His eyes shift forward again, but he doesn’t try pulling his head away. They really just met again after so many years not even fifteen minutes ago, but… it’s surprisingly easy to slide right back into how things were when not thinking about it too hard, when there are no other reservations.
So Ryo can touch.]
I learned to control my emotions better. But I guess I would… if I got upset enough.
[ he doesn't ask what might upset akira enough, because that is very obviously territory that would lead to a potential fight and ryo will make an attempt to not leap into one immediately. but still, that's good to know. he'll backtrack back to this topic later once the shock wears off.
their destination is a much smaller island that doesn't have too much on it. there's a dock, and a little forested area. but ryo directs akira towards a house that's on the edge of he forest. when they're on the ground, ryo will tug akira to the entrance. ]
This is where I live.
[ when he opens the door, the interior isn't too surprising for ryo. it's not as fancy or rich as his apartment back in their original world, but it's still quite spacious and tidy. there's not that much decoration, with only random items here or there that seem like they might actually be personal.
more importantly, though, is that when the door opens, a cat wanders over to them. this is the first obvious hint that ryo did not actually stay in hell the entire time because jd is noticeably bigger than the last time akira saw him... the kitty aged. ]
[Hmmmm. Akira looks curiously over the island from above as he brings them in. Strangely, it seems fitting for Ryo. Away, quaint, simple, clean.
He drops his waist and legs and glides down near the house and the forest, landing with more grace than he probably would have had many years ago. He sets Ryo down by him and folds the wings away against his back like before. His hair is a mess now from the wind, but it’s fine.]
It’s quiet.
[It’s not said like a bad thing at all. He follows Ryo to the house, inside of it.
“I got better at controlling my emotions.” Immediately, he starts crying when the cat comes into view. LISTEN!!! He is still an emotional person, and he was trying to handle seeing Ryo again, but now he is being hit twice and it is too much.]
JD…?
[THE CAT IS SO BIG. He hurries half of the way to it, bending so he can scoop the cat up in his arms.]
[ HELP jumpscared by tears. ryo just moves to place his bag on a table and then turns to watch this reunion. you can tell ryo has had some kind of development because he is not mad that akira reacts more emotionally to seeing the cat than him. ]
He hugs the cat up to his face and burrows in the fur while petting. And just cries. Not loudly, thankfully.
He’s had a lot of the tears the last handful of years actually. Kaoru wasn’t the last person to go. The twins didn’t die together, as life does to most people.
And then he had to wait for everyone else remaining. Haruhi, Kyoya, Mori. It was just him and an old, wise Honey, waiting. Then Honey went too. He lingered a while, saw to things, got most of it out of his system.]
…I just didn’t know if I’d ever see either of you again. So… I’m glad.
well, he'll leave akira to that then. ryo will wander further into the house, turning a corner, and akira will probably hear what sounds like a fridge opening and then shutting. he returns a moment later and sets a water bottle onto the table. for when akira dehydrates himself from crying. ]
Mm. He's been a pain in the ass. You spoiled him too much and he never grew out of it.
For a moment, he looks surprised, and then he looks amused and soft. He glances at the cat, then nuzzles it again with his face. He is truly pampering JD for being a pain.]
He should be spoiled… He’s so big.
[Hehe.
He carefully puts the cat down so he can rub at his eyes with the back of one arm.]
at the admittance, ryo fidgets slightly, not quite sure how to react. he had hoped that akira missed him but the longer they spent apart the less likely that became for him. why would you miss someone you chose to leave and then hadn't seen in decades?
but, at the same time, there's a knot in his stomach made out of nerves and something a little like hope because of it. akira missed him. it's okay. ]
He wipes at his face one last time, then just… stands there looking at Ryo. Actually looking now, studying. Held in the strange and awkward space of understanding they won’t ever not be together somehow probably, but it’s the beginning after a hurt and a parting.
