1193/Bakefriending and Shiny Bread

Bakefriending and Shiny Bread
Date of Scene:	14 March 2016
Location:	Uminari City - Midori-Ya Cafe
Synopsis:	Bryony and Nicola accept Nanoha's invitation to her family's cafe. Unexpected secrets are stumbled upon.
Cast of Characters:	Bryony Elan, 158, Nanoha Takamachi

---

Bryony Elan has posed:
    "So, Nanoha-/san/ . . . " Bryony smiles wide. "You mentioned something about a bakery?" Shameless or not, she made sure to make abundantly clear that she hadn't forgotten.

    School ended a half-hour ago for the students of Seishou Public elementary school, but with the bus system less than cooperative following the disruptions of D-point, a lot of students are finding themselves with a longer than normal commute home. Nicola Esprit, Nanoha Takamachi, and Bryony Elan in particular have a ways to go to reach their destination. They're close enough that walking is still the quickest method, certainly shorter than repeatedly jumping busses to circumvent the routes that are out of service. So it's a fair distance to travel on foot, but thankfully, the cool, sunny weather makes the journey a pleasant one, and they have each other as company.

    Bryony spends perhaps too much time blurting out questions rapid-fire, grilling Nanoha on just what this "bakery" sells. It doesn't sound like she's familiar with most of the things the other girl mentions, even the mundane items. The fare she's used to must be pretty exotic. Such is her attention on the prospect of heretofore untasted food that she "forgets" to call Jessamine. No, that particular honor is left to Nicola, perhaps (very, very likely) deliberately. Whatever happened to solidarity when staring down one's greatest foe?

    And her energy hasn't abated by the time they near the end of their journey. She only stops talking when the three girls walk below a section of elevated track, a city train buzzing by just as they do. Bryony looks up, briefly falling silent as she watches the train pass. Just beyond them, a busy intersection buzzes with traffic. On the opposite corner is the oasis they've been seeking, a waystation which seems popular enough to draw travellers of all types: there are students of all ages getting out of school, sporting a variety of uniforms, manual laborers in their work gear, and several more formally-dressed salarymen and office ladies, hungry for a bite before returning to their white collar toil. Bryony only spots the place when her eyes fall from the track above, and her attention shifts back to the world around her. "Oh! Is that it?"

Nicola Esprit has posed:
Nicola is eager to let Bryony take the lead, not so eager to anger Jessamine by not letting her know where they are. Perhaps a side effect of circumstance. Fortunately, this mysterious entity seemed to approve of this outing with fairly little convincing, and thus it could go ahead without worries.

Unlike Bryony, it seems Nicola at least knew most of the basic pastries, and the concept of a bakery, but the ones less immediately likely to be purchased prebaked in a grocery store seem to have passed her by, too, so she had questions about those to ask.

"This is it?" Nicola asks, looking towards Nanoha in an attempt for confirmation. She doesn't want to rush ahead into the wrong place, after all.

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi smiles. "Yup!" she says softly, "That's it Bryony-san~" she says, nothing Bryony's off annunciation. It reminds her of something- but she can't place it. She walks along to the front and opens the door for the two of them, Bryony and Nicola, as she grins.

"Miyuki-chan, hello!" she calls out to her sister. "Hello, Nanoha-chan." she says. "Friends?" she asks to the two. "Uh-huh!" she says. "We're gonna sit down for a moment over here, okay!?" she says.

Miyuki merely nods. "Have fun." she says as she continues to handle the till and orders.

"Sit down!" she says motioning to the booth. "And I'll go get us something!" se says.

"It doesn't sound like you know a lot of the things..." she says.

"So I'll get a little bit of everything!" she says.

The place is moderately active. Luckily, Nanoha can cheat and get behind the counter. Which she does, returning soon, with a small plate of pastries that includes Cupcakes, some Bean Paste filled buns, crossaints, and some classic donuts. Also, three containers of milk. She places it down and then sits into the booth.

"That's Miyuki-chan at the till! She's my sister! It's here day to run the till." she says.

