thephantomthief | IC INBOX

[ okay, maybe he can stop touching ren now. he's never shied away from skinship before, but even casual moonlacing makes ryuji's gut feel all funny inside. just something else he still needs to adjust to... ]

Tch. Dumbass...

[ it barely qualifies as a complaint, softly huffed. ]

Oh, yeah, they have those here...? [ his memory's jogged a little. maybe it'd set them both right as rain... ] Er, with me? You sure you wanna?

[ they see each other in passing every day! on paper it's not all that different from the past, but...the air's changed in some imperceptible way. maybe just because it's a foreign world, and ren's already carved out his own life here. ]

[Noooo please continue to touch Ren - awww. He doesn't reply back to the complaint because, well, it's barely a whisper. Also it's fair. He can be a dumbass.]

Yeah! In another city that's about two hours away with the foxes...it's a lot more traditional looking than here. I'd say almost Kyoto inspired as far as a city in another universe could be. [He looks at him from his vintage points before nodding.] Well yeah...it's fun being around you, you know.

[Now he'll just stare at the ceiling.]

Like I said, each day is important, right?

Kyoto, huh...always wanted to go...

[ oh, that's right. wasn't everyone talking about taking a trip, once upon a time? it already feels like a lifetime ago; maybe ren's offering a decent substitute. ]

Hah. Even when I try to clobber ya?

[ that was probably best left buried. ryuji's stretch is a little awkward, wincing when his joints loudly pop. his body's moved in ways he'd never have dreamed of, recently... ]

Guess you just gotta make the most of what you've got.

Well in this world, it's filled with foxes. And uh...some of the old-style Kyoto stuff too.

[You know. Red light district.]

Ha! Well maybe a little less then, but that just means I have to switch my personas around.

[Wink. That's also his queue to yawn and stretch out his arms and legs as well. The floor was okay, but it was probably better for them to actually do something.]

Yeah. [A pause.] Thanks. I think I needed that too.

It's probably worth checkin' out, though. Didn't realize how much I was gonna miss being at home until it's taken away from you...

[ he's going through it; there's exciting things about being here, too, so it isn't all bad. it just depends on the day. ]

Right? I'm tellin' you, a burnt-out brain's not gonna do you any favors. You gotta keep those positive thoughts going!

[ ryuji would know. he isn't sure what to do from here, however...the evening may be young, but the fear of accidentally tearing the cafe apart still lingers in the back of his mind. just because nothing happened to him during the triple moons doesn't mean it can't start now.

he leans his weight back onto his hands, elbows bent. ] Besides, not like we really get time to shoot the shit... [ when you're practically a lovesick puppy, that doesn't really help matters, either. it's a relief to feel more or less like himself again. ]

I was thinking about opening a second coffee shop there so there will be plenty of excuses to go. That and Yusuke moving there with Midna too.

[Ren realizes they just talked about how he's not taking enough of Re-time so he raises his hands before Ryuji hits him again for being an idiot.] But I'll find someone to help me run it, I promise.

[Then nods.]

Right. Keep the positive thoughts going. You too. We gotta keep telling each other.

[Hmmm.]

Maybe we should order out and play a game? [For all the weird shit that the VR game had caused, it was also pretty fun.] That counts as us-time, right?

Edited 2020-06-13 09:09 (UTC)

[ mentioning yusuke almost distracts from ryuji from the glaring issue: ] Huh? They're moving outta their swanky house? We better pitch in, then... [ but it's little more than a temporary pause. attack on ren part two, the long-awaited sequel, is about to begin. ]

Renreeen! You're gonna work yourself into an early grave—!

[ actually, there's no real hitting involved. ryuji merely shakes the guy back and forth, jostling him. not therapeutic whatsoever. ]

Dude, get your ears cleaned out and listen! You better get a whole lot of someones... [ actually: ] Oh! Lemme help! I've seen it here, how hard can it be!?

[ plenty hard, most likely. since ryuji's full of good ideas, he's such a generous guy that he's more than willing to listen to some from ren as well. ]

Uh, yeah, anything with me and you's gonna fit the description! Maybe all the grease will really start to lube up your brain, heheh.

[ a well-oiled brain will make for a...well-oiled body? is this how it works? if it's what ren wants, he may as well go for it!

You know Yusuke. The traditional culture probably tickled his everything. And I'm sure he'd feel more homely in the houses they have there.

[From swanky to extra-swanky.]

Don't worry I'm not!

[Probably. He keeps a very steady no emotional face as he moves back and forth from Ryuji's movements and watches as his brain catches up and - hey that's not a bad idea.]

Well you could help with the merchandise at first. There's a lot of heavy things to carry and I'm sure I could use your help both here and at the other store. I could teach you to cook too.

