#particeps

" Funny wording you have there... " Death had embraced him once again right before Beat's eyes those three years ago, subjecting his dear friend to what he can only imagine was a traumatic sight. Life still did not breathe through his lungs and it was a cursed miracle that Beat was able to see him here and now.

" I'm ... Sorry, Beat... " Distractions from the investigations in Shinjuku had kept him distracted from his feelings about that incident for the most part but he could not hide from it forever. He knew Beat would be out there and looking for him every single day. He knew Beat would turn that damn city upside down in hopes of locating Neku and there was not a damn thing he could do about it.

" I can't promise anything... I can't control the actions of others and I would feel worse if I broke a promise to you. " Eyes moved back to him, filled to the brim with determination, "But I will do everything in my power to stay." His hand reached out and held onto Beat's arm with a tight squeeze, " I'm here to stay if I can help it. "

“You know what I mean. I thought you were gone dead. For good.” He’d been so sure Neku was in the UG. When he finally got there and learned he wasn’t? There had been too much going on for him to let it show, but he’d been devastated. He was right there when Neku got shot, but he couldn’t do anything to save him, just like he couldn’t save Rhyme. 

Rhyme was safe now, and Neku was right here, in front of him finally after three agonizing years of searching, but how many times did he have to fail to save his friends before they didn’t come back? Why did he have to be so useless?

“You’re not the one who should be sorry, yo. I shoulda done somethin’ when Priss Kid and Pixie Chick pulled out those guns...”

He couldn’t shake the memory. He’d been frozen in shock and fear when he saw those two guns pointed at his best friend, and by the time he could finally get his body to move, to reach out to catch Neku as his body fell to the ground, it had been too late. A snap of Joshua’s fingers and Neku was gone before Beat could even reach him.

The hand squeezing his arm brought him back to the present, reminding him Neku was here now, and this time when Beat reached out he actually managed to touch him. He grabbed Neku’s arm, pulling him closer into a crushing hug, tears threatening to spill down his face. 

"I'm f--fin--" Not in front of Josh, he begs his body, please please in front of anyone BUT Josh. His body does not heed this plead and suddenly the words are faded into tears that welled up in his eyes like waterfalls spilling down his face. Neku covers his mouth when the wracking sobs come and a part of his brain reminds him that he hasn't been fine in a long long time.

@particeps ➜ submitted.

          There’s no room for a verbal response. At least not when he first takes notice to the shift in Neku’s emotional outburst struggling to push through. He keeps still, contemplating which move to make when it’s clear that he’s not going to be able to prevent the mask from falling, the emotional distress caving in and all he can think of is how he’s meant to respond. Any other and he’d have either a blank stare or lack of empathy, any other would just be another pawn to his game, yet Neku was supposed to be one as well.

He had his reasons. Had methods to why he pulled what he did. Shared an understanding of the prices to pay if it meant accomplishing what had been necessary. And yet all he can seemingly do is stare at the tears which spill from those eyes, see him at his lowest and crumble when every single move hit him all at once.

“ You know there’s some saying about holding things in right? “

There’s something about Neku. Something about who he was when he had first been chosen and something about who he is now. It’s never easy, it was always meant to be a challenge at the end of the day. It came with the perks of the game.

Despite the mindset, he still finds himself reaching out, hand rests over shoulder first and giving a squeeze to show that someone had been around   ━━━━━━━  even if that someone happens to be the very person he doesn’t want to lose control in front of.

After the squeeze, Neku is suddenly tugged closer to him, bringing him closer so one can snake around his waist and the other reaches up to cup the back of his head.

@particeps ➜ submitted!

          “ Beat mentioned wanting to try something a little different than he usually makes when it’s just the two of us. “ Rhyme gestures to the table already prepped by them prior to Neku’s arrival. Father was away on a business trip and Mother was going to be on-call and practically living at the hospital for at least the next two days. Meaning they’d have the whole place to themselves. And with Neku in this case. 

“ Between you and me, I think he’s a little nervous and wants to impress you. “ Hand moves over mouth to shield their whisper, despite knowing with how big their house had been that there’d be no way Beat would hear them over the cooking he had been finishing up. 

twitter . / accepting .

[ to : Neku ]  If you don’t get those two to put their hearts back into it by the end of the day Im going to have some1 erase them

[ to : Neku ]  That was meant 4 Uzuki.

[ to : Neku ]  Got these 2 players treating the Game like a vacation and making a real mess of things for everyone else