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[machitobaye]

Characters: Machi Tobaye, Satonaka Chie
Setting: Outside the Copper Bathroom, to start.
Time: Day 10, late morning
Summary: Chie wanted to check up on Machi. Machi just wanted to be left alone to have his shower and get some breakfast.
Warnings: Some awkward, fail OP. SPOILERS FOR PERSONA 4.

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[kungfupunting]

Chie had been searching the bedrooms with care, trying to find the one the boy--she hadn't even gotten his name, she realized only when she went to look for him--was in. Still, those that weren't locked were empty, and she hadn't wanted to intrude too much anyway. She had spent most of the day searching, and it was only by coincidence, heading down the hallway in the east wing of the house to go find some other place to look, that she found the boy she'd been looking for.

"You're okay!" she said, smiling in relief. "...You are, right?"

[machitobaye]

Machi jerked back, very nearly slamming the door shut out of reflex and then wishing he actually had. He set his jaw and turned his head slightly to see her--not enough to actually be facing her as he gave her the look she had earned, but enough to glare. It was not a friendly or grateful look although with the sunglasses she couldn't see most of it anyway. Only the slight downturn of his mouth really suggested any expression at all.

"... fine," he replied bluntly, his voice clipped and flat.

[kungfupunting]

Chie realized she might have startled the boy, so she took a step back. "I'm sorry, I was just worried, since a lot of people take that kind of thing really hard," she explained.

Had she even introduced herself? No, she didn't think so. It had been so hectic both times she'd run into the boy, no wonder she didn't know his name. He still seemed--standoffish, but she was willing to let that slide for the moment.

"I didn't really introduce myself before. I'm Satonaka Chie," she said. "You are?"

[machitobaye]

Machi frankly wasn't interested in her name--he'd forgotten it in the chaos and didn't really want it, but now he had it in full. His damp hair stuck to his face, a cold rivulet of gathered water collecting at the tip of the 'wing' and tricking downward. Most people take that kind of... what was he supposed to say to that? He didn't know. He didn't really care, either. He didn't want to talk about this. Or to her. At all.

"...Machi. ...Tobaye." He hadn't planned on giving her his last name, but it was added anyway, his tone no more friendly and an unyielding indication that he wanted her to go away.

[kungfupunting]

Chie's brow furrowed. She wasn't being rude, and yet he was acting as if she had been. Maybe because he had just gotten out of the shower? But Machi-kun never had seemed to be the most social of people. This was really more a job for Seta-kun. She was just no good at this sort of thing.

She barely held her tongue. "Its... Nice to meet you, Machi-kun. ...Look, I know you probably don't want to see me," since, after all, she'd barely shown up in the theater and suddenly his shadow'd burst out, "but... We--my friends and me--we've been through this sort of thing. So. We know how it... Feels, okay?"

...She really wished Seta-kun were here.

[machitobaye]

... know... how it feels? For one brief, ridiculous moment, Machi almost laughed in her face. Then something much saner took over and the fleeting instant of insanity left him. He bit his lip, his hand twisting slightly over the doorknob, fingers gripping it tightly. Then he spoke.

"No."

Not the most eloquent answer, perhaps, but the best Machi was going to come up with, especially with an emotional backlash pressing on the other side of his mental dam. That weight and its emotional strain, however, receded as quickly as the urge to laugh had, leaving him suddenly much less pressured and much more clear.