#7banme

Rui hadn’t thought this through. Oh God had Rui not thought this one through. Reading about the activities that would be available was one thing, asking Hanako to spend some time with him at the one related to space was another... Rui knew that Hanako liked space. He’d talked about the stars with such interest. And -- something like this was nice. It was a nice distraction from how terrible Rui felt, from how much he wished he really had just died and been able to move on to Hell.

But now that he was here. At the tea party. Sitting on a blanket on the ground. Beside Hanako.

Rui suddenly realized he’d probably made a bit of a mistake. A bit of a big mistake. Just a tiny little bit of a huge, absolutely awful mistake. Maybe he was overthinking it. His heart was definitely racing in his chest, and his face felt like it was on fire, and he had probably put an uncomfortable amount of distance between himself and Hanako on the blanket in an attempt to hide just how much he wanted to -- to hold Hanako’s hand, or sit closer to him, or just enjoy his company, or something.

For as much as Rui was hating himself in this moment (“i won’t talk about it if you don’t,” he’d said in his message to Hanako), he was absolutely infatuated twice as much with the boy beside him. Which was likely why he couldn’t bring himself to make eye contact.

Luckily, there was enough going on around them that he could keep finding reasons to distract himself.

“... do you...” Alright. He could look. Looking at people was normal. That’s what people did, was they looked at each other. (Badum, badum, badum, went his heart, in an instant.)

Well, Sousuke was lost.

It was only a matter of time, really, before a kid wandering around in a city he wasn’t used to got lost. Was he still caught off guard? Absolutely. He huffed to himself, just as angry at the situation as he was about the tears stinging in his eyes from frustration. He didn’t want to cry, but he felt like the only choice he had right now was to sit down and just let it all out, and he had no idea where he was, and there was no one around for --

For --

The wind picked up and rustled the leaves of the trees, the only sound around him as Sousuke drew to a halt. It was getting late; maybe that’s why no one was around. No one except for the boy he’d spotted. A boy who looked like he’d probably much rather be keeping to himself, and had probably chosen such an out-of-the-way location so late into the evening for a reason, and now Sousuke was intruding on that. But... he was lost.

And... the boy looked hurt. The words of the students that had bullied him in elementary school echoed in Sousuke’s head; it had been physical, sometimes, and he still had a terrible flinch reaction to sudden movements. It had never been -- this boy was bandaged up so much. Sousuke was actually worried.

He took a few more hesitant steps forward, his hand reaching up, gently outstretched.

          A friend, maybe?

“Excuse me--”

“Ohh…”

Everything – everything was so overwhelming. There were giant… things that made way too much noise and moved way too quickly, none of the architecture was anything like he was expecting, and everyone… everyone was everywhere! There were – there were so many people, and they…

… Rui reluctantly pushed himself away from the wall of the building he'd been leaning against, pursing his lips together tightly for way longer than he'd care to admit to try to mask the fact he wanted to cry.

Noisy. And busy. And lonely. He hadn't seen anyone he recognized. His parents… his parents weren't anywhere, and without them around, Rui felt hopelessly like a fish out of water.

He blinked away a few stray tears that threatened to spill over after all.

Where was he even supposed to go? Why was he here, was this all just some weird dream? There had been… there had been a man, and he'd told Rui he'd help him, and… and…

… and then Rui woke up here.

His legs felt shaky; he wouldn't be able to keep walking for much longer. He'd already been spending way too much time looking at his feet (while people swarming around him barely dodged him; he didn't think he'd be able to keep his balance if they had hit him) so that he didn't trip over himself and fall.

Maybe he should sit down for a while? Maybe – he lifted up his head – maybe he…

“...!”

Sitting among the swirling cherry blossoms (hadn't it been winter? This had to be a dream) on a bench was a boy that looked to be around Rui’s age. Someone that looked just as lost, somehow, as Rui felt. He tried to scurry over as best as he could, barely managing to collapse on the bench beside the other boy before his legs decided they didn't want to carry him any further.

“H-hello.”

He was a lot more out of breath than he wanted to admit.

“... um… do you know where we are?”

TWEETS MY MUSE WOULD MAKE ABOUT YOURS. // ACCEPTING.

@7banme​ said: 🐤

NONVERBAL MEMES. // ACCEPTING.

@7banme​ said: [ touch ] for your muse to rest their forehead against mine’s

Rui was... very good at deflecting away from situations.

He wasn’t sure when he had developed that “talent” -- used in the lightest, most sarcastic sense of the word -- but it certainly had been hanging over his head for most, if not all, of his time in Spirale.

Comparatively, Hanako was very good at picking up on things Rui would have deflected.

It was almost scary how quickly he’d picked up on that. If you had pointed that fact out to Rui, though, he would have probably commented that it made sense for friends to pay attention to one another and pick up on their habits, even if the two of them really hadn’t known each other for that long yet.

But Rui was good at deflecting, after all.

                                                                          *

It wasn’t a strange sight to see the two of them out together, or Hanako spending some time at Rui’s house (Himari had grown very fond of Hanako), or just... the two of them, hanging out. It was a little bit stranger for Hanako to be announcing proudly, tonight, as the two of them sat together in a park under the stars, that he’d gotten a present for Rui.

Hanako had, in fact, bought Rui a hair clip.