Bryony Elan has posed:
    Bryony extends a respectful bow to Nanoha's older sister. "Thank you, Takamachi-san." Since when is she that deferential? Probably since Jessamine drilled the proper honorifics into her. Which itself happened after the girl let slip a few too many joking Jessamine-chan's, with predictably scary results. She returns to her normal, non-"Who are you, and what have you done with Bryony?" self once she actually sits down. There's a brief glance at Nicola next to her, a smile on her face. Nanoha is mostly out of earshot, though she again might catch bits of that other, unknown language. "Nicola! This has been a really good day!"

    And then the food arrives, and she stares, her eager expression slowly fading. She . . . has no idea what she's looking at, does she, even after all of the explanation that she asked for? Was she expecting something else? She lifts a freshly-made glazed donut, a slightly-forced but still wide smile spreading across her face. "I do like how shiny you've made this bread!" It almost sounds like she's trying to be polite. And then she bites. There's a moment afterward where she simply looks dumbfounded, as if trying to understand what she's experiencing. And then her enthusiasm comes flooding back. "Oh! It's sweet!" Yes . . . "And fluffy!" That's what a donut is . . . "It's really good!" She looks at Nicola, as if to share this with her, as if this was really big news. "You should try it!"

Nicola Esprit has posed:
Nicola starts with the milk, since it's familiar, and her eyes seem to show amusement hidden behind the milk when Bryony goes through the stages of discovery with donuts, a pastry she's had the fortune of trying before. "They're called donuts, Bryony." She says, and takes her own, taking a bite, and with her mouth still half full, "They're really good."

Then, she goes for a pastry she doesn't know yet, one of the bean paste filled buns. She takes a bite, then seems surprised by the filling. "Huh, that's good, didn't expect that." She eagerly takes another bite. "Your sister, huh?" That seems to somehow dampen Nicola's mood somehow.

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi nods! "Yup! We're a big family." she looks towards Bryony and smiles with a grin. "Pastries are sweet. All of the things on the plate are sweet. Milk goes good with that!" she says softly.

She does eye Nicola's response to the discussion of a sister and purses her lips a bit in thought. She can get this is suddenly an uncomfortable topic for Nicola, so she changes the topic.

"That's a bean paste- it's sweet-- many tourists here are surprised by that because apparently they're used tdoused in gravies and stuff." she says.

She looks between Bryony and Nicola. "So you two don't really have things like this were you're from?" she asks softly.

She seems to think for a bit as she taps her chin thoughfully.

"Oh! Right! I said I'd introduce you to Yuuno! A moment..." she says as she steps away from the table and begins through a door behind the counter and upstairs to the apartment!

Bryony Elan has posed:
    Bryony smiles as she listens to the explanation, herself reaching for a pastry filled with red bean paste. But it lingers in her hand for some time, the brown-haired girl hesitating instead, as if waiting for something. As Nanoha heads up the stairs, Bryony's eyes drift toward Nicola. She didn't miss that, apparently. Her usual chipper attitude remains, but her voice softens a bit.

    She doesn't seem to have quite the same level of restraint or tact, instead asking rather directly, "Is everything OK?" She bites into her pastry. "Did you get reminded of home?"

Nicola Esprit has posed:
"That's interesting." Nicola answers Nanoha's explanation of the pastry, but her heart doesn't seem into it, and she kind of answers the other question vaguely, "We didn't have a lot of luxuries where we're from." She watches Nanoha run off right after her answer.

So, she distracts herself by digging back into her pastry. Even when Nanoha is gone she doesn't quite speak up again, finishing both the bean pasty and the doughnut, and she isn't eating fast. Odds are pretty good Nanoha is within earshot when she finally answers Bryony's question, and it's in that foreign language instead of Japanese. "I miss dad."

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi can hear that language, as odd as it is, she comes back down with a tan colored ferret that gently places on the table. Yuuno doesn't seem impressed for whatever reason, but he's here.

"This is Yuuno!" she says. "Isn't he adorable."

Still not looking impressed.

She head tilts. "Not a lot of luxuries?" she asks as she head tilts. She seems sympahthetic. "I'm sorry. So what did you two do for fun then?" she asks with a softer smile.

She gives Yuuno a pet and then begins scooting him towards Bryony and Nicola.

Bryony Elan has posed:
    Bryony's blue-on-gray eyes go wide, the brown-haired girl staring briefly at Yuuno before turning her attention toward Nanoha. "He's so cute! Can I pet him? Does he bite?" She asks, but she doesn't seem to have the patience to wait for Nanoha's answer, extending a hand cautiously toward Yuuno only a moment later. At the very least, though, she seems to have enough experience to take a moment to judge the "animal's" demeanor, rather than taking friendliness for granted. "I've never seen an animal like this. Are there a lot of ferrets in Japan?"

