♥ good life choices

[priceofmagic]

[ action ♥ 335 Brady Lane ]
[ When Satou woke up from dying she was cold and miserable. Just like the last time, she's stuck in a state of being a corpse and feeling so miserable and scared that she flops back in her bed, curls up, and takes some of the morning to feel sorry for herself. Then gets up, covering her head with her bed;s blankets, and goes downstairs. Where she finds two packages. ]
Au... I think I'd rather have a pulse than mail right now...

[ phone ♥ ]

U-um... I'm back! I'm back... Hello. Sorry about being in the carnival, um... I got some mail. Did anyone else get packages?

[ She fiddles with her two new cards. One has her favorite magical girl dress on it and the other has a classic demon. ] I hope everyone got back from the carnival okay. Haruhi-san, do you have the newspaper I gave you? Um, maybe we should get together and look that over... Did anyone else find newspapers or anything useful in the carnival? Could you let me know? I'm Satou, um and. I'm curious.

[ Satou pauses, looking at the card with the demon on it and frowning. Unimpressed with her regain and not sure what it means. ] And um... Alphonse...san, Mr, um... If you're listening, um... I'm sorry, sir... I about not being nice.

[ action ♥ makeout point ]
[ Despite what would be considered "good judgment", Satou heads to makeout point a few hours after her initial phone call to try training her magic. She's frustrated after letting herself get killed again, even when she had her magic, and needs to vent some steam. ]

Hm... no one is here, I hope? I wonder what that second card means...

Comments

[priceofmagic]

I-It's not me. I'm a liar. I'm not a good girl at all.

[ She mumbles through her crying, not quite sure how much she needs to say or even how much she should. But it's been months since they met and Satou feels like she's been fake to him the entire time Years of having confidence brainwashed away beginning to show. ]

I'm not the person I've been pretending to be at all. For p-people to worry about me or care, they must be mistaken. Kuroneko Satou is a horrible girl. I know that, I've learned my lesson. So I-I've been pretending... I'm not really someone anyone'd like very much at all!

[snacklist]

STOP IT!

[It's shrill and high-pitched, both distressed and angry all at once. He can't stand to hear her talk like this, it goes against everything he believes in.]

I know how I feel and it's not a mistake. I don't think you're horrible, and I don't think you're pretending. I think you're scared... but if you want things to get better, you have to move forwards past the fear. You have to keep going even if it hurts, or you're never going to get somewhere better.

Don't you want to believe in yourself again? Don't you want to believe in your friends?

[priceofmagic]

B-but... [ she decides to give him credit. Enough to hush her crying.]

Al, you don't know anything about me. I'm keeping secrets... I might be really dangerous. I do horrible things. I'm not even a daughter worth remembering... [ Satou looks down at her card.] Is it okay for someone like that to have friends and believe in them?

[snacklist]

Everyone can have friends, Satou. Everyone.

...Maybe I don't know all your secrets, but you don't know all of mine either. Everyone does good and bad things, but they still deserve friends.

[priceofmagic]

Nnngh... Mm. I'm sorry for f-freaking out,I-I... Thank you. I guess I'm just being silly, be?

[she manages a meek laugh.]

[snacklist]

...don't pretend everything is okay when it's not, I don't want you to pretend.

[He wants to show her that he likes her for her, if she's brave enough to drop the act.]

[priceofmagic]

Y-yes, excuse me!!! I just... haven't done this... i-in a while. Back home, as soon as I take someone for granted and st-stop trying, they forget about me... I don't want Alphonse to forget me. Not right now...so I want to be careful. I don't want it to seem like I'm taking you for granted or anything, so I want to be careful!

[snacklist]

There's a big difference between taking someone for granted and not pretending. You shouldn't ever take your friends for granted or stop trying to be a good friend, but being a real friend means being yourself too.

[priceofmagic]

But what if everyone leaves me when I stop pretending?

[snacklist]

True friends won't, I promise.

[priceofmagic]

... Mou. Then um... Alphonse um. Sorry... For being difficult.

Thanks...

[snacklist]

[He won't tell her not to apologise again, he just sighs quietly.]

Mm.

[priceofmagic]

[ She considers ending this conversation by mentioning her regains and getting his take of them, but decides that's too gloomy. She's dead and cold and feeling stupidly conflicted, so instead draws in a deep breath and closes her eyes. ]

W-well then... [ Before grinning, and making sure her happiness can be heard in her voice as she continues. ] I've missed you! And I got some more of my magic back, I think! So from here on out, I promise to pull my weight and pay you back for the fun house! Thanks a bunch for that!

[snacklist]

How about we do some training tomorrow?

[He still has to find Brother, and he needs to settle himself down before he blows up at her again. It just hurts to much to not be trusted to not leave her behind still.]

[priceofmagic]

Train?! Really?! Al, would you really train with me for a bit? I'd love that so so much! I haven't had a chance to train for real in so long!

[snacklist]

Then we'll definitely do it!

[OH YEAH! HEAR THAT DETERMINATION!]

[priceofmagic]

Yes! I'll even bring some of my training tools, if you'd like! [ Giggle. ] Though, they're kind of lame. I've had to improvise a bit.

[snacklist]

Training tools?

[priceofmagic]

Yes! I have made targets to hang up and I have weights and I'm working on something to test my reaction time, but right now it's kinda useless.

[ She's not as inventive as Winry would be. ]

[snacklist]

Training against targets isn't as good as having a sparring partner.

[He was lucky, he always had Brother to test his reflexes and keep him honed.]

[priceofmagic]

Nihehe... Y-yeah. Usually I don't need a sparring partner because I can beat up Mikale or just go for a walk. I hope I'm not too out of practice... that would be a bit embarrassing.

Have you been keeping up with training?

[snacklist]

Is Mikale a friend from home?

[He's not answering the rest right now, it's so rare she talks about her life outside Mayfield unless she's explaining magic.]

[priceofmagic]

Yes, he is my stalker.

[ Everyone has stalkers, right? ]

Oh and he's trying to kill me. Sometimes. When he's not working. [ Also totally normal. ]

[snacklist]

[Wait.

WAIT.

No, he literally can't process this, he is just staring at the phone in mute shock. Did she really just say a stalker who wants to kill her?]

[priceofmagic]

[ Satou assumes this silence means "Oh, that sounds lovely, please continue to explain your messed up friendships". ]

Oh, but don't worry, he's a really nice guy! We were friends when we were kids, but that's sorta complicated... but really, if I didn't have Mikale, I'd probably be dead. [ Giggling. ] Kind of a weird thing to say about someone hired to kill you, huh?