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Who: Satoru Gojou and Meredith Idlewild
When: July 30
Where: ADI Headquarters
Summary: Find an upset woman, try to comfort her? What is being aa functional human.
Warnings: None yet, will edit if this changes.

[ Gojou has been learning his way around the ADI by offering to do odd jobs for others, no matter the purpose. He'll show up in departments that aren't his own, bringing coffee or offering to do some busy work that just isn't ideal. It's odd behavior for someone that doesn't tend to care about doing things for others, but he has a point to it. It's all about learning the bricks of the system, how things are put together - and the more places he goes, the more useful an idea it is.

Today he's bustling around again and someone in Media Relations has asked for some supplies. So he's off to the supply closet, not really expecting to find anything particularly interesting in there. ]

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[She hesitates for a bit before the closet door opens. Meredith's face is red, her mascara smeared, hair mussed. She looks like a mess.

When she realizes it's Gojou, though, there's a bit of a wince.]

Oh. You.

[Because he's already seen her vulnerable, and now he gets an eyeful again. Just great, just dandy.]

Oh, me?

[ He doesn't know the reason behind her wince, so he's not sure whether or not to take it personally. Usually Gojou would pout about it, but this is an actual serious situation so he manages to repress that urge.

Really, he's not judging her for this at all. He knows only a little of what she went through and can only guess at how difficult it was. ]

Sorry. I...

[She shakes her head a little, trying to gather her dignity and kind of failing at it, shoulders coming up as she folds into herself.]

...sorry.

[ He places his hands on those shoulders. He's really not sure what to say, with his little experience in supporting people - but he clearly has to try something. But the words feel awkward in his mouth. ]

You don't need to be apologizing to me. You've done nothing to cause me harm.

[ Pause. ]

Look, do you want to go somewhere more private? Let you feel these emotions without feeling like someone's gonna come along and judge you.

[She nods in response to his question. He can feel the tension in her shoulders, everything tight and knotted up, as she tries to pull herself together as much as possible.]

Got somewhere?

There's a nice bench near the building. I don't think most people know about it because the flowerbed it's next to is wild and overgrown.

[ But honestly, that's what Gojou appreciates about it. Things that are uncontrolled add spice to life and should always be encouraged. ]

How about we go there?

[She nods a little, grabbing her cane from where it's leaned up by the shelves.]

Outside...probably good. Fresh air. Yeah.

If you need to talk about it, I'll listen.

[ That's what people are supposed to say, right? Gojou's not actually sure, but it sounds good in his head. He starts off, and once she follows he'll make sure to match his pace to hers. ]

[She notices that, and appreciates it. She's quiet, though until they get outside. It's a warm day with seagulls cackling overhead. Slowly, she gets an actual deep breath into her lungs.]

[ The bench in question is about a five minute walk from the door. Gojou had found it while exploring and he deliberately picked it for this because he figures the better the distance, the better she might feel. He keeps an eye on her as they walk, but it's one of his other eyes focusing through the opening of his sleeve. His most prominent eyes, the one on his face, are kept focused forward in an attempt to make her not feel put on the spot.

Once they get to the bench, he motions for her to sit down. He'll follow suit once she does. ]

Feeling any better outside?

A bit, I guess. Sorry you had to see that. I'm not normally prone to...hysterics like that. I just...one minute I was okay, and then one of the guys said something and I felt like I was being hunted again.

[The worst bit is, she knew he wasn't even really a threat to her.]

What did he say?

[ His voice is a little demanding? For some reason he feels protective of her, and if someone was causing issue for her then he has to decide whether to deal with them. ]

He said he'd love to see me wearing something more skintight. Had me pretty much cornered in my desk while he was talking, too.

I mean, it's nothing I haven't heard at work before. Men are like that, and usually, I can just ignore it.

Tell me what he looks like.

[ No, Gojou is not amused at all. He's intervened, in the past, when men did this sort of thing to his high school friend Shoko. Of course, she'd never been amused by his meddling, but he's not going to keep this in mind at all. He doesn't care how people react to what he does. ]

Don't. I...it's not a big deal, I just need to suck it up. Like I said, I usually ignore things like that.

[Her hands ball into fists.]

It's not worth making a fuss.

But fusses are exactly what you make about this sort of thing. Otherwise, they think they can get away with it.

[ He frowns at her, but - no, he does have to admit he doesn't know what it's like to be a woman and never could. So maybe he shouldn't be pushing this? Suddenly, he is extremely self aware. ]

But I guess you're picking your battles?

If he ever actually touches me, I'll point you at him. Right now, it's basically nothing. I'm just still feeling sensitive, after...after.

Probably the word 'skintight' that set me off. I'm still not even sleeping under blankets, because it feels too suffocating.

Doesn't it get cold like that? [ Not that she seems like she would care about that, but Gojou feels the need to ask anyway. ] I don't want you getting sick.

[ The fact that he actually cares about her occurs to him all of a sudden and he seems dumbfounded by this - visibly so. Only one other time has he started to care about someone this quickly, and that was with his favourite student. But she was far from a child he would take care of. ]

It's still pretty warm at night, so I'm alright.

[She's used to people being concerned about her, but the look on his face is a new one.]

What's that look for? I'll be alright, really. Eventually.

I know you will. I trust you to take care of yourself, so don't let down my trust.

[ He's not going to explain. He feels like it'd be simply stupid to do so. Saying 'I don't care quickly' wasn't a good look. ]

[Oh, framing it that way is playing dirty. She doesn't respond aloud right away, just leaning in to rest her forehead on his shoulder.]

I'll try, at least.

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