milliways_bar | (no subject)

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Enzo is in conversation with Bar:

"No, not a box of chocolates, just that kind of box."

"Right, heart-shaped. And a bunch of those little paper wrappers, and one of those puffy dividers. And I guess I'll need to make one of those map things to go inside the lid."

"You remember what we went through on Halloween. She's not gonna want a whole bunch of chocolate."

"Alphanumeric, thanks. Now, what kinds of jerky can I get in little pieces?"

Bother, or help keep Minus from playing with the wrappers. Also, outsideInterface is signed on.

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"That....looks like a really good idea," Mirai comments from nearby. "Hi, Enzo-san."

"Oh, uh, hey... Miss Kuriyama. Um. Thanks."

He wonders if he would feel less completely awkward if he knew what actually went down with Autor. He doesn't even know whether she was involved.

Minus, however, beeps at her and holds up the string laconicKilljoy at the end of a tentacle. Hello, new friend!

It doesn't matter if she actually did or didn't do anything. She considers it an appropriate reaction to her.

But then she notices Minus. "Ah? You... you're a T Minus," she states. Well, of course Minus is; there's her T Minus handle. "I guess you know me?"

"Oh, yeah, that's Minus. He's... I digitized a unit, and he's the software. He always knows when someone's on the network."

Makes sense to Mirai. Not that she ever expected to see a chat client like this before.

"Do you feed him digital food like this?" she asks.

"Yeah, he'll eat pretty much anything I do."

Mirai waves a little to Minus. "Ah, he's cute."

Minus waves his tentacles back.

"Yeah."

Um.

"So... um... I don't really know if I should even be asking or what, maybe this is private access, but... do you know... what was up with Autor?"

'Do you know' seems general enough.

Mirai frowns a little more. "Ah, h-has he told you? About home?"

"No. Hardly anything. He's... not real forthcoming. He did say there used to be some kind of time loop there, but that's it."

"Ah. It... well, some of it is related to why that happens, I think. There's kind of a lot? But some of it is that there was a girl at home, and he kind of told her he likes her? Then she laughed in his face."

Her cheeks flush a bit, and she fiddles a bit with the sleeves of her cardigan.

"Oh."

Well, that matches.

"I kind of thought..." He points at her, not sure what was actually expressed between the two of them.

".....d-did Autor-senpai talk to you about that? A-about me?"

"No! No, he just acted like it when I saw you together."

Mirai turns her head towards the floor. "He... he did say he likes me," she admits, lacing her fiddling fingers together.

"But... then he liked this other girl?"

And then he punched a brick wall.

She shakes her head no. "He told me after. That he likes this other girl, but he likes me, too."

She smiles a self-depreciating smile. "I asked about her. She sounds beautiful, even if she's mean. It makes more sense to like someone like her."

"Hey, no! Don't start that. It never makes more sense to like someone mean."

"...Enzo-san," she quietly says. "Liking anyone else more than me makes sense."

Even if Autor did list quite a few reasons why he likes her. More than he did with Rue.

"He's probably not happy with me, anyway. I couldn't say anything when he said it and don't know what to say now."

"No. That's not... just, no." Sigh. "Do you like him back?"

".....I shouldn't. I don't know if I like him the same way he likes me, but I probably shouldn't."

She reaches in her pocket for the handkerchief Autor told her to keep, her nose deciding to bother her now that her throat's recovered. She finally notices the apricot and her initials stitched in the corner.

"...he had a handkerchief monogrammed for me and gave it to me without me noticing," she says, the realization prompting a sniffle.

Enzo is temporarily distracted from voicing an opinion on this by trying to keep a curious Minus from grabbing the handkerchief.

It is quite nice, though. "What's the M for?"

"Mirai," she answers, dabbing at her tears.

"Mirai," he repeats. "Hey! If you switch the vowels, that's my niece's name. A-and my mom's."

Distraction? Yes? Minor distraction from the crying?

She takes a breath, the handkerchief draped over the lower half of her face from its spot near her eye.

"It means future," she says. "I d-don't really like it."

"No?" It seems a reasonably good name to him.

She never asked for one.

"I don't really like anything about myself."

"Why not?"

"I've told you why," she softly says. "I'm something that shouldn't exist."

"So?" he says a bit sharply. "If you want to get technical, so am I. I don't let that lag me."

Mirai takes a step back.

"No!" she argues, suddenly burning. "It's not like what you are. You're not a demon or cursed or anything unpleasant like that. All I can do is hurt other people! How would you even know what that's like when all you do is fix things?!"

"I..."

Enzo stiffens, then sags. (Minus beeps in alarm.)

"I'm sorry. You're right, it's not the same. And I don't know what it's like. Not personally. But... I do know other people who are demons and stuff like that, and they've used it to do good. So I know it's possible."

"I already know I can't," she protests before turning to leave. "I'm just too unpleasant."

And with that, she briskly walks to the stairs.

"Come back, I..."

Headbar.

"Spam."

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