interstellar5555 | Locked in a Room

[In an attempt to try to keep himself from going insane, he sort of bee-bops his way down to Nariko's suite to at least say hello and check up on things. He hadn't heard from her since the lockdown, being he had been pretty busy with some other things, but he has time to come visit her. He can hear someone playing something inside, and it's strange music indeed. Either way, he knocks at the door, hoping that she'd answer.]

[It takes her so long to answer that Yosuke might think she was ignoring him, seeing as the music stopped with his knocking. But she does eventually come to the door, opening it a bit to stick her head out.]

Yosuke. [Why is he --] ... Hey.

[Her shock dissolves into relief, and her door opens wider. She's less of a mess than she'd been on the first of the month, but she's not quite back to her usual level of perfection, either.] You're alright, too.

[He'd been at that fucked up Predator event too, right? She couldn't remember clearly, rage and moderate trauma had a way of locking things up.]

[He'd been just turning to leave when he hears Nariko's voice behind him and turns back around. He can tell by looking at her that she's not entirely okay herself, even if she's managed to look like she's pulled herself mostly together. But...he can just tell. He doesn't look all that great himself either, but he tries to keep up his spirits along with other's.]

Yeah, I'm okay. As okay as it gets around here right about now. How are you doing?

[He asks genuinely.]

Kind of shitty.

[A genuine question begets a genuine answer, she attempts to soften it with a grin but it probably won't do any real good.] But I could also be in jail! So technically this isn't the worst thing in the world to have happened!

[After all, if those Predator fucks hadn't found her antics so amusing ... Well.] What about you?

Heh, well, if we're being honest here...

[He was surprised she even opened the door. So he'll be thankful that she did. So many things are just going wrong and it's bugging him.]

I'm actually not so great. After the crap from a few weeks ago, this lockdown, and everything else...I don't even know what the hell's going on anymore. [He pauses.]

Wait a sec, how did you almost end up in jail? Is that what you meant by that?

Oh, no, [She waves a hand like it's no big deal.] I just tried to throttle those assholes who put us through their shitty excuse of a hazing event. I threw a high hell at one of them, but Luci stopped me. They're still higher up on the food chain than I am so I kind of expected our corporate boss to say something.

[But Lesedi must have had something else to concern herself with, or Nariko's general disrespect wasn't that much of a big deal! Either way.

But they're both feeling like shit, and while Nariko's okay with wallowing on her own terms she does feel for Yosuke. Closing her door behind her she takes his hand, and leads him towards her band's kitchen.] I'm going to make you something! It's guaranteed to cheer you up!

You were there too, huh. [He doesn't sound thrilled about it. That just means Nariko went through some kind of similar hell, just like he did. And the rest of Flashstep, for that matter.]

You know, when you say it like that, that makes me think that I should be a little scared of you if you're going around trying to throttle people. [He teases, trying to lighten the mood a little as he follows her into the kitchen. He's not saying no to Nariko making him food, no way.]

I don't think you'd ever do anything to make me like that, though. [She lets go of him as they make it to the cupboards and she begins rooting around for ingredients. They usually had someone come in and cook for them, and now they're in one of the in-between periods so she'll have to do this herself and risk blowing them both up!]

I mean, I was angry for myself, but then to put Richard and Kido and Maxxie - everyone through all of that. I was terrified out of my mind, so it must have been just as bad if not worse for everyone else! [Just talking about it makes her emotional, though it's difficult to separate anger and fear in that moment, both are equally present.]

It's stupid now, but in that moment I couldn't stand it. They didn't care and I just ... [She had wanted them to suffer, to make them feel as small, unimportant, and helpless as she had. But she can't really say that out loud.]

I have to at least try and look out for my own. I guess that's all it is.

Well, I bet they appreciated you trying to rip them a new one and everything. [Maxxie wouldn't even talk about it much with them. He knew it was bad.]

But they were seriously scary! I don't even know if I like the idea of sharing a building here with them around. [He finds a seat at the table in the kitchen, to get out of her way and let her work. That's the beauty of someone else making food for you- you don't have to do it yourself.]

[... They'd just found it all so funny, but Nariko didn't really want to elaborate too much on that, part, it'd been humiliating enough in the moment. And while he talks! She puts the cocoa powder in the pan, finds the milk and vanilla extract ... She's not actually making a meal, but he'll be able to drink this!]

I don't either. They're assholes and they shouldn't have been able to get away with that crap. [She shakes her head.] If they're willing to go that far we just have to be careful.

[Obviously Santiago wouldn't be helping them out any.]

We'll get 'em back. [He winks from the table. He's confident in Luci's plan, and is definitely taking part in it.]

Is that what you were doing in there? Writing something for the whole album thing?

No. [She taps her foot, literally watching the pot, waiting for it to boil.] I really - I don't know. I'm still worried about Luci's plan but I'll be there.

