vatheon | Mood(ier) Than Usual

Entry tags:

Mood(ier) Than Usual

Who: Squall Leonhart and the bubble
Where: A coffee shop in the plaza
When: Morning
Style: Starting in action, feel free to change
Status: Open

[He could not get over it. Squall simply could not get over it. This murder fiasco left him with overwhelming guilt and a feeling of uselessness.

Squall hates feeling useless. And when he tried owning up to his failure, people kept trying to comfort and coddle him. And he couldn't understand why people wouldn't just accept his apologies.

Why is this so much harder than it should be?

Eventually, he stopped trying, needing some time to cool off and feel miserable in peace, so he headed for a coffee shop he visited fairly frequently. Unfortunately for him, the only available seating was outside. The shop had started serving a seasonal blend with pumpkin and spice, business was booming.

And as such, Squall is currently seated at an outdoor table with a pumpkin spice coffee in hand, and he is positively radiating negativity.

Talk to him? Or just ask how that coffee tastes, that's good too.]

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[Naoto had only arrived at the coffee shop recently. Of course while she wasn't there for the coffee, they did have some decent teas as well. She had ordered some when she had seen the man outside. The way he was behaving reminded her of when the group had been upset about the loss of Nanako-chan. All the guys had brooded to the point where there were those who were scared to even come near them.

Taking her order of hot Earl Gray, she went over to his table. She attempted to present herself as male-like as possible.]

Excuse me, is this seat taken sir?

[With all the business that's been going on, Squall had completely forgotten that the usual time for new arrivals had come and gone. So when an unfamiliar person asks if the seat across from him is free, he's briefly confused, but he quickly figures it out.]

It's free.

[He's operating under the assumption the young man simply can't find seating elsewhere.]

[Naoto pulls the chair out and takes a seat. She sits there for a moment, sipping her tea and observing the area - namely him, but not making it obvious. She sees that he's tense and upset. She's automatically sure that he was a part of the recent events that took place.

She gently puts the cup down, not looking at him as she speaks her next words.]

It's been a rough few weeks to a month for everyone, hasn't it?

Extremely.

[She will have to dig deeper than that to get him to say more. Squall isn't the type to volunteer anything but the absolute minimum to anyone he isn't close to.]

[She had figured. She knew people who were not usually ones for talking. She figured she would have to go further into detail with herself before he would open up.]

I had only just arrived after I found out about the fourth instance. I wanted to try my best to help...

[She lowered her head. It hadn't been her best though. She knew it hadn't been. She hadn't gotten to do anything to try to help.]

[Ah...well, it's natural for people to want to help.]

Maybe you could have done a better job than I did.

No, probably not. I was not able to do anything fast enough. I was not able to deduce anything or perform as I should have been able to.

[She's figured it out somewhat. That he's one of the higher ranked members of the Defense Force. She doesn't know that this is Squall yet, but she knows he's up there.

She has also knows why he's down - it seems to be a common feeling around anyone who may have had the chance to do something. She has that same feeling too.]

If I had been able to do something sooner...

Nobody could, and that was unacceptable.

[He's supposed to be someone people can count on. It's because of him this went on for as long as it did.]

[She takes a sip of her tea. Hm, it was weaker than she thought it was. Oh well, it didn't matter right now.

A sigh leaves her lips.]

No, it seems no one could. I'm sure even if I had been able to be fast enough, it wouldn't have done anything.

[Her eyes close. She didn't know why, but she felt this story needed to come out.]

Reminds me of something that happened back in my world. During an investigation that I was a part of. When something happened that I felt I could have and should have been able to prevent.

[He thinks that everyone goes through something like that. They should have done this or that wouldn't have happened if they were just better.]

The people of this city were counting on me. I let them all down.

It happened very quickly, too quickly if you were to ask me. He didn't want to be found unless it was on his terms.

[Oh, she thinks she has a feeling who this is now. Having heard word of who the leader was - especially after the text over the SFC - she wondered who the man was. She had suspected, but with these recent words, she confirmed it.]

Leonhart-san, believe me when I tell you that the fact that you have the culprit now, you did not let anyone down. He wanted the chaos and to cause grief. You have him now and he will pay for his crimes.

This is not without problems, and all feel as though they let someone or many people down. As I said, I feel as though I could have done more and better. With more, you probably could have as well. This, as it's said, just left a bad taste in everyone's mouth.

I guess.

[But does it really count when the culprit turns himself in? After doing what he did for a month straight? Squall is a bit surprised that the young man seems to know his name, but he's kind of a public figure now. He needs to get used to it.]

I still did a terrible job, though.

[Even if the culprit turns themself in, there is still much to be done. After all, she's learned from experience that even when someone turns themself in, they may not always be the one. In this case whey were, but at the same time, there is more behind it. More to be investigated.

She knew of him, she knew his name, and now she had finally seen him. She would wish to speak to him later of other things, but not was not that time.]

Everyone believes they did a terrible job. It's what you do with your experiences that will turn something bad into something good. It's difficult to understand now, but it always seems to get easier as time passes.

[She still thought of herself as a failure for not getting to Nanako in time. However she was able to get past it then so that she was able to help save her and the world. She felt like she had failed now, but she was learning from what had happened.]

[As a leader, Squall knows that people will get hurt and you have to pick up and move on. But he's more used to that in his military setting, where the people he's responsible for know what they've signed up for and willingly follow him. Vatheon isn't like that. Vatheon is full of civilians who need protection. He doesn't want to continue this line of conversation, so he tries changing the topic.]

You're a detective?

[Even in his misery, even though he's seriously considering handing over his position to someone else, he's still thinking about the DF. Maybe it needs some changes.]

[Why did she know that he would try to change the topic? She didn't want for it to be about her. This was supposed to be about snapping him out of it. But if it will help him in the long run, perhaps she can amuse his thoughts for now.]

I am. Born from two, raised and taught by one.

[She wished she had been with her parents for longer, however her grandfather worked so hard for her and included her in his work.]

[Following in family footsteps, huh? That sounds nice. Really nice.]

Have you considered joining the DF?

[Because it's becoming pretty clear to Squall that they need people who can excel at solving mysteries.]

[It is nice, especially when your grandfather helps you out of a slump.]

I had made an inquiry as to law enforcement here. I was informed of the Defense Force by one named Ky Kiske.

[He had also been the one to initially ask for her help with the recent case, but she wouldn't mention that unless necessary.]

[It sounds like the thing Ky would do.]

I see. I guess he told you we don't have anything formal.

[Suppose so. But she doesn't know him well yet.]

He had informed me of such things. However having some form of law enforcement is necessary. Even if there are those who oppose such a thing.

[There will always be those who hate law enforcement. It doesn't matter the location.]

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Mood(ier) Than Usual

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