fandomtownies | The Perk; Monday Afternoon.

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The Perk; Monday Afternoon.

Setsuna shifted slightly in her chair, staring at the bottom of the tea latte in front of her on the table, turning it slightly. She shouldn't be this nervous; it was just Ranma. But...she'd been doing so much thinking this weekend. Sunday, with the memorial service and that awful encounter with Lucifer, didn't help much. She'd ~~handwavily~~ left a note for him to meet her at the coffee shop. She didn't want to chance the case of Marco being in the room and having to awkwardly ask that he leave or have him there. She was pretty certain he didn't have a clue how to speak Japanese, but then it would be just rude to be having a discussion with someone else in front of him that he couldn't understand (even if she did sort of forget herself when Ami was around, but that was...somehow different). Either way, the Perk had some nice quiet corners, and also established a sort of formality, forced a sort of distance that wouldn't exist should they be in the privacy of her room, most likely sitting on her bed.

[[ thread with

ranma_sao locked to them, please, and the contents of their conversation kindly NFB? Other tan that, open for any afternoon Perkly use ]]

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Ranma walked in and sat down across from her with a cheerful look. //Setsuna! Good afternoon!//

Setsuna drew in a small breath. It would figure that Ranma would be in a good mood and not pick up on the subtle nuances of gravity in the note she had left for him. Still, in the greater picture of things, she certainly couldn't hold a good mood against him and it was really nice to see him smile. //" 'Afternoon, Ranma,"// she returned the smile lightly. //"Thank you for coming; would you like me to get you anything to drink? They do have good tea here..."//

Ah, here was one of those moments when she could appriciate how formalities could put something off so easily.

//Sure. Tea I guess. So what's up?//

Setsuna nodded, politely excusing herself for a moment so she could get the tea for Ranma, returning a few moments later with the offering. She leaned over to give him a small kiss on the top of his head as she set it in front of him, then returned to her seat. She took a long sip of her own drink before saying anything more.

//"I...wanted to talk to you about something."//

She had such a way of getting straight to the point, didn't she?

//Yeah? Something wrong l-love..?// The kiss had made him a bit jumpy and self-concious.

Blushing a little with a ducked head at how Ranma had addressed her, Setsuna had to pushed down a little adoring flutter so that it didn't affect her grave nod. //"Something is wrong,"// she said, gulping back the blush so her face was pale again. //"Did you....did you know Belthazar very much, Ranma?"//

//He was um... in my cabin over the summer.//

Okay, so, yeah, not so much. Which was really what Setsuna had expected.

//"Well, he died recently. There was a memorial service for him last night. I..."// That was the easy part; now came what was difficult to say, and she leaned over the table, so she could speak more quietly. //"He...was like me, Ranma. Ha..."// Strong hesitation; she pushed herself forward, which brought her voice down to barely a whisper. //"Half-demon."//

Her eyes instantly looked up; no one was paying any mind to the Japanese couple in the corner, but that didn't do anything to quell her paranoia.

Ranma frowns, poor Bel... But he's a little lost about what this has to do with Setsuna's lineage. //Did someone... kill him...?//

Setsuna shook her head lightly. //"I...I'm not entirely sure what happened, but I...do know he was very open about this fact, significantly more so than I am and it's had me thinking, Ranma, a lot, about that side of me, about the dangers of letting it reveal itself, of being....too comfortable with it..."//

Here she paused, looking sadl at him from across the table. //"Ranma, I have to ask. Are you...are you sure you're okay with this? With...what I am?"//

//Setsuna...// He looks a bit puppy eyed. The kind of puppy who was just hit by rolled newspaper. //I knew since almost day one ya know... why would I mind now? I fell in love with ya after I knew about it. If ya act like... you're not allowed ta be loved just cuz you're part demon then ... that's wrong. I've never ever meet someone as wonderful as you are an' ... well I... know you're not proud of it but don't let it hold you back or make ya ashamed. You use your wings for good, you use all of it to protect everyone else. Ya shouldn't make it your reason to try to look down on yourself... well ya... ya can't help somethin' like this. But ya can help how you act. An' like I said. You're wonderful...//

..who'd've ever thought Ranma could say the just the right thing...

...well, almost the right thing.

Setsuna's had had crept across the table to find his toward the end of Ranma's speech, fingers groping to hold onto it tightly as she swallowed back tears. He had...such a simple way of looking at things, so maybe it really wasn't a problem. But two seconds of simple honesty wasn't quite enough to override fifteen years of convincing. //"This isn't about me, though, Ranma,"// she said, looking over at him sadly. //"It's about you. I...I'm base, Ranma. And I know you're no where near the sort of status that Ojou-sama is, but, still...I...I'm not even qualified to rank in the heirarchy of demons, much less have any sort of respectable standing among humans."//

The history books would tell you that the division of classes in Japan ended with the Meiji Restoration; Setsuna Sakurazaki knew better...

///"I am ashamed of what I am, but you're right. I'm not going to let that stop me. But what I do worry about is that you'll be ashamed of it. I know you're not now, but..I..I worry that one day you will, and you'll hold it against me."//

Most likely, she added to herself, because she could not actually say it, because of something I do...

Ranma gripped her fingers back. //Setsuna,// he looked her level in the eyes, //there's no force in the world that can make me stop loving you.// After that he had to look down, blushing and embarassed. //I.... I... I mean it.. o-okay?//

Setsuna nodded a little. //"I just...felt an obligation to make sure you knew...really knew what you were getting into. We've...never really talked about it before, and...what happened with Belthazar has...really made me remember that I have to be careful. I have to watch myself and keep an eye on that side. I've...been too easy in just disregarding it lately..."//

//I'll protect ya in anyway I can. No matter what. I know ya like to deefend yourself. I'm not calling ya weak. I just want ya to know I'll do anything for ya...//

Setsuna sighed a little, her fingers rubbing lightly against his in nervousness. Maybe he really didn't understand after all. Because the thing she needed protection against was herself; she couldn't think of how Ranma could help with that...

//"Hopefully,"// Setsuna said after a moment, with a small smile, //"it won't have to come to anything like that."//

//Right.// He smiles broadly and pulls her fingers to his lips to kiss them softly. //If it does then I'll be with you. No matter where you are.//

Setsuna couldn't help but smile softly at that, leaning in now as if to be closer to him than anything else. //"You're very good to me, Ranma..."//

//Don't be silly. Ya deserve it.// He blushes.

Setsuna allowed a small smile to slip past. //Y..you keep that up, I might actually start believing it one of these days..."//

//Good.// He smirks. //Now I don't want to see you looking so down okay?// He makes a funny face at her for the first time in awhile.

A light chuckle slipped out at the funny face, and Setsuna shook her head a little, in a vaguely admiring way. //"O..Okay,"// she nodded. //"Guess I'm doing that 'thinking too much' thing you're always telling me about again, huh?"//

Ranma reaches up and brushes his fingertips across her cheek, he looks serious and quite adoring, //Yes. Things don't have ta be so complicated okay?//

In moments like this, Setsuna not only admired, but she also coveted Ranma's sweet simplicity. She leaned into the fingers at her cheek, eyes closing, small smile on her face. //"...Okay."//

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The Perk; Monday Afternoon.

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