[So, Trish knows where Hinata lives (non-threatening). Mostly because Steve has inhabited this particular part of 38-8 since she's known him, although she doesn't typically drop by to visit. The last time she came, it was with a bunch of their friends-turned-children in tow, and that was very temporary.
Now she's back, but it's important, okay. It's not every day she loses her mind to this place...in fact, the movie world is the first time she's woken up to the horrible realization that she had completely lost control of herself.
Is it necessary to apologize? Maybe not, but she also wants to make sure he understands that what happened was not either of their faults. He's new enough to this place she's worried how he'll interpret it. And she's done enough of saying nothing at all and assuming things were fine when they very much weren't.
So today, at ass'o'clock in the morning, Trish Una is knocking on the door of 805 and will stand back with her hands on her hips as she waits for an answer.]
[Maybe it's not necessary to apologize, but Hinata is certainly still shouldering that guilt, and avoiding doing anything with it anyway. God forbid it allow him to sleep in, but he didn't have to head to the casino for another few hours, and so he was just sloughed in the middle of the living room floor, barely half awake, or barely half aware.
But the knock at least brings him back to awareness, and he jolts with a start, refilling into his clothes and into humanoid shape as he sat up in front of the coffee table.
It took him a minute to figure out how to stand up again, but he got there, quickly making his way over to open the door, and...]
[Trish's ears are sensitive enough she can hear movement on the other side of the door, but she...has no idea how to parse them. There's no footsteps, and it sort of reminds her of how she can very unfortunately hear the sounds of other people's gut motility if she lets herself?
Yeah, it's like that. Like a big colon shuffling around behind the door, squashy and weird and she knows Hinata is a slime, but she hasn't ever had close contact with one. Not once! Rachel is like a weird puddle so very far away most days...
So when he opens the door, she doesn't recognize him right away. She wonders if he feels the same way, seeing her coated in pink fur while still roughly human-shaped. But no, he stares, and she stares, and he stares some more, and then.
Hm.]
...What? No. This is exactly why I came to talk to you.
[Don't just give in immediately!! You've got to keep it together, Hinata...]
[Unfortunately, he's incredibly bad at keeping it together. Especially now. With the slime thing.]
A-Ah...? [Well, he just looks perplexed, and suddenly has no idea where this is going. But, Hinata still steps out of the way, gesturing for Trish to come in if she wanted.]
Steve's still asleep, so just don't be too loud, I guess.
[Some of the tendrils on his head grew a little, though at least he was resisting the urge to poke her given how creeped out she'd said she was about the slime stuff. It, didn't seem that appropriate right now, admittedly.]
So, you came here to talk about not wanting to kick my ass...?
[Trish isn't sure how to parse his confusion. Like, she's being vague, but he also assumed she was here to kick his ass. Therefore, if she isn't here to do that, it should naturally follow that she is emphatically going to do the opposite?
Which is very pointedly leaving it untouched. That ass and the slime boy it's attached to have committed no crime.
She takes him up on his offer at least, padding inside and admiring how clean Steve's apartment is as she does. Hinata's a godsend wrapped in a polo and tie, isn't he?]
More or less. You're fairly new, so I needed to make sure you understood that what happened was neither your fault nor mine.
[She won't mention it, but she's distressed at how easily they were swept up in that mess. Still, they can control the aftermath. To hell with those gremlin bastards.
She turns away from the plants then, hands on her hips as she continues, tail swaying to and fro behind her:]
I thought it would be better to do it in person too. That way you can see I'm very serious when I say I don't hold any of it against you.
Oh...? [She was being surprisingly reasonable about it all-- but there were a lot of people that weren't taking the events personally. It did make him feel better... though it didn't stop him from the existential malaise.
Hinata closes the door behind her-- he gestures vaguely at the couch, inviting her to sit down if she wanted, while he himself wandered to the kitchen, taking the old kettle out to start brewing some tea. He might as well, like, actually be awake for the day.]
I... appreciate the thought. [The sentiment is genuine, even if a bit confusing.] I really hope you're not gonna tell me this kind of thing happens often...
[Please just toss his brain in the dumpster by now.]
Trish is still puzzled by Hinata's reaction meanwhile, since he doesn't seem to feel much better about this revelation. Part of her concern is over fake emotions taking root to the point they have real consequences. But that doesn't seem to cover whatever is bothering him in particular.
So she sits, since he's offering, and wrinkles her nose at the simultaneously familiar and unfamiliar smells permeating Steve's apartment.]
It really depends. This is the first time it's ever happened to me personally, and I've been here almost a year.
[Which is very aggravating apparently, considering the purse of her lips.]
But I don't want to give you false hope. It could happen again next month. All the more reason I wanted to talk about it.