    Her head turns a moment later as she smiles at Nicola. "Isn't he awesome? You should try petting him too." It almost seems like an attempt to distract her friend from whatever was troubling her a moment ago.

Nicola Esprit has posed:
"He is adorable." Nicola agrees brightly, though she seems hesitant to reach out and pet the animal. Apparently she does know even cute animals can be dangerous, so she waits for Nanoha to answer Bryony's questions, or for Yuuno to bite Bryony, whichever clarifies the situation first. "I have a really big chemistry set I play with." She answers Nanoha's question, "Have you ever made dynamite?"

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
< "I'm not a pet." >:I

"He's not a pet, he's a friend!" she says. "But to answer your question- there's a few but not as numerous as say dog or cats." she smiles some. Yuuno, does, however, enjoy the pets and scritches and other attention even if he won't admit it.

Being an adorable animal has it's advantages.

"Oh! I don't know much about Chemisty." she says. "So I've never made dynamite!" she replies.

Nanoha doesn't seem to find much strange does she?

< "...Nanoha she just asked you if you've ever made Dynamite."> says Yuuno. < "Yeah, so?" >

Yuuno sort of just stares for a moment. Then pets! No problems getting pet it seems!

Bryony Elan has posed:
    Bryony also doesn't seem to find it very weird. Does she even know what it is? "I've never made it either!" Somewhere out there, Momoka Takamachi might be feeling a subconscious pang of maternal worry over her daughter's choice of friends.

    She reaches out, scritching the underside of Yuuno's neck lightly. "A friend! Sorry! It's nice that you're so close to him, though." It only shows for a brief moment before her smile returns, but her expression briefly grows more serious, as some thought flits through her mind. "I used to wish I had an animal. Even if you can't talk to them," /Wellll . . . / "I think animals can make good friends. My parents didn't let me keep one, though." She looks around, glancing at Nanoha's sister behind the counter before her eyes continue to wander.

    It might be a bit of a sore spot, but she can't help but ask. "What are your parents like, Nanoha?"

Nicola Esprit has posed:
It hasn't yet been brought to Nicola's attention either that dynamite might be something most people wouldn't want anywhere near kids her age, much less the far more volatile nitroglycerine needed to make it. "It's fun, you have to be a little careful though. Once I nearly dropped by bottle of nitroglycerine." She says it like it's no big deal.

She then reaches out to pet Yuuno, now confident the animal is thoroughly pettable without risk. "Jessamine says I can't bring my chemistry kit to school. Which is boring." If nothing else, this might explain why the chemistry problem in class was so easy for her.

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi smiles. "My mom and dad are good." she says. "I mean, they're parents, and I help then run the cafe on the weekends and I like help baking and decorating the cupcakes when I can." she says softly.

She looks over to Nicola and hrmmms.

Yuuno speaks in telepathy to Nanoha.< "What." >

"Mmmm?" goes Nanoha for no good reason.

< "I think this girl is crazy." >

Nanoha merely smiles and says. "That sounds like it's dangerous so I guess it makes sense why they wouldn't let you take it to school." she says softly.

"Right?" she asks.

Bryony Elan has posed:
    Bryony's eyes quietly drift between Nicola and Nanoha. She seems to pick up that they may have misspoken, but for a few moments, she seems at a loss as to how to react to the "dangerous" comment.

    "Oh!" she eventually blurts out. "We weren't serious!" She silently nudges Nicola's foot with her own under the table. "We just like to pretend sometimes! Y'know, about the kind of stuff we'll be doing in the future. Nicola is super smart about this stuff, so I'm sure she'll be doing stuff like that eventually, when she's a grown-up." She trips on a few words there, her Japanese getting a little rough, but she otherwise seems to be a competent liar. Whether Nanoha actually believes it or not is another matter.

    She doesn't really wait for the words to sink in, though, perhaps hurriedly reaching for another pastry and taking another bite. "What do you usually do for fun?" And then she eyes Yuuno. "Can he eat sweets?"

