[ guren isn't wrong at all. dextera did want to see this—and that is joy in his face, even if he isn't smiling about it. the awe is in his eyes, a happiness so thorough that it feels like complete and utter peace as he stares up at the sky. the sunset, by nature, is transient, and he can already see the light fading into a darker purple-blue... but that, too, is color.
how much of it has been restored? it's impossible to tell, but they're seeing it unfold in real time. a dream come true. ]
...
[ dextera nods without looking away from the sky, reaching back with his free hand to blindly palm around for a space to sit. he doesn't want to miss a second of it. ]
[Guren laughs, quietly, and helps to make sure Dextera doesn't topple over when he moves to sit with him. It's a nice spot, and even if what they spoke about here last time was heavy and a little dark, it brought them together in many ways. This, too, can bring them together— but it's might nicer. A pleasant feeling can be attached to a moment like this.
He wants spots to hold memories like that.
Finally, he turns to look at the sky some more himself, his own purple eyes light up from the range of half-formed colors melding with the grays. He's content to sit here and enjoy this in silence with Dextera. Like he'd decided before, the rest of his work can wait.]
[ for a while it's like dextera is frozen in this position, just holding guren's hand loosely and watching the sky change completely from grey to purple, and only once he's sat with it for a little while does he feel like he can actually think about what he's seeing. what he's doing here.
he takes a deep breath, staring up at the sky for just a moment longer, and then he looks sideways at guren. now that the sunset has turned more purple than grey overall, dextera can see it in guren's eyes—it's impossible not to notice it, after all, when one of his first memories is staring into the striking red of the archangel's eyes with a sky the same color behind him.
it feels... poetic, then, to have this moment now. guren, and the purple sunset. he exhales. ]
[It's incredible. He'd wanted a relaxing moment, and he'd wanted to bring the smile to Dextera's face personally, so this is a nice and satisfying time together. He gets to see Dex completely overwhelmed and happy, and he gets that little swell in his own chest of something done right. Honestly, though, when the gaze is turned on him, it's almost too much, with how that awe doesn't seem to drop away. This is quickly becoming something that Guren can't handle smoothly, so he tries to save it while he can.]
You look like you want to kiss me. [A joke.... A horrible joke that he's saying just to detract from how happy he is, more at Dextera's reaction than the sky itself. And, of course, if he gets any sort of reaction out of Dextera, meek or flustered or sassy, then he'll be happy, too.]
Don't waste your time looking at me when the sky is still there, changing colors. I don't have to be anywhere, so I guess I can sit here with you for a while. [He guesses...]
if he were feeling anything other than incredible right now, he'd probably be able to muster up a sassy little response, but guren's joke just embarrasses him with the overwhelming sincerity he's feeling for everything in the world at the moment. so he blushes, looking away from both guren and the sky.
he covers his face, rapidly shaking his head as his ears burn the very same red he was trying to avoid all this time. guren... please. ]
[Wh...what's with that response!! It's cute, but he's giving off the wrong impression? He's making it seem like he really did want to, but Guren knows that's ridiculous. He almost wants to laugh, but he holds back, just in case it might make it worse.]
It was a joke. [Calm down!! He reaches over to knock his knuckles lightly against the side of Dextera's arm.] Come on, I'm enjoying it just as much as you. You know that.
[Right? Maybe? Well, now he should, at least.] Even when there were views like this back home, I never really had much time to stop and admire them. This one's a little different, too.
[ it's not that he wanted to kiss guren... he's just shy, and the comment caught him off guard, and guren is a little too good at teasing. dextera isn't bad at being teased, but he needs to be prepared for it!! ]
...
[ dextera nods, awkward again, but he doesn't seem unhappy—in fact, now that the spell has been somewhat broken, that smile that guren was gunning for finally cracks. he's still not looking at guren, but there's a breath of a laugh as he continues to stare off somewhere that's neither guren nor the sky, and then he turns his face up to watch the fading colors a little more.
he nods, glad to hear that guren is enjoying this after all. ]
[Guren is quiet at first, his small smile in place from even before Dextera begins smiling and laughing. He has to turn and see that, of course, and take it all in, but his expression stays pretty even. He's making sure it does.
He's not any good at words, or he'd be telling Dextera how much that smile makes him happy. That this was a moment he was going to hold dear because he was able to share a different colored sky with him, and then they could relax, and laugh, and smile. That things like this are helping him so much, that his heart feels lighter, that his demon is barely being held back and every little bit counts.
Instead, he just lets out a breath that's almost like a sigh, or the end of a laugh that he gave up on letting out, his fond gaze turning away from Dex and back to the sunset. He's curious to see how the colors continue to change, and if they'll end.]
It's good to see you smile once in a while.
[Instead, with all of those feelings and all of those thoughts, that's all he says.]
[ the last vestiges of the sunset have color, too—a deep, pretty blue that looks like the beginning of the evening sky, and that's appealing and lovely in its own way. dextera is less intent on watching, but it doesn't escape his notice that the color is changing but remaining nevertheless. just this morning, it was still grey, but maybe this is a good sign for the progression of the world after all. ]
...?
[ he blinks, when guren speaks, and his smile fades into an expression of confusion. he touches his own mouth, like he's surprised he was smiling at all.
[Of course Guren noticed. A smile like that on a guy that's usually so gloomy like Dextera is like the sun peeking out of the clouds after a week of rain. It's refreshing. And already, he's accidentally chased it away by pointing it out... Ah, well.]
You didn't notice you were? Haha... Maybe I surprised you too much.
[ don't worry, guren. the smile is only gone for a second, before it spreads—smaller this time, a little more self-conscious but happy nevertheless—behind his fingers. he's not used to smiling, but it seems to happen quite a lot when he's around guren. they laugh together, they have fun together... they're true friends, and that's not anything dextera ever expected to know in his life. ]
...
[ he shakes his head, still smiling, and drops his hand to his side. he hadn't noticed he was smiling! but it's fine, because he meant it.
every time he hangs out with guren like this, doing nothing but enjoying each other's company, it feels like it's the happiest he's ever been. ]
[ It’s incredible, and Guren is happy and smiling more than he’s gotten to in a long, long time, too. Even with that looming feeling, the worry that something bad will happen to upset this in time, Guren can ignore it and focus on now. In moments like these, at least. ]
How have you been? [ They’re just sitting and watching the sky, so he feels like he can ask, even visiting as often as he does. Things can change in an instant, here. ]
he doesn't yet know that ryoji is a statue, he's going to be learning sign language, and things actually, oddly, feel... good. promising. he doesn't have the same instinctive dread for it going wrong that guren does, so he's taking this bout of optimism at face value and enjoying it as long as it lasts.
he squeezes guren's hand, opening up his palm for a short, quick message. whether guren likes it or not, these may become less common—enjoy it while it lasts!
[Guren will enjoy it! As much as he likes it and is bitter towards Ryo and doesn't want certain bad habits in thoughts to lead Dextera, he knows that overall, sign language is a better choice. More people will understand. It won't be just Guren, the translator. He won't let his selfish thoughts hold him back.
For now, though, he's smiling by the first 'p' in happy, but he waits for Dex to finish it.]
Good. We can't let quiet moments like these go to waste. Make sure you share that happiness; everyone cares about you.
[ guren is precious with all those feelings he has. it's hard for dextera to imagine letting go of this entirely, when guren clearly understands him before he even has to finish his messages, so for now... he'll take this while it's mostly his only option.
he gently shakes his head, though, even while he's still smiling. surely guren overestimates how important dextera is to the people of this town? he might even be biased. ]
[Again, with this, while Dextera is silent...] Don't shake your head at me. Even Asuka likes you. [He's grinning as he looks away, even despite bringing up Ryo.]
Not me, though.
[He doesn't like him at all!!! He says, grinning and their hands still touching.]
[ even ryo... it's stupid and embarrassing, the way a surprised red flush rises to his cheeks at the thought of it, though he doubts that guren actually means that. there's no way. is there? he has no clue! ryo is impossible to read, and dextera just has to go off the very blunt things he says.
still, dextera laughs with that flustered air about him, because the person he is sure of is guren, and he knows with a comfortable confidence that guren is just teasing him. he nods—right, sorry. he forgot that guren doesn't like him!! ]
[He doesn't!! Like!! The blush!! But he refuses to ruin this nice mood when all he ever does is ruin nice moods. He's able to understand that right now, in this situation, so he doesn't even let his expression flicker briefly into anything else. He's just watching Dextera, fond, and then he's looking away again. Yeah, that's right, nod!!]
The sky is still looking different. I wonder if we're going to get to see a half-proper night sky, too.
[ well, the blush is what he gets!! it's the unfortunate same reaction that guren would earn if dextera were teased about the archangel during this light-hearted mood, because his complicated feelings end up looking a whole lot like a crush when he's not dwelling on all the strange aspects of his dynamic with pretty blond assholes. ]
...
[ at least the topic is changed, sparing dextera some of the embarrassment he just went through. he exhales, and looks up to try to pretend he didn't just give everything about himself away in those few moments.
the sky... he holds his free hand up, quietly interested again in the expanse above them as he stretches his arm as far as it will go, his fingers spread now against the darkening sky. ]
[Guren is quiet, watching Dextera from his periphery rather than straight on. He's thinking, and his thoughts tempt Mahiru, but he won't let her take on a physical appearance right now. It's just her voice, in the back of his mind: "Isn't this nostalgic, Guren?"
