generalflirt | ~♥THIRTY-ONE♥~

A lot happened all at once, huh?

[And a sudden glance down at Linda as two and two come together and she realizes why there was suddenly a Pokemon baby.

So the Malnosso even affect animals with these events? ...awkward.]

Yeah, yesterday was busy...

[Sheepishly. He knows he messed up. And then got a pokemon. and then got drunk]

Yeah. [She frowns for a moment and then looks down.]

...I'm not sure how much of what happened is really any of your business, but it hurt to see you speculating on what happened with me and Luffy like that.

[She closes her eyes and lets out a breath that's almost a laugh.] It was embarrassing too. I should probably still be mad at you about it.

-Wait you aren't? [His hand, and eyes go right off of his pichu, and he looks he right in the face. What]

It was a jerky thing to do. I'm probably going to have to face questions from Sanji and Nami now - it won't be hard for them to figure out why you did that. And I didn't read or listen to all of the comments on that journal, but some of the ones I did... [She frowns and shakes her head. That Saber one especially, but poor Naruto.

...although looking back on that, it's kind of funny. Cram school, honestly.] You were mean. And crude. I wish you hadn't done it.

If you wanted to know what had happened, you should have just waited until you could talk to me.

[She shakes her head and meets his gaze.] But I'm not mad anymore.

[Just tired and hurt and disappointed. Totally better, right?]

[ . . . She's not mad? She's sad? It shows, something is going on there. He's not entirely certain what is going on here. Hmm. He looks at Linda and then back at her. The gaze is even.]

Ah... I'm not sure I want to know. [He does.]

[...well, she's certainly not going to push it.]

Okay.

[And she'll wait for him to say one way or the other.]

[He considers a long, long moment. He closes his eyes even, trying to sort out what he feels. How does he put this...] I was hurt. Not because of him... ah, no. I am curious but.

[...]

Was something once more stolen from you, Katara?

[...Katara squirms a little at that question, actually shrinking in on herself a bit. Oh man, now what does she say?]

...you were hurt, but it wasn't because of him?

[It's not a dodge for time, exactly, as much as it is something that if she answers his question first, she knows she'll not be able to get back to.]

Mmmhm, not him.

[And now he opens his eyes. That wasn't his question, and she did put it in his court]

[...well. Then she'll have to circle around back to it.]

...we'd been dating for three months, or at least, we thought we had. Luffy was always very respectful and kind, and he never pushed me. But... yes. If you want to put it like that.

[She can't really help it, her shoulders hunch. And one hand moves up to touch her lips for a moment, before she realizes what she's doing and drops it back to her lap.]

You put it like that first, didn't you? [Or maybe he did... back on the beach. He frowns at this. No, she shakes his head. There's no reason to focus on that. What... should he do. Nnnngh.

In that case, he'll look down to Linda. He nods to her, and he's going to scoot a little closer to Katara himself.]

[It's a good time to move closer, since Katara's looking down and not paying any attention, she barely catches the move out of her peripheral vision.]

Maybe. [She doesn't remember, but it seems like it fits. It's not worth fighting about, anyway.]

Anyway, [she looks up and... doesn't really note the change in proximity with the conscious part of her brain] it could have been a lot worse.

[Considering her age now... a lot worse. If the Malnosso had made them think they were in love for longer...]

At least we both don't feel that way towards each other anymore. So we know where we stand.

[...Hm. Scooted closer, he's actually going to make the reach to try to put an arm - or well, a hand - on her shoulder. Ideally, he'd pull her into a side-hug, but he's going to just... do it. Close to it, anyway]

Cut and dry? No feelings? [He tries to keep that tone even. He tries to not have doubt in it. It might leech a bit]

[Honestly? A friend's comforting touch right now would be awesome. But Katara can't help but feel that indulging in that with Masaomi would be... misleading at best, under the circumstances.

She shakes her head and speaks quietly:]

I don't know if it's cut and dry - but it's not like last year, with Chouji. And Luffy wouldn't lie to me - those feelings of love are gone.

[She rolls her shoulder lightly under his touch.] And hands off, Masaomi.

["Hands off." It's a direct order. Everything in him wants to resist but... if she's going to be direct like that and not just shove him off, he'll comply. He just frowns, not quite pouting but... well]

Ah... yeah. If you're sure of that much... [A sigh. What is he even saying?]

I'm glad for it.

[Truthfully, she misses his touch as soon as he removes his hand.

But she has to look out for him as well as herself. Even it felt good for the moment, reassuring and warm, she can't be selfish about this. Going back on what she said just because she needed to be comforted and then reinforcing the rules when she didn't - that's not fair to him. She doesn't want to use him, she doesn't want to lead him on - she desperately wishes things could be simple, that they could go back...

But what's the point in wishing?

Around this time last year, they'd been dancing around his hotel room with her hand over his mouth to keep him from shouting out her confused feelings about Chouji. Now...

Moon and stars, when did her heart start feeling so empty?

Katara looks down and blinks rapidly to hold back tears.

But he's speaking, and when his words sink in they're a bit jarring - glad for it? He's glad? She looks up at him again and... oh. Of course he is.]

Yeah. I'm sure. It might be weird for a little bit, but Luffy and I have been friends for almost two years. This isn't going to stop that.

[I don't regret it, he'd said.

...and she's not sure if she should now reinforce the fact that things haven't changed with the way she feels about him either, but... she'll wait for a bit, to see if she has to.]

[And now... a genuine smile for her. No, no doubts now. He doesn't fail to notice her being sad and he really, really would like to do something about it but in all due honesty, she'll probably just... not want to hear it. Not want him to touch her or something all over again. And while that makes him sad...

I love you. Let's make that true]

It would have been a shame to lose a friend over this.

[Heh.]

Yeah.

[Because she can take that and apply it to both of them, really. While what had happened with her and Masaomi had been brief, it had the potential to be no less devastating. But somehow, amazingly, they were still okay.]

It would have been.

But. [And he says this next part very pointedly. It commands a certain attention, which oddly enough Linda at least gives.] It's also a shame there's nothing left, in a way, too.

[As her gaze jerks back up to him, it's initially just a bit of a wibble, because ouch.]

[But that flickers into exasperation very, very quickly.]

Why do you say that?

Because loving someone just to leave a void is too sad.

[Okay, yeah, that just snakes right in and stings.

Katara drops her gaze and swallows hard.]

...well, I can't argue with you there.

[She draws her knees more tightly to here chest and just sort of generally tries to curl in on herself and disappear, never a fan of being seen hurting.]

But at least we know what's real and what's not.

Hm. [He considers a moment. He looks to Linda and then back to her. How does he put this... lightly.] Is a "lie" not real?

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