₊ @mortificate┊͙  ❝ [  JUST LIKE THAT,  NÜWÁNG HAS TO HOLD THEIR BREATH TO KEEP FROM SAYING SOMETHING FOOLISH.  for years,  they’ve acted on behalf of many people:  as a friend,  as a confidante,  as an enemy if they so required..  but this?  being told they have free rein to speak their mind?  to tip out even a few of those instabilities to someone who /isn’t/ their only friend,  toeing the line of embarrassing waterworks far too close for comfort?  ]   you—-  i REALLY don’t think i should..   [  they try,  despite being so /so/ willing to open up.  despite the fact that they’ve been aching to work out the knots in their guts & to release the tension ever present in their shoulders.  they must look so obvious,  wringing both hands with a faraway look unmistaken as anything but troubled,  to a person as observant & clear-thinking as mortimer.  ]   it’s not /that/ bad,  really!!   we ALL worry about fitting in.   about if..  people want us around,  or like us,  or even want to acknowledge we exist—-  right?   no one DOESN’T worry about that!

₊ @haloslain┊͙  ❝ don’t talk nonsense!!   i’m—-  i’m SURE we can find another tomorrow.   i have shipments coming in,  after all!   [  NÜWÁNG is,  admittedly,  not the best at consoling anyone outside their small circle.  he also has every right to be frustrated,  considering the product he’s lost due to the young man’s mistake.  but all he can feel is a twinge of regret for being even /exasperated/ at first,  because SEOJUN looks as if someone has stepped on his tail & he’s trying very hard not to show that it hurts,  & that alone makes his heart melt like candle wax in summer behind his ribs.  ]   if you really want to help,  you’ll come back in the morning,   [  the butcher jokes,  setting down his knife on the expansive cutting board.  there’s not much to be chopping as of now.  (HOW DO ADA & GUIN /DO/ THIS??)  he prays for his words to be less abrasive than usual,  wiping his ash-&-viscera-covered hands on a spare towel within reach.  ]   i should have stopped when i got a guest,   [  is said as he maneuvers around SEOJUN to grab a sponge,  scrubbing off the surface as best he can.  (I’LL ASK MIMA HOW TO USE WAX ON THIS AGAIN.)  if he doesn’t meet the other’s eyes,  hopefully he comes across as /entirely/ unbothered & not still a bit upset about the incineration of tomorrow’s profit.  ]   would you like anything to drink,  after i clean this a bit?   i don’t know if that takes a lot of energy or not..

✧₊ @killinvoid┊͙  ❝ (I THOUGHT ABOUT SAYING NO.  KEEPING MYSELF FROM MORE RESPONSIBILITY.  FROM GETTING HURT.)   [  reputations are dangerous things.  worse when you believe in them,  living by the role you’ve bent backwards & squeezed yourself into.  to look TYLER in the face now,  without any sort of shame,  seems an impossible feat.  she regrets wearing the dress a little.  being here,  in his presence without a proper answer to give,  because the color compliment to his clothes feels excessive & she doesn’t know how to ignore it.  she never quite learned how to back down from a messy situation,  but she /always/ knew how to get into trouble.  that must be why she came.  the real reason she masks that his words strike where it hurts,  though he can’t possibly be aware of the reason why.  ]   well,  i’m trying something new,   [  NÜWÁNG jokes,  hating that her smile doesn’t strain.  why doesn’t her throat feel tight like always,  like when the only friend she has brings up the very same thing?  isn’t he meant to be a reminder of her bad habits—-  not an affirmation that she’s changing her ways for a man she doesn’t really know?  apart from desire,  of course.  that has always been her weakness:  a lack of opening up after someone has seen her so intimately.  ]   you’re..  different.   (you confuse me.  i want to know you,  the way you seem to know me.)   [  & yet,  it feels like TYLER is the only person of this endless string who /does/ see her.  the person who might understand her need for time to get closer,  even with her odd sequence of operation.  ]   besides!   disappearing on you would be /so/ rude of me.