And he isn’t sure how sturdy the bridge is yet. He’s not sure if he acts like nothing is wrong, or tries to engage with what before always turned into an argument.]
he is doing better than expected, considering that he's still here. if ryo were honest, he would admit that if it weren't for jd, he probably would have gone for the option to obliterate himself on more than one occasion. but a part of him worried that akira might show up and see that his cat was alone, and that he'd hate ryo for it. so here he is.
but he continued to live and deal with the annoyances and failures of it. ]
I'm okay. Hell really isn't that bad once you're out of the newbie area.
[It’s an answer which tells him nothing. A back and forth, superficial between them. He didn’t ask the real questions, and so Ryo hasn’t given him the answers he thought he might hear. That he worried he might hear.
He glances away with his eyes, debating, and then looks at Ryo again.]
... you can stay here with me. There's a room we can turn into a bedroom for you.
[ he doesn't want to assume that akira would just. live with him. it's really not that difficult to get your own place, especially considering they know alex who is pretty willing to make the transition as smooth as possible for them.
that said, if akira did say he would prefer to live elsewhere then that will just be another mark under the 'days until ryo snaps again' column but it's fine. ]
[He hesitates thoughtfully. He doesn’t want to insult Ryo or Kaoru by leaping right back into the same behaviors before… and yet, there isn’t any point, is there, in acting as if they don’t have history?
Kaoru isn’t here. The others aren’t here either. Not that he’s seen. And, honestly, he’s glad because none of them deserved hell the way he and Ryo do.]
[ listen it's fine. they'd have separate bedrooms, that's having some boundaries. and in general, ryo doesn't really leave his room that often anyway and he doesn't see that changing much even with akira here. ]
I'll get furniture for you. [ ... ] Do you want to see the rest of the house?
[ there's only so much small talk they can do, but at least a tour is something useful. ]
[Damn, he can do something maybe for the hospitality. Look. He has had a while to be forced to endure high society and social norms and everything the demon side of him struggled with always.
He takes up the bottle Ryo brought him, careful of the cat by his feet.]
[ he nods and will lead the way. the house is large, but not really in a 'this is for very rich people' way and more just it is simply noticeably too big for just one person. the area they're in goes right to a living room, with a table and a couple of couches and a very big television mounted on the wall. a little beyond that and around a corner is a very well stocked and fancy kitchen. probably too fancy, considering ryo barely eats, but it's there.
also on this floor is a bathroom and a library filled with shelves and shelves of books and scrolls and papers, obviously collected over decades. the laundry room is down here too. there's a door leading out to the backyard that's primarily just forest.
upstairs is ryo's bedroom. just like in canon, his bed is too fuckin big because he will never suffer a bunk bed ever again. there's another large bathroom, and then down the hall there's another room that was probably also meant to be a bedroom but right now it's an office. ]
I can move this into my room.
[ everything is the same neat and tidy throughout the whole house, although there are stray cat items strewn about here and there because ryo has clearly given up on expecting jd to not leave toys around. ]
[Both Akira and the cat trail after Ryo. The house is… very Ryo. He would not be surprised if this was a House of Leaves house honestly.
For a while longer than the rest, he lingers in the library room to be nosy and look at Ryo’s books. He is still not a book person in terms of loving to read and study, but he is… curious whether or not this will tell him more about Ryo during their time apart.
Finally, he joins Ryo again to see the rest of the house, trying not to snicker about the toys. JD is so indifferent about the mess, though the similarities between a cat and Ryo don’t go by Akira unnoticed. ]
I’ll help you move it when you want. Or you can just leave it, and I’ll sleep around it.
You’re house is pretty cool. Do you even use half of it like you did your old apartment?
[ unsurprisingly, a lot of the books are about demonology and religion. but there's other things, like various novels and non-fiction things, as well as a lot of scientific research. what might stand out more is that a good chunk of them is also from teyvat, although the only way akira might probably realize this is some of them being titled by potentially familiar sounding words, like inazuma and archons. ]
We can move it, it's fine.
