"I'm Sorry" on Repeat [Priscilla, Invite]

Darkness. Beautiful darkness had descended upon Death City in the form of a fragile night. The moon shined dimly, allowing DWMA's local over-stimulated recluse to venture out with the sanctuary of darkness. As Tensai left the Academy dorms, he thought about where he should go to eat on this lovely night. He almost wished he had some form of company...almost. Hating to admit it, Tensai knew that he was getting the smallest bit lonely this week. Tomorrow was the night he was scheduled to have a meal with his brother but he kind of wanted to now. For some reason, since he had met Priscilla and Vespera he almost felt guilty about never leaving his room. Friends seemed to change him in that regard. He loved being cozy and warm, but having people there made it better somehow. Crap, it was hard to explain. It was even harder still to understand.

Rounding the corner to exit the campus of the Academy, Tensai pondered just going to a quiet diner to eat alone or to have a half-hearted hope that he would see someone that he actually enjoy. He knew the chances of that weren't very high considering the people he enjoyed was a list containing three people. His walking stance was as somber as it ever was. He hung his head down as he navigated the streets by memory. As he kept closer towards the buildings it was unlikely that he would bump into anyone. Tensai was accustomed to Death City after dark; he was almost a part of it. This Meister was creature of the night if there ever was one.

"Where should I go?" he thought aloud. The indecision was almost suffocating. As his head flooded with possibilities, he trusted his instincts to keep him moving. He didn't typically run into people. It was safe to assume he wouldn't tonight...right?

Life came knocking at Eva Liu's door to take up the challenge of walking a tightrope while balancing spinning plates, and she gladly went further to set them on fire herself and make sure a tank of sharks was waiting for her below. It would not be Eva Liu if she didn't find some way to look fabulous while doing it, though in the presence of the Kanekos she find herself having to dull her own shine. Around this younger odd-ball, she felt that she could walked around Garbage Bag Glamorous and still garner more positive attention. That Priscilla was so withdrawn and sensitive to the- anything, really, was the issue. Now that that she had firmly determined that the New Eva, the DWMA Eva, would be anything but inconspicuous, she had great difficulty toning down the constant! over the top! excitement! and drama! Not that she had even been much of a wallflower in the first place, giving her little basis to try to understand the crumbling reality that Priscilla lived.

Either way, she fully intended to take on the cool big sis spot carved out for her. It was so flattering to think that she, this ant in comparison to them, would actually be able to be some kind of role model for a Kaneko, a self-esteem muse, if you would. She might have gone about her duties with far more zeal than was appropriate, however, when she was asked to track down a "Tensai Sarungekki", to deliver a giftbasket of gourmet desserts, of all things, and please don't let Yuu know. She might have been just a little suspicious that a girl so withdrawn and shy would have anyone to make such a generous gift to. (Friendless, he had told her! Without a person besides family to speak with!) She may or may not have tried to take advantage of the boy's own social ineptitude and intolerance of noise to terrorize him into submission, a dyed-magenta clusterbomb of sass and bravado detonating right in front of him. Noone would really be surprised if she'd delivered the gift with a threat of her own to quote, fuck him up real bad if he turned out to be a sleazebag, and drew her hand across her neck, the sinister gesture accompanied by raised eyebrows, before she left. "We'll find you," was all she had told him. Whether that was meant as a warning that the only red he'd be seeing in the future was his own blood, or simply a statement that she'd take care of arranging his meeting with Priscilla, was almost too effectively ambiguous to be an oversight.

"Priscilla," she remarked to the girl walking beside her, just a little too loudly, in a tone that was a smidge too surprised. "I think that's him, isn't it?" This wasn't a coincidence in any way, that she would cajole the younger girl into a nighttime stroll around the city (it was much quieter and had far fewer people, ideal conditions for her), only to bump into the boy who had promised Priscilla a tour. It wasn't suspicious at all, just a wondrous little lucky moment that couldn't have had anything to do with a favor Eva called in to be alerted to Tensai's movements. These types of accidental-but just perfect happenstances really fed her fancy, not that she tried to engineer the moment to happen or anything like that.

"Hey! Hey!" Before Priscilla could try to escape unnoticed, the girl called out towards him, waving her hand in the air.