[That, and she's not sure if anyone else has approached Hinata about it. It's easy to forget the new people among the confusion.]
[He's very new to having reasonable teenage girls in his life, okay.
Still, that inspires at least-- some, confidence? If Trish has been here for a year. Maybe he's just being particular sensitive because of the... role, he'd uh, gotten. Surely it's some kind of karmic joke.]
Trust me, I'm not big on the whole 'hope' thing anymore. Sometimes you just have to deal with what's in front of you.
[He mumbles, looming over the teapot while it heated up.
In a few minutes, the kettle is whistling, and he pours the hot water over the tea bags he's set in two cups. The kettle is returned to the stove, and he takes both cups over as he joins Trish on the couch. He hands her one, and then holds the other with both hands.]
[Hinata is quickly going to find that Ryslig loves karmic jokes. In particular, it will love prying the things he hates most about himself out of his vice grip to put on display for everyone else to see. Trish could say that, but she won't, because she's trying to get him over the first hurdle of "people will forgive you for your moral blemishes, most of the time".
For now, she considers his odd phrasing with a hum, but finds it...sort of relatable, actually. Perhaps a brusque way to say it, but he's not wrong. Maybe a slightly more elegant way to put it would be "learning to take things on the chin".
When he returns, Trish watches him basically meld to the couch's shape, and she accepts the tea with some slight hesitation. He absolutely won't miss her testing the cup with the pads of her fingers for any leftover stickiness. Are slimes sticky? They better not be!!!
She's rotating the cup in her hold one more time as she holds it up for closer inspection, saying:]
If I were angry with you, believe me. There'd be no doubts. So no, I'm not.
[Well.]
...Okay, I am angry, but at this place, not you. If that makes sense.
I-I promise the only thing in it is the teabag... [He deadpans a little as she looks over the cup, though... he can't really blame her for it. It had been a real worry when he first moved in and started cooking.] If you don't believe me, believe the fact that I'm the one that cleaned the kitchen. [And there were no slime stains at all!!
The cup did indeed seem to be clean, at least, and Hinata just sort of idly dragged the teabag around as it steeped. He also was pretty sure he'd know for sure if she was angry at him, given the previous worries about ass-kicking.]
You're... mad because of whatever made us act like that, right? [It's kind of a hesitant guess, but at least it's a guess.] Those weird little creatures?
However, the cup is not sticky, and it smells like any old tea. There's another odor there she can't describe too, but it mirror's Hinata's scent exactly, so it must be whatever slimes are supposed to smell like.
She sniffs at the tea itself then, testing it with her tongue. It tastes like any old tea too – there is no Hinata flavoring to be found. Apparently satisfied with her inspection, she takes a sip, holding the tea cup primly with both hands as she settles back as comfortably as she can. She sweeps her tail close to her body too, mindful of how Hinata seems to fill space based on surface tension. He could blorb out further at any moment.
Anyways, she continues:]
In a manner of speaking, yes. But the creatures are just symptomatic of how this place usually is.
Very often fogs will make a good portion of us act erratically, or change us in ways we can't control. I wanted to mention that too. In scenarios like that, I will also refrain from kicking your ass. I hope you'll offer me the same courtesy.
[This is a joke. There's no way this guy can kick her ass, right?]
this is his protagonist power instead of being nice and agreeable
[Y'know how heavy humidity can kinda smell like fresh rain, when it's not accompanied by the usual heat? Like, it just makes everything smell kinda wet? That's basically what he smells like.
But Trish's suspicion rolls off his back as he listens to the rest. The Fog... he'd heard plenty of talk about all that. Not just the spirit that controlled it, but it's regular appearance, and the effect it had on people transforming. The only thing he really has confidence in about the Fog situation was Mukuro's reassurances, and her feelings. It really did kind of seem like the fickle mistakes of a bored spirit. ]
Yeah... someone told me about how it can cause the transformations. [Again, it wasn't... terrible, but he still had a surly frown.] But I guess... it really is kind of a relief, knowing it wasn't all me.
But-- I promise I won't kick your ass either. [It's a joke! He could absolutely kick her ass if he wanted. But only if it was an emergency and she was trying to murder someone else.]
[If Hinata ever described his smell as "wet", he'd get verbally boxed about the ears for it. That's not even a smell! Don't make it weird.
But...she's not here to bully him about his form. In fact, she's being surprisingly well-behaved joining him on the couch like this while drinking tea crafted by his own slimy hands. The Trish from eight months ago would have done neither of these things, or made it even more obvious than she does now that she finds slime viscerally disgusting.
But she knows well that it's not kind to be rude to someone about their monster body. Especially when he's as worried as she is about control. Half of this is because she had to make sure he knows that. They're on the same page, or ought to be.
