gorobo | IC Inbox

"Well- we have been talking," he says. She's really invested in this, isn't she? "We're working on it, Futaba-chan, promise."

It's the truth, isn't it? He's... trying. And Phoenix is trying too. He hasn't forgiven Phoenix, and sometimes, just thinking about it makes him furious... but she doesn't need to know that.

"Do you think you are making progress?" she asked. Just talking is different than doing things.

"I can help if you want?"

"Perhaps a little," he makes a vague gesture with his hands. It's... hard to say. He likes to think they have (he's not threatening to shoot Phoenix on sight anymore, is he? That's progress, isn't it?). "You shouldn't worry about it, really."

She's a kid- that's not her job.

"Just focus on yourself, okay? We'll work it out."

He'll... try to, at least. He still hasn't forgiven Phoenix, nor does he think he ever will.

She looked him over. "Is it hard?" He seemed to be struggling a bit anyways.

She scooted a bit closer to him. Just barely touching him, a test of if she could do what she did with Phoenix or her mom.

He carefully doesn't flinch away from her- she doesn't mean any harm, she's a kid- but he can't quite help the twitch of anxiety that crosses his face. Sudden touch is still-

... Well. nevermind. That's not her fault. He won't hold it against her.

"... It is," he admits, "he didn't mean to, but he hurt me. Ah- that is- he's not a bad guy, Futaba-chan," he course-corrects immediately, shooting her an awkward grin, because he's not gonna dump his problems onto this kid. "It was just a really unfortunate situation. Really- don't worry about it."

Ah, fuck. He fucked up. This is why he's no good with kids.

"So your scared something is going to happen to hurt you again? So you think being upset is helping?" She asked softly. He was nervous with her touching him so she didn't push it and pulled back a bit.

"I know Phoenix isn't going to hurt me, I know he isn't bad. He reacted scared when I called him Dad on accident. He was terrified when I went to mementos. He's never been upset even when I felt like I've been too clingy or too much."

His face drops the smile slightly at her words -wow, she doesn't mince them, does she- but it is a relief when she pulls back. It feels wrong, she didn't do anything, but it feels better like this.

(How fucked up is he that he can't even stand the sudden touch of a kid?)

Of course he's still upset. He- he is scared, so fucking scared sometimes, when he stops distracting himself with missions or nature or learning or anything, and feels the foreign files they put in him sitting there, menacingly, but he's not going to just say that.

He knows it doesn't help. It doesn't make it just go away.

"I- well," he struggles to find the proper words. Do not fucking snap at the kid who has nothing to do with it, oh my god. "I'm trying. It's a lot better than it was at first, really."

There. Diplomatic.

Then-

"... You called him dad?" he tilts his head at her, smirking. "Him, really?" He can't help his snort, but still.

"He's been good to you, huh."

"He's been really good to me." Guess none of them could imagine being called dad. Must be a weird thing for them. They seemed to at least handle kids pretty well.

"Are you scared of people?"

Her question hits him, and he wants to deny it immediately. Of course he's not afraid of people- he's a weapon, for crying out loud. Not that he's exactly eager to do so, but if he wanted, he could full just about anyone with lead before they even realize what's going on. Why would he be afraid of people when he can be such a danger to them?

He's not. He's not afraid of people. He's just... rightfully wary, knowing what they can do. Knowing what they have done.

Knowing what he can do.

"Of course not," he says, perhaps a little too late, "but being cautious can't hurt." He looks at her. "That's why I'm worried about you handling a gun, or going to Tartarus. It's just being cautious- and that's a good thing, wouldn't you agree?"

It's probably not a subtle of a topic change as he thinks it is.

"I'm scared of people." She said softly. She let that sink in. The person she was closest to was a bird. The next was obviously not human and you could tell just by looking at her eyes.

The next person Futaba had approached without fear was a robot. A robot she knew was another version of the bird.

"People hurt others. People hurt Mom. I know shadows are from humanity. I know palaces are distorted desires. People.... they aren't good. I know most of the people here are murders."

Edited 2024-06-21 20:11 (UTC)

Oh.

It's unfair. It's horrible. She's a small kid, and yet she already has seen the worst of humanity, to the point she's scared of people. She shouldn't be. She should be filled with wonder about the world, with wonder about fellow people.

