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[orphne]

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[nullificates]

Being mad at me is a waste of energy, Koto-chan, I'm very used to the feeling!

(considering he's got an entire mafia pretty mad at him, a chuuya mad at him, so many people mad at him all the time!! it doesn't bother him. eat some fruit.

but he'll eat the cupcake, look, but only because it looks delicious.)

Eh-- you should open a restaurant!

[orphne]

[She huffs a small laugh and shakes her head at him. At least he ate it, so she knows he ate something today. He can have as many as he wants and give the rest to Chuuya, she doesn't mind.]

Thanks, but that's way too much work. How would I be able to come by and bring you snacks if I were running a restaurant?

[No no, part-time work is good enough for her. She'll have to start poking around soon.]

[nullificates]

Mhm... Late at night! I don't sleep very much. You can bring me all the leftovers. I have many mouths to feed!!

(bullshit. out of the four, dazai's the one with the least money, superficially so, and who needs him, they're all grown men. he's just playing.)

[orphne]

You told me they won't eat what you make, so...

[Dazai... why are you the way that you are. Please don't answer that.

She takes his hand and puts another cupcake in it.]

Anyway, I brought you some books. I don't really read a lot myself, so I just got a bunch of different ones. Sorry if they're boring.

[nullificates]

We're not friends, you see. We're three different organizations on all opposite sides! It's wise not to.

(chuuya, port mafia. dazai, armed detective agency. gogol and fyodor, decay of the angel. it's smart to suspect poisoning from all fronts, after all.)

There are no such things as boring books, Koto-chan.

[orphne]

Sure.

[She guesses it would be like if SEES and Strega tried to be in the same dorm, but it can't be a direct comparison. It's not like she really ever talked to them, and also if she saw Takaya's stupid face anywhere near Shinji, well. She might need to ask Dazai for a favor to help her commit a precautionary murder.

...Hopefully neither Jun nor Takaya shows up. Chidori is fine.]

Really? [A little taken aback by that declaration, she just blinks at him.] There have got to be books you don't like.

[nullificates]

There are none. I have favorites, but all in all, books, even those that are the worst in writing, are pertaining to some knowledge. Even a glimpse of how someone else sees the world is a precious thing, is it not?

(ah, we can see he's in a better mood. a little bit of hope that slides between his words, hidden in the topic at hand.)

[orphne]

I never thought of it like that... but yeah, I think so!

[Inwardly, she breathes a sigh of relief. Maybe he is feeling better.]

Have you ever written anything?

[nullificates]

Me? No. I don't even write my own reports.

(writing was odasaku's thing, after all. haha.)

I did paint once, though.

[orphne]

Really?

[Dazai having hobbies... she never knew.]

Were you any good at it? I missed signups for Art Club, so I've never really tried...

[nullificates]

Uh, no. Not really! I made a self-portrait back at the Port Mafia, and they thought it was a curse-based ability. Fufufu... It was fun.

(because he got to annoy elise. why. does. an ability. get. so much. when. she's. so. damn. obnoxious!!)

[orphne]

[She laughs, covering her mouth with her hand as she tries to picture it.]

It must have been some painting, huh? I wish I could have seen it.

[Also, eat that cupcake she put in your hand, mister.]

[nullificates]

(listen, he's been using the cupcakes as an extension of his hands, but he'll eat once he remembers they are not to be gestured with.)

Ah, the boss's ability lost her shit! It was great! Revenge comes in so many forms!!

[orphne]

[Going to get crumbs everywhere... smh...]

The ability...? [Run that one by her again, bud.] How did that work?

[nullificates]

Not all abilities are like mine, or Chuuya's. Some are manifestations, and Elise is one, and she's annoying. Moody, irritating, likes sweets, I can braid hair really well.

(DOWN WITH ELISE.)

[orphne]

Huh... neat!

[Now that sounds like a Persona. A manifestation that can talk... although she isn't sure if a Persona can eat sweets. Her expression goes distant for a moment, the way it does when she's trying to access them, but... none of them are forthcoming. Darn.]

