"Heeey, you've reached Yang! Well, actually, you didn't reach far enough, 'cause I'm not here right now! But don't yang up! Just leave a message on this baby, and I'll get back to you soon enough, okay?"
Mmm-- well, since it's just you and me here, it might be a waste of a great speech.
[He shifts his hands when the braid's loose and slides his hands under her hair. He scoops it off of her neck for a moment before letting it fall back into place.]
I can save it for Yurlungur and Long. [ casually waves a hand-- and then gives her head a shake to let her hair settle. It's so much nicer to have it be manageable again, and letting Naoki play with it is weirdly relaxing. ] Make it the ballad of the demon lord and the charisma queen.
[Yang'll hear nothing at first, no response, but a weight will rest against her back (the top of Naoki's head), and maaaaybe she'll be able to feel a slight shaking, before hearing the laughter.
It sounds like such a cross between cheesy and... he doesn't even know, something you'd name a heavy metal song?]
Nah, I'll leave the vocals to someone who can pull off something so epic. [ But she's grinning, despite her solemn tone. Well, she'd aimed to keep the mood up and she's got Naoki laughing into her back, so... success! ]
[Recovering slowly but surely from his laughing, he straightens up, his fingers combing through her hair again. But he's not playing with it too much anymore, more like touching absently as he listens to Yang.]
[He thinks, comparing it to someone trying to serenade Chiaki in his head. Yeah, no, that reaction makes absolutely perfect sense.] ...I gotta say that he's got guts, at least.
[Not everyone would do something like that... for very good reason.]
[Naoki laughs too, letting her hair run over his palm. He likes hearing about what she's gotten up to, what her friends are like, all of these things that're normal to her and might've been normal to him before but are... well, they feel somehow far away now.]
Not last time I checked. [He'll give her back another gentle jab before he shifts from sitting behind her, plopping to her instead, absently tugging at one of the strings of his hoodie. Oh is he done with hair-playing... it seems like it.]
[ There's a bit of a surprised pause-- before Yang smiles, pleased, and reaches over to briefly ruffle his hair. That's not a compliment she hears too often. ]
I like listening to you too, even if you don't talk about yourself that much.
I think a lot of stuff wouldn't be that fun to listen to. [It's dark, all of his time in the Vortex World, and even the past's been coloured by that.] Or, the rest of the stuff is just things that're really normal. [From before the Conception.]
[Some parts of it he minds saying, he's not sure if he can. But, if she wants to hear about the other things, then maybe someday he can tell her the rest...
He doesn't know. But he shakes those thoughts out of his mind for now.] Was there anything you were really curious about?
I'm gonna tell you in advance, I don't have a Romance Hour.
[Naoki gives her side a gentle prod with a smile.]
But... hm. [Since how he met his demons can actually go on for a while depending on how many he lists--] It was right after the Conception happened that I was changed. These two... people held me down while they gave me this thing called a magatama. It's like a parasite, and it's the pure essence of a demon, so it can turn even a human into one.
But Naoki nods and he absently runs his fingers across one of his eyes, remembering the pain of the magatama.] Yeah, they didn't bother to ask. It was a "special gift" one of them wanted to give to me.
[If he'd had the choice, he would've preferred to stay a human, but. It did save his life. Even if he knows what the purpose was behind it, now.]
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[He just grins, undeterred by her tone or raised eyebrow, and leans back to focus on her hair again. He starts to comb free the braid he made.]
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[ Okay, Yang. But she'll tilt her head forward a bit to make it easier for him. ]
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[He shifts his hands when the braid's loose and slides his hands under her hair. He scoops it off of her neck for a moment before letting it fall back into place.]
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It sounds like such a cross between cheesy and... he doesn't even know, something you'd name a heavy metal song?]
You're not gonna actually sing it, are you?
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Maybe Jaune... he's done some serenading before.
[ Some awful serenading. But still. ]
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[Recovering slowly but surely from his laughing, he straightens up, his fingers combing through her hair again. But he's not playing with it too much anymore, more like touching absently as he listens to Yang.]
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[ Her eyes close briefly under the sweep of his fingers; it really does feel nice. ]
Great guy, but he has this habit of trying to be a lady killer without really pulling it off. He showed up at our room to ask for a date via guitar.
[ ... Well. ]
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I didn't think people even did that anymore.
[Pause.] ...I'm gonna guess that it didn't pan out.
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Weiss slammed the door in his face, actually. She's not the nicest when she's annoyed.
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[He thinks, comparing it to someone trying to serenade Chiaki in his head. Yeah, no, that reaction makes absolutely perfect sense.] ...I gotta say that he's got guts, at least.
[Not everyone would do something like that... for very good reason.]
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And then there was getting Blake to cooperate on the whole dance issue, but--
[ she waves a hand with a laugh. ]
Sorry, this kinda turned into Romance Hour.
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[Naoki laughs too, letting her hair run over his palm. He likes hearing about what she's gotten up to, what her friends are like, all of these things that're normal to her and might've been normal to him before but are... well, they feel somehow far away now.]
I mean, you've got a captive audience right here.
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[ Teasing, always the default. ]
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Not last time I checked. [He'll give her back another gentle jab before he shifts from sitting behind her, plopping to her instead, absently tugging at one of the strings of his hoodie. Oh is he done with hair-playing... it seems like it.]
I like listening to you, that's all.
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I like listening to you too, even if you don't talk about yourself that much.
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Well, that's...
I think a lot of stuff wouldn't be that fun to listen to. [It's dark, all of his time in the Vortex World, and even the past's been coloured by that.] Or, the rest of the stuff is just things that're really normal. [From before the Conception.]
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... Normal or not fun, it's still learning more about you, isn't it? I don't mind listening to any of it.
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[Some parts of it he minds saying, he's not sure if he can. But, if she wants to hear about the other things, then maybe someday he can tell her the rest...
He doesn't know. But he shakes those thoughts out of his mind for now.] Was there anything you were really curious about?
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Like I said, anything. It doesn't have to be anything serious.
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[Naoki gives her side a gentle prod with a smile.]
But... hm. [Since how he met his demons can actually go on for a while depending on how many he lists--] It was right after the Conception happened that I was changed. These two... people held me down while they gave me this thing called a magatama. It's like a parasite, and it's the pure essence of a demon, so it can turn even a human into one.
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[ Her eyebrows are going to knit together as she ponders this, and the more she does, the more bewildered she looks. ]
So the world ended, you got jumped by two people, and they stuck a parasite in you without even bothering to ask, and it gave you tattoos and a horn?
[ ... ]
Without even bothering to ask??
[ YEAH THAT PART BUGS HER. ]
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But Naoki nods and he absently runs his fingers across one of his eyes, remembering the pain of the magatama.] Yeah, they didn't bother to ask. It was a "special gift" one of them wanted to give to me.
[If he'd had the choice, he would've preferred to stay a human, but. It did save his life. Even if he knows what the purpose was behind it, now.]
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[ Now she just looks disgruntled. ] I mean, that's kind of a major thing, and you didn't even have a choice...
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