[Not that he was going to go to sleep, but it's the closest he can get to a tease before he picks himself up, walking out the door and down the stairs into the kitchen. It'd been awhile since he'd had the nightly tea--ever since Maya had moved out, actually.
Maeve had cleaned up the kitchen a little, he noticed, a soft observation as he moves over to the top of the fridge to grab the teabags. That's right...Maya had yet to meet her. A new housemate, but a polite enough one that he could trashtalk and she wouldn't lash out.
So much goes through his head as he turns on the electric kettle, and none of it actually showing on his face.
[Maya doesn't respond much to his request beyond actually hurrying-- not because she didn't recognize his teasing, but because she knows by now things aren't going as well as they seem. Maybe it was just the time.
Regardless she's quick to get there in her perspective but the time it takes still feels like ages in her mind, now that she's rushing to see someone. After pulling her scooter over nearby she hurries around to the kitchen door and stands in front of it, pulling her coat tighter around her as she'd underestimated the chill of riding on a bike.
She opens the door and peeks in before she actually steps inside, chiming--]
Morning!
[In a loud stage whisper, closing the door behind her.
Leaning back against it Maya stands and looks Kaneda over, pushing her wind-mussed hair out of her face and fidgeting, bouncing her foot. She wants to run up to him and crowd him like everything's alright-- but it isn't, so Maya hesitates.]
[There's no 'oi' or a motion that he's come to greet her like the usual puppy he is whenever she walks in. In fact, he was so lost in his own world that it takes him a moment to even notice she'd come into the house at all. Tea's made by the time she's arrived, cupped in his hands and looking into it with a smile on his lips, spread so softly that the wind could snatch it away at any given moment.
His eyes sparkle in the darkness, betraying his attempt at being solemn about the whole thing most of all.]
Did that feel like forever to you?
[Whether he meant the walk over or the time she was gone was a whole other story. Either way, the answer was the same to him.]
[Maya relaxes visibly when Kaneda speaks, her shoulders slacking and smiling a little more. She's quick to stride over to him, but hesitant about touching him; when she reaches out her hand to push her fingers through his hair, she stops halfway through.]
Kinda. Doesn't matter now, though.
[However long the wait, a day or a month, it's over now in her head-- or at least, she's isn't going to let herself focus on it.]
Guess I should say sorry for making you wait, huh?
[Better. Maya puts her palm against Kaneda's cheek and leans to kiss him, light and quick and casual just as she had-- in her mind-- the day before. It's without thought, almost reflexive.]
[The kiss did it. It made him weak at the knees just like she always did, her lips soft and her hand soft enough to match. He leans into the touch like a plant reaching for sunlight, setting his mug down and gingerly putting his arms around her, hovering a second before scooping her into an embrace.
She was here. She was actually back.]
Not as much as you think.
[He's still upset, but there's something in his heart that had also come back to life. A small part, but a shining one that Ken had managed to keep from dying out while he waited.]
[Maya's taken aback just a little before she settles into Kaneda's embrace, resting her cheek against his collarbone. She slides her palms up his back and lets out a sigh.
Sure, she'd had no control of the situation, but it doesn't make things feel less like she's hurt him, and the guilt settles in her stomach just below her lungs in a fizzy tugging sensation.]
[There's a small squeeze when she settles against him, as perfect as she had before she left. It was like no time had truly passed at all, even if his brain and heart had said different.
Her apology releases him from his shackles, though, shedding light on his dark world as he smiles against her hair, that same shit eating grin he'd given her the day they'd met at the zoo. The day he'd asked her what the hell a narwhal was, and if it was an actual animal.
The day he'd lost a bet and gotten a date with her.]
Don't get all mushy on me. [Says the guy getting mushy.]
If you help me make some rice...I'll let you stay.
[She could do jack shit and he would've let her. But hey, more reason for them to be as close as possible.]
[She feels the warm vibrations of his voice and breathes out another sigh-- a quiet, nervous one hidden through her teeth. Don't get mushy, he says, being the one making her feel mushy. Rude, and gross.]
Yeah, I can do that. [Maya chimes, clearing her throat and putting on a grin.]
[It's only then that he pulls away, just enough to get the rice cooker out from under the sink. It's teasing, at least, when he asks. But it's more of a gauge to figure out how long he'd been moping up in that bedroom of Ken's.
Mmmm, a little while ago. You're the first person I wanted to see.
[she admits, teasing and genuine all at once.
