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Post by mugenginga on Aug 23, 2011 22:49:26 GMT -5
Ryoji had woken up before Minato (or at least the other teenager hadn't stirred), and was now sitting on the couch in the living room. He had his legs spread and his arms hanging down with the elbows resting on his upper thighs. The television wasn't on, but he was staring at it nonetheless. Or staring past it, in any case. He let out a large sigh and lifted up his hands, mussing up his hair as he ran his hands through it, keeping them there as he stared up at the ceiling.
What hadn't gone wrong for the group lately? Souji was dying, and while he tried to put a face on for those around him, he didn't think they could stop it. Atsuro was wasting away, and Ryoji didn't think he thought anyone was noticing but he was pretty sure everyone was noticing. He grimaced, keeping his eyes on the ceiling. While he really couldn't remember much of his time as Nyx's avatar besides snapshots with Minato and general feelings, with the latter being more than a little patchy, he knew there'd been a time when he'd been... accepting of individual death. Now? Hell, he wanted to think of anything but.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, pulling his arms away from his head and letting them rest fully spread on the top of the couch. There was an everpresent gnaw of stress in the pit of his stomach. He had to pull himself together. Minato would be up soon, and he really didn't want the other teenager to see him like this. He didn't want anyone to see him like this, but Minato topped the list.
"It's hopeless, isn't it...?" he muttered to himself, his frown deep.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Aug 25, 2011 22:43:46 GMT -5
Minato lay in bed, awake. While he slept a lot, he wasn't a particularly heavy sleeper, and the movement of the bedsprings from Ryoji getting up was enough to shake him awake. He didn't move, though. He'd figured Ryoji would be back soon, but a few minutes later and Ryoji didn't return. He was worried about him. Ryoji had always been a pessimist under everything, and with the recent events, that side had been coming up a lot more. He hid it well, but Minato had always been able to tell...
It was when Ryoji spoke he decided now was the time to get out of bed. He pulled himself out of bed, and grimaced at the popping noise his joints made as he did so. He walked out of the bedroom to the living room. There was Ryoji, sitting on the couch. It didn't look like the other teenager had spotted him yet.
"What's hopeless?" Minato asked. He hoped he didn't startle Ryoji too badly. He didn't like that look on Ryoji's face, though. He could make some guesses as to what was on his mind, though he wasn't speaking them.
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Post by mugenginga on Aug 26, 2011 17:48:35 GMT -5
Ryoji almost knocked the television over as he jumped up and spun around in surprise at Minato's voice. He actually gave a nervous look at the tv as it wobbled for a moment before turning towards Minato and seeming to finally process what the blue haired teenager had said. He looked startled for a moment before glancing away.
"It's nothing, really," he turned his focus back to Minato, "How long have you been awake? I thought you were still asleep."
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Aug 28, 2011 22:03:11 GMT -5
Minato didn't directly respond to Ryoji's question, and just shrugged when he asked how long he'd been awake. Wasn't really all that important. He gave Ryoji a rather critical look as the scarfed teenager made it rather clear he was trying to avoid the issue. So instead he walked up to Ryoji and grabbed him by the scarf.
"You're depressing yourself again," Minato stated. They needed to get out of the apartment. He was not going to let Mr. Pessimistic Scarf-Man over here work himself into another self-induced depression.
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Post by mugenginga on Aug 29, 2011 20:25:43 GMT -5
Ryoji blinked in surprise as Minato stepped forward and wrapped his hand around the scarf. He looked down at it and Minato's hand in confusion as Minato made his accusation. The brown haired teenager winced a bit as if he had been struck and gave a weak smile.
"I-It's really nothing," It was clear Minato wasn't buying it. He lifted his hands and waved them in front of his face the best he could with Minato's grip. The way it was wrapped around his hand meant he wouldnt be able to back off unless he undid the scarf from the back. Far too obvious of a hassle. His grimacing grin hadn't faded, "I'm fine! I mean... we're doing what we can, right? It's not like there's anything else to do..."
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Aug 30, 2011 22:31:15 GMT -5
"Mmhm." Minato's unamused expression said rather plainly that he did not buy what Ryoji was saying. He let Ryoji finish, and then began to drag him by the scarf to the door.
"You need to get out of the house," Minato said in quite plain terms, not leaving any room for argument. He let go of Ryoji's scarf once he was at the door. "So wait here while I get dressed."
And then he walked back to the bedroom without saying another word.
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Post by mugenginga on Aug 30, 2011 22:36:49 GMT -5
Ryoji trailed off, looking at Minato's face for signs the other teenager believed him. Was he going to make him talk? Ryoji didn't think he wanted to talk. He knew what Minato would say, but no amount of talking would help Souji. Or Atsuro. The boy was going to throw himself off the top of a building at this rate and there wasn't any-
"H-hey!"
Ryoji's thoughts derailed as Minato began to march forward. It was either move or be strangled, so Ryoji shuffled his feet after Minato, staring at the back of the other teenager's head. The stop surprised him almost as much as the start, and he was fiddling with where the scarf had tightened around his neck. He had a flustered look that was an attempt at being upset, but Minato either ignored it or didn't notice. He began to talk.