She huffs a short laugh at his agreement either way, but sobers up just as quickly, saying:]
No, it wasn't you at all. Don't let this world make you believe otherwise.
[The way he phrased that barest concession was impossible to miss. But she's in a bit of denial perhaps, because she knows everyone had a kernel of truth in their movie selves here and there.
She taps her claws on her cup, then, thoughtful.]
...Unless you mean to tell me you really can put things like that together. Do you recall?
[The traps, the light show. It was like he was putting on a performance within a performance, considering that they were being forced into.]
[Not them at all. Maybe he's just being too indecisive, or too worrisome, but the confidence (affected or not) with the way she can say it's not them at all doesn't feel like it really rings true. A lot of people were thinking like that, and... it was probably better to think about it that way? But Hinata couldn't help but be riddled with doubt.
Which-- just bloomed a bit more, when Trish brings up all the pieces that had been part of the set of his... office. Headquarters? Office made it sound so lame... But he raises his brow a little at Trish, and then... awkwardly brings the tea up to his lips, half-hiding behind the cup as he took a sip to check the flavor.]
W-Well... I did tell you I had a lot of skills. [Eheh. His eyes are a little deadpan, though the rest of his face is awkward, as though he had been caught in a lie.] But fixing lights and speakers isn't that different from setting up other machines. Once you have things set up, it's most just staging, like lining up all the pieces of a trap to go off the right way... Sound and lightboards are a bit more complicated, but I don't think the moviemakers thought about those.
[He sighs.] I-It was kind of flashy, for my taste....
[It's probably fair to doubt. Not everything is smoke and mirrors, but Trish believes in choice, and if any part of the Hinata she saw rang true...it wasn't something Hinata chose to share so much as it was forced out of him.
Which, if such is the case, renders the display hollow. Like a seed that was dug out from its pot before it could bloom and show its true colors. It's a part of Hinata sure, but it's a part of Hinata that is robbed of context, and that makes it less truthful by virtue of that fact alone.
She watches him drink the tea he made, meanwhile, and wonders if it's possible for a liquid person to actually drink. Is it going somewhere in particular, or is he just giving himself more volume? Much to think about.
She remembers his claims too. The boy of many talents.]
You definitely don't like to stand out, do you?
[Hmph.]
I was mostly asking because I think you could put that talent to some use, if it truly exists. I'm no engineer myself, but I think you could do a lot better than traps.
[Not that those weren't also kind of cool, but she's less fond of the weaponry leveled at her person.]
[There's at least an answer to one question, which is that when Hinata finishes his sip, the liquid he's taken in just kind of... floats in there, around his mouth and throat, though it does actually move downwards as though he was swallowing it. The color was tinted a bit by his green-ness, but it was still surprisingly distinct.]
Th-Things don't really work out well for me when I try to stand out...
[He grumbles a bit, more tired about it than really upset. Trying to force his way through HPA's security, becoming the subject of the school's magnum opus, becoming an almost second-in-command of a cult of terrorists, and even every class trial on the island-- not to mention what had just happened with those stupid fucking gremlins in the TV. He'd felt like such a nobody before, but maybe that was at least better than being in the limelight, when you're trying to be a better person.]
Huh--? [But putting his own complexes aside, he looks at Trish with surprise as she continues. Admittedly death traps was kind of where his thoughts went at first, when it came to stuff like that.] Like what?
[Oh, she doesn't like that either, she finds. The way the tea is sort of suspended is interesting maybe, in the way a lava lamp could be, but this is a slime-person with tea floating in him presumably to be slowly digested by his entire being?
She's going to watch and see if it recedes into him or filters around. Call it morbid fascination.
Meanwhile, she can only wonder if Hinata is the type to experience performance anxiety, or to crack under the expectations of others. She really doesn't think so, but he insists more often than not on being as dry as a bowl of rice left out uncovered for too many hours. With a tie on, for effect.]
I suppose some people simply don't enjoy being the center of attention.
[That's more outward musing than a response.
She takes another sip of her tea. It's actually pretty good. Anyways:]
What if I said for rigging lights? Or using smoke machines for dramatic effect instead of obfuscation? Unless you're going to tell me you haven't seen a single live performance in your life.
[She raises her eyebrows for emphasis.
If he says no, she'll believe him. But also: she will be disappointed.]
That's definitely me, then. [He's dry in his disparagement, making it sound like a particularly sarcastic joke as he touches the side of his face awkwardly. Which, it was!! But it was also if he had to argue in front of another courtroom he was going to have a panic attack.
But, he drops the train of thought, in the hopes that Trish will definitely not worry about that either.]
H-Hey, I've been to a concert before...! [It was, one, when he'd been in middle school, and he didn't really remember anything about the performers, but. Don't worry about it.]