Any normal person, even if they knew Rui, would have probably just gone ahead and given it over without any hesitation, a calm ‘here you go’ and an exchange of the hair clip. Rui would have probably deflected, saying he didn’t need it, or that he appreciated the gesture only to then never wear it. If they tried to clip it into their hair himself without doing anything else, Rui would have just shooed their hands away like he was swatting at a fly.

It made sense, then, since Hanako knew about Rui’s penchant for this sort of thing, that he was not going to do any of that. He knew better than that.

Hanako knew exactly how to give Rui his present.

“I don’t--”

Rui had started to protest, as expected, but the sentence fell short. Hanako had swooped in without a care in the world, his forehead pressed gently against Rui’s own. If Rui’s heart had leapt into his throat (it had), he wasn’t about to say anything (not that he could hear his own voice over the pounding of blood in his ears anymore).

“Uh,” he squeaked out uncharacteristically, instead, only to clue in to the fact that his hair had been brushed back from his face a bit and the aforementioned hair clip had been set in place. The one Hanako had announced so proudly. The one Hanako was now smiling, a grin as bright and warm as the sun, about. As Hanako drew back again, still beaming, Rui slowly raised a hand to let his fingers brush over where the clip now was in his hair.

His face had grown so hot that he was sure Hanako must have felt it when they had been -- that close. Really close.

Badum, badum, badum.

Hanako was saying something.

“--ooks nice on y--!”

Badum, badum, badum.

Rui couldn’t hear it over the pounding of his heart.

MY MUSE COULD USE A HUG RIGHT NOW. // ACCEPTING

@7banme​​ said: ♥ v .3. v

Rui hasn’t been able to sleep for several nights. It shows, he knows; if the dark circles under his eyes weren’t enough of a giveaway, the fact he kept yawning definitely was (his hand was always ready to move to cover his mouth, to hide his fangs away). Having had his strength return for even a brief moment has absolutely ruined him; he feels weak again, feels terribly aware of how close to human he is in this city but never close enough.

Never fully human.

He’s not allowed that small luxury; doesn’t deserve it. He knows.

Rui yawns again.

Hanako stares at him.

“If I’m boring you, you can just tell me,” Hanako says after a moment, making a point of really emphasizing how much he’s started to pout, and Rui startles back to full attention.

“Huh? No, I -- it isn’t -- I --”

Rui doesn’t understand why he can’t get a proper sentence out, reduced instead to some sort of stuttering, flustered mess. The words are easy enough, they’re right there in his head -- I haven’t been able to sleep, easy as anything to say -- and yet he doesn’t manage to get any of them out. He tries to duck his head away but Hanako reaches out and takes a hold of Rui’s face in both of his hands and turns him back to make him make eye contact.

All Hanako says is “Hmm...” but Rui’s face burns bright red.

There must be something that gives away what Rui had been attempting to, and failing miserably at, saying, maybe. Maybe it’s the fact he knows he looks awful. Maybe it’s the fact there’s no way Hanako can’t feel how hot Rui’s face has become in his hands. It’s -- something. Something happens, because suddenly Hanako is smiling as radiant as the sun and he’s --

-- he’s --

-- Hanako’s tugged Rui into a tight, tight hug, one hand wrapped firmly around the demon’s body and the other resting on the back of his head. Rui freezes, his breath hitched in his throat, and really really really really does not know what to do.

“There, there.”

Rui’s heart has started to pound so loudly in his chest that he can hear it. Hanako can probably feel it, but if he does, there’s some small mercy in the fact that (for the time being) he opts not to comment on it.

“...um...” Rui’s voice sounds uncharacteristically small, but he doesn’t have anything to say other than that one, nervous little sound. He raises his hands and wraps them around Hanako in turn, though something holds him back from embracing him quite as much as he wants to. Why is he nervous?

Regardless, it’s... nice. It’s nice, and he feels safe, and it doesn’t matter how tired and miserable he felt before because suddenly Rui feels quite a bit better.

That’s... strange. Isn’t it?

          oz had never heard of a haunted house before and honestly, he wouldn’t have considered going into one either if it had been solely up to him. it was not as if he had much of a choice in the matter, however. the man in charge had been adamant that the chain try out the attraction he had ‘poured his soul into’ after coming across him on the street, to bear witness to the masterpiece he had invested hours of his time and bounds of his money into. it was to be a truly horrifying experience, the scariest haunted house ever made. or so he said. which is why the man also made oz go in with another child, so they wouldn’t be ‘too frightened’. safety in pairs, right?

           ❛ What a realistic mask. Is this an actor or a doll? ❜  

          if the man who made this attraction could see them now, he would surely be tearing at his hair, because unfortunately for him, he had chosen the two worst possible candidates to enter this house. rather than be frightened, both of them were more so judging each display as it came. oz’s new companion had been rating them on a scale of one to ten ( hanako, he thinks, is his name ), while oz himself had been examining the costumes, pressing himself uncomfortably close to the actors, a smile wide on his face. 

       ‘Huh’. That’s his first thought upon seeing the boy. Everything else is just an irritating tangle of emotions he doesn’t like dealing with. Relieved to see him, angry that something’s messing with all of them, tired upon realizing that this is technically going against Amane’s choice to ‘stay right here’- that’s he’s free but not in the way he’d want him to be. Everything’s so damn complicated. Gods, he wishes he could just go back to his books.

      But he can’t. So, time to shrug it off. Deal with it later.