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[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.

guren noticed something like that? ]

What?

[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. ]

[ for now, dextera is okay.

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. ]

[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.

[They wanna see him smile, too, he's sure.]

[ 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. ]

Oh, shut up.

[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. ]

...

[ but it isn’t? ]

Well, look at that.

[Guren is kind of amazed at the view again, honestly. It's just a black sky with white specks— but no, they're sparkling, and it's clear that they're out there, existing.]

You can see the stars. [He catches that eye rubbing and peaks down.] Have you never seen stars before?

[ dextera knows what they are, but it’s hard to wrap his head around the sight. stars... like the plants, they’re something he never expected to see after his sin devastated the world. maybe he doesn’t deserve to see them, but—he’s glad he has. he’s glad guren brought him out here. ]

... [ a slow exhale, and he shakes his head from his position on guren’s lap. ]

You really haven't?

[A red sky would make it difficult, he supposes, and he has no idea what Dextera's apocalypse was like. But that interests him, and he shifts just enough to lift one of his palms. Dextera's hair had shifted slightly with that little shake, and Guren moves his fingers now to nudge some of it out of the way so he can really see.]

Then I hope you're taking a good look now. [Enjoy those stars. He's going to, too, letting his hand rest by his own leg and looking back up, curious.]

I don't see any constellations I recognize, though. [That's just a fact he notes down for himself, but he shares it aloud, too. This place really must not be home.]

[ dextera is taking an extraordinarily good look now. if he's seen the stars ever before, it must have been from a time before the blaze... and those memories, of course, have been robbed from him. even when he closes his eyes and tries everything he has to remember, all his mind offers is a white room and a quiet song. there's nothing there that would suggest he's seen a night sky. ]

...

[ the clouds of earlier today have cleared enough to let them see the stars as they spread, and when guren notes that there are no constellations he knows, dextera raises a hand, pointing to trace something out in the sky.

it's... a circle? the lamest constellation, but he seems pleased with it. ]

[That's adorable.]

Now you're making your own? [He doesn't laugh, but his voice sounds like he's close.] That one's easy to remember, at least. You're better than me, anyway. I just see a bunch of dots in the sky.

[No creative spirit... Or at least no admitting it.]

[ nothing wrong with dots, dextera thinks. even if he couldn’t pick out any shapes, he’d appreciate the vision overhead.

he rests his hands on his chest now, having pointed out his single new constellation, and re-settles in guren’s lap—but then he’s looking expectantly upward, and maybe... he wants guren to try anyway.

just make one up. for him. ]

What?

[Of all the times, now is when he chooses to tsun with the most resistance. A constellation... Something silly from his imagination that they can both see any time they look up at the night sky. It's not a bad thing at all, and he's going to get to it, but he's stalling for one hesitant reason or another.

He looks back up at the sky after making a face at Dextera, a small frown in place. It's going to take him a while...]

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