[ With everyone is apparently the only answer here, but before he can answer with that, Ishmael's flopping over against her bed and whatever thoughts of guys' or girls' gossip sputters to a halt as a thread of concern snakes its way ahead.
He puts his glass down, just in case he has to help her up onto her bed or towards the bathroom. ]
[ i mean, it's soju. but it's not just the drink that's making ishmael feel weird -- her drunken mind is working over time in a futile effort to be rational at a time like this as she dwells on the question wriothesley asked her a moment ago.
would she have done the same with the other guys? obviously the first one to come to mind is toji. he was the other person she'd kissed with tongue before so she figured it'd be the same... but it's not. she can't see herself doing that to him in semi-public, out of sheer worry and impulsivity. what they have is different; it was purely physical, nothing more.
but now this leaves her with only one conclusion. why she'd rather do it with wriothesley, and why she wouldn't hesitate to do it again in better, less harrowing circumstances. ]
she wanted so bad to deny this for a long time, ever since certain people have brought it up with her. falling for someone is practically a taboo for most fixers if you want to be efficient about it, after all. no use getting attached to your coworkers if they're just gonna die at any time due to the city's astronomically high mortality rate. she was dreading this ever since the very idea was put into her head, and maybe there's still hope that maybe this is just meaningless chemistry that won't have to go anywhere.
but that's the only logical conclusion she can come up with it for now, and the very thought of it is making her ill. not because she hates the idea, but because now she has to dwell on that very idea until it drives her crazy and that means-- ]
[ she can't talk to him about it. not now, until she gets a better hold of herself. and the very thought of hiding all this from him is also making her ill and--
she shakes her head, the color draining from her face the more she overthinks. ]
I... may have had too much to drink. Sorry.
[ there it is, the first lie. and that won't be the last. ]
[ can't believe she would lie to him after he poured his heart out to her.........................
Years spent in a volatile environment have trained him to notice subtle shifts in posture and expression, not out of any voluntary urge to learn but because of simple necessity. Ishmael's going through something alright, but he's not entirely convinced it's 100% due to all the alcohol that's been passed around. At the same time, it's not any of his right to pry. If she wants to tell him, if she trusts him enough to tell him, then she will. And he can trust in her enough to believe that she will tell him whatever's on her mind when the time comes, if it's important enough.
Instead of asking anything further he gets up, the sound of crinkling plastic filling the air as he steps over to the desk and fishes a water bottle out, frowning at the way it takes half a second for the equilibrium at the back of his head to catch up with the rest of his body. Popping open the lid, he turns and offers it to Ishmael. ]
Here.
[ Hopefully she doesn't need to be told to drink water. ]
[ she can't believe it either, and it's making her feel extra guilty. this shouldn't even be all about her at all, after wriothesley went out of his way to tell her things that he'd never tell anyone, at least not in a very long time. a lot of people have tried, and with how he had to be tormented by malkuth in order to pull some answers out of him, ishmael absolutely can't blame him for keeping his mouth shut.
she blinks blearily at the water before carefully grabbing it, taking large gulps of if until she's completely drained the entire thing. haha wow, this is an extreme thirst all right. at least some of the color's returned to her face, though she's far from feeling better now that the idea's completely rooted in her mind with no way of pulling it out for the time being.
... ]
Thanks. [ her voice is weak as her head's bent down. she's thanking him mostly for the water but also: ] For... trusting me, Wriothesley.
[ she wouldn't have come up with that conclusion without you. ]
Also her words would be a lot more convincing if she hadn't looked like she'd been ready to puke a minute ago. As it stands, he loiters nearby, just in case he does have to grab the plastic bag and shove it under her face. ]
I trust you won't make me regret it.
