[ aaaaaaaa. he is stressed so there's a moment where he flinches, but it melts away quickly, and he is just a useless lump. after a long couple seconds, he will carefully hug back with some gentle pats. ]
[ baby. he sets his good hand between his shoulderblades, bracing. this is a good safe place to be a useless lump... world cold and hard...strohl mostly soft and warm....
this place just makes him so angry, sometimes, so frustrated, and no more so than for the people who suffer it the most. people like haru, who have been through this gauntlet, these horrors, who ought not have ever been through them in the first place. innocent lives being thrown away over little details. people forced to act out of their minds. ]
...Nanase. [ quietly.] If I ask something of you, will you give me an honest answer?
[ thank you strohl even if we bully you relentlessly. it does make him angry, all of this, though right now his anger is tempered with both exhaustion and sadness. another of their friends to say goodbye to tomorrow. there is so much to suffer in every round of this.
he sags a little, but draws away with a curious look, which manages to form from the tumult of Saturday Emotions. ]
[ the question hits a little like a punch, though he tries to collect himself; there's a flash of defensiveness, but they're a team, and he feels badly for it basically right away. ]
I wasn't sure, but... it's probably Artemy or—it's probably Rin.
[ based on the evidence they have. sort of hoping they missed something actually. he rushes to add, ]
But if it's him, he wouldn't—it's wrong. Something has to be wrong with him. He wouldn't.
[ the way i started this tag and then execution was happening and then everything got so violent
honestly this is about the answer he's thinking is going to come, both from the immediate tenseness and the jumbled, hurried response. strohl's brow knits together, mouth pulling down, but the look on his face is more concerned and upset for him than anything else, something complicated briefly that goes to concern, then -
his instinct to care takes over, over anything else, that big brother instinct despite never having a sibling. his words come out wool-toned and rough, as aching and tender as he always is. ]
I believe you. [ that something would be wrong - it's immediate, resolute. ] I'd not think anything otherwise.
[ rin's a good kid. they're both good kids. the situation in the other game was different, as far as he's learned, and there, rin was a victim, just as he very well may have been here too. that burns him. he feels the same fury for todomatsu, for rosamund - not at them but for them, and it burns low here too.
what can you do in the face of that tragedy? in the face of a wrongful conviction just as much as the face of a ma who would have likely never wanted to act the way he could have? unfair cruelties, injustices, the whole lot of it. this place demands you stand up and walk forward and keep moving, even so. ]
I thought - I thought about the same. [ that it could've been either of them, but worse, that it seemed more like rin. the teethmarks, it just...
... ]
If it was, it's - we'll find out, I imagine. If I can help it, I won't let anyone hurt him if he confesses - I don't think anyone would but, I'll do all I can to help.
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Sorry I wasn't cooperating...
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[ baby. he sets his good hand between his shoulderblades, bracing. this is a good safe place to be a useless lump... world cold and hard...strohl mostly soft and warm....
this place just makes him so angry, sometimes, so frustrated, and no more so than for the people who suffer it the most. people like haru, who have been through this gauntlet, these horrors, who ought not have ever been through them in the first place. innocent lives being thrown away over little details. people forced to act out of their minds. ]
...Nanase. [ quietly.] If I ask something of you, will you give me an honest answer?
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he sags a little, but draws away with a curious look, which manages to form from the tumult of Saturday Emotions. ]
I can try...?
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as he pulls back, he just kind of sets his hands against his shoulders. studying his face briefly, all that exhaustion and sadness. ]
...Towards the end, did you have any idea of whom you thought it might have been?
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I wasn't sure, but... it's probably Artemy or—it's probably Rin.
[ based on the evidence they have. sort of hoping they missed something actually. he rushes to add, ]
But if it's him, he wouldn't—it's wrong. Something has to be wrong with him. He wouldn't.
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honestly this is about the answer he's thinking is going to come, both from the immediate tenseness and the jumbled, hurried response. strohl's brow knits together, mouth pulling down, but the look on his face is more concerned and upset for him than anything else, something complicated briefly that goes to concern, then -
his instinct to care takes over, over anything else, that big brother instinct despite never having a sibling. his words come out wool-toned and rough, as aching and tender as he always is. ]
I believe you. [ that something would be wrong - it's immediate, resolute. ] I'd not think anything otherwise.
[ rin's a good kid. they're both good kids. the situation in the other game was different, as far as he's learned, and there, rin was a victim, just as he very well may have been here too. that burns him. he feels the same fury for todomatsu, for rosamund - not at them but for them, and it burns low here too.
what can you do in the face of that tragedy? in the face of a wrongful conviction just as much as the face of a ma who would have likely never wanted to act the way he could have? unfair cruelties, injustices, the whole lot of it. this place demands you stand up and walk forward and keep moving, even so. ]
I thought - I thought about the same. [ that it could've been either of them, but worse, that it seemed more like rin. the teethmarks, it just...
... ]
If it was, it's - we'll find out, I imagine. If I can help it, I won't let anyone hurt him if he confesses - I don't think anyone would but, I'll do all I can to help.