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[espersions]

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[espersions]

[ Moe and Shiho go together like windshield wipers and a duck-billed platypus, or something. Anyway, by the time she arrives, Hyoubu is innocently perched on somebody's skylight, lit dramatically from below. ]

I was beginning to think you weren't interested, Empress.

[good_ideas]

[Hers is gap moe, okay.

She takes one look at him, dramatically lit from above and quirks an eyebrow, unimpressed.]

Since you were being petty, I thought it would be better to take my time and let you calm down up here.

[espersions]

[ So much drama. ]

Playing hard to get works only up to a point. A man might change his mind, while you're keeping him waiting.

[ At the same time he speaks, he transmits a thought to her, telepathically: I want to talk to you about information that's come to light regarding the recent CERES tours. ]

[good_ideas]

[She stops upon hearing his thought in her head, before shrugging.]

When the man in question is a lolicon, isn't it better if he changes his mind?

[Talk, then.]

[espersions]

[ He knew she'd get it, and not let on. Clever girl.

That said, he also knew she'd keep pushing the lolicon thing. Goddammit. ]

Oh well, if you don't need money...

[ He smiles (it's more than a little forced) and stands, his hands in his pockets.

There are rumors that CERES might have altered us in some way. Our eyes, in particular. ]

[good_ideas]

You didn't forget the petty senior thing already, did you?

[She couldn't stop being awful, it's just impossible with him standing there.

You're not going senile, are you? Oh, oops. I totally didn't mean to think that out loud. Sorry~

What I meant was: I've heard of those too. So?]

[espersions]

[ There's an image in his mind of the Empress surrounded by thicket of thorns, of her own making. Being able to overhear thoughts, that people didn't realize they were thinking out loud... it's a curse, as much as it is a power, particularly for a child.

He yanks that thought down beneath the surface as soon as he realizes he's having it, but his expression does soften. ]

You must want something really badly, to be meeting me like this. What is it?

[ Found anything? You must have gone looking. ]

[good_ideas]

[....his expression softens as he looks at her, and she reflexively takes a step back.]

It doesn't matter what it is! [The majority of the money would go towards her bear. The rest of it....would go to Jaune since she still hadn't paid that poor guy. So she's definitely not telling him that and pushes the thought down and away.

I couldn't find anything when I looked. Nothing. Why? Did you find something?]]

[espersions]

[ He's momentarily surprised when she steps back. Then he realizes what's happened, and immediately rearranges his features into a moue of annoyance. ]

I'm only asking. There's no need to be rude.

[ People who put barriers up, find it disconcerting when someone start to step past them. He's careful to transmit only this precise thought:

I didn't. However, we might be able to amplify each other's abilities. ]

[good_ideas]

[That's a much easier expression for Shiho to deal with than one of doting gentleness. (Which is just gross.)]

How is that rude?

[Not rude at all.

Wait. Do I have to touch you to do this?]

[espersions]

[ Now if you'd only join PANDRA, Empress, you'd get Doting Gentleness^TM all the time. ]

I generally make the kids at PANDRA earn their own spending money. They only get presents for special occasions.

[ There are a lot of special occasions on the Catastrophe however, shh.

Don't worry, Empress. I won't let you see anything you shouldn't. Even with your limiter released. ]

[good_ideas]

[That'll be her main reason for never joining them.]

Can't you just think of this like a special occasion, then? [That's not how special occasions work, Shiho.

I'm thinking more that I just don't want to touch you, but yeah, sure. Just so you know though, I don't have all day to do this.

Because her limiter was on a timer.]

[espersions]

Hm, well. Let me see.

[ He taps his chin, making a show of thinking. ]

I'll reward them sometimes for special achievements. Have you done anything noteworthy lately? Something you're proud of?

[ You'll be the one in control, Empress. Come here. ]

[good_ideas]

What are you, Santa Claus, or something? Do you want me to sit in your lap next? You lolicon. [She even comes closer with a raise of her eyebrow, though she doesn't intend to follow through. (Kaoru would probably smash him for that.)

Besides, lately all she's been doing is helping people she actually really liked and she didn't need him stalking them too.]