[ It's meant to be a joke but the words come out half-hearted, probably because it's hard for him to even joke about something like this. ]
Guess I should start cleaning all this up though, huh? [ Drink time is over..... ]
[ she insists. she has to. this is a good thing, and she's not about to squander something that he knows he's been grappling for a long time now.
fortunately, she doesn't feel like throwing up just yet. maybe tomorrow, once she's slept and thought too hard about it. but honestly, she doesn't want him to leave yet, and she's already kicking herself for being this needy on the onset. ]
Wait. [ yet she goes for it anyway, if only to buy some time. ] You... haven't answered my other questions yet.
[ about the popularity vote and the... other one. which are probably questions that might drive him away anyway, but she's running out of ideas. ]
Wriothesley obviously also thought he escaped answering those questions, judging from the way his hand pauses in the middle of picking up one of the soju bottles. Give him (and me) a minute to rewind the conversation to remember what the questions even were, though he goes back to quietly putting away the bottles and glasses in the meantime.
As rowdy as the guys had been at guys' night, it doesn't feel right to breach the unspoken vow of what happens during guys' night stays at guys' night, which means he only has the other question left to answer. Give him ANOTHER minute to think about that one, the silence in the room punctuated by the clink of glass bottles. Would he kiss Sooyoung like that? Absolutely not, and the thought makes his skin crawl. Malkuth? Too nosy. March? That would be like kissing a sister. Rodion?
.....
He would kiss Rodya, but not in that way.
So there's the answer, reluctantly pulled out of him after a hefty silence. His only solace is that his back is turned to her when he finally answers, too busy putting the bottles back into the plastic bag. ]
....No. I wouldn't have done the same thing to any of them.
[ and there it is. normally any other girl would be elated to hear that, and maybe ishmael would feel a lot better about it once she's reached stage 5: acceptance. but right now, with his quiet answer and his back turned on her as he finishes cleaning up, ishmael thinks that he's also mulling deeply about this. he's just a lot more normal about it about it compared to her ensuing emotional breakdown the next morning.
she brings up her knees up to her chest, resting her head there as the warmth on her cheeks continues to settle there. really, he could've just lied to her about it and she'll never know. but he's not the type to do that either, so... all she can do is heave out a long sigh. ]
...I see.
[ she'll prod about the popularity thing tomorrow, because she too can be nosy. but this is... a lot of information, and maybe she shouldn't have asked if he's going to answer honestly. but he trusts her now, so...?! ]
Well. Don't let me keep you too long. [ she tries to sound casual about it, albeit in a weak voice, even though internally she's like 🥺🥺🥺 don't go ] Maybe we should just have tea next time.
[ SHE JUST SAID SHE HAD TOO MUCH TO DRINK he isn't just gonna abandon her in her room?? Though he supposes he doesn't have to be the one to keep her company while she sobers up more. The atmosphere feels...off. Heavier than before, even when he'd been slowly dredging up his past.
He finishes his clean-up and finally turns around. ]
I didn't have any other plans.
[ But now his plans are to sit in his room and think about his life choices. Delightful. ]
But you should rest. I won't keep you. [ Still... ] Should I call Rodya over?
[ NOOOOOO KEEP HER COMPANY but also no... don't keep her company. she doesn't know. she hates it when she doesn't know things. this is completely uncharted territory for her, and for once she wishes that heathcliff is here to needle out advice from the guy. surely the man from wuthering heights himself would have some completely fine advice??????
at the mention of rodya, she immediately shakes her head. ]
It's fine. You don't have to. I-- [ she lets out another long sigh. ] I'm sorry. For ruining the fun. I'll make it up to you very soon.
[ she has to. because she feels completely bad after all that, though to be absolutely fair he did actually come here to traumadump first thing. idk what he expected. ]
[ She's really out here apologizing when he was the one to traumadump on her in the first place.
And boy does that not sit right with him. There are a lot of things he could potentially accept an apology for but this ain't it, chief. Instead of leaving, he crouches down in front of her, crinkling plastic and clinking bottle noises filling the air. ]
There's nothing to make up for or apologize for, Ishmael. I should have learned my lesson from last time, if anything. [ To pace her better. They really are going to be forced into drinking only tea after this. ] Just focus on feeling better.
