"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?"
[FLINGS HIS CEREVICE ACROSS THE ROOM!! no, not really]
I didn't
Just
It would've been more interesting with you there. That's it.
[HE WASN'T LONELY. But he likes hanging out with her... It reminds him a lot of hanging out with his friends, back when things were normal, and he can just have fun with them. But it's different than that, too.]
[Naoki just smiles, resists the urge to say she'll probably spot him first before pocketing the CereVice. Once everything's all wrapped up, he sees himself out and sets off at a light jog to the shopping district. He glances around once he arrives before taking a seat at a nearby table.
He's not really hungry or anything, this just seemed like the easiest place to meet up. He'll keep scanning any people around until he can spy her pretty distinctive head of hair.]
[ She won't be hard to spot, probably one of the few people moving at a brisk jog. Ultimately, it had been an unsatisfying day, but she hadn't gotten her hopes up too much.
And her smile is bright and genuine when she catches sight of him, waving an arm over her head, as though he'd somehow miss her. ]
[Yep, there she is. Though she called out to him before he saw her, so one win to Yang. She doesn't know he's keeping score, though.
He returns her smile with one of his own, his hand raising in a lazy wave as he leans back on two legs of his chair. Gripping at the table, he pushes himself to his feet and steps around any people in the way to meet her.]
[Naoki goes blank-faced and puzzled as he sorts that one through. Wait, 'cause they're meeting up? Is that jumping to conclusions? Nnngh don't say nice things to him, Yang.
He turns quickly to one side and indicates with a thumb.] It'll be even better when we're out of this crowd. C'mon, let's walk.
[Naoki nods slowly, rubbing his hand against the side of his head.]
It could be that. I mean, with all of the time I spend in ViViD... I've never noticed any people in it who looked lost in the last couple of weeks. If there were a ton of people lost in there somewhere, they'd probably be feeling panicked...
[He trails off with a thoughtful look, like the words hold some significant meaning to him.]
[ It's because he trails off, and because of how he words it that has Yang's steps slow as she considers the statement. Not "I would have seen them", or "I would have heard panicked noises", but... ]
[He pauses before slowly elaborating. He almost steps past her, too, reacting to her slowed pace too late, but slows himself to walk next to her:] I can sense emotions to a degree. I pick up on negative ones better, though, like fear or panic.
[He laughs, in fact, surprisingly.] So your monsters and my demons really are a lot alike. Demons in my world sense negative emotions and feed off of the energy made from them. Because my body is a demon's, I sense them too.
[And he's certain... even while he might not draw energy directly from someone... he still gets strength from it. That's why he doesn't need to eat that much. He doesn't look forward as he asks, seemingly as though it doesn't bother him:] Does it creep you out?
[ Yang's got no sense of fondness for the creatures of Grimm, and the fact that they were drawn to negative emotions hadn't really surprised her.
But she's also not close-minded. There was a lot of discrimination against the Faunus, still, the reason Blake had felt it necessary to hide what she was. Naoki may have the body of a demon, but he and his rainbow snake hadn't been bad.
It's only a few seconds, before she reaches out and ruffles his hair. ]
Why would it? Didn't I say when I met you that the most important thing was that you were Naoki? If that's just something you can do, that's fine with me.
[ He should be able to tell if she was unsettled or uneasy or disgusted, if he can sense those emotions-- and none of that is present. ]
[Naoki's still not looking over-- even if he can't sense unease, fear, or distrust, there're other ways one can think. So when he sees her hand moving out of his periphery he stops mid-step and then he's blinking owlishly at her as she ruffles his hair.
He's not used to this. Isamu and Chiaki had readily leapt to calling him a demon, a demi-fiend while dismissing who and what he'd always thought he'd been. Who had acknowledged him as a human? Futomimi. Anyone else... He felt as though, by the end, Isamu and Chiaki had forgotten Naoki had ever been their friend.
You're really weird, he thinks fondly, and reaches up to smooth his palm over the hair she ruffled.]
I'll run out of abilities to surprise you with eventually, [is what he says at last, though what he wants to say is thank you.]
[ Yang snorts at that, hand falling back to her side as she commences walking again. Good, it looks like he's not letting this weigh too heavily on him. ]
Then you'll have to find other ways to surprise me. Should be fun, right?
[There's only one reason for that: and that's Yang's easy acceptance. How could he let it weigh on him heavily when she treats him like... well, like himself? Like a person? Like a friend, like how he wishes Isamu and Chiaki would've treated him.
