ABS FIESTA REDUX

[carolcat]

Cualli's hand goes over her mouth and she gasps. "Oh, Arkhip..." she says softly, looking at him. Remembering how he reacted last time she showed sympathy, she's reluctant to say anything. Taking her hand away from her mouth, she rests it on his upper arm and hands him the letter back.

[Ad Bot]

[Qwepir]

Cualli's hand goes over her mouth and she gasps. "Oh, Arkhip..." she says softly, looking at him. Remembering how he reacted last time she showed sympathy, she's reluctant to say anything. Taking her hand away from her mouth, she rests it on his upper arm and hands him the letter back.

Arkhip just rests his elbow on the couch's armrest and his head in his hand, trying to distract himself by watching the subtitled program Frisk put on the TV.

[...on tonight's episode: I get in a wreck...]
The camera is an internal view of a car pointed at the driver, who is wearing a crash helmet. Outside the window, you can see the ground, then the sky, then the ground again. Throughout the ordeal, the man is attempting to speak, but his mouth becomes a pixellated blob from which only bleeping escapes.

[...Richter takes a tank destroyer around our track...]
A similar camera angle, only this time focused on a diminutive fellow inside what is clearly some sort of military vehicle. The man is screaming. Cutting to an external view reveals a wheeled combat vehicle taking a very sharp corner and very briefly going up on its right four wheels. It cuts away before it is apparent whether it completed the turn or went rolling into a ditch.

[...And Jurgen gets arrested!]
An older, rather fat looking man is attempting to convince the police that he was not in fact racing between the lights. The next shot has him being stuffed into a squad car.

[carolcat]

Cualli considers asking about the other letters, but decides against it. She gently squeezes his arm in a gesture of comfort. "If you need anything, you can talk to me," she tells him reassuringly before looking at the TV.

Moratov is going to be rough, she repeats in her head.

[Tayasaurus]

For a brief moment, Tippy has the image in her head of her digging up Yui's corpse and then punching it's crispified arm. She notes how terrible of a person she is and immediately feels upset.

"It's from Nagato." Tippy says handing Jaakko the envelope.

"I'm gonna have to write up a response."

Tippy clicks out a pen and some paper and begins writing a summary for Nagato to keep her up to speed.

[Mr. Hurricane]

Jaakko takes the letter and reads.

"So Xiaomei won't talk to anyone? I wonder if something's happened," he wonders out loud.

He then continues on reading and gets to Yui.

"Oh, Gods damnit," he says quietly.

Jaakko, on top of his feelings regarding the airliner, has the despair compounded by guilt. At first for Yui's death, and then some for Roger's. He stares blankly at the letter, remembering Roger throwing his aircraft into the Morgenstern's missile salvo to save him, seeing it again. He begins reasoning with himself that Yui did her job, getting her Thunderbolts to bare against the destroyers before being forced out by a burst missile, and then murdered on the ground. Roger's death is harder to justify, and Jaakko feels like he perhaps owed Roger something more.

He finally shakes himself out of it.

"Did you say something?" he asks Tippy in a quiet voice, a bit confused, believing Tippy had said something while he was zoned out.

To that end he's wrong. Jaakko returns the paper to Tippy.

[Qwepir]

Cualli considers asking about the other letters, but decides against it. She gently squeezes his arm in a gesture of comfort. "If you need anything, you can talk to me," she tells him reassuringly before looking at the TV.

Moratov is going to be rough, she repeats in her head.

Arkhip watches the TV for a while, then gets up and leaves the recroom without saying a word.

Jaakko takes the letter and reads.
"So Xiaomei won't talk to anyone? I wonder if something's happened," he wonders out loud.

: We're thinking about the same person, right? When did she ever talk to anyone?

[carolcat]

Arkhip watches the TV for a while, then gets up and leaves the recroom without saying a word.

Cualli watches him get up, weighs her options, and elects to follow him out. "Arkhip?"

[Mr. Hurricane]

"She talked once or twice in a blue moon before," Jaakko replies, "makes me wonder if she was always that abrasive or if it has something to do with her burns."

[Qwepir]

Cualli watches him get up, weighs her options, and elects to follow him out. "Arkhip?"

You find him sitting in the hall outside the recroom with his back against the wall.

"She talked once or twice in a blue moon before," Jaakko replies, "makes me wonder if she was always that abrasive or if it has something to do with her burns."

: Gee, I wonder.

[carolcat]

You find him sitting in the hall outside the recroom with his back against the wall.

"Hey," she says quietly, crouching beside him. "Do you want to go somewhere and talk...? Or just let it all out? Or...?"

[Mr. Hurricane]

"The world wonders," Jaakko comments.

He scratches his head.

"What are you guys gonna do with your leave time?" he asks Frisk.

[Qwepir]

"Hey," she says quietly, crouching beside him. "Do you want to go somewhere and talk...? Or just let it all out? Or...?"

: I don't know, I'm... just trying to wrap my head around it.

"The world wonders," Jaakko comments.
He scratches his head.
"What are you guys gonna do with your leave time?" he asks Frisk.

: Get drunk.
: Sleep in.
: That's classified.

[carolcat]

Cualli glances up and down the hall, debating giving him a reassuring hug. She remembers all too well how he snapped at her last time she tried showing sympathy to him, though.

Seeing the hall is pretty clear, she looks at his face again, taking in his expression. Well, if he decides to be a richard about it again, then I guess... Her mental train of thought trails off as she reminds herself that she'd look like a huge richard if she did anything in response to him brushing her off again.

But she doesn't have anything in mind to say that might help him, and she can't think of anything else that might be comforting. And she certainly doesn't want to leave him all by himself.

Seeing no better alternative than taking the risk of getting snapped at by him again, she gently puts her arms around Arkhip and pulls him into a reassuring hug. "I won't say it'll all be okay, but... you'll get through this," she murmurs, being careful with what words she uses.

[Mr. Hurricane]

"I don't know what else I expected," Jaakko remarks.

[Qwepir]

Seeing no better alternative than taking the risk of getting snapped at by him again, she gently puts her arms around Arkhip and pulls him into a reassuring hug. "I won't say it'll all be okay, but... you'll get through this," she murmurs, being careful with what words she uses.

Arkhip finally fails to hide how distressed he is, and begins crying into Cualli's shoulder.

"I don't know what else I expected," Jaakko remarks.

Virvel rolls her eyes.
: Well then, care to share what you're doing that's so special and unexpected?