[She can see there's no way out of this... Because she doesn't doubt for a moment that Jade would wait outside that door for longer than she could stand it, and it's only going to be more suspicious if she keeps insisting on not opening the door...
Still, she really has to wonder about this urgent matter, because the tone he uses just makes it sound like an excuse. Sneaky old man...]
F...fine, just...give me a second. [Her own answer comes with a sort of reluctant resignation, but she does still have a strategy to fall back on! Just in case.
So, several moments later, the door does slowly creak open to allow them to speak properly. And, casually as can be-]
So? What's so urgent?
[Nevermind that she's wearing sunglasses and a hand-sewn mask over her nose and mouth. Nevermind it. She can wear what she wants, when she wants!! (If deep bruising is still visible on the bridge of her nose where neither accessory can quite cover it, well...)]
[Jade steps back, when the door finally creaks open at length. There's a moment's pause too, after Rita asks her question, in which Jade simply...appraises...the hand-sewn mask and sunglasses that sure are on her face.
Yeah.]
It's really a rather simple message, but it's the sort best delivered face to face. [Jade smiles pleasantly.] I simply have to let you know, you see...
[It's in that pause, followed by his all-too-pleasant tone, that Rita gets a sinking feeling regarding whatever this message is going to be...
But even knowing she's not going to like it--that sure doesn't stop her from bristling at his comment. He might not be able to see her expression very well, but it's pretty obvious in her indignant tone!]
Hey! About what?! And--oh, there's nothing urgent about that at all!
Oh, you don't think so? But I'd say this entirely warrants every sense of urgency. Do you expect me to let you go about in public with lackluster lying skills like those, without even saying a word about it? Why, it'd be like letting someone wander around with food they don't know about on their face! I couldn't possibly stand the thought.
[So he's doing you a favor here, really!! Needless to say, Jade lets Rita's indignation roll right off his back like water off a duck's, emerging from the other side distinctly unimpressed. He's folding his arms now, too, as he studies her features further. The mask and sunglasses may as well be neon signs indicating as much anyway, really, but that bit of bruising across the bridge of her nose is still just a bit visible too. Which is...
Well. There could be quite a few causes for that, now couldn't there?]
Speaking of faces. Clearly your own has seen better days. [The sardonic humor fades, just a bit.] What did you do, to get yourself injured like that?
[She's caught between the urge to retort and to come up with some excuse to take off, because he sure is studying her in a way she'd rather he didn't right now, but-
Too late. He's way too sharp for his own good!!]
W-what are you... [Her first reaction is denial, of course. Pretend that whatever he's seeing isn't there. But then he goes on to correctly identify it as an injury, and before she can even stop herself-] Hey, what makes you think it was my fault?!
Ugh--I mean--it's nothing, you know--you're just seeing things, obviously...
[Aaand a quick pivot back to denial. Maybe even a couple awkward, shuffling steps to put just a little more distance between them. She really, really doesn't want to have this conversation, but it's not like she can just run away from him...]
My, I suppose it's possible that I am simply quite vividly hallucinating that mask and those sunglasses. It's not as if you've ever cared to wear either of these things on this ship on a whim before, after all...
[Just, dry as a desert, here. Anyway, sarcastically brushing aside the denial in this way, he's moving on to the rather more compromising detail in all this, which is:]
I can't imagine you'd be going to these lengths to dodge telling me about it if this weren't your fault. Either that, or perhaps...the cause is an incredibly embarrassing one? Am I getting any warmer?
[So dry that she could just about wither up, here--and kind of wants to, the way this is going. She knew it'd be hard to keep it from Jade, but still-!]
N...no...it's nothing like that...
[What was that about her being a poor liar? Anyway, her completely unconvincing tone probably answers his question well enough: that yes, he is getting warmer. Not to mention Rita's fidgeting with the hem of her shirt...]
[Jade listens to her tone, and watches the way she twists at the hem of her shirt, and sighs.]
Come now, the least you could do is put a little more conviction into it. --Would you prefer I use the term "stalling" instead? It's growing more apt by the moment.
[Really, though. It's certainly just getting odder, Rita's hesitation here. For the life of him, Jade's not entirely sure just what would be prompting this in her so thoroughly here and now...and an old dispassionate part of him is admittedly rather tempted to simply drop the matter and walk away, if she's going to be so difficult about it. Put the onus on her to make the admittance. But...]
...Surely Yuuki must know of this by now, in any case. I suppose I'll just have to ask him instead, if that's really how you'd rather have this pan out...
[Ugh, this is why she didn't want to encounter Jade at all if she could help it--once he picks up on something, there's no hiding it from him. Not unless she does straight-up flee the conversation, but that would only be a delay at best...
She bristles when Jade invokes Natsuno, letting go of the hem of her shirt to defensively cross her arms.]
H--hey, are you serious?! [A groan, an angry sigh, and finally...another, very put-upon reluctant sigh.] Ugh...fine...fine, just--just come into the cabin, okay?!
