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            A grunt came out of the younger man’s mouth as he felt a quick but not foreign weight crash into him, along with a familiar whine call. “ Hah ?? ” He opened his mouth, turning to look at the pink haired man, trying to string together a response. 

           OF COURSE he knew it was Ramuda’s birthday --- he wasn’t such a shitty boyfriend that he’d forget such basic knowledge, even if other people would expect it of him. BUT there WAS a part of him that wanted to make a joke and maybe pretend that he did...? No... that wouldn’t be good for anyone if he did. Settling on a decision, the taller man tried to wriggle out of the other’s grasp so he didn’t have to look at Ramuda out of the corner of his eye before speaking, 

“What is up with you humans and yelling, man. You guys do have some capacity, As if I’m not just across from you, luckily I wasn’t my regular size or I would have needed that yell. Anyways, why are you yelling??? Dropped a dime??”

The freckles dotted along her cheeks were lifted as she smiled at the stranger. Even without her predictions, there was no way she could miss that familiar expression on the man’s face. Not after so many others gazed at her with that exact look of confusion.

“Mhm. Worry not for me. This is how I’ve always looked.” Taking a step forward, the small lady adjusted her hat before speaking again. “Though I must admit, it is very kind for you to act out of concern for me, especially since we haven’t met before.” Speaking of, there was an excellent opportunity to change that right now!

“So, may I… may I have your name, then?”

               Oh ! The blue haired man couldn’t help but be at least a little thrown off by the other’s words. Kind ? Sure, it wasn’t like Dice was the rudest person in the world but at the same time in times like these he’d usually be treated like it. It wasn’t like he really was concerned about the girl in the first place--- but it wasn’t like he wasn’t either; but either way it was uncommon for others to recognize this because of his rather blunt temperament. Yeah, it was totally his fault in those situations, but sometimes you just don’t feel like changing the phrasing of something you wanna say. 

               All that aside, the man nodded in response to her words, “ The name’s Dice Arisugawa. And it’s good to hear, wouldn’t want some freaky disease that makes people’s skin blue ‘round here. ” There were a lotta weird things in this world, and honestly... Dice still wouldn’t cross something like this off his list of worries quite yet; not when he’s seen it in a movie at least once in his life ! 

        ---

     “ But Dice~ You know me~ ! ” A short giggle as he grabbed the other’s hands and swung them lightly. “ Why would I skip the chance to tell one of your embarrassing stories ? You should really stop having so many, by the way. It’s not a very  GOOD  reputation, you know. ” Yes, it was nothing but smiles and not so subtle prods at the way the other led his life. Not that Ramuda explicitly went out of his way to  STOP  these bad habits or questionable lifestyle. Initially they served to keep Dice at a distance— it ensured that he wouldn’t discover any truths to the pink haired male even  AFTER  they began dating. Now however, he was a tad conscious of coming across as too demanding. This was something he  WANTED  to work. Every bit of media out there stressed not being controlling so…was this fine ?

          “ So what are you gonna do here, huh ? You’re not planning on just gambling everyday again are you ? I don’t have my fashion line here so you  CAN’T  just come to me for help after you lose it all ! ” He released a hand to tap a finger to his chin in thought. “ Hmm… I know ! What if I just kept an eye on your money for you ! With me watching you wouldn’t go blowing it all on some card game, right ? ” Was it an  UNFAIR  suggestion ? Perhaps.

     While it remained true that Ramuda didn’t want to be overbearing, at the end of the day he also knew the younger’s habits. Some things simply required an  EXTRA  bit of insurance and a gentle threat— no, a promise— would be exactly that.

             The dark blue haired man couldn’t help but cant his head at the shorter’s suggestion. “ Huh... I guess that’d be a good --- ” He stopped himself as his hand instinctively reached towards his pocket, where his wallet and card were. It wasn’t like he didn’t TRUST Ramuda, far from it really ! But just because he trusted his boyfriend didn’t mean he could really... Be so easy to give something so important.

             Violet eyes met cyan as he hesitated in the moment, “ Ah... I’ve still gotta get like. Food and shit though.. ” He thought aloud, unused to rejecting the other’s offer. It was a weird foreign feeling, now that he was thinking about it. Yeah, he was totally used to rejecting the weirder things the pink haired man would say along with Gentaro that were just poking fun and stuff, but actual serious stuff ? Dice KNEW this would be best for him honestly, he’d been cleaned out so many times after all.. 