[Lube up his brain heh? Ren laughs but probably not the way that he's thinking.]

So I'm guessing we need greasy food. The greasier the better. But we also gotta work out tomorrow after.

Yeah! I think I finally found my calling, though I still don't really know much about gettin' jacked... [ he'll have to do some research on his own. or poll a small group? that has potential. ] I still owe ya one, anyway.

[ ryuji means it exactly how it sounds, and the grin on his face grows a mile wide at the thought. ren and lube...he never thought he'd be here picturing it in any capacity, but he's living proof stranger things have happened in life. ]

Duh, you gotta work out every day, man. Sooner or later I'm gonna catch you slacking off...

[ and what will he do then? there's no telling; it's an empty threat. ]

Don't worry, I'm sure there's plenty of people in this world who are ready to teach you all about buff life. [Plus they went to protein gym together!] Hey I'm not keeping tabs. I'm sure if the situation was reversed you'd do the same for me.

[Oh he'd lube it up and many other things.]

You can try, but you won't. That's why there's wooden poles on the ceiling...it reminds me when Morgana would make me work out in the attic.

I know, but it doesn't really feel right...sure, we're buds, but we gotta stand as equals too, don't we?

[ don't they? it's not really the end of the world if they aren't, but what kind of (so-called) right-hand man would ryuji be if he didn't try to give it his best effort? fair is fair, supposedly. ]

For real? Now that you mention it... [ his head tips back, immediately looking for these poles in question. ] Kinda does feel like your home-away-from-home, huh?

[ he doesn't need to ask if the choice is intentional by design. in ren's position he'd do something similar, if not the exact same. even the smallest creature comforts can go a long way. ]

Right. Equals who would do anything out to help each other.

[It makes sense, right? That's the logic behind it. He smiles, if a little bitterly at the statement as he takes a look up at the wooden structure again.]

Honestly...the cafe felt more like home than...home.

[Ren hasn't really talked much about his real home.]

I prefer the smell of coffee lingering in the air, even if this place has a lot less cigarette smell.

[But that's fine, really.]

I hear ya. That what it's supposed to look like?

[ ryuji still...goes (went) to leblanc, so even he can tell it's not an identical recreation. some parts look eerily accurate, though, from what he's been able to pick apart in his stay here. ]

I still haven't really seen your place. You only showed me a couplea pics...

[ granted, it's not something he asked about often. if ren didn't want to show off, he wasn't going to push, all the more so behind the veil of a phone screen. visiting his hometown was always on ryuji's to-do, but the stars never have aligned for them on this one. ]

[He leans back down and briefly shrugs.]

Considering it's in [through the power of the 4th wall, the camera pans out beside actual solid details are given to Ryuji so that he knows, but we, the readers who do not have access to Atlus information, don't know.] and it's known as a small town known for its pottery, there's not much more I can tell you.

[Well apart from the fact that his parents are uh...always occupied, for better or for worse.]

Suit yourself, dude.

[ it's the same run-down ren always gives him, then, the few times ryuji's ever asked. for whichever reason, it's something he never wants to talk about all that much, so it's pointless to pry anymore out of him. it was a worth a try, anyway. ]

I'm just curious, 'cause it's you, and all...

[ because they're...best friends, of a sort? because ryuji has genuine interest? or perhaps he's simply always wondered how much face ren's parents truly lost if they saw fit to send him all the way out of the country for an alleged year-long rehabilitation. he's glad they did, for obvious reasons, but the same time he can tell how much of a toll it's taken on the guy, even now.

some things never change, including that urge to always look out for others. ]

[He never really can suit himself, as Ryuji put it so poetically. It's always a hard subject to speak about; his parents always expected the best of him and Ren did his best to be who they wanted him to be - a typical situation for most Japanese.

All of that changed when he came home late and ran into Shido. Maybe he can at least try to provide a little more at his friend's silent urging.]

It's a nice house. Getting old and nearly broke during the last hurricane, so it's due to be be demolished and rebuilt. [His hands fumble awkwardly.] The people in the town...they tend to gossip a lot. News travels fast since we're a tourist destination.

[Which is why Shido was there at all.]

Considering what happened, I think my parents were also pressured to ship me away so that the town's reputation wouldn't be tinted.

I get it, but still...

[ it's déjà vu, the way ryuji gets angrier the more he hears. aside from the differences in timing, the differences in how he seems to have developed here, ren is still ren, with the same raw deal life's given him as he ever as. ryuji's hands ball up into tight fists, and it looks like he's ready to spring up again, kick down the door, rail against something that won't do anyone any good, especially with how they're nowhere near home in the slightest right now. ]

How's that fair to the guy who's just tryin' to stand up to others...?! That shit never made any sense at all! Someone should've done the same for you, man...

