{鏡音リン}.

Ah. There it was. Blink and one would miss it. However, he wouldn’t instigate or tease on the matter. Just a pull onto lap once she turns back around, bringing other closer while the moment was still fresh. Hand behind neck brings ear to lips, slipping own. “-I love you too.” Before he releases, allowing other to continue with her ploy. “You actually composed songs?” Huh. He’s never even bothered with the idea admittedly, all things considered. “Here I thought we just read our lines from ghost writers.” At least for him, that much was the truth.

Never the less. He’d oblige of curiosity what she came up with, since this much was anything but expected. “Start on a sour note and work your way to a happy one. Always had a preference of pushing through the pain first and then being rewarded.” That much should be obvious to, as he takes sheet of papers to examine for himself. Huh. “Did you want me to grab the guitar? I can’t promise to be good on a song I don’t know yet though.”

(( ☼ “!!” Give her a second. She’s got a giddy smile ear to ear, wiggling and giggling about like a turtle under a toothbrush because he reciprocated her confession. Not that she didn’t already know he did, but after holding herself back from saying it for almost a year, it felt really really lovely to get it off her chest. “Well! ...No. Even if I had the talent, I didn’t have the time because I was working extra hours to be able to pay the producers. I found two that I liked and asked if they would work with me. I have the lyrics, and they made the melodies. I think the first one needs a piano, though...”

       So she didn’t fully think it through. When she was in the moment, her motivations were grandiose enough to believe she’d be able to surprise him with a piano by the time tonight rolled around. ( She was not able to. ) “It’s okay though! The first one I can do acapella. Ahem. I’ll sing them, your part and mines, if you want to follow along with the music notes.” He can read piano scores, right? Rin looks up at him, heart thrumming in her chest as the silence swells with wait. She looks away. At this very moment, she’d sooner handle rejection from a crowd than she would him. Eyes closing, she wallows in a few deep breaths. 

As they say, it’s hard to be something you’re not. Blank stare is response to statement, before eyes roll. “Sorry for being attractive. They quite literally made me that way.” Sarcasm is anything but, as the irony of it unfolds with passing thought. “Ha. You make it seem like I intended from the start to make you mine.” Believe it or not, it was the farthest thing from the truth. “While I didn’t initially intend it, guess I already knew from the start that friends would never be a reality for us.” Considering his repressed emotions then with a balance of her approach, in a way it made for the perfect storm of.. whatever now was.

Together? Steady? Happy? Haha, he doesn’t really know. Just enjoying the day by day, as he thinks it should be in all honesty. “Suppose that much I was right about.” One of the few and far between matters. “Hey, blame the others. If they weren’t so incompetent I wouldn’t had appeared competent to begin with.” There’s humor to be found in the thought, but trudging onward. “Oh was the last few hours not it? What else did you have in store?”

(( ☼ Rin likes hearing him talk. Even if the story was one they’d probably retell over and over again as time goes on, she’ll be taken by it every time. Her hands absentmindedly find his, and proceed to weave themselves in and out, interlocking here and there as he goes on. “I would’ve never imagined you were capable of doing it. I remember I used to have all these aspirations of who I was going to be and where I’d be at this point of time before — all of which suddenly changed with your introduction in my life. I might not have them anymore, but I’ve realized that’s not something to be sad about. Because it means I’ve found a new dream. One I’m living right now.”

Haha, friends. Hard to say if he even knew what that was like. “Consider it a cost of doing business. Wants come at a price, and sometimes it’s not so apparent at a glance over.” Like she said, eventually they’re so far off they become forgotten to time. “While I can’t speak for my own, maybe there’s some worth in it for you. Despite it all, they’d probably still recognize you. That’s more than I could say.” It’s a sad tale, but a common one for most. “Though, would wonder if they approve of the new you.” People are bound to change, and sometimes for others it’s not for the better. “Would that sway you?”

Empty joke really, but never the less. “Well, from my perspective them you were the leading example. For what it’s worth, even back then I did try to be a bit more.. restrained?” Hard to say now considering everything and how things ended up but ha. It is fun to recall, as he leans back. “Pretty sure I told you of my rule back then. Never chase a taken girl. Realistically it was what warded me off for so long.” Effective, but self inflicted. “But yes. You always seemed out of reach. Too good even, compared to myself. The most popular girl in class, to put it laughably.”

(( ☼ Was this Len’s way of making her feel better? Silly man. It’s evident that he’s not an expert in the field of cheering people up, but there’s something valuable in the way he tries despite being the pessimistic type. “That’s what they call the silver lining, right? Even if, by some miracle, they haven’t shut down and came back all at once and to decide I’d changed too much, I wouldn’t mind. I’m happy, and it took me a long time to get here. Sometimes the best way of showing growth is wishing for others’ success from a distance, however success may be defined to them.”

