phenom : ;

“Well… I do. At least, as far as my last life is concerned. These memories, they are quite… unpleasant in nature. Especially that of… my wedding night…” Another sigh.

The demi-fiend lets out a sigh of his own, mentally beating himself over his insolence, not before apologizing for it, “I’m sorry.” Closing the distance he once had made, arms reach out to pull Thage into a hug as a means to comfort her. “You don’t have to say anything more.”

“Naoki…” It had taken some moments of quiet contemplation to find a way to go about this, but he certainly wouldn’t get his answer right away. “Say, do you have any experience with these things?”

“Not... exactly.” Why?

          { ❣ } — “ HUH? ” A lengthy gasp fell from her lips, eyebrows rising high. “ … Are you serious? ” She looked around her wildly, realizing that the stranger was right. She had passed the train station which had been a couple of blocks back. “ Ugh. This is all your fault, ” she mumbled grumpily, a sweat drop sliding down her forehead. “ I was so frightened before that I must’ve skipped it… ” 

“I did say I was sorry--” Geez, so much for helping. Now he’s hesitant to even ask if she would like to be walked back in that direction. Given all the problems he had given her, it was the LEAST he could do in return. But, sadly, seeming more like a creeper wasn’t something Naoki wanted to impose further. “It’s not that far back, y’know.”

“…Of course it’s not because of you. I…. I just…. I need more time.”

“…you don’t have to apologize.” The words were spoken sincerely. After all, Naoki hadn’t done anything terribly out of line… yet, but when asked to stop, he had followed her request. It meant a lot that he had done so without question. “I could have interrupted… this much sooner, but… I didn’t. You don’t have to blame yourself.” Truthfully… this issue was all hers to begin with, wasn’t it? 

“Can I, at least, ask why?” Maybe not the right way to go about questioning her reasons, but it’s all that Naoki manages for now. Verbal reassurances still needed as well-- “It’s not because of me... is it?”

It was more of an afterthought tbh. It’s very subtle, I know. ;A;

“This is… Let’s not go farther than this… please.”

“I’m sorry.”

            { ❣ } — “ I suppose it’s fine, ” she responded, hesitantly stepping forward and accepting her phone from the odd stranger. “ Thank you! ” She softy smiled at him; even though she was still a bit skeptical about him, she was grateful that her phone had been returned in one piece. His last comment caused her smile to flip upside down, however, a sigh escaping her. “ Well, yeah, you’re right about that, mister, but I had no other choice! I went to a movie premiere and I don’t have any other means of getting home. I’m making my way to the train station to go back to Kurain Village. ”

“You...” He begins, only to stop his thoughts from being put into words prematurely. There was so much to say, starting with her unnecessary formality, ( they seemed to be around the same age anyways ), to downright questioning the unusually late hour for a movie premiere-- no, rather than pointless chatter, Naoki states a more important fact instead. “You missed the station.” Nevermind that ‘Kurain Village’ was a unfamiliar location to him, but along the path he happened to have followed her on, a train station was passed several blocks away.

            { ❣ } — “ HUH? ” Her eyes instantly widened as she saw her precious cellphone in the other’s grasp. Even though it was clearly in his hand, she began to pat at her pockets, frowning when she could not find it. ( I guess it is mine, after all… ) A sigh of relief escaped her then, realizing that he wasn’t following her for any malicious intentions, although… “ You could have just told me that before instead of following me all creepy like, mister! ” She chastised, puffing up her cheeks dramatically. “ You really scared me, you know!? ” It didn’t help that it was late at night either. What was she supposed to think? 

“I know...” How will he ever explain his accidental stalking without sounding anymore creepy? She had already called him out on it, was there anything worth saying to fix this-- “Sorry about that.” A hand raised further to rest on the back of his neck in a sheepish manner. Perhaps it was just best to leave it at an apology. “At least, I’ve returned it.... although, you really shouldn’t be walking alone at this hour,” after all, there were actual people roaming about that hold malicious intentions and may want to cause harm.

           { ❣ } — THAT was enough. Maya was not going to reach the train station any time soon and therefore had to do something about her current situation. Putting on the bravest face she could muster, she brought her hands up to her face, clenching them into tight fists, and turned around to face her stalker. “ HEY. YOU. S-STOP FOLLOWING ME, O-OKAY? ” Yeah, because that was intimidating. Coupled with her small frame trembling wildly, she was sure she should just run for the hills at this point, but her feet were glued to the concrete. 

Footsteps come to a slow stop just a couple of feet away from the female, weight shifting between both feet indecisively as he contemplates whether approaching closer would be the right move. Her demand made it obvious how displeased she was over the... stalking ( to no surprise ), and how obviously afraid she was-- if there wasn’t enough regret in choosing to follow yet, there surely was an abundance now. Hands were raised in defense, hopefully giving off the impression that he meant no harm. “I guess you don’t want your cell...” The one holding her belonging now extends forward for clarification, “You dropped it.”

          { ❣ } — PERHAPS she shouldn’t have been wandering around late at night, but the premiere of the new Steel Samurai movie had taken place at midnight and the film itself did not finish until two in the morning. Usually, she would have dragged someone with her, but both Phoenix and her cousin Pearl were both exhausted from the events of the day. Not Maya though; she had boundless energy and even more for the Steel Samurai. The walk to her home was far from the theater, she really shouldn’t have gone alone, especially since she started hearing footsteps from behind her. Whenever she sped up, they did too. She was getting nervous and there was no possible way for her to defend herself. No one was around. ( What do I do….? ) 

Perhaps walking behind another so suspiciously, especially in this dead of the night, was not the best approach. But honestly, he couldn’t think of any other way that would get this personal belonging back to it’s owner safely-- at the time at least. There were many different ways he could have gone about this, but it was much too late at this point to change ideas. He has probably been already labeled to have bad intentions by the other, a criminal at best. Yet regardless, Naoki continued to pursue; with every change of pace they took, the same was done if only to keep up. Soon enough a quick stride had turned into a slow jog, fingers tightening around the forgotten cellphone to keep it secured in his hands. Now, if only he can catch up--

His question was answered by a sudden roar, which startled him, prompting him to stand up and notice the situation he was forced into. Horrid-looking monsters were glaring down at him, but there was also a small plump, white creature who greeted the strategist with a ‘hee-ho’ before smacking him across the face.

“Who are you?” His attention finally returns to the other, a rather defensive tone taken with his words.

“Well.. Do you have any questions?” That would at least provide her with something to talk about.

There were lots of questions he would like to ask, starting with what were the uses for those vials and liquids or perhaps, if her literature pertained to the occult-- but they can surely wait for another time. Instead, he goes with a rather ‘easier’ approach and question that related to much earlier, “...Are you still cold?”