"Hey, um... hi, Naoto. Uh... can we..." Rise tries to make vague motions with her hands for a moment before giving up. "Talk? I mean... ... you know what I mean, right? I want to apologize for being such a bitch to you before..." (from [thisgirlsdangerous], set shortly after Naoto's dungeon was cleared, if that's okay with you?)
Naoto stared, watched her hands moved by pure instinct. She’s mute, not deaf, but that never stops her from just watching people’s hands. Sometimes she wonder was it out of a need to use them to communicate… or to watch them in case they pull out a knife? She don’t really know anymore, her Shadow didn’t provide that insight. All they provided was a mechanical voice and monotone words that has haunt her dreams for the last couple of days…
But she know Rise. Nationally famous idol won’t suddenly pull out a weapon, and her voice sounds so apologetic…. The detective divert her eyes back to her lips, can’t meet her eyes. Can’t meet anyone’s eyes. Her mask already crumbled, she’s not as confident as she let on and here, in her own sitting room, she doesn’t have the energy to pull it up anyway.
She pulled out a notebook from the small drawer by the couch. Her entire small apartment has them in every conceivable nooks and corners. She wrote, her letters are a little wobbly, and not even in a straight line.
> It’s okay. I understand that I too was out of line. I apologize too, for harrying you all at the beginning.
She offer her a small smile, and got up to the small kitchen unit to open the fridge, pulling out a bottle of water and a carton of orange juice, showing them both to Rise.
It’s something to get used to, to communicate in ‘small talk’ form. The apartment remain as silent as ever, but maybe Rise’s voice can fill the void she can’t.
