( He's not exactly cool, he's pretty lukewarm, but at least he pings to it being slang, and the intent paired to action. His brow's still furrowed a touch, but he takes Tidus's hand and steps forward, bringing their arms up to chest level between them to do the logical thing: step into the hug? Arm to arm, chest to chest, free arm coming around to thump against Tidus's back. Not a sweet sort of embrace, but a bracing one, specifically for comradery rather than support. )
On that, yeah.
( Cool on that, because that, that's true. Figuring out miscommunications was important, since their existence was inevitable. Frustrating, but inevitable. (Cool being one more potential if he hadn't the context to make it make sense.)
He steps back, letting go of Tidus's hand. His tail runs counterpoint to how he turns on the ball of his foot, reaching for the box from Inigo, nodding his head to him; he's not smiling, and he won't be, but he's not scowling, so that's an improvement over the confusion and everything else. If he wins the box free, he turns to place it against Tidus's chest instead, until the guy takes hold. )
Gonna leave these with you for now, still have to borrow Inigo for a while today. You're the techiest out of us all, you'll figure them out faster than we can.
( He nods his head to Tidus, not unfriendly in gesture, but not easy. Like there's some other tension under his skin, and it's mostly the kind he shoves to the side because:
I just don't want you guys to fight, you know..?
Damn the mediators of the world. Sometimes arguing is the only way to get things resolved, but other times? People've already left open things which should not be said in public in his mind, and so Jingyi is attempting to loop an arm through Inigo's to bodily whisk him away to the yet unspecified borrowed purpose. Apologies, for one, because Tidus's callousness is something owed to Jingyi, and not Tidus alone. )
Hey-- Hey guys. Are things okay now? Inigo would just like to know?! The semi-hug seems to indicate that everything is okay, but at the same time it's not exactly like the other two look happy.. So what's going on here.
It leaves Inigo just looking very unsure as he glances between the other two, and perhaps even moreso when there's suddenly an arm hooked in his own - which isn't that bad - and he's starting to get dragged away - a lot weirder?! - to an unknown destination. ]
W-Wait, why do you have to borrow me?
[ Judging by his tone, you'd imagine he was being kidnapped or something. Rather than just taken along by a friend. HE'S JUST CONFUSED, OKAY.
Yet he's still moving along with Jingyi all the same, casting a confused and flustered gaze back at Tidus. ]
( Jingyi doesn't have the finesse to fake being fine with someone he's not mostly fine with, and what bothers him isn't about himself, though it relies on his understandings of the world. Ergo: quick exit, and given Jingyi has no mysterious abilities to go plunging into the Void from the between-carriages spaces (nor the inclination), Inigo is, at some point, inevitably re-released to find his way back on the tides of his own inclinations.
Jingyi does only aim to take them a carriage away, having not answered the why and wearing his resting neutral to bitch face, brow a touch furrowed, but nothing about his body language angry. Not even his tail, past its initial twitch to shed lingering whatevers.
At least he doesn't keep bodily dragging Inigo onward once they're that far away. All he does do is (gently) disengage their arms, to sweep to a step away and a bow (is this getting familiar yet) of apology. )
This one apologises for his role in exposing you to unwarranted and uninvited injury.
[ Technically this should be nothing he's unused to. Even if Inigo's life didn't quite go as planned, he is still a prince, the son of the Exalt. This is how the servants would probably be treating him back home, if the world hadn't been destroyed.
And yet Inigo still feels fluster when he witnessed it. Jingyi stepping away from him, bowing, speaking those words.. It doesn't feel right, especially coming from a friend, when it's all this formal.
So he shakes his head, though he can feel his cheeks growing pink as he puts a hand on Jingyi's shoulder, as if to try and get the other guy to stand back up. ]
H-- Hey, it's fine!
