no one and nothing can break through

[predecir]

[Well! That sure did happen!

Bruno does not organize an afterparty. He's not a party organizer in general - that was Wu. But he knows he was completely useless, if not downright actively unhelpful, during that whole thing, and he already feels guilty enough. He has to be useful somehow. Otherwise, why's he even here? 

So, before everyone can leave the teleportation circle in the dining room and all go their own separate ways, Bruno mumbles something about making food and takes off for the kitchen. He'll be there for a couple of hours, whipping up some quick chicken sancocho, with Olive on rice duty. Azul can be in charge of actually grabbing people and bringing them in - god forbid Bruno do anything like that - but if anyone does happen to be there to take one, he'll make them up a bowl. Otherwise, he's just gonna leave it all warming on the stove. 

There's also some arroz con leche simmering for later, if anybody wants dessert! He'll put cinnamon in it, and then add some hot chocolate to the lineup as well. He's no Julieta, of course, but at least he's made something? It's not enough, but it's...something.]

Comments

[reresurrected]

Nuadha-sama...

[Somehow that managed to surprise him even more than outright yelling would have. Nuadha is prone to outbursts of anger and frustration; this he knows well. There is nothing unusual about that much. Rather, it's the intensity, the conviction of the words that startles him, stirs anew a wound that never really finished healing to begin with.

They don't talk about certain things. Perhaps sometimes they should.]

[rikonstructed]

Did you think I haven't been thinking of it since you pulled Gefion's picture from that envelope?

[Even before the light this morning that had set his every nerve on edge. Before the picture, if he's more honest still. Which he's temporarily exhausted the impulse to be. His words grind to an uncomfortable halt again and he pulls the cup of tea defensively towards his chest.]

[reresurrected]

Then you know exactly why I couldn't just sit back and do nothing.

[The others here are perfectly capable of defending themselves, as they well proved during the battle. But Bruno and Mei? They wouldn't have stood a chance, and he knows that Nuadha knows that much.]

[rikonstructed]

[Nuadha knows very well exactly what Baldr is saying. Just like he knows that, for all that Baldr had held Gefion as responsible for his own death at the meeting, it was far from what he truly blamed her for. There's a less than oblique rebuke in those words--what Nuadha is trying to say is unquestionably selfish, and irrational. Entirely against Baldr's nature, or even his own.]

...I'm well aware. You've always upheld your honor as a knight.

[He looks away, feigning a much deeper interest in his tea than he feels. As quietly as they're speaking, he doubts he wants to have much more of this conversation where they are.]

[reresurrected]

When I swore that oath, I meant it.

[Baldr's words hold a deliberate vagueness-- is he referring to the oath he swore when he first became a knight, or the one he swore again just recently to protect Nuadha and Mercuria? He could mean either, or both. After a moment, it becomes clear that he has no intention of elaborating further as to which one. That much is probably selfish on his end, which makes the two of them even.

There are many, many things Baldr is capable of. Denying his nature isn't one of them.]

[rikonstructed]

[Both oaths are entirely too clear in Nuadha's mind. The recent one, yet another argument he'd lost. And the older one, with the weight of all the hopes they'd both had at the time. It's enough to leave him quiet and subdued for the moment.]

I know that. And you know I don't mean my words lightly, either. ...We'll finish this later. You should eat.

[But it's notably a softened request rather than a command.]

[reresurrected]

[The softer tone is a clear signal that, at least for the moment, he's won this battle, and he really doesn't have any interest in twisting the knife any further. They're both raw right now, old trauma mingling with fresh distress, and Baldr decides that the best course of action for the time being is to do as Nuadha says and eat his meal. His empty stomach certainly isn't making him any less edgy, not with all of the trauma that accompanies that particular sensation.]

Yes.

[That's all the encouragement he needs to dig in, eating just a bit faster than is truly polite.]

[rikonstructed]

[Nuadha sips at his tea in silence, more than willing to take the chance to gather himself for the next skirmish as he watches Baldr eat. Although, really, it's more of his thoughts churning in directionless circles: what he'd been trying to say, the futility of it when he knows exactly where the line is where Baldr digs his heels in. If it was really the most important thing he needed to get across to Baldr. His emotions feel bruised right now, a sensation all the more unpleasant for how rarely he acknowledges it. He stifles a sigh into his cup.]

...There should be more food still, if you need it.