Please note preferred room in toplevel.
When: 12th through 15th Horseshoe
What: Chores, and some private catch-ups.
Warnings: ... Feels????


Nita's able to bounce back from the mission much more easily than last time - no huge magics, just the slow drain of wizardry and losing people alike.

There are some people she knows she needs to talk to, but she doesn't precisely need to hunt them down - after all, she's got rooms to clean. She'll get to them eventually.

She has time for more friendly chats, as well - or a helping hand or two!

Comments

[blue_ice]

"There you are."

Blunt as usual, there's Seto cleaning the room beside her. He looks stern...even concerned.

"You looked dead on your feet by the end. You don't have to take your turn in the rotation now---orange is big enough that we don't all have to do this every day."

[unfavorableinstigation]

Nita holds her breath, counting to ten in her head. Then twenty.

"... What if we lose more of Orange, next time? All three of the other teams lost people this week, some of them team leads. And not everyone does the chores, for their team or anyone else's."

And even here, if you wanted a job done well, you had to do it yourself.

[blue_ice]

"...this isn't about the chores for you, is it."

Kaiba continues working at his part regardless, stacking boxes with the labels faced out. When they look nice and tidy, he turns to her---frowning, but there's a light of understanding in his eyes.

"We'll deal with more losses when we cross that bridge. I'm alarmed too, don't misunderstand. But we need to hold it together...at least, as what remains of the council."

[unfavorableinstigation]

"Not... entirely."

Translation: Kaiba is right on the money.

"But you're right; and we'll need to hold another vote - assuming enough people even want one."

Edge - quiet as he'd been - might find that hilarious. But then, maybe he's lost people too.

[blue_ice]

"I've been wondering if we should even maintain the council, if our leaders are going to disappear so frequently."

Kaiba looks fairly grim as he dusts. "We need backups. Contingencies. But the train can disrupt anything we put down."

[unfavorableinstigation]

"That, we should probably have a Council meeting for. See if the rest are on-board for it."

If there was a majority interest, then maybe...

"We haven't confronted those shadows again, either; we still need some way to pool information and opinions if that happens."

Dairine had done her part to help with that, as had Eva.

[blue_ice]

"It's hard to get my tech running without spare parts, but I'm still working at it. And...right, I'll have to ask them."

Kaiba tidies the place to his satisfaction, then gives her an empathetic look.

"We'll arrange whatever we can, to plan for all of our eventual departures. Not pleasant to think about, but the train leaves us little choice."

just any random room is fine!

[flatteries]

Thankfully it seems that Nita, at the very least, doesn't have to full on hunt Inigo down.

He's done with the hiding. Sure, it's not as if a little part of him still doesn't want to hide, still doesn't feel worried about so many things.. but Inigo knows it wouldn't be right. His behaviour during the mission still doesn't feel quiet acceptable to him, even though - objectively speaking - he hadn't been able to do anything about it back then.

But he still feels bad about it. He keeps turning it over in his head, that conversation he had with Nita over the comms. He's been a bit avoidant of most people at the end of the mission, still trying to regain his bearings.

But now he's back on the train, even if he's not 100% full on his usual self yet.. he has to at least try to reach out. Even if Nita may say she never wants to see him again.

So while Nita is cleaning a random room - perhaps with the door open so it's easier to clean - she may find a head shyly peeking in. Before Inigo steps forward and the rest of him is visible.

"Nita," he starts, more meekly than usually. Inigo stops, hesitates. Looks away. He raises a hand to scratch the back of his head. "I.. erm.. Do you have a moment..? I-- I know I have to apologize to you."

Let's put them in the Sixth Cabin or something! o7

[unfavorableinstigation]

The door is, indeed, propped open - some of these cleansers still smell, and part of Nita wonders if that's just deliberate on the train's part - and Inigo's first shy response is enough to make her look up from where she's been scrubbing a peculiar stain.

"Of course! This tile's just being persistent in retaining the stain, for some reason-"

Then the rest of what he's saying hits him, and she stops scrubbing altogether.

"... You want to take a seat? Probably shouldn't close the door, though; the smell should be enough to keep people out."

This isn't her friend S'reee's cabin, so both lower bunks are present and comforter-ed.

works for me!

[flatteries]

"Ah.."

He still stands there awkwardly for a moment, as if he hadn't really thought beyond asking that - like it takes him a few moments to cope with a reality where he actually said it, and where he's heard Nita's answer.

His heart still feels heavy, but he nods before walking into the room, being careful to avoid any spots Nita seems to have been working on. Even if it forces him to do some ridiculous near-ballet passes before he makes his way over to one of the bottom bunks, sitting down on it.

Inigo is quiet for another moment as he sits. He may have practiced this so many times in his head, but that never quite prepares him for the reality of it all. But he's well aware he can't just sit here silently - so he gathers his courage, speaking up. (Though not directly looking at her.)

"I.. I'm sorry. I really am. I shouldn't have hung up on you like that the last time we spoke back on the mission. It's just-- a lot.. happened on the mission. And I thought that it was better for me to not be around anyone, since I'd just end up bothering them. But I guess I ended up bothering people all the same."

[unfavorableinstigation]

Nita at first gives him space, letting Inigo psyche himself up enough to say what he'd meant to say.