[ I-IT'S FINE, IT'S COOL, DUDE, PLEASE DON'T GIVE HIM THIS FORMAL APOLOGY... ]
I mean, I.. do suppose there are some awkward things.. [ Like Tidus having gotten hurt - apparently - in the middle of Jingyi's questioning, and Inigo having to hear Tidus say he doesn't want to date so blatantly, right in front of Inigo's salad heart. But nothing about it feels like Inigo of all people should get an apology. ] But I also know you were asking him about that stuff--
[ He pauses, nervously glancing over at the door, as if he's worried Tidus would follow them and overhear this, but of course he doesn't. ]
( For Jingyi, all of this is appropriate politeness to a peer: deeper he could go, but it would show a different dissonance, and formality in apology is sincerity, is earnestness, from a Lan. To do less would be to give no face, and to lessen the importance of it all.
Endless cultural headbutting. He straightens, regardless, lips twitching into a frown. )
Yours and mine. ( Because if he didn't want to know himself, he wouldn't have asked. ) And—I mean it, even if I don't think he really believes it, I didn't intend offense. But you didn't deserve that, Inigo, and if I'd known there was an issue, I wouldn't have brought you along to be given no face like this.
( He means it metaphorically, but the concept of 'face' is one he hasn't explained, hasn't known to or tried, and it doesn't quite translate to 'pride.' More complex, and so face becomes a literalism, in its way. )
Tidus isn't trying to actively hurt you, but I set him up to do it, and I'm sorry. I...
( have no idea what to do about it since there's such a massive divide he's only partly aware of why is it so hard to understand what anyone's doing or thinking? )
Is there anything I can do? ( really, including "please shut up already" but asking is invitation. )
[ Inigo's voice is softer now. Less frantic, and more.. well, pretty much just resigned, even though there's a slight smile on his face as he says it. He's also given up on trying to understand of these cultural nuances that Jingyi is using - face?! - in order to try and focus on the bigger picture. ]
It's not like I didn't already know that this is the way things are, right? [ Even if Tidus just had to say it so clearly right in front of his salad - but it's not like it's the first time Tidus has said something that was actively hurtful towards Inigo's heart out of sheer ignorance.
And Inigo knows it won't be the last. ]
There's nothing anyone can do about that. I just have to take what I can get.
[ As desperate as that sounds. But what else is he supposed to do? ]
No, you don't, but I respect that it's what you've decided to do, and it's not how things are, he's being a--look, I'm not your best friend, or your bedmate, or anything ( he vaguely gestures to his chest, like that makes it clear he means entanglements of the heart okay ) like that, but there's doing the unintentional stuff, and there's also being a jackass. The dating stuff, yeah, that's unintentional, but turning down a gift from you? Because I'm involved, and he's not sure if he has an issue with me? That is an unkindness he could have chosen not to act on in front of you.
( He waves his hand, though, because he's not calling out jackass for the dating comment--that's specific to saying the gift would be refused if Jingyi wasn't good enough, if his intentions weren't something Tidus understood, and that's what bothers him. The rest? Tidus is thick in his own needs for denial, and so Jingyi sighs. Long. So Help Him, Void. )
Which is what it is, but were you listening to what his complaint was? For a guy so sure he's not going to date here, he was real offended thinking I agreed that he shouldn't. The fact you'll never call him out on it won't make him face himself any sooner, but I get why you don't want to, when you've already lost enough.
( With a tone shift, just a touch, because no he's not deft at social things like this, but he's also not daft: )
And I would never tell him any of that, because you are my friend, and you want this, and you know you're hurting yourself, and you're adult enough to make all those decisions on your own. I won't judge it, I just... I want you to be happy. However you're getting that happiness, 'cause you're the only one who can decide on that for yourself.
[ Inigo starts sputtering at the word 'bedmate', like he's just about ready to protest to the usage of that word..
.. but apparently he decides to be good. For now. He lets Jingyi speak first to explain himself, even if there's basically a waterfall's worth of words being poured out over him. But Inigo knows that Jingyi is just like that, and so he respects his friend for who he is, giving him the chance to speak his truth.
Though all he's left with when the other comes to that final part is just a: ]
Uh.. thank you.
[ It's just awkward, because.. what does he say in the face of that? How does he deal with people wanting him to be happy? He'll never get it.
