therealbrianna | Come As You Are // Open Post

[The special class had, all things considered, gone pretty well. She had decided to take her entire class out from morning until afternoon, walking them through Falner for a live science-cum-history lesson on the grounds of the Falner Estate. Beyond that, though, she was satisfied for another really good reason: Michael Lamont, her resident "special case", was doing much better.

Of course, Aria wanted to give credit where it was due. Brianna Lopez had been true to her word and had been consistently dropping by to sit with the boy, even during her extended engagement with Ginko Takasugi-Vice in Seigi. The Changeling had also readily agreed to join the tour today, and had spent it at Michael's side. Today was another landmark for all three of them: the boy had smiled - really smiled - at them. He also hadn't had a panic attack during the whole tour due to the flora around the area, but that might have been because of Brianna's grounding presence.

Now that Michael has been fetched by the resident operative that was handling his case back in Ziz, Aria was all but ready to talk to Brianna on the matter. Her attention, however, has been snagged by something else to consider: the sight of Hikaru Shinta waiting for them outside of the entrance of Balamb Academy.

People who knew about the situation between them may be surprised at the way she, after a pause and a moment of internal calibration, walks up to him with a smile. What they don't know is that the two of them managed to touch base while he was in Seigi. They had had a good, long conversation on the phone that had ended with one simple conclusion: they missed each other, and while they probably weren't going to be together anytime soon (or ever, for that matter), they needed each other as friends.

From this point on, it was just a matter of practice.

So, Brianna, you're going to see it pretty clearly if you're watching: how your father and your ally in the Curious Case of Michael Lamont are standing away from the class, exchanging pleasantries and not being fake about it, and exchanging notes on their individual experiences during the joint operation with Rhiannon. They're not as good as they used to be, but they're certainly getting there.]

[ She notices that Aria's moving towards her daddy, and instead of going towards him as well, she internally raises an amused eyebrow. Now, Brianna has whipped out her phone and is leaning against a tree, pretending to type away. She keeps the pair within the reach of her peripheral vision, because yknow, curious. ]

[And what Brianna's going to notice is that her father's relaxing even more, and listening to Aria as their conversation moves towards her students. The look on his face is a marked improvement from how he had been during the Quiapo engagement, their coffee date, the Ball, and... well. Everything else that's been happening lately.

Anyway. When Aria finally pops the question, he's blinking, and then rather casually saying:]

Oh, I just need to talk to Bri about something.

[He keeps his tone casual, and his manners light. Got it under wraps, this one, as if he hadn't been waiting around to break the news on Something Important to his latest daughter.

She'll find out soon enough.]

Don't worry. I'll wait for you to finish up. You wanted to talk to her about Michael, right?

[Neither of them have glanced in your direction this entire time, Brianna.]

[ At this point, she's already tired of holding her phone up in front of her.

Content to just being direct and staring at them now, waiting for her cue especially since both Hikaru and Aria seem to have something to discuss with her. ]

I did.

[She's lifting an eyebrow at him and giving him a curious look, but she's not going to press. She'll ask him at another time, perhaps.]

I'll be quick.

[Then, with one last smile in Hikaru's direction, she's walking over to Brianna.]

Hi. Thanks for coming around again.

[ Insert innocent smile here, hehe. ]

Sure! I don't mind. Whatsup?

[...She is starting to become familiar with that smile of yours, but okay. Not pushing. Not going to think about it.]

I just wanted to tell you that Ziz is really, REALLY happy about Michael's progress. He's starting to open up to them again... it's slow work, but you've helped him make some breakthroughs.

[Like today.]

[ Oh, wow.

The smile on her face morphs from innocent to accomplished. ]

Thanks! I... Well, I did what I can, for Michael. I'm happy to see Ziz took notice.

Same here. As it is, it's good that he's finally responding to him. He got picked up by his resident therapist, after all... he used to insist on going by himself, as you know.

[Yeah, she can't help but be REALLY hopeful.]

If this continues, maybe we'll be able to get him to reach out more by the end of the month.

[ Just the thought of that makes Brianna feel all warm inside. It wasn't long ago when she felt like the Michael Lamont to Tala Vega. ]

Yay, hopefully! Somewhere down the line, maybe he'll even be ready to be introduced to a family.

[ This one is hopeful as well. ]

Maybe we can arrange for something... or well, a lot of things. Your home and mine.

[Michael needs as much support as he can get, after all.]

I'll ask the others on my end.

[ A big grin plastered on her face. ]

I was actually hoping you'd say that! I just thought it would be nice if he could be with familiar people first, right?

Yeah. Anyway, we can plan this out better some other time. Hikaru's waiting for you.

[Yep. 'Hikaru', not 'Inquisitor Shinta' or 'the Blade King'. Seems like they were back on a first name basis now.]

See you on Monday?

[ Interesting. Noting that down, not that it sets off emergency signals in her brain. To Brianna, it's more of an "Oooh.." thing. ]

Yeah, that sounds okay. I'll see you then!

[And he's watching Aria nod and offer another smile in farewell to the third girl he's ever adopted as his daughter before moving off. On his end, he's killing his cigarette and moving over.]

That looked... pleasant.

[He had been curious about how Brianna and Aria were getting along now.]

[ Looking at him with a head tilt. ]

It's... usual...?

Is it? Well, that's good.

[Yeah, he's just going to change topics now. Smiling, on cue.]

C'mon. Let's grab some coffee from the Great Hall and sit somewhere nice?

[ Bouncing around in a very low-key fashion. ]

Yeah, I'd like that. Good space for us to talk too!

Mm-hm, because we kind of need to.

[Scratch that.]

Well, more like, I need to tell you something important.

[He's... just going to leave it at that now. Ehe.]

[ Oh. Serious. Got it. ]

Is... Something up?

Coffee first.

[He says it with a smile, but the tone in his voice doesn't leave that much room for negotiation.]

Coffee and a private spot.

[Too many ears in the Great Hall, and he's actually not that hot about taking this to his room.]

O...kay?

[ Agreeing reluctantly because of how vague that was but she trusts Hikaru enough to just go with it.

She's just letting him lead her. ]

[And he doesn't say anything, not until he's gotten the both of them good coffee, a pot, and an ashtray. Not until he's bringing the two of them out into the garden out back, and finding a quiet and secluded bench that they can plop down on, and setting the ashtray and the pot between them.]

So.

[Erm. How does one start with this? (Why is it so hard? It really shouldn't be, Blade King.)]

[ ??? What can this be about? Why is Daddy so silent?, she's thinking to herself. ]

So... Can you stop being all weird? What were you going to talk to me about?

Edited 2014-03-16 08:37 (UTC)

[Ah, well. He should have expected that.]

I'm being "weird" because I'm not sure how you're going to take it.

[Especially in light of his own conversation with her on the matter before, and her exchange with the party involved. Oops.]

Waking the Dead 2.0 || July 14, 2063 || Saturday

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