[ leaving ryo's stuff in that room means ryo would have reason to go into it, and right now he is too unsure about where they stand for that to be a good idea. ]
[Can’t remember if he ever learned anything that telling from Scaramouche or his memories, but it’s fine. Imagine knowing one of Scaramouche’s original names, but not where the fuck he is from exactly.]
You don’t have to worry about it right now. I can sleep on your couch until we get it moved. I don’t mind.
[He wouldn’t mind Ryo coming in to the office if the rooms had been merged either, but he gets… the weirdness, so he doesn’t push it.]
[ HELP akira like "i know this very intimate detail about you but not where you're from" that's fair
but ryo nods his head, and then is... not entirely sure where to go from here. the same awkwardness from their last time together is starting to creep in again, and it's something they're going to have to figure out how to push past somehow. probably by talking. ryo still has no fucking idea how to talk about feelings because he has not been around anyone who tries to force him to do that since they separated.
he plays with a strand of his hair. ]
Mm, we'll see. You can take my bed too for now, if you'd like. I don't sleep that much anyway.
[Ryo isn’t the only one drowning in awkwardness. It makes him sad Ryo doesn’t sleep much, but only because he is more human leaning. He associates sleep and lack of sleep with mood, and he needs to remember Ryo isn’t human.
He takes a moment to glance around the office idly again before looking back at Ryo, watching Ryo play with the hair.
Coming back, meeting, he thought perhaps his feelings may have dulled enough to keep him grounded. But no… He is too emotional. Too empathetic. The fire of dormant interest starts rekindling, and he shifts his weight.]
I don’t mind that either. Ryo…
[He trails off, unsure of what would be best to even say.]
[ ugghhhh yeah he should have known that just saying he's fine and moving on wouldn't really fool akira, but it's been a while. ryo doesn't answer right away, choosing to think over some kind of response. ]
I have lived for a very long time, but time hasn't moved any more slowly than these years.
[ as someone who has been around since the universe was newly born, ryo didn't really think waiting around would be as agonizing as this. then again, he only had a human form fairly recently. living as one has likely impacted some things that weren't really an issue before, whether he likes it or not. ]
I've wanted to die. I've wanted to forget you. I've wanted to start a new life. I've wanted to kiss you again. I don't know how to answer how I've been, because I'm not sure other than I am alive and here, and now you're in front of me.
[While it hurts him to hear the truth, he does want to know how Ryo really feels, and how Ryo felt. He forces himself not to cry because he doesn’t think it’s going to help a single thing except his own relief, and that isn’t the point here.
Instead, he swallows quietly and hardens his jaw.]
I am. It’s okay to feel those ways.
[First of all. Even if he gets it’s hard for Ryo to deal with them.]
Do you really want me to stay, or do you want me to leave? I’m just asking to make sure.
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no subject
His eyes shift forward again, but he doesn’t try pulling his head away. They really just met again after so many years not even fifteen minutes ago, but… it’s surprisingly easy to slide right back into how things were when not thinking about it too hard, when there are no other reservations.
So Ryo can touch.]
I learned to control my emotions better. But I guess I would… if I got upset enough.
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[ he doesn't ask what might upset akira enough, because that is very obviously territory that would lead to a potential fight and ryo will make an attempt to not leap into one immediately. but still, that's good to know. he'll backtrack back to this topic later once the shock wears off.
their destination is a much smaller island that doesn't have too much on it. there's a dock, and a little forested area. but ryo directs akira towards a house that's on the edge of he forest. when they're on the ground, ryo will tug akira to the entrance. ]
This is where I live.
[ when he opens the door, the interior isn't too surprising for ryo. it's not as fancy or rich as his apartment back in their original world, but it's still quite spacious and tidy. there's not that much decoration, with only random items here or there that seem like they might actually be personal.
more importantly, though, is that when the door opens, a cat wanders over to them. this is the first obvious hint that ryo did not actually stay in hell the entire time because jd is noticeably bigger than the last time akira saw him... the kitty aged. ]
And this is your cat.