The worst part is that he can't even disagree with her.

"Some people aren't all bad," he tries, but he knows it's a weak argument. He doesn't even fully believe it himself. "My mother. She is- was- she's a good person. Your mother, too, when I knew her."

This is the part where he should say 'and I'm sure there are more people like them out there, we just have to find them!' but he doesn't. How could he, when he doesn't even really believe it himself?

God, he's really fucking this up, isn't he?

"... Humans suck, huh."

"You knew Mom?" She asked softly. Did that mean Phoenix did too? He did defend her min pretty hard. Any time she got brought up there was a strange emotion on his face.

She wanted to hug him to support him, but he didn't like that. So she didn't know how to help him.

... Fuck. He shouldn't have mentioned her.

"Briefly," he says, keeping his face carefully neutral. "She was... trying her best, from what I could tell."

"Did you know me?" She asked next moving topics. It would be cool. There was other versions of her here. Even if she only met one.

"Haha, unfortunately not," he smiles awkwardly at her. "She liked to talk about you, but we never actually met in person."

... Probably for the best. Guilt crops up his chest, thinking about he forcibly orphaned this very girl, in his own universe. He doesn't even want to imagine what it would've been like, had Isshiki introduced him to Futaba.

Shido might've had her killed too. Might've had him-

Nevermind. It didn't happen. There's no use thinking about it.

"What did mom say about me?" He looked sad at her. It was almost like Phoenix. What happened to Mom? As much as he tried to help her. He promised to help her protect Phoenix and Renée, that wasn't something she felt she wanted to ask him.

She started to feel like she wasn't going to like the answer. The normal pushing away the feeling wasn't working. She needed a subject change. "Oh! Falcon-san! You wanted seeds! Let's go find some." She quickly switched to smiling, hoping he'd go with it.

Before Falcon can answer (or even think of an answer, really), Futaba changes the subject abruptly, causing him to blink. It happens so fast it nearly gives him whiplash, but he can't deny that it's a relief that she did so.

"Yes, I did," he smiles back at her, and stands up, "if you want, you can tell me about the plants you like best. Maybe I'll plant some in my garden, too."

"Oh! yeah! Maybe we can get some red ones! They'll match you! Plus the butterflies will like them!" She was full of energy now that the topic was changed to something a lot more pleasant. She stood up to follow him. There had to be plenty of red flowers to match him after all.

"Oh, yes. I've meaning to get red spider lillies- they would look nice in the garden."

Something to spruce up the view towards autumn.

"Though if you have other suggestions, I'd love to hear them, Futaba-chan."

"You should get a flower that means happiness." She smiled. She didn't know what his garden looked like so she didn't know what would fit.

"You deserve it." Maybe there was one that matched him. Does he has a search function? Is he connected to the internet?

"Oh? Like a sunflower?" A hefty database collected from scourging the internet is basically as good as being connected to the internet, in this case, as a quick search of his internal database provides him with results fairly quickly.

"Hah, if you say so. I'll plant them for you, so you better come see them when they sprout."

She smiled. "Of course! I like you. If you want me around then I'd do it!" She was so excited being invited to see him invite her and that he seemed a bit happier now.

She could push down the unpleasant bits pretty easily. They were going to be happy from now one. "Do you have roses?"

Oh- she- likes him?

For a moment, Falcon's baffled. Why? She just met him, he hasn't really done anything for her. They've talked a little about- subjects that are too heavy for a child, really, so why...?

But her easy smile, her excitement is infectious. Falcon smiles back.

"Of course. If I didn't, I wouldn't have offered to help, now would I? Oh, my garden is pretty barren for now. The previous owners had a... different vision from myself, let's say." Which is to say: over-preened, over-cultivated. Nothing really natural. "We can get some roses."

She paused with him for the moment, confused on what she could have said to make him do any of the small things he did before smiling. He had a good smile after all.

She hummed. If it was really empty then what could they put in too. The sunflowers would be yellow, the roses and spider lilies would match him. "Do you want to grow just flowers or fruit and veggies too? Those produce flowers first!"

"Hm, I don't really eat... but I suppose there's no harm in it. If nothing else, they can attract different species of animals and insects."

He does so love to observe animals in a natural habitat.

"Though if you have a favorite, perhaps I can grow that too, and you can come harvest them when they're fully grown."

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