bakerstreet | ( they're bleeding! oh no. they are dead. )

( they're bleeding! oh no. they are dead. )

You or your meme partner has been hurt, but don't worry! This time around it's not that bad. You can still limp your way out of this mess.

INJURIES.
1. Sprain/strain. How did you screw up walking?
2. Broken bones. Simple fractures still hurt.
3. Cuts. Hopefully one of you has a sewing kit.
4. Burns. Location, location, location. Let's pray this one isn't on your ass.
5. Concussion. No, they're most likely not holding up fifteen fingers.
6. Other. I'm not a doctor.

HOW'D IT HAPPEN.
1. Stupidity. You did this to yourself.
2. Accident. Is an unintentional attack still an attack?
3. Attack. Don't lie, you deserved it.
4. Other. It's probably still your own fault.

WHERE'D IT HAPPEN.
1. Home. Did you remember to invest in a first aid kit?
2. School/Work. This should be excellent for getting you out of doing stuff!
3. Outdoors. Predators like the smell of blood. Clean up asap.
4. In the water. Hopefully there aren't any sharks!
5. Other. Like a hospital. That'd be handy.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Can't believe it either, to be honest..." It's a grumble, but there's honestly not a terrible lot of heart to it. Shizuo draws back from the counter to give Namie some room as she reaches over to the towels suddenly. But--oh, there's everything else. Good enough answer to his question, now isn't it?

Shizuo takes up the ointment once Namie settles again, gingerly unscrewing the cap on it, but glances up at the question. "Ah, yeah. We were in separate middle schools, but then we ended up back in the same school again like that..." Because luck has a strange way of sorting people, apparently. But Namie's second question earns a more bemused sort of pause. "I'm twenty-four."

What an unexpected thing to be asked. Is there something relevant to be found about his age that Namie wants to check in on, or something? Is he even a typical sort of twenty-four year old, now he thinks about it...? Well, though that's a pretty stupid sort of question. Shizuo puts it aside instead of trying to think on it.

Instead he sets the ointment lid on the counter and draws up to Namie's side again. Less hesitant, this time, with more things to preoccupy him apart from her current state of dress--and especially because this is going to be even more of a delicate process than the cleaning had been, probably. He dabs some ointment onto a finger and leans over her shoulder again, the fingertips of his free hand bracing very lightly over the unharmed skin next to the burn while he starts very carefully applying the ointment on the burn itself with the other. He wouldn't be surprised if this stings more than the towel, so he tries to be as light as he can about it...

Then Shizuo realizes she'd probably notice him starting to tense up again, so he tries to break the brief silence at least. "--How about you, then? Lived around Ikebukuro for awhile too?"

The question is more one of curiosity than anything else, but the answer makes her eyebrows arch a little. She doesn't usually give the connections between people in depth thought - it's not something she cares about very much - but it's odd to realize how much earlier they could've crossed paths.

She doesn't offer any immediate comment after her question, though, instead quietly settling into thought as he moves closer to her again. The feeling of his hand almost makes her reach for his arm again, but she keeps her own hands to herself this time, focusing on keeping her hair from slipping back over her shoulder as she tilts her head away from it, wanting to give him the space to work.

The ointment does sting and it earns a small frown in reaction, but nothing else. The more she moves, the longer the care for it takes and that's not something she wants to prolong.

Shizuo's words bring her gaze away from the wall across from her and back to him.

"Most of my life. My brother and I moved in with my uncle when we were young and we've been here since." Her thoughts circle back around to school and her frown lessens as she continues speaking, her tone a little lighter as she admits her musing aloud. "I'm twenty-five. It's strange to think that I could have been your senior if I'd chosen to attend Raira."

Getting the ointment applied takes less time than cleaning the burn, at the very least, and Shizuo is soon moving on to the spot further down her arm again. Namie's continued measures to keep her hair away from this side are appreciated, too, even if Shizuo finds himself having to put a little effort into not giving the gesture as much...notice, this time. No, he'd best not get distracted from something as cautious as this anyway--

But her comment about schools and ages has him glancing up despite himself anyway, more visibly surprised now than he has been before.