But yeah, I know how they work behind the scenes. The actual look of the lights is usually up to a director, but setting up them up and running them is simple enough. Stage effects, sound wiring and making sure the acoustics are good...
[He just sort of rattles things off absently, as he is wont to do. He had no idea why that other version of him was such a showman.]
[Success! Trish doesn't pursue it further. Hinata is loathe to stand out, and for the moment, that's his prerogative. She has no concept of any baggage behind those feelings, and mostly she's worried about him being too boring to have hobbies.
That? That cannot go unchallenged.
But for now, Trish watches the tea floating around in Hinata slowly disperse, and takes another sip of her own.]
Alright. And what if I asked you to use that knowledge for a scheme of mine?
[She's on a mission, you know! Or two. She has multiple agendas going at all times.
And since Hinatas Georg has zero agendas, he is now being drafted into hers.]
that's fair i think that's how he has most of his friends
[He takes another sip of tea, and what he's already drank is indeed starting to slowly diffuse... in the direction of where his stomach should be, at least. Like it was following the path of his esophagus, but there weren't any walls to hold it inside. Hinata is used to this, unfortunately.]
Oh?
[He does look at her curiously when she seems to have a scheme and her own agenda, all in one. At least it's a quick recovery over his unique brand of stress about... uh, everything.]
What were you thinking? [He's genuinely interested!]
[Trish finds slime are fascinating as long as they aren't touching her. No that she's seen any besides Hinata and the rare glimpses of Rachel, but they share way too many traits with things she finds gross, all combined into a single entity. But the more Hinata just acts like a painfully normal and boring boy, the more she finds herself relaxing a little, although she keeps her fluffy tail swept close and away from his flubbery borders.
She turns her head slightly to meet Hinata's gaze, green versus green, her hands cradling her teacup on the shelf of her knees.
Very prim and proper, because she's all business now.]
Picture this: you assist me in setting up the groundwork for dazzling performances. Contrary to what the movie world showed you, I'm not a brute by trade. In reality, I'm a musician.
[Like, she can go the melee route if she has to. Just like Hinata can be anything and everything people ask of him. As the situation demands. Anyways:]
If you're opposed, I won't pressure you. But I figured there was a kernel of truth in the role you played, and it certainly wasn't the part where you actually had a spine.
[Wow???]
I'll compensate you, of course. Interested?
he'd be a very charming Just a Guy if he didn't have anxiety and wasn't a terrorist
[He doesn't. It's the most easily disprovable lie he's ever said.
But-- he's not surprised to hear she's a musician, given how much interest she obviously had in it. He's still pretty sure she could kick his ass like she should've in the TV world, though maybe that was just when she was full bear? But aside from that he listens to her idea with interests, a small 'oh!' of surprise accompanying her very serious business proposal.]
Sure. Something like that should be no problem. [He gestures with one hand.] Setting up for a musical act is more in line with what I actually know. [Surprisingly, HPA didn't have much of a theater program. Or maybe it's not surprising.]
I might need a few more hands if you end up in a stadium... But I'd be more than happy to help.
[Trish lifts a slim, well-maintained brow at that. She is looking directly at you, Hajime Hinata, and you certainly have no spine to speak of. Not even a single bone! By default he is now and forever the most spineless boy she has ever met.
However, that leaves him with the least kickable ass. Still, she has sway over the other Italian boys by virtue of her strong personality. If she can exert any kind of power over Hinata, it's got to be willpower, and boy, she's more than happy to flex that muscle.
Not that she actually wants to kick his ass. He's a very reasonable guy, in all the ways that matter. And funny, too! She snorts ugly. Thank goodness her tea wasn't anywhere near her face.]
I'm flattered you think I'd ever have an audience big enough to fill a stadium. You can rest easy knowing I'm aiming far smaller.
It's sort of a tentative idea, too. I don't own my own establishment, so I'm not eager to mess with something that isn't mine. But I've thought here and there about what I'd do with a place of my own. I figured you'd be a good person to consult on that.
[She taps her claws on her cup.]
And, if that place were to exist in the future, that you would help me make those plans a reality.
[Neither of them have any clue at this point that Abbacchio is about to make this all very possible on a whim predicated entirely on wanting some good goddamn pizza in these trying times.]
charm points: the violent murder of thousands of innocents
[Hinata just ends up chuckling awkwardly when Trish was.... clearly calling his bullshit. He could have a spine! If he wanted! He's not standing up to her right now about it but. He could!!]
Hey, you never know. But the acoustics would be way worse anyway. [Even when he was like, normal, he didn't prefer the huge stadium concerts. That may have also been crowd anxiety though.