[ i could have— wait, no, that's logistically impossible. this just gets him more upset, looking wildly at ren. ]

[He places a hand on his friend's elbow. Despite it all, Ren has overcome it, even if it took much longer and it was arguably a lot more unfair than many people would think.]

I know. Our justice system is terrible...besides you heard what they said I did in school. It was worse back home. People were just making up additional accusations so it would be seen as less 'bad' to ship me out. I don't blame my parents for it.

[Much. Believing more in their son would have been nice, but he doesn't say that part.]

I still would have done the same, you know. Standing up for that woman, being friends with all of you, fighting Shido... Arsene knew that too. That's why he asked me if I regretted saving her before lending me his power.

You're goddamn right you would—!

[ now ryuji's raising his voice to match. an onlooker might think he's simply sitting here getting all sore at ren, when the reality is actually everything but. he's not wrong; the justice system is terrible, godawful, worth uprooting on those merits alone, and when you add how society treated all of them into the mix, then... ]

It's messed up as hell, I dunno how you do it...

[ or more importantly, how he thinks he can go it alone, how he can stay so active and juggle so many affairs when in reality he's like a sliver of butter scraped thinly across burnt, dry toast. no wonder he's due for a break, this only serves to drive the point home. what a guy. ]

Hey... [ ryuji's thinking, a dangerous pastime, but he looks at ren. while his touch does little to soothe him, it's jogging his brain... ] Hey, lemme go too. If you go home, lemme go, we'll really stick it to 'em...

[ wait, is this something they can do? does ryuji get a say? he'll find a way if he has to, damn it. ]

We'll show them the kinda guy you really are. I'll give 'em hell if they wanna try anything funny...!

[ unless it's ren's parents. he's got the right of it there, as well: in their position, they think they're doing the right thing for their son, for their family as a whole. ryuji doesn't agree, but he's seen similar things firsthand, so he's sympathetic to the mindset. ]

[Ren understands how Ryuji operates. How someone thinking he might be a delinquent actually revealed a boy hellbent on helping others and having a heart too big for his own chest. How Ren sometimes yearned for it.]

It can't be helped.

[It's a typical, very Japanese excuse. But it was better than the silence he had offered the first time they asked him why he hadn't stayed with Sojiro. For as much as the town was going to be horrible, he still had a responsibility towards his parents. And he knew his friends would understand, as would Sojiro.

It didn't stop it from being painful.]

I'm pretty sure if you came over it would probably make them speak up more.

[Still he can't help but laugh at the mental image. Both of his parents are shorter than hi,m which means Ryuji could potentially be taller than them.]

But I appreciate it. I wouldn't say no if you showed up by yourself. After all...it can't be helped.

[You can't take the trick out of the trickster, after all.]

You gotta start somewhere, man...

[ yeah, this is all typical. as deeply as it cuts, it's strangely nostalgic to hear, too, after weeks of getting lost in a community who's way more direct than most of them seem to have any right to be, from ryuji's point of few.

it's an adjustment. what's with ren, really, how strong is he to just take all this... ]

Listen, I'm gonna take it and run if you give it to me. [ this sounds more like a threat than what's supposed to be a heartfelt promise to a friend... ] Now you're totally stuck with me! Like it or not!

[ in other words, ren better not get too comfortable. one of these days he won't wake up in the city anymore, but he'll be at home, with ryuji as well to run and cause a ruckus all up and down the street. this is his mission now, he's stuck with him. ]

[Maybe to outsides it would feel like a threat. At least Ren knows when his friend's heart lies. He leans on him again.]

I look forward to it.

[As a bonus now he's threatening to be closer to him than trying to run away and Ren likes that very much.]

[ this is...the opposite effect he wanted? just a little. but if it's making ren happier, ryuji supposes he should be happy too, even if he is a little close. normally they'd have separated long before this point; must be that ever-constant need for chroma at work. ]

I dunno if that's somethin' to look forward to unless you're that homesick...

[ ryuji is, also just a little. it's mostly due to his mother, who's hopefully not taking his absence poorly, if there is one at all. part of him's convinced this continues to be one long bizarre dream, ready to conclude at any moment. ]

Well from what I understand, you come back around the time you left. I know a few people who came back and remembered more from their life. So in that sense I know that when I get home I'll be going back to my parent's house.

[All of that to say he wasn't that homesick, but he'd be home one way or another.]

And I'm sure our feelings will continue even if we don't remember everything here.

Pfft, watch me time travel then! If we've gone to the Metaverse, how hard can that shit be!?

[ and that would be the end of it, except— ]

Wow, are you confessin' to me again? No thanks—!

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All thos cock drama made me forget this one

wow [T]hanks so much

You better [B]elieve it

why do i make [T]ime for you again