[attr="class","mouths1"]Now, he didn’t want to admit he was a stickler.
...He was a stickler, though.

While he hadn’t been completely sure about whether or not he had always been one prior to his memory loss, the fact of the matter that he was rather picky and slightly judgmental when it came to the details of matters. Set up a time and place for an outing or meeting, and he expected whoever he made the aforementioned plans with to be punctual about it- more so if it was for something along the lines of ‘professional’. It was a habit of his to judge before meeting someone - as he was fully aware that, sometimes, routines often gave hints about a person’s general demeanor, but weren’t always accurate evidence for assumptions - but as he took note of the time a small while afterwards with little means of telling the whereabouts of the person he was supposed to meet, he breathed a subtle sigh under his breath while leaning back into his chair. Of course, he’d still be as casual as possible when she arrived, and would be generally approachable unless given a reason not to be, but still. ...If he had to be absolutely honest, he’d say that the first impressions he was getting weren’t the best.

It was subtle, but still.

So, he scanned through his texts one last time; taking note of the lack of response as of that moment, and breathing a second sigh while thinking matters over. At some point, he brought it upon himself to stand and slide his chair back. His shake was dwindling, and he figured he’d need something else to tide him over, so he left a few of his lesser belongings at the table as a signal saying that he was still using it before returning to the line within. He waited accordingly and placed his order; soon coming back with another shake, instead. Matcha, or - for the less cultured - green tea, complete with the corresponding flavor of ice cream atop it. Something more subtle in sweetness, as that was the kind of thing that was right up his alley. By the time that he was beginning to walk back outside, he began to take a sip from it, but glanced down as he felt a rumble within his pocket again. Like earlier, he took his phone out and unlocked the screen before looking through his messages, and couldn’t help but to furrow his brows at the latest, belated message.

...What’s that supposed to mean…?

Such was the thought that slipped through his mind as he walked along, but the moment that he so much as caught sight of the outdoor area yet again, he - much like some of the other customers - found his gaze drifting towards a specific individual as she stood. ...It was an odd thing, because he took one look at her, and immediately felt like he was in some sort of romance movie where someone was waiting at a terminal for however long with a sign to let their long distance partner know where they were. Again, odd, but that was his immediate connection.

At first, he only spared her a glance for sake of respect and subtleties, but he couldn’t help but take another look from the corner of his eye when he was closer- and it was then that he found himself staring a bit more to let the message sink in. He took little more than a moment to read the words and connect it to the text, and he ended up smiling beneath the mask he wore.

His gaze lifted to eye her with a touch of pensiveness before gently tapping the corner of the board with his new drink. ”...You weren’t lying when you said I’d know when I saw~,” he mused with a quiet chuckle.

[attr="class","mouths1"]...She knew him?

His approachable front had remained intact all throughout the time that his eyes laid upon her form; glancing towards the surrounding objects and scenery once every rare occasion as he waited for some form of response within an instinctive manner, though returning his gaze towards her once more before long as he waited within a subtle sense of anticipation. As truthfully peeved as he was, he would have been lying if he said that the act alone - however subtly risky as it may have been, considering the context of their meeting, to begin with - refrained from lightening the impression that he had ended up garnering from her; what with the late appearance that he himself would never forget, though an appearance that could at least be redeemed with other qualities such as the...odd sense of humor that she exhibited in the form of her obvious jests to gain his own attention. The gesture amused him, so that counted for something- even if it was within smaller, barely accountable amounts. It amused him enough to have at least a sliver more of patience while awaiting her own response towards his greeting; however, once he took note of the rather swift shift within her demeanor as soon as it had surfaced, he found the smile - still hidden beneath the sanctity of his mask - faltering the faintest bit out of concern and curiosity. His head tilted out of absentminded habit as a means to express his curiosity, and although he found himself with a desire to inquire further, he instead found his body moving prior to his mind; crimson voids trailing after the marker within her grasp, and his free hand shooting out upon pure reflex to catch it long before it would have hit the ground beneath them.

Gaze lingering, and mind processing; he eyed the writing utensil for but a moment or two before giving it a gentle spin within his grasp and taking care to lift his eyes to focus upon hers once more. With the initial intention to hold it out for her in order to give her the chance to rightfully take it back from him, he quirked his lip softly before lingering within his own mind and thoughts first goal of inquiring upon the sudden change within her demeanor, as well to voice his own, curious concern before her as a means of ensuring her safety, on top of gently attempting to gain some type of answer to the questions that surfaced within his head as a result of the sudden development. Rather than finding himself coming forth with his own words of question, however, he found himself briefly silenced with a single one of her own.

Even despite the fact that they had a mutual pool of connections that quite possibly allowed names to dwindle here and there, the fact of the matter had been that she...called him by his name. Not his alias, but his actual, given name, even if he himself had never so much as given to her through any willing or knowing means. Maybe she just did her own digging before the meeting? Maybe she got a couple tips from a couple other connections in the revolution. Maybe there was some extra knowledge that she happened to have, and that he might uncover in the near future, but...nevertheless, there was something about what she said. ...How she said it?

