It's the last midnight--

[derbruder]

Who: derbruder & payback
When: Evening.
Where: Outside Madara's onsen.
Summary: Giovanni pays his favorite girl a visit, one last time. Not that he knows it's the last, but he's still paying her a cordial visit as ever.
Warnings: Creeping. Grinning. Finality. Action tags!!

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[payback]

[Tension jumps all up in her body at once. She knows that voice in the back lizardy scared part of her brain before she knows it consciously, and she scuds for cover with only a bare glance up.

He can probably see the whites of her eyes.]

[derbruder]

[Giovanni doesn't say anything else. He stares down at her, pensively, though his smile doesn't flag. And he's still, completely still. It's a predatory sort of stare, maybe, but he doesn't feel particularly predatory. Just interested.

There is something interesting about Rin Asano.

Carelessly, then, he leaps down from the top of the building, jumping in front of her. He gathers himself, cocking his head at her.]

We don't say hello?

[payback]

[That spikes her temper, or at least makes her go louder. It's as much a reaction of fear as anything, the impulse to beat back an assailant or at least to not be an easy target.]

That's not a normal way to say hello!

[derbruder]

Neither is silence.

[He leans toward her a little, bending at the waist, all smiles.]

But hello. That's more normal. Your turn.

[payback]

[Does she even get a choice? Her lips thin. She doesn't bow back, making to swift around him instead.]

Hello.

[derbruder]

[He makes the hairpin turn to follow her, immediately pulling out of that half-bow. But he doesn't dog her footsteps, not as directly and closely as he could. He gives her a bit of distance, for the sake of her nerves. Maybe it's a kindly gesture--it's difficult to say.]

Why do you walk home, Rin Asano? Someone so desperate to be alone should have thought of other transportation.

[payback]

[She moves faster since he's there anyway, tending to the side to try and keep him in sight. She hardly trusts him, even though she's so hungry for people she can trust. She has to be careful.]

I'm walking because I like to walk. It's not an invitation to be harassed, you know! [Bursting out a bit there.]

[derbruder]

Is a friend greeting a friend considered harassment?

[He says it slowly, as if she's presented him with an interesting tidbit of information--something to be remarked upon and marveled over.]

Do you always talk to your friends this way, when they greet you?

[payback]

[That gets her to whirl on him, kind of like she wants to snap at him - which she does. She wonders what he'd do if she tried to hit him. Let her? Hit back?]

Are we friends, now?

[derbruder]

[He doesn't flinch. He doesn't blink. He doesn't take in a sharper breath, or raise his eyebrows, or stiffen his arms--he doesn't so much as lose an inch of smile.]

Aren't we?

[payback]

[Confidence always gets her. She stands like she's straining against something, something that's barely holding her back from lunging at him, and she wants to go for him - but she doesn't. Whether it's her own sense or faint faith in her ability to talk her way out of things, God only knows.]

I hardly know!

[derbruder]

[His smile doesn't flag for an instant--it's as blank and as wide as ever, almost as if it's been painted on.]

Have I ever hurt you, Rin Asano?

[payback]

[Well, that snipes her, because... no. But she's suspicious.]

... No.

[derbruder]

Then why are you so afraid.

[It's very quiet, just loud enough to hear--and it's certainly not a threatening tone. Just quiet, just a question--a question between friends. His hands are at his sides.]

[payback]

[She shifts back at that anyway, shoulders coming up - like a cat humping its back up, moving backward without taking its eyes from danger.]

You pop out of nowhere to ask me that? Really?

[derbruder]

No. I popped out of nowhere to see you.

[He takes a half step toward her, a lazy movement.]

Your suspicion of me has made the other question necessary to ask. Why are you so afraid? I have never hurt you. I have never hurt anyone you like. [His smile grows, just a touch.] Or anyone.