As he talks, though, Nita makes her own barely-balanced dance over, sitting alongside him on the bunk next to where the ICP 'desk' is.

"Some troubles... we pull away to handle them, because we feel we have to. I've been there."

Her mother; Nita hasn't told Inigo everything about what happened with her, but he's one of the few on this train who know she's gone, and that's the point here.

"Rest assured, apology accepted. And- I'm sorry, too. There's no right way to go about offering help, or a shoulder to lean on, but I know there are an awful lot of wrong ones, or even ones that just feel wrong in the moment, to give or receive."

She offers a hand to Inigo, from where she's sitting; if he takes that hand, he'll get a little squeeze.

[flatteries]

That hand is definitely getting taken. Of course it is. This is Inigo, after all. At least he's started to climb enough out of the downwards spiral again to get back to always wanting as much physical affection of any kind as possible.

And he almost shakes his head, tells her to not apologize, but.. then he realises maybe Nita just wants to. And in that case, he shouldn't deny her the right. Instead..

"No, I.. I actually did appreciate that you reached out for me." That much is true. He reacted badly to it in the end, sure, but would he really have been better off not having any contact with anyone at all? Surely not. Things most likely would have been worse. "I really thought I was going to end up all alone back there, and that it all would have been my own dumb fault."

[unfavorableinstigation]

Hand: squeezed! Nita offers a small smile, as well.

"Like I said, I've been there. Fortunately, we're never completely alone. And- even though we can never really know what other people are thinking, sometimes... that means they can surprise us, in a good way."

hope this works!

[blitzcheer]

It's the knock at his cabin's door that gets Tidus to open it, surprised by who's standing on the other side, unsure of who it's for. Taking a second to ask the basic question:

"What's up?"

Was she here for S'reee? ...or him?

Yes! \o/

[unfavorableinstigation]

Nita is almost as surprised, though she's thankful she didn't have to pester S'reee - or the door mechanics themselves! - for entry.

"Just cleaning," she answers, somewhat awkward, before she adds, "We can talk, though, if you want. With or without cleaning on the side."

Given how many disappeared on the mission, though, she's definitely glad Tidus wasn't one of them, and some of that comes through on her face.

[blitzcheer]

Please don't break and enter, Nita.

"There's nothing really to clean," he says, hesitantly. Does he want to talk though? Does she want to talk? ...this can only get more awkward, as he stands there, deciding nothing.

[unfavorableinstigation]

"... I should have brought a snack or something," Nita answers, self-critical.

"I'd offer what I did bring, but they're not good things to eat!"

Just the truth, or an attempt at humor? It was better than awkward silence, however.

[blitzcheer]

The joke falls flat with Tidus, who makes the side of his mouth tug once he realises what she's referring to, or thinks, but it's small and quick. His head dips a little.

"Look, I... I'm sorry, 'bout the--what I did on the platform." Because he can't remember if he ever said it to her, but it's worth repeating, just in case. "But I'm not the best guy to be around right now. I don't have a lot I wanna talk about."

[unfavorableinstigation]

"Losing someone... it's never easy."

And boy, does she ever feel awkward saying that while standing in a hallway! That, on top of the deja vu, makes it worse.

"I can say that from experience. Some of it you've seen, even."

A wry expression comes to her face, conjured by those memories.

"But, not talking about it... I can also confirm those feelings get worse, not better."

Library! Of copurse

[guru_clef]

Clef settled right back into the library after the mission, but looked up from his studies when he finally noticed her. Given it is Clef and he was studying, unless she went out of her way to get his attention, she'd probably be nearly done by the time he looked up. And tkat only to change books.

"Nita," he said with a warm smile.

Setting after the previous threads...

[unfavorableinstigation]

Nita had a smile in turn to share as she put her materials away - but she looked distracted, as well.

"Hello, Clef. You've found your place, I see."

Re: Setting after the previous threads...

[guru_clef]

"Yes, for some reason though I keep winding up back in that room with the beds. It is quite distracting. I am glad I ran into you however," says the person who was sitting."

Re: Setting after the previous threads...

[unfavorableinstigation]

"... That's an automatic train feature. It's supposed to replicate the experience of unconsciousness, though I need more sources. No one's proved immune to it yet."

And wizardry itself was effected - not a good sign.

"You had a question? Not that I'm not glad to see you too."

Re: Setting after the previous threads...

[guru_clef]

"Hmmm, we may have to pool our resources to try and disable it, then. For those of us who would rather not have to travel so often."

He nodded. "I was wondering if you knew if I would be able to order Escudo from the shop you showed me or not. I am still having some difficulty figuring out what can be bought at all at my level of points." Ascertaining his point total was also a bit.. tricky. He was still learning the system, and had been studying the books more than the ICP.

[unfavorableinstigation]

"Considering most of the people who are bothered by it tend to room with people who teleport... it's a matter of perspective, really."

Certainly, Nita wanted to know why the train thought it was necessary, but said vehicle wasn't exactly taking questions right now.

Nita paused, putting one hand to her chin.

"I think I could get some, if you described it accurately, along with how much. We've had people order metals and ores before, I know."

It'd probably count as a small item... probably.