Nicola Esprit has posed:
Nicola doesn't quite seem to get what's wrong, though Bryony's attempts to cover up for her seem to have gotten through that she's said something wrong. So, in her native language, perhaps undermining Bryony's attempts to lie their way out of this, she softly asks, "Did I say something wrong?" She takes a bite out of a doughnut after, savoring the taste.

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi grins. "He can, but he shouldn't." she says under her breath, placing a hand to her mouth. "He'll get chubby.". Yuuno is not impressed, he heard this.

He sort of stares between the two weird girls-- well three, but Nanoha isn't as weird to him as the others here.

< 'Did I say something wrong'. Is she serious...?' > Yuuno asks Nanoha. Nanoha shrugs a bit and looks back up to the other two. < "I'll ask!" >

Yuuno facepalms with a tiny adorable paw.

"Yuuno wants to know if you guys are for real." she asks.

Bryony Elan has posed:
    Bryony just sits there with a still wide smile, apparently not really sure how to respond to that. Her head tilts slowly, thick brows furrowing. "Yuuno . . . wants to know?" She points at the ferret questioningly, as if to ask, "/That/ Yuuno?" She looks closer at him, clearly not quite sure where Nanoha is getting her question. "Oh! You mean he wants us to feed him now?" She grins apologetically. "I'm sorry! I can't really read ferret behavior. I've never had one before." That is probably the most sensible conclusion, though nothing is really sensible about this meeting. Or maybe she just really wanted to feed him; that's probably no small cause of her interpretation of this situation.

    She breaks off a bit of pastry and slides it toward him. "Just this once probably won't hurt . . . "

Nicola Esprit has posed:
It seems Nicola didn't even understand the question, she looks thoroughly confused, and seems unsure what's going anymore at this point. "What does it mean to be 'for real'?" She looks at Nanoha like she expects an explanation of that, can't really answer a question you don't understand. She glances towards Bryony again, tilting her head as though she's trying to understand what the other girl is doing.

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Yuuno talks. < "My aunciation is a little off, but they're speaking some dialect of Al-Furatiyyun."> he says. < "Ask about that." > he says.

"Oh! No. Yuuno is talking to me. He can't talk talk because there's people here." she says softly. "Um.. he says you're speaking something called.... All-Furatyin?" she mispronounces. < "Al-Fur-at-ti-yun." > he tries to pounonce. "Oh, 'Al-Furatiyun!'" she says with a matter of fact series of nods.

Yuuno, does however, totally steal the piece of offered pastry. Nomf.

Nanoha seems to think on this for a bit, tapping her chin.

Bryony Elan has posed:
    Bryony is doing it again: sitting there wearing the same wide smile, but with the rest of her face covered in a shocked, deer-in-the-headlights expression. She slowly turns toward Nicola, as if to check her reaction, to see if this is normal or not. Then she looks back at Nanoha. She's clearly not quite sure what to make of this, but she's thinking it over. And eventually, it seems, she comes to a conclusion.

    "Oh! Thank god!" She's . . . relieved? That's certainly what the look on her face suggests. "Jessamine told us nobody would understand our language here." She turns to Nicola, a gloating look on her face. "I _told you_ this place couldn't be /that/ much of a backwater!" Back to Nanoha, she asks rather matter-of-factly. "Have you been there?" Is she not going to say anything about the idea of a talking ferret? If there's more surprise to be had, it might come from someone with a better grasp of what's normal in Japan. Or on Earth.

Nicola Esprit has posed:
Nicola seems a little bit surprised, and then more so when Bryony starts talking like this makes it normal, and she just looks like she wants to sink into the floor and vanish from sight before things can get even worse. "How am I going to explain this to Jessamine..." She wonders aloud, in Al-Furatiyyan, clearly dreading the outcome of this discussion.

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi mnmmms? "Oh! I've never been off Earth before." she says softly. "Yuuno's my friend! He's an archeologist! A space ferret archeologist." she insists. Yuuno merely nods matter of factly.

< "I've been on digs to Al-Furat before." > he says to Nanoha.

"He says he's been on digs on Al-Furat before." she says.

"Yuuno was stranded here when the ship he was on was caught in some sort of disturbance around Earth." she says. "I'm helping him with some things." she says softly.

Yuuno translates for Nanoha as she listens and then back up at Nicola. "Who's Jessamine?" she asks. "Why not just tell her the truth!" she smiles.

