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Togusa is listening patiently as he gently reaches out to touch Dante's arm. Best he's got is the first aid training that came with the job, so he can only determine so much, but he'll give it a try. Fingers run along the bones, only the slightest pressure to feel them. Sharply looking for physical bruising.

"You and Sora were helping each other," Togusa emphasizes. "Why is that the part of the memory I'm having the hardest time believing?" Smartass. But he has finally had a longer talk with Sora and understands that just because the two have memories of each other, Sora doesn't give Dante the sort of leeway about his attitude that other people to (Togusa included).

Togusa's fingers stop at a specific point midway along the bone that feels weaker. "Here?"

Dante shrugs, even if he's not quite looking at Togusa while he answers. "Aren't you the one telling me we don't have to be the same people as we're remembering? Apparently the other me was fighting alongside him at some point."

To say nothing of the dual attack they'd both remembered in the convention center... but that would take more time than it's worth to explain right now.

The sharp intake of breath as Togusa presses lightly on a certain spot should be answer enough, but still he nods, brow furrowed. "Yeah. I think that's where they said it was." Ow...

"I'm standing by that, but I'm allowed to think it's funny, too." Togusa comments. "You're not him, he's not you, Sora's not Sora. We can all be in agreement on that one."

Dante gets a cold dog nose bonked against his side in response to the sound he lets out. A tiny whine, and Daisuke's tail thumps lazily against the couch. Somehow the pets can just tell when something is wrong.

"Don't know how bad it was before, but this is definitely bad. Would need to go get it imaged to see if it's a hairline crack." Togusa glances at Dante's face. "The break happened at training, then you got it healed, but not all the way, because haha, Ardyn, no, we know you mean well." Pause. "Can I take a second to point out how strange a sentiment that still is? Not getting used to this."

But back to the point. "So is this a re-injury, or still bad from before?"

Daisuke is best dog. Dante's fingers curl slightly in response to the pain, feeling the coarse fur beneath them. It's something to focus on instead of how it feels like a sharp wire in his arm that the pain seems to follow, and he takes a deep breath as he returns to paying his attention to the pup.

"I don't know how much the break healed in the first place," he admits, glancing Togusa's way. "I don't know if the prof even knows exactly what happened; it was Souji that healed it, not him."

Ardyn's only had a couple chances to notice, if he hadn't been told...

"And it's... a re-injury. I did something pretty dumb."

Togusa is trying to do his best to distract Dante, too, but Daisuke is the pro at this. Togusa nods. "Heard that Souji popped up with the same power set as his brother. I didn't get anything this bad for Yu to handle, though." Togusa frowns in contemplation. "At some point, those two are going to want to know their limits."

Togusa gently lets Dante's arm go, and hops up for a second, disappearing into the bathroom. "Taken anything in the last while?" Still important to keep the inflammation down, even if the cast is going to add the compression.

And then he pokes his head back out, keeping his tone oh-so-casual. "And define pretty dumb?"

"This morning. I'd been planning on stopping at home after classes, so I didn't bring them with me."

Togusa's voice when he asks what Dante did might be casual, but Dante knows better than to trust that. Even though Grell had taken things pretty well in stride, he doesn't expect Togusa to do the same. "I... well, I... dangled a guy by his ankles off the roof of one of the warehouses on the outskirts of town."

There is a very long silence in the bathroom, a palpable pause hanging in the air. It breaks with the sound of water running for an instant, the click of a medicine cabinet and the rattling of pills. Togusa very slowly and deliberately comes back out, one step at a time, with a look on his face that is difficult to read. It's not the probably expected exasperation, nor is it fully any kind of disappointment. Togusa sets the glass of water and pills down on the coffee table, and tilts his head to the side, as if continuing to ponder his words.

"...Why?" Quiet, but very drawn out, and almost amused on the end of it. Because, if there's anything that Togusa has started to figure out, it's that Dante's stories are going to contain an element of the ridiculous.

He was expecting that. Honestly, how do you respond to that, especially if you're the type of guy that always plays by the rules like Togusa does?

Dante waits until Togusa comes back out, hoping to get a sense of the other man's response from his face, but it's uncharacteristically tough to read, though neither is it worrying.

So he explains: "There's this girl on the network, Ayano. She's new this month. I think... she thought all of this was a game at first. A guy I know started giving her shit on the network post from Wendy, but she wouldn't believe him when he was yelling at her about how she was a nobody and nobody cared about her. She got it in her head the two of them were supposed to be rivals, even though he was getting more and more worked up and angry."

There's a pause as Dante remembers--he'd told her that Malik was harmless then. Maybe he bears a little bit of the blame for her getting hurt, too.

"Yesterday she was looking for makeup help to try and hide a black eye. She was trying to say that she'd walked into something, but I know a black eye when I see one. She didn't want to tell me who it was, but I got her to tell me it was a guy on the network. He'd been trying to convince her how bad a person he was and Ayano tried to call his bluff by telling him to hit her as hard as he could."

Needless to say, Malik had done it.

"That's why."

