[She frowns a little, unable to pinpoint exactly what she had that might have altered his mood. Whichever part it was, she regrets it, but— still, they need to talk about this, don't they?
Maybe not. Maybe she's fooling herself by thinking this might actually help things, or that there's anything that needs helping.]
Nothing, he just— seemed nervous, when he talked to me.
[If Ryuji doesn't know more, then it's not her place to tell him. It wouldn't be fair to him, or Akira.]
But that's pretty much what I told him, too. I've never dated anyone, either, so it's not like I have experience to speak from. I think being a supportive friend was enough?
[That's all he'd needed from her, anyway. From Ryuji... well. She thinks he needed to know that door was closed. Her expression softens a bit, however, and she shakes her head.]
Even if that's not why you're saying it, I think you're wrong. You care about the people around you more than anything— you'd be a great boyfriend. I mean— anyone would be lucky to have you.
[She quickly shovels another forkful of goop into her mouth. Ugh.]
[Well, to be fair, Ryuji'd be pretty nervous too, if he was telling Ann or Akira that he was dating someone. He'd probably end up standing there, anxious, rocking on the balls of his heels, until it came tumbling out like a waterfall after a heavy rain.]
Maybe it was cold feet? It's hard tellin' other people your feelings... and shit. Or, uh, maybe that's just me. I dunno, he musta had his reasons.
[He finally takes a bite of food again, figuring that- whatever was going through Akira's head at the moment, it's probably solved. It isn't until Ann starts speaking to him like that, that his chewing slows down, and he raises an eyebrow at her.]
W-wha---
[Swallowing it down, since it's pretty rude to talk with his mouth full, he just looks on at her. Never in a million years would he think he'd hear those sort of words coming from Ann, but they're oddly comforting in a way. More than just throwing him off guard, he's kind of frustrated at it. But not in that way that she's implying that he has some redeeming qualities, but because she was obviously bummed out too, and here she is, still being a supportive friend.]
Yo, cut it out. You don't gotta do that for me. [He gets that ping signal to tread carefully here. He doesn't want to make her mad, and he gets that she's not being dishonest with her words or anything, even if he doesn't 100% agree with her. And Ryuji is going to be brutally honest, because that's exactly how they've always functioned over stuff together.]
Like... yeah, I know what you're sayin' and everything, and, thanks... but you don't have to go 'n try and lift me up when you're obviously pretty outta it yourself. And it's cool, y'know. If you are.
[He looks down at his plate again, because this conversation just ramped up the difficulty setting way higher than his own personal level. He thinks he would know if Ann were crazily having an entire league of dokis out in right field for Akira, or at least, maybe there would've been some inkling about it. The opportunities were all there, the time, the chance to let it happen, the fact that they'd practically make a perfect couple, and yet, she still...]
I don't really think I'm there yet. I'm 17, gonna be 18 in like, a month or two, and I still got... so, so... so much shit wrong with me that I gotta figure out. I'd, uh. I'd really just be bringin' anyone else down with me at this rate.
[Raising his eyes upward to look at Ann and see her expression, he looks down again at the plate he's eating. This sort of openness with her is new- it's the sort of line of thinking that he hadn't even told Akira... and maybe it's because he knows a part of Akira would want to fix that line of thinking? He doesn't know. He really doesn't know much of anything.]
[Surprise, Ryuji— never forget, she can be pretty genuine, too. The brutal honesty she gets in reply is pretty par for the course; neither of them has ever been particularly cagey with the other, and she nods as he explains himself, her smile turning wry as she listens thoughtfully.
He makes a good point. A lot of good points, but first:]
It's not just me trying to lift you up, you know? We're friends. I know we pick at each other a lot, but I hope you realize that you're one of the best people I know.
[She teases him plenty, giving as good as she gets from him, but she thinks he could stand to be reminded of that. Like Ryuji himself, she thinks the world of her friends.]
But you're right. I'm not saying that you need to run right out there and find someone or anything, just... maybe don't be so hard on yourself?
[Love yourself a little more, Sakamoto.]
I do get what you mean. I feel the same way? I have to focus on becoming a better version of myself before I can worry about anyone else, but all the same... saying you'd be a crappy boyfriend? [She snorts lightly, and her smile returns, faint but teasing this time.] Come on. Don't talk about my friend that way.