Bryony Elan has posed:
    "Jessamine is . . ." Bryony's voice is light, and the look on her face starts bright and cheery, as if she was about to introduce one good friend to another. And then it slowly darkens as she trails off, visible anxiety creeping into the edge of her expression. Very soon, that smile of hers is looking effortful and forced. "Jessamine . . . " Yes, she's starting to remember. She slowly turns toward Nicola, a now horrified expression on her face, though a twisted remnant of the smile persists. "We weren't supposed to . . . "

    Her gaze drifts downward, settling on some nondescript spot on the table. "It . . . it was really good to have seen you again, Nicola. I enjoyed our time together." She's saying her final goodbyes?! "And it was nice meeting you, Nanoha . . . "

Nicola Esprit has posed:
"I think we have to go now, sorry." Whatever else is going on here, it seems Nicola seems to agree with the assessment of Bryony that they have screwed up. She seems a little scared, too, like she doesn't quite know how much trouble she's in, only that she knows it has to be a lot.

"Uh, could you do me a favour and not talk about this to anyone?" She asks, and glances towards Bryony as she gets up, "Let's go." Then she pauses, and says in that other language, "Maybe if Nanoha and Yuuno promise not to tell anyone we can just sort of 'forget' to mention this happened to Jessamine?" It seems she's using it more for familiarity's sake than to exclude anyone at this point.

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi suddenly frowns. "Why, what's wrong?" she asks looking between the two. "It's not like you said anything wrong?" she asks. "No I won't tell anyone." she says confusedly.

She sort of scratches the side of her head. "Wait a moment..." she says.

She escapes behind the counter and comes back as she smiles over to her sister, before coming back over.

"Here." she says, passing over a bag of pastries similar to the ones they had moments ago. "For later!" she says softly with a smile.

"..I think if you told the truth, things would work out better..." she says honestly. "But I can't make you do anything!" she says.

Bryony Elan has posed:
    "The truth . . . " The brown-haired girl slowly turns toward Nanoha, a slight grin mixed with an expression of resigned gloom. Something about that suggestion is amusing, apparently. Or maybe Bryony just dropped a few of her marbles thinking of the likely outcome of this situation. "he . . . /hehe/ heh." And then her eyes drift back to their spot on the tabletop in front of her, her voice growing quieter quieter. She sounds like someone who just totalled their strict parents' car on a joyride, and now has to go home to deliver the news. Or maybe it's worse than that. This isn't quite mortal fear, but it might be close. "No, Nicola. We should stay. We should savor our final moments of freedom. Maybe of life." This is probably a childish overreaction. Right?

    "I don't even remember what the punishment for breaking this rule was supposed to be. What was it? A stage 3 disciplinary action? I don't even know what a stage 1 is." They mentioned a complicated list of rules before, but there are codes for the punishments too? "It must be something terrible. Maybe this is the end." Most of those details are a little off, but judging by Nicola's reaction, her idea that someone is going to be very mad is not entirely unfounded.

    She looks at Nanoha. "Yeah! You're both right!" Suddenly she seems a little brighter, seemingly agreeing with Nanoha suggestion. "We just shouldn't tell her. We'll keep this a secret." That's not what Nanoha said at all . . . "I think it'll be OK!" The wishful thinking is a little transparent there, judging by her still-forced smile; she doesn't quite seem to believe it herself.

Nicola Esprit has posed:
It may not be what Nanoha said, but it is what Nicola said. Keep it secret, then things will be fine. "If Jessamine doesn't know, she can't punish us." She says softly, and then adds, "And it probably won't be too terrible. Just grounded for a year or something." Which at their age may well be induistingishible from forever, which explains her fear.

She glances towards Nanoha, then, and still seems worried. This plan, fragile as it is, relies on Jessamine not finding out. Instead of saying more, she turns to glance at Yuuno, "How long has Yuuno been stranded here?"

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi thinks. "It's been about wow. Almost eight months now..." then she pauses. "Has it really been that long..." she says tapping her finger to her chin in introspective thought.

"Has it been that long...?" she asks down towards Yuuno. < "Give or take." > he says.

She looks back up.

"Yuuno was delivering these artifacts from a dig... the ship blew up-- he came down here. They're dangerous and scattered. So I'm helping him find them. So far I...I did... seal two..." she mutters.

