#v. mainverse.

[seapsycheis]

"Woah, that's impressive!"

Motoha knows it's probably a little weird to blurt out something like that so suddenly, but she can't help herself. After all, she is pretty impressed. While she doesn't know the boy at the gym who just happened to catch her eye personally, there's nothing wrong with celebrating someone's achievements, right? Even if she hadn't meant to do so out loud.

But hey, maybe he'll find her outburst encouraging! She's not the type to overthink these things, so after a moment, Motoha smiles and continues - her easygoing expression making her it obvious she's completely sincere.

"I mean, those weights are really heavy. I don't think I'd manage to keep up my stamina for nearly as long as you did just now... sorry, I didn't mean to butt in!"

@electricea ( starter! )

[mostmiserable]

@p1ratelady

she isn't used to zosia pushing back. maybe that was selfish of her - getting used to the other woman being agreeable. a zosia that enables. one that just wanted to make carol happy. she's aware of how problematic it sounds, face to face with the real her now. they'd met before, decades ago. spent a night together, promised they'd write letters to each other as zosia traveled. except carol had ghosted. disappeared. life moved on and it became a memory that was only strong enough to inspire raban. which even that inspiration had been cited as a dream to her.

she's quiet as the other woman asks why she never wrote back, that sinking feeling that deep down she knew why. carol wasn't in a place where she felt that she could be herself. not in any real way. then her career had blown up and she had fallen for helen. the half written note that she had talked herself out of finishing to write had been stuffed in some drawer and forgotten.

but that had never meant that it wasn't one of the best nights of her life. even if her memory had been fuzzy. she could blame the drinks that night, or her own fears, but instead she just anxiously plays with her nails, avoiding her gaze. "i wanted to."

[revengesworn]

"Something's off about you."

Mikey looks at Jiji - well, it's more of a stare - one that doesn't match his tone of voice at all. While he speaks as casually as can be, so much nonchalance in his tone that it's almost at-odds with what he's saying... there's something dark about the look in his eyes. Or maybe dark isn't the right word, but empty - even though he's smiling, the air around him feels thin and stretched out with tension, as if there's no-one there behind that gaze of his. It's the kind of look that makes your skin feel colder.

Or it would do, if it was allowed to settle. But that heavy atmosphere is gone as quickly as it appeared, so fast that it's jarring. Mikey's smile becomes more playful, and he suddenly appears like a kid, clearly satisfied with whatever he's seen in Jiji, whatever suspicion that had taken over him vanished in an instant.

"I kind of like that. Hey, what did you say your name was? You're a fun guy, y'know!"

@enjojijiis ( starter! )

[ruintouched]

"Well, Hero-"

There's a crooked smile on Tomura's face, one enough to make near-anyone who sees it shiver with dread. This man, this force of destruction who has stolen the lives of so many and sent their hopes crumbling into dust... is infamous enough that, after all, even a smile is enough to fill them with utter terror, a level of fear stronger than anything they've ever felt before.

Yet where some people feel fear... others feel hope. For the villains of the world, the name and face of Tomura Shigaraki means something very different than it does to the average man. Both hope and despair co-existing at once like that... it might feel like it should be impossible, yet to Tomura, it isn't strange at all. But what he's wondering about right now, more than anything else, is what it is that Izuku Midoriya is feeling when he looks at him in this moment. Is it anger and fear that fills his heart, or something else entirely? What does the face of Tomura Shigaraki mean to him?

"I bet you weren't expecting to see me again. It's been... a while, hasn't it?"

@vsagis ( starter for izuku! )

[paperfated]

Tao Mengyan has never been one to shy away from anything.

Well, at least not when it comes to something as important as this. She's been told many times she's stubborn; but that isn't such a bad shortcoming to have, is it? But while her assertive attitude has always helped her out in the past... there's a fine line between bravery and recklessness.

