[WEEK 5: SATURDAY, POST-TRIAL: Lucina]

[she doesn't care. why should she? she knows how this ends. she knows how it's always ended. she opens her heart to someone, and is a disappointment enough for them to cast her aside or leave her]

[she doesn't know why this place would be any different]

[. . . and yet, this evening after the trial, her feet guide her without input from her brain. she checks their mutual hut first-- nothing. she wanders for some time, weaving in and out of the wicker houses]

[until she finds herself at Bellamy's hut. she doesn't know why she didn't try here first, honestly. . . she knows how close the two are, how close they remain, despite the exchanged glances at trial]

Lucina?

[no dramatics. no theatrics. no cheer or usual peppiness. just Magilou, searching for her partner, and totally not because she actually cares or anything like that]

[WEEK 5, SATURDAY POST-TRIAL: Akira]

[it's late. extremely late, well after Magilou has spoken to Lief and Lucina-- the only other two people on the island she wanted to see. honesty, some part of her debates just locking herself up in her hut for the night and not even bothering with Akira. . . she can still feel the frustration bubbling in her stomach, can still feel the way that fear freezes her heart in her chest and makes her want to throw herself into the ocean and never resurface. these emotions are so unfamiliar, and she still isn't quite sure how to deal with them beyond running]

[. . . but maybe, some distant part of her knows better. she hasn't run yet. she can't run now]

[she walks, hands linked behind her back, expression blank, down the dark beach towards where he stands. she sidles up next to him-- her approach isn't exactly quiet-- but otherwise. . . she says nothing, nor does she reach for him. not yet]