[PRP] Reconnecting [Leo/Uller]

[Bronze Coffee]

It had honestly been way too long since he last roamed around the grounds of the school. Uller was basking in another murky, clear day and feeling relatively alright with everything. He and his boilfriend had something semi-sweet right now. There was still a small feeling of awkwardness, but Uller had been gone for like, a year without much word to him. Honestly, the stag was surprised the demon still wanted him as a lover.

So, with his hair in a high pony tail, he walked around in his usual garb that completely covered him. He took a deep breath and sighed out. He was in the grass where he'd first walked up on his first day and just let his lips curl a bit.

"I wonder what happened to that little mare," he murmured to himself. She was small, and helpful and he felt bad he lost touch with her.

Ephebe

 

[Ephebe]

Now, Leo didn't normally creep on other creeple's conversations, be they with themselves or not. But as it happened, one of the fruttens she'd been out walking had gotten free of its leash and lunged for the bushes. Not slow to react, the Mare had lunged after it and after some tussling in the bushes, during which the leashes of the other fruttens had gotten tangled up in branches and needed urgent untangling, she'd finally gotten a hold of the little escape artist. She needed more un-escapable leashes for her fluffy herd, really.

But back to the point. Leo didn't normally creep on other creeple's conversations, except when she happened to be laying in a nearby bush wrangling a renegade frutten and someone nearby mentioned her.

Well, she was pretty sure it was her. As far as she was aware, there really weren't any other Mares at the school.

Job of wrangling her minis into line done, she popped out of the bush (as well she could - the shrub was taller than her!) with a face red from exertion and minipets stacked under each arm, to face the boil who she was pretty sure had been referring to her with a quizzical; "yes?"

Saint Sergio

 

[Bronze Coffee]

Rustling caught the stag's attention and black eyes that seemed cold and unemotional squinted toward the shrub that was currently wriggling about with little noises. His ears flicked this way and that before a mare, flustered with twigs sticking out of her hair and clothes popped out with minipets under her arms.

It startled him, as he was giving her a deer in headlights look without realizing it, so he jumped back and then coughed. His gloved hands smoothed his coat down and then looked at her with a squint. "...It really is you, isn't it?" He asked, shifting to help her out of the shrub carefully. He didn't want to get near the minipets, they weren't his, he didn't know their temperaments, but... Well, he wanted to help her. Which is odd, considering things.

"...Hello again. Ah.. Uller. I'm ...I don't suppose you'd remember me."

Ephebe

 

[Ephebe]

"Not sure who else I'd be, but yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm the only Mare on campus if that's what you mean," she accepted his help with a grateful smile, keeping a good grip on the fruttens.

At his greeting, she laughed brightly before replying back with a grin, "heya!" That name though... she squinted at him, dots connecting across the chaos that had been the last few years of her life. Hadn't he..? "Uller!" If she'd had her hands free, she would've made a gesture of victory.

"Sorry, sorry! I remember you - we had a minipet playdate before, right? Well not a planned one, but you know," she shrugged, still grinning before her face turned a bit more serious; "how are you nowadays?" From what she remembered, he had had some trouble with creeple being rubbish to him because of his species. She really hoped that wasn't still the case.

Saint Sergio

 

[Bronze Coffee]

"Ah, yes.." His ears pinned back nervously but he did offer his own sort of smile before looking at her fruttens. "They look like they're a lot bigger than I last saw them.. d-did you get more?" Obviously the stag had a bad memory, but he didn't think she had this many. (Look, one or two fruttens was too many for him sometimes.)

His tail flicked a little and he shrugged, slowly putting his hands in his pockets before clearing his throat again.

"But yes, we had a playdate for them. I'm... I'm okay." Not true, but he was trying to make it true. Besides, why would he spill his guts once again to someone he barely knew. AJ got the brunt of that already. "H-how've you been?"

Ephebe

 

[Ephebe]

"They are!" She flashed a chirping frutten at him, proud of her minis. "And yeah, I reckon I got a few more. They just sort of showed up, you know? In for a seed, in for a pumpkin, I guess."

At his words of being okay she squinted at him a bit suspiciously, humming in assent. "Well, I'm glad you are then!" She wasn't entirely convinced what he said was actually true, but if he didn't want to talk about it she wouldn't needle him. She knew how it was to have things you didn't want to talk about. Still... "If you ever have problems though, I'll do my best to help you out if you want. In fact," she brightened up, "let me give you my number! And then you can give me a call if you ever need something, okay? Even just a minipet playdate!"

As for how she'd been, well - she hesitated, considered lying before remembering everything that Hel had taught her. Say what you mean, mean what you say. "I've... well to be honest I've been kind of shitty. Most of it was my own fault, but it's been up and down for a while." She looked tired, weary at the mention of the past. "But then there's nowhere to go but up, right?"

Saint Sergio

 

[Bronze Coffee]

A minipet play date. He tilted his head to the side at that and nodded. His minipets could use time out of his room, away from the sterile environment he created for himself. Uller weighed the pros and cons about that briefly before smiling and nodding. "I think that'd be good. I haven't gotten any more, really, but what I do have need to get out and... socialize."

Like he was trying to do now. When she offered to give her his number, Uller pulled out his phone and handed it to her without really a second thought. The only contacts in it were 'home' and 'Etzer'. No, he hadn't deleted Etzer's number out of his phone. They might not be together anymore, but Uller liked to think if he really needed the demon, he would be there. They might be friends after all.