The initial impression she had made of her cousin's associate at their makeshift garden teaparty together changed little in the intervening time since. She had a certain way about her that made her feel like she should be always be looking forward to something incredible and maybe even a little dubious around the corner, though why and for what exactly wasn't clear, or perhaps wasn't important at all. That Eva seemed to have slipped right into the groove of behaving as though they were already familiar was something she wasn't sure how she felt about just yet. It didn't really mean anything if she was that way with just about everyone else, now did it?

Suddenly being dragged out by a- well, what should she call the weapon girl? Associate was so cold and professional. Friend was a concept she knew she wanted to understand very much, but knew nothing about. Acquaintance? Baby sitter? Knowledgeable upperclassman, that was it. Suddenly being dragged out by a knowledgeable upperclassman was something of a surprise she had secretly been hoping to experience. For once, she was on someone's mind not as an obligation, but as a desirable option. Someone that talkative must have plenty of people to accompany her on a short run for errands in the city, but Eva had asked her, Priscilla, specifically. Yuu might have put her up to it, that was certainly a possibility, though the older girl's countenance betrayed no reluctance or displeasure about the company she had. Priscilla certainly appreciated that she had chosen a more agreeable time of the day for her to venture out. She had bore the oppressive heat and multitude of bodies and noise and confusion of Death City in the day, and decided it was altogether too much to tolerate.

The streets were far quieter and there seemed to be very few people for the lightpoles to serve, though Eva more than made up for it with her chatter and the way she took up more space than you'd assume with the way she tended to move her body as she spoke. Priscilla scarcely had time for speak for a moments before the girl broke off into her next tangent, often bridging to new topics by herself and answering her own questions before making her next brief pitstop at Priscilla. She did not mind, however. As long as her presence remained tolerable, all she wanted was to be the girl's captive audience if it meant getting into her good graces that way.

The girl found it a little strange the way Eva said her name, a high "Pri", followed with an equally low drop into "-scilla" that dragged out, as though unveiling a sordid secret for all to see. As far as whatever type of standing she had with the boy in question, it perhaps was a bit of a secret given she had requested that Yuu not know, at least for the time being. But it was not because he would have disapproved! It was for an act of selfishness on her part, to not let Tensai know about the snakes curled in the shadows lest the first person to really seek out her attention flee in fear. It embarrassed her so, to have it presented it in that way, that she could not find it in her to express anything other than a desire to beat a hasty retreat. "Eva, please..." she said softly, taking a step back behind the older girl as she looked anywhere but at Tensai.

{ooc: aww yisss, made a 'senpai noticed me joke'}

Tensai hadn't been paying too much attention to where he was going...like at all. It was almost humorous considering he'd almost walked into people as he kept his glare hard on his shoes. However, he knew he didn't walk into people; he could hear their feet scuff the ground as they walked and he could tell that they were far enough away from him that they weren't going to collide. The people might get uncomfortably close to Tensai, but he wasn't paying any more attention to them than was necessary. After all, he was too busy just considering what he should do about these thoughts he was having. If he really wanted, he could always call Vespera to see if she was free...but she probably wasn't. Vespera liked to practice guitar and while she would probably agree to spend time with him, it would put a bit of a halt on her plans. He knew that she couldn't play guitar around him and she knew it also. Out of respect for her and her goals, he wouldn't bother her with his presence tonight. Too bad really.

He stopped at a corner and looked up at the street ahead of him. There were no cars roaring by, threatening his life. That wasn't why he had stopped. If he crossed the street he would be in the more populated part of town at this time of night. If he ventured out there, there was always the chance that something might happen there to be memorable. Maybe he would be able to handle meeting new people and possibly making new friends on the street. Unfortunately, an easier option was just a few blocks to his right. The typically empty diner that he went to was within two minutes' walking distance. That was just so much...safer. Tensai knew that if he went there he would have an uneventfully quiet evening. Part of him wanted to go see what he could make of the night, but something stopped him. Why the hell was deciding on this so hard? Why couldn't he just pick safety or possible gain? Why?

