[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/5FqwUwv.jpg?1[/img]
[h3][b][color=00aeef]Chinami Nadakai[/color][/b][/h3][/center]
[@Dezuel]

Chinami's jaw almost dropped in disbelief. Did she just hear the blonde right? So blunt! Holy shit! Or... was he? She raised a single brow, as she processed his words. He seemed a little... [i]distracted[/i] for fairly obvious reasons, not that those reasons were anyone's fault but his own, she decided. Honestly, either there was some sort of serious disconnect here, or she needed to refresh her knowledge on Vauquelin culture fucking [i]yesterday[/i].

She had been joking... mostly. Well, okay, it's not as though she was [i]opposed[/i] to this guy giving courting her a shot, even if he seemed like he might have some oddities that would require investigation before anything serious happened. She certainly didn't [i]dislike[/i] him, but this really didn't seem like the time or place, right?! She just hadn't expected him to take her words at face-value with that disturbingly open expression plastered on his face. Wasn't this a little fast?!

Wait. She was only here to return a damn coat! Why the hell had she stepped inside?!

A towel flew through the air.

It... flew...

Chinami's brain refused to comprehend what had just happened. Her expression remained flat, unseeing, until the bathroom door finally shut behind the even less decent blonde. It was only once the click of the door sounded in her ears that her eyebrow twitched violently in irritation, and a luminescent angry blush rippled up her face. [color=00aeef]"[i]Motherfucker[/i],"[/color] she hissed under her breath, squeezing her eyes closed, as she did her best to quell the ugly instinctive spurt of rage. That... [i]All of that[/i]- It- ([color=00aeef][i]'Damn you, Suzakura.'[/i][/color]) She couldn't even enjoy it. She wasn't sure if she even [i]should[/i] enjoy it. The crass boy had poisoned that tree badly if this was her automatic reaction to what [i]might[/i] have been -and hopefully was- an accident on Rev's part. But she'd been burned far too often by "accidents" of the lurid kind to just respond like she felt she... should have?

Honestly, they were all lucky she'd been lucid enough of who was before her to not have her Spirit react the way it might to more of Suzakura's bullshit. If she accidentally punched anyone with half the force she leveled against Suzakura, well... it would hardly be pretty. And without her ability to heal anymore, if she slipped up...?

Chinami worried the tip of one thumb with her teeth. The angry flush was dying from her face. Her libido was... if not dead, then tempered by the reality check... for now anyway. [color=00aeef][i]'Sweet mother of mercy, get a fucking grip!'[/i][/color] She couldn't afford to keep spacing out like this! She knew at least part of the problem was the fucking [i]hormones[/i] that she could currently do nothing about, but what if...? The blood drained from her face at a damning thought. What if her soul being cracked had more constant effects? Was she just emotionally unstable now? Or was something far more sinister at play?

She needed to be careful going forward. She clearly wasn't acting in her right mind. Emotions and whims could not be afforded such careless leniency in this delicate time. What this situation called for was cold rationality, reason and common sense. She needed to approach everything with the assumption that she was being compelled to act one way, dissect the situation and then assess her true desires and the actions needed to carry them out.

Reverio... she didn't [i]think[/i] he was doing this to her on purpose... not [i]yet[/i] anyway. However, it was clear just from a rational, objective assessment that she was visiting favoritism upon him... for various reasons. On the one hand, he had healed her, fought beside her and been a perfect gentleman... nakedness aside. But she wasn't treating him like someone she was simply grateful to... No, there was a fixation on every insignificant thing he did... an obsession. Whatever it was, whatever she wanted out of him, she couldn't allow herself to continue on this path... not like this.

Was she really about to throw her [color=f26522]Pride[/color] away so easily?! To simper and sigh over a pretty face?! Was she such easy prey?! No! [i]Never![/i]

A sneer twisted her lips. She refused to be some hapless, brainless damsel! She [i]was[/i] pretty desperate, sure, starved for options in the romantic sense. She knew it perfectly well. After all, one of her primary sub-goals to obtaining the peaceful life she wanted was a [i]worthy[/i] life partner. She couldn't allow herself to settle for anything but the best. Just because this "Rev" had all but dropped into her lap like an unsolicited miracle from above, just because he happened to be the best she'd gotten [i]so far[/i]... That didn't mean he was the [i]right[/i] one. She knew little to nothing about him, and before anything else, that needed to change. One step at a time. Patience. Abstinence. [i]Caution.[/i]

[color=00aeef][i]Just think of him like Suzakura,[/i][/color] she nodded to herself. [color=00aeef][i]Paint his intentions with that brush. Not all the way, just a little... just enough to invoke that instinctive disdain... for the time being.[/i][/color] Exhaling calmingly, she steadied her nerves, crimson eyes panning over thoughtfully to the so-called "phoenix-pigeon".

She resisted the urge to approach or otherwise physically interact with the creature. For all she knew, it was exceedingly more dangerous than it looked. And even if it wasn't, the little thing had just received a bit of a fright. She had no idea how to read such a foreign creature's body language, but she could imagine it might be stressed enough right now to not entertain the attention of strangers well... assuming that it was friendly even when it [i]wasn't[/i] stressed.

Sighing, Chinami readjusted her hold on Rev's folded coat. What was she even doing... She could probably just set it down somewhere and leave, even if that would be a bit rude... No, she'd at least wait long enough for her impromptu host to dress, so she could say a proper farewell. She couldn't recall Rev making any sort of arrangements with Ken the night before, but he told them [i]both[/i] his address, so maybe he was expecting more company? Would the implicit invitation even be taken? And did she even want to stick around to find out?

Such were the musings that passed through her mind, as Chinami waited quietly for Rev's return.