Instead he just moves a hand up to his neck, awkwardly rubbing it a little. ]
You're really kind in your own way, Jingyi, but.. I'm not hurt over the gift thing. Really! [ The dating comment was so much worse comparatively, in Inigo's mind. ] It is pretty much my own fault in the first place, anyway.
[ After all, if he hadn't told Jingyi about his issue, then Jingyi would never have told Tidus that he's not fit to date, and this whole awkward situation never would have happened. ]
I just hope you guys won't be mad at each other. I like you both way too much to have to deal with that.
( You share a bed??? It's not weird??? To say bedmate??? It's like what Jingyi does when traveling with his fellow juniors, you just. You have a bedmate? Gosh, Inigo.
Likewise, Jingyi looks like he feels better (how is this helpful) for having voiced what bothered him, and hearing what is or isn't bothering Inigo about it in return. Though he... frowns. )
No, I'm not mad at him, or I mean, yes a little, but not in a "put your fists up" way. Annoyed at what he did. He was annoyed over the same thing.
( Over what he perceived Jingyi to have done, but it's the same thing in the end. )
It's not worth holding a grudge over. And it's not your own fault, Inigo, I chose to talk with him. You're not responsible for that, unless you're wanting to say you regret ever confiding in me—and that's fair, if you do.
( Heed not the tail that sinks at that thought, because oh, no, maybe he super fucked up? FRIENDSHIP BETRAYAL MEANS SELF-PUNISHMENT TIME this is going to be a day isn't it )
[ It's said so quickly, like a knee-jerking reflex. The last thing Inigo wants to do here is to make Jingyi feel like that is the truth here - though there's always some baseline level of regret when he tells anyone absolutely anything, but that really doesn't have anything to do with Jingyi in particular as much as Inigo just sucks at sharing anything.
So he shakes his head, the look in his eyes turning more puppy-like by the moment as he speaks. ]
It's.. really sweet, you know? That you care so much about me, and about my happiness. [ Especially when - relatively speaking - they're still semi-new friends. Jingyi cares so easily, though that's a trait that's reflected within Inigo himself as well. ] Thank you for looking out for me.
( It'd be fair to say Jingyi is inclined toward easy decisions, like or dislike or neutrality; his mind can change, but it's easy, especially for someone used to having people he knows he can rely on who can rely on him in turn around. Here is a whole cluster of difficulties because it's not the same, where he's not sure how to shift that behaviour, let alone navigating all the mismatched cultures involved.
His tail lashes a little on the ground, mostly the heavily furred tip twitching. )
Yeah, well, that's what friends do. You're welcome.
( Not that he looks suddenly happy, since he doesn't, but he sighs, and the drawn nature of his features relaxes some. )
Shared burdens, okay?
( You nice ones are the ones who don't remember to do the sharing, versus, well, him. Who complains enough he ends up sharing burdens even if people are possibly struggling to exit stage left to not hear him complain. )
[ He lets out a breath - a near-huff, like a little kid who's just been reminded of some homework he really doesn't want to do, but knows he has to. ]
.. Yes. I remember.
[ He's trying, okay! He could just have ran away, but look, he's trying to at least talk with Jingyi here. Baby steps. ]
But-- trust me. I really don't feel bad about the gift thing at all. [ He's not lying about that.
Inigo wouldn't lie after the reminder about shared burdens. ]
Just a little bad about the reminder of the 'no dating' thing, but.. I can deal with that. [ He's a big boy! A big boy who occasionally just has a good cry. ] .. How about you? Are you alright right now? Are we okay?
( That, he figures, is indeed a culture thing, but if it's not one for Inigo (just as he figures now it isn't one for Tidus), then he can let it go too. With a huff. Not even a mental one, he just huffs. )
If you say... hey, do you want a hug?
( For the no dating thing, which at this point Jingyi thinks is more a work in progress of Tidus dealing with guilt over loving more than one person at a time, but being, you know, dumb about it. Heavenspeed to them both. )
( It's been years since he's had to deal with anyone who needed reassurance like that! He's so straightforward he just assumes people understand that he'd tell them if he had issues with whatever, like he did... now... right? Ugh, social situations are a pain.
