[ Hopefully, they won't need the charcoal or those antidotes or any of it, but she prescribes to being safe instead of sorry. She hands him a fork and digs into her own slice of pie.
It's an investigative operation on the integrity of this dessert. ]
Cheers.
[ She holds up a bite of pie towards him before it goes straight into her mouth. She's ready. ]
[ and thus he takes a bite, chewing slowly to check if there are any strange flavors mixed in... only to taste nothing else but savory apples and a nice, flaky crust. he swallows, blinking in surprise. ]
That was pretty good, actually. [ crap, now he wants another. ] You?
[ shinobu hasn't said anything about it yet, so he'll wait.
one minute, and another passes, and by this point it's evident that they're eating nothing more but ordinary if delicious apple pie. itaru can afford a relieved smile for this. ]
...Very lucky. Now, let's not keep her waiting. [ she's probably salivating at the scent of apple pie by now, but she keeps her distance from them just in case. at least she doesn't look too fearful of shinobu anymore. ]
[ She doesn't mean to be paranoid, but she'd rather seem overly cautious than not at all. She would have protested Itaru trying out the pie with her more if they didn't have those countermeasures in place.
She turns for the door after getting a third slice of pie and stops. ]
Oh, my. She's already here.
[ She sets the plate down and takes a few steps away to show it's safe. ]
[ brie cowers a little at being acknowledged, but itaru will come and bring her closer to the slice of pie that's waiting for her. she gulps, but with a nod from itaru she casts another owlish glance at shinobu before she takes up the fork and that first bite.
her eyes widen at the familiar flavor, tears welling up in her eyes as she takes another bite, then another. she didn't last through the entire slice before sobbing brokenly.
"Gamma... Gamma!" ]
Grandma? [ itaru looks surprised as well. ] Does she mean...
[ Shinobu's eyes widen before they become misty, and her heart clenches. She grabs her skirt in fistfuls to restrain herself from walking over to hug the poor girl. Frightening her now would be the absolutely worst thing.
She breathes deeply. ]
I think so. I'm glad we've managed to find her family. [ Both that old lady's and the little girl's. It's something to be happy about, and it's something to be sad about. What grandmother would want to see their grandchild suffer like this? ]
I don't... They should be reunited, but explaining what happened to her will be difficult.
[ They're doctors and have broken more dreadful news to family members, bu... somehow, this sits worse in her stomach. ]
[ itaru swallows back the lump that's forming in his throat, managing a nod as he rubs brie's back comfortingly. ] ...We still have to find out who did this to her.
[ come to think of it, though, this is the first time itaru's heard her utter a word since finding her. she doesn't look like she's chewing her food properly either, when she continued having her pie and eating it. so after she's done, itaru kindly requests her to open her mouth for an overdue checkup ("we have to make sure the big bad cavities won't ruin your pretty teeth, all right?") and she complies --
and itaru's eyes widen in horror. ]
...Shinobu.
[ he doesn't want to say nor presume anything. shinobu has got to see it for herself -- the poor girl's tongue already cut in the middle. itaru's definitely seen worse, but this time he had to hold back to the urge to punch the wall in sheer helplessness. ]
We do. I'm doing what I can to look for the people responsible.
[ She comes over to take a closer look once beckoned, and when she sees what it is, her vision goes white. She sucks in a breath so fast. Her expression becomes so pinched, and she has to pivot because her composure is lost.
Her rage is incandescent. ]
I'll find them.
[ Her voice is quiet enough not to carry and hard enough to crack ice. Children should not be tortured this way. ]
[ itaru turns his attention to brie, who immediately hides behind his leg. she looks more guilty than scared if anything, but that doesn't make it any better either. and honestly, he's more than a little intimidated with the sheer amount of rage that's radiating off his cousin - rage that's totally justified in this case. ]
You have... every right to be mad. I don't think I could stop you either, at this rate. But please -- [ he holds her wrist, bringing her down to earth. ] you've got to stay safe too.
[ he doesn't want to end up in richard's place, searching for his lost sister. ]
[ His hand on her wrist makes her shut her eyes, and her anger drains from her face and seeps into her bones. That Itaru worries about her safety all the time, that he has to is not something she's forgotten.
