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 Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2013 7:43 am
He was sleeping.
It was, of course, still a favorite pasttime of his, even after all this time, even after everything had happened, even after he had spent most of the past two years in a sort of restless daze. And although he still had the nightmares drenched in black and steeped in darkness and pain and the sensation of drowning, there were times when sleeping meant peace, meant an escape from the world, which was so very confusing at times, around him.
Sometimes sleep came a little easier than it had before, and it was these times that Ren felt the best, felt as though he could handle what came before him.
Sometimes (or rather, most of the time) sleep came in a more difficult manner. Those nights Ren tossed and turned and twisted trying to find just that right spot, just that right position that would allow him to drift off comfortably.
This particular time was sort of a combination of the two.
After waking from the dreams and the chaos inside of his head, Ren had spent most of the afternoon with LW. He'd checked in on Jove (twice) and then had gone back to his room to try and - oddly enough - rest. All things considered, the dreams had been exhausting, and now he hoped to actually get proper rest.
His sleep was restless; he shifted a little, grumbling with his eyes closed, wings fluttering nervously against his back before settling back down again. Face pressed into the pillow, Ren curled up on his side, his tail flicking back and forth before calming, sliding so that it was half draped off the bed.
He was dreaming of blackness again.
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Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2013 8:12 am
 Moving back in was no easy.
In fact, it was downright impossible; Gabrian had not noticed just how much junk he owned until he tried moving it from point A to point B. After several hours of hard work yield little to few results (the room still looked mostly bare, and most of the furniture was still outside the dorm room), the Nix had pretty much given up on actually finishing the task alone.
Letting out a weary sigh, he exited the demon dorm and made his way across campus towards the monster one, looking half ashamed, half guilty for doing so. Initially, his plan had been to settle in, get everything into his room, and then go check on his old friends, see if they were still around and if they'd forgive his sorry a** for not managing to keep in touch when his parents had called him back home. Alas, change of plans. He figured that instead... he was going to have to beg for forgiveness first, and then ask them to please help him with moving everything back into his room, because he really didn't want to have to sleep on a mat on the floor; he'd much rather his aquarium, or jack forbid, the bed.
Upon reaching the building, he made his way through the familiar halls, deciding his first stop should technically be Ren. For several reasons. Some of which the nix didn't really feel like discussing with his own mind at the current moment.
He found the door closed but unlocked, and he couldn't but realize that some thing just never changed. Still, he allowed himself into the darkened room, leaving the door open so it'd allow just barely enough light for him to navigate the darkness and made his way towards the bed, finding his friend mostly unchanged and... sleeping, "Ren?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2013 8:26 am
He thought he had heard a voice in his dream, a familiar, warm and pleasant voice. Strange, because it was normally his parents' voices that he heard while sleeping, mocking and endlessly taunting and never letting him sleep well with their calm disdain and their normal disgust.
But this voice wasn't like his parents' voices, not at all. In fact, it was quite the opposite, stirring a myriad of rather interesting memories in his sleep addled brain, several images flashing through his thoughts like a movie.
"I have the answer to all our problems. Well... the answer to one of our problems anyhow."
"Ren, relax for a moment - you're not ever going to climb out of that bank. It's raining and there's mud. You're going to slip right on in."
"Hold onto me; I'll take you somewhere where the water is less deep so you can step out."
"You shriek like a girl - I did not anticipate that. Also, to answer your earlier question, I am in your bathroom to take my revenge on you for that spin the bottle stunt."
"You have issues."
"I was pretty sure that claiming you as mine in the music class would have been enough. Apparently not. Rest assured I meant every word; you're all mine. You just don't know it yet. And you don't need a demon mark as proof."
It was really very nice, listening to all of these. Ren decided he wanted to stay asleep to listen because otherwise, if he opened his eyes, he would lose the nostalgic feel of them, since he had not actually thought of that person in quite some time, mostly out of a frustrated irritation and a bitter loss.
Still, something nudged him quietly out of his sleep, Ren blinking blearily, his wings fluttering again. A few stray feathers drifted off and floated down to the floor on top of several snoozing foxfires all piled in a huddle somewhere near the head of his bed.