That doesn't matter here, though. It's Xun Yuanfeng on the line, after all. Even if she isn't sure exactly what it is she feels for him... Mengyan knows that their friendship is important to her, at least. And thinking of him being taken advantage of by some lowlife makes her blood boil, enough to push her towards any danger - besides, compared to what she's been through before, getting nervous about a conversation would just be embarrassing.

"Hey. You're Aesop, aren't you?" With no warning or greeting to speak of, Mengyan speaks boldly to the man in front of her; her lips pressed into an angry line. Maybe getting mad right off the bat isn't the best approach here, but...

"Yuanfeng told me about you. You've been talking with him, right?"

@yellow-rose-embalmer ( starter! )

[pocketpartners]

There's no way Griselle wouldn't have heard all about Serena. After all, she's the one who took down Team Flare, stopping Lysandre and his plans once and for all and bringing a perfect peace to the region of Kalos once more... a 'happy ending' for everyone, right?

If only that were true. But while she scoffs at the thought, and even though it'd be all too easy to hate her, Griselle knows that that wouldn't be fair. After all, all Serena did was what was necessary. Lysandre is the one who ruined Team Flare, and that means that all the hatred and scorn that's been directed at her and Grisham ever since that day five years ago; all the jeers and rejection and cold-as-ice eyes... he's the one responsible for all of them.

It's just hard to feel that way, sometimes. The name of Team Flare has been forever tarnished in the eyes of the world, now. No-one cares about what it was supposed to be, or the people who made it up. According to that world, Griselle should despise Lysandre and reject everything he stood for... and the thing is, she does! But somehow, just not enough to satisfy them. In her darkest hours, she's sometimes sat in the back of a boarded-up cafe, dust thick enough in the air to make her choke, and wondered... how wrong was he, really? Yet never once has she let those thoughts win.

...So no, Griselle doesn't hate Serena. Griselle is nothing like that fool Lysandre, and despite everything, she still loves Lumiose... the same Lumiose that Serena herself had protected. She's grateful. But she's only human, too. If she looks at Serena and thinks, "that should've been me"... is that really such a crime?

"Can I get you anything?" Griselle asks when they meet for the first time, well-practiced smile on her face that's almost, but not quite perfect. ...It's too late, though - she knows Serena must've caught the way she was looking at her across the street. And that look on her face...

"...Is what I would say, but actually - I don't think you're here to make an order. Are you?"

@iruludavare ( starter! )

[wisheswagered]

Frederick has always been someone easily swayed by paranoia and distrust. Sometimes, his suspicions fall into the realm of the irrational - which he can usually recognize using reason and common sense, but those things are never enough to fully convince him that he's wrong for keeping his distance or putting up his guard.

Today is no different. Though in this case, it's difficult to tell if he's truly being unreasonable or not... Usually, Frederick tries to at least keep up a polite enough demeanor to prevent unpleasant rumors from spreading, and to keep up his reputation, however fragile it may be, in the eyes of the public. But in a place like this, it doesn't feel like that particularly matters anymore. Perhaps his companion feels the same way.

"If you've got something to say, then please, go ahead." Frederick's voice somehow manages to be both soft and sharp at once, creating a distinctly disdainful tone that could just barely be denied if it were to be challenged.

"...Well? I'm listening."

@lumoire ( starter for richard or matthias! )

[lunechoes]

"So quick to assume... that's a bad habit, you know."

Somehow, though his words are technically a criticism, there's something that's almost gentle about them - or maybe playful would be a better word. Hearing such a tone from a man like Verlaine is almost jarring, standing in stark contrast to his fearsome reputation as an assassin, whether it's one Sync is aware of or not. But his gaze never loses it's sharpness.

"I came here for you. I'm not so foolish that I'd mistake my target so easily for another." But it does make Verlaine glad to see Sync drop the polite mask he was wearing, even just a little. Sincerity is what he wants, even if it's a sincerity that's bleak and uncaring.

"To start with... I think introductions are usually what comes next in a situation like this. ...Do you know who I am?"

@phasmascript ( continued from here! )