"But..."

"Yeah..." she just looks down suddenly then back up.

She blinks. "Rules...and Regulations..." she mutters.

"Sounds like what I know of the TSAB to me." she says. "But I don't know a lot about that. Just through some others I've met."

Nicola Esprit has posed:
Nicola doesn't seem surprised when Nanoha mentions TSAB, in fact, she shows very little at all. Perhaps she had expected that, especially when that timing matches so closely. "Don't trust TSAB." She says, a little angrily perhaps. There's at least basically an admission that she knows about TSAB. Then again, that's hardly surprising considering the conversation, is it?

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi looks down at Yuuno then back at Nicola. "Well this isn't a TSAB World and they have no authority here. Really. The TSAB here are stranded and can't contact back out. There was another ship that exploded, called um.. 'The Artha'- that was a TSAB ship- and pieces of it sometimes come out of the dimensional phase it entered and crash down somewhere in the city..." she says.

"Lindy-san seemed like a nice person though... she sounded sad about the whole ordeal really..." she says sympathetically.

Bryony Elan has posed:
    Bryony /was/ preoccupied, distracted enough to let the conversation around her pass her by. Gray eyes flecked with metallic blue seemed content to watch some smudge on the tabletop in front of her. Her mind drifted through some clearly gloomy place, judging by her distant expression, seemingly stuck on whatever nine year-old tale of crime and punishment was playing out in her head. But it didn't really seem serious. No, this was a child's myopia, immature, blowing the consequences of a mistake out of proportion. Probably. This Jessamine person can't be /that/ bad, right? Bryony and Nicola seem happy enough, mostly.

    And then Lindy's name comes up, and there's an almost instant wincing reaction from the brown-skinned girl. And suddenly it seems much more real, the emotion on her face becoming immediate and raw. It only gets worse with each further word Nanoha speaks. That description, right or wrong, clearly pushes buttons. But it's not really herself that Bryony seems to be thinking about, even if it perhaps should be. No, her face, now much heavier, wearing an expression somewhere between grief and pointed empathy, turns to Nicola, as if to try to gauge her feelings.

    But whatever Bryony is thinking or feeling, she doesn't quite have the emotional vocabulary to match. She searches for words for a few moments, only to instead turn toward the third girl at the booth. "Hey, Nanoha," she begins, forcing a smile, trying to keep her tone light and the conversation pleasant. "Maybe we should talk about something else." It's almost awkwardly blunt, but that kind of directness seems to be a trait of hers, for good or ill.

    And then she turns back toward Nicola, smiling wider for a moment, squeezing the other girl's hand reassuringly. The why still isn't clear, though clearly, someone might have said the wrong thing.

Nicola Esprit has posed:
When Nanoha mentions Lindy seemed nice, it's hard not to notice that there's serious loathing going on there. Not even Bryony's attempts to change the subject can stop what the girl has to say next, even though she's not being fair. "Lindy-san killed my dad." She squeezes Bryony's hand firmly, as though trying to get rid of some kind of pain that way. It's probably not pleasant for her 'cousin.'

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi looks between Bryony and Nicola and purses her lips. Something is clearly wrong here. She looks incredolous at best, worried at her worst. Yuuno is still there looking up between all three.

She looks over to Nicola as she frowns, eyes widening. "W-what!?"

She asks. She doesn't get a chance to change the topic of conversation- because that'd be kind of rude after dropping that down on the tablet- right? Instead---

"Why!? Why did she do that!?" she asks with wider eyes.

She seems to be running through various points in her head. Lindy doesn't /seem/ like some sort of cold blooded killer-- c-could. There had been a good reason?

Maybe she shouldn't ask that though. That'd be super wrong to-- 'maybe she had a good reason for that'- right?

She still sits there in shock. Yuuno , his ferrety self, merely can only watch at the moment.

Bryony Elan has posed:
    If it hurts, Bryony doesn't show it. She doesn't pull her hand back, nor does her face reveal any sign of discomfort. Maybe she's just made of sterner stuff. More likely, though, given her delicate frame, she's just choosing not to show it.

    "Hey!" she says, her voice lightening, a hint of her usual infectious smile creeping back. "C'mon, guys!" Bryony blurts out. She's trying to be the cheery one, to lift up everyone around her, even in this moment, even as her efforts grow more transparently inappropriate. Why? She doesn't even seem to be sure where to go next herself, stumbling into an awkward silence, only continuing several moments later.

