cutwarmthâ:
Very far away?
Yes, hadnât they all.
Rui doesnât know in what sense this boy means it; he doesnât know how exactly âfar awayâ clicks in this boyâs mind, so he doesnât pry. It just isnât that big of a deal. Itâs true of all of them, after all, in some form or another. Rui⊠Rui isnât even from sometime like this one. If heâd lived, somehow, would he have seen the times change to become more like this city? He doesnât know. There are enough similarities, sometimes, in places in Cotes, that â maybe he hadnât come from somewhere so far away after all.
âYou donât know?â
The boyâs a bit⊠spacey, isnât he? It seems like heâs taken Ruiâs question far too â literally, perhaps? Is it literal? Rui canât tell if thatâs it or if itâs something else; itâs something he actually can try to give a better explanation to, at least, though.
âTo â the city. You have to know how long youâve been here.â
⊠huh?
âEven snakes.â For better or for worse. Rui doesnât mind snakes, but based on the boyâs expressionâ
â⊠the middle of your journey?â
And something about a distant star, and recordings⊠Rui doesnât understand the specifics, but things start to click into place a little bit more, even if only just. This journey seems to be something very important⊠to a lot of people, he would assume, based on how heâd just been told about it. But â
âI donât know if any of us can stay here forever,â he says, after a moment. Itâs only with those words that he finally reaches out to scoop Himari back into his own arms; she snuggles safely against his chest as he holds her close, and her purring begins again, as loud as ever. He wishes sometimes that he could stay here forever, and wishes other times that heâd never been brought here at all. Sometimes it all hurts too much to even think about. âBut⊠you might be here longer than you think you will be. Your journey might have to wait.â
' oh! ' to the city. that's a much easier question to answer. "Not long." he keeps track of days, normally, but there weren't many for the length of his stay here. he doesn't leave a long pause before tacking on another answer, "It's been - a day." a little nostalgic, when he thinks about his first days for anything.Â
but just after adjusting to something new, he's met with another new thing â at least it's not jarring. and he hardly gets scared.
it's almost as if he doesn't wholly register what the other boy is saying. but he remains attentive - or, his best attempt to be. when he finally looks from himari to rui, he doesn't look disappointed with his answer. he's used to having to wait to continue, used to pausing before it ends; one day he'll complete it. for now, he's needed here â well, maybe that's not the same in this city? when summoned to the first, it was that. he can only draw the conclusion that it's the same for here.
"We can't." they all have to return, don't they? all of them. always. "I will - wait, because - it's necessary." he may be getting kind of restless, as he looks elsewhere.Â
he needs to find certain people while he's here, in any case. if he goes back, he wants to make sure they can go back with him. even if he's only assuming they're here to begin with. "So - it's okay. Have - you been - waiting a long - time?"