"Ah, yeah, guess that would make you the older one..." Honestly, he hadn't really paid any thought to how old Namie might be at all before this, but. Somehow he's not too surprised about that, the more he thinks on it. More surprising is how close their ages actually are, rather...but as he considers the idea of her having attended Raira at the same time instead... "So you'd be a year above me there, you're right. You could have even been my senpai and everything, huh?"

He laughs a little, and the amused smile that comes with it lingers for a moment even after the fact, as he looks back down and resumes pressing on the ointment. Oddly, should Namie be paying attention, the remark and the laugh end up also being accompanied by a much lighter flush on his features for some reason--though it's faint enough to be easily missed. Shizuo doesn't even notice it, actually, though it's just--such an odd thought, that. And yet oddly almost plausible, as he tries to even picture it...?

The task is faster, she's sure, but she wonders if he's working with more ease now. He's not quite as tense or on edge as before, so she hopes that's the case if only to prove that he doesn't have to worry so much when he's close to people.

Or it could just be that the conversation is enough to make him relax, if his reaction is anything to go by. The talking seems to put him at ease - more than the silence does, anyway - though she's not sure why her statement is so surprising. Maybe it's the mention of ages or the fact that things really are smaller than they seem. If she'd made one different decision, one to attend Raira rather than a private academy that she'd deemed better for university prospects, they might've come out of school knowing one another and this might not be happening at all.

Something about it is amusing, though, and Shizuo's own assessment and amusement over it is enough to earn a smile as she gives a small shake of her head over the fact that they're discussing this at all.

"Mm, I could have been." It's not hard to picture, honestly, as she looks at Shizuo. What's odd is considering him in the uniform when she's used to that bartender outfit of his. But the thought of it is distracting enough that she misses the flush despite how close the two of them are. And it's oddly helpful in keeping her focused on the more ridiculous 'what if...' rather than thinking about the burns. "I wonder how that would've gone, meeting in school like that."

Truthfully it really is a combination of both, even if Shizuo doesn't quite realize it himself. The edge of his earlier tenseness is certainly gone, though, and the talking helps...quite a lot. Which would strike a little odd, if he cared to think about it more. Shizuo is generally a pretty quiet sort of person in his daily life, really--when his temper isn't being set off--and he rarely ever talks this much to anyone, even good friends on average days. Or maybe it was really just a matter of finding a good topic and decent company to have a conversation with after all, in the end. He's hard put to find people that don't inadvertently tread on his temper in their own ways of chatting, but Namie is turning out to be one of the few first-time exceptions.

Second burn tended to, Shizuo finally straightens, thought doesn't move away immediately, in favor of noting Namie's own smile and her reply. Evidently she's trying to picture it too, and that he's not the only one to find it a little funny. "Hah, who knows, right? Probably would have been better than our actual first meeting was. --Maybe..."

It's not particularly hard to beat running into a shootout in rain at an ungodly hour of morning, after all, but...Shizuo pauses a bit, smile fading as he turns to the counter. Absently he rubs at his face a little--oh, it's a bit warm, that's weird...but the line of thought he's preoccupied with now puts that oddity to the side. "Or maybe it wouldn't have been very quiet anyway, actually. Ah, I wasn't a very peaceful sort of student either..." He takes up a pair of bandages and turns back over to Namie again, a little sombered. But he offers her the tube of ointment too. "--Want to get the one on your leg? I'll start covering these up here on your arm while you're at it..."

This is easily the most casual conversation Namie has had with anyone in some time and she knows how odd it is, just like so many other things are in regards to Shizuo. She doesn't usually engage other people unless it's necessary on some level or she likes them, and the latter category is only held by a single person. So Shizuo still falls into that limbo in between, somehow managing to keep himself in a position that leaves her wondering if that category is going to expand by one person at some point in the future or if she'll eventually lump Shizuo in with most everyone else.