As he stood there on that street corner, he heard people move around him quite frequently. Some told him to get lost and to quit loitering, but he didn't respond to these comments. He heard the familiar sound of people approaching him from behind. The recluse in him prepared to just send the whole body limp and listless if they said anything. However, what he heard was not nothing along the lines of what he expected.

"Priscilla. I think that's him, isn't it? Hey! Hey!"

Part of Tensai jumped up inside as he heard the familiar name, but that wasn't enough to snap him back into reality. There was a very good chance that the "Priscilla" in question wasn't the one that he had met a few days ago. He didn't show any sign of responding until his observant little ears picked up on something much more familiar.

"Eva, please..."

That voice was the familiarity that finally did the trick. Curious at this point, Tensai turned to see who exactly was behind him, demanding his attention. At first all he saw was the girl dressed very vibrantly with extremely large brown eyes. Not that there was anything wrong with large brown eyes or anything...but the vibrant clothing was kind of off putting, especially so to Tensai. He clenched his teeth together and forced himself to look at her face to avoid the vibrant clothing that she donned. However, in doing this he saw the familiar, small figure that stood behind her. There was no doubt about it: that was Priscilla.

"H-hello Priscilla-chan," he said quietly. Tensai suddenly found his feet very interesting.

She didn't understand why people thought it was so amusing to do things like this, this teasing. It involved more complex social dynamics that she had no experience with, subtleties between what was said and what was meant. Worst of all, it meant having attention directed to her for the sake of a joke made at her expense, and she was supposed to laugh along with it all. How was it supposed to be enjoyable? She tried to shrink back further behind the girl, whom she was actually taller than, though for Eva's overwhelming self-presentation, still felt to Priscilla like she was towering over her. However much she tried to disappear into thin air, Tensai still braved her self-appointed guardian, that petite pomeranian who was convinced she was a pitbull and acted every bit like it. Some part of her ached over it; while his appearance was not unwelcome, she hadn't the time to prepare herself to see him. Reacting on the fly wasn't something that came easily to her, not when she found solace in scripted scenarios where she knew what to expect and how exactly to act.

"Good evening, Tensai," she replied quietly, dutifully, almost like a fair maiden pressured into riding off with the dashing prince who had slain the dragon just for her. Was it more embarrassing that his name rolled off her tongue more easily than it did the reverse? Her elocution was far too trained to ever stumble over her words like that, though in some part she still felt that perceived familiarity was unfounded. Just that would have been enough for her for today, a quick greeting just to demonstrate that she was still receptive to his presence, but Eva seemed an immovable presence resolved to stay in place and thus keep her satellite anchored with her. This was familiar, and not unlike when her family would toss her out to fumble about by herself "for her own good." Things had proven to be different around this boy, though. "I hope you found the desserts agreeable."

{ooc: go ahead and post w/o Eva's post, I'll wait until after to do it}

"Good evening, Tensai."

Feeling a fleeting notion of bravery, Tensai's eyes moved up from his shoes to the pair of figures that stood in front of him. The vibrantly-dressed girl seemed to kind of shield Priscilla from him. He didn't know what they really expected him to do...attack? No, that was just ridiculous. Did he look like he was going to attack someone at any moment? Was that what he radiated? Little did Tensai know that Eva blocking him was much more for Priscilla's comfort than for fear of him. She hadn't prepared for this encounter with him and that didn't bode well with her. However, Tensai had absolutely no way of knowing this. Taking things at face value, all he could see was that Priscilla was hiding from him behind this girl. With a small breath, Tensai tried to focus on the small figure who was mostly out of his sight. Why was she back there? Should he bring attention to that? No...that would be forward of him for assuming that she wanted to actually be around him. That was too much to assume of someone...right? You couldn't just go around thinking that people wanted to be around you all the time. That's what Toshioni did...it was just a bit annoying of him. As such, he decided to respond to her in a very normal way. He would simply ask the name of her friend...that was okay right? It was the only idea he had...he needed to roll with it. If she really didn't want to be around him she could end things quickly, after all.

Umm...what's the uh...name of your friend? I-If I can ask. I'm sorry."

"I hope you found the desserts agreeable."

