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[ milla arrives a small bit afterward. upon nearing the gardens, she does not need to steel herself for disappointment--she's entirely convinced that elle is no longer present, as much as that optimistic side that she wishes existed said otherwise. she does, however, ensure that the more difficult thoughts don't show in her expression. in a way, she feels much like she did when she first came to the prime dimension... and that quiet attempted apathy then and now is, in it's own way, telling.

she approaches him. there is no small girl trailing behind her, just the smallest of frowns on milla's face.

a small beat of consideration as she stops in front of sousei, two paper cups filled with tea in her hand (the cause of her slight delay). outstretching one towards him, before she says-- ]

... You didn't need to go this far, you know.

[ and she means that, sincerely. such considerate actions made the dreary thoughts about elle, elle, elle, loss even worse, in a way.

it really does make how gullible she was come to light. it would hurt, she knows--but that it would hurt this much? not quite.

yet she's still here, offering him tea she picked up at a shop before she came, trying to pay back those increasing debts towards him.

silly. ]

[He probably has no room to talk when it comes to reacting to chilling news with as much apathy as possible--but perhaps because he knows exactly how that goes, he can't help but be concerned. A calm expression hardly means that it doesn't hurt, after all.

And he really wasn't expecting her to bring tea, of all things. He blinks at the thoughtfulness (even when she's this concerned about Elle?) and then accepts the tea with a nod.]

Thank you.

[As for her words... he muses over those for a moment as he takes a sip of that tea. He has half a dozen reasons to go this far.

One of those reasons is that...they are friends, and this is what friends do--right? Naturally, that's not what he says.]

These disappearances concern me as well. Though I believe at the moment that those who disappear are safe [or...at least are back home, or... something strange, he's not sure, but Soramaru--] this sort of treatment of the people here is unacceptable.

[to just drag people out here, and then have them disappear, just like that.... what's the point? What would he do, if Tenka was next? It was hard enough when it was Soramaru, and Sousei could at least have hopes of seeing him again when he found his way home.

But Milla....]

...Are you all right?

[ are you all right. she swears she's heard that question so much in these past few months than she has in all her 21 years, and it's almost a little funny how used she's gotten to that. then there's sousei's talks of unacceptable treatment and it's just--

sousei, the standard do-gooder. ]

... If I say I am, I don't think you'll believe me anyway. [ and sometimes she really dislikes when sousei understands her so well. she's told him more than she's told anyone else--save for ludger and elle.

to try and avoid that question, she moves to something else he's said. it's of interest, too, concerning the current situation. her eyes are on her drink, until she speaks--then her gaze moves to sousei's face. ] Why do you think they're safe?

[He's going to definitely take that as "no I am not fine", honestly. It's basically...what she's saying, even if not flat out. Milla is getting easier and easier to read, and...maybe that's only natural for friends. He knows that he always extended his squad this courtesy, so he doesn't see why he wouldn't do the same for Milla.

So for now, he lets that slide.

Why does he think they're safe...]

...My protege was once here. [His expression is as calm as ever, but there's a faint tenseness to his tone. He doesn't like that he lost Soramaru that easily, when it is his duty as his master to protect him.] He disappeared.

Recently, he reappeared--without his memories of this place, but nonetheless healthy and whole.

[So......at least wherever they go, they aren't being physically harmed.]

[ hm. sousei's protege? immediately, she thinks how that person might be like, before those thoughts move into other things when sousei continues his statement. elle reappearing without her memories of cerealia... yes, unharmed is the most important, but having to go through that same teary-eyed meeting again... that's a little cruel, isn't it?

what a frustrating place.

she's quiet, pensive, taking a sip of her tea (except it's a bit too hot for her, and she hides a wince). she's thankful for a lot of things here: the slight amount of relief she feels, sousei's lack of asking about her "all right" status, the fact he's even looked this much at all. ]

... That's about as strange as most things here go, I guess. But, at least... [ elle wouldn't be hurt. milla can take comfort in that, after all, because that's why she...

well, that's enough. ] I didn't know you had someone like that.

[At the very least, Elle wouldn't be hurt. That truly is what's most important, and he's not surprised in the least to find that that's her conclusion. It's flimsy evidence at best, heavily circumstantial and prone to changing based on who it is who's missing--

But he's not going to throw more doubt onto the situation.

For now, when they're stuck here, they have to believe that the people who aren't are safe. Again, he lets her change the subject.]

... I am not a teacher, but nonetheless... he was insistent on it. [But even so, Sousei doesn't cave to just anyone. Soramaru....]

...He earned his place as my protege, and as his master, it is my duty to him to see to his safety. [aka not let asshole ninja kidnap him or this place poof him for no good reason.]

[ ... what a sousei thing to say. more about duty, that unexpected yet expected protectiveness, at this point. yet, she finds she can say much the same thing about elle--elle was no student of hers (if anything, elle had... taught her something, in a way), but there was a duty milla had towards her safety that she couldn't deny. or, at least... it was something that felt like duty, responsibility.

what kind of person did that protege have to be to gain that kind of position with sousei? ]

Insistent sounds like a nice way of saying nagging until you said yes. [ hah. in a way, she's happy for him, but--

--well you know, being able to uphold that duty is really hard with magical rp jamjar settings. and she's more than aware of that. ]

It's good for you he's back, then.

[Nag...ging.... you know, you could say that he nagged, or you could say that he infiltrated a high security prison in order to bring out valuable information that would be of worth to Sousei--

... hm well.]

Something similar, I suppose. He is very hard-headed.

[And Sousei is really, really fond of him. But nonetheless...after a moment's pause, he continues:]

Yes. But even so, if he disappears again, there will be nothing I could do. Much like the case with you or me as well.

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