[ And then they can figure out everything afterwards. ]
[ he's so sweet. why does he have to be so nice. if he had even one mean bone in his body, she could've probably dealt with this a lot better. but it's because of his niceness that she's reduced to a complete mess - something that she'd never anticipated since coming to this place. especially now that he chooses to be friendly and amicable after everything he'd been through?
he's so strong for that. she wishes she could do that, too.
she locks her tired eyes with his, before giving him a slow, wordless nod. she'll think rationally about this tomorrow morning, totally. she'll do her best to be normal about it from now on, yes.
[ Because the alternative is being a thoughtless, selfish bastard and he would really prefer not to have a single similarity with the miserable people that raised him.
Anyway he is not convinced that she is going to be okay but he is going to (again) trust that she will be an adult and call someone for help if she starts feeling worse. There's a strange urge to....he doesn't fucking know, hold her hand for a brief moment or touch her face but he pushes those intrusive thoughts aside and gets up to leave instead.
At least they will both be normal later in the week for their underwater Fontaine date. ]
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He puts his glass down, just in case he has to help her up onto her bed or towards the bathroom. ]
Ishmael? Are you alright?
[ DID SHE HAVE TOO MUCH TO DRINK.... ]
1/3
would she have done the same with the other guys? obviously the first one to come to mind is toji. he was the other person she'd kissed with tongue before so she figured it'd be the same... but it's not. she can't see herself doing that to him in semi-public, out of sheer worry and impulsivity. what they have is different; it was purely physical, nothing more.
but now this leaves her with only one conclusion. why she'd rather do it with wriothesley, and why she wouldn't hesitate to do it again in better, less harrowing circumstances. ]
2/3
she wanted so bad to deny this for a long time, ever since certain people have brought it up with her. falling for someone is practically a taboo for most fixers if you want to be efficient about it, after all. no use getting attached to your coworkers if they're just gonna die at any time due to the city's astronomically high mortality rate. she was dreading this ever since the very idea was put into her head, and maybe there's still hope that maybe this is just meaningless chemistry that won't have to go anywhere.
but that's the only logical conclusion she can come up with it for now, and the very thought of it is making her ill. not because she hates the idea, but because now she has to dwell on that very idea until it drives her crazy and that means-- ]
no subject
she shakes her head, the color draining from her face the more she overthinks. ]
I... may have had too much to drink. Sorry.
[ there it is, the first lie. and that won't be the last. ]
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Years spent in a volatile environment have trained him to notice subtle shifts in posture and expression, not out of any voluntary urge to learn but because of simple necessity. Ishmael's going through something alright, but he's not entirely convinced it's 100% due to all the alcohol that's been passed around. At the same time, it's not any of his right to pry. If she wants to tell him, if she trusts him enough to tell him, then she will. And he can trust in her enough to believe that she will tell him whatever's on her mind when the time comes, if it's important enough.
Instead of asking anything further he gets up, the sound of crinkling plastic filling the air as he steps over to the desk and fishes a water bottle out, frowning at the way it takes half a second for the equilibrium at the back of his head to catch up with the rest of his body. Popping open the lid, he turns and offers it to Ishmael. ]
Here.
[ Hopefully she doesn't need to be told to drink water. ]
no subject
she blinks blearily at the water before carefully grabbing it, taking large gulps of if until she's completely drained the entire thing. haha wow, this is an extreme thirst all right. at least some of the color's returned to her face, though she's far from feeling better now that the idea's completely rooted in her mind with no way of pulling it out for the time being.
... ]
Thanks. [ her voice is weak as her head's bent down. she's thanking him mostly for the water but also: ] For... trusting me, Wriothesley.
[ she wouldn't have come up with that conclusion without you. ]
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Also her words would be a lot more convincing if she hadn't looked like she'd been ready to puke a minute ago. As it stands, he loiters nearby, just in case he does have to grab the plastic bag and shove it under her face. ]
I trust you won't make me regret it.
