Danae
*Diao looked down as she followed the neko down the stairs, partially to hide the tears which were quickly swept away. Her face clearly bore signs of fatigue and exhaustion, but the artificer made sure to walk with a stride in her step, her back straight as if she were a noble walking through a hall of people.*

"Because it distracts me from everything else. When I first left Runra, I poured my heart and soul into reconstructing Arktos so I wouldn't think about the pain of leaving."
Anna
*The Neko would arrive at his destination at a leisurely pace. Squatting down to the growth of flowers and examining each bud of petals carefully.*
"Sounds to me like you're running away from your feelings. Have you ever tried to confront them...?"

*Horace idly searches for a perfect flower among the patch, his cat tail swaying gently as he does. Eventually finding a suitable flower sooner or later, plucking it from it's base. He stands, turning to face Diao and offering the woman his specimen. A chrysanths, a yellow flower sort of like a sunflower. Although the symbolism was lost on Horace, many consider it to be a flower symbolizing moarning.*
"I mean, It seems you've taken 'work through the pain' a little too literally... You can't go on like this forever, bottling up your emotions like this."
Danae
"I've never had to. I like working, so it's been something I can just pour my effort in to like a bottomless glass."

*Diao looked as Horace squatted down and reached for his head, but pulled back, resisting the temptation to pet his ears. Her eyes soon widen at the gift, and she takes it, fixing her hair and placing the flower in it. As much as she liked flowers, she knew little about their symbolism; Diao too would be ignorant about its apparent meaning.*

"Why can't I? I'm in a trough now, but I'll get back up again."
Anna
*The blond sighed and shook his head, admiring the flower in her hair for a moment.*
"Suppressing and sorting out your feelings aren't the same Diao. You're letting that bottomless pit you call work consume you."

*The neko put a hand on his hip and glanced around the scenery again.*
"With enough strain and neglect, any machine will crumble. You're not invincible."

*Horace reaches out a hand, pushing a finger around where Diao's heart would be.*
"All that's gonna weigh you down until you break. Breaking isn't pretty, i've seen it happen before. There won't be any recovering either, no matter how hard you try to mend the broken pieces."
Danae
"I-"

*Diao opened her mouth to speak before being shut down by Horace again with the machine talk. It seemed to have the best effect, as she was familiar with it; he was right. As much as machines could work, they needed to be maintained. And she was not maintaining herself well.*

*Her expression changed as Horace pushed a finger right above her heart though. Her eyes pointed down to see where he was touching, and her cheeks flushed slightly.*

"H-hey! Watch where you're keeping those hands!"
"If it weighs me down, well, how to I lighten the load?"
Anna
"My bad-" 
*The Neko brings his hand back with a slight chuckle, pondering the question himself. Most people cope by burying themselves in a vice. For someone like him, it's woman and beer. For someone like Aka, it was years of violence and revenge. For Diao, it was simply burying her head in her work. All of which ignore the real issue, instead of dealing with it. But how do you deal with these things?*

"I guess that's for you to find out... Everyone has ways of relief, some better some worse... I guess the most common way is to simply cry it out and accept things as they are. Not to mistake that with just ignoring the issue. It's a difficult problem even for me. "