Communication goes both ways. If I recall, you hadn't wanted to do anything with me when I found you in the gardens. Should I have expected you'd be thrilled by the news shortly after?
[Don't make him pin the blame, Azul. It won't be pretty for either of them.]
[Unfortunately, Leona makes a very good point: Azul would probably be just as pissed somehow by the news even if Leona had told him so much sooner. So for a moment, Azul struggles for a bit, trying to think of how to respond to this.]
I didn't message you sooner after that gala because I was trying to avoid the very thing you accused me of earlier, of hounding you about something you wouldn't want to talk about.
But I didn't think that I wouldn't be hearing from you at all for a whole month, and it being because of something that feels like the kind of news I do think is worth telling people about a lot sooner than either of you did.
[If this had been a verbal conversation, Azul probably would have been audibly struggling for a second with his response to that.]
That's different.
[Is it though? Is it really?]
Besides, what happened at the gala... it had nothing to do with you back there, so there was no reason for you to feel obligated to help.
[A lie he can get away with telling, because it's not like Leona had actually heard Azul talking to himself before walking up on him having the stupidest pity party imaginable, right--]
[It might be hard to tell what tone Azul is asking this with because of being text rather than voice, but given how fast he replied rather than the pause like before, it seems that Azul is in fact paying very close attention now...]
[There's a bit of a lengthy pause. Leona doesn't even say this to Ruggie, and that's the person closest to him. Almost as if saying the word itself makes him allergic.
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[Don't make him pin the blame, Azul. It won't be pretty for either of them.]
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I didn't message you sooner after that gala because I was trying to avoid the very thing you accused me of earlier, of hounding you about something you wouldn't want to talk about.
But I didn't think that I wouldn't be hearing from you at all for a whole month, and it being because of something that feels like the kind of news I do think is worth telling people about a lot sooner than either of you did.
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Would it be so difficult to believe I hadn't wanted to reach out first considering how you've practically batted me away when I attempted to help you?
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That's different.
[Is it though? Is it really?]
Besides, what happened at the gala... it had nothing to do with you back there, so there was no reason for you to feel obligated to help.
[A lie he can get away with telling, because it's not like Leona had actually heard Azul talking to himself before walking up on him having the stupidest pity party imaginable, right--]
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[He's not going to mention him overhearing everything.]
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Azul is typing...
... Azul is still fucking typing until finally settling on--]
Why do you even care? Like I said, it had nothing to do with you.
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... What?]
You actually think that we are friends?
[It might be hard to tell what tone Azul is asking this with because of being text rather than voice, but given how fast he replied rather than the pause like before, it seems that Azul is in fact paying very close attention now...]
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[Well, that reaction is pretty telling.]
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and then
Leona's phone starts ringing, Azul's name on the caller ID, and should he choose to answer...]
... Do you actually mean that? That you consider me a friend here?
[His voice is quiet, and somehow manages to not convey any particular emotion just yet.
Apparently Azul wants to actually hear Leona say it. Can't be satisfied with just seeing the words being vaguely implied in text.]
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I don't say words I don't mean.
[Does he really need to hear Leona say it?]
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[He knows. He knows that, and yet...]
But can you... just humor me this one time, and actually say it anyway?
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[There's a bit of a lengthy pause. Leona doesn't even say this to Ruggie, and that's the person closest to him. Almost as if saying the word itself makes him allergic.
Then, there's a sigh.]
Weren't we friends?