yogen | npc contact.2

[ mmmmm... okay. if it's from a book, they'll trust it ]

Sure, what is it?

[you trusted his finger fact.........................................]

Can't be told here. Instead, how about we make that blanket castle I promised you~?

[that might suit alright. it's not dark enough for the stars just yet, and he did say he intended to do one that hit the ceiling-- or, at the very least, went up a ways away. been practicing it too.

... would be nicer to use stars as an example, but!!! we adapt!!!]

[ it made sense, why would they not believe it, don't lie to them ]

Mm... I'm not getting what that has to do with anything, but okay! I can bring all the pillows and blankets from my room over!

[he hasn't lied a day in his life to keigo!!! promise ☆]

Sometimes things don't have to do with anything, Keigo~! It's called spontaneity and also I--

[...]

I'm pooped.

[honestly, thinking about it... he died and then decided to do this for a few hours; keigo had reinvigorated him for a while, but now it was catching up with him at the thought of a cozy, warm, pillow cuddle fort with the other. it would have been a miracle for him to stay up until the stars shone; subaru was far more likely to wake in the middle of the silent night and look at them himself.]

[ hm!!! ]

If you fall asleep in the middle of making the castle, I'm going to draw on your face.

Oooh, unforgiving~. Make sure you sign your masterpiece when you're done!

[a beat as his eyes glance around, just to make sure there's no one else-- before he ducks closer to kiss their cheek as a parting gift.]

I'll meet you in ten.

[which should... theoretically... give him just enough of a deadline not to fall asleep making the thing, since he's going to need to borrow some of his roommates' sheets to tuck against the bunkbed and make more of a lean-to than anything]

[ Oh. Their hand rises to their cheek after he does that, not to wipe it off but feeling the flush under their palm and thinking something about holding the kiss there for even a moment longer as Subaru leaves but that's silly and they let their hand drop. ]

Be there in ten!

[ They're going to spend the next ten minutes eating the rest of their curry and also Subaru's curry and then leaving the plates in the sink to soak, they only need a minute to tuck their pillows under one arm and steal Amami's too and fold the blanket in half to drape over their shoulders and carry everything over like that. Knock knock knock on Subaru's door with the side of their foot. ]

[honestly that's mostly what he thought they'd use the ten on, unimpeded by their touchy, talkative star, and there's a bang and a wince a moment after keigo knocks, some... shuffling... before subaru peeks it open, a red spot high on his brow.]

You didn't hear anything. [okay.] Welcome to your kingdom, my prince~.

[he'll pull open the door, and... it isn't a castle really; he's got it mostly supported on one side by tying it to the bunkbed, but there's missing pillows from helena and aira's beds that're pinning out the space beneath the tri-blanket lean-to fort, very much a tall tent and not at all like the small, cozy forts made beneath chairs and the like.

they can use additional blanket as part of their bedding once subaru lifts an edge to let them in, the dying light of the day still enough to glow past the blankets and give it a warm, inviting feeling.]

[ Okay, they can pretend they didn't hear anything but they can still see that red spot, so as soon as they're inside, they take Subaru's hands to pull him down slightly while they stand up on their tippy toes and plants a kiss on that spot. ]

This is the customary greeting of the kingdom of, um... [ quick, what's a foreign kingdom sounding name ] Saransk.

Saransk, huh~? What a nice place.

[what a fancy name... definitely befitting of a kingdom. subaru's cheeks are a little red now, grinning, and he'll do the same to keigo, then, as is customary, before leading them into the little tent.

private and cozy. like they're the only two in all the world, and nothing exists outside their fabric walls.]

What else is customary here? I'm a foreigner blowing in, see, with an exciting tale to tell, so I'd like to know what I can and can't do while I'm taking bed here. ♪

[what sort of world and kingdom can keigo come up with...? he knows they're not too fond of adventure and the like, but playing pretend is fun.]

Edited 2021-10-31 04:36 (UTC)

Hmm... Customary is hugging the prince when you go to bed, and humming them a song, and... oh! and you say good night the same way you say hello.

[ There's no playing pretend here, they just like being held and wants a goodnight kiss ]

Good night the same way I say hello?

[... with a kiss then. this is so cute. he's going to make sure he drops by to give them a goodnight kiss every night from hereon, except if amami answers the door and then he'll leave sheepishly.

anyway, he'll take a seat and fix up things for keigo to be able to sit down on the ground too if they please!!!]

Got it~. I'll be sure not to make a single mistake with you, my prince, so settle on in and allow me to pose you a single question: In a star-filled sky, what makes one so different and special than any of the others?

[ It's a pillow fort so they're going to flop down on their stomach propped up on their elbows like :3c ]

When it's the sun!!

-—no, wait.