Then Leo mentioned she'd been shitty and his ears flicked down a little before nodding. "I..." he started, unsure, voice breaking up a little. "....I ..suppose." Was it true? Probably. But you could stay at rock bottom for a long time, couldn't you? That's where he truly believed he was, rock bottom. Away from his family. He'd come back for Etzer and they ended up splitting up very shortly after his return, because he left in the first place. He really had no friends here. He had acquaintances, like Leo, AJ, Jack.. But no one he hung out with on a regular basis. Tahki had come close to that and she left the school.

"Yes, I suppose you're right about that."

Ephebe

 

[Ephebe]

"Yes! Socializing is always good," she gave him a grin and carefully sat one arm of fruttens down so she could take the phone, giving them a stern look to make sure they stayed in place. That done she quickly tapped in her number, putting it under a new contact called 'Leo biggrin '.

Handing it back, she then watched him with some concern as he spoke. Okay, something was definitely up here.

Surprisingly the fruttens had stayed where she'd parked them, so using her free hand she reached out to clasp his shoulder, giving him a reassuring squeeze. "Uller," she began, very seriously in a warm tone, "you can always talk to me, okay? I know we don't know each other that well but if something's nagging you I'm here."

Saint Sergio

 

[Bronze Coffee]

Her concern touched him, but ultimately it wasn't her problem. "I'm fine. ...I'm making myself fine, actually," he murmured, putting his phone back in his pockets. The stag took a deep breath and just dabbed at his eyes that were starting to water before swallowing again. "...It's.. Mn. Personal heart ache that I will try to get over. I really am doing better than I was a couple of weeks ago."

He toyed with his hair again, pulled it over his shoulder to start braiding it for something to do. "...Etzer and I split ways." He sighed harder at that, swallowing even more. "It just wasn't good for ...either of us anymore. I... brought it on myself. It's my fault." He honestly believed he did this to them. He left, forced them apart, forced them to grow away from each other and ultimately that distance was their downfall.

"...It's for the best. ...I'm hoping we can be friends in the future."

Ephebe

 

[Ephebe]

Aww damn it. Leo took a step forward and enveloped him in a one-armed hug - if he didn't want it, well, too bloody bad! The fruttens were chirping furiously, both the ones on the ground and the ones in her arms but she ignored them, doing her utmost to give the best damn hug of her life.

"I'm really sorry to hear that Uller, but I'm glad you're working on making yourself fine," her voice was muffled against his clothing, short as she was.

Saint Sergio

 

[Bronze Coffee]

He gave something of a bitter laugh when she gave him a one armed hug. Here she was, someone he barely knew, giving him something he didn't know he needed. The tears came before he could really stop them and he just let that be how his life was for the moment. Slowly the man leaned down and wrapped his arms around the other as he nodded.

"Thank you."

Uller really didn't know what else to say.

Ephebe

 

[Ephebe]

Leo wasn't quite sure what to say either, so she just stayed where she was as long as he needed it while her fruttens, demonstrating a complete lack of social finesse, started attempting to climb him like a tree.

She really wished there was something utterly profound that she could say, something that would instantly fix everything for him, but she knew words like that didn't exist. And she wasn't the most eloquent of speakers either - but this she could do, give him solidarity in a shitty situation. She knew shitty situations, after all.

What could she really say? "Any time," and she meant it.

Saint Sergio

 

[Bronze Coffee]

When Uller felt the minipets starting to squirm and trying to climb him, the stag stepped back and shook his head, brows knitting. "Well, I suppose I shouldn't keep you too much longer from your outing," he sad after a great while of just looking her over. She was short, and cute, and just... Well, if he were into ghouls he might ask her to help him forget his pain, but alas, he was not. He also had more class than that, he'd like to think.

Well that opened a whole new bottle of depression for him. "..Thank you for listening... even if it was just me rambling. ..And crying. Sorry about that.." He sniffled and brought his hands to his cheek to push the tear tracks away so there would be no evidence. It was one good thing about his eyes, they would't be bloodshot.

Ephebe

 

[Ephebe]

When he stepped back she reached out and got a hold of her minipets, making sure they were back firmly in her grip before taking a step back as well. Leo wasn't the sort to fidget so she just watched him as looked her over, trying to guess what was in his mind. No luck. "Honestly we were just about to head back, so you're not keeping me from anything," she assured him.

Shifting on her feet to get a better hold on her fruttens, she was still watching him with warm, concerned eyes as he erased the tear tracks, "any time. And..." she paused, finding the words, "I do mean it - any time, OK? You can give me a call. And you don't need to be sorry. There's nothing wrong with needing a good cry."

Saint Sergio

 

[Bronze Coffee]

Slowly the stag nodded and just rubbed his neck slowly before taking a deep breath. "Okay. I'll.... I'll call you if.. I need to talk again," he murmured to her. No, Uller wasn't ashamed, but he wasn't used to asking creeple for help. He wasn't used to relying on anyone but himself. He'd tried, but now he was alone in love again. Ah, well.

"You.. can stop by any time, too. Ah, my dorm room."

Hopefully that didn't sound like he wanted her in more than a friend way, but he was starting to become tired from just that short cry he had. Swallowing thickly again, Uller just flashed her a smile. "I'll see you around."

Ephebe