[espersions]

Ah —

[ ...


that actually comes across as being faintly flirtatious, and while he doesn't physically move from where he's standing, he can't quite hide the feeling of being flustered, and wanting to step back. ]

That's not a requirement! Besides, I'm... I'm not sitting down.

[ smooth, Hyoubu. smooth. ]

[good_ideas]

[Her smile stretches wider as she comes closer.]

Eh~? Really? Then what if I shoot you in the kneecaps?

1/3

[espersions]

[ He'll take kneecaps over the last thing of his she threatened to shoot BUT STILL. ]

Ha....haha. You win, Empress.

[ He pulls out his wallet. Palmed under it is a homemade limiter-releaser that he cobbled together. He activates it... ]

[espersions]

[ ...and is suddenly annoyed that — for the purposes of stealth — he doesn't get to do the egregiously unnecessary limiter release schtick that Minamoto always did, in the 2008 anime.

Pfft! He would have done it much, much better. ]

[espersions]

[ He pulls a couple of bills from his wallet and holds them out to her, with the idea that she'll be able to touch his hand when she takes them. ]

Is that enough?

[good_ideas]

[She smiles as if she hadn't just threatened to shoot him.

And though there's no Minamoto shouting and no full-panel spread, she can feel that the limiter's been released.]

Well, it's a good start.

[Shiho no

She reaches out to take the bills, her fingers brushing against the back of his hand as she does.]

[espersions]

[ Normally he'd use his own telepathic powers to shield his mind from her, but his purpose in doing this is to amplify her powers, not block them. So he uses more conventional means to protect his thoughts: the first barrier is his very distinct memory of shoving Minamoto head-first into a toilet.

...

Okay, that's not an actual barrier; he wants her to look at it. Behind that are some extremely fiddly group theory proofs, with respect to symmetry-breaking and esp, featuring hundreds of equations; and behind that are his memories of the Empress as a ten-year-old — something he well knows, that teenagers can't stand, seeing themselves a children. ]

Don't spend it all in one place.

[ The state of his body, however, he leaves perfectly open, because he has to, if she's going to search for implants. In fact, he amplifies his bodily control. Which means that Shiho might be able to notice the shitty state of his heart, as there's been no one to bug this old man to take his medications. ]

[good_ideas]

[If that fly-Minamoto memory wasn't bad enough, he adds in complicated equations and then herself as a kid?! It's not as if she wanted to break through anyway (even if there had been a moment when she'd been tempted) but that didn't mean she wasn't going to actually shoot at him later.]

I'm not going to, you lolicon.

[And just like when she and Kaoru had tried this, her search turned out nothing. Except, unlike with Kaoru, she turned up something else that leaves her taking her hand back and looking at him with something that could be worry but look a lot more like annoyance over the state of his heart.

...as payback for his clever shields, she's totally going to tell Kaoru that he hadn't been taking his medication.]

[espersions]

[ The Empress looks annoyed with him. Well, what of that? She usually looks annoyed with him. Well... except that particular expression she's wearing reminds him more of the way certain PANDRA members look at him, when they're upset with him for doing things like... like trying to use up all his life energy to make Minamoto a child again, for instance.

...

No, it's his imagination. The Empress is merely annoyed that she didn't find the implant. Yes, that's the explanation. Annoyed and worried about that. ]

As we've discussed, you're not even a loli anymore.

[ Find anything?

He knows she didn't, but he'll ask anyway. ]

[good_ideas]

That's not the point here.

[The point is that he apparently hasn't been taking care of himself. And Kaoru would lecture the life out of him and she would watch and laugh from a corner.

Nothing. Is it because they know what we could do?

That was an annoying thought.]

[espersions]

[ Possibly. Or there were never any implants at all, and they're just trying to make us paranoid.

Oh well. It's not like he had been particularly optimistic, but it was worth a try, anyway. Besides, he really did sincerely enjoy working with the Empress, however briefly. He clicks her limiter back on, and then surreptitiously slips the release device back into his pocket. ]

The point...

The point is that you're feeling comfortable coming to me, when you need help.

[ He smiles. ]

I'm glad.