[Where in the world are the ladles?]

Everything I've come up with so far has been weird, I'm not even sure I should let everyone listen to it. [She's not usually so cagey about it, but, man.] Mostly a lot of guitar stuff, which isn't exactly surprising. My dad always played for me when I was upset.

[ ... Right? Yeah, that sounds like a thing her dad would do. That was why she loved guitar so much, even though singing would always reign supreme. Hm.]

C'mon, it can't be that weird. It's not like it's some weird ass John Cage stuff, right? I'm sure it sounds fine.

[He tries to be encouraging for her. Music was one thing you didn't chide people for, not for creating it and expressing yourself.]

Lemme hear it. I'll tell you if it's way too weird or something.

[Her concoction is still boiling and doing its thing, so his offer is perfect timing wise. Getting the opinion of someone outside of her band could be incredibly helpful ...]

If you really don't mind. [She's got it on her phone, but are you prepared, Yosuke? You've got to be sure.]

[He smiles and nods back at her, absolutely ready to listen to her music. He doesn't mind listening to new stuff either, and it might make her feel better to get some feedback about it. That's what helped you grow as a musician too.]

I'm gunna get put to sleep if I wait any longer.

[He's ready!]

[If he's sure then there's no reason to argue or feel bashful about it. Being a musician means opening yourself to criticism, and he can't possibly be worse than her bandmates (not that they've ever been cruel to her in the first place). She unlocks her phone, gets to the music app and then lets it play.

And while that goes on she notably turns around to regard the stove again. The song is obviously rough because the guitar comes very easily, but it's very obviously something she's done on her own, so it's both emotional and yet oddly plane. And the words, too - it's less an amalgamation of languages and more the occasional humming along, a formation of syllables that don't quite make it to real words.

Excuse the songstress while she looks for some mugs and the whipped cream.]

[His head quirks to the side while he listens. It's definitely not bad, even if it's not the type of music he generally listens to. He does his best to listen with some kind of critical ear, but overall what he actually notices is the musicality of it. It's not that he can't place an emotion to it, it's just emotional in general. When it ends, he looks back up to her.]

Woah, that was pretty good. But...where'd it come from? That felt super deep. I was sorta expecting something angry because of the crap Predator pulled on us, but it totally wasn't like that at all.

[While the song plays on Nariko finds mugs and fills them appropriately, and even manages to locate maraschino cherries. Of course she's glad that he didn't hate it, but her expression is mixed nonetheless.]

I guess I should be angry. I was when we got to the end of all that. [Yosuke gets a mug of hot chocolate set in front of him. It's chocolate-y but might be a little too sweet if one liked milder things.]

I'm upset about it all, but I guess I've been focused on other stuff.

[She picks her phone back up.] Thank you for listening to it, though. I don't usually come up with that kind of thing so I was really worried about it.

[He takes a sip, and immediately pulls it away from his mouth. It was hot, and he hadn't remembered that little tidbit about hot chocolate. He blows on it a little, to try to cool it down.]

Hey, anytime! But...what kind of stuff have you been focused on instead? Didn't you guys already have your new album come out?

Yes. [... Right, their album. In all this commotion she'd completely forgotten about that, even though one of the interviews that'd been canceled was specifically to promote it. She's just full of weird surprises tonight.]

It's not anything important [Important enough that she didn't care so much about Predator now that it was over and she was safe at home.] just something ridiculous that happened.

[That vision, those bells, and the overwhelming sense of being in love. How strong it made her. That was why the song itself was so emotional, she'd put all of the confusion into it. Nothing else had really made her feel better.]

What, you have band drama too?

[That's something ridiculous that could easily happen, but he really wants to ask her if she's been having some of the same problems that it seemed like some other people he's talked to have had. The visions, all of that- but he hasn't worked up the courage or steered the conversation in a direction where he feels he can bring it up.]

[A snort.]

Aside from Bird Lord being Bird Lord? No.

[And the only drama there is that she knows he isn't taking care of himself, and there's nothing she can do about it. In the end Koumei is older and far more hardheaded than she can really manage.]

Yeah, Monsieur Bird Lord.

[That gets a small laugh out of him. He can't forget to make fun of Koumei for that later, maybe when this mess gets sorted out.]

Hey, Nariko...can I ask you something?

[Oh, how did she forget about that part! So amazing. And it's nice to have something to laugh about, too.

But then! Ahh, a question? Not that fun ones ever start with asking to ask a question but she'll try to roll with it.]

Sure. [It can't be that bad.]

By, ridiculous crap, did you mean... [He's been called out on it already. Talked with bandmates. Even if he promised Koumei to keep it quiet, he needs to know, to be sure.]

Like, has anything strange been happening to you lately?

[His voice is cautious, not quite fulling asking what he wants to know but hoping she'll pick up on it. Wondering if she'd even tell him the truth.]

Nov. 4th

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