[How does he not blush when Ann starts saying this sort of stuff to him? He feels his face getting warmer, and it's not what he was expecting out of any thing, going to prove that Ann has, does, and always will have the ability to throw him for an absolute fucking loop just when he thinks he's right about something. And how does he not return that exact sentiment too, even though he feels so... goddamn out of his element in all of this- because, really, he feels pretty much the same way about her.]
U...uh. Yeah. I mean. You are pretty much... like. [Love yourself and pull yourself together, Sakamoto.]
Shit, it's just. Man, why'd you have to go and make this so awkward!? C'mon, you know how I feel about you. [And whether or not he's vocalized that to her often enough is something that's entirely up in the air, but he breathes in through his nose and gives up trying to pretend to be interested in eating anymore.]
After everything we've been through, even from the beginnin', we've always been there for each other. And I don't want that to ever stop. You always makes me wanna be the best "me," y'know? That same better version you're talkin' about.
[He sure doesn't know what relationship material looks like, but Ann's reassurance goes a long way, even when he doesn't think he's anywhere near it yet. It's weird, he's always wanted to try and get a girlfriend back home, but he's pretty much come to realize that he wouldn't know what to do if he ever got one.
It's like putting an image in his head of what things ought to be like, or where he'd imagine himself being, and leaving it at just that- an image. Prone to do that with both Ann and Akira, too, a few months ahead of both of them, he's had a lot of time to think about that and why it's so wrong to begin with. And while the both of them are here with him, now... he wants to try harder.]
Alright. You're right. I'll stop beatin' myself up over it. Uhm... thanks, I got... a pretty thick skull sometimes.
[She grins easily, curling her fingers into a fist and leaning across the table to gently knock on his forehead a couple of times.]
You know, that's the real reason we call you Skull.
[She drops back into her seat, and while his turning her words back on her does bring some color to her cheeks, her mood seems to have been lifted overall— she feels like he really means what he says, and she agrees. They'll always have each other's backs, even when the time of the Phantom Thieves has come to an end.]
It won't stop. I'll make sure of it.
[It's not like she has so many friends that she can afford to throw the best of them away— not that she ever would, anyway.]
We'll just keep on helping each other out, just like that. Lean on each other while we strengthen our hearts!
[Just like she'd asked Akira to help her with back home. She has a feeling that's going to be an ongoing project for a long, long time.]
Thanks for this. I don't really know why I needed it, but... I did.
[Why does talking to him always make her feel so much better, no matter the situation?]
Man... what the hell. You're ACTUALLY knocking sense into me and this is like, takin' it to a whole 'nother level.
[He'll take those raps against the top of his head sheepishly, not fussing over it more than he absolutely has to, or swiping her hand away. This kid is still so, so touch starved, enough that even that has him leaning towards it like a puppy that just wants to be scratched behind the ears. Which is, well, it's lame, and he knows it is, but he can bear a piece of his heart to Ann like this.
They can also sit there, both cheeks red, and it would be an awful thing if someone chanced upon the both of them like this, because from the outside, it has all the verisimilitude of a date, complete with the both of them looking awkward, but determined to make it work. Which would be so, so far from the truth- they're just bonding over a mutual interest in each other, with food, speaking their truths, and... well, fuck.]
Yeah, as long as that also comes with strengthening our stomachs. [He's finally, finally starting to get sick of the protein goo that they've been shoveling into their mouths, but he's also WAY TOO GODDAMN proud to admit that. He longs for the simpler days of a buffet line with horrible adults around them who think a bunch of children have wandered into a soiree fit for kings, and, as thick as the thieves they were, could look them in the eye and tell them to stuff it. And then stuff their own faces.]
It's cool.
[He's not trying to be skillful or smooth here, like he can just casually say things like it's cool and make it happen. He just thinks... well, it's alright. If Ann needed something, he would do anything to make sure she got it. Likewise, probably, judging by the way she had just reached out and played the world's worst knock-knock joke on him.]
[With how worried she'd seemed at the start of this conversation, falling into their natural pattern of teasing and prodding at one another seems to have done wonders— it just feels right, like it always has. She doesn't give a second thought to what this little tableau might look like; ever since everything that happened with Kamoshida had brought them closer together, it was second nature for them to pair off, both on the job as Phantom Thieves and in everyday life. They had history, after all, and aside from Shiho—
Well, until Akira came into the picture, Ryuji was the only other person she could really consider a friend, even if she'd kept him at arm's length for a long while. She regrets that now— what would her life even be without him?
Painfully boring, probably.]
I'm all for that, too.
[She gives him a lopsided smile, glad to see he's finally seeing things her way about the food here.]