[ The sun is the only special special star that came to mind, but also it's not there in the night. Not like how the stars in general are still in the sky during the day even though you can't see them; at night, the sun is all the way around the other side of the world. ]

[pfft.]

At least you caught yourself~. The sun's special, sure, but the way a single star is different than all the others that glitter in the sky...

[and subaru'll flop onto his side, face tilting upward as if he's looking up at a shining sky and not the tones of the blankets warmed by the sun.]

... is because on one of them is a very special rose, the only one of her kind.

[ ...?

They roll over and copy him, staring up at the blanket canopy as if they could see that one specific star shining above their head ]

I don't get it.

Most people don't 'til they hear the rest. But I don't wanna spoil the whole thing, 'cause the story's an important one... So I'll explain why she's so special instead.

[and why keigo is special, why everyone wants them to focus away from facts and figures, which are things adults concern themselves with exclusively.]

'Cause of all the roses in all the galaxy, she was the one the Little Prince spent his time caring for and loving so much. When you spend time with someone, they become special and unique to you -- from just another face, another shopkeeper, to someone you want to see every day, to someone that hurts you when they have to go. But it's 'cause of those moments you shared that things that weren't special before become special, too.

[the starry sky. the color blue. suncatchers and encyclopedias, blanket forts and apple juice.]

You said you didn't know what you would've done if I hadn't come back, so I wanted tell you a little about that tale before someday, that becomes reality.

[...

it's not something that's come up since talking about the contract, how one day keigo may, despite subaru's best efforts, disappear and never see him again. how subaru himself is a third year, just like most of keigo's friends, and what that means.

but it's important.]

[ The way their face crumples at those final words makes it clear it isn't something they want to talk about, let alone think about, but also something that's always been on their mind— always, ever since they were a baby, and people keep walking out of their life. ]

I don't want that... I don't want the things that I love and make me happy to become something that'll just make me sad. And I don't want that for you either.

[mmmm.

subaru watches them first from the corner of his eye and then with a turn of his head, hand reaching over to play with their hair a bit.]

My dad passed away when I was young.

[soft, just the two of them. it's not. the whole truth. but it's true enough.]

He was an idol, just like I am now, and you'd think that the stage'd make me sad, that I wouldn't be able to sing or dance because everything reminds me of him, but-- it's because they remind me of him, of what he loved, that I can't help but feel happy too. Even if he's gone and I'll never see him again, even if I've long stepped past the back I used to reach out for when I was a kid.

[...]

"In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you look at the sky at night..." [it's definitely a line he's reciting, turning his body proper so he can take their hand and press his lips against it.] "You -- only you -- will have stars that can laugh."

[he doesn't know how else to explain it. how he hopes keigo doesn't resent people for what they can't control and what they can, how he wants them to find happiness instead, since he sure as hell is gonna have to regardless of what the future holds.]

[ They would have cried, they think, a little jolt when Subaru touches their hair but they nuzzle his hand afterwards, to take as much comfort as possible. There was a time where everything reminded them of everybody and they couldn't bear it, but once they were able to pick themselves back up again... they surrounded themselves with books, with art, with people who have their brother's kindness, their sister's wisdom, their father's ... I couldn't think of anything, but I'm sure there's something.

But they get it. It doesn't stop the anxiety that claws at the back of the mind when thinking about losing someone, of being alone and surrounded by things but not the people they love, and it doesn't stop the tears that prick at their eyes, that dampen Subaru's shirt when they press their face against his chest, breathing him in.

But they get it. ]

We'll look up at the sky, and know we're still up there, even when we can't see each other. Right?

[ The first start fact that they learned from Subaru, and their favorite ]

[it's good that they're close already, because subaru would've done the deed himself; now he just presses his face against their hair, pine and curry a warm tone he finds he loves, just like he loves the stars that sing furusato high above.]

Yup. No matter what, no matter when or where, that sky is ours. I'll always be watching you, and you'll do the same.

[so stay with me, maybe, is what he would've said if he was a little more romantic and a little less clumsy. but he's not and he is so he thinks of the little prince, how he tamed and was tamed himself, and how terribly lonely it was to be apart from the people you grow to love.

subaru gets it too, the unspoken fear and anxiety. it's why he worked so hard to make his mom smile even at the cost of having a real one for himself.]

[ Mm. It's a thought that makes them warm, filling a chest carved hollow with sorrow, like the beginning of a good cry. But it's still too much, too soon, and they'd much much rather look up and know that Subaru is still here, right in front of them where they can see and touch and hold.

They swallow hard and settle down, feeling for the beat of a heart against the side of their face that they turn and peer up at the castle, this safe space Subaru had made for both of them, before closing their eyes to sleep. ]

npc contact.2

full navigation

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

1/

2/2

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject