[Week 0, Sunday post-execution: Yang]

[purrtagonist]

[if there's any emotion that Akira understands, it's anger]

[that's why he hadn't scolded Yang when she had lunged at Max, even though he would have stopped her had Maya not stepped in first. it's why he seeks her out, once Dahlia and Anthy and Maya are double dead, once they've had a little bit of time to process how real these "erasures" actually were]

[wherever Yang is this evening, she'll find Akira holding a carbonated beverage pilfered from the vending machine towards her. peace offering!!]

Are you a soda fan? Personally, I've always found it a bit too sweet.

Comments

[sonnen]

[ At that, she perks up a little. Earnest... Definitely not a word anyone would ever use to describe Raven. The realisation is enough to cheer her up, even if it's only in the mildest of degrees. (People have died, after all!) ]

You can blame my dad for that. I got my earnest genes from him.

[ This time, she does put her hand out...

And doesn't retract it! ]

So let's try to trust each other, alright?

[purrtagonist]

[his own gaze flickers down, studying that hand carefully. and then, after only a brief hesitation, he reaches out]

[and takes it firmly in his own]

. . . all right.

I hope it'll be a pleasure doing business with you, Yang.

[no honorific this time]

[sonnen]

[ She did see that hesitation (if it tinges her resolve, it's only in the smallest of amounts)-- and good, because these honourifics are weird and she has zero interest in hearing them.

That said, for a moment, the handshake is genuine. Her metal fingers are skinnier than a human's, and colder.

One, two...

Three...

Abruptly, the arm shoots off, dragging him back a few feet through sheer velocity of the takeoff. When the dust clears (metaphorically) he will be left standing there, holding hands with a dislodged and limp prosthetic.

Yang will be over here, laughing her ass off. ]

1/2

[purrtagonist]

[OH MY GOD YANG PLEASE]

[purrtagonist]

[needles to say, Akira is left reeling from that sudden surprise, stumbling back and wobbling to and fro as he tries to catch his balance. he almost drops the prosthetic in his attempts to not trip and fall right onto his ass]

[but when he does steady himself, he blinks down to the arm in his hand, then back up to the laughing Yang, then down again.]

[and then he smiles]

You really do get a kick out of scaring people with this, don't you?

[sonnen]

It's all about the little joys in life.

[ With the arm ejected off, the reason why it is necessary is painfully apparent. Underneath the rolled up cuff of her coat sleeve, there's the space where an arm should be, but isn't. Yang isn't ashamed.

(Not now, anyway.)

Wearing a cocky grin, all her own, she'll take the arm back from him. ]

[purrtagonist]

The little joys are what keep us sane, especially in circumstances like this one.

[she shouldn't be ashamed!! she has no reason to be, in his mind. either way, he hands the arm back to her, that smile transforming into a small, amused grin]

Take what we can, when we can get it, right?