And he might grimace a bit, when he wraps his arms easily around Inigo in turn, but it's not at the hug, or Inigo, or even Tidus. He just dislikes that none of this is logical to him, that he can't depend on his instincts, that the cues all get messed up.
He sighs, right out loud, and relaxes into the hug in the meantime. )
Sorry you had to hear all that.
( And sorry to the train he can't predict how people are going to react based on what makes sense to him. )
[ He lingers in the hug for a moment or two, just to make sure to let its warmth penetrate him fully, before he finally releases the other. There's a smile on Inigo's face, but it's small. ]
I'll be alright. [ And Jingyi too, he hopes. Despite the frustration that might still linger within the other, even now. ] Though I guess I should get going for now. I kind of want to clear my head for a little bit.
( He nods after Inigo lets go and steps back, waving him off in a sort of not-quite shooing motion. Makes sense enough to him, for a variety of reasons. He'll believe Inigo, to an extent--the guy's going to be as okay as he can be, in this particularly headache inducing (to Jingyi) situation, and that he's happy enough is all Jingyi can hope. )
Yeah, yeah, figured on it. I'll... see you around.
( And he shifts, heading off in... okay, the direction where Tidus is, because the train is a line, but he'll be out in that parallel corridor and heading onward, as one does. )
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
blitzcheer) wrote2020-04-28 11:07 am
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On that, yeah.
( Cool on that, because that, that's true. Figuring out miscommunications was important, since their existence was inevitable. Frustrating, but inevitable. (Cool being one more potential if he hadn't the context to make it make sense.)
He steps back, letting go of Tidus's hand. His tail runs counterpoint to how he turns on the ball of his foot, reaching for the box from Inigo, nodding his head to him; he's not smiling, and he won't be, but he's not scowling, so that's an improvement over the confusion and everything else. If he wins the box free, he turns to place it against Tidus's chest instead, until the guy takes hold. )
Gonna leave these with you for now, still have to borrow Inigo for a while today. You're the techiest out of us all, you'll figure them out faster than we can.
( He nods his head to Tidus, not unfriendly in gesture, but not easy. Like there's some other tension under his skin, and it's mostly the kind he shoves to the side because:
I just don't want you guys to fight, you know..?
Damn the mediators of the world. Sometimes arguing is the only way to get things resolved, but other times? People've already left open things which should not be said in public in his mind, and so Jingyi is attempting to loop an arm through Inigo's to bodily whisk him away to the yet unspecified borrowed purpose. Apologies, for one, because Tidus's callousness is something owed to Jingyi, and not Tidus alone. )
ree told me to go first
Hey-- Hey guys. Are things okay now? Inigo would just like to know?! The semi-hug seems to indicate that everything is okay, but at the same time it's not exactly like the other two look happy.. So what's going on here.
It leaves Inigo just looking very unsure as he glances between the other two, and perhaps even moreso when there's suddenly an arm hooked in his own - which isn't that bad - and he's starting to get dragged away - a lot weirder?! - to an unknown destination. ]
W-Wait, why do you have to borrow me?
[ Judging by his tone, you'd imagine he was being kidnapped or something. Rather than just taken along by a friend. HE'S JUST CONFUSED, OKAY.
Yet he's still moving along with Jingyi all the same, casting a confused and flustered gaze back at Tidus. ]
Uh-- Tidus, I.. I'll be back!
[ ???
He sure hopes, anyway? ]
thumbs up!!
Jingyi does only aim to take them a carriage away, having not answered the why and wearing his resting neutral to bitch face, brow a touch furrowed, but nothing about his body language angry. Not even his tail, past its initial twitch to shed lingering whatevers.
At least he doesn't keep bodily dragging Inigo onward once they're that far away. All he does do is (gently) disengage their arms, to sweep to a step away and a bow (is this getting familiar yet) of apology. )
This one apologises for his role in exposing you to unwarranted and uninvited injury.
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And yet Inigo still feels fluster when he witnessed it. Jingyi stepping away from him, bowing, speaking those words.. It doesn't feel right, especially coming from a friend, when it's all this formal.
So he shakes his head, though he can feel his cheeks growing pink as he puts a hand on Jingyi's shoulder, as if to try and get the other guy to stand back up. ]
H-- Hey, it's fine!