Her head tilts upward as he straightens up after finishing with her arm and she doesn't quite register that the smile is lingering on her face. Though her own slips away as she watches him and his after he speaks, her eyes following his movement as she waits for him to continue.

As he does, she lets out a quiet laugh, nodding as she reaches out to accept the ointment from him. She leans down and begins to carefully apply ointment to her last burn, trying to stick to the use of her uninjured hand so she can leave access to her other arm to him.

"I wasn't any nicer as a student," she comments, tilting her head to glance up at him for a moment before returning her attention to her leg. "Maybe our first meeting would have been surprisingly similar. I doubt the impression you would have left then would've been any different than the one you've left since we met."

"Some impression about bleeding too much everywhere, you mean?" The idea does curl some faint humor back into his tone despite himself. It's not even all that implausible, really, when she puts it like that...if anything, his temper was usually even worse back then than it is now.

He takes up a gauze pad and the roll of tape now, considering the prospect of bandaging. Hm, maybe it'd be easier to start on the lower one on her arm first...

"But hey, what do you mean you weren't a nice student? I'd have figured you were one of those model students, even. Can't tell me you weren't at least a class rep or something..."

With the way Namie carries herself, she seems like she'd have been the type. But well, the keyword is always 'seems' with anybody, isn't it? Shizuo presses the gauze pad over the burn and starts wrapping the tape around both it and her arm; the action is very nearly absentminded, with some caution added in to make sure he doesn't inadvertently bind this too tight or something. But he's very familiar with bandages at the very least, putting them on and taking them off or having other people do it for him in his stead...he must have gone through hundreds of bandages when he was a kid. Funny how that works...

"That one-" She agrees with a nod, a lilt of teasing amusement in her tone with the first part of her reply as she focuses on her leg. "And the impression of being decent company." Despite his temper and the fighting, of course. She imagines that, temper or not, he hasn't changed all that much since then.

His judgement of her life as a student is spot on and she can't help glancing at him again, a little surprised by it. But her attention returns to her leg almost immediately even as she speaks.

"Oh, I was a perfect student. First in my class, student council president. I didn't need to be nice to get those things." No, she excelled at her studies and she was the type that classmates listened to, so the position seemed natural and looked good for her future. "What I mean is I wasn't any less blunt then. I didn't have friends in school."

She finishes with her leg and slowly straightens up, trying not to disturb his care of her arm in the process. And, once upright, her gaze settles on his work, watching as he bandages the burn and musing over how few people have ever done anything like this for her.

"And what about you? What kind of student were you? Aside from not being peaceful."

Ah, decent company...maybe. But then, she probably wouldn't be putting up with him for this long otherwise, would she? It's still strange all the same, though, hearing it outright from somebody like that. Shizuo can't figure out how to actually acknowledge that, and so it earns an almost awkward sort of nod instead. He preoccupies himself with effortlessly tearing the tape from its roll, instead, once the bandaging seems to be wrapped securely enough. Then it's on to another gauze pad, placed lightly over her shoulder.

Talk of school ends up being easier to respond to, at least, and Shizuo is pleased to find that his guess was right. No friends, though...? He almost sniffs a little. "What, just because you're blunt? Still don't know why so many people think that's a problem..."

Bluntness and honesty tend to go hand in hand, after all. It's something he finds himself quite appreciating in regards to Namie, at any rate. She finishes with her leg and straightens, and it isn't too disturbing in the least. Shizuo starts working the tape over her shoulder as well, though the line of questioning shifts back over to him and his hands hesitate somewhat, as he thinks on it.

"The kind of student I was? Hm...average." His shoulders roll in a slight shrug. "Definitely wasn't a class president or anything, didn't really have the--ah, 'temperament', you know. Meanwhile I had too much of a 'temperament' for sports too, so I never got into much of that either...never really could hack the extracurricular things, I guess. My grades were alright." In the end he'd graduated on time, at least, which was probably enough of an achievement in itself. Even his parents had been a little surprised, what with all of his other...problems. But just learning was never really the issue, honestly. ...Still, a slight smile begins to edge on Shizuo's features again as another thought occurs to him. "Kasuka was the one who actually ended up being the star student, hah. At least one of us got to manage it, I guess, even if it's a little backwards like that..."

