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[Alexei just smiles warmly, moving his arm to rub his hand lightly against Aerith's back.]

You tell him. I've got your back if you need it.

[Honestly, Arthur... would it be so hard not to swing in like a wrecking ball? Even Alexei can manage it!]

Ever told you I love it when you're feisty? It's a good look on you.

I'll be good, but I appreciate you.

[She beams up at him, even as she chuckles. Her, feisty...that's funny.]

When am I ever feisty? I thought I was never spicy or anything. Just so quiet and never gets into any sort of trouble or anything!

[He laughs.]

Pure picture of innocence, you are. Couldn't imagine you ever getting into any trouble. Don't be like me, it's a bad path to go down.

[Snort.

Belochka is purring, timidly loafing on Aerith's thighs. Alexei sits up and puts his arm around her, bumping kiss to the side of her head.]

Do you wanna talk about it? The Breach?

I mean, we're both complete picture of innocence.

[She strokes Belochka on the back. Good little loaf! She smiled, and gently leaned against him.]

Mmm. I'm not sure what to talk about with the breach. It's so...strange, feeling the overlap. It was fine for, well, when I was a teenager. Just a...exciting childhood.

[He smiles a bit, too, when she leans into him like that. It's nice.]

Yeah... I remember the last one, took me a while to shake it off. Most of it's gone now, but I still kinda like horses for some reason.

[A soft laugh.]

You don't have to talk about anything, or you can tell me what it was like.

Horses? Well...I do like chocobos, so I can't fuss too much. I miss riding horses.

[She laughs a little- but it fades and she blows out a breath.]

Everything was okay until my mom died. And then...I lost all stability. Dad left me with Arthur. And Arthur was a mess. Clement- Varker- was a mess.

They tried to hide it, but they were stressed all the time.

... It's always a fuckin' mess when a parent dies.

[He remembers when his father died, even though he was only very young at the time.]

You want to come horseriding with me some time? I'm not great at it, but I can stay in the saddle.

Yeah, it was...a lot. Filled with spy stuff.

[She blew out a breath.]

I'd like that. We could-give that a try and all.

[A nod.]

Mm. Trevor was showing me the basics, but... well, you've seen how he is lately.

[She offers a shaky little sigh.]

Oh yeah. I...yeah. Know how he's been lately. Let's just...see how it goes. We could have Wen help instead.

[They all know how he's been lately. He was kind of an ass before, but tolerable. Now, Alexei's pretty sure he'd end up swinging for the guy if they tried to have a conversation, which is why he doesn't.]

Wen?

[Not a name he's familiar with, though it rings a bell as if he should be.]

Wen Qionglin. People call him Wen Ning.

[She gestures to her neck.]

Black veins on the neck? Passive, but allows for food requests? Like...actually were you here for the taco bell request?

Edited 2025-10-21 19:56 (UTC)

Oh, him. Don't think we've ever spoken.

[He glances at her, lifting his eyebrow slightly.]

The fuck is a 'taco bell'.

Not surprising. He's pretty quiet.

[She's not going to mention that the pair of them could get into conversations for hours. Weird ones but are...kinda fun.]

I think it's a restaurant? But people wanted something called a taco supreme? I think that's one of the things they make.

And we made our version here on the Barge, because some people wanted some.