Ryoji opened his mouth, but closed it at Minato's expression. He frowned and let his eyebrows sag as Minato told him to wait there, and watched as Minato walked back to the bedroom. He let out an enormous sigh. He really didn't need to go anywhere...
...then again, he couldn't find that he was that adverse to it. He tried to let himself smile, and while it was a failure there was more success inherent in it than there had been the entire rest of the day.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Sept 7, 2011 22:38:55 GMT -5
Minato came back out, dressed in some rather warm clothing. He still had a rather serious expression on his face, but at least now he was serious looking and was wearing something other than his boxers, thus making the situation a tad bit less ridiculous. He walked over to Ryoji and the door and went ahead and walked out.
"Come on, lets go," Minato said. "Take a walk around town or go out to lunch or something. Whatever you want to do that's not hanging around here all day."
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Post by mugenginga on Sept 9, 2011 2:13:30 GMT -5
In contrast, Ryoji was dressed in the usual. Really the boy needed an expanded wardrobe. All he wore was the decades out of style usual and anything he could borrow from Minato. So basically jersey t-shirts, black and blue pants, and his usual outfit. He probably needed something warmer. And related to Minato's pestering, a job.
In response to Minato's words, he scratched the back of his head and averted his eyes, trying to figure out if there was a way out of being dragged outside by Minato. He paused for a moment and one could almost see the lightbulb above his head. He looked back at Minato and lifted a finger.
"How about that one restaurant Anzu-chan works at? Angel Mort I think it was?"
(OOC: Clothes. That was a hint. XD)
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Sept 10, 2011 1:16:46 GMT -5
Minato couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at Ryoji's suggestion. He was pretty sure he knew why Ryoji wanted to go there. Reason 1) skimpy uniforms. Reason 2) he wanted to draw attention away from the reason they were going on this little date. There was no way he was going to let Ryoji get out of this so easily.
"We were just there a week ago," Minato pointed out. "We should go somewhere different."
He looked Ryoji up and down and frowned. Come to think of it, Ryoji had been wearing the exact same outfit for well over two months now. Either he wore this outfit or he borrowed some of Minato's clothes. Minato sighed.
"Actually, as much as I hate to admit it, we probably need to go buy you some more clothes," Minato said. "...And you're not allowed to buy anything that looks remotely like what you're wearing now."
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Post by mugenginga on Sept 10, 2011 1:27:43 GMT -5
Ryoji actually smiled a bit more at Minato's raised eyebrow, clearly thinking he was about to get his way. Minato's thoughts were right on the money though. Ryoji's shoulders slumped a bit as Minato suggested someplace different, but his expression hadn't changed much. He took a step forward and opened his mouth again to try and argue some counterpoint when Minato commented on his clothes. He blinked and looked down at his outfit. Well, they probably nee- wait, what?
"What's wrong with my outfit?" Ryoji asked, sounding genuinely perplexed this time, "Why shouldn't I get something that looks like it?"
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Sept 10, 2011 1:49:53 GMT -5
Minato gave Ryoji a rather flat look. He put his hand on his head, and it seemed he was trying to come up with some way to respond to this without being mean about it. He wasn't doing a very good job. It was times like this that reminded him that Ryoji was only really physically an eighteen-year old teenager. Clearly, having spent most of his life as the embodiment of all shadows meant he was a bit timeshifted as far as his fashion tastes.
"Ryoji, I don't think I've ever seen anyone wear something like that outside of a history book," Minato said plainly.
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Post by mugenginga on Sept 10, 2011 2:05:15 GMT -5
Ryoji frowned and angled his eyebrows down as Minato put his hand on his head. He blinked when Minato finally spoke after the exaggerated silence. Ryoji looked down at his outfit again and thought for a while. Actually, no one at Gekkoukan had seemed to dress like that, but he was pretty sure he'd assumed it was because they were always in their uniforms. The memories flickered in and out as usual and he quickly shoved that train of thought away.
"Really?" he managed to say instead. He looked down and pulled at the bottom of his sleeve, "But I like this style..."
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Sept 12, 2011 22:19:39 GMT -5
Oh great, there was that tone of voice. That sweet, almost begging tone of voice that Minato was sure had charmed dozens of girls to Ryoji's side before. And it was charming him too. He couldn't find it in him to argue with Ryoji much more. Well, if this was his choice...
"Fine, whatever," Minato relented. "Do what you want. So long as you get something new to wear that isn't one of my hand-me-downs."
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Post by mugenginga on Sept 13, 2011 2:53:29 GMT -5
Ryoji actually laughed at Minato's comment, and rubbed the back of his head nervously, "I have kind of been borrowing your stuff constantly, haven't I...?"
After a moment of silence in response to the mostly rhetorical question, Ryoji dropped his hand and walked forward towards the open door that Minato was standing outside. He didn't think he'd chase the emotions away, but he didn't really think he could express how grateful he was to Minato for trying. And he sure as hell wasn't going to let the other teenager know his efforts were in vain. He didn't want to see that look on Minato's face at all if he could avoid it. He casually reached to the side and grabbed Minato's mp3 player as he walked past, dragging the other teenager after him as he walked similar to what Minato had done with his scarf a few minutes earlier.
"Well if we're going somewhere you shouldn't stand there in the hall with your mouth hanging open," Ryoji teased.
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