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[ At some point, she should ask Midorima and he'll tell her about tea ceremonies and traditional Japanese tea. But she's right, what he's going to get served is definitely not traditional Japanese tea.

But he doesn't think much about the tea, since Weiss is suddenly talking about Ruby. It's a little jarring, since she doesn't usually bring up her team unless there's a reason to. He doesn't see the reason to right now. ]

Why wouldn't she just drink something else entirely then?

[ She has a reason for even bringing her up!!! Not that she'd openly say it or anything. ]

Because she can't exactly stay awake past 10 in the evening without it.

[ It's their drinks that arrive first. Weiss pours some milk in her coffee before setting it back down on the table. ]

Do you take your tea with honey?

Does she need to stay up that late?

[ Get bedtime, Ruby. ]

It's fine as is if it's well made. There's a difference between liking sweets and hiding a flavor with it.

She slept early here, but back home, she would stay up late sometimes to study.

[ So did she, really, but that's normal for anybody who wants to keep their grades up.

There's some honey served along with milk and sugar. The latter are for the coffee, while the honey is for the tea. Weiss doesn't mind sharing the milk, though. She prefers her coffee black. ]

[ That makes more sense to him. He's still not sure why she's wanting to talk about Ruby so much when she usually doesn't bring it up, but as he recognizes the change in tense from present to past, he thinks he has an idea. He might be dense at detecting feelings, but he's a smart cookie when it comes to problem-solving. That's not nearly enough to go off of to really make a decent conclusion though. ]

If she does squats it'll be a healthier way to wake herself up. It's why it's recommend to only stretch before bed, not exercise. Stretching releases tension and makes it easier to sleep, exercising releases endorphins and increase blood flow, which in turn wakes you up. I've made Takao do them when he gets bored with studying or starts drifting off.

And I'll be sure she knows that whenever I see her again.

[ It's not that she's mad at Midorima for the way he's responding or anything. She's just cranky because her partner is gone.

The crepes arrive next. Since it's just butter and sugar, the presentation isn't really all that to admire. It's a light snack more than anything savoury. Seeing as Weiss can only use one hand, she concentrates on the knife and fork on her side of the table and embeds some of her calm into it. Slowly, the fork and knife begin to float just a few centimetres away from the table and begin to slice her crepe into small bites. ]

[ He finally takes a sip of his tea, watching her carefully as he confirms that yes, Ruby is gone. He doesn't really know how this works. No one he's been particularly close to has disappeared. However, most of the time he may not care about social decorum that doesn't suit him, but he isn't going to use this as an opportunity to learn. That's not why Weiss asked him here. ]

It sounds like you should make a list of things to tell her when she gets back. That's what I'm doing for Takao when he stops slacking around and gets here.

[ A clear list of things Takao should've been here for obviously. And then he'll burn it so Takao can never know he cares. :) ]

[ She smiles against her cup of coffee before setting it down. She could do that, really. There isn't time back in Remnant to do fun things anymore. They hold the responsibility of keeping their world safe, after all. It's all work and no play. ]

Takao is your leader?

[ She could use other terms like partner or best friend, but like hell will she say the latter out loud. Partner is a lot easier to say, but Ruby is first and foremost her leader. ]

He's more like my man-servant.

[ Neither is technically correct. Partner or best friend is also more correct for Midorima and Takao as it is Ruby and Weiss, but. God forbid. ]

[ Woah! Sorry, Prince Arthur.

Weiss just arches a brow in disbelief. ]

You have a manservant.

A willingly unpaid one.

[ That sounds even worse, somehow, so he elaborates. ]

Takao drives me around in a rear car with his bike, carries my things occasionally [ lucky items ], assists me in my tasks and goals, always has back-up tape and anything else I need, and brings me food and drink from time to time. He watches Oha Asa for Cancer if he can catch it [ and probably thinks Midorima doesn't notice that, but he seems to always know when to bring the rear car in the mornings without being asked if it's a big item ] and specializes in passing to me when we play basketball.

