...
And it was just as Theo suspected, once again Cappie was just having fun at his expense, showing off that cheeky, infectious humor of his that didn't seem to have an off switch.
"Sigh..."
He sighed, massaging his temple with two fingers, as if trying to ward off an imaginary headache. But deep down, he didn't even care. It was exasperating, yes, but also strangely endearing, this side of her.
Even though he had never played "MiSide" or gotten to know the Cappie character inside out. Theo, in these few interactions, had already noticed so striking traits in her.
She wasn't just a bright, effervescent, radiant figure who seed to light up any room she entered with her energy. No, she was also, without a doubt, a born provocateur. The kind who used ambiguous, double entendre jokes whenever the occasion allowed, and sotis even when it didn't. She was a natural.
'She had inexhaustible energy and, of course, a rather dubious sense of humor. That's why so many liked her.'
Where others saw only a funny, radiant and adorably captivating girl, Theo saw sothing more.
'She's clueless, that's what she is.'
She might have been raised by soone else, but that doesn't an she wasn't clueless, since even though she doesn't know Theo completely, she's here, using insinuating words with him.
'This girl must really think I'm like most people...'
But that didn't matter. Let her think. In the end, she'll be the one surprised.
In view of this, Theo decided to change the subject, or rather to keep the sa subject, but in a more inquisitive direction. He had doubts, lots of them. And if there was anyone who could start to clear them up, it was her.
"Hey... What was the real reason you didn't show up for from the start?
She blinked, surprised by the sudden change in tone.
"Because, honestly, I didn't believe that story. To say that beings capable of creating systems, capable of granting incredible powers, simply forgot to send you here, seems very convenient, to say the least. You know that."
"..."
Cappie looked away, a rare mont in which her smile disappeared completely.
As he thought, she really was hiding sothing. Sothing that must have been the real reason she hadn't co earlier.
"Mita... I'm your host, right?"
Theo asked, getting up from his chair and pulling her with him as he approached her.
"Don't tell my system is hiding things from . I thought you could be trusted."
She widened her eyes, her voice trembling imdiately afterwards:
"N-no! I would never hide anything from you! I swear!"
"Hm. Of course not."
He replied, placing the chair next to her and sitting down.
She swallowed. Her shoulders, so loose and relaxed, were now tense and hunched.
"Eh... that... Promise you won't laugh?"
Theo arched an eyebrow, surprised by the change in attitude. For the first ti, Cappie looked embarrassed.
"It depends. Does it involve you doing sothing stupid, or... sothing dangerous?"
She bit her lower lip, hesitating, as if debating with herself.
"I... I failed... And I had to take a retest."
Theo blinked. Once, twice. And then he tilted his head slightly, as if he wasn't sure he'd heard correctly.
"Wait..."
He began, his voice slurred.
"Are you telling that my system failed a test? Like... you?"
Cappie covered her face with both hands, clearly embarrassed.
"It's not what it looks like!"
She muttered through her fingers.
"It was a misunderstanding! I just, I just got too carried away, okay? I was VERY anxious to finally start working alongside you."
She took her hands away from her face and looked at him, her eyes a little watery, but not from sadness, it was pure embarrassnt.
"Go on..."
"I... I got the square root of 64 wrong."
This ti, Cappie pulled the brim of her cap down, trying to cover her face from the sha she felt.
Theo froze.
"...What?"
Cappie cringed even more, like a child caught up in mischief.
No, no... Theo's surprise wasn't that Cappie got a simple math answer wrong, but that there was an assessnt of this kind before it beca a system.
Theo stared at her for a few seconds in absolute silence. Then he shook his head in complete disbelief.
"You failed because you got eight wrong. The square root of sixty-four. Which is eight."
"I know!"
She scread, throwing her hands up in the air, her face ablaze with sha.
on fire with sha.
"I know! And the worst thing is, I never learned anything like that, okay. When I was in the ga, I never had to use sothing called math. And they still have the nerve to say that a system that struggles with basic calculations can't be trusted to be at its host's side."
"Poof."
Theo turned his face away.
Cappie stared at him uncomprehendingly.
"Hahaha!"
Cappie's eyes widened.
"Aye! I wasn't supposed to laugh! You promised!"
Theo was already laughing out loud, holding his stomach, as if he couldn't contain it.
"Sorry, sorry..."
He said, taking a deep breath.
"It's just... you failing because of that is so surprising. I thought you'd done sothing. But it never occurred to that you needed to take a graduation exam."
Cappie snorted, crossing his arms.
"Hmph. That's great. Now even my host thinks I'm a joke..."
"No, it's not that."
Theo replied, a smile still on the corner of his lips.
"My system is really unique, and really cute."
Cappie blinked, once, twice. Then, slowly, his eyes rolled up, as if he had just received an electric shock straight to the heart.
"I-I'm what?"
For a mont, Cappie simply froze. Her face, which had already reddened with embarrassnt, now looked like it was about to burst into flas. She put her hands to her cheeks, trying to hide her completely bewildered expression.
"You can't just say that out of the blue! I have a heart! A core! An unstable emotional system, okay?"
"That's exactly why it's funny.
Theo replied, squeezing her cheek.
"A system that's flawed in mathematics, emotionally sensitive and gets all flustered by a complint. There's no way you could be more different than I expected. And I'm really enjoying it."
She let out a strange sound, between a choked sigh and a wheeze, and stepped back, almost falling off her chair.
"Did you pinch my cheek?!"
Theo just nodded, as he propped up his chair, which was falling backwards.
"Yes... That's paynt for you teasing early on."
"Was that retaliation?!"
She put her hand to her chest, as if she had been unforgivably offended.
"Abuse of power! Hostility! I have rights, you know! There's a code of conduct!"
Theo arched an eyebrow, leaning forward a little with a debauched smile.
"Oh yeah? Then call the systems union. Let's see if they'll accept a mber who failed math."
Cappie gasped, scandalized.
"You're racking up lawsuits, Host! Harassnt suits! And I'm going to open them all!"
But despite her words, there was a mischievous gleam in her eyes, the kind of gleam that gave away how much she was enjoying the exchange, much more than she'd like to admit.
Theo just smiled.
"That's nice. Because, honestly? I hope you get to tease a lot."
Cappie froze again.
"I'm going to crash. I swear, I'm going to crash right here, and it's going to be your fault!"
Theo rolled his eyes. Only an idiot wouldn't realize that you're a human just like everyone else.
"Right... Do it."
Theo got up and walked towards his room to change. It was about ti he went to find Yeonha.
...
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