That song almost made his own look appropriate considering the difference in landscape. Roll of shoulders noted indifference or rather preference to leave history where it was. “Different times.” Enough of a thought given to that, and on to the next. Huh. Wasn’t that amusing. “I hated that song. Maybe it was just because it fit with my conscious back then but even looking back can’t say I remember it too fondly.” Likely her previous reference, all considered. Though yes, that bit was still indeed history. Funny how that much worked out.

“If that was your intention on emulating when we were in that era, I’d say you were dead on. After all, you always carried that almost haughty air about you.” Better than others, even if the intention wasn’t to be haughty that much did struck at times. “In fairness, that was a good thing. My usual slick antics didn’t work on you.” Snort. “Maybe that contributed to your charm. A sort of.. unobtainable treasure.” Too good for, that much was sure.

(( ☼ Haughty? The mere implication of it may have struck a cord with her back in the day, but now, it makes her chuckle. “That’s a new one. Of all the things I was called, I don’t think haughty was among them. I think the biggest accusation anyone made against me was when they called me a goody-two-shoes, or a thief. I always attracted attention I didn’t want when all I wanted to do back then was mind my own business and take care of those closest to me.” 

Huh. When put into perspective, they sound oddly familiar. “You took one too many ideas from our song writers I see. This sounds like one of our many strange duets we’d be forced into doing.” Well, at least back in the day. Less so now with how careers and the times have diverged but none the less. “Maybe you should just become a writer or something. Sell your obnoxious ideas for others or something like that.” It be a bit more difficult than modeling for sure, but considering her imagination these days it wouldn’t be too far from believable. Right though, suppose he could’ve guessed that one. “Maybe someone who shares your enthusiasm on the matter might make it more appealing. After all, no one likes a dead fish.” Side insults aside, a pat down is response to aggression, as he submerges in thought again. “Funny how things work on. Can’t say it was a future I predicted.”

(( ☼ “Haha. I did secretly enjoy dressing up and getting into character for those songs. At first it was a little uncomfortable, but I think putting myself in those imaginary shoes taught me about the ‘heart’. Quite literally! Kokoro will always have a special spot in my memories, and Adolescence probably taught me about ‘desire’. ...Even if the theme was, you know.” Ahem. “I think the only one that I really hated doing ended up being one of my most popular ones. Daughter of Evil? I kept counting the minutes until it all ended.” Hm. There was another one. “You’d think Spice! would’ve taught me jealousy, but no. It was actually ‘It’s a Cat’s Life for Me’. I used to envy Gumi a lot, you know? I was always so used to singing duets with Len that, when he got paired with someone else for once — someone I already wished didn’t exist in my younger mind — I was scared that he was going to be ‘stolen’.” Her journey for maturity was paved with thorns more than roses. 

So much for enjoying each other’s company. More like being horny to her last breath. An ironic complaint from an ironic source all things considered. Suppose he’s already resided himself to this fate. “You’ve been reading too many of them I see.” Word for word. Were these romance stories or eroges? Beginning to sound like the latter more than the former. “That sounds like a plot of one of them now that I think about it. You imply as if I stay in this field for the fame or something.” More a passion and income than anything else, as he makes room for albeit cautiously. Sooner pull a quick one on him, if given the chance. “Besides. You should sooner be making a list than fantasizing. I heard the real thing tends to be better than imagination.” Poke into sides, as he places dish to side. “A dressing room wouldn’t be difficult. They have do no disturb signs for a reason.”

Consider it the aftermath of a poor upcoming, with his past experiences taking much of the credit of his inability. Or maybe his robotic heart did lack that range of emotions. Huh. Well regardless, allow her a moment to complete tangent before offering his stare unamused as ever but letting her enjoy spotlight. At least until he almost chokes on his food at her shamelessness, just slightly taken back by her words. “If you were attempting to reassure me I don’t think you made it better in all honesty.” Better off ignoring that bit, as question is posed. “Call it a labor of love.”

Or something corny like that. “It helps to know a few tricks to be able to use when the time calls for it.” Double meaning conceals itself in a thin layer, gobbling up what he had left contently. Activity had worked his appetite it went without saying. But as he laid back full and happy, a bit of afterthought rings before soothing over. “Guess it’s just something I kinda expected. After all, I knew plenty who ran their course before getting content. Then again, not sure I’ve ever met another with a drive match my own.” Best it really, but he won’t confess that.