[Jade had just a bit of a hunch that Natsuno would probably be the deciding factor in all this. It's rather vindicating, to be right about this sort of thing--clearly telegraphed in the way Rita bristles and folds her arms. He at least has the courtesy of keeping his smile entirely acquiescent in the face of her dodging attempts finally ending, as opposed to the smugness that very much wants to actually come out. (Okay, maybe there's just a bit of smugness there too...)]
Come now, when have I ever not been serious about a threat? [Don't answer that--] I'm glad to hear we won't have to test that after all, regardless! A more enclosed location is fine by me. After you, then...
[With an expectant nod, as he waits for Rita to lead the way back through the cabin door.
...Hmm, the odd sense of something rather particular having transpired only grows stronger, doesn't it? For it to be a sort of thing that Rita would rather talk about in private...]
[Really, if this was anyone else, she'd angrily insist they keep Natsuno out of any threats! Jade gets a pass...just barely...even if she really wouldn't put it past him to go pester Natsuno if she kept being evasive. Old men are so stubborn, aren't they? So it's with a sort of resigned irritation that Rita trudges back into her cabin--probably with the air of a child who's been caught with their hand in the cookie jar, or something else they weren't supposed to be doing, not that she's all that aware of it herself--and moves to stand in the middle of the (messy as usual) room, arms still crossed.
Despite just stating they should get it over with...well, she's still pretty reluctant to actually talk about it, but Jade's not going to let it go.... So it's only after a length pause that she finally starts, in a much quieter mumbling (like the child unhappily admitting they had their had in the cookie jar)...]
So, it's...I...Darcy started a fight.
[Even with the sunglasses, it's probably obvious that she's not entirely looking at him, with her head turned slightly off to the side.]
[Rita's body language just keeps telegraphing guilt in every sense of the word, now doesn't it? In everything from the way she trudges back into the cabin to the hesitation she carries even once they're inside. Standing across from her with arms folded in expectation, Jade's eyebrows are arching in the pause that settles before Rita finally speaks. In a mumble, no less, yet another hint at some kind of guilt...
Is it truly any surprise, really, when she says it was a fight--and that Darcy was involved?
Well, not really. Or at least it shouldn't be, though all the same, the sardonic humor Jade had carried with him into the cabin wanes as soon as the confession arrives. A slight but prompt frown taking its place, as he watches her refuse to make eye contact in just the same way as she had in that stone waiting room...
Exactly the same sort of way, really. Because she must know--of course she knows--how this sounds, so recently on the heels of their last conversation about this.
...]
I see.
[.........]
And I'd hazard a guess that she finished that fight as well, did she?
[Not a particularly difficult extrapolation, after all, the highly likely state of Rita's face and the revealed reasoning behind it considered. A distinct pause preludes the reply, and a second distinct pause follows afterwards; Jade's tone is a rather neutral sort of dispassionate, but in a way that probably speaks for itself. ...Seeing as the humor now has yet to return...]
[I see. Two very, very simple words--impersonal and objective, even, so--why do they make her feel so awful? It's a feeling only compounded by that obvious pause, and the neutral tone Jade takes. And Rita is suddenly quite aware as to why she's been trying to avoid telling him that this happened at all. He might not be outright showing it, but...he must be disappointed. Again. Which is--ugh, this wasn't even her fault! Despite trying not to waste her time thinking about Darcy after talking about it with Natsuno, she sure does have a fresh wave of anger towards her...
Ultimately, there's a lengthy, awkward pause on her own part after Jade asks that last question, punctuated by a few clicks of her tongue and sharp sighs. She glances this way and that--anywhere but Jade, really--which only makes her more annoyed with both herself and Darcy. He shouldn't be disappointed in her--she shouldn't be so guilty about it!--when she didn't even start the fight! What a pain...]
...She broke my nose, if that's what you're asking.
[Her eventual answer is...totally not a petulant sort, of course not...]
Broke your nose to end it, then. Hence the mask and the glasses, I take it.
[Eye contact is a sparse thing to hold indeed at the moment, fidgety as Rita's being, but she's bound to catch Jade studying the little that's visible of her features with a renewed sort of sharpness anyway. The neutrality of his tone--well, it tries to persist, although. Even despite his own preferences, something of a deeply-drawn exasperation is beginning to seep into his voice anyhow. Bordering, indeed, on that disappointment of a similar brand to the waiting room's.
Really though. Really. The waiting room was one thing, the tensions in that confined space truly straining things. Now that they're out of there and back on the ship proper, though, the fact that these two girls are still having enough of a conflict for violence is--]
A couple days ago, I'd assume, to judge from what I can see of your bruising there. Which correlates quite readily with your absence of late. --Tear could have helped with that, she's an excellent healer. Which I could have informed you. [Why didn't you say anything sooner is a phrase all but spoken aloud, in this clipped observation. And more pressingly than even that:] Where did this happen, and why?
