>>193649 Rikako looks to you as the others look over the damaged knuckles, discussing how to deal with this. "You made the best call, you felt. Regardless of the outcome, none will think less of you for that small sacrifice, but I, at least, think more of you for it." She adjusts her glasses. "It will be far more a pleasure to work under one willing to treat them like people, and treat them as vital assets at that."
You frown, though admit, "It's difficult to treat a child quite at the same level as a fully grown woman."
She stares a moment, before snorting lightly. "Sometimes, walking the blade's edge of rigid and flexible is important." Eyeing the sword at your hip, she continues, "That is why you are here, is it not? You were the first man swallowed by an Abyssal to survive the ordeal. Not only that, but to sink it..."
You sigh, feeling a bit weary of that focus. "All well and good, but I'm not planning to jump down the throat of a Fish again any time soon, let alone every one we come across." Shaking your head, you add, "In the end, I was chosen not for my leading skills, but for the exact opposite."
"Your willingness to dirty your hands is admirable, you know." She takes off her glasses, cleaning them a bit, before putting them back on. She sounds considerably warmer than when you first got here, honestly. "Sometimes, the best leader isn't the best leader." At your puzzled look, she explains, "Sometimes, strategy, tactics and all those things simply don't work." Chuckling quietly, she adds, "Sometimes, you need to do something stupid to mark history with your heel. You may have been a fool, Captain, but it was that foolishness that might give us a chance."
You look to
Inazuma. The two who argue incessantly are actually working together for a change, though mostly because neither is doing any actual talking, and instead are simply writing all they see down. The knuckles of the girl of question look far less machine than you expected, and far less still than you are comfortable with. No metallic shine to that which resides under the skin. Of course, that will make things more difficult by far, but that isn't important as of right now. You'll worry about what a sunken ship will look like now, and instead focus on the fact that she dented thick armor from the thing.
The wound, if you want to call it that, seems to have stopped bleeding that vile oil they call blood. You aren't unfamiliar with their blood, only that it's not something one wants to touch. After all, the planes bleed as well, and those are far easier to shoot down.
Looking down to the stained collection of fabric and metal you once called a jacket, you sigh. The white is no longer white, at least not the whole thing, and any place touched by the blood has been stained the darkest of blacks. There is no between — all you spy is black on white, though it's not spreading or the like, just... blackening.
As was requested, you set it off to the side. Before Rikako joins the others, she recommends, "Perhaps you should get dressed. You're going to make my sister turn into a tomato once she isn't distracted." At your risen brow, she answers, "She's not what you would call experienced."
You're taken aback by that statement. "That... isn't something I needed to know."
"No, though it is something you risk by staying like that."
You pinch your brow, but, in the end, you do relent. You don't want to distract from their work, and so head back to your room. Checking the time, you find that you've surprisingly little remaining. Either you slept longer than you thought, or Ellen distracted you for far longer than was intended, as you've an hour before she spoke of as her time of leaving. You imagine that this incident might potentially delay things, but you do still dress and head on back. You find
Inazuma wearing gloves when you return. They are of the sort worn in the navy, just not...
Well, they look like they were sewn on the spot.
— - — - — [ ] Complement gloves. She looks a bit self conscious wearing them.
[ ] Don't compliment gloves. She's a sailor, not to mention a warship, as odd as that statement sounds.
[ ] Ask when exactly this will be happening. You haven't been given an exact time, so this hardly seems like a real ceremony.
[ ] Ask what the ceremony will even be. As things are, smacking the ship with a bottle seems cruel and unusual.
[ ] Write-in.