Distinctly remembering the said desserts, Tensai had to admit that he had only eaten perhaps half the basket by this time. It wasn't that there was anything wrong with the desserts; they were quite tasty. It was just that Tensai really didn't eat much. After all, that was easy to tell. He was quite flimsy. A strong breeze might push him to the floor at a moment's notice. Thus, he really hadn't gone all the way through the basket. He had eaten a few tarts from the basket and some more elegant cookies than he was used to having. Aside from that, Tensai couldn't say that he'd delved deep into the basket; he didn't even know what was in it fully. But, the little he had eaten had been delicious.

"Uhhh...yes. They were quite delicious from what I've eaten. It's not that I'm ummm...worried the rest won't be good. It's just that I don't eat often and I uh, haven't finished the basket yet. I'm sorry."

Well, well! So he had the spine to look her in the eye after all, if only for just a few moments before breaking his gaze. She liked to think it was out of fear of her making good on her threats. It really flattered her so that she could intimidate an EAT class meister so easily, though there was a far more likely, not to mention juicy, explanation. She always had such a frustrating time with inhibited individuals. August Ashford was one. Priscilla, it went without saying, though she did try so hard to do the little she did. This Tensai she had been asked to track down, was likely a kindred spirit if she had managed to form some type of attachment all on her own. It still stung, to not be the very first, and it was insult upon injury to not have whatever window into Priscilla’s being that this boy had but she still lacked. At the end of it all, it would be remiss to be so occupied with not being the center of her attention, a spot that was practically guaranteed to her until someone showed her up, that she forget the purpose of her informal mentorship over the girl.

”You see that? He was so excited about getting the desserts he completely forgot the name of the person delivering it. Though that’s hardly important compared to good will of the person whom they came from.” She flapped her hand up and down in front of her face as she spoke, clearly in her element even as the two around her struggled to get past their "hello's". The instigating auntie was strong in this one.

Priscilla looked shyly at the upperclassman girl in front of her. He had called Eva her friend, a title she had not dared to assume could be applied to her just yet. At what point could she consider the older girl a friend? For that matter, Tensai? "This is Eva Liu. She knows my cousin." There, that was a conservative answer, just a pure statement of facts that couldn't backfire in her face.

She struggled to think of something to say to the older girl's reply to having to be reintroduced. The insinuations Eva made had gone over her head entirely- what she was more concerned with was that the gesture, in hindsight, was likely far too generous. How was he going to finish it all by himself in a timely manner? And they were no longer fresh by now. "I wanted to thank you for showing me to the cafeteria, that's all" she said, powering through her anxiety to attempt to explain herself. It was something Eva probably had already told him, but it could stand repeating. "I'm sorry for pressuring you to finish so much in such a short time, I should have thought it through more." What good was a gift if he had to throw out most of its contents? She should have asked Eva first about the soundness of the idea rather than jump straight to directing her to the task. That showed her, it served her poorly to make these snap decisions. It just wasn't in her to be any sort of spontaneous, not when it so clearly meant bad judgment on her part.

”You see that? He was so excited about getting the desserts he completely forgot the name of the person delivering it. Though that’s hardly important compared to good will of the person whom they came from.”

Letting out a few...hesitant (that was the word) breaths, he didn't know that "excited" was the best way to describe it. It felt...good to know that she remember him to some extent. However, Tensai hated to admit that receiving her gift didn't give him the same intense emotion that being around Priscilla did. Like, being around her now felt infinitely better than eating any of those pastries did. It wasn't like he didn't appreciate her gift; that would be rude of him to think. It was just, with her he felt he had something better than gifts. The gift from her that he enjoyed most was whatever she did to make his heart speed up a little. If she could put that in a basket and give it to him he would be content to no end. But that didn't really seem to be an option. Tensai understood that much.

"This is Eva Liu. She knows my cousin."

He felt that he should say something. That was to be expected right? It was proper to respond to those who talked to you...or about you when you're there. But...what should he say? What was there to say? Should he thank Priscilla again for giving him that gift? That seemed to be like a safe bet. He would also apologize again for not finishing the basket. When in doubt, apologize.

"Ummm...Y-yeah, thanks again Priscilla-chan for the desserts. And ummm...thanks Eva-chan for delivering them. I'm sorry I didn't get to eat them all."