[ It's meant to be a joke but the words come out half-hearted, probably because it's hard for him to even joke about something like this. ]
Guess I should start cleaning all this up though, huh? [ Drink time is over..... ]
no subject
[ she insists. she has to. this is a good thing, and she's not about to squander something that he knows he's been grappling for a long time now.
fortunately, she doesn't feel like throwing up just yet. maybe tomorrow, once she's slept and thought too hard about it. but honestly, she doesn't want him to leave yet, and she's already kicking herself for being this needy on the onset. ]
Wait. [ yet she goes for it anyway, if only to buy some time. ] You... haven't answered my other questions yet.
[ about the popularity vote and the... other one. which are probably questions that might drive him away anyway, but she's running out of ideas. ]
no subject
Wriothesley obviously also thought he escaped answering those questions, judging from the way his hand pauses in the middle of picking up one of the soju bottles. Give him (and me) a minute to rewind the conversation to remember what the questions even were, though he goes back to quietly putting away the bottles and glasses in the meantime.
As rowdy as the guys had been at guys' night, it doesn't feel right to breach the unspoken vow of what happens during guys' night stays at guys' night, which means he only has the other question left to answer. Give him ANOTHER minute to think about that one, the silence in the room punctuated by the clink of glass bottles. Would he kiss Sooyoung like that? Absolutely not, and the thought makes his skin crawl. Malkuth? Too nosy. March? That would be like kissing a sister. Rodion?
.....
He would kiss Rodya, but not in that way.
So there's the answer, reluctantly pulled out of him after a hefty silence. His only solace is that his back is turned to her when he finally answers, too busy putting the bottles back into the plastic bag. ]
....No. I wouldn't have done the same thing to any of them.
[ Honesty hour sucks, actually. ]
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she brings up her knees up to her chest, resting her head there as the warmth on her cheeks continues to settle there. really, he could've just lied to her about it and she'll never know. but he's not the type to do that either, so... all she can do is heave out a long sigh. ]
...I see.
[ she'll prod about the popularity thing tomorrow, because she too can be nosy. but this is... a lot of information, and maybe she shouldn't have asked if he's going to answer honestly. but he trusts her now, so...?! ]
Well. Don't let me keep you too long. [ she tries to sound casual about it, albeit in a weak voice, even though internally she's like 🥺🥺🥺 don't go ] Maybe we should just have tea next time.
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He finishes his clean-up and finally turns around. ]
I didn't have any other plans.
[ But now his plans are to sit in his room and think about his life choices. Delightful. ]
But you should rest. I won't keep you. [ Still... ] Should I call Rodya over?
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at the mention of rodya, she immediately shakes her head. ]
It's fine. You don't have to. I-- [ she lets out another long sigh. ] I'm sorry. For ruining the fun. I'll make it up to you very soon.
[ she has to. because she feels completely bad after all that, though to be absolutely fair he did actually come here to traumadump first thing. idk what he expected. ]
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And boy does that not sit right with him. There are a lot of things he could potentially accept an apology for but this ain't it, chief. Instead of leaving, he crouches down in front of her, crinkling plastic and clinking bottle noises filling the air. ]
There's nothing to make up for or apologize for, Ishmael. I should have learned my lesson from last time, if anything. [ To pace her better. They really are going to be forced into drinking only tea after this. ] Just focus on feeling better.
[ And then they can figure out everything afterwards. ]
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he's so strong for that. she wishes she could do that, too.
she locks her tired eyes with his, before giving him a slow, wordless nod. she'll think rationally about this tomorrow morning, totally. she'll do her best to be normal about it from now on, yes.
(narrator: she failed step one.) ]
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Anyway he is not convinced that she is going to be okay but he is going to (again) trust that she will be an adult and call someone for help if she starts feeling worse. There's a strange urge to....he doesn't fucking know, hold her hand for a brief moment or touch her face but he pushes those intrusive thoughts aside and gets up to leave instead.
At least they will both be normal later in the week for their underwater Fontaine date. ]