He watches her get a few steps ahead before following.]
Challenging is what it sounds like. I'm guessing you don't make it easy.
[He smiles and raises an eyebrow at her when she looks back at him. A quick step or two brings him up to walk next to her, his hands in his pockets.] Just tough. I don't back down just 'cause something's challenging.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
text;
why can he not be cool]
There wasn't anything even almost cute.
text;
You could have just said you missed me!text;
I didn't
Just
It would've been more interesting with you there. That's it.
[HE WASN'T LONELY. But he likes hanging out with her... It reminds him a lot of hanging out with his friends, back when things were normal, and he can just have fun with them. But it's different than that, too.]
text;
But it's still funny as hell. ]
Where do you wanna meet up then?text;
You're still in the shopping district, right?
We can meet up at the food stop and go from there.
text;
Sounds good to me! I'll be waiting.action;
He's not really hungry or anything, this just seemed like the easiest place to meet up. He'll keep scanning any people around until he can spy her pretty distinctive head of hair.]
action;
And her smile is bright and genuine when she catches sight of him, waving an arm over her head, as though he'd somehow miss her. ]
Naoki!
action;
He returns her smile with one of his own, his hand raising in a lazy wave as he leans back on two legs of his chair. Gripping at the table, he pushes himself to his feet and steps around any people in the way to meet her.]
Hey.
action;
Except no, not really, and she slows to a stop as she clasps her hands together behind her back and shoots him a grin. ]
Now it's a good day!
action;
[Naoki goes blank-faced and puzzled as he sorts that one through. Wait, 'cause they're meeting up? Is that jumping to conclusions? Nnngh don't say nice things to him, Yang.
He turns quickly to one side and indicates with a thumb.] It'll be even better when we're out of this crowd. C'mon, let's walk.
action;
So, did I miss anything exciting?
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Nothing that I can think of. ViViD was the same as usual.
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I mean, I figured it wouldn't be that simple... maybe they just didn't have any luck pulling people here this time.
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It could be that. I mean, with all of the time I spend in ViViD... I've never noticed any people in it who looked lost in the last couple of weeks. If there were a ton of people lost in there somewhere, they'd probably be feeling panicked...
[He trails off with a thoughtful look, like the words hold some significant meaning to him.]
action;
Feeling... huh?
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[He pauses before slowly elaborating. He almost steps past her, too, reacting to her slowed pace too late, but slows himself to walk next to her:] I can sense emotions to a degree. I pick up on negative ones better, though, like fear or panic.
[Which is just kind of a part of who he is.]
action;
Don't... take this the wrong way or anything, but you kind of just described the monsters in my world.
action;
[He laughs, in fact, surprisingly.] So your monsters and my demons really are a lot alike. Demons in my world sense negative emotions and feed off of the energy made from them. Because my body is a demon's, I sense them too.
[And he's certain... even while he might not draw energy directly from someone... he still gets strength from it. That's why he doesn't need to eat that much. He doesn't look forward as he asks, seemingly as though it doesn't bother him:] Does it creep you out?
action;
But she's also not close-minded. There was a lot of discrimination against the Faunus, still, the reason Blake had felt it necessary to hide what she was. Naoki may have the body of a demon, but he and his rainbow snake hadn't been bad.
It's only a few seconds, before she reaches out and ruffles his hair. ]
Why would it? Didn't I say when I met you that the most important thing was that you were Naoki? If that's just something you can do, that's fine with me.
[ He should be able to tell if she was unsettled or uneasy or disgusted, if he can sense those emotions-- and none of that is present. ]
action;
He's not used to this. Isamu and Chiaki had readily leapt to calling him a demon, a demi-fiend while dismissing who and what he'd always thought he'd been. Who had acknowledged him as a human? Futomimi. Anyone else... He felt as though, by the end, Isamu and Chiaki had forgotten Naoki had ever been their friend.
You're really weird, he thinks fondly, and reaches up to smooth his palm over the hair she ruffled.]
I'll run out of abilities to surprise you with eventually, [is what he says at last, though what he wants to say is thank you.]
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Then you'll have to find other ways to surprise me. Should be fun, right?
action;
He watches her get a few steps ahead before following.]
Challenging is what it sounds like. I'm guessing you don't make it easy.
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[He smiles and raises an eyebrow at her when she looks back at him. A quick step or two brings him up to walk next to her, his hands in his pockets.] Just tough. I don't back down just 'cause something's challenging.
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