[ He pushes up his glasses. Basically Takao is a really good friend who's always there for him, is what he's saying. ]

I take him most places with me, even if he can be a pest. Man-servant seems the best descriptor.

[ At first, Weiss feels a bit annoyed that Midorima seems so spoiled that he has a person doing all these things for him. He's an able body and he can walk on his own and carry his own things. The more he talks, though, she feels like there's some fondness when he speaks and the irritation wanes.

She might not enjoy calling people friends to their faces, but she can do so behind their backs! :) ]

It sounds like he's a good friend.

[ She'll just leave that there and take a bite of her crepe. ]

[ How does he manage to sound irritated when he responds to that? Midorima looks off to the side, setting the cup down as he responds and starting to cut into his own crepe. ]

Obviously, but he'd never shut up about it if he even thought I said as much.

Oh.

[ Okay. She sympathises. ]

That sounds familiar.

Is yours like that too?

[ Look he's calling Weiss by her first name, he's not going to call Ruby by hers and he doesn't know her last name. Throw him a bone here. Ruby will go unnamed until he gets a last name to call her. ]

Most irritatingly so.

[ She loves you Ruby, really. ]

But, the house is going to be a lot more quiet without her around. It'll take some time to get used to.

I never lived with Takao, but for the first few months here the thing that bothered me more than anything was how quiet it was all the time.

[ it's something he thought he would appreciate, but he actually kind of hates it. He's sorry Weiss is going to have to face that. He takes a bite of the crepe to try to focus on the sweet. He doesn't want to miss Takao. It's a little late for that though, and he can do it to let Weiss know she isn't alone. ]

Do you know anybody who's gone home?

[ Since he got here, she means. She's been here for almost two years so a lot of her friends have come and gone. It kinda sucks

... it sucks. A lot. It's a miracle she hasn't withdrawn and stopped getting to know people. ]

I know of a few people, but no one I'm close to.

[ Midorima doesn't get close to a lot of people easily. Especially since he's already seen that there are people around him who have and they've lost people very close to him. ]

Have you gone through it a lot?

I've been here for a year and ten months. I don't know that many people nowadays because the ones I knew have gone.

[ That is a yes, and it sucks! She misses a lot of her friends, but she wouldn't wish it on anyone to be here, unless their circumstances at home were different. ]

I guess you could say I called you out here to see if you were still around.

[ Midorima, meanwhile, feels that Takao should be here. It isn't as though he doesn't understand that Takao would miss his family and his other friends, his life, but Midorima is selfish. If they're going through something they should be going through it together. He knows this isn't something he should think, but he can't exactly deny he does.

It does comfort him a little to know that Weiss wanted to make sure he was still here, but he's also aware that's another selfishness of his. ]

It takes more than the whims of a strange world to get rid of me.

[ As if he has any control over that.. he sure sounds confident though. ]

It almost sounds like you like being here, Shintarou.

[ And that's funny, actually. She can't help but giggle, but she covers it up fairly quickly with the back of her hand before she takes another bite of her crepe. ]

I wouldn't say that.

[ That's not necessarily a tsuntsun comment either. He misses playing basketball, he misses his family and his friends and his life. However.. ]

For now, I think this is where I need to be. Perhaps thinking so makes it more bearable to have my life disrupted in impossible ways, but I think there's a reason I'm here, now.

[ That's a good way of thinking about things. She nods in agreement. ]

This world needs help. I don't know what yours is like, but this one needs restoring and from the looks of it, Otherworlders are needed for it.

[ That wasn't what he meant, but it's fine. His supposed reason is something he doesn't really want to talk about. ]

It won't hurt to work toward that while I'm here. [ He won't confirm or deny that, just take a bite of his crepes. At least Weiss has good taste, these crepes are pretty tasty. ]

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