There was a figure standing beside his bed - a figure with a long, curling tail and wavy hair that fell to its shoulders. Ren stared at it, starting at eye level, which was about the figure's stomach, and let his gaze move upwards until he could see his face, half draped in shadows.
A very, very familiar face.
For several seconds, Ren just stared blankly, every thought in his head careening to a sudden, crashing stop. He lay there, frozen in position, wings stilled entirely, and then -
"Oh look, I'm still dreaming," Ren mumbled, and promptly turned over, furling his wings tightly around him.
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Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2013 9:36 am
Gabrian wasn't entirely sure what sort of reaction he'd been hoping for, but truth be told... disbelief had not been among the top five. Not even the top ten, if he was honest, though then again, he couldn't really begrudge the poor gryphon for his reaction; after all, he'd left and had given very little information as to why or his where about. In his (minimal) defense, when he'd been called back, he hadn't expected it to take so long; he'd expected a weekend, a week maybe, at most, but certainly not two years.
By the time he'd noticed where things were headed, he'd not had the heart to break it to them; not only that, but given the circumstances, he'd not thought it necessary to get contact information and... well, it'd all snowballed.
Silence remained and he'd been unable to really fix his mistake.
Still, the amount of disbelief in Ren's voice made the demon snort; sound which was cut short when the monster's wings unfurled and draped around him, forcing him to sit on the bed or chance losing his balance, "Ren!" this time, the voice was louder, slightly sharper, "What will everyone think, if they happen to walk in now?" his hand had gripped the other's shoulder, shaking him lightly, "You sleep like the dead," this was said with a sigh, "I know I'm quite dreamy, but no, this is not a dream, wake up!" he turned his attention to the fluff pile of foxfires at the head of the bed, almost as if asking them for help, but then narrowed his gleaming eyes at the figure beside him, "I swear. If you do not wake up, I shall be forced to use less conventional methods, and ... that will probably make the apologizing and the asking for help harder," he drawled out, his face inches from his friend's, "And neither of us wants that. So get up."
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Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2013 10:25 am
This wasn't happening.
This couldn't possibly be happening because Gabrian wasn't here anymore he was gone and he wasn't coming back the b*****d and Ren had already written him out of his head because he was not here -
A hand gripped his shoulder and there were more words in that same familiar, smoothly drawling voice, and Ren was trying very hard not to let it get to him because this was most definitely an illusion; the remnants of sleep still clinging to him, that's what it was. It was that place between sleeping and awakening.
I gave you up.
Ren curled more into his half bent position on the bed, wings curled tightly around him, but there was a rustling sound and the not-him figure was leaning over him, faces inches apart, and there was definitely no mistaking that look on his face or that familiar emerald hair or the way he made Ren's stomach twist with that same familiarity and the same hurt and anger and frustration and longing and apparently this was most definitely not a dream after all.
And he was most definitely very awake now.
Ren twisted around, reached up, grabbed both sides of Gabrian's face, and promptly kissed him full on the mouth.
Then he punched him in the stomach.
"You a*****e where the hell have you been."
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Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2013 11:54 am
At first, nothing he did seemed to be working; the gryphon curled in on himself and refused to wake, his eyes firmly closed. Gabrian was just about ready to give up, figuring he could maybe take the time to search for LW or Alessa, see if they could wake the slumbering boil up for him when the monster beside him finally responded.
The initial reaction was sudden; the gryphon seemed to snap his eyes open, jolting awake, the movement forcing the nix back slightly in surprise. However, before he could so much as slip a word, he was grabbed and kissed quite fully. Had it not been for the fact he'd been previously balancing his weight on both his arms, he would have been pushed back against either the bed, or worse, the floor, from the force of it.
The demon's mind quickly ceased thinking, having come close to the mental equivalent of a blue screen of death, and still, somewhere in a corner of his mind, Gabrian knew he'd missed this. This was part of the reason he'd missed this school so much; no one back home did anything like this. None of his father's associates had ever dared touch him much at all, much less grab him and kiss him just because they could.
He was still reeling slightly when the fist crashed into his gut, forcing the air out of his lungs as his arms came to cradle his stomach. Still, that same corner of his mind reasons that he probably deserved that, and Gabrian managed to wheeze slightly, one of his hands coming up to wave Ren's words away, as if asking the monster to give him a few moments because frankly... he'd been kissed and winded, all in the span of a few seconds. His brain still needed to catch up to him, and his air still needed to return to his lungs, thank you very much.
