The Power Within

Baldur's Gate

!!

"Are you telling me you didn't hear me coming up from behind you???" For some odd reason, Haru found this to be very improbable. For an observant man like Goro, it was hard to picture him struggle with this sort of passive perception... The heiress looked up at him through a squinted gaze. If he really didn't hear her... Was it possible that something else was on his mind?

Could it be that Goro Akechi was distracted??

Hanahaki

Haru was half busy reading over her company's monthly reports and half busy nursing a hot cup of tea. Her nerves have been shot lately due to work stress and overall life imbalance... So, in an attempt to remedy the ache of corporate nonsense, Haru decided that today was as good a day to unwind at the one place she still treasured after all these years: Le Blanche's. She greeted Sojiro with an eager smile before ordering her usual teapot blend. They caught up a bit while he prepared her order, and once she was handed the tray, she thanked the older man and walked herself to her usual booth...

Due to the midday hours, she figured it would stay dead until the high school students got out... So, imagine her surprise when she sat in the booth and saw Akechi across from her. How serendipitous. Just one look at him and she could tell something was off-- or well, something else. He seemed paler, and the dark bags under his eyes worried her. Quietly, she got up to ask Sojiro for another cup of coffee, then she came back to slide it to Goro. After ample back and forth, Haru finally got him to admit what was wrong.... Thank God.

"Unrequited? So you didn't tell him is what you're admitting?" she echoes with a soft tone. That was definitely a word she understood, and the fact Goro could just... Say it made her wonder how long this was happening.

Out for Drinks

Tonight: bygones be bygones. Adult life is difficult enough with apathy being the default in an already untrusting world... And by Heaves's gates, Haru Okumura has had enough. For once, she just wanted to experience something mundane- something NOT her. The business spaces she's been in were suffocating at its best, intoxicating, at its worst.

So tonight!!!

Tonight was for cheap alcohol, an array of assorted charcuterie boards, a whole mess of chocolate, and a movie. A movie so bad, it was good. But first...

Ring Ring!

What My Muse Has For Your Muse's Contact Info: The Knight's Outrider ; )

What Their Ringtone Is: Goro's Calling !

The Last Text They Sent Your Muse: Work was awful, I'm sure yours was too. Drinks?

There was a certain air of tenseness in the velvet room. The siblings looked at one another with knowing glances before one dared to come forward. From the pack of girls, their only brother went over and sat next to Goro. None of them knew why he visits them often, but they weren't the type to just shoo off those who sought after them. At least... Not anymore. Just so long as Goro stayed in the main room, they were alright with his visits.

"The truth...? I.." Theo started, but he just couldn't bring himself to say anything. He wondered why he stepped up first... He was never as good with words like Margaret or straightforward like Elizabeth, but something in him just knew they wouldn't be the right choice for this sort of interaction. So instead, rather than figuring out what Goro might need, Theo tried again after taking in a deep breath.

"This feels like a loaded statement, Akechi Goro. What is it that you want from this conversation? Just a listening ear so you can voice out your troubles, or advice to help remedy your uneasiness?" Theo turned his head to focus his attention onto Goro. He wanted to help, but he just wasn't sure the most effective way to go about this.

Spirited Away Asks~

It were as though time had stood still, but for just a moment. The light in the Velvet Room faltered as the smile on Margaret's face slowly began to fall... His words sounded sweet, maybe even a little innocent, but the gravity of his statement weighed so heavily on the eldest Velvet daughter... Bright yellow irises focused onto Goro's face as if to search his eyes for any kind of insincerity, but when she couldn't pinpoint anything, she turned her head and closed her eyes.

Just who was this human? How did he find his way in here, and more importantly... When? So many questions danced in her head, but none were answered... Especially in this silence.

"If only you and your kind knew exactly what that means to us here... In every restart that happens... In all the routes explored... We do remember; all of it." Margaret bites her tongue to keep from saying anymore, but how her heart sank at the rush of distant but haunting memories. To dispel the feeling, she releases the breath she was holding and quietly pours a cup of coffee for the thief. Once the hot brew was set, she slides the cup over to Akechi.

We Shall ...

One of the many things Haru believed in was that people can change... For better or worse, some times by choice or circumstance, people change. All her life, she's seen it happen. Her father for instance; he was kind once before corporate greed took a hold of him. Yet in these thoughts, Haru still wanted to remember him as he was rather than the man he became, and that was her choice... Just like it was her choice to be completely weary of the man that stood before her now.

Goro Akechi.

The boy who died all those years ago has, miraculously, made a surprise appearance at her company's fundraiser event. Imagine the surprise she felt. and the hurt that came flooding back after seeing his face after burying him in her memories. She wasn't sure if she should ignore him like the ghost he was or indulge in the irony of dancing with a memory.

"People can change, Haru..." she reminded herself over and over again until she realized he was still standing there. Was he being serious? This had to be a game, right? Despite the uncertainty swirling in her eyes, she still found herself reaching for his hand.

“Is he actually insane?!” she huffed through gritted teeth as she forcefully willed herself to stand and run towards him. Mayhaps she too shared in that insanity-- the one that wanted to keep those in battle safe... And yet, when the realization hit that she wouldn’t make it in time to get him out of the way, Naoto launched herself out of the line of fire to call out her own suggestion.

Whatever dream she was in, Gods above, please don’t wake her. Not yet. Things like this just don’t happen to girls like Haru… Or so that’s what she managed to convince herself. As an heiress, she was forced taught to value advantageous matches over deep, meaningful connections to catapult the family standing further into the network’s good graces. In her father’s words, “it was always better to be owed favours rather than to owe them!” With this in mind, imagine the surprise Haru felt. To know that Ryuji wanted her for– well, her. Just as she is without a care in the world of her family’s company or her political ties. And hell, was it a liberating feeling! Apart from always feeling safe with Ryuji, Haru also felt happy.

“Ryuji…” she sighed happily once their lips finally met again. The hold he had on her further cemented the idea that this was no dream. They were here together in this shared moment, causing all sorts of heat to rise back up into her face to pain those soft cheeks of hers a glorious shade of pink! Haru caressed her thumbs over his cheeks before allowing her hands to drop slowly towards his shoulders. They stayed there for a spell, then she opted to loop her arms around his neck to draw him in closer. The girl giggled against Ryuji’s lips, parting from his kiss once or twice only to return to him in short pecks: