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[swordfucker]

Guren Ichinose | Red | #A5211F

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[keeneye]

[It's worse than she expected. The pep and happiness from the earlier text conversation are replaced with a visible worry. He didn't even react this bad when she showed up with an unexpected visitor last time...

She follows along after him into the house.]

Well, I remembered I had a gift for you for helping out so much. I decided I should bring it to you today. [There's a lilt to her voice saying that there's no way he could guess what the gift is. She lets the lead hang in the air, hoping for him to stop and turn to face her.]

[swordfucker]

[She's cute, and normally Guren would be a little more gentle with his tsun. Today, though, he's tired and cracking at every surface.]

I don't need any gifts. Save it for someone else. [Just like that, he shoots down any excitement, closing the door after her and moving further into the house.] I have a lot of work to do, right now.

[keeneye]

[Well... That didn't work. She didn't really want to do this through underhanded means but Emma isn't one to sweat the small stuff when it comes to making the situation better. Going off of his mood right now he would refuse if she offered openly.

Which is why she takes out the colorful orange from her pocket with a flourish. Without waiting for any further denials she grabs his hand and places it firmly in his grasp, clasping her hands over his to hold the orange in place. A strange sensation spreads from her clasped hands... A wave of calm? Like taking a deep breath after realizing your shoulders have been tensed up.]

I insist. It's only a small snack.

[Emma doesn't break eye contact if she can manage to catch it in the first place. She's not mentioning anything about her newfound magical touch. He's going to calm down whether he wants to or not.]

[swordfucker]

[He doesn't mind her shoving fruit at him, but with that touch comes a reaction he doesn't expect. The weariness of his body fades into something a little dimmer. The complete exhaustion he'd been riding on, like each step could give out if he wasn't careful, or his eyes wouldn't stay open, or his limbs ached to the bone— it was all a little less dire. Like he wasn't going to die from sleep deprivation.

Honestly, that's a little amazing. There's a slim feeling of alarm, but even that feels muted in the face of this.]

...What was that? [It's foreign and he can tell, being so used to needing to detect subtle things like illusions. There's no animosity, and he's definitely appreciating even this orange, but he has to know this first.]

[keeneye]

[It worked? She didn't really have a reason to doubt the ghost as he passed on but it's still amazing that it worked for real. Or she assumes it did or else he wouldn't have asked such a question. It's not exactly easy to tell if he feels less weary or not thanks to his poker face. Thankfully he just sounds confused, not angry, so she hazards a embarrassed smile. It was meant to help but she still got caught testing out a power on her friend.]

A gift from a ghost. [Emma lets go of his hands, moving her hands to clasp them behind her back.] It's supposed to help ease weariness. Um- Did it? I just wanted to help out a little...

[swordfucker]

...The ghost you met gave you that?

[He remembers Ochako saying her group had met a ghost, that nothing had gone wrong, but he can't help but be a little worried.] Did it bother you at all just now?

[He'll tell her it helped after he's sure she doesn't like, steal the weariness or something horrible. He's suspicious...]

[keeneye]

[That's not answering the question, Guren.

She nods, yes, a ghost. Sadly, she doesn't have a more concrete answers than that thanks to fairy tale logic. The second question has her stopping and looking down at her own hands.]

No. I don't feel any different at all. [she clenches and unclenches her hand.] I think it was a real gift. He was happy about being able to pass on.

[A slightly depressing thought but she supports Duarte. He was a good ghost. That said she is going to ask again until he stops dancing around the point.]

You do feel better, don't you?

[swordfucker]

I do.

[Relaxing a little further at her words, he finally looks down at what she gave him. An orange? So those have color restored to them, as well. He does admit that it'd be nice to taste something like this. But bringing it to him? He glances over it at her again.]

Sorry. It's just that when I feel a sensation like that, it's usually a curse or a demon. [Another glance at the orange, undecided if he's going to actually pause his work to eat it. Hrm.] Thanks.

[keeneye]

[A very aesthetic blood orange, thank you.]

Good.

[Emma lets out a small sigh now that he admits it with his real words. She isn't as stressed as he is, obviously, but she can empathize with how this place can get under someone's skin. It's all the little set backs and unknown horrors. She hasn't been the best at managing her own feelings either, truth be told.

It's a lot. And Guren has been trying to tackle it all for everyone.]

I can promise you I'm not a demon, at the least. [ha..ha...] Even if it really is a demon's power I'm going to make as much use of it as possible to help everyone here. So please rely on me a little bit more, okay?

[Says the literally 11 year old. She is dreadfully earnest though.]

[swordfucker]

A demon's power isn't like that.

[He says it back soon enough. Whatever this gift is... it could be fine, but not knowing it makes Guren more paranoid. Still... It helped him a lot. And now he's left staring at her earnest face like he's both exasperated and grateful, not sure which one should win over in the battle of expression.

He decides to ruffle her hair. With extra oomph.]

I can't. You're so tiny, you'll get crushed by my weight when I try to lean on you. [He's joking...!! That's an improvement!]

[keeneye]

[Her head is already a bird's nest, don't make it any worse!

The joking does lift her spirits. It was a great improvement from the frustrated tired look from before. She'll keep the momentum going by sticking a hand out to push against his stomach and laugh. Should have ruffled her out of reach if he didn't want to be poked by children.]

I don't know, I think I could manage.

[Eat your fruit snack you beanpole.]

[swordfucker]

No way.

[He laughs, so he definitely doesn't mind the pushing. A few more aggressive ruffles with his LONG ADULT ARM, and then he's done, pulling back and turning to head to the kitchen. The orange is still in his other hand and he tosses it and catches it a few times.]

Let's see how this tastes. Come here, you can have some. [He doesn't care that it's his gift!! It's no fun if you don't share a little.]