But the idea does genuinely sound interesting-- there had been the music venue in the simulation, but it's not like they'd had the ability to spend much time in it. Even so, the stage set-up had been sort of charming, even without all the realities of theater tech and sound mixing in his head.]
It sounds kinda fun, actually. [He takes another sip to add to the strange cloud of flavor floating through him, and when he pulls the cup away he's even grinning.] We could come up with some layout ideas in the mean time, if you have anything in mind. If you ever get your own place I can even draw something up to match the venue... We'd at least have to add a stage and the sound system.
LISTEN JUNKO SAID IF U KILL WHILE UR CUTE UR VALID, RIGHT
[HINATA, THE FACT YOU'RE NOT STANDING UP FOR YOURSELF RIGHT NOW IS LITERALLY PROVING HER POINT? But she's bossy, so bending to her whims is saving them both energy, probably. Hinata knows how to pick his battles at least.
Trish snorts again.]
Oh, absolutely. If I were ever that popular, I'd perform indoors no matter what anyone said. My show, my rules.
[Despite herself, she finds herself getting...excited?! She's genuinely coasting on wishful thinking at this juncture, but Hinata actually seems to like the idea quite a bit. Has he ever grinned like that before? If he has, it certainly hasn't been around her!
It's refreshing to see in him, and he even says the word "fun"! What the fuck. Trish smiles, the sort of smile that crinkles the bridge of her nose, the change in the atmosphere infecting her too.]
You really are getting into this, aren't you? In my dreams, I always thought a venue with customizable stage design would be the best. I don't know how feasible that is, but I enjoy the idea of themes. I try to put that into my shows at Nai'a, but there's only so much creativity I can foster there when the stage is geared towards mermaids and nothing else. I want something that can be as flexible as it is inclusive.
But it's hard to determine how feasible that would be without an actual building to consider as a basis. I'll be the first to admit I don't know a damn thing about architecture.
[Hmmmm....her thoughts filter around in her brain like Hinata's tea filters throughout his body.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
post event, nebulous late April
Now she's back, but it's important, okay. It's not every day she loses her mind to this place...in fact, the movie world is the first time she's woken up to the horrible realization that she had completely lost control of herself.
Is it necessary to apologize? Maybe not, but she also wants to make sure he understands that what happened was not either of their faults. He's new enough to this place she's worried how he'll interpret it. And she's done enough of saying nothing at all and assuming things were fine when they very much weren't.
So today, at ass'o'clock in the morning, Trish Una is knocking on the door of 805 and will stand back with her hands on her hips as she waits for an answer.]
no subject
But the knock at least brings him back to awareness, and he jolts with a start, refilling into his clothes and into humanoid shape as he sat up in front of the coffee table.
It took him a minute to figure out how to stand up again, but he got there, quickly making his way over to open the door, and...]
T-- Trish?
[He looks at her with wide eyes of surprise.]
[...]
...You're not here to kick my ass, are you.
hinata rendered flaccid by guilt
Yeah, it's like that. Like a big colon shuffling around behind the door, squashy and weird and she knows Hinata is a slime, but she hasn't ever had close contact with one. Not once! Rachel is like a weird puddle so very far away most days...
So when he opens the door, she doesn't recognize him right away. She wonders if he feels the same way, seeing her coated in pink fur while still roughly human-shaped. But no, he stares, and she stares, and he stares some more, and then.
Hm.]
...What? No. This is exactly why I came to talk to you.
[Don't just give in immediately!! You've got to keep it together, Hinata...]
i mean that's just him even as a human
A-Ah...? [Well, he just looks perplexed, and suddenly has no idea where this is going. But, Hinata still steps out of the way, gesturing for Trish to come in if she wanted.]
Steve's still asleep, so just don't be too loud, I guess.
[Some of the tendrils on his head grew a little, though at least he was resisting the urge to poke her given how creeped out she'd said she was about the slime stuff. It, didn't seem that appropriate right now, admittedly.]
So, you came here to talk about not wanting to kick my ass...?
SHSL turgor
Which is very pointedly leaving it untouched. That ass and the slime boy it's attached to have committed no crime.
She takes him up on his offer at least, padding inside and admiring how clean Steve's apartment is as she does. Hinata's a godsend wrapped in a polo and tie, isn't he?]
More or less. You're fairly new, so I needed to make sure you understood that what happened was neither your fault nor mine.
[She won't mention it, but she's distressed at how easily they were swept up in that mess. Still, they can control the aftermath. To hell with those gremlin bastards.
She turns away from the plants then, hands on her hips as she continues, tail swaying to and fro behind her:]
I thought it would be better to do it in person too. That way you can see I'm very serious when I say I don't hold any of it against you.
actually isn't that just what spice girl does
Hinata closes the door behind her-- he gestures vaguely at the couch, inviting her to sit down if she wanted, while he himself wandered to the kitchen, taking the old kettle out to start brewing some tea. He might as well, like, actually be awake for the day.]