Only his eyes change, and pointed at the sky like they are now, it's a brief thing that he hides with a natural shift, leaning his weight back on a palm.]
It's not the same as it would be far away from the houses, but if you lie on your back and look up, it feels even bigger. [He sounds like a kid, saying this, and he scolds himself for it. But then, Dextera seems to appreciate things like that, anyway.]
[ dextera does appreciate things like that. no buildings change the horizon in the outer world, but the sky above him there felt oppressive and terrible. here, this is all he wants. it’s enough that he misses the way guren’s eyes shift, but he does look sideways to examine guren’s face.
he nods, but with the position they’re in right now, it’s not an easy shift to just sit back and stare. so, after a shy pause, he pulls his hand away, and touches guren’s knee.
he wants to rest his head in guren’s lap... if that’s all right. ]
[The hand touching to his knee is a little surprising, but it's the implication that settles in a moment later that has Guren blinking and turning to look at Dextera directly. Wait, he...?
He's not sure if he's misunderstanding, which would be even worse at this point. But he's so good at reading Dextera's eyes, and his touch, and he doesn't know what else it could be. There's no need to touch his knee for attention when they were already holding hands. He wants to lie there.]
Yeah... [It's more comfortable than the ground...??] Go ahead.
[ yes... he definitely wants to lie there, because it’s the relative best vantage point to look at the sky! never mind the fact that they could easily just move, or he could rest at a different angle. this is what he’s chosen to do.
so he moves until he can settle down, exhaling quietly as he stares up—from this angle, he can see guren’s face, too, though that’s not what he’s here to look at.
he turns his head at enough of an angle that it makes it clear he wants to view the sky from right here, on guren’s lap. ]
[It's a little awkward, and normally he wouldn't allow something like this at all for how embarrassing it is. He'd yell, he'd call it weird, he'd get flustered— but this is a nice, quiet mood, and he wants more than anything to see Dextera continue to be happy. On top of that, he knows Dextera isn't the kind of person who'd do or say (write) anything weird just to tease him... at least not in this case. He thinks.
So, it's safe. Guren rests back on both palms, now, just so that he doesn't have to figure out what to do with his hands anymore. He'll stay like this while Dextera admires the sky, and slowly his gaze will follow and point up, as well. It really is getting darker— but it's not the same bleak, empty dark from before. It must be something different.]
[ it is safe, if only because dextera oddly doesn’t find anything strange about it—he doesn’t feel awkward in the least, peaceful as he is here in guren’s lap, and he notices too that the sky isn’t quite the same as it has been.
when the first star pokes through the cover of night, dextera blinks, rubbing his eye like it might be something wrong with his vision. ]
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how much of it has been restored? it's impossible to tell, but they're seeing it unfold in real time. a dream come true. ]
...
[ dextera nods without looking away from the sky, reaching back with his free hand to blindly palm around for a space to sit. he doesn't want to miss a second of it. ]
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He wants spots to hold memories like that.
Finally, he turns to look at the sky some more himself, his own purple eyes light up from the range of half-formed colors melding with the grays. He's content to sit here and enjoy this in silence with Dextera. Like he'd decided before, the rest of his work can wait.]
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he takes a deep breath, staring up at the sky for just a moment longer, and then he looks sideways at guren. now that the sunset has turned more purple than grey overall, dextera can see it in guren's eyes—it's impossible not to notice it, after all, when one of his first memories is staring into the striking red of the archangel's eyes with a sky the same color behind him.
it feels... poetic, then, to have this moment now. guren, and the purple sunset. he exhales. ]
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You look like you want to kiss me. [A joke.... A horrible joke that he's saying just to detract from how happy he is, more at Dextera's reaction than the sky itself. And, of course, if he gets any sort of reaction out of Dextera, meek or flustered or sassy, then he'll be happy, too.]
Don't waste your time looking at me when the sky is still there, changing colors. I don't have to be anywhere, so I guess I can sit here with you for a while. [He guesses...]
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if he were feeling anything other than incredible right now, he'd probably be able to muster up a sassy little response, but guren's joke just embarrasses him with the overwhelming sincerity he's feeling for everything in the world at the moment. so he blushes, looking away from both guren and the sky.
he covers his face, rapidly shaking his head as his ears burn the very same red he was trying to avoid all this time. guren... please. ]
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It was a joke. [Calm down!! He reaches over to knock his knuckles lightly against the side of Dextera's arm.] Come on, I'm enjoying it just as much as you. You know that.
[Right? Maybe? Well, now he should, at least.] Even when there were views like this back home, I never really had much time to stop and admire them. This one's a little different, too.
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...