No, I-- [Ugh. A frustrated beat before she continues-] I left to end it.
[She backed off. It should've been the smart thing to do, so why does she always hate admitting it? She makes no comment on the timing, though his increasingly borderline disappoint and subtle accusation of avoiding him--which, okay, she was doing, but still!--makes her foot start tapping with agitation.]
It happened in the kitchen that appeared, and the why is because she's crazy. I walked in, she flipped out. So--it's not my fault!
[Even understanding why she hasn't been wanting to tell Jade, she's not entirely sure why she felt the need to blurt out that last bit, finally looking straight at him through the sunglasses (which she should probably just take off at this point, but maybe she still doesn't want him to see just how much it was bruised-).]
Well, it's good that you did leave, at the very least. Though by the sound of it you could have done with walking away far sooner.
[Because if she'd backed away earlier, then she wouldn't be dealing with a broken nose about now, would she? Jade just barely manages not to outright point this out aloud verbatim--surely Rita's already as aware of such herself, after all. ...Yet Jade still can't be surprised at this turn of events either, and--perhaps that's the true sticking point, in all this. The thing that's setting off such a...hmm, hard to say what this feeling is, really. The shape of it's quite close to irritation, to the point he'd almost call it such, but--it's a little stronger than that too, isn't it? Something rather more deep-set.
He'd thought they'd reached a consensus on this, after all. He'd thought. After that talk in the labyrinth waiting room--Rita had seemed remorseful enough, at that time. Had he not made the issue plain enough, even then? Or perhaps she'd simply been remorseful for all the wrong reasons, all along?
The stickier point of the matter, too, is that Jade is hardly happy to see Rita fielding around an injury like this right now. Yet he can't even muster up any proper offense about it in the direction of any actual culprit, because Darcy has just never stricken Jade as the sort of person to be...]
"Crazy". I see. [Try as he might to maintain neutrality, the withering nature of the echoed term seeps through all the same. Really, that's the best explanation Rita could come up with? That's the only reason she can think of, as a possibility?] So you walked into the kitchens, without doing anything at all or saying anything at all. And she simply leapt upon you and broke your nose on the spot, is that right? She trapped you such that you could not simply leave?
[It's a rather bad faith way to ask after any context, granted. Jade knows it is. There's still the perfectly viable possibility that things really did transpire exactly how Rita's implying, and Darcy attacked her entirely unprompted. But the thing-like-irritation is still very persistently gnawing at thought, about now, and exasperation just can't help but have it seeping into spoken word too. Old poor habits flaring up...]
[The clear disapproval leaking through from him twists a new knot in Rita's stomach. Why? Why is he still turning it around on her? The unpleasant knot only tightens as Jade continues, and she's equal parts irritated and sheepish in response, a very odd combination that she doesn't quite know how to handle, her hands agitatedly curling into her sleeves.]
What? It--it wasn't exactly like that--but...she did freak out on the spot.
[It just didn't immediately get physical... But Rita refuses to believe that she escalated the situation unneccessarily. Why should she have obeyed Darcy from the start, anyway? It's on that thought that anger overtakes her warring emotions and she raises her voice stubbornly at Jade.]
It's--it's a public space; why the hell should I have left just because she claimed it, or whatever the hell she was thinking?!
Because apparently it was either walk away or get engaged in a ridiculous fight. You certainly seem entirely incapable of accessing any third or fourth options when it comes to Darcy.
[She might raise her voice, as indignant stubbornness sets in over whatever sheepishness Rita's quite visibly also warring with. But Jade is unmoved and unimpressed by the volume, and while his own tone remains even, his answer is a sharp and immediate thing. There it is--the crux, really, behind that burgeoning irate feeling. That when it comes to this particular sort of situation, Rita has so clearly opted to box herself into those options, with no interest whatsoever in any sort of alternative. Even in these downtime circumstances, now, outside that labyrinth waiting room...
Jade folds his arms, and sighs.]
I must say, I do not know what you're trying to argue for here. Do you want me to fervently agree that Darcy simply must be an insane person who'd have no reason at all to be angry at you? Do you wish for me to compliment you on your decisions well-made? Reassure you that this was in fact a very important and necessary fight? [A slight tilt of his head; dryly:] You're clearly not even proud of it, hiding around and trying to pretend as if nothing's happened after the fact. It's all making for quite a mixed message.
[And here she'd thought the scolding he'd given in the labyrinth waiting room was bad enough. As he lists off his rhetorical questions with clear disapproval, this is so much worse, even as somewhere inside, Rita wants to angrily scream that she's not trying to argue for anything with him, that she hadn't even wanted him to know in the first place, because this--this sucks.
With a sharp intake of breath, she abruptly starts pacing--stomping, really, swinging her arms with all the drama of an upset teen each time she turns around.]