I... appreciate the thought. [The sentiment is genuine, even if a bit confusing.] I really hope you're not gonna tell me this kind of thing happens often...
[Please just toss his brain in the dumpster by now.]
no her power is SHSL Topology
Trish is still puzzled by Hinata's reaction meanwhile, since he doesn't seem to feel much better about this revelation. Part of her concern is over fake emotions taking root to the point they have real consequences. But that doesn't seem to cover whatever is bothering him in particular.
So she sits, since he's offering, and wrinkles her nose at the simultaneously familiar and unfamiliar smells permeating Steve's apartment.]
It really depends. This is the first time it's ever happened to me personally, and I've been here almost a year.
[Which is very aggravating apparently, considering the purse of her lips.]
But I don't want to give you false hope. It could happen again next month. All the more reason I wanted to talk about it.
[That, and she's not sure if anyone else has approached Hinata about it. It's easy to forget the new people among the confusion.]
how does she feel about non-newtonian fluids
Still, that inspires at least-- some, confidence? If Trish has been here for a year. Maybe he's just being particular sensitive because of the... role, he'd uh, gotten. Surely it's some kind of karmic joke.]
Trust me, I'm not big on the whole 'hope' thing anymore. Sometimes you just have to deal with what's in front of you.
[He mumbles, looming over the teapot while it heated up.
In a few minutes, the kettle is whistling, and he pours the hot water over the tea bags he's set in two cups. The kettle is returned to the stove, and he takes both cups over as he joins Trish on the couch. He hands her one, and then holds the other with both hands.]
So... you're not mad about it?
she hates them and the word "fluid", thank you
For now, she considers his odd phrasing with a hum, but finds it...sort of relatable, actually. Perhaps a brusque way to say it, but he's not wrong. Maybe a slightly more elegant way to put it would be "learning to take things on the chin".
When he returns, Trish watches him basically meld to the couch's shape, and she accepts the tea with some slight hesitation. He absolutely won't miss her testing the cup with the pads of her fingers for any leftover stickiness. Are slimes sticky? They better not be!!!
She's rotating the cup in her hold one more time as she holds it up for closer inspection, saying:]
If I were angry with you, believe me. There'd be no doubts. So no, I'm not.
[Well.]
...Okay, I am angry, but at this place, not you. If that makes sense.
cool he will continue to use the word fluid
The cup did indeed seem to be clean, at least, and Hinata just sort of idly dragged the teabag around as it steeped. He also was pretty sure he'd know for sure if she was angry at him, given the previous worries about ass-kicking.]
You're... mad because of whatever made us act like that, right? [It's kind of a hesitant guess, but at least it's a guess.] Those weird little creatures?
Hinata you contrary bastard!!!
[Trish murmurs, glancing sideways at Hinata.
However, the cup is not sticky, and it smells like any old tea. There's another odor there she can't describe too, but it mirror's Hinata's scent exactly, so it must be whatever slimes are supposed to smell like.
She sniffs at the tea itself then, testing it with her tongue. It tastes like any old tea too – there is no Hinata flavoring to be found. Apparently satisfied with her inspection, she takes a sip, holding the tea cup primly with both hands as she settles back as comfortably as she can. She sweeps her tail close to her body too, mindful of how Hinata seems to fill space based on surface tension. He could blorb out further at any moment.
Anyways, she continues:]
In a manner of speaking, yes. But the creatures are just symptomatic of how this place usually is.
Very often fogs will make a good portion of us act erratically, or change us in ways we can't control. I wanted to mention that too. In scenarios like that, I will also refrain from kicking your ass. I hope you'll offer me the same courtesy.
[This is a joke. There's no way this guy can kick her ass, right?]
this is his protagonist power instead of being nice and agreeable
But Trish's suspicion rolls off his back as he listens to the rest. The Fog... he'd heard plenty of talk about all that. Not just the spirit that controlled it, but it's regular appearance, and the effect it had on people transforming. The only thing he really has confidence in about the Fog situation was Mukuro's reassurances, and her feelings. It really did kind of seem like the fickle mistakes of a bored spirit. ]
Yeah... someone told me about how it can cause the transformations. [Again, it wasn't... terrible, but he still had a surly frown.] But I guess... it really is kind of a relief, knowing it wasn't all me.
But-- I promise I won't kick your ass either. [It's a joke! He could absolutely kick her ass if he wanted. But only if it was an emergency and she was trying to murder someone else.]
honestly good for him
But...she's not here to bully him about his form. In fact, she's being surprisingly well-behaved joining him on the couch like this while drinking tea crafted by his own slimy hands. The Trish from eight months ago would have done neither of these things, or made it even more obvious than she does now that she finds slime viscerally disgusting.