When we get back, how about we raid the temple's kitchen for all it's worth? Oooh, or better yet, we can get everyone together for a potluck dinner or something— we can't be the only ones sick of this stuff.
[But that's still a ways away. They have work to do here still, but however long they're stuck in Struxta, at least they have each other.
Her expression softens again, and she tries to shrug off the sudden pang of embarrassment she feels. Why is her face so stupidly hot?!]
[He holds out his fist for a bump, since even though Ann is a girl, she'll always be someone he can be unabashedly himself around. The idea of a potluck sounds amazing, considering the slop that they've had to eat over the last while, and maybe... for once, he can bring out his secret cooking skills.
The ones he's never owned up to, since it took a lot of experimenting and charred delights that him and his mom had to eat with her pulling down two jobs and not having time to do the whole cooking thing. Which basically means he can make a mean burger or throw together a soup, but... he's doing his best.
Watching her from his "don't leave me hanging" distance, he figures things will end up alright. And maybe, sure, just a little bit... talking with her has made him realize that even though Akira and Rion dating is something he's totally cool with, he acknowledges that it's his own insecurities of being left behind that's causing him the slight discomfort of it. Which is, admittedly, dumb, because while Ann promises him that they'll always have each other, Ryuji just doesn't want to think of a world where that isn't true between the three of them.
And maybe, from his angle, he looks on to her expressively softened features, and he remembers why he absolutely adores Ann so much. She can go from calm to upbeat to reserved, angry, unsettled- all within a minute's span. And his heart rate increases a little bit over it.]
[She definitely doesn't leave him hanging— not for more than a moment, anyway, and she smiles easily as she reaches out to bump his fist with her own. She's always been able to be herself with him, too, right down to not caring what things might look like to other people, or whether she fits in with the other girls at school— at this point, she'd rather not, given the way they've treated her over the years.
She doesn't need them. The friends she has are worth a thousand of them, and this talk with Ryuji is as firm a reminder of that as any.]
Pow.
[She drops back into her seat, the slop on her plate now forgotten. Ryuji has that effect on people— he helps them focus on what's important. The little things, however annoying or troublesome, just don't matter anymore.]
Thanks, Skull. I'm glad you could meet me. Y'know, we've still got some time to kill before Operation: Storm— any idea how we should spend it?
[Exchange of the brofists complete, Ryuji feels... pretty okay with life at the moment, which is all he can really ask for. There might not be a direction or a path right in front to take, but he knows the destination is going to be good... especially when you have such good friends to share that place with.
Hm... time to kill before operation: storm?
There's a few things that come to mind. He wants to show her the only yellow building in Struxta that he helped paint with his bullshit magic. Take her shopping for things to bring back to the temple, but honestly, you know what would be kind of cool right now?]
Wanna go for a motorcycle ride?
[He smiles at her proudly. Do all the stupid things.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Maybe not. Maybe she's fooling herself by thinking this might actually help things, or that there's anything that needs helping.]
Nothing, he just— seemed nervous, when he talked to me.
[If Ryuji doesn't know more, then it's not her place to tell him. It wouldn't be fair to him, or Akira.]
But that's pretty much what I told him, too. I've never dated anyone, either, so it's not like I have experience to speak from. I think being a supportive friend was enough?
[That's all he'd needed from her, anyway. From Ryuji... well. She thinks he needed to know that door was closed. Her expression softens a bit, however, and she shakes her head.]
Even if that's not why you're saying it, I think you're wrong. You care about the people around you more than anything— you'd be a great boyfriend. I mean— anyone would be lucky to have you.
[She quickly shovels another forkful of goop into her mouth. Ugh.]
no subject
Maybe it was cold feet? It's hard tellin' other people your feelings... and shit. Or, uh, maybe that's just me. I dunno, he musta had his reasons.
[He finally takes a bite of food again, figuring that- whatever was going through Akira's head at the moment, it's probably solved. It isn't until Ann starts speaking to him like that, that his chewing slows down, and he raises an eyebrow at her.]
W-wha---
[Swallowing it down, since it's pretty rude to talk with his mouth full, he just looks on at her. Never in a million years would he think he'd hear those sort of words coming from Ann, but they're oddly comforting in a way. More than just throwing him off guard, he's kind of frustrated at it. But not in that way that she's implying that he has some redeeming qualities, but because she was obviously bummed out too, and here she is, still being a supportive friend.]