It's her opinion, but she states it as if it's a fact. That Shizuo is decent company. But it can easily be taken as a compliment, which she supposes it is coming from her, so the lack of a verbal response isn't all that surprising. Not with the way Shizuo seems to consider himself.

"I didn't try to make friends." It's an addition that's probably necessary so it doesn't sound like she spent her three years in high school lonely and looking for people to spend her time with. That's way too far off from the way her experience went and she doesn't want to leave Shizuo with the wrong impression there. "The bluntness just helped with making people keep their distance."

And it continues to now, for the most part, coupled with the cold shoulder she typically gives people. Shizuo has managed to brush by all that somehow and they seem to have hit a point of... getting to know one another. Which is another odd thing for her considering most of her effort to know people usually just involves looking into them or hiring other people to do that for her.

Her head tilts once more, this time without any thought, as she feels the movement at her shoulder. She's not surprised to hear how he was in school, though she does wonder about the history between Shizuo and Izaya there. Not enough to question it on either end - she already knows Shizuo's reaction and she has no desire to mention Shizuo in front of Izaya and give him reason to interfere - but it's something to think about knowing that they went to school together.

The mention of another name coupled with that look, one she notices out of the corner of her eye before properly turning her attention to Shizuo, earns a curious look. "Your brother?"

Admittedly, Shizuo hasn't quite been about to make any assumptions one way or the other about friendship and high school-Namie's opinion on it. People avoiding her on the principle of bluntness just strikes him as a somewhat silly idea, and will probably continue to do so--it's odd what people end up being put off by. But when she does clarify like that... "Oh. Yeah, makes sense."

He couldn't even judge her too much about wanting to avoid friends, really. Shizuo had developed his own means of keeping people from getting too close since high school--though, admittedly, the reasons are probably pretty different between them. It hadn't been that he didn't want friends, but eventually hurting people he cared about had seemed worse than being a little lonely in the end. And some had insisted on hanging around anyway, like Shinra, so he'd never managed to end up being entirely alone regardless.

Soon enough her shoulder is patched up too; Shizuo tears that segment of tape and steps back to fetch another gauze pad, before offering both the pad and roll of tape to Namie wordlessly, on the assumption she'll want to be wrapping her own leg as well. It's for the best she doesn't try bringing up Izaya--and, indeed, Shizuo has been purposely avoiding that particular aspect of his high school years, in favoring of trying not to even think about it while bandaging somebody at the exact same time. That'd be hazardous work. It probably wouldn't be very hard for her to draw her own conclusions on that front anyway, considering their relationship at present. Most people would guess it had been just as violent back then as it is now, and they wouldn't be wrong.

In lieu of that, Kasuka is a much better topic. Shizuo nods, settling back against the counter, and his smile actually seems to grow just a little with the confirmation. "Yeah, that's right, my kid brother. You probably know him already, actually...he goes by Hanejima Yuuhei on tv and stuff." And goodness knows his face is all over half the billboards in Ikebukuro. Shizuo waves a hand absently. "Had top grades in all his classes when he went to school...wasn't surprising, though. He's smart as hell, didn't take after his older brother at all." Shizuo doesn't seem at all unhappy about this, however, and if anything there's an unmistakable air of barely concealed pride as he speaks.

Edited 2016-04-20 18:32 (UTC)

Her lack of friends comes more from preference and what she's used to rather than any kind of necessity, so, aside from the fact that it's something they both chose, their circumstances are unsurprisingly different. And it's also unsurprising to know that some people continue to stick around regardless of Shizuo's worries about hurting those near him. It's something she can understand. He's not bad company, after all.

When he finishes with her shoulder, she glances at it then at her arm, silently deciding she's satisfied with his work. It's something she intends to comment on before he leaves - not so much his bandaging abilities, but how well he managed this despite his worrying - but she keeps it to herself for the time being, instead accepting the tape and gauze from Shizuo so she can lean down and begin covering the last burn.