There is a part of her that regrets letting him feel that way because she can't stop her desire for justice (revenge), and even if she's stayed with the Xian Le because she's grown to care about a number of its members, it's always in the back of her mind. ]
I'm sorry, Itaru. You, too, Brie. Please eat as much of the pie as you want. I want all of us to eat apple pie together for a long time to come.
[ She doesn't Itaru to end up losing even more family either. It's too bad in a couple weeks Okuni ends up on his doorstep with her unconscious self. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
It's an investigative operation on the integrity of this dessert. ]
Cheers.
[ She holds up a bite of pie towards him before it goes straight into her mouth. She's ready. ]
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That was pretty good, actually. [ crap, now he wants another. ] You?
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If either of us don't feel sick in a few minutes, it's not fast acting. [ And they won't frighten Brie any more than she's already been frightened. ]
... It is delicious. That must be a recipe she knows by heart.
no subject
[ shinobu hasn't said anything about it yet, so he'll wait.
one minute, and another passes, and by this point it's evident that they're eating nothing more but ordinary if delicious apple pie. itaru can afford a relieved smile for this. ]
...Very lucky. Now, let's not keep her waiting. [ she's probably salivating at the scent of apple pie by now, but she keeps her distance from them just in case. at least she doesn't look too fearful of shinobu anymore. ]
no subject
[ She doesn't mean to be paranoid, but she'd rather seem overly cautious than not at all. She would have protested Itaru trying out the pie with her more if they didn't have those countermeasures in place.
She turns for the door after getting a third slice of pie and stops. ]
Oh, my. She's already here.
[ She sets the plate down and takes a few steps away to show it's safe. ]
no subject
her eyes widen at the familiar flavor, tears welling up in her eyes as she takes another bite, then another. she didn't last through the entire slice before sobbing brokenly.
"Gamma... Gamma!" ]
Grandma? [ itaru looks surprised as well. ] Does she mean...
no subject
She breathes deeply. ]
I think so. I'm glad we've managed to find her family. [ Both that old lady's and the little girl's. It's something to be happy about, and it's something to be sad about. What grandmother would want to see their grandchild suffer like this? ]
I don't... They should be reunited, but explaining what happened to her will be difficult.
[ They're doctors and have broken more dreadful news to family members, bu... somehow, this sits worse in her stomach. ]
cw child injury
[ come to think of it, though, this is the first time itaru's heard her utter a word since finding her. she doesn't look like she's chewing her food properly either, when she continued having her pie and eating it. so after she's done, itaru kindly requests her to open her mouth for an overdue checkup ("we have to make sure the big bad cavities won't ruin your pretty teeth, all right?") and she complies --
and itaru's eyes widen in horror. ]
...Shinobu.
[ he doesn't want to say nor presume anything. shinobu has got to see it for herself -- the poor girl's tongue already cut in the middle. itaru's definitely seen worse, but this time he had to hold back to the urge to punch the wall in sheer helplessness. ]
no subject
[ She comes over to take a closer look once beckoned, and when she sees what it is, her vision goes white. She sucks in a breath so fast. Her expression becomes so pinched, and she has to pivot because her composure is lost.
Her rage is incandescent. ]
I'll find them.
[ Her voice is quiet enough not to carry and hard enough to crack ice. Children should not be tortured this way. ]
no subject
[ itaru turns his attention to brie, who immediately hides behind his leg. she looks more guilty than scared if anything, but that doesn't make it any better either. and honestly, he's more than a little intimidated with the sheer amount of rage that's radiating off his cousin - rage that's totally justified in this case. ]
You have... every right to be mad. I don't think I could stop you either, at this rate. But please -- [ he holds her wrist, bringing her down to earth. ] you've got to stay safe too.
[ he doesn't want to end up in richard's place, searching for his lost sister. ]
no subject
There is a part of her that regrets letting him feel that way because she can't stop her desire for justice (revenge), and even if she's stayed with the Xian Le because she's grown to care about a number of its members, it's always in the back of her mind. ]
I'm sorry, Itaru. You, too, Brie. Please eat as much of the pie as you want. I want all of us to eat apple pie together for a long time to come.
[ She doesn't Itaru to end up losing even more family either. It's too bad in a couple weeks Okuni ends up on his doorstep with her unconscious self. ]