[ that startles her just as much as it does them. it's actually... kind of funny, once the shock settles. she was at a loss for how to make herself heard, because she's used death threats to get what she needs before, but she's never yelled at anyone. one of her hands is over her mouth in what seems like surprise — she's smiling underneath it, and she uses the cover to murmur discretely: ]

... Thanks, Ryuji.

[ right. she draws herself up to her full, unimpressive lack-of-height and she tries to project the infallible confidence she used to when she was pretending to be the guardian AI. nobody ignored her then, so maybe she can make it work here, too. ]

Okay, I was wondering how the whole barn burned down without anyone doing anything? If it was an accident, then surely you would have known there was a fire before it got bad enough that you lost your cows—

[ unfortunately, Angel has said the magic word, and the couple dissolves into grief once again; the husband angry that she's accusing them of negligence, the wife bemoaning this year's upcoming county fair.

Angel stares at them in stunned silence a moment, and then just turns around to face Ryuji. ]

I'm usually better at this. I swear.