Izaya is a topic she's smart enough to avoid, both in regards to their time in school and now. And if she ever grows that curious about it, as doubtful as that is since she can make her own assumptions as to how things went there, she knows one person she could question. Though it's unlikely she'll ever engage Shinra in a conversation about Shizuo or Izaya, if only to avoid word getting back to either of them.

Namie looks up from her leg as Shizuo leans against the counter, watching his face as he talks about his brother. She hasn't wondered who's most important to him before this, but that look and the pride he shows when talking gives her a very clear idea. "Hanejima Yuuhei... I wouldn't have guessed." There's a note of surprise in her voice that mainly comes from the lack of resemblance between the two of them, the difference in names not too surprising given that his brother is an actor. She returns her attention to her leg, the focus enough to help her finish with the taping. And she sits up again once she tears it, her attention returning to Shizuo and their conversation with nothing to interrupt it now.

"How did he end up taking that path? Becoming an actor, I mean."

Really, all that time until now he'd been set on getting this over with quickly and then extracting himself at the nearest convenience, if only for Namie's currently-almost-shirtless state. But now, between the time it's taken to get the burns fixed up and the flow of the conversation, he's almost...gotten used to it, now? Or at least, he doesn't have a lot of room to be further embarrassed about it just yet. Namie finishes bandaging her leg, and still Shizuo doesn't shift from the counter just yet, busy mulling over this new question regarding his brother instead.

Right, he hadn't actually elaborated on that story--apart from that one aside mention, back when she was getting the bullets out of him..Shizuo shrugs again, expression a little more wry. "Him being an actor? Well, it's funny--he wasn't really planning to be one at all, actually. It sort of happened on accident..."

Absently, he moves to relieve Namie of the tape roll, if only so he can set that back on the counter too. "Some guy working for a modeling magazine showed up one day. I think he was trying to scout me? For some reason...ah, but he was a really frivolous sort. I didn't really like him. Then he pissed me off somehow, and I was going to beat him within an inch of his life." This is stated in a very flat sort of way. "But then Kasuka came in around that time, so I didn't get around to that. And he decided he'd try scouting Kasuka instead, and Kasuka didn't really mind it. So, he ended up in that magazine and he's been working up ever since..." Shizuo laughs, a short but genuine sound this time. "Funny how that works, isn't it? The way it should be, the older sibling's supposed to be more successful first, right? But Kasuka's a lot better at that sort of thing anyway. He can take care of himself pretty well now, you know?"

That he doesn't immediately move to exit the room is something Namie is thankful for, strangely enough. He's nowhere near as tense as he was initially and, if she's completely honest with herself, she's enjoying their conversation. And his company, for that matter, which is an almost disarming thing to acknowledge even without saying so much aloud.

Without anything to busy herself with, she finds her full attention fixed on Shizuo, allowing him to take the roll of tape without question as she listens to his story. From the way he talks about his brother, it sounds like their temperments are opposite one another - that Shizuo's is on an extremely short fuse depending on the situation and Kasuka is more relaxed. It seems fitting since she can't quite picture both of them as the same type. That's the kind of thing that would get around if the way people regard Shizuo is anything to go by.

"Ah, it really was all by accident." She sounds somewhat amused by the story, though she shakes her head a little. "We're only meant to be more successful first because we're older. Circumstances don't always allow for that." With that, she's pushing herself up from the toilet, her hair slipping back over her shoulder with a turn of her head. Then she's turning to stand in front of Shizuo, reaching out to give the bottom of his vest a light tug, her eyes roaming over his outfit as if she's expecting to find some sign that it's the same one he was wearing the first time he was in her apartment.

"You said he gave you this outfit. More than one, I assume." Her gaze shifts upward as she tilts her head slightly. "So you were a bartender at one point?"