Togusa’s expression loses the slight amused curiosity when Dante says the girl’s name. “Tateyama?” he clarifies, but falls silent again to listen. He gives a small, very slow and deliberate nod when Dante mentions the network post. There is a tension to his gaze and the grip of his left hand. It was impossible to not know what that post was really about.

Togusa slides the glass of water a little closer to Dante to make sure that it’s within his reach when he’s done. He takes out a very long calming breath through his nose before he can get his speech back to himself.

“Thank you.” Pause. “Because I doubt she’s going to.” He glances at Dante sideways. “He under eighteen?” That makes things more difficult. His voice gets a little distant and analytical. “Was banking on it being somebody from school. You don’t talk about it publicly if it’s somebody closer than that, close friend or family. If it’s another kid? Can’t step in unless it gets reported in school decides that they want to treat it as a criminal assault and all that ridiculous red tape.”

Togusa moves back to the couch and sits back down with a deep sigh. “Crappy part about being a cop. When you know somebody’s doing something but you can’t get the victim to speak up about it. Not officially allowed to do anything, and that’s the exact point that even good cops stop walking the line.” Another tight frown. “But there are things I just can’t abide anyway.”

“I wouldn’t have helped matters.” Togusa looks at Dante straight on. “Do you think you actually did?” He holds up a hand. “This is not a lecture question, this is a ‘how did the guy react’ question.”

Edited (Shhhh I only pasted my post you saw no math notes there ) 2017-09-28 21:41 (UTC)

"Probably not," Dante admits. Even though Malik's never really let him in, he can recognize enough of his own pain in the other boy's behavior to make some guesses. "He's the kind of guy that's got a chip on his shoulder and he doesn't want to take it off. He blames the rest of the world for the shit he does and then gets pissed off when there are consequences. I wouldn't be surprised if he thinks it's Ayano's fault he punched her. But I've been talking to him for a while now, trying to get him to figure it out. So... maybe it'll make him think about it for once."

Probably not, to be honest, but Dante couldn't just let Malik off without getting any sort of comeuppance for that.

Togusa snorts. “Believe me, you dont have to explain the type.” There’s a bitterness to his tone. “They pick their victims carefully, convince her it’s her own fault, convince himself the same thing. Like two seconds of control was too much for him.” He visibly sneers in disgust.

“If you’re worried it’ll escalate, then keep an eye on him. Best thing to do is not keep quiet about it. Social punishment can work better than one guy with a badge. Especially in high school. Dangling him from a rooftop might be more fun,” Togusa concedes. “And somebody should keep an eye on Tateyama, herself. He plays the victim card, it can make things worse.” Togusa’s mouth forms a tight line. “Seen this play out before.”

If Togusa's snorting, so is Dante. "You're giving him too much credit," he says, shaking his head. "He doesn't pick his victims; he just lashes out at whoever's nearest at the time. Malik's not the kind of guy to put that much thought into things."

Yes, Malik, Dante's dropping the name.

"I don't think he'll care if people tried to ostracize him for it. That'd only tie back into the complex he's got about the rest of the world being against him." He shakes his head again. "He'll ignore anything that doesn't fit in with that mindset."

Noted. Hmm. Oh, that was the kid who helped bring James in. ~~AWKWARD~~. That was Togusa’s only knowledge about the guy, though, so he couldn’t make a judgement call one way or the other.

Togusa shakes his head at Dante. “Not about getting through to him, it’s about minimizing his opportunities to do this to somebody else. Guy with a big enough victim complex will find reasons to decide that the world hates him. Damage control is the name of the game.”

Togusa exaggeratedly shrugs. “I dont know, get him some help, and maybe he calms the hell down when he’s gotten a little older. That starts with a social setup that keeps too much of an eye on him to try this again.”

"And how do you do that? He's in foster care."

Dante leans forward with another slight wince, reaching for the pills and water Togusa brought out. Might as well go ahead and take those, since he doubts Togusa would let him refuse (and it's just medicine, it's not that big a deal).

"I don't think he'd go, either."

Togusa leans back in his seat. "That actually sets him up with more of a chance to make it mandatory. Foster care, under 18, he'll still be associated with a social worker, even if he's in someone's home. He gets sent back to a group home situation, same thing applies."

"If you're still concerned, the person you might want to float this whole situation past is Tatsuo. CSI, so he doesn't have to act if you tell him things, but he's also personally familiar with the foster system in Recolle."

Togusa pauses. "What do you want me to do and not do about this? I'll trust you on this and respect your wishes and not butt in to a case that would probably be handled by the school, unless you did want me to get involved."

"Maybe I'll ask him."

Dante frowns, leaning back against the couch, going back to Daisuke. "I don't know. Mostly I wanted to see what someone else thought about the arm. It's been sore ever since last night, and I didn't want to ask Grell or the prof. I thought Grell would be mad at me, and the prof..." he shrugs. Togusa already covered that one. No.