Yo, cut it out. You don't gotta do that for me. [He gets that ping signal to tread carefully here. He doesn't want to make her mad, and he gets that she's not being dishonest with her words or anything, even if he doesn't 100% agree with her. And Ryuji is going to be brutally honest, because that's exactly how they've always functioned over stuff together.]
Like... yeah, I know what you're sayin' and everything, and, thanks... but you don't have to go 'n try and lift me up when you're obviously pretty outta it yourself. And it's cool, y'know. If you are.
[He looks down at his plate again, because this conversation just ramped up the difficulty setting way higher than his own personal level. He thinks he would know if Ann were crazily having an entire league of dokis out in right field for Akira, or at least, maybe there would've been some inkling about it. The opportunities were all there, the time, the chance to let it happen, the fact that they'd practically make a perfect couple, and yet, she still...]
I don't really think I'm there yet. I'm 17, gonna be 18 in like, a month or two, and I still got... so, so... so much shit wrong with me that I gotta figure out. I'd, uh. I'd really just be bringin' anyone else down with me at this rate.
[Raising his eyes upward to look at Ann and see her expression, he looks down again at the plate he's eating. This sort of openness with her is new- it's the sort of line of thinking that he hadn't even told Akira... and maybe it's because he knows a part of Akira would want to fix that line of thinking? He doesn't know. He really doesn't know much of anything.]
Y'know what I mean?
no subject
He makes a good point. A lot of good points, but first:]
It's not just me trying to lift you up, you know? We're friends. I know we pick at each other a lot, but I hope you realize that you're one of the best people I know.
[She teases him plenty, giving as good as she gets from him, but she thinks he could stand to be reminded of that. Like Ryuji himself, she thinks the world of her friends.]
But you're right. I'm not saying that you need to run right out there and find someone or anything, just... maybe don't be so hard on yourself?
[Love yourself a little more, Sakamoto.]
I do get what you mean. I feel the same way? I have to focus on becoming a better version of myself before I can worry about anyone else, but all the same... saying you'd be a crappy boyfriend? [She snorts lightly, and her smile returns, faint but teasing this time.] Come on. Don't talk about my friend that way.
no subject
U...uh. Yeah. I mean. You are pretty much... like. [Love yourself and pull yourself together, Sakamoto.]
Shit, it's just. Man, why'd you have to go and make this so awkward!? C'mon, you know how I feel about you. [And whether or not he's vocalized that to her often enough is something that's entirely up in the air, but he breathes in through his nose and gives up trying to pretend to be interested in eating anymore.]
After everything we've been through, even from the beginnin', we've always been there for each other. And I don't want that to ever stop. You always makes me wanna be the best "me," y'know? That same better version you're talkin' about.
[He sure doesn't know what relationship material looks like, but Ann's reassurance goes a long way, even when he doesn't think he's anywhere near it yet. It's weird, he's always wanted to try and get a girlfriend back home, but he's pretty much come to realize that he wouldn't know what to do if he ever got one.
It's like putting an image in his head of what things ought to be like, or where he'd imagine himself being, and leaving it at just that- an image. Prone to do that with both Ann and Akira, too, a few months ahead of both of them, he's had a lot of time to think about that and why it's so wrong to begin with. And while the both of them are here with him, now... he wants to try harder.]
Alright. You're right. I'll stop beatin' myself up over it. Uhm... thanks, I got... a pretty thick skull sometimes.
no subject
You know, that's the real reason we call you Skull.
[She drops back into her seat, and while his turning her words back on her does bring some color to her cheeks, her mood seems to have been lifted overall— she feels like he really means what he says, and she agrees. They'll always have each other's backs, even when the time of the Phantom Thieves has come to an end.]
It won't stop. I'll make sure of it.
[It's not like she has so many friends that she can afford to throw the best of them away— not that she ever would, anyway.]
We'll just keep on helping each other out, just like that. Lean on each other while we strengthen our hearts!
[Just like she'd asked Akira to help her with back home. She has a feeling that's going to be an ongoing project for a long, long time.]
Thanks for this. I don't really know why I needed it, but... I did.
[Why does talking to him always make her feel so much better, no matter the situation?]
no subject
[He'll take those raps against the top of his head sheepishly, not fussing over it more than he absolutely has to, or swiping her hand away. This kid is still so, so touch starved, enough that even that has him leaning towards it like a puppy that just wants to be scratched behind the ears. Which is, well, it's lame, and he knows it is, but he can bear a piece of his heart to Ann like this.
