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[pancakeboy]

[Text him! Or do whatever, I'm not the police, and neither is he, thank God. Just specify if you want the more-fun-but-less-stable pre-11/20 guy or the grumpy third semester/postcanon guy. Pancake only for VRDR guys please, he's not third semester yet]

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[pancakeboy]

"Sure. Why not." It's bled dry of emotion. "If I'm going to get it in the neck for trying to kick that guy into gear, they can at least feed me."

[fogboundcrow]

"Precisely. I know you have your reasons, and I know this isn't a simple process..." He leans back against the wall, staring up at the ceiling. "But I am sorry if I took it too far."

[pancakeboy]

Tilting his head back with a sigh, he rubs his konpeito against the roof of his mouth, and reaches for Raven's hand.

[fogboundcrow]

Raven accepts the offered hand with a smile. "It's okay if you need more time. I'm sure Crow can wait until you're ready to speak with them."

[pancakeboy]

"No, he can't. If I don't give a quick yes or no, I'll look like a fool. I suppose that's the case anyway." His fingers interlace with Raven's, more of a match than they used to be; he stares at the ceiling.

"Have I told you I don't remember her face? Or I didn't. And then the one here arrived, and now when I think of my mother all I see is her."

[fogboundcrow]

"It's been so long... I understand." To not know if that was truly her face, or if she's simply filling the void... Even if the memories aren't quite as faded for Raven, faded they are all the same. "I enjoy speaking to her. It's... nice, knowing a version of her survived, but I hardly expect you or any other version of us to have an uncomplicated relationship."

[pancakeboy]

"Yeah." He tries, really tries, to see her in the white plaster of the ceiling. But all he can make out is the smile of the other one, her good cheer and seemingly unfailing good health; he sighs.

"All the years I spent listening to my family. The things they said about her. The things kids yelled at school, or even the teachers. Because they always fucking knew. Shit, the things Shido would say about women every time I saw him. And every time I thought of her. I thought he didn't even remember her, and still I thought it." He swallows. "If I overlook what he said, if I don't make him pay for that...."

[fogboundcrow]

"He deserves to pay for it, but there are other ways, and now you know the worst case scenario." He quiets for a few moments, but just a few. "I still think the ultimate payback would be to keep living out of spite. If Shido sees you as a disposable pawn, then you can prove him wrong and carry on... but I know that there's a lot at risk and it's easier said than done."

Hmm... But it's applicable to more than just Shido. "And for what it's worth, I'm not saying you need to be Drake's best friend, but I do think avoiding his Palace is only going to leave you with loose ends. You won't be able to move forward unless you face what awaits you there."

[pancakeboy]

But Magpie glances quickly down at Raven. "I didn't mean Shido."

No, he meant Drake, and what he said. Which Raven isn't aware of.

[fogboundcrow]

"Well, I'm no mindreader. Care to clarify?" It would certainly make this conversation easier to comprehend.

[pancakeboy]

The answer is, apparently, no; he just shakes his head, letting go of Raven's hand to reach for the box of konpeito. "Want some?"

[fogboundcrow]

"All right." He holds out his hand for the offering. "I suppose the real question is... What do you plan to do?"

[pancakeboy]

He tips half the remaining konpeito into Raven's hand, and the other hand into his own. "I'll talk to Crow. See what he has to say. Kill that guy and bury him in a ditch, perhaps."

With that, he tips his handful of candy into his mouth.

[fogboundcrow]

"Please don't kill anyone. Not only would it not last, but you really shouldn't be making more enemies." His voice is calm, at least. Not irritated, just matter of fact. "Perhaps you could take out your frustration on some Shadows? You're allowed to be angry, of course, but I don't want you to face any more hardship than you already have. The Palace is already complicated enough."

[pancakeboy]

"You have no sense of humour, Raven." He says it through his mouthful of konpeito, with just a bit of the air of an awful older brother. Just a bit.

[fogboundcrow]

"I'll have you know that I have a perfectly respectable sense of humor. I'm just opting for sincerity." So there. He flashes a smirk. Take that, Magpie. "Besides, humor often is born from our genuine emotions."

[pancakeboy]

"My genuine emotions think I could pile enough concrete onto Drake to stop him coming back, in this or any other place." He sticks his tongue out. A half-dissolved peach konpeito sits on it, bereft of its spikes.

[fogboundcrow]

"Well, I care about you both, so please channel that ire to something else. You could always play Gun About and pretend he's the target." Still, the hatred speaks volumes...

Given Magpie's reaction before...

"He said something about our mother, didn't he?"

[pancakeboy]

The glint in his eye, dark as it was, fades to nothing. He looks away quickly, then nods. Something.

[fogboundcrow]

"Do you need to talk about it?" Need, not want. It's clear that this has been eating at him.

[pancakeboy]

But again, he shakes his head. He's kept it bottled up this long; repeating it is the last thing he wants to do. He glances back to Raven, though; Raven, who often gets things the way only a child can do.

"What would you have done? I don't pretend it's about her, not really. But what would you do in my place? I know you wouldn't forgive him."

[fogboundcrow]

"I can't exactly know what I'd do without knowing the context and what was said. That would determine quite a bit." Which is the problem. He doesn't know. It's all so vague.

[pancakeboy]

"I'm not repeating what he said. And you don't need to know. It should be clear enough that it was bad." No escape there, kid.

[fogboundcrow]

"Well, obviously it was bad. And obviously, I'm not going to condone sullying her name." Huff. But that's not enough. There's obviously more. "But Drake doesn't strike me as the type to act so maliciously without being provoked. I could be wrong, and I do trust you, and regardless of what led him to that point, he absolutely should have known better and I would never expect you to forgive or forget."

[pancakeboy]

Again he stares up, shredding his hard palate with the last of his konpeito. "We'd just met. I'd left some food on the ground for the birds. I was joking. I nodded at it, said you can have that if you want, I'm feeling generous."

He'd even been masking. It's the sort of nasty joke he made all the time. But it wasn't that bad. Yet he knows, if someone had said the same to him, it would have cut him to the core.

Maybe that's why he said it?