[ I-IT'S FINE, IT'S COOL, DUDE, PLEASE DON'T GIVE HIM THIS FORMAL APOLOGY... ]
I mean, I.. do suppose there are some awkward things.. [ Like Tidus having gotten hurt - apparently - in the middle of Jingyi's questioning, and Inigo having to hear Tidus say he doesn't want to date so blatantly, right in front of Inigo's
saladheart. But nothing about it feels like Inigo of all people should get an apology. ] But I also know you were asking him about that stuff--[ He pauses, nervously glancing over at the door, as if he's worried Tidus would follow them and overhear this, but of course he doesn't. ]
--for my sake.
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Endless cultural headbutting. He straightens, regardless, lips twitching into a frown. )
Yours and mine. ( Because if he didn't want to know himself, he wouldn't have asked. ) And—I mean it, even if I don't think he really believes it, I didn't intend offense. But you didn't deserve that, Inigo, and if I'd known there was an issue, I wouldn't have brought you along to be given no face like this.
( He means it metaphorically, but the concept of 'face' is one he hasn't explained, hasn't known to or tried, and it doesn't quite translate to 'pride.' More complex, and so face becomes a literalism, in its way. )
Tidus isn't trying to actively hurt you, but I set him up to do it, and I'm sorry. I...
( have no idea what to do about it since there's such a massive divide he's only partly aware of why is it so hard to understand what anyone's doing or thinking? )
Is there anything I can do? ( really, including "please shut up already" but asking is invitation. )
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[ Inigo's voice is softer now. Less frantic, and more.. well, pretty much just resigned, even though there's a slight smile on his face as he says it. He's also given up on trying to understand of these cultural nuances that Jingyi is using - face?! - in order to try and focus on the bigger picture. ]
It's not like I didn't already know that this is the way things are, right? [ Even if Tidus just had to say it so clearly right in front of his salad - but it's not like it's the first time Tidus has said something that was actively hurtful towards Inigo's heart out of sheer ignorance.
And Inigo knows it won't be the last. ]
There's nothing anyone can do about that. I just have to take what I can get.
[ As desperate as that sounds. But what else is he supposed to do? ]
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( He waves his hand, though, because he's not calling out jackass for the dating comment--that's specific to saying the gift would be refused if Jingyi wasn't good enough, if his intentions weren't something Tidus understood, and that's what bothers him. The rest? Tidus is thick in his own needs for denial, and so Jingyi sighs. Long. So Help Him, Void. )
Which is what it is, but were you listening to what his complaint was? For a guy so sure he's not going to date here, he was real offended thinking I agreed that he shouldn't. The fact you'll never call him out on it won't make him face himself any sooner, but I get why you don't want to, when you've already lost enough.
( With a tone shift, just a touch, because no he's not deft at social things like this, but he's also not daft: )
And I would never tell him any of that, because you are my friend, and you want this, and you know you're hurting yourself, and you're adult enough to make all those decisions on your own. I won't judge it, I just... I want you to be happy. However you're getting that happiness, 'cause you're the only one who can decide on that for yourself.
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.. but apparently he decides to be good. For now. He lets Jingyi speak first to explain himself, even if there's basically a waterfall's worth of words being poured out over him. But Inigo knows that Jingyi is just like that, and so he respects his friend for who he is, giving him the chance to speak
his truth.Though all he's left with when the other comes to that final part is just a: ]
Uh.. thank you.
[ It's just awkward, because.. what does he say in the face of that? How does he deal with people wanting him to be happy? He'll never get it.
Instead he just moves a hand up to his neck, awkwardly rubbing it a little. ]
You're really kind in your own way, Jingyi, but.. I'm not hurt over the gift thing. Really! [ The dating comment was so much worse comparatively, in Inigo's mind. ] It is pretty much my own fault in the first place, anyway.
[ After all, if he hadn't told Jingyi about his issue, then Jingyi would never have told Tidus that he's not fit to date, and this whole awkward situation never would have happened. ]
I just hope you guys won't be mad at each other. I like you both way too much to have to deal with that.