    "We . . . we just met, and we just became friends! We should be happy. I mean, I was really surprised about you and Yuuno, but . . . " She thinks. Her Japanese is starting to get a little more broken, each sentence a little more effortful. She normally talks /a lot/, and she was doing well a few moments ago, but right now, the words aren't coming easily. "But we were really lucky, even about that, right! What were the chances of us meeting? Maybe our magic drew us together, but still . . . we're in the same class, even . . . " She's losing steam. That smile of hers starts to wane, even as she tries to force herself to maintain it.

    Bit by bit, it's replaced with an expression that's a little more lost, maybe even a little desperate. And it starts to become clear, even to the young girls around her, that's maybe this isn't about helping those around her. Maybe it's about her. Maybe she just doesn't want to confront any of this herself. Judging by how hard she's trying to rewind the clock on this conversation, maybe blissful avoidance suited her just fine.

Nicola Esprit has posed:
Nanoha's shock and Bryony's stumbling attempts to cheer the others up do one thing, they make Nicola feel a little guilty about how black and white she painted the situation, and in a way that suits her feels. "I'm not being fair." She mutters in explanation to Nanoha.

"They arrested our parents, and when the Arthra crashed the escape pod they were in got lost, which means they're probably dead." She sighs, finally releasing Bryony's hand, "It's still her responsibility."

Then, with a deep breath, she tries to go along with Bryony's suggested conversational direction. "Bryony is right, I've never really had friends, and even though I don't like why I'm here... at least that's good." She forces a smile, though it's obvious it costs her some effort. "So let's try to be friends?" She takes a bite out off a donut.

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi had a very vivid picture in her head of Linday-san blasting someone with some sort of ridicolous TSAB cannon and vaporizing them because in her head, Linday-san has that. However, when Nicola describes what went on, it makes more sense in her head. Okay--so--when the ship was destroyed- thier escape pod got lost. Sometimes, pieces of the Artha come back into phase and crash. She wonders, if that would happen to the escape pod. There is supposedly, lots of people here on Earth like that.

However, Nanoha keeps this thought to herself as she looks at Bryony and purses her lips. "Hey now..." she says softly. "These things are important. And sometimes you need to talk about things that aren't nice before you can talk about nicer things." she says with a soft smile.

She looks over to Nicola. "Of course we can be friends!" she says wide smile. "Why couldn't we?" she asks. "I'm just worried for you two is all now." she admits softly.

"I don't want you getting in trouble." she admits.

Bryony Elan has posed:
    Bryony lets out a long breath, the look on her face a little easier as normalcy returns to the table. She slides back into her previous, somewhat joking tone. "Well, as long as Jessamine never finds out about this conversation, we should be OK." And then she pauses, smiling again. It's genuine this time, though, a reassuring expression on her face. "You don't need to worry about us. We'll be OK. Things are going to be different this time." A faux bossy look follows, her voice deepening slightly, as if she was aping some adult. "The only feeling I want from you right now is friendship!" But then Bryony thinks of something, her smile twisting into a mischievous grin. "Though if you're /really/ worried, the occasional pastry wouldn't hurt, of cou . . . "

    Her joke is cut off by the ringing of a phone. It's Nicola's. Whoever it is, though, they don't want to speak to the other girl, it seems. Instead, after only a moment of listening, Nicola hands her phone over to Bryony. It becomes clear why only a moment later, as the loud female voice on the other end rather audibly starts to chew Bryony out for leaving her phone at home. Oops. The brown-skinned girl winces a few times, not speaking much, only listening as whoever is talking to her starts to recite prescribed punishments for this particular offense. That would be Jessamine, presumably.

    Looks like she ended up in trouble, anyway! Pray for her.

    But Bryony doesn't actually seem bothered, even if she takes it seriously enough to not blow it off. "Nanoha-chan, we should probably head home." No hesitation with the first name, if she's even aware of that custom. "Thank you, though. For everything."

    The three girls stand, and a few minutes are spent in polite goodbyes, the three exchanging numbers before they go. Bryony remembers her number, at least, even if she forgot her phone. And then they part ways, Nicola and Bryony heading out together through the front door, as the after-school rush starts to finally die down.