But she knows well that it's not kind to be rude to someone about their monster body. Especially when he's as worried as she is about control. Half of this is because she had to make sure he knows that. They're on the same page, or ought to be.
She huffs a short laugh at his agreement either way, but sobers up just as quickly, saying:]
No, it wasn't you at all. Don't let this world make you believe otherwise.
[The way he phrased that barest concession was impossible to miss. But she's in a bit of denial perhaps, because she knows everyone had a kernel of truth in their movie selves here and there.
She taps her claws on her cup, then, thoughtful.]
...Unless you mean to tell me you really can put things like that together. Do you recall?
[The traps, the light show. It was like he was putting on a performance within a performance, considering that they were being forced into.]
no subject
Which-- just bloomed a bit more, when Trish brings up all the pieces that had been part of the set of his... office. Headquarters? Office made it sound so lame... But he raises his brow a little at Trish, and then... awkwardly brings the tea up to his lips, half-hiding behind the cup as he took a sip to check the flavor.]
W-Well... I did tell you I had a lot of skills. [Eheh. His eyes are a little deadpan, though the rest of his face is awkward, as though he had been caught in a lie.] But fixing lights and speakers isn't that different from setting up other machines. Once you have things set up, it's most just staging, like lining up all the pieces of a trap to go off the right way... Sound and lightboards are a bit more complicated, but I don't think the moviemakers thought about those.
[He sighs.] I-It was kind of flashy, for my taste....
killer office worker hajime hinata
Which, if such is the case, renders the display hollow. Like a seed that was dug out from its pot before it could bloom and show its true colors. It's a part of Hinata sure, but it's a part of Hinata that is robbed of context, and that makes it less truthful by virtue of that fact alone.
She watches him drink the tea he made, meanwhile, and wonders if it's possible for a liquid person to actually drink. Is it going somewhere in particular, or is he just giving himself more volume? Much to think about.
She remembers his claims too. The boy of many talents.]
You definitely don't like to stand out, do you?
[Hmph.]
I was mostly asking because I think you could put that talent to some use, if it truly exists. I'm no engineer myself, but I think you could do a lot better than traps.
[Not that those weren't also kind of cool, but she's less fond of the weaponry leveled at her person.]
that's his entire brand tbh
Th-Things don't really work out well for me when I try to stand out...
[He grumbles a bit, more tired about it than really upset. Trying to force his way through HPA's security, becoming the subject of the school's magnum opus, becoming an almost second-in-command of a cult of terrorists, and even every class trial on the island-- not to mention what had just happened with those stupid fucking gremlins in the TV. He'd felt like such a nobody before, but maybe that was at least better than being in the limelight, when you're trying to be a better person.]
Huh--? [But putting his own complexes aside, he looks at Trish with surprise as she continues. Admittedly death traps was kind of where his thoughts went at first, when it came to stuff like that.] Like what?
i love him
She's going to watch and see if it recedes into him or filters around. Call it morbid fascination.
Meanwhile, she can only wonder if Hinata is the type to experience performance anxiety, or to crack under the expectations of others. She really doesn't think so, but he insists more often than not on being as dry as a bowl of rice left out uncovered for too many hours. With a tie on, for effect.]
I suppose some people simply don't enjoy being the center of attention.
[That's more outward musing than a response.
She takes another sip of her tea. It's actually pretty good. Anyways:]
What if I said for rigging lights? Or using smoke machines for dramatic effect instead of obfuscation? Unless you're going to tell me you haven't seen a single live performance in your life.
[She raises her eyebrows for emphasis.
If he says no, she'll believe him. But also: she will be disappointed.]
but Should you tbh,
But, he drops the train of thought, in the hopes that Trish will definitely not worry about that either.]
H-Hey, I've been to a concert before...! [It was, one, when he'd been in middle school, and he didn't really remember anything about the performers, but. Don't worry about it.]
But yeah, I know how they work behind the scenes. The actual look of the lights is usually up to a director, but setting up them up and running them is simple enough. Stage effects, sound wiring and making sure the acoustics are good...
[He just sort of rattles things off absently, as he is wont to do. He had no idea why that other version of him was such a showman.]
no but i do anyway and no one can stop me
That? That cannot go unchallenged.
But for now, Trish watches the tea floating around in Hinata slowly disperse, and takes another sip of her own.]
Alright. And what if I asked you to use that knowledge for a scheme of mine?
[She's on a mission, you know! Or two. She has multiple agendas going at all times.
And since Hinatas Georg has zero agendas, he is now being drafted into hers.]
that's fair i think that's how he has most of his friends
Oh?
