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[artisticliberty]

"Hello, this is Fox. Please leave a message."

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[artisticliberty]

I have studied flower language, although I am more familiar with the Japanese take on it. Please, come in.

[he ushers her inside and goes to find a vase to deposit the flowers in, which he'll place on the low table that has been turned into a kotatsu for the changing seasons. toasty feets.]

[dragonheartedgirl]

I didn't realize there were different--interpretations?--To the language of flowers.

[ following him inside. ]

... I see you're all prepared for winter already.

[artisticliberty]

Most of my knowledge on the subject comes from art; artists have historically used flowers as symbols for a number of things.

Would you like some tea? We have fruit, as well. I find these are best enjoyed at a kotatsu during cold weather.

[dragonheartedgirl]

You've all pulled the kotatsu out again?

[ She remembers that from last winter.... A faint, nostalgic smile turns her lips up. ]

Are you sure it's not too much trouble for you?

[artisticliberty]

Not at all. You have come here to express your feelings to me, and it would be rude of me to simply dismiss you before you have had a chance to properly tell me what is on your mind.

[heads into the kitchen and comes back shortly with a plate of orange slices and two steaming mugs of sencha]

[dragonheartedgirl]

[ She'll go ahead and take her seat then.

Please don't mind if she looks a little lost in thought. She has... many things on her mind. Or perhaps more accurately in her heart. ]

[artisticliberty]

[waits]











[eats an orange slice]

[dragonheartedgirl]

[ FOX YOU DON'T HAVE TO LET HER STARE INTO SPACE FOR FOREVER

she starts a little when she realizes he's returned without her noticing--and her cheeks turn pink. ]

S-Sorry!

[artisticliberty]

It's alright. Take your time.

[sips his tea, patiently]

[dragonheartedgirl]

... I just.... had a moment. ... I think the last time I was sitting here drinking tea at the kotatsu it was with Ardashir and Shuten. Not too long after the first time we were put through that horrible house....

[ things have.... really really changed since then.... ]

[artisticliberty]

[oh]

... you've been here for quite a long time, haven't you...

[dragonheartedgirl]

Since the beginning.

[artisticliberty]

... I miss them, too. But I imagine you must miss them just as much, if not more.

[dragonheartedgirl]

... I don't know that it would be right to compare my pain to yours. I know you also loved Ardashir a great deal... and maybe you knew them in ways I never did, being their unit mate.

But I... do miss them, deeply, every day.

[ a deep, slow breath in--and then a very heavy exhale. ]

... It must have been difficult for you... to come back to this place everyday, where you shared so much time with them. I hope it's become easier.

[artisticliberty]

It is difficult, sometimes. I have a number of letters addressed to Ardashir that I will never send, sitting at the bottom of my drawers. I write them when I linger too long on such things.

[takes a sip of his tea]

But the longer I've been here, the more I've come to realize... this is one of the only places I've come to know as "home". Despite everything, there is a space I can call my own, that cannot be threatened or taken away from me... that is something I do not take for granted.

[dragonheartedgirl]

[ except when annoying avantes come to visit,,, ]

[ She turns her own cup thoughtfully between her own. She... had never thought about writing any of them letters. Not that she could feasibly send them, but... maybe... it would help. ]

Security is a hard thing to come by here--and certainly nothing to take for granted, it's true. I'm glad you've managed to find that.

[artisticliberty]

I could tell you about the home I grew up in, but... perhaps now is not the time. I will just say it pales in comparison to this.

Except for Leblanc. I miss the smell of curry and coffee mingling together in that homely little cafe...

[dragonheartedgirl]

[ It's hard for her to think that their prison where they're regularly tortured is superior--especially because she so often feels insecure here. However, it's just her opinion--and not one she feels is necessary to share as a challenge to his own. She focuses in instead on the new topic at hand. ]

I take it this Leblanc is a restaurant of some kind?

[artisticliberty]

Yes. It's where Joker lived, in the attic above the cafe that his guardian owned. We often met there for meetings or just to spend time and enjoy the food and atmosphere. I thought of it as a second home, especially after I left Sensei's atelier.

I have thought about trying to find it in the corresponding district of Tokyo here, but... I know seeing the hollowed-out version of that building would only bring me heartache.

... my apologies. I did not mean to bring down the mood.

[dragonheartedgirl]

I should be the one to say that first, shouldn't I?

[ after all, she was the one who brought up lovers no longer present. ]

... Besides, things were a little somber to begin with, given the flowers I chose. I'm glad to hear your real thoughts and feelings, though. I don't think we've really ever had a chance to have a real heart-to-heart.

[artisticliberty]

That is true.

And... to be entirely honest, I do not quite understand the reason for the gesture. They are lovely, of course, but... you do not owe me any apologies.

[dragonheartedgirl]

I think I do. It's terrible--watching someone you love die in front of you. I wasn't in my right mind, but that doesn't change that it was my hand that fired that gun.

[artisticliberty]

[he glances down at his cup of tea]

... it was horrible, yes, but... I was partially responsible for instigating that situation. I was blinded by a powerful need for vengeance and bloodshed, and you were not wrong to end it before things got worse. So I do not begrudge you, or Hurricane, or Abi.

[dragonheartedgirl]

Even though that's the case--it would be terrible of me to not at least acknowledge the pain you suffered.

[ Honestly, she still remembers the sound of him crying in her nightmares--as well as him asking them to just kill him. ]

What you went through... no one should have to bear that.

[artisticliberty]

... Hiryuu... may I hug you?