She's over halfway right with an assumption like that, at least--Shizuo and Kasuka being of opposing temperaments. Though, people with the privilege of interacting with Kasuka outside his acting would be less apt to say he's more relaxed than Shizuo necessarily--but rather, that he seems to express a complete lack of emotion whatsoever, in contrast to Shizuo's tendency for far too much emotion in volatile bursts. (Shizuo's still just a little guilty about that too, honestly. He knows it's not Kasuka's fault, ending up sort of like that. When you're growing up with an older brother liable to burst at any overt expression you make...)

Namie has a rather interesting take on the role of older siblings, though--or so Shizuo thinks, as he considers her reply. "Yeah, guess it's true about circumstances...some people would still think we should be good enough to work past things like that, though. Or something..."

It's hard to quite shake off that sort of sense of responsibility, anyway, no matter how justified some failures might be. But then Shizuo is distracted after that, because Namie is standing up and moving right up to him, towel and all. Almost forgotten, but very difficult not to notice now, as she closes the distance--and, with the counter behind him, Shizuo finds there's no room to draw back to a somewhat more polite distance before she's already reaching and tugging at the hem of his waistcoat. --Oh...

In cut and design it's effectively the same suit, yes--though there isn't any evidence of the recent sort of damage to be had from bullets through fabric, unless Shizuo's sewing skills are actually that good. (They aren't.) Shizuo goes on to confirm the difference, as well, as Namie asks her question.

"...Twenty sets of them. Yeah." He returns her gaze with a faintly bemused look of his own, though it shifts to something else as he thinks on her question some more. His eyes shift away, to the side. "I had a bartending job before I ended up with Tom-san. I kind of--had a hard time holding jobs down, before that, but I'd managed to stick with being a bartender for a pretty long time compared to all the others. Kasuka wanted to help me hold onto it." With...an accumulation of suits, which might strike others as odd--but Shizuo had found the gesture poignant to say the least. "...I ended up getting fired anyway, though. No thanks to that fleabag--" And suddenly, one of the Shizuo's hands curls around the edge of the counter behind him, knuckles whitening a bit. "--But--I still could have done better. ...I let him down on that one."

Considering her own fall from grace and her current status of hiding from the law, it's hard to consider herself a success in any form of the word. She hopes Seiji will become more of a success than she's been, though it's not as if they have any other family to hold that kind of thing over them anymore. Though, as things are now, she considers it success enough to be able to provide him with money even if it comes from working for Izaya.

Closing space between them isn't something she thinks much of after having Shizuo leaning over her for the better part of the time they've spent in her bathroom so far, though she probably should since there's no longer a distraction to keep him from immediately getting awkward again. The conversation manages to be enough, but not in the same way things have been so far.

It's clear that she's struck a bit of a sore spot, more for something he's simply unhappy with than one for his anger. For the most part, anyway. Somehow, she's not surprised to hear that Izaya had something to do with the loss of his job. If anything, hearing that just manages to rekindle some of her own irritation toward him for the evening's situation.

Her grip is released so she can reach for his arm instead, her fingers curling around it and sliding down toward the wrist of the hand gripping the counter. She'd prefer to avoid his hand slipping and that grip taking part of her counter with it - the repairs would be a pain to deal with. "I'm sorry." For touching on a subject that isn't the best of memories, for Izaya being Izaya and in his life, for bringing their conversation down - she doesn't actually clarify what the apology is for, but she means it overall. "I doubt you let him down. It sounds like it was out of your control."

True, the conversation has still been enough to distract him from the awkwardness at hand somewhat--at least, to start with. The loss of his bartending stint does still sting a little, on top of the immediate aggravation that comes with thinking about Izaya in general, let alone Izaya in that particular situation.

And he'd been doing so well not thinking of that bastard this whole time, too...but the marginal anger that sparks up enough to tense his frame a little is offset almost immediately when Namie reaches over for his arm instead, fingers sliding down to his wrist--which is enough to get Shizuo to relax again somewhat, if only out of surprise. Startled, he realizes with a glance down that this gesture has inadvertently brought them even closer together, though trying to shrink away against the counter isn't really an option at this point. He'd probably have to outright sit on it to gain any actual distance now...