No! I don't want any of that, I-- Just--what do even want me to say?! This wasn't like that room! There wasn't even anyone else involved this time, and now you're-
You're acting like it's all my fault and you weren't even there! You didn't see what happened!
[Ugh. She's not going to be proud of this, either, but logic is swiftly taking a major backseat to messy emotions.]
[It's as if she's finally reached something of a boiling point in all this, the way Rita suddenly bursts into sharp breaths and dramatic stomping about as she does. Perhaps her emotions actually have, though, which...does make sense, in a way, with all things considered. Still, Jade couldn't be more of a polar opposite against her if he tried right now; he remains exactly where he'd stood to begin with in this room, arms still folded, expression only growing all the more flat in the face of the way Rita's flares up.]
So that's how it seems to you, right now? That I'm acting as if this is your fault? Even after I've already told you once before, how I do not care where the fault lies in these conflicts--you'd really have me repeat myself again? ...Hm. It would seem you really do think that talk we had in that room only counted while we were in there.
[And now that they're out, none of it applies any longer--or so it rather sounds and seems, at any rate. That may not be Rita's actual thoughts or intentions, in reality, but it's the impression that comes off--and, in turn, the impression that's setting the distinct disappointment in Jade's tone now.]
...You're correct, I was not there this time, and I did not see what happened. All I see now is the results--the fact you were injured by it. Which is not something that I enjoy seeing happen to a friend, astonishing as I'm sure that is to hear from me. [If his tone weren't so dryly flat already, perhaps it'd be easier to detect the briefest flicker of self-deprecation there--but let's move on, before such things can sink in--] If it were some accident, or an unpreventable outcome, that would be one thing. But the cause was neither of those things--and on top of that, you'd even rather try to hide it, than tell anyone about it afterward. Will you be trying to hide it the next time you come to blows with someone else in an argument, too? When you injure them instead--or perhaps even if one of you kills the other, eventually? I suppose I'll always be wondering now.
[In this place where even death isn't a permanent solution of any kind...]
If you want to know what I'd like for you to say, then at least answer this. How much longer shall I have to expect this petty circle of vengeance to go round and round, whether we're in downtime or not? Seeing as it's now reached a point where violence is a given regardless, apparently. [Here, another sigh.] You may not be able to control how these conflicts begin--but you can always control how they end. Do you plan to go forward from here in the exact same way you have been?
[In the face of Jade's calmly dry disappointment, Rita's messy feelings only grow messier and more tangled as she initially continues to pace, because she needs to do something that isn't just standing there and pointedly not looking at Jade. Which she does eventually do when he starts to say that she's at least right that he wasn't there, although what follows is possibly an even more unpleasant dressing-down, even if it contains that little hint of self-deprecation that would make her scoff or roll her eyes under any other, less unpleasant circumstances.
And, again: she feels too much to know where to even begin untangling it. Indignant, frustrated, and angry, because yes, he does seem to be blaming her for--if not starting the fight then apparently continuing to participate in it until it went this far--and all of that only worsens with the way he continues, too. Actually, for a moment, indignation does come to the forefront at his dry wondering comment, and she looks up to properly meet his gaze again-]
Hey, just--what kind of person do you take me for?! I was only keeping it from you!
[In total contrast to Jade, her voice comes out thick and upset. Because--ah, yeah, apparently his heavy disappointment invokes an unhappy guilt, which when vortexed up in the emotional blender with everything else...well, then comes the teen drama. But following the admission that she didn't hide it from anyone else, she crosses her arms, back to a combination of angry and sheepish that she still doesn't know how to process. Where did Jade's weird talent for making her into such an emotional mess come from? When did it even start?
...After a lengthy pause (of not looking at him, again), she finally responds in a quieter mutter.]
I'm not out for vengeance, you know. [Even if sometimes she really thinks it'd be satisfying to wring Darcy's neck, she promised Natsuno, after all.] ...But I'll defend myself if she comes at me again.
...Hmph. So it was only me you were determined to never tell? I'm truly so much more reassured now.
[Rita, this isn't going to help with that wondering...not in the least....for all that she might have her reasons, yes, if this is how telling him is going to go every single time. That's the other sticking point, though, as far as Jade's concerned--maybe she simply shouldn't be doing things that she wouldn't even want to tell him about afterwards?? Surely that's not a difficult line of logic to utilize!!!
...But, well. All that quite aside. It seems that Rita's finally starting to settle back down now, at the very least...and so, in turn, the dry disappointment in Jade's own tone is finally lightening just a little. Ruling out 'vengeance' and citing only self-defense--is a start, if nothing else. The prospect of potentially having to field this issue with Rita yet again in the future is already a very tiring one, after all, so if that at least mitigates the possibility of a repeat somewhat...]