"I wanted to thank you for showing me to the cafeteria, that's all."

Kicking apathetically at the side-walk, a small frown spread across the Meister's face. He kind of wanted her to have meant more with that basket than just a "Thank you". Given, he was reclusive and prone to over-stimulation...but that didn't mean that he didn't want to spend time with people. More than anything else, he wanted that basket to signify that he was going to get to spend much more time around Priscilla. That was okay for him to want, right? From his understanding, it was normal for him to want to spend time with a girl. Given, he got the vast majority of his information about what was "normal" from Toshioni. That may or may not be the best source in hindsight. His eyes met Priscilla's face and he kept his gaze there for a while. It was a bit of confidence that was unusual for him, but he wasn't going to just complain about it. That would just be stupid of him.

"I'm sorry for pressuring you to finish so much in such a short time, I should have thought it through more."

"Oh n-no. I'm sorry. I just don't eat that much. You uh, you didn't have any way of knowing that. I'm sorry. D-don't feel bad about it. It's...it's my fault. I'm sorry about not eating more."

With a small sigh, his confidence had depleted and his gaze once against met his shoes. But, there was something that came to him as he did this. She had wanted him to show her around Death City didn't she? Yeah, she did. Would it be appropriate for him to ask her when she wanted to? As long as he didn't try to take her from her friend right now it should be fine...right? Yeah, that'd be fine. At least, he hoped it would be.

"Umm...P-Priscilla-chan. When did you ummm...want me to show you around Death City. I mean, you ummm, don't have to right now by any means. I uhh, I was just wondering so I'd know when worked for you. I'm sorry."

Oho!~ Unfailingly, the two had been moved to show both their hands at once. It really was too easy messing around with these complete amateurs, though she would deign to step down to their bumbling about for Priscilla's sake. In a way it was endearing almost, in the way that a well-fed tiger might lazily regard a newborn doe. She might lie, she might deceive, and she might connive, but it was always done for the benefit of those close to her heart. The drama was just a little bonus in this case, compared to the potential good it would do for poor Priscilla, that was really all to it.

"Oh Priscilla, don't worry about it at all," she said quickly before the girl could demur. "I can go grab these things by myself, no biggie. It's such a nice and cool time of the day and it'd be such a waste if this was just a quick hit and run back to the dorms." Eva moved to the side and placed her arm across Priscilla's shoulder, putting just enough pressure to cue the younger girl to step forward. She made herself intentionally oblivious to any soft protests Priscilla might have raised, and continued to encourage her to leave with the boy. "No, no, no, I'm not offended at all, you can come see me at any old time you want, and how often is it that you run into someone you know? Go have fun, go take a break from me now. Good thing I told you to bring your purse out, you can go get whatever stuff you want."

Eva gave her one final nudge and removed her hand, allowing her entire arm to stretch out and pull the top half of her body forward with it, as though having christened a new ship that was slowly sailing away. (It was really more like being forced forward by an indomitable little tugboat, but Eva smiled and laughed so!) "Go on, go!"

With a remarkable shift in expression, she quickly sobered up and tipped her head slightly at Tensai, summoning as much big sisterly sternness as she could manage. Eva raised two fingers in a fork, directed it at her own two eyes and snapped them towards the boy. For emphasis, she jerked her shoulders at him. However, before Priscilla could see, she shifted back to a lazy smile as she flapped her hand before her face once more.

She was beginning to understand why this weapon girl had been chosen as the Kaneko's general handyperson. Eva seemed rather at home with maneuvering herself around people, and conversation came so enviably effortlessly to her that Priscilla could not help but feel worse for it. In a way, she was thankful that the upperclassman seemed to be violently allergic to subtlety- there wasn't a need to worry about whether or not her claws would come unsheathed at any moment and without warning when they were already fully flexed as she waved good-bye and hello. And of course, it would only be to act in her interest, her, Priscilla Kaneko individually, not just Yuu Kaneko or the Kanekos as a whole.

The girl held her mouth just slightly open as Eva swooped in in her stead. She had not even the opportunity to give a wordless exclamation of surprise before the arm came to rest on her shoulder. She watched her excuses be shot down even just as she was beginning to formulate them in her mind. No, although Tensai had extended her the invitation, the ability to choose had been firmly taken out of her hands. She wasn't even allowed to bid Eva good-bye and apologize for the change in plans, the older girl had made clear she'd have none of it by speaking over her every time it even looked like she'd try.