     Another day had come in which Belphegor wondered if he’d truly been  CURSED  before getting whisked away to this place. Or if the sudden arrival was part of the curse itself. For the better part of an hour he’d been trying to shake this man that had somehow decided following him around was a good thing. Did he expect Belphie  KNEW  what he was doing ? Truth be told, the demon had simply picked a direction and began walking in an effort to get away from the events. The forest sounded like it might be a quieter area and had  HAD  BEEN  his destination. Now he wasn’t exactly sure where he was going after taking a turn or two.

          “ Listen, like I said before, I  DON’T  think you’re gonna find wherever you’re trying to go by sticking around me. Can’t you go find someone else to bother for directions ? ” He couldn’t even recall  WHAT  it was this guy had asked him— he wasn’t exactly paying attention before— more concerned with turning him away than he was with listening at the time.

            Dice was a weird guy. He came to terms with this a while ago, honestly. But in being a weird guy he often did things that were often ill advised by others --- a good example of this was right now. Right now, following a STRANGER into the WOODS, what could go wrong ! Sure, he’s seen some horror flicks where people DIE in the woods and junk or a monster appears, but somehow Dice felt like he could handle it well enough and couldn’t say he was really concerned about that. His bigger concern was the company that he was following into the deep dark woods in hope for a buddy. 

                 He knew it was RUDE. He was told things like that his entire life, but he couldn’t HELP it. Staring at this weird kid... No one could blame him for it, right ? He came from a world that was 99.9% human ( save for a specific person possibly ) so he thought it was PERFECTLY understandable to at least take a second glance. Of course, Dice wouldn’t be Dice Arisugawa if he weren’t to approach the young lady he was looking at, after it seemed she saw him through thick bangs. He wasn’t gonna pretend like he WASN’T looking at her and just walk off like a creep --- no ! He was gonna ask exactly what was on his mind... even if it was kinda awkward. 

  “No, I cannot say that I have. As much as I find myself amused by human culture, I’m certain that a bonfire would be rather boring compared to taking a stroll with dragons flying overhead.” He sighs wistfully, all but aching to return home. “But if you’re so certain that these works of fire are entertaining, or that anything at this solstice could catch my interest, you’re welcome to accompany me for now.”

  “What, precisely, is a… ‘fired-work’? And why does everyone seem so eager to view them? I cannot say gathering around with hundreds of humans to watch anything burn sounds particularly exciting.” 

     He was only a second away from biting the male’s hands when he moved them— a smart decision ! And  TWO  away from scolding him for the action. Words already picked out to tell him how it was rude in that cute manner of his while riddled with slightly threatening undertones. But he was stopped cold with just  ONE  small uttering. A short, casual confession. An affection he wasn’t accustomed to and one he never thought would  STRIKE  him so.

                                                                ‘ Love ? ’

     He loved him ? HIM ? The facade dropped for a moment and in that split second the very man who could give the devil a run for his money was  UTTERLY  vulnerable. Those words… despite being something tossed around back home were ones he wasn’t expecting to hear now. But oh the relief it brought him— that this  WAS  his Dice after all. And that he was still wanted even after… After…

          The next instant he remembered himself. This was no time for any of that. He needed to shove it back down like everything before. The  WALLS  went back up along with that too sugary smile that always acted like nothing was wrong.

     “ Huh ? But you  ASKED  for it ! Or did you want me to talk about that time with the fake ID and the wig ? Oh ! Or the one where Gentaro got you to run around looking for something that didn’t exist ! ” A brief pause as he glanced aside, finger to his chin. “ Only you did manage some knockoff by that name so I guess it  DID  exist… ”

               As much as he played into it, Dice wasn’t an idiot. He was awful with dates in history, and if he was asked to take a vocabulary test now he’d just plain laugh at you. BUT that didn’t mean he was so DENSE that he couldn’t notice the slight change in the other. It was only for a moment, but Dice found himself able to pinpoint exactly when it was --- and he could probably guess why. Somehow speculating it to himself made him want to wrap the other in his arms and tell him that it’ll be okay, but when he saw a sugar stained smile make its reappearance he threw those thoughts to the side.

               No, it wasn’t like he thought Ramuda was strong enough to deal with it on his own or anything --- if you asked Dice, no one was strong enough to deal with something like that. But he knew that the pink haired man wanted his space. While normally Dice would be happy doing whatever mad him happy, something told him that he should bring this up again later... But not right now. 

               For now he had his little charade to perform.