[not again] catchall for zenitsu

[fishingforcompliments]

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[swordflash]

[His heart skips a short beat at the sight of the proffered pinkie. Clumsily, he offers his own pinkie in return with a quick nod, a faint blush dusting his cheeks.]

It's a promise. And I'll ask you to show me all your favorite flowers in the gardens.

[fishingforcompliments]

[She beams at him. Pinkie promise, made.]

I will be very much looking forward to it, Zenitsu!

[swordflash]

[He watches their pinkies loop around one another with a look of naked fascination before pulling his hand back.

It's amazing, how something so little can carry so much hope. His smile widens, softening the look of his eyes.]

M-me, too!

[fishingforcompliments]

There. We have promised, so now we have no choice but to succeed tomorrow.

[SUCK IT, PINK SNAKE. THEY'RE GETTING A HAPPY ENDING.]

[swordflash]

[They had better.

While the pinky promise has passed, he watches her in quiet wonder. Maybe he should say it now, in case something happens tomorrow.]

Thanks . . . for being my friend.

[fishingforcompliments]

[...that actually throws her for a loop. She stares at him for a long moment or two.]

I feel as though I ought to be the one thanking you for your friendship, Zenitsu. You are an easy person to be friends with - but it takes a special sort of person to be willing to be friends with someone who has done the things I have, here.

[swordflash]

I'm glad to hear that.

[Truly, sincerely—he lacks so much restraint that he often wonders if he's driven the other party into hating him. But Flayn has always sought him out. He looks down at the ground.]

I killed at the mansion. Wei Wuxian says it's not the same, but I know that you wouldn't have killed anyone if you had a real choice.

[fishingforcompliments]

[She agrees with Wei Wuxian, honestly.]

I know that you would not have, either. In that place... they transformed you, did they not? [Flayn brings up her free hand to tap some of the scales scattered across one cheek (i forgot right until this moment that it's still furry week)] Like this, but more complete.

That was never... you.

[...]

It is true that I would have preferred not to kill anyone at all, and would not have if the circumstances were not what they were. ...but there were still choices that I made, and those choices hurt people.

[swordflash]

[It's furry week, yet they're both scalies.

Maybe it was never him. But his hands were the ones to obscure the evidence, and it was his tongue that couldn't wag to out himself. At the very least, he understands the torturous inability to confess to a terrible, horrible deed and the guilt of knowing blood stains his hands.]

They hurt you, too.

It was an impossible situation. No matter what, people were going to be hurt.

[Shinobu made a choice and, while she didn't kill anyone again, her death was painful to those she left behind and the successor named in her place. As for making choices that would hurt them less in the long run by picking easier, more painless target . . . that was just human nature. He doubts he would've done any better.]

Everyone was doing their best. Maybe that best wasn't good enough for some, but . . . we've all been selfish at least once in our lives.

[fishingforcompliments]

...be that as it may, I wish that this was not the sort of selfish any of us had to be.

[Flayn sighs.]

At least it is... over, or very nearly so. We cannot change what happened or who was hurt by it, but we can make an effort not to hurt anyone in the future.

[swordflash]

[He nods. Truer words have never been spoken on all fronts.]

That's right. See? If you can say that, it's proof that you're not a bad person, Flayn.

[fishingforcompliments]

...

The fact that you have managed to turn a depressing topic into a compliment is truly remarkable, Zenitsu.

[swordflash]

[She flusters him so. Swallowing, he looks down at the nearest flower.]

N-not really . . . There are way more remarkable people here compared to me.

[fishingforcompliments]

We are not talking about other people. We are talking about you. In my opinion, you are remarkable - and I am very, very lucky to have you as a friend.

Would you tell me that I am wrong about how I feel?

[swordflash]

[His head snaps up.]

Of course not!

Honestly, it makes me happy to hear you say that . . .

[fishingforcompliments]

Good! Then if you do not believe that I am wrong, then you can believe that you are a remarkable person.

[No need for comparisons. Flayn smiles at him.]

...I am glad to hear that hearing the truth makes you happy.

[swordflash]

[A part of him feels guilty for admitting it. He wishes believing were that easy. Still he smiles, if with an uneasy crease in his brow.]

Do any of these flowers catch your eye?

[fishingforcompliments]

[...well, that's a change of subject if Flayn's ever heard one. Hoping it will make Zenitsu more comfortable, she goes along with it, scanning over the flowers before pointing at a particularly striking patch.]

Oh, those ones are very pretty!

[swordflash]

[If nothing else, he's immediately drawn to the patch of the beautifully colored flowers.]

They are, aren't they? Do you know what they are?

[fishingforcompliments]

They are alstroemerias.

[She kneels down next to the patch of flowers and runs a finger along the petals.]

Do you have these where you come from, Zenitsu?

[swordflash]

I'm not familiar with them . . . Maybe they grow somewhere I haven't been.

[Alstroemerias won't come to Japan for at least another decade. He crouches down beside her to do the same.]

These are pretty colors.

[fishingforcompliments]

They have them in Fódlan. Though, from the books I read here, I would assume they exist in other worlds as well.

[She studies them for a few moments, then plucks one, which she offers to him.]

In my world, they represent friendship and mutual support. So... thank you, Zenitsu, for being my friend. I am very lucky to have met you.

[swordflash]

Flayn . . .

[He eyes the flower in wonder as he takes it, then lifts his head to watch her expression. Is it possible for his face to grow any hotter or number than this?]

D-do you mind staying here for a while? If it's all right, I want to make you a wreath!

[If these flowers represent a mutually supportive friendship, he wants to give them to her in return.]

[fishingforcompliments]

I do not mind at all.

[he can make a wreath, if he wants! ...honestly, she might do the same. it wouldn't really be fair to get a wreath in exchange for a single flower. hm... maybe she can weave some other flowers into it, too.

this will be fun!]

[swordflash]

[Then a wreath, he will make. He starts straightaway by picking a handful of alstroemerias that he strings together one by one. Their thought process is the same: these are pretty flowers whose beauty can be enhanced yet by adding more flowers into the mix, so he gets up at one point to wander the gardens in search of them.

It's fun. It's soothing and when he does this, he feels much less lonely and more hopeful as a whole. He won't slack on this wreath to show Flayn his eternal gratitude.]