She took a few steps towards him, then halted. "Now would be an acceptable time." Priscilla turned her head back slightly, though Eva only continued to smile and shoo her away with her hand. Priscilla continued to walk forwards, and stopped and looked at him expectantly once she stood beside him. Quietly, she reaffirmed her acceptance of his offer. "Yes, I would like it if you could take me around the city now. I have my purse with me this time." If she was looking forward to this opportunity or more disappointed that it came at the cost of spending time with her governess (of sorts), she did not betray it in her reliably even tone of voice. She was always conscious to where she placed herself in space, though the fact that Eva was still there and likely scrutinizing everything they did made her even more sensitive than usual, and she took a step or two to the side to widen the distance between her and Tensai.

Tensai's head hung low as he heard Eva continually talk to Priscilla about something that he didn't really understand. For some reason, Eva kept being so...reassuring. Doing his best to maintain control over those horribly sensitive ears of his (Eva was just a little loud for his liking) , Tensai only really tried to hear every other word. Or maybe it was every third word; he couldn't tell. Regardless, it was hard to piece together. What had Priscilla exactly done that had warranted Eva to reassure her everything was fine all of the sudden? Did it have anything to do with him being there and offering to show Priscilla around town whenever? Oh no, if he had somehow caused Priscilla to be in poor standing with her friend then he had truly blundered. He should apologize, right? This was an appropriate time to apologize in Priscilla's stead. After all, he was the one causing the problem here. It only made sense that he should be the one to be sorry. Then again, Tensai was almost always sorry about one thing or another: this wouldn't surprise anyone.

"I'm sorry Eva-chan. If I'm ummmmmm...causing a problem, I can just leave. You know, if you want me to. I uhhh...never meant to cause any kind of trouble between you and Priscilla-chan in your night's activities. I'm sorry."

It was around this time that Tensai did indeed notice that the problem at hand was Priscilla's company. He hadn't meant to steal it away for the evening. It wasn't that he wouldn't appreciate her company for the night. He just hated the idea of being rude about that sort of thing. If two people had pre-established plans it was not his place to disrupt that. Right?

"No, no, no, I'm not offended at all, you can come see me at any old time you want, and how often is it that you run into someone you know? Go have fun, go take a break from me now. Good thing I told you to bring your purse out, you can go get whatever stuff you want."

Having actually paid attention to this line, Tensai confirmed his belief that he was getting in the way of Eva and Priscilla's evening. However, Eva sounded a little off. Tensai hadn't had much experience with one person separating another for an evening...but this seemed too...uneventful. It was almost like Eva was trying to push Priscilla off with him for the evening. No no, that just couldn't be right. What friend would just do that? Wait, was that how friends behaved? If you were close did you just not care about spending just one evening with that person? Did it matter at that point? Was that how close friendship worked?

"Yes, I would like it if you could take me around the city now. I have my purse with me this time."

Slipping his hands into his hoodie pocket, Tensai's eyes quickly scanned the empty street around him. Where would he take her even? He knew his way around the city, yeah. But that didn't mean he had a tour laid out. Perhaps she would appreciate the diner he had debated going to earlier? If nothing else, he should at least try throwing the idea out there. Looking up at Priscilla, he felt that familiar sensation of being bathed by flames. A smile appeared on his face as he made eye contact for a second before readily breaking it to fix his gaze upon her mouth. That made it look like he was keeping eye contact but he didn't have to face her, not really. When he actually made eye contact, the sensation elevated to levels that were...harder to manage.

"Ummmm...Priscilla-chan, if you would like...we could start our tour with a small diner not uhhh...not far from here. I'm sorry. I go there frequently, if you'd like something to eat that is. If you don't want to, that's fine too. But if you do, that's a ummm...good place to eat. Or...at least I ummmm...I think it is. I'm sorry."

His smile lessened in intensity at his nervousness in forwardly addressing her. Talking wasn't something Tensai was good at it. That was pretty easy to see.