They can also sit there, both cheeks red, and it would be an awful thing if someone chanced upon the both of them like this, because from the outside, it has all the verisimilitude of a date, complete with the both of them looking awkward, but determined to make it work. Which would be so, so far from the truth- they're just bonding over a mutual interest in each other, with food, speaking their truths, and... well, fuck.]
Yeah, as long as that also comes with strengthening our stomachs. [He's finally, finally starting to get sick of the protein goo that they've been shoveling into their mouths, but he's also WAY TOO GODDAMN proud to admit that. He longs for the simpler days of a buffet line with horrible adults around them who think a bunch of children have wandered into a soiree fit for kings, and, as thick as the thieves they were, could look them in the eye and tell them to stuff it. And then stuff their own faces.]
It's cool.
[He's not trying to be skillful or smooth here, like he can just casually say things like it's cool and make it happen. He just thinks... well, it's alright. If Ann needed something, he would do anything to make sure she got it. Likewise, probably, judging by the way she had just reached out and played the world's worst knock-knock joke on him.]
I... uh... I kinda needed this too.
[Thanks, Takamaki.]
no subject
[With how worried she'd seemed at the start of this conversation, falling into their natural pattern of teasing and prodding at one another seems to have done wonders— it just feels right, like it always has. She doesn't give a second thought to what this little tableau might look like; ever since everything that happened with Kamoshida had brought them closer together, it was second nature for them to pair off, both on the job as Phantom Thieves and in everyday life. They had history, after all, and aside from Shiho—
Well, until Akira came into the picture, Ryuji was the only other person she could really consider a friend, even if she'd kept him at arm's length for a long while. She regrets that now— what would her life even be without him?
Painfully boring, probably.]
I'm all for that, too.
[She gives him a lopsided smile, glad to see he's finally seeing things her way about the food here.]
When we get back, how about we raid the temple's kitchen for all it's worth? Oooh, or better yet, we can get everyone together for a potluck dinner or something— we can't be the only ones sick of this stuff.
[But that's still a ways away. They have work to do here still, but however long they're stuck in Struxta, at least they have each other.
Her expression softens again, and she tries to shrug off the sudden pang of embarrassment she feels. Why is her face so stupidly hot?!]
Good thing we've got each other, then, isn't it?
no subject
[He holds out his fist for a bump, since even though Ann is a girl, she'll always be someone he can be unabashedly himself around. The idea of a potluck sounds amazing, considering the slop that they've had to eat over the last while, and maybe... for once, he can bring out his secret cooking skills.
The ones he's never owned up to, since it took a lot of experimenting and charred delights that him and his mom had to eat with her pulling down two jobs and not having time to do the whole cooking thing. Which basically means he can make a mean burger or throw together a soup, but... he's doing his best.
Watching her from his "don't leave me hanging" distance, he figures things will end up alright. And maybe, sure, just a little bit... talking with her has made him realize that even though Akira and Rion dating is something he's totally cool with, he acknowledges that it's his own insecurities of being left behind that's causing him the slight discomfort of it. Which is, admittedly, dumb, because while Ann promises him that they'll always have each other, Ryuji just doesn't want to think of a world where that isn't true between the three of them.
And maybe, from his angle, he looks on to her expressively softened features, and he remembers why he absolutely adores Ann so much. She can go from calm to upbeat to reserved, angry, unsettled- all within a minute's span. And his heart rate increases a little bit over it.]
no subject
She doesn't need them. The friends she has are worth a thousand of them, and this talk with Ryuji is as firm a reminder of that as any.]
Pow.
[She drops back into her seat, the slop on her plate now forgotten. Ryuji has that effect on people— he helps them focus on what's important. The little things, however annoying or troublesome, just don't matter anymore.]
Thanks, Skull. I'm glad you could meet me. Y'know, we've still got some time to kill before Operation: Storm— any idea how we should spend it?
no subject
[Exchange of the brofists complete, Ryuji feels... pretty okay with life at the moment, which is all he can really ask for. There might not be a direction or a path right in front to take, but he knows the destination is going to be good... especially when you have such good friends to share that place with.
Hm... time to kill before operation: storm?
There's a few things that come to mind. He wants to show her the only yellow building in Struxta that he helped paint with his bullshit magic. Take her shopping for things to bring back to the temple, but honestly, you know what would be kind of cool right now?]
Wanna go for a motorcycle ride?
[He smiles at her proudly. Do all the stupid things.]
no subject
Seriously?
[As fun as shopping and sightseeing would be— yeah, this is definitely better.]
Hell yeah! I only watched at the races, but I've been dying to try one!