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Likewise, Jingyi looks like he feels better (how is this helpful) for having voiced what bothered him, and hearing what is or isn't bothering Inigo about it in return. Though he... frowns. )
No, I'm not mad at him, or I mean, yes a little, but not in a "put your fists up" way. Annoyed at what he did. He was annoyed over the same thing.
( Over what he perceived Jingyi to have done, but it's the same thing in the end. )
It's not worth holding a grudge over. And it's not your own fault, Inigo, I chose to talk with him. You're not responsible for that, unless you're wanting to say you regret ever confiding in me—and that's fair, if you do.
( Heed not the tail that sinks at that thought, because oh, no, maybe he super fucked up? FRIENDSHIP BETRAYAL MEANS SELF-PUNISHMENT TIME this is going to be a day isn't it )
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[ It's said so quickly, like a knee-jerking reflex. The last thing Inigo wants to do here is to make Jingyi feel like that is the truth here - though there's always some baseline level of regret when he tells anyone absolutely anything, but that really doesn't have anything to do with Jingyi in particular as much as Inigo just sucks at sharing anything.
So he shakes his head, the look in his eyes turning more puppy-like by the moment as he speaks. ]
It's.. really sweet, you know? That you care so much about me, and about my happiness. [ Especially when - relatively speaking - they're still semi-new friends. Jingyi cares so easily, though that's a trait that's reflected within Inigo himself as well. ] Thank you for looking out for me.
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His tail lashes a little on the ground, mostly the heavily furred tip twitching. )
Yeah, well, that's what friends do. You're welcome.
( Not that he looks suddenly happy, since he doesn't, but he sighs, and the drawn nature of his features relaxes some. )
Shared burdens, okay?
( You nice ones are the ones who don't remember to do the sharing, versus, well, him. Who complains enough he ends up sharing burdens even if people are possibly struggling to exit stage left to not hear him complain. )
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.. Yes. I remember.
[ He's trying, okay! He could just have ran away, but look, he's trying to at least talk with Jingyi here. Baby steps. ]
But-- trust me. I really don't feel bad about the gift thing at all. [ He's not lying about that.
Inigo wouldn't lie after the reminder about shared burdens. ]
Just a little bad about the reminder of the 'no dating' thing, but.. I can deal with that. [ He's a big boy! A big boy who occasionally just has a good cry. ] .. How about you? Are you alright right now? Are we okay?
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( That, he figures, is indeed a culture thing, but if it's not one for Inigo (just as he figures now it isn't one for Tidus), then he can let it go too. With a huff. Not even a mental one, he just huffs. )
If you say... hey, do you want a hug?
( For the no dating thing, which at this point Jingyi thinks is more a work in progress of Tidus dealing with guilt over loving more than one person at a time, but being, you know, dumb about it. Heavenspeed to them both. )
I'm fine, and why wouldn't we be okay?
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[ Please, Jingyi, have you still not realised yet that Inigo is just a bundle of nerves that one day somehow managed to become a Real Boy?
But other than that, he just nods - and he's already moving in for that hug, wrapping his arms around the other guy.
Truly nothing is more healing than a hug. ]
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And he might grimace a bit, when he wraps his arms easily around Inigo in turn, but it's not at the hug, or Inigo, or even Tidus. He just dislikes that none of this is logical to him, that he can't depend on his instincts, that the cues all get messed up.
He sighs, right out loud, and relaxes into the hug in the meantime. )
Sorry you had to hear all that.
( And sorry to the train he can't predict how people are going to react based on what makes sense to him. )
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[ He lingers in the hug for a moment or two, just to make sure to let its warmth penetrate him fully, before he finally releases the other. There's a smile on Inigo's face, but it's small. ]
I'll be alright. [ And Jingyi too, he hopes. Despite the frustration that might still linger within the other, even now. ] Though I guess I should get going for now. I kind of want to clear my head for a little bit.
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Yeah, yeah, figured on it. I'll... see you around.
( And he shifts, heading off in... okay, the direction where Tidus is, because the train is a line, but he'll be out in that parallel corridor and heading onward, as one does. )