I never said you shouldn't defend yourself, if you're attacked. I suggest only that if there's a way to avert that attack before it begins, it would be worth taking--if only so multiple parties could be saved a great deal of trouble all around. [...So. It'd be nice, if that could be that. Is there anything else to say, at this point, that he hasn't already either said now or said before? The more pessimistic part of Jade does wonder if this conversation, too, is going to be rendered entirely moot yet again in another month or so. (...Goodness, it certainly is troublesome. Having to care this much, about this sort of thing. He didn't used to--)] ...Are you sure you don't require anything from a healer like Tear, at this stage of things? Your nose was the only major injury?
[Ugh...she would've rathered that he never found out at all, but just blurting it out like that right in front of him was kind of mortifying!! As if he doesn't already have enough disappointment in her... Even though this is exactly why she didn't want to tell him in the first place! The hiding part is clearly his fault...kind of...sort of...right??
Still, Rita doesn't answer that dry comment, just absently fiddling with her sleeves and brushing out imaginary wrinkles instead of meeting his eyes. He does start...backing down doesn't feel right here, it's more easing off--he starts easing off on her a little, but she doesn't feel very relieved about it, not when his disapproval is still ringing in her head.]
...
[Yeah, no comment immediately on her end, not until he asks about her injury (as if he hasn't already thoroughly bruised whatever remained of her pride...), and she idly kicks at the floor with the toe of her shoe.]
...That's all. Clarke treated it, anyway.
[There is definitely nothing petulant about this reply. Nothing petulant about it!!]
[Ah, Clarke, of course. She does seem to have some medical knowledge, Jade's gathered over time...and doubtless Rita must have set her to keep some sort of discretion too. From him specifically, apparently, which is still quite the aggravating idea...but whatever, he's not going to get any more hung up on that. He isn't!! Anyway--]
Well, then it sounds like there won't be any lasting disfigurement, at the very least. That's all I wished to know. [Rita's starting to avoid eye contact yet again, and the atmosphere overall is settling from upset to something rather more awkward. Jade opts to address it as brusquely as possible--there's kind of no proper ending to a conversation like this, really, so...] I've all the answers I need, so I shall excuse myself from your quarters now. Unless there's anything else you want to speak about?
[Good thing she wasn't looking to him for any bedside manner!! Even if, now that he's mentioned it, Tear's healing probably would have saved her a lot of pain and discomfort...
But now is...hm. She doesn't like how this has gone, of course, and part of her really would like for it to just end already. At the same time...just leaving it on this note...feels wrong. She just wishes she knew what would make it right.]
...It's...not like I'm happy this happened, or anything like that, you know...
B--besides, don't tell me you've never gotten in a fight like that before.
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come_sailaway
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Still, she really has to wonder about this urgent matter, because the tone he uses just makes it sound like an excuse. Sneaky old man...]
F...fine, just...give me a second. [Her own answer comes with a sort of reluctant resignation, but she does still have a strategy to fall back on! Just in case.
So, several moments later, the door does slowly creak open to allow them to speak properly. And, casually as can be-]
So? What's so urgent?
[Nevermind that she's wearing sunglasses and a hand-sewn mask over her nose and mouth. Nevermind it. She can wear what she wants, when she wants!! (If deep bruising is still visible on the bridge of her nose where neither accessory can quite cover it, well...)]
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Yeah.]
It's really a rather simple message, but it's the sort best delivered face to face. [Jade smiles pleasantly.] I simply have to let you know, you see...
That you're a terrible liar.
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But even knowing she's not going to like it--that sure doesn't stop her from bristling at his comment. He might not be able to see her expression very well, but it's pretty obvious in her indignant tone!]
Hey! About what?! And--oh, there's nothing urgent about that at all!
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[So he's doing you a favor here, really!! Needless to say, Jade lets Rita's indignation roll right off his back like water off a duck's, emerging from the other side distinctly unimpressed. He's folding his arms now, too, as he studies her features further. The mask and sunglasses may as well be neon signs indicating as much anyway, really, but that bit of bruising across the bridge of her nose is still just a bit visible too. Which is...
Well. There could be quite a few causes for that, now couldn't there?]
Speaking of faces. Clearly your own has seen better days. [The sardonic humor fades, just a bit.] What did you do, to get yourself injured like that?
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Too late. He's way too sharp for his own good!!]
W-what are you... [Her first reaction is denial, of course. Pretend that whatever he's seeing isn't there. But then he goes on to correctly identify it as an injury, and before she can even stop herself-] Hey, what makes you think it was my fault?!
Ugh--I mean--it's nothing, you know--you're just seeing things, obviously...
[Aaand a quick pivot back to denial. Maybe even a couple awkward, shuffling steps to put just a little more distance between them. She really, really doesn't want to have this conversation, but it's not like she can just run away from him...]
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[Just, dry as a desert, here. Anyway, sarcastically brushing aside the denial in this way, he's moving on to the rather more compromising detail in all this, which is:]
I can't imagine you'd be going to these lengths to dodge telling me about it if this weren't your fault. Either that, or perhaps...the cause is an incredibly embarrassing one? Am I getting any warmer?
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N...no...it's nothing like that...