[ dextera nods, awkward again, but he doesn't seem unhappy—in fact, now that the spell has been somewhat broken, that smile that guren was gunning for finally cracks. he's still not looking at guren, but there's a breath of a laugh as he continues to stare off somewhere that's neither guren nor the sky, and then he turns his face up to watch the fading colors a little more.
he nods, glad to hear that guren is enjoying this after all. ]
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He's not any good at words, or he'd be telling Dextera how much that smile makes him happy. That this was a moment he was going to hold dear because he was able to share a different colored sky with him, and then they could relax, and laugh, and smile. That things like this are helping him so much, that his heart feels lighter, that his demon is barely being held back and every little bit counts.
Instead, he just lets out a breath that's almost like a sigh, or the end of a laugh that he gave up on letting out, his fond gaze turning away from Dex and back to the sunset. He's curious to see how the colors continue to change, and if they'll end.]
It's good to see you smile once in a while.
[Instead, with all of those feelings and all of those thoughts, that's all he says.]
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...?
[ he blinks, when guren speaks, and his smile fades into an expression of confusion. he touches his own mouth, like he's surprised he was smiling at all.
guren noticed something like that? ]
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[Of course Guren noticed. A smile like that on a guy that's usually so gloomy like Dextera is like the sun peeking out of the clouds after a week of rain. It's refreshing. And already, he's accidentally chased it away by pointing it out... Ah, well.]
You didn't notice you were? Haha... Maybe I surprised you too much.
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...
[ he shakes his head, still smiling, and drops his hand to his side. he hadn't noticed he was smiling! but it's fine, because he meant it.
every time he hangs out with guren like this, doing nothing but enjoying each other's company, it feels like it's the happiest he's ever been. ]
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How have you been? [ They’re just sitting and watching the sky, so he feels like he can ask, even visiting as often as he does. Things can change in an instant, here. ]
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he doesn't yet know that ryoji is a statue, he's going to be learning sign language, and things actually, oddly, feel... good. promising. he doesn't have the same instinctive dread for it going wrong that guren does, so he's taking this bout of optimism at face value and enjoying it as long as it lasts.
he squeezes guren's hand, opening up his palm for a short, quick message. whether guren likes it or not, these may become less common—enjoy it while it lasts!
H-A-P-P-Y. ]
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For now, though, he's smiling by the first 'p' in happy, but he waits for Dex to finish it.]
Good. We can't let quiet moments like these go to waste. Make sure you share that happiness; everyone cares about you.
[They wanna see him smile, too, he's sure.]
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he gently shakes his head, though, even while he's still smiling. surely guren overestimates how important dextera is to the people of this town? he might even be biased. ]
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[Again, with this, while Dextera is silent...] Don't shake your head at me. Even Asuka likes you. [He's grinning as he looks away, even despite bringing up Ryo.]
Not me, though.
[He doesn't like him at all!!! He says, grinning and their hands still touching.]
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still, dextera laughs with that flustered air about him, because the person he is sure of is guren, and he knows with a comfortable confidence that guren is just teasing him. he nods—right, sorry. he forgot that guren doesn't like him!! ]
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The sky is still looking different. I wonder if we're going to get to see a half-proper night sky, too.
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...
[ at least the topic is changed, sparing dextera some of the embarrassment he just went through. he exhales, and looks up to try to pretend he didn't just give everything about himself away in those few moments.
the sky... he holds his free hand up, quietly interested again in the expanse above them as he stretches his arm as far as it will go, his fingers spread now against the darkening sky. ]
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Only his eyes change, and pointed at the sky like they are now, it's a brief thing that he hides with a natural shift, leaning his weight back on a palm.]
It's not the same as it would be far away from the houses, but if you lie on your back and look up, it feels even bigger. [He sounds like a kid, saying this, and he scolds himself for it. But then, Dextera seems to appreciate things like that, anyway.]
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he nods, but with the position they’re in right now, it’s not an easy shift to just sit back and stare. so, after a shy pause, he pulls his hand away, and touches guren’s knee.
he wants to rest his head in guren’s lap... if that’s all right. ]
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He's not sure if he's misunderstanding, which would be even worse at this point. But he's so good at reading Dextera's eyes, and his touch, and he doesn't know what else it could be. There's no need to touch his knee for attention when they were already holding hands. He wants to lie there.]
Yeah... [It's more comfortable than the ground...??] Go ahead.
[??????]
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so he moves until he can settle down, exhaling quietly as he stares up—from this angle, he can see guren’s face, too, though that’s not what he’s here to look at.
he turns his head at enough of an angle that it makes it clear he wants to view the sky from right here, on guren’s lap. ]
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So, it's safe. Guren rests back on both palms, now, just so that he doesn't have to figure out what to do with his hands anymore. He'll stay like this while Dextera admires the sky, and slowly his gaze will follow and point up, as well. It really is getting darker— but it's not the same bleak, empty dark from before. It must be something different.]
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when the first star pokes through the cover of night, dextera blinks, rubbing his eye like it might be something wrong with his vision. ]
...
[ but it isn’t? ]
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