So that becomes pretty preoccupying too, and brings some very faint color back into his cheeks--but the conversation's still going, and the topic isn't so easy to forget, as Namie replies. Shizuo is glancing away again for multiple reasons now, as he replies, but the trace of unhappiness is audible all the same. "Didn't I? I told him I'd hold it down, though. Ah, and that's the thing, it was out of my control--and it shouldn't have been. If I'd had it together enough to just tell the cops what was really going on instead of throwing shit at them..." Well. Things would probably be very different now, he's sure. He sighs. "But, that's all water under the bridge now. Or whatever that saying is."

She's at least come to realize that being close to him seems to offset his anger some, not because he want to avoid hurting her but because it triggers an amount of awkwardness that he can't seem to ignore. It's something that probably only works because they're alone with one another, though it's not as if she's willing to test a theory like that in front of anyone else. Besides, she has a feeling that any woman getting this close would earn the same kind of reaction.

He continues to speak and she takes the chance to pull his hand away from the counter, turning to back toward the open bathroom door and give him a tug along, letting go of his wrist once she makes it clear that he should follow her. There's more space just about anywhere else in her apartment and she's sure he'd appreciate being able to put some between them if the look on his face is anything to go by.

"You're right, it is all water under the bridge. You seem okay with your current job and I get the feeling Tom-san appreciates having you around, so I don't think you should dwell on it." Though, she has a little more understanding of why Shizuo throws whatever he can get his hands on at Izaya now. And it's impossible to think he doesn't deserve to get hit with a light post for that and many other things he's done.

"Do you want something to drink?" The topic is changed quite bluntly, but the question is offered as she makes her way down the hall to head for the kitchen, no regard for the fact that she's still wearing a towel and her skirt. Anything she puts on is going to cover her shoulder, at the very least, and she'd like to leave it be for the moment.

It's true, any woman getting this close probably would--though Shizuo has certainly not had any opportunity to extensively test this particular theory either. Nor does he generally have any plans to, though Namie has managed to get awkwardly close to him more frequently than any other woman he's ever met so far. And not even on purpose--or at least, not with the intention to embarrass him, he's pretty sure. Evidently it hasn't been objectionable enough for him to bring it up to her yet, either way--though he's honestly not sure how he'd broach the topic even if he wanted to...

But it's still a little bit of a relief, when Namie does step back. ...Even if she takes his hand with her in the process. He steps after her easily when tugged, too startled to consider any resistance, and follows her into the hall after she releases it. ...She's probably right, in a sense, that he is pretty alright with the job he has now--or at the least, he's pretty happy with working alongside Tom. Things could have turned out a lot worse than they did, and he knows that too. It's still somewhat difficult to look Kasuka in the eye sometimes, though, half-convinced as he is that he's probably still somewhat disappointed in him.

The topic switches abruptly, though, and Shizuo blinks after her as they trail into the main room in the direction of the kitchen. She doesn't seem to mind continuing on with just the towel at all...but well, he's certainly not going to say anything. Instead he sort of averts his eyes, in favor of looking around the kitchen as they enter instead.

A drink? The answer slips out without him really having to think on it. "Ah...you got any milk?"

If embarrassing him became a goal of hers, he'd definitely know it. Because there are entirely verbal ways to manage something like that and it's likely the route she would take if it were all intentional. As things are now, she just doesn't mind being close to him and she knows the awkwardness seems to win out over the edge of anger - which she prefers to put a stop to before it has a chance to flare up while they're in her apartment.

The jump of topics is to keep them from getting any deeper into the one previously at hand, and maybe to keep them from getting much deeper into conversation at all. Because it's still disarming to know that talking to him comes easier the longer they're around one another. So much so that she knows she's already shared more about herself than she ever intentionally does with anyone.

It seems as if they're not entirely over the getting to know one another part yet, though, because his request for milk earns a glance - one that's likely missed in his looking around. "I do. I'll get you a glass."

And then she's getting out a couple of glasses and moving to the fridge, pouring water into one and milk into the other before she brings it over to offer it to Shizuo as she speaks up again.

"Thank you."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

( they're bleeding! oh no. they are dead. )

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