[What was that about her being a poor liar? Anyway, her completely unconvincing tone probably answers his question well enough: that yes, he is getting warmer. Not to mention Rita's fidgeting with the hem of her shirt...]
I'm not dodging anything...
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Come now, the least you could do is put a little more conviction into it. --Would you prefer I use the term "stalling" instead? It's growing more apt by the moment.
[Really, though. It's certainly just getting odder, Rita's hesitation here. For the life of him, Jade's not entirely sure just what would be prompting this in her so thoroughly here and now...and an old dispassionate part of him is admittedly rather tempted to simply drop the matter and walk away, if she's going to be so difficult about it. Put the onus on her to make the admittance. But...]
...Surely Yuuki must know of this by now, in any case. I suppose I'll just have to ask him instead, if that's really how you'd rather have this pan out...
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She bristles when Jade invokes Natsuno, letting go of the hem of her shirt to defensively cross her arms.]
H--hey, are you serious?! [A groan, an angry sigh, and finally...another, very put-upon reluctant sigh.] Ugh...fine...fine, just--just come into the cabin, okay?!
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Come now, when have I ever not been serious about a threat? [Don't answer that--] I'm glad to hear we won't have to test that after all, regardless! A more enclosed location is fine by me. After you, then...
[With an expectant nod, as he waits for Rita to lead the way back through the cabin door.
...Hmm, the odd sense of something rather particular having transpired only grows stronger, doesn't it? For it to be a sort of thing that Rita would rather talk about in private...]
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[Really, if this was anyone else, she'd angrily insist they keep Natsuno out of any threats! Jade gets a pass...just barely...even if she really wouldn't put it past him to go pester Natsuno if she kept being evasive. Old men are so stubborn, aren't they? So it's with a sort of resigned irritation that Rita trudges back into her cabin--probably with the air of a child who's been caught with their hand in the cookie jar, or something else they weren't supposed to be doing, not that she's all that aware of it herself--and moves to stand in the middle of the (messy as usual) room, arms still crossed.
Despite just stating they should get it over with...well, she's still pretty reluctant to actually talk about it, but Jade's not going to let it go.... So it's only after a length pause that she finally starts, in a much quieter mumbling (like the child unhappily admitting they had their had in the cookie jar)...]
So, it's...I...Darcy started a fight.
[Even with the sunglasses, it's probably obvious that she's not entirely looking at him, with her head turned slightly off to the side.]
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Is it truly any surprise, really, when she says it was a fight--and that Darcy was involved?
Well, not really. Or at least it shouldn't be, though all the same, the sardonic humor Jade had carried with him into the cabin wanes as soon as the confession arrives. A slight but prompt frown taking its place, as he watches her refuse to make eye contact in just the same way as she had in that stone waiting room...
Exactly the same sort of way, really. Because she must know--of course she knows--how this sounds, so recently on the heels of their last conversation about this.
...]
I see.
[.........]
And I'd hazard a guess that she finished that fight as well, did she?
[Not a particularly difficult extrapolation, after all, the highly likely state of Rita's face and the revealed reasoning behind it considered. A distinct pause preludes the reply, and a second distinct pause follows afterwards; Jade's tone is a rather neutral sort of dispassionate, but in a way that probably speaks for itself. ...Seeing as the humor now has yet to return...]
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Ultimately, there's a lengthy, awkward pause on her own part after Jade asks that last question, punctuated by a few clicks of her tongue and sharp sighs. She glances this way and that--anywhere but Jade, really--which only makes her more annoyed with both herself and Darcy. He shouldn't be disappointed in her--she shouldn't be so guilty about it!--when she didn't even start the fight! What a pain...]
...She broke my nose, if that's what you're asking.
[Her eventual answer is...totally not a petulant sort, of course not...]
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[Eye contact is a sparse thing to hold indeed at the moment, fidgety as Rita's being, but she's bound to catch Jade studying the little that's visible of her features with a renewed sort of sharpness anyway. The neutrality of his tone--well, it tries to persist, although. Even despite his own preferences, something of a deeply-drawn exasperation is beginning to seep into his voice anyhow. Bordering, indeed, on that disappointment of a similar brand to the waiting room's.
Really though. Really. The waiting room was one thing, the tensions in that confined space truly straining things. Now that they're out of there and back on the ship proper, though, the fact that these two girls are still having enough of a conflict for violence is--]
A couple days ago, I'd assume, to judge from what I can see of your bruising there. Which correlates quite readily with your absence of late. --Tear could have helped with that, she's an excellent healer. Which I could have informed you. [Why didn't you say anything sooner is a phrase all but spoken aloud, in this clipped observation. And more pressingly than even that:] Where did this happen, and why?
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[She backed off. It should've been the smart thing to do, so why does she always hate admitting it? She makes no comment on the timing, though his increasingly borderline disappoint and subtle accusation of avoiding him--which, okay, she was doing, but still!--makes her foot start tapping with agitation.]