Could you braid my hair?

[The important take-away here.]

[nullificates]

Not neat! She's annoying!!!!!

(oh, look, a cupcake-- he bites, almost like he's surprised to see it in his hand.

let her process, he knows what she's doing. trying to tie abilities to her own.)

... Maybe.

[orphne]

I've had annoying Personas, too.

[None of them were ever defiant or anything, but some of them were chattier than others. Mostly the weaker ones. It's kind of funny how the stronger her Personas got, the more serious they became... Ah well.

She perks up a little bit. Surely he won't disappoint that face.]

Really? I haven't had anyone to braid my hair in a long time.

[Her mom used to when she was a kid, but her parents died years ago.]

[nullificates]

Do you summon them and they separate from you and go on a ride to town, too? Some can.

(some are more like personas, like kyouyou and kyouka's demons. exactly like so, actually. not that he has seen them so far, but one can try to understand.)

... I can't promise it will look good. Your hair is not nearly as long as hers.

[orphne]

[She shakes her head. No, no she's pretty sure they can't. (That would be SMT.)

But she still beams brightly. This is Dazai's punishment and her reward for going to find him the other day, so she doesn't even feel bad about it.]

That's okay! It's the effort that matters.

[And she reaches up to start taking her barrettes out. Dazai's probably noticed that they spell out the Roman numeral XXII, but like haha don't worry about that, it's not important. She'll also let down her ponytail, too, fluffing her hair out a little and looking around to see if she can spot a hairbrush nearby.]

[nullificates]

(god, fine, fine!! fine!!! he's excusing himself for a moment, so he can wash his hands and not get any sugar on her strands. it does give her a very short moment to look around. the beds are joint, making one extra big bed. knives here, knives there, some shattered dishes because sometimes dazai and chuuya fight, or dazai just tosses things over his shoulder when he doesn't want to deal with it, nor does he want to clean it.

it's a warzone in here. when he comes back, however, it's with a brush, red hair covering it much more than his own brown curly strands. someone does not deal with that mop. someone has persona 5 protag disease. he'd noticed the pin, but he'll let her have some resemblance of privacy, since she's not poking so much regarding oda.)

Fine. Fine. -- How do I do this again.

[orphne]

[Dazai "oh ew ew Chuuya ew ew" and yet their beds are pushed together? Sus. The broken dishes and general untidiness are a little concerning, but also it's simply none of her business. The knives maybe should be weirder than they are, but honestly she just accepts it as one of their quirks.

Also they share a hairbrush? Sus.]

You can just start with brushing. Separate into three parts after that!

[Her hair is fluffy and a little bit kinked from having been in a ponytail all day, but it's soft and well-cared-for. She likes her hair.]

[nullificates]

(listen, there are reasons, all of them real and completely understandable without it being completely totally sus, excuse him. but alas, he sighs. now maybe she can understand why there are steps on the ceiling, too.

he'll sigh, as if this is So Much Work, but he'll do it, it's nice hair. )

You could let your hair down more often. Do you want one braid or two braids?

[orphne]

[S u s]

It gets in the way too much if I leave it down. It knots pretty easily.

[Maybe if she wasn't bouncing around in everyone's business so much, she wouldn't have that problem, but! She fiddles with the pins in her hand and closes her eyes to let Dazai work. It's weirdly relaxing; as much of a pain as Dazai is, she still trusts him not to do anything weird to her hair (on purpose).]

What do you think would look better?

[nullificates]

It's a nice color, nice length, you should try it out sometime. Invite that friend of yours on a date, see the sparks, hair flip.

(whore stop

but alas, he's mostly quiet, focused and fixed. he won't do anything weird, she's right on that, it wouldn't be funny in this case. it feels like a bonding opportunity, not a call for a prank. one thing it's true, though, dazai's hands are extremely talented. much control of his fingers, much control of his movements, so once he's done brushing, the two braids are done in a minute, effortless.

the lockpicking king!)

There. Cute!