Her eyes flick down to the cupboard but she doesn't mention, if she's noticed, how long it's probably been put away. He'd been melancholy after Tetsuo had disappeared, and, well, perhaps it's best she doesn't bring attention to things like that.]
[There's something in that statement that warms his heart, that smile harder and harder to hide behind a steely resolve as he pours the rice in, adding the necessary water and swirling it around in a nice rinse.
He'd thought it'd be hard to go back to what he had. He'd lost too many people in his life, both back home and in this weird place, that he never really imagined getting them back. Sabriel was the first one he'd ever felt that hope lift, and a small selfish part of him hoped it would work like how Ken had when he ported out.
It did.]
I'd get pretty jealous if it was anyone else.
Except maybe Riku. [Riku had special bf (that's best friend you homos) privileges.]
[As if that answer just...said everything. His hips bump her back, maybe with enough force to push her just a little.
He's still mad, trust him.]
A picture?
[His body involuntarily leans in to get in the frame of the shot, although his questioning tone is still there...as if he were obeying merely out of no reason not to.]
[At the bump back Maya twists her lips into a petty little pout that quickly turns back into a grin. She steps up on her tip toes to be just tall enough to throw her arm around Kaneda's shoulders and pull him closer.
And then, to be the perfect height to bunny ear him for this selfie.]
A picture!! Send a picture to your friends and let them know you're having fun, that's the rule of the mobile camera.
[Listen they had outdated 90s cellphones in her 2010s she is Hype about these communicators
...aaaaand maybe because teasing makes this whole awkwardness easier for her to manage.]
[She seems satisfied with the selfie; how bothered this situation has made him isn't lost on her, but the fact he's even trying is good enough for her. He could very well have been a sourpuss and told her not to show up.]
Maybe. But he's always awake!
[She tells Kaneda, tapping a text away on her communicator and stepping back as to no longer block Kaneda from his cooking.]
[The smile softly fades from his lips, more so an involuntary action than anything as his neck cranes, watching the text send before turning back to his rice. It should be pretty rinsed by now, at least, and he drains the water very quickly to put in fresh water, pressing the button on the rice cooker to let it work its magic.]
I wonder if he just conserves energy by not raising his voice.
You can't compare me to you, that's two different leagues.
[Although his mind's more on the Valentine's Day part of that sentence, mind drifting off a moment as he remembers last year. Remembers that he HAD a Valentine's last year.]
That works.
I could use some more yellow shirts. I think most of em are all ripped again in at least one place.
voice
[Not that he was going to go to sleep, but it's the closest he can get to a tease before he picks himself up, walking out the door and down the stairs into the kitchen. It'd been awhile since he'd had the nightly tea--ever since Maya had moved out, actually.
Maeve had cleaned up the kitchen a little, he noticed, a soft observation as he moves over to the top of the fridge to grab the teabags. That's right...Maya had yet to meet her. A new housemate, but a polite enough one that he could trashtalk and she wouldn't lash out.
So much goes through his head as he turns on the electric kettle, and none of it actually showing on his face.
He was tired. And not just because it was 2am.]
>> Action
Regardless she's quick to get there in her perspective but the time it takes still feels like ages in her mind, now that she's rushing to see someone. After pulling her scooter over nearby she hurries around to the kitchen door and stands in front of it, pulling her coat tighter around her as she'd underestimated the chill of riding on a bike.
She opens the door and peeks in before she actually steps inside, chiming--]
Morning!
[In a loud stage whisper, closing the door behind her.
Leaning back against it Maya stands and looks Kaneda over, pushing her wind-mussed hair out of her face and fidgeting, bouncing her foot. She wants to run up to him and crowd him like everything's alright-- but it isn't, so Maya hesitates.]
action;
His eyes sparkle in the darkness, betraying his attempt at being solemn about the whole thing most of all.]
Did that feel like forever to you?
[Whether he meant the walk over or the time she was gone was a whole other story. Either way, the answer was the same to him.]
action;
Kinda. Doesn't matter now, though.
[However long the wait, a day or a month, it's over now in her head-- or at least, she's isn't going to let herself focus on it.]
Guess I should say sorry for making you wait, huh?
action;
[His head instinctively leans towards the hand, posture slouching ever so slightly.]
It was pretty quiet without you calling me up.
action;
Well. Finally got some rest, I bet...
action;
She was here. She was actually back.]
Not as much as you think.
[He's still upset, but there's something in his heart that had also come back to life. A small part, but a shining one that Ken had managed to keep from dying out while he waited.]
action;
Sure, she'd had no control of the situation, but it doesn't make things feel less like she's hurt him, and the guilt settles in her stomach just below her lungs in a fizzy tugging sensation.]