It happened in the kitchen that appeared, and the why is because she's crazy. I walked in, she flipped out. So--it's not my fault!
[Even understanding why she hasn't been wanting to tell Jade, she's not entirely sure why she felt the need to blurt out that last bit, finally looking straight at him through the sunglasses (which she should probably just take off at this point, but maybe she still doesn't want him to see just how much it was bruised-).]
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[Because if she'd backed away earlier, then she wouldn't be dealing with a broken nose about now, would she? Jade just barely manages not to outright point this out aloud verbatim--surely Rita's already as aware of such herself, after all. ...Yet Jade still can't be surprised at this turn of events either, and--perhaps that's the true sticking point, in all this. The thing that's setting off such a...hmm, hard to say what this feeling is, really. The shape of it's quite close to irritation, to the point he'd almost call it such, but--it's a little stronger than that too, isn't it? Something rather more deep-set.
He'd thought they'd reached a consensus on this, after all. He'd thought. After that talk in the labyrinth waiting room--Rita had seemed remorseful enough, at that time. Had he not made the issue plain enough, even then? Or perhaps she'd simply been remorseful for all the wrong reasons, all along?
The stickier point of the matter, too, is that Jade is hardly happy to see Rita fielding around an injury like this right now. Yet he can't even muster up any proper offense about it in the direction of any actual culprit, because Darcy has just never stricken Jade as the sort of person to be...]
"Crazy". I see. [Try as he might to maintain neutrality, the withering nature of the echoed term seeps through all the same. Really, that's the best explanation Rita could come up with? That's the only reason she can think of, as a possibility?] So you walked into the kitchens, without doing anything at all or saying anything at all. And she simply leapt upon you and broke your nose on the spot, is that right? She trapped you such that you could not simply leave?
[It's a rather bad faith way to ask after any context, granted. Jade knows it is. There's still the perfectly viable possibility that things really did transpire exactly how Rita's implying, and Darcy attacked her entirely unprompted. But the thing-like-irritation is still very persistently gnawing at thought, about now, and exasperation just can't help but have it seeping into spoken word too. Old poor habits flaring up...]
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What? It--it wasn't exactly like that--but...she did freak out on the spot.
[It just didn't immediately get physical... But Rita refuses to believe that she escalated the situation unneccessarily. Why should she have obeyed Darcy from the start, anyway? It's on that thought that anger overtakes her warring emotions and she raises her voice stubbornly at Jade.]
It's--it's a public space; why the hell should I have left just because she claimed it, or whatever the hell she was thinking?!
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[She might raise her voice, as indignant stubbornness sets in over whatever sheepishness Rita's quite visibly also warring with. But Jade is unmoved and unimpressed by the volume, and while his own tone remains even, his answer is a sharp and immediate thing. There it is--the crux, really, behind that burgeoning irate feeling. That when it comes to this particular sort of situation, Rita has so clearly opted to box herself into those options, with no interest whatsoever in any sort of alternative. Even in these downtime circumstances, now, outside that labyrinth waiting room...
Jade folds his arms, and sighs.]
I must say, I do not know what you're trying to argue for here. Do you want me to fervently agree that Darcy simply must be an insane person who'd have no reason at all to be angry at you? Do you wish for me to compliment you on your decisions well-made? Reassure you that this was in fact a very important and necessary fight? [A slight tilt of his head; dryly:] You're clearly not even proud of it, hiding around and trying to pretend as if nothing's happened after the fact. It's all making for quite a mixed message.
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With a sharp intake of breath, she abruptly starts pacing--stomping, really, swinging her arms with all the drama of an upset teen each time she turns around.]
No! I don't want any of that, I-- Just--what do even want me to say?! This wasn't like that room! There wasn't even anyone else involved this time, and now you're-
You're acting like it's all my fault and you weren't even there! You didn't see what happened!
[Ugh. She's not going to be proud of this, either, but logic is swiftly taking a major backseat to messy emotions.]
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So that's how it seems to you, right now? That I'm acting as if this is your fault? Even after I've already told you once before, how I do not care where the fault lies in these conflicts--you'd really have me repeat myself again? ...Hm. It would seem you really do think that talk we had in that room only counted while we were in there.
[And now that they're out, none of it applies any longer--or so it rather sounds and seems, at any rate. That may not be Rita's actual thoughts or intentions, in reality, but it's the impression that comes off--and, in turn, the impression that's setting the distinct disappointment in Jade's tone now.]
...You're correct, I was not there this time, and I did not see what happened. All I see now is the results--the fact you were injured by it. Which is not something that I enjoy seeing happen to a friend, astonishing as I'm sure that is to hear from me. [If his tone weren't so dryly flat already, perhaps it'd be easier to detect the briefest flicker of self-deprecation there--but let's move on, before such things can sink in--] If it were some accident, or an unpreventable outcome, that would be one thing. But the cause was neither of those things--and on top of that, you'd even rather try to hide it, than tell anyone about it afterward. Will you be trying to hide it the next time you come to blows with someone else in an argument, too? When you injure them instead--or perhaps even if one of you kills the other, eventually? I suppose I'll always be wondering now.