"I think..." He lifts his good hand, turning it over to look at his palm. "I don't think I can make that choice. It was Ayano he hit, not me. If she doesn't want to make a case out of it, I can't force her to do it. I can't take away her choice like that."

If he did... would that make him any better than Ansem? Than the man, the force that had been controlling him? He's experienced what it's like to have one's agency taken away, what it's like to feel all your control being wrenched from your grasp. It might be a different situation, but there's still a similarity that prickles worryingly at the base of his neck.

"Grell cares about you. Ardyn cares about you, too, but he'd do something dumb in response. I will actually advise that you show this to Grell anyway, but I'm not gonna rat you out to make you do it. I just can't tell the difference between 'bone bruise' which would be nothing, and 'hairline fracture' which would need some more care. Any yelling out of Grell would be the 'because you scared me, Dante' yelling."

Togusa closes his eyes and nods at Dante's words. Difference between him and Dante, even when there are times where Togusa wants to leave the choice in someone else's hands, is that sometimes the job says to do differently. "Then be her friend. Be there for her. Step in if you think she actually is in physical danger again. Get her other friends in on it, so she doesn't meet with that asshole alone again. But otherwise, the best you can do is open the door for her, she has to walk through it."

"But I'll keep out of it unless she comes to me. Promise." Holds up his hand in a mock-salute.

"I know they do." Dante's voice is soft as he answers, eyes still cast downward. "Believe me, I know."

If there's one thing he's come out of last month understanding, it's how much the people around him apparently care for him. He still doesn't understand exactly why, but it's not something that he can change--or that, perhaps selfishly, he would want to.

"Thanks, Togusa. I'll try and watch out for her where I can, but there were a lot of people on that post calling her bluff. I think she'll have a lot of people trying to make sure it doesn't happen again."

For a moment he falls silent, but then Dante shrugs, looking over toward Togusa. "They both found out about it, anyways," he says. "Retrospec decided to send part of my text to Grell, and I messed up and texted the prof instead of Ananth. They wouldn't leave me alone until I told them what happened. ...I already promised Grell I'd go over to her place and let her check it out later."

Togusa says nothing for a moment, he'll let that sink in. He's already said before that he is a part of that group, it doesn't need repeating. That reason is undoubtedly why Dante chose to come here when he did need someone.

Togusa nods in understanding. She's got a good network of people, it's not just on the two of them. "All right."

The corner of his mouth curls up in amusement. "Of course it did. You know, sometimes I think that the mis-sends are a little too intentional, like Maurice or Joanne has their hand on the button instead of it just being random." A pause. "I sincerely doubt they'll give you a hard time over it, though. If you're expecting a lecture out of any of the three of us for putting the fear of god into a guy who decided to slap around a woman, keep waiting."

"It's more the taking off the cast to use both hands that I think they'll lecture me over," Dante says wryly. "Though... I don't think any misfire could be worse than Fynn getting the idea I was trying to get into Anya's pants."

That had been the worst ever.

That brings a roar of laughter out of Togusa, throwing his head back. "Wow. Nope, that wins it. Oh, you've gotten the best ones out of me. Better than John 'thinking of me in a skirt.' I didn't even ask who he was aiming for on that one."

"If that's winning it, I don't think I want to," Dante shoots back, shaking his head. He's going to go ahead and slide the cotton sleeve back onto his arm while he continues, "Anya's still underage. It could've been really bad if I hadn't been able to screencap how it cut what I was saying off."

But apparently he and Fynn have made some sort of progress, because Fynn had believed him...

"But are you really telling me the worst misfire you had was that picture of your friend going to me?"

How is that even fair...?

“I mean- nothing...else...blackmail-worthy.” But you know there was that other thing...

Togusa sighs and looks away, but it’s an amused grumble, not actually embarrassed. “Fynn’s got to be the magnet for this stuff, because I was asking for advice on whether or not to ask Gentiana out for lunch. Just as friends. And it ended up in his phone. Whoops.”

“I asked her,” quiet, a tiny smile that fades quickly. “Just keeping as friends,” he repeats. “I dont even know if we had anything to label as not-friends before she dropped off the app.” He reaches up and scratches at the back of his neck in that way he does when he’s nervous. “But I’m not walking away from her.”

Ah. For a moment, Dante doesn't know whether he envies Togusa or not--on the one hand, Gentiana is still here, still someone he might pursue. But at the same time, it's just as hard on Togusa as it is on him that their chosen people don't remember anything that they ought to--it's a losing situation either way.

"That's good," he says, reaching for the cast so he can put it back on too. And he means it. "We shouldn't have to leave all the people we care about behind. They can't ask us to do that after everything else they're putting us through."

Togusa absently nods, he knows this has to be a touchy subject with everyone. They've all lost people in some way or another. "I-" He's still clearly embarrassed about it to a degree. "I think I'm going into this with the right mentality. I wasn't going to feel comfortable expecting something that shouldn't be anymore."

"But they're still a part of our lives. The lives here that matter more than what Retrospec has in mind." A more firm nod that time.

He glances at Dante. "Sorry. I guess, sorry I couldn't be of more help all around."

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