[b][i]Ken[/i][/b]

Something alarmed Ken about Rev just then, something in his words or his tone or how he looked at them now. He knew it, he wasn't the best at communicating, the best at socializing, but what Rev was manifesting right now was startling, a nigh-imperceptible but still existent change that brought a chill to the boy's heart. 

Ken did not want to confront Rev in his own home, not after what had just passed between the three of them - Well now two if Chinami was leaving. But he could feel it, the beginnings of a chill borne out of disappointment which would eventually wither and pervert whatever [i]had[/i] been formed by the battle against Nightman. If this chill was allowed to continue, to take root inside [i]Reverio Galand's[/i] heart, it would cause not just the destruction of any chance of friendship, but it would turn them into enemies.

He didn't want that. But how would he stop it? Rev was a person who preferred his own opinions above all and obliviously distrusted others who thought differently, not getting the memo that other points of view were sometimes valid. Chinami was someone who was attached to her ordinary and secure life, someone whose strength was focused on her safety, both physical and psychological. As for himself... He shared the lack of social education and immense naivete which Rev was still showing now, but he had some of Chinami's insight and knowledge on how the world really worked.

As Rev and Chinami obviously waited to go to the door of the apartment, as they probably noticed him just standing there as though he was frozen onto the ground, Ken finally found his voice, and it was desperate, unfettered, its cadence high, almost shouting.

"Please!" the boy implored, putting his hands up in a placatory gesture, "I know what we all just said to each other, and how we've all made assumptions about the situation which turned out to be wrong, but we cannot just let this meeting end like this. I know I'm not the best socially; I know I am still a novice at how [i]normal social interactions[/i] work. But I know deep in my heart that letting this meeting end on this note will just result in negativity for all of us and those around us."

Looking at both of their faces, letting them see the shock written on his own, Ken made his pitch, "Let's go to a flower garden like I brought up before. Let's enjoy the beauty which is still there in life, and delay talking about revolutions and tragic backstories and grand agendas for the rest of the day. We can eat and drink sweets and coffee, see the sights of Rhea's green spaces, take pictures of ourselves or have them taken for us. I'll even pay for everything. Everything. So please, let's just spend a while just being kids; we have that right, after all that we've gone through..."

He then looked at Chinami, his eyes carrying a silent plea.

[@Dezuel][@Lewascan2]