[In this place where even death isn't a permanent solution of any kind...]
If you want to know what I'd like for you to say, then at least answer this. How much longer shall I have to expect this petty circle of vengeance to go round and round, whether we're in downtime or not? Seeing as it's now reached a point where violence is a given regardless, apparently. [Here, another sigh.] You may not be able to control how these conflicts begin--but you can always control how they end. Do you plan to go forward from here in the exact same way you have been?
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[In the face of Jade's calmly dry disappointment, Rita's messy feelings only grow messier and more tangled as she initially continues to pace, because she needs to do something that isn't just standing there and pointedly not looking at Jade. Which she does eventually do when he starts to say that she's at least right that he wasn't there, although what follows is possibly an even more unpleasant dressing-down, even if it contains that little hint of self-deprecation that would make her scoff or roll her eyes under any other, less unpleasant circumstances.
And, again: she feels too much to know where to even begin untangling it. Indignant, frustrated, and angry, because yes, he does seem to be blaming her for--if not starting the fight then apparently continuing to participate in it until it went this far--and all of that only worsens with the way he continues, too. Actually, for a moment, indignation does come to the forefront at his dry wondering comment, and she looks up to properly meet his gaze again-]
Hey, just--what kind of person do you take me for?! I was only keeping it from you!
[In total contrast to Jade, her voice comes out thick and upset. Because--ah, yeah, apparently his heavy disappointment invokes an unhappy guilt, which when vortexed up in the emotional blender with everything else...well, then comes the teen drama. But following the admission that she didn't hide it from anyone else, she crosses her arms, back to a combination of angry and sheepish that she still doesn't know how to process. Where did Jade's weird talent for making her into such an emotional mess come from? When did it even start?
...After a lengthy pause (of not looking at him, again), she finally responds in a quieter mutter.]
I'm not out for vengeance, you know. [Even if sometimes she really thinks it'd be satisfying to wring Darcy's neck, she promised Natsuno, after all.] ...But I'll defend myself if she comes at me again.
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[Rita, this isn't going to help with that wondering...not in the least....for all that she might have her reasons, yes, if this is how telling him is going to go every single time. That's the other sticking point, though, as far as Jade's concerned--maybe she simply shouldn't be doing things that she wouldn't even want to tell him about afterwards?? Surely that's not a difficult line of logic to utilize!!!
...But, well. All that quite aside. It seems that Rita's finally starting to settle back down now, at the very least...and so, in turn, the dry disappointment in Jade's own tone is finally lightening just a little. Ruling out 'vengeance' and citing only self-defense--is a start, if nothing else. The prospect of potentially having to field this issue with Rita yet again in the future is already a very tiring one, after all, so if that at least mitigates the possibility of a repeat somewhat...]
I never said you shouldn't defend yourself, if you're attacked. I suggest only that if there's a way to avert that attack before it begins, it would be worth taking--if only so multiple parties could be saved a great deal of trouble all around. [...So. It'd be nice, if that could be that. Is there anything else to say, at this point, that he hasn't already either said now or said before? The more pessimistic part of Jade does wonder if this conversation, too, is going to be rendered entirely moot yet again in another month or so. (...Goodness, it certainly is troublesome. Having to care this much, about this sort of thing. He didn't used to--)] ...Are you sure you don't require anything from a healer like Tear, at this stage of things? Your nose was the only major injury?
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Still, Rita doesn't answer that dry comment, just absently fiddling with her sleeves and brushing out imaginary wrinkles instead of meeting his eyes. He does start...backing down doesn't feel right here, it's more easing off--he starts easing off on her a little, but she doesn't feel very relieved about it, not when his disapproval is still ringing in her head.]
...
[Yeah, no comment immediately on her end, not until he asks about her injury (as if he hasn't already thoroughly bruised whatever remained of her pride...), and she idly kicks at the floor with the toe of her shoe.]
...That's all. Clarke treated it, anyway.
[There is definitely nothing petulant about this reply. Nothing petulant about it!!]
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Well, then it sounds like there won't be any lasting disfigurement, at the very least. That's all I wished to know. [Rita's starting to avoid eye contact yet again, and the atmosphere overall is settling from upset to something rather more awkward. Jade opts to address it as brusquely as possible--there's kind of no proper ending to a conversation like this, really, so...] I've all the answers I need, so I shall excuse myself from your quarters now. Unless there's anything else you want to speak about?
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But now is...hm. She doesn't like how this has gone, of course, and part of her really would like for it to just end already. At the same time...just leaving it on this note...feels wrong. She just wishes she knew what would make it right.]
...It's...not like I'm happy this happened, or anything like that, you know...
B--besides, don't tell me you've never gotten in a fight like that before.
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