if you want to train me, like an animal

As they talked about before, yes, Joshua could potentially listen in on Neku's thoughts if he cared to. And with the silence that followed his words, that far-away look in the redhead's eyes as he thought deeply about who knows what, Joshua actually considered it. What could possibly have him so tongue-tied? But no, he figured he didn't care that much about peeking into the mind of his old "partner". Besides, Neku certainly wouldn't take it very well, and that was an argument Joshua didn't have the patience for.

" Not even I can see into the future, " said the blond man, lips curling into an amused grin. Well, with his level of practiced insight, he might as well be able to do just that. But there were some things that escaped even his expectations...like Neku. " We'll see how things go in the UG. After all, Minamimoto is still out there, somewhere. But he's not nearly as powerful as he thinks he is~ " And Joshua wasn't threatened by him in the slightest.

"I don't know. Trash King wouldn't be so bad of a Composer. He would support the arts. Push people to find beauty in everything."

A slight smile graced Neku's lips at his own shameless referencing. Come to think of it--yeah, how bad could a Sho reign be? What was he going to do to people? Teach them math? Hell, Sho had been the one to step in when things last looked grim. Maybe he was better suited, after all ...

Neku might have teased Joshua about it--had Joshua not, abruptly, said as good as a goodbye.

"--hey. You're not slithering away already, are you? You just got here."

Joshua didn't seem to understand how catching up with a friend worked. That's what they were, right? Friends, in some fucked up way that flew in the face of convention. Joshua didn't want to admit there was a human being inside of him. Neku could see it regardless. True, their hang-out options were limited at ass o'clock at night, but ...

...

"Absolutely not, but here's a thought. You take the adorable spot, I take the badass spot. 'Adorable' doesn't really suit me anyway."

People pleasers are a real perceptive bunch, but in Iris' defense she's known Neku long enough to pick up on some of his hints. Even if he possibly doesn't pick up on them himself.

And he ought to know by now that when she asks about a party involving him, she fully expects a board game party or a LAN party. Which honestly never involves more than four people, at most.

Iris tries her best to keep her cheery tone held at the same excited pitch but fails to keep her smile from faltering. She'll have to pry later about what else is bothering him.

"The hell is fresh about my sweatpants? You'll be lucky if I washed any this week."

And she couldn't borrow his shoes, if that's what she wanted. They already tried that. They aren't the same size. And there's a reason he only wears his high-tops around the house! They're limited edition!

"... uh ... party?"

Ugh, well ... yeah, there was Tin Pin Fridays at Sota's. But the last time he had attended, he had dissociated so hard people started gingerly placing straws in his hair like a human game of Operation. His friends still continued to invite him after, but ...

The lights, the music, the noise--everything was at once so much louder and so much further away since he'd come back. Like a constant sinus pressure, except he isn't sick ... is he?

"... yeah, we could ... do a party."