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He drops his waist and legs and glides down near the house and the forest, landing with more grace than he probably would have had many years ago. He sets Ryo down by him and folds the wings away against his back like before. His hair is a mess now from the wind, but it’s fine.]
It’s quiet.
[It’s not said like a bad thing at all. He follows Ryo to the house, inside of it.
“I got better at controlling my emotions.” Immediately, he starts crying when the cat comes into view. LISTEN!!! He is still an emotional person, and he was trying to handle seeing Ryo again, but now he is being hit twice and it is too much.]
JD…?
[THE CAT IS SO BIG. He hurries half of the way to it, bending so he can scoop the cat up in his arms.]
You’re so big now… Ryo, you really did keep him…
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Of course I did. I said I would.
[ jd meows.... ]
You're already crying.
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He hugs the cat up to his face and burrows in the fur while petting. And just cries. Not loudly, thankfully.
He’s had a lot of the tears the last handful of years actually. Kaoru wasn’t the last person to go. The twins didn’t die together, as life does to most people.
And then he had to wait for everyone else remaining. Haruhi, Kyoya, Mori. It was just him and an old, wise Honey, waiting. Then Honey went too. He lingered a while, saw to things, got most of it out of his system.]
…I just didn’t know if I’d ever see either of you again. So… I’m glad.
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well, he'll leave akira to that then. ryo will wander further into the house, turning a corner, and akira will probably hear what sounds like a fridge opening and then shutting. he returns a moment later and sets a water bottle onto the table. for when akira dehydrates himself from crying. ]
Mm. He's been a pain in the ass. You spoiled him too much and he never grew out of it.
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For a moment, he looks surprised, and then he looks amused and soft. He glances at the cat, then nuzzles it again with his face. He is truly pampering JD for being a pain.]
He should be spoiled… He’s so big.
[Hehe.
He carefully puts the cat down so he can rub at his eyes with the back of one arm.]
…I missed you both.
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at the admittance, ryo fidgets slightly, not quite sure how to react. he had hoped that akira missed him but the longer they spent apart the less likely that became for him. why would you miss someone you chose to leave and then hadn't seen in decades?
but, at the same time, there's a knot in his stomach made out of nerves and something a little like hope because of it. akira missed him. it's okay. ]
... I missed you, too.
[ constantly and angrily and longingly ]
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He wipes at his face one last time, then just… stands there looking at Ryo. Actually looking now, studying. Held in the strange and awkward space of understanding they won’t ever not be together somehow probably, but it’s the beginning after a hurt and a parting.
And he isn’t sure how sturdy the bridge is yet. He’s not sure if he acts like nothing is wrong, or tries to engage with what before always turned into an argument.]
How have you been…?
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he is doing better than expected, considering that he's still here. if ryo were honest, he would admit that if it weren't for jd, he probably would have gone for the option to obliterate himself on more than one occasion. but a part of him worried that akira might show up and see that his cat was alone, and that he'd hate ryo for it. so here he is.
but he continued to live and deal with the annoyances and failures of it. ]
I'm okay. Hell really isn't that bad once you're out of the newbie area.
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He glances away with his eyes, debating, and then looks at Ryo again.]
I don’t think I’ll really mind.
[Nothing can be as bad as biblical hell, right.]
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[ he doesn't want to assume that akira would just. live with him. it's really not that difficult to get your own place, especially considering they know alex who is pretty willing to make the transition as smooth as possible for them.
that said, if akira did say he would prefer to live elsewhere then that will just be another mark under the 'days until ryo snaps again' column but it's fine. ]
If you want.
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Kaoru isn’t here. The others aren’t here either. Not that he’s seen. And, honestly, he’s glad because none of them deserved hell the way he and Ryo do.]
I’ll stay. If it’s okay.
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I'll get furniture for you. [ ... ] Do you want to see the rest of the house?
[ there's only so much small talk they can do, but at least a tour is something useful. ]
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[Damn, he can do something maybe for the hospitality. Look. He has had a while to be forced to endure high society and social norms and everything the demon side of him struggled with always.
