dollmaxing | Inbox & In-person meetups

Zenkichi's frown grows with Ichinose's comment. The chuckle felt so out of place here- does she not consider him a friend?

Not to mention, as things stand, he's watching them. Maybe he can't hear them? ~~What a great friend you have made, Takuto...~~
The bitter thought comes and leaves.

"..funny of you to assume we were friends," he says while looking away and makes a note of the path. Wait, hasn't he seen this sign before? Ah, well a lot of cognitive spaces look the exact fucking same sometimes- where the hell is she taking him?

"I was a patient assigned to him while he prepared me for my surgery. That's all."

"Oh, yes, that's all," Ichinose sarcastically chuckled back, turning down a corner towards the staff entrance of the cafeteria. "I shouldn't be surprised that his kindness even got through to your grumpy attitude. For once you and I have a friend in common."

With one last turn, she opened the door to the kitchen.

...Which was a mess. A pot turned over with spilled soup on the floor that a staff member was dutifully mopping up, a giant scratch on the refrigerator doors, and of course... a completely shattered coffee pot.

Scowling, crossing her arms, Ichinose turned around and gave Zenkichi the firmest disappointed, annoyed look.

"You really couldn't help yourself, could you?"

"Of course, that's how you see it," he rolls his eyes at the idea of him being grumpy. He's got plenty of things to worry about, then try to rectify his image before Ichinose (oh the sheer horror of it) as he pauses for a moment to look at this place.

The signs at the top, directing someone to different areas like the Food Court and the Kitchen just ahead..

And so he earns another loud and angry comment from Kuon the moment he follows up behind her, eyes closed as he thinks deeply over the layout of the palace and how much he's covered. "What the hell's your problem now? I didn't even- Oh.

He stops, noticing the mess. The spilt soup, scratched refrigerator doors, and the one cognitively mopping it with no complaint.

He raises a brow, a wry awkward smile which feels too unbecoming of the Wolf from before- "Uh...probably why I was thinking that this place looked too familiar. Ahaha. "

"All of this and for what? To kill a few shadows? Are you too proud to be asked to be invited in? Aren't you older than I am?" Ichinose scolded, her stance even more like that of a disappointed teacher.

Zenkichi's face twists into a befuddled expression.

"The hell do you mean by that? I didn't even have to enter a name or type of distortion on the metanav to get in- why would I ask for an invite into an open cognitive space-?" he shakes his head. "That's textbook definition of getting killed even if I just shared my location."

"Besides, what else do you do when a shadow lunges at you if not try to protect yourself or in my case- hit them with a megidolaon. Hug them? Honestly, maybe I don't want to know; given your weird goddamn answers."

Edited 2025-06-22 00:30 (UTC)

"You getting escorted directly inside by Takuto himself? Of course the shadows wouldn't get violent. I've never been attacked once."

Disappointment.

"You could have messaged him and he'd lead you right inside! Do you even use that brain of yours?"

"Oh, shut up!" Seriously. She's really asking him that?

"As if he would just let me walk around his palace freely and go into other rooms, authorized by personnel. Why the hell would he take me around and give a free tour of his place? Or need I remind you that our collaboration has nothing to do with the fact that half of this realm wants to infiltrate this place and get rid of it?"

"And I am no fucking different."

"It's Takuto. He absolutely would have given you a tour of the whole place."

"Uh huh."

Zenkichi folds his arms to his chest. "Do you know where his treasure is then?"

"Why would I need to ask where his Treasure is?"

"His treasure is the reason behind everything that he's doing right now, after all," he explains- remembering what Drake had told him about Masayoshi Shido. He was compelled to believe that most palaces worked this way.

"From what I can tell he wasn’t as transparent with you then." He chuckles. "Not that I am surprised."

Given he himself had no clue that a Takuto Maruki could...show this kind of face.

Edited 2025-06-22 09:17 (UTC)

"Hah. Hasegawa... did you want to go peek at Takuto's heart? That'd be like snooping into someone's bedroom, don't you think? Uncouth."

Zenkichi bends down slightly, if only to find the remnants of the shadow he had thrown at this machine almost about an hour ago. Or less but really- what Ichinose says is enough to make him. Pause.

"Nope." He throws his hands and decides he's not even going to try and apologize for the property damage. If Maruki wants to collaborate with this weirdo that's not on him. "I am going to pretend that I didn't just hear that from you. You're the one who's uncouth, if anything."

He instead decides to grab one of the mugs where one would usually be able to drink their coffee from- only slightly cracked off at the rim. He sets the cup down on the not-disintegrated part of the counter and pulls out his usual decanter.

Inbox & In-person meetups

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