[ There are no non-sequitors in conversations with Akechi. There is always a thread of logic connecting his shifts in topics – only sometimes it's fishing wire, invisible to the naked eye, pulled taut by some unseen hand.
Maruki considers the implication between his prompt and Akechi's response. What it might mean as an oblique answer. He'll be considering it for a very long time.
But the invitation itself, he doesn't need to think twice about. ]
Oh? Sure, I'd be happy to have someone to go with again.
[ Simple, sincere. He really does mean it.
Their overall goals might be shrouded from one another, but at the moment there is one shared: To leave this place, to rip through the layers of cognitive plane after cognitive plane until they can return to their own reality. Everything they do here is in service of that, and is shared with one another in a mutual interest to see their plan succeed.
Maruki has thought several times over the past months that it's probably a stupid, vanishing hope that this strange friendship might continue once they achieve their goal. Akechi has his celebrity image to maintain. A job as a detective. Surely a path laid out for university. Their paths would never have crossed without the manipulative intervention of Somnius. They've both vowed not to forget a single moment of this place, yet there would be no reason for them to carry on a bond forged because of it.
Objectively, he knows all of this. But when it's held up against the notion of returning home and letting their friendship be lost to the vagaries of life in Tokyo, it hurts. Plainly, and deeply. A blade slid between his ribs. It would hurt to let this sort of understanding, respect and trust drop away, nothing to replace it. It would hurt to lose Akechi.
The invitation has more meaning to it than he can discern at the moment. But if nothing else, it is at the very least confirmation that no, even after they slip between realities, their bond will not be lost.
Maruki smiles at him, nothing less than genuine in its warmth. ]
killing you with hammers
Maruki considers the implication between his prompt and Akechi's response. What it might mean as an oblique answer. He'll be considering it for a very long time.
But the invitation itself, he doesn't need to think twice about. ]
Oh? Sure, I'd be happy to have someone to go with again.
[ Simple, sincere. He really does mean it.
Their overall goals might be shrouded from one another, but at the moment there is one shared: To leave this place, to rip through the layers of cognitive plane after cognitive plane until they can return to their own reality. Everything they do here is in service of that, and is shared with one another in a mutual interest to see their plan succeed.
Maruki has thought several times over the past months that it's probably a stupid, vanishing hope that this strange friendship might continue once they achieve their goal. Akechi has his celebrity image to maintain. A job as a detective. Surely a path laid out for university. Their paths would never have crossed without the manipulative intervention of Somnius. They've both vowed not to forget a single moment of this place, yet there would be no reason for them to carry on a bond forged because of it.
Objectively, he knows all of this. But when it's held up against the notion of returning home and letting their friendship be lost to the vagaries of life in Tokyo, it hurts. Plainly, and deeply. A blade slid between his ribs. It would hurt to let this sort of understanding, respect and trust drop away, nothing to replace it. It would hurt to lose Akechi.
The invitation has more meaning to it than he can discern at the moment. But if nothing else, it is at the very least confirmation that no, even after they slip between realities, their bond will not be lost.
Maruki smiles at him, nothing less than genuine in its warmth. ]
Thanks. It's a plan.