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IC Contact;
Be sure to indicate the date and method of communication; messenger bird, text, audio, or image!]
Be sure to indicate the date and method of communication; messenger bird, text, audio, or image!]
Be sure to indicate the date and method of communication; messenger bird, text, audio, or image!]
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Truthfully, given just how Hibiki has ached to keep reaching out in the past, he's not surprised at all that she seems to be going this way. Because of that, there are certain bits he's left out. He asked Mrs. Bradley specifically just why she'd chosen to stay, for example, and her answer had been that Pride had attacked her outright at first. But so long as that boy is treated like a monster, he'll always see himself as such, and so someone needs to remain at his side.
It's exactly the sort of thing a bleeding heart would fall for. It's also true, if Pride is redeemable at all. If Hibiki's going to make a decision like this, Kevin thinks, she should be thinking more of risks than of pity.
"All of us here in this house...we'll be there if you need us. Or -- if you want us, too."
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"...Thank you. You and... and everyone here, you all..."
She takes a breath, lifting up her head to finally look at him properly.
"...You all help me so much. Even when I do things like this..."
She's well aware she's potentially pulling him from his own business to help her with this one, just as she knows she does the same to the others whenever they feel they need to sit her down and point her in the right direction. There's so much she can't do alone, and it seldom feels like a simple 'thank you' could possibly cover just how much she appreciates it all.
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"All of us...we're meant for this sort of thing," he says, and as far as he's concerned, it's absolutely, completely, truly true. "Gilbert and I are servants, Mister Bulat has given his all to make his country a better place at home. Hah, even Oz." Let himself die on the behalf of the rest of the world. "He's a big brother, you know. I know that...it delighted him very much to come back and find a new little sister for him to be there for."
Perhaps it might be wiser, or at least more typical, to frame this answer in terms of Hibiki herself, and reassure her that she's no trouble at all and so on. But Kevin just doesn't think like that. It's not that it isn't any trouble -- on the contrary, it's a great deal of it, to have to worry about these things all the time. It's just that it's trouble that all of them are more than willing to deal with, and that's the important part.
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Gasp! Her hands go over her mouth as it dawns on her. "S-so, all this time... He's missed his little sister?!"
And just like that, she's been derailed. Forget her own troubles, there is now poor Oz-san to worry about, as she is so very prone to do.
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"He has! He's not the sort of person who likes to talk about that sort of thing, you know? You've been comforting him without even realizing it, hah."
What a good monster Kevin has just unleashed. He is very pleased.
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"Will... will he be okay? Even though I'm not really his family..."
Does she need to act a certain way, should she be trying to be more like an actual sister, what are actual sisters like--
Yeah, she is sufficiently distracted, if that slight, watery waver in the air is any indication. Apparently fretting over her housemates has finally brought about its own emotional effect.
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Meanwhile, elsewhere in Verens, Oz suddenly feels an overwhelming sense of karmic suspicion. He does not know why but he's placing his bets on Kevin because who else would it be, tch.
"Hah, it'd work on Bulat, too..."
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"Big brother...?" So... a little like how she refers to Shizuo. She nods, her expression serious.
"Then... I'll call him that from now on!" Look at her, hands all balled up determinedly and everything. Her tea might just warm itself up again, with emotions like these flying around.
"...Um... Do you really think I should call Bulat-san that, too...?" She doesn't have anything against him, she just doesn't know him well enough to know why such a thing would make him particularly happy*.
*She is assuming that the reason for this is because it would make them happy, not because Kevin is nefariously finding ways to tease them.
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"In the end, it's always up to Miss Hibiki. But, sometimes, Mister Bulat likes to tell me about his apprentice that he has at home. He's really, really proud, you know? And, he asked that apprentice to call him 'Aniki'." Because he intends to say that word in particular, he says it, but Empatheias and its auto-translate still adds a helpful undercurrent of 'big bro' to it. "To him, it's a way for a person to tell him that they look up to him, I think."
Kevin is absolutely nefariously finding ways to tease them, but in this case, his heart is in as right a place as it ever gets. Oz acts like a bossy brat all the time, but it's a master's job to take care of his servants and Oz lives that philosophy. Bulat has no idea at all what to do with children he can't teach swords to, but for him, it's a special sort of fulfilling to be the rock everyone leans on. What Kevin's really doing here is trying to bring his little family closer together.
...nefariously.
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"Big bro feels a little..." Weird, if she's being honest, but that's mainly because it's so casual. Then again, a student once called her out on being so polite to him using the above-mentioned language details. Hrmmm...
"...do you think just 'big brother' would be okay for him, too?" In the end, old habits die hard, and although she doesn't mean to be distant, she doesn't want to sound too casual out of the blue, either-!
That burning determination has once again fizzled out to fretting, alas.
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Does Hibiki remember that time Bulat tried to teach her to scream this past summer? Yeah...yeah. Yeah. Probably being casual is not the thing to be worried about here.
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"Eh-- then, maybe I should learn how to use a sword too-?!"
She still trips over her own feet. Having her try to balance herself and also a stick is certain to go well.
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"...I think that Miss Hibiki ought to be whatever Miss Hibiki will be," he says, at length. "The people who care...they'll be proud no matter what, you know? Bulat yells a lot and likes to roughhouse, but I've seen him show off the things I've knit for him when he thinks I am not looking. The swords are only...how to put it. They're trappings, really."
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"I think I'd probably trip with it anyway..."
She's not that unaware.
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"Ehhh, some of it's difficult. But it's -- well, it's like cooking in a way, you know? The simplest stitches are really as easy as making a sandwich, but...some people can make these enormous, intricate lace shawls out of wool that looks like cobwebs, on teeny tiny needles. That's more like Gilbert when he goes and makes us a proper dinner where everything's ready all at the same time and does it with only one hand."
Kevin can knock out a cute doily with minimal mishap, and he's even made a simple lace shawl, once. But even after over a year of practice, he's definitely not good enough to make one of the fancy ones without a great deal of fuss and mistakes.
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"So your knitting is like... Maybe a stew?"
Not too difficult, mainly tossing ingredients in a pot at the right time and letting them boil. It's one of the dishes she often relied on as a result.
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Not a single person in this place would be surprised to find that Kevin's ultimate knitting goal is the equivalent of festive sugar cookies.
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"That would be beautiful... I hope I can see them once they're done!"
It's a nice thing to look forward to - even if it's fairly removed from the original subject.
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It's definitely, definitely a skill she could learn -- she only needs one stitch to make a whole scarf, and it would give her another reason to be proud of herself. Plus, knitting is something that would suit her, Kevin thinks...it has that same warm, caring, good feel about it that making tea does. That's not why he does it, but it's definitely a nice perk, even for him.
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It catches her by surprise, and it takes her a second before it occurs to her that she should probably answer.
“R-really…?”
It’s not much of an answer, but it’s more than just a squeak of surprise, at least. Is it even possible for her to learn something like that…?
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It only occurs to him now that maybe she has no interest in it. But he's been reading things where he can, about ways to shift certain behaviors, and it's helped him so much, so...
"I learned it in my own world because it was a practical thing, but -- in this place, I've found it a helpful way to focus, and to be calm."
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"Do you... Do you think I could? I'm not a very good student..." She tries very hard to be, yes, but trying doesn't mean succeeding, and she's learned to be wary of such things as a result.
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"No... I pick it up normally."
But knitting's different from picking up a fork... Isn't it?
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