I'm sorry.
[She tells him again, and then tries to tease--]
You're not gonna kick me out tonight, are ya?
action;
Her apology releases him from his shackles, though, shedding light on his dark world as he smiles against her hair, that same shit eating grin he'd given her the day they'd met at the zoo. The day he'd asked her what the hell a narwhal was, and if it was an actual animal.
The day he'd lost a bet and gotten a date with her.]
Don't get all mushy on me. [Says the guy getting mushy.]
If you help me make some rice...I'll let you stay.
[She could do jack shit and he would've let her. But hey, more reason for them to be as close as possible.]
Re: action;
Yeah, I can do that. [Maya chimes, clearing her throat and putting on a grin.]
Man, I haven't even eaten since I got back.
[She laments. Poor, poor Maya.]
action;
[It's only then that he pulls away, just enough to get the rice cooker out from under the sink. It's teasing, at least, when he asks. But it's more of a gauge to figure out how long he'd been moping up in that bedroom of Ken's.
He'd have to tell Ken...if she hasn't already.]
action;
[she admits, teasing and genuine all at once.
Her eyes flick down to the cupboard but she doesn't mention, if she's noticed, how long it's probably been put away. He'd been melancholy after Tetsuo had disappeared, and, well, perhaps it's best she doesn't bring attention to things like that.]
action;
He'd thought it'd be hard to go back to what he had. He'd lost too many people in his life, both back home and in this weird place, that he never really imagined getting them back. Sabriel was the first one he'd ever felt that hope lift, and a small selfish part of him hoped it would work like how Ken had when he ported out.
It did.]
I'd get pretty jealous if it was anyone else.
Except maybe Riku. [Riku had special bf (that's best friend you homos) privileges.]
action;
>[She says, waving her hand and grinning, following Kaneda and bumping him gently with her hip at the sink. She's teasing, of course.]
--Oh!
[And then she eagerly reaches for her communicator, pulling it out and holding it up above the sink with the camera function on.]
Get a picture with me! We can send it to Riku!
action;
[As if that answer just...said everything. His hips bump her back, maybe with enough force to push her just a little.
He's still mad, trust him.]
A picture?
[His body involuntarily leans in to get in the frame of the shot, although his questioning tone is still there...as if he were obeying merely out of no reason not to.]
action;
And then, to be the perfect height to bunny ear him for this selfie.]
A picture!! Send a picture to your friends and let them know you're having fun, that's the rule of the mobile camera.
[Listen they had outdated 90s cellphones in her 2010s she is Hype about these communicators
...aaaaand maybe because teasing makes this whole awkwardness easier for her to manage.]
action;
Nevertheless, with dripping hands he poses for it, nuzzling into her face a little as a tease before the camera clicks.]
I think you just wanted an excuse to bug Riku this late, but hey, I'm not judging.
The guy needs a little excitement in his life.]
action;
Maybe. But he's always awake!
[She tells Kaneda, tapping a text away on her communicator and stepping back as to no longer block Kaneda from his cooking.]
action;
[The smile softly fades from his lips, more so an involuntary action than anything as his neck cranes, watching the text send before turning back to his rice. It should be pretty rinsed by now, at least, and he drains the water very quickly to put in fresh water, pressing the button on the rice cooker to let it work its magic.]
I wonder if he just conserves energy by not raising his voice.
action;
You might be on to something there. He is awake.
[She informs him, tapping her reply to Riku quickly.]
But I heard he was kind of a brat when he was younger.
action;
[He stops, letting the thought sink in a moment.]
Maybe he cloned himself...
action;
[Another message, and...]
You wanna go to the mall with him again soon? He said we should all go hang out soon.
action;
[The question makes him pause, hand on the fridge as he hesitates in opening it.]
If you guys are up for it.
[He's still got some feelings he really needs to let out on one Ken Amada, but he'd definitely pencil that in before the outing.]
Re: action;
[She tells him-- and watches him hesitate.
Her brow twitches a bit, but otherwise she doesn't address it, returning to tap a reply to Riku.]
We'll go sometime next week then, or something. [they can sort it out at a not 4am time.]
It's February, right? Maybe after Valentine's day.
action;
[Although his mind's more on the Valentine's Day part of that sentence, mind drifting off a moment as he remembers last year. Remembers that he HAD a Valentine's last year.]
That works.
I could use some more yellow shirts. I think most of em are all ripped again in at least one place.
action; I remembered I had a better reply to this while I refilled my soup
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