There Shall Be a Plea For Justice

〚 ⋆.˚ ☾ .⭒˚ 〛THE SHOCKED EXPRESSION from before, albeit not as extreme, slowly showed itself once more as Adrien took the time to actually process his words, blinking once before everything clicked into place — he HAD definitely seen this man in the paper that came out after the flooding had happened, memory recalling the now too-familiar handsome mug being front and center with a name to go along with it.

Not only had Adrien made himself look like a complete fool, he'd done it right in front of the very Duke of Meropide… There's no way he'd ever recover from this one.

And yet, he tried his best to keep his cool despite the way his brain was now screaming at him. It's not every day you just ran into someone of Wriothesley's status, let alone on the surface! Adrien's a bit starstruck, back straightening out into a more proper posture as he frantically tried to find something to say.

"I try to avoid Kameras when I can," he said. "I'm not a huge fan of getting my face out there and people knowing who I am."

"I might have a fancy title, but that wasn't my idea. I'm just a guy running a prison." And it wasn't the first time he'd said this to someone, either.

〚 ⋆.˚ ☾ .⭒˚ 〛GODS ABOVE, please strike him down now and spare him from this awkward encounter… A deep sigh left the man as his gaze shifted to the ground below them, feet shuffling in place as he made sure to tightly secure his coin pouch so that it wouldn't be stolen again. He'll tuck it out of sight too just to be safe, gaze only returning to the man before him once he was sure nobody would be snatching up his money again.

" Huh. Maybe that is it… Coulda sworn I've seen you in the papers or somethin'. "

A hand raised to rub at the back of his neck as silence fell between them, Adrien's mind running faster than he could keep up with as that nagging feeling never left him. He'd have to check old newspapers he's held onto when he got home, see if he had been right about remembering a face. But for now?

"...in the paper?" He considered that for probably longer than he should have. Usually he managed to get out before any photographers snapped photos of him. And he preferred it that way.

And then he paused.

"...damn, she caught me, didn't she?" He shook his head and sighed. "Only thing I can think is them reporting on evacuation efforts during the flood. Couldn't exactly run from cameras when I was helping people out of the water."

"Is it really so strange?" Navia was just used to quickly befriending people she met and sometimes they didn't know it. "I mean it's the very least I could do for the guy that came and saved us just in time."

He had to pause to take that in for a moment.

And then he laughed.

"Just because I don't remember it, doesn't mean I can't nag." She wagged a finger. "But I've already given him enough lessons on emotions, probably doesn't need me to yell at him more."

"I've already nagged him about trials enough, I'd probably end up banned from Palais Mermonia if I yelled at him for this one too." She was already on thin ice when it came to entering the court room.

"Yeah, I remember hearing about how many times you burst into court rooms." His voice turned amused. "I don't think he'd like you nagging him about a trial you aren't even old enough to remember."

He looked down to see he'd already finished his tea. Welp.

"That's... horrible. To think someone could do such a thing to children. A parent should be someone you trust to look after you... I can't imagine how you all must of felt." It was infuriating to know they were able to just keep taking in more and more kids. Made her want to just go around to all the children she knew and shower them in gifts.

"Yeah, well, you can take that up with Neuvillette if you want. He presided over my trial and handed down the sentence." Though in the end it wasn't actually him that decided, was it?

It was a good thing she hadn't taken a sip yet. Mouth hung open as she stared wide-eyed. "Woah, woah, woah, public record or not... that's still a shocking thing to say so casually."

"Because those 'parents' were monsters," Wriothesley said before taking another sip of his tea.

"They adopted kids so they could sell them off. They physically abused us, barely fed us except for appearances to the public, and any of us who didn't sell were 'disposed of.'" Another drink.

"Can never say no to a good cuppa," he said as he sat down and leaned back, his arms crossed.

"Sister?!" She had just started pouring their tea when he dropped that. The look he gave earlier made more sense now. "Wow, if that really is her that would be an amazing coincidence."

“Nah, she wouldn’t,” Wriothesley said with a shake of his head. “I gave the police who arrested me a fake name.” A pause. “None of us were properly registered, so it became my real name.”

As soon as the tea was poured, he picked it up and took a drink.

〚 ⋆.˚ ☾ .⭒˚ 〛MOUTH QUICKLY SNAPPED shut with the man's clear concern, a cough leaving Adrien as he turned his head to the side for a brief moment before hand reached out to gratefully accept the pouch back. He felt like an idiot standing there gawking like that, face flushed when he finally returned his gaze to the other man's features.

" YEAH! Y-Yeah, sorry, I… It's been a long day. Thank you, for gettin' this back for me though. "

Another noise to clear his throat, and finally Adrien had a hold on his composure once more — normally he'd pry on where his coin pouch had been found, but given the wave of embarrassment he'd just gone through? He thought he'd be fine not knowing. Especially since now there was another question nagging at him, eyes narrowing in brief confusion as his head tipped to the side.

" Have we met before? You seem familiar. "

"Uh, right." Yeah, this guy looked like he was going to explode. Definitely not okay. But what was the point of prying any further unless he offered something up?

"Well, consider my curiosity piqued." Shifting directions, Navia motioned towards the large ship. "We can go to my cabin up there. That's where I have meetings, so the others know not to bother me."

"Can never say no to a good cuppa," he said as he sat down and leaned back, his arms crossed.