He takes up the bottle Ryo brought him, careful of the cat by his feet.]
Yeah. Show me.
no subject
also on this floor is a bathroom and a library filled with shelves and shelves of books and scrolls and papers, obviously collected over decades. the laundry room is down here too. there's a door leading out to the backyard that's primarily just forest.
upstairs is ryo's bedroom. just like in canon, his bed is too fuckin big because he will never suffer a bunk bed ever again. there's another large bathroom, and then down the hall there's another room that was probably also meant to be a bedroom but right now it's an office. ]
I can move this into my room.
[ everything is the same neat and tidy throughout the whole house, although there are stray cat items strewn about here and there because ryo has clearly given up on expecting jd to not leave toys around. ]
no subject
For a while longer than the rest, he lingers in the library room to be nosy and look at Ryo’s books. He is still not a book person in terms of loving to read and study, but he is… curious whether or not this will tell him more about Ryo during their time apart.
Finally, he joins Ryo again to see the rest of the house, trying not to snicker about the toys. JD is so indifferent about the mess, though the similarities between a cat and Ryo don’t go by Akira unnoticed. ]
I’ll help you move it when you want. Or you can just leave it, and I’ll sleep around it.
You’re house is pretty cool. Do you even use half of it like you did your old apartment?
no subject
We can move it, it's fine.
[ leaving ryo's stuff in that room means ryo would have reason to go into it, and right now he is too unsure about where they stand for that to be a good idea. ]
I use enough of it. I like the space.
no subject
You don’t have to worry about it right now. I can sleep on your couch until we get it moved. I don’t mind.
[He wouldn’t mind Ryo coming in to the office if the rooms had been merged either, but he gets… the weirdness, so he doesn’t push it.]
no subject
but ryo nods his head, and then is... not entirely sure where to go from here. the same awkwardness from their last time together is starting to creep in again, and it's something they're going to have to figure out how to push past somehow. probably by talking. ryo still has no fucking idea how to talk about feelings because he has not been around anyone who tries to force him to do that since they separated.
he plays with a strand of his hair. ]
Mm, we'll see. You can take my bed too for now, if you'd like. I don't sleep that much anyway.
no subject
He takes a moment to glance around the office idly again before looking back at Ryo, watching Ryo play with the hair.
Coming back, meeting, he thought perhaps his feelings may have dulled enough to keep him grounded. But no… He is too emotional. Too empathetic. The fire of dormant interest starts rekindling, and he shifts his weight.]
I don’t mind that either. Ryo…
[He trails off, unsure of what would be best to even say.]
no subject
Shall we talk? I'm sure you have questions.
[ might as well just jump into it, he supposes. the more they dance around this the more suffocating the uncertainty might get.
ryo walks over and hops onto the top of his desk. he gestures at the chair for akira to sit, if he would like to. ]
no subject
[Again, he hesitates, then he moves over to sit in the chair near Ryo. He drinks from the bottle before putting it on the desk out of Ryo’s way.]
We don’t have to talk if you don’t want to talk.
[He remembers… how Ryo used to be about talking, about emotions. He tips his head to peer at Ryo, expression soft.]
I… just want to know how you’ve really been. That’s all I care about. If you’re okay. And if you’re not… that’s fine too.
no subject
I have lived for a very long time, but time hasn't moved any more slowly than these years.
[ as someone who has been around since the universe was newly born, ryo didn't really think waiting around would be as agonizing as this. then again, he only had a human form fairly recently. living as one has likely impacted some things that weren't really an issue before, whether he likes it or not. ]
I've wanted to die. I've wanted to forget you. I've wanted to start a new life. I've wanted to kiss you again. I don't know how to answer how I've been, because I'm not sure other than I am alive and here, and now you're in front of me.
no subject
Instead, he swallows quietly and hardens his jaw.]
I am. It’s okay to feel those ways.
[First of all. Even if he gets it’s hard for Ryo to deal with them.]
Do you really want me to stay, or do you want me to leave? I’m just asking to make sure.
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