[He does look at her curiously when she seems to have a scheme and her own agenda, all in one. At least it's a quick recovery over his unique brand of stress about... uh, everything.]
What were you thinking? [He's genuinely interested!]
hinata just has strong dweeb energy
She turns her head slightly to meet Hinata's gaze, green versus green, her hands cradling her teacup on the shelf of her knees.
Very prim and proper, because she's all business now.]
Picture this: you assist me in setting up the groundwork for dazzling performances. Contrary to what the movie world showed you, I'm not a brute by trade. In reality, I'm a musician.
[Like, she can go the melee route if she has to. Just like Hinata can be anything and everything people ask of him. As the situation demands. Anyways:]
If you're opposed, I won't pressure you. But I figured there was a kernel of truth in the role you played, and it certainly wasn't the part where you actually had a spine.
[Wow???]
I'll compensate you, of course. Interested?
he'd be a very charming Just a Guy if he didn't have anxiety and wasn't a terrorist
[He doesn't. It's the most easily disprovable lie he's ever said.
But-- he's not surprised to hear she's a musician, given how much interest she obviously had in it. He's still pretty sure she could kick his ass like she should've in the TV world, though maybe that was just when she was full bear? But aside from that he listens to her idea with interests, a small 'oh!' of surprise accompanying her very serious business proposal.]
Sure. Something like that should be no problem. [He gestures with one hand.] Setting up for a musical act is more in line with what I actually know. [Surprisingly, HPA didn't have much of a theater program. Or maybe it's not surprising.]
I might need a few more hands if you end up in a stadium... But I'd be more than happy to help.
that only makes him more charming
However, that leaves him with the least kickable ass. Still, she has sway over the other Italian boys by virtue of her strong personality. If she can exert any kind of power over Hinata, it's got to be willpower, and boy, she's more than happy to flex that muscle.
Not that she actually wants to kick his ass. He's a very reasonable guy, in all the ways that matter. And funny, too! She snorts ugly. Thank goodness her tea wasn't anywhere near her face.]
I'm flattered you think I'd ever have an audience big enough to fill a stadium. You can rest easy knowing I'm aiming far smaller.
It's sort of a tentative idea, too. I don't own my own establishment, so I'm not eager to mess with something that isn't mine. But I've thought here and there about what I'd do with a place of my own. I figured you'd be a good person to consult on that.
[She taps her claws on her cup.]
And, if that place were to exist in the future, that you would help me make those plans a reality.
[Neither of them have any clue at this point that Abbacchio is about to make this all very possible on a whim predicated entirely on wanting some good goddamn pizza in these trying times.]
charm points: the violent murder of thousands of innocents
Hey, you never know. But the acoustics would be way worse anyway. [Even when he was like, normal, he didn't prefer the huge stadium concerts. That may have also been crowd anxiety though.
But the idea does genuinely sound interesting-- there had been the music venue in the simulation, but it's not like they'd had the ability to spend much time in it. Even so, the stage set-up had been sort of charming, even without all the realities of theater tech and sound mixing in his head.]
It sounds kinda fun, actually. [He takes another sip to add to the strange cloud of flavor floating through him, and when he pulls the cup away he's even grinning.] We could come up with some layout ideas in the mean time, if you have anything in mind. If you ever get your own place I can even draw something up to match the venue... We'd at least have to add a stage and the sound system.
LISTEN JUNKO SAID IF U KILL WHILE UR CUTE UR VALID, RIGHT
Trish snorts again.]
Oh, absolutely. If I were ever that popular, I'd perform indoors no matter what anyone said. My show, my rules.
[Despite herself, she finds herself getting...excited?! She's genuinely coasting on wishful thinking at this juncture, but Hinata actually seems to like the idea quite a bit. Has he ever grinned like that before? If he has, it certainly hasn't been around her!
It's refreshing to see in him, and he even says the word "fun"! What the fuck. Trish smiles, the sort of smile that crinkles the bridge of her nose, the change in the atmosphere infecting her too.]
You really are getting into this, aren't you? In my dreams, I always thought a venue with customizable stage design would be the best. I don't know how feasible that is, but I enjoy the idea of themes. I try to put that into my shows at Nai'a, but there's only so much creativity I can foster there when the stage is geared towards mermaids and nothing else. I want something that can be as flexible as it is inclusive.
But it's hard to determine how feasible that would be without an actual building to consider as a basis. I'll be the first to admit I don't know a damn thing about architecture.
[Hmmmm....her thoughts filter around in her brain like Hinata's tea filters throughout his body.]
are we really gonna use junko's standards here is this what you wanna do
even an evil mastermind is right twice a day
i mean i GUESS.jpg
LMAOOOO
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