...No. No, it was her voice.
...Or was it her look?

Following the uttering of his own calling despite their lack of formal introduction, he peered upon her with a touch of thoughtfulness within his eyes; continuously holding the marker out to her without quite realizing the fact that his hand had lingered for quite a while beforehand, and thus opting to slowly set it down upon the table next to them instead after a while. The aforementioned hand found its way into his pocket, and as he held his drink within the remaining, he eyed her with a subtle bit more pensiveness. With more time taken to take her into account, the more he felt some form of...familiarity. Similar to the type he felt towards a few other people he happened to come across fairly recently, within the last few months. Their faces and voices - much like hers - seemed foreign to him, though not completely. Albeit, they had been the ones to continue talking to him after hearing his voice, so he had a better frame of reference to judge whether or not their voices had been ones that he knew. She herself only spoke but a single word, but...it was intuitive of him all at once. Intuitive as something within him seemed to click and ring the infamous bell kept safe beneath the label of, ‘Familiar,’ but there he was without any other context as to who she was. ...But it made him curious. He discovered that the others knew him, and that he was even blood related to a couple of them. There was a relation.

At the very least, she knew his name right off the bat, so she had to have known him before, as well.
...Right?

It was the question that he repeated to himself several times, but before long, he concluded that it was better to formally speak upon it, rather than leave himself to ponder the matter with no way of gaining any answers of any sort within the scenario of doing so. So, he eyed her for a small while more prior to setting his drink down - momentarily, that was - besides the marker; slipping the corresponding hand into his other pocket, as well, going, ”...Yeah…?” at first. Silence overcame him for a couple of moments after, but after thinking on the situation longer, he added, ”...You know me…?”

[attr="class","mouths1"]Needless to say, he found himself at a momentary loss when posed with how the scenario found itself suddenly escalating; ironic, considering the particular person that had begun to crumble her walls before him, though it had been irony that was lost to him within those specific moments in time. In the event of recollection, he would have been lying if he had ever stated that he felt calm and unfazed by her display; rather, and sooner admitting that - despite external expressions - he found himself subtly panicking within the realms of his mind with the more he witnessed from her. Him. A known killer and not much more for the most part, which...confused him. After all, his intention that day had been to meet with her in regards to capture, interrogation… The works, as well as what the norm had been since he had ‘come back’ to his senses. There was something about this that put him off, however, and the thing was that he couldn’t quite fathom in what manner. He panicked. ...Partially due to the remnants of his former being; the portions of him that called out to him to at least attempt to comfort the poor soul, even despite the fact that he truthfully hadn’t the slightest idea of how to approach her of such matters at first. In addition to that, there was something more. ...Something that he felt odd, and something that thrust him into more of a dilemma with himself.

Instantaneously, he found himself mad and in disdain upon seeing her cry.
Almost cry, at least. Visibly. Openly.
After all, even if he wasn’t aware of why, the look of holding back tears was one painfully familiar to him.

Was it because he was the cause, even if he had no idea how that could have been the case? He felt like it. But still, there was something more; something that drove him to feel an augmented sense of sympathy and a distressing need to do whatever he could to bring the smile - however partially fake he felt it was from the first second - back upon her lips once more. Truth be told, in spite of the flurry his mind had been surged into upon witnessing the escalation of her demeanor before him, his first instinct had been to reach out and wipe her tears away himself, or even pull her over into a comforting hold to the best of his abilities- and he actually would have, had he not caught himself in the thought prior. So, he settled for staring in some form of processing and shock at first, though swiftly averted his energies from gawking in favor of eyeing those around them for a quick moment. Upon noting their lingering gazes upon the two of them, he narrowed his eyes and glanced back towards her; reaching into one of his pockets to pull a tissue out, since - again - even if she made her own, futile attempts to hide herself, he could see. ...He could feel it.

This was the best he could do at the moment.

With one hand outstretched to offer the tissue, the remaining lifted and touched her shoulder gently; patting it within a soft and comforting manner - to the best of his ability, that was - prior to nodding towards the table he had claimed some time prior. ”...C’mon. Let’s...take a seat first, at least,” he murmured, glancing down towards the board she held while posing the most recent inquiry before him. His eyes scanned the words pensively for several moments before lifting his eyes to meet hers once more; eyes narrowing and cheeks rising to pave the way of an otherwise hidden, gentle expression. ”This...isn’t what we came here for, but...I’ll explain myself once we take a seat. It’ll be kinda awkward, but...I think it’s gotta happen first....”

Following those words, he pulled his hands back; leaving her with the tissue, and opting to take hold of his drink once more in favor of making those few, brisk, and quickened strides back to the table. After setting his drink upon his side of the table, he shifted over to the seat across from his; quickly placing a hand upon it to pull the chair out while turning his head to peer over at her yet again. He beckoned over to her while nodding down to the seat with an underlying sense of anticipation and nervousness while waiting.

...Why was he was nervous of all things, however, escaped his mind.
But then again, many things escaped his mind against his will at the time.