Mari 1 Posted 4 hours ago #21 Share Posted 4 hours ago (edited) Mari leaned back in her chair, mulling over the title she had given herself, Arbiter of the Faceless Lord... Raidou didn't make much of a comment on it, if any. So Mari had to assume he was fine with it. She would lower her cup back down to the table. She didn't like the mention of the dangerous concoction, and in her desperation - how she had almost let Lancaster fall to its insidious design. She never...should have let it get that far. "Mmm..." It was the only verbal response Mari gave to Raidou on the matter, fingers tapping the rim of her near empty cup. The man shifted to Lancaster, and how he had seen the changes trust me he said. Those two words said it all. Mari should have guessed. Should have known...that he probably had eyes on her and her lover. Keeping tabs on the situation, as tubulent as it was. So, he probably knew how they blasted their way through the town of beginnings to get married, oops. No player lives were lost at least. A glance back up toward Raidou. "Just no peaking through bedroom windows, k?" A simple affirmation she knew what he meant, an acknowledgement - and with a poorly executed joke a way of saying she was fine with it, and took no insult from the actions. Then... Came something so unexpected Mari couldn't help but flinch as he reached out to her and grasped her hand. A soft spoken voice as he pried her nervous fidgeting away from her cup and allowed her hand to be engulfed in his. His hands were smoother than Lancasters, and smaller. Yet with both of his, he still wrapped up Mari's in a small and comforting squeeze. A hanged man...Yeh. That sounded pretty apt. "Sometimes...I feel as though I realized that too late...I feel like...so much time..." A sigh as she closed her eyes. Tempted to pull away, but Mari knew how rare a moment this was for him to show such empathy, and emotion so openly. So Mari humbly and awkwardly accepted. A part of her wanted to point out that others would never see such actions as mistakes, but she kept quiet. Not wanting to ruin his momentum. The man admitted he didn't really have a desire to play video games. "You and I both..." Mari interjected with a small quirk of her lip. After this, she would be done with them for good. IF they ever managed to get out. It was nice to hear why he came into Aincrad in the first place. "Not surprised." Mari would comment, ever the bookworm, the time dilation would have allowed so much to be done...imagine studying? Learning a language, all that information...it was alluring. Raidou went on talk about his little black book. Mari knew of it. Heck...Mari felt like she had heard this from him before; but couldn't place where - maybe she hadn't and it was just a dream. This time, it was her turn. She would remove her hand from his, and then placed it atop, she was the one to offer a comforting squeeze in return. "You did what you had to, to survive. I at least, would never fault you for that." She wasn't good with her words. So Mari struggled to add anything that would be of any comfort to the man. "You're...not alone with those burdens anymore though." Mari removed her hand from his after giving it a final squeeze. She placed it over her heart. "You got me, at the very least - to help with the more...." A wave of her hand, "gritty things. I may not ever be able to fully comprehend the entirety of what you do as the Faceless Lord. But I know enough, and right now - I can help alleviate some of that. I meant what I said. I'll be your arbiter. You don't need to be in that grave anymore. You have Eruda to pull you out, and me - to fill it." Mari blinked, realizing she did have something to help. A quick flick through her inventory and a small orb fell onto the table and rolled toward him. "You told me, a song I played helped you in a time of need. That day, I saved you." A snort. Recalling how she had quite literally slapped the glasses off his face that time. "And now, you can listen to it anytime. Better than that attempt I caught you listening to a few months ago." What else should she say in this moment, he bared everything to her- willingly. A chew of the inside of her cheek...an awkward glance away. "You're...not alone. Because I've found that size. And I'll share it with you." Edited 4 hours ago by Mari Link to post Share on other sites
Raidou 1 Posted 4 hours ago #22 Share Posted 4 hours ago Thread Closure: Lancaster | [Word Count: 12127/5 = 2425.4] * [True Tier: 6] * [Group Factor: 1]* [Final Exp Modifier: 1.1] = 16008 EXP, Laurel Wreath: 2401 col Mari | [Word Count: 12127/5 = 2425.4] * [True Tier: 15] * [Group Factor: 1]* [Final Exp Modifier: 1.12] = 40747 EXP, Laurel Wreath: 6112 col Raidou | [Word Count: 12127/5 = 2425.4] * [True Tier: 19] * [Group Factor: 1]* [Final Exp Modifier: 1.15] = 52995 EXP, Laurel Wreath: 7949 col Link to post Share on other sites
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