After a few moments of coughing, the demon finally lifted his head, one of his arms still cradling his middle, "I deserved that," this was whispered slightly, both out of lack of breath, and due to other reasons altogether; shame, guild, sadness, "Home," he finally said, "Or, well. My parents' home," because as much as it hurt, it had never quite been home. This was home, and it was only now that Gabrian realized how home sick he'd been the past two years; he'd never quite put his finger on it... never had been able to pinpoint what the feeling was, and his mind finally, helpfully supplied a word.
Homesick. He'd been homesick.
"I was called back. Didn't say anything because I did not figure it would take more than a weekend to resolve; a week tops but...." his eyes narrowed, his arm finally leaving his middle, his hands unconsciously fixing his ripples the 'attack' had caused on his suit, "That wasn't the case. And by the time I noticed, I was not allowed back due to... things my parents heard were going on here, and I did not anticipate any of that. As such, I did not really think to take contact information," he let out a sigh, "I'm sorry. I'd allow you to vent your frustrations on me if it'd help you, but that really did ******** hurt, Ren," the demon frowned, but there was no malice in the expression; in fact, the same amount of guilt still glimmered there, barely concealed, "And I really don't think I'd survive another hit. That, and I need help. I can't very well bring my furniture back to my room alone, much less if you cripple me," a pause, another sigh as he looked down at the ground between his feet, "I missed you."
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Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2013 12:09 pm
He still could not quite grasp that Gabrian was sitting in his room (well, sprawled on the floor now, thanks to Ren's little maneuver); that Gabrian was even existing at this current moment because it had been so long that Ren had had to force himself to stop thinking about him, to stop thinking about the guy that had been his nearest and dearest friend and then who had up and disappeared because thinking about it too much hurt.
Thinking about Gabrian was painful.
Ren slid to the edge of the bed, swinging his legs over the side to look down at the demon. A few foxfires had wandered curiously over to Gabrian, sniffing at his feet, and Rhys, ever present, had crawled out of one of the dresser drawers with his ears perked, recognition on his little face.
"No, you definitely deserved that," said Ren, his face coloring slightly. "Both of 'thats.'"
Because while he was still furious at Gabrian for disappearing in the first place, there was an enormous part of him screaming in happiness that the nix had returned - and to him, because in spite of everything, he and Gabrian had formed a solid, irreparable bond that was difficult to break, even when apart for so long.
He swung his legs against the bed absently, a vaguely petulant look on his face. "Two years," Ren mumbled. "Two years you've been gone. Two years I've been waiting for you to come back, and two years I gave up on ever thinking you would."
There was hurt writhing in his stomach, mixed with an odd feeling of guilt that he hadn't gone to find Gabrian. He'd looked for him, gone back to his room several times over the course of the last couple of years, but to no avail. Ren's scowl grew more pronounced.
"I missed you."
The color in Ren's face steadily grew warmer, and he looked away, fingers gripping the edge of the bed as he tried not to let it show how much it was bothering him, just those three little words because damn it all, Gabrian, he hadn't wanted to hear those three silly little words because it meant too much.
He pushed himself to his feet, stepped towards Gabrian, and curled his fingers in the front of the demon's shirt, tugging him down to kiss his cheek. Then he buried his face in Gabrian's neck, heaving an enormous sigh.
"You jackass. I missed you so much, stupid."
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Posted: Sat Aug 31, 2013 6:56 am
The nix swiftly decided to attribute the breathlessness (and perhaps the lump in his throat) to the fact he'd just been kissed and punched in the stomach in rapid succession. He couldn't deal with the feeling that seemed to be bubbling up inside of him, and couldn't seem to think straight, which was both mind blowing and... slightly alarming. After all, when he'd gone back home... when he'd spent all that time away from the school, he thought he'd learned to keep his feelings under control again. He thought he'd gotten stronger; that he was more capable, more mature even.
Turns out all his previous thoughts on the matter were nothing but bullshit he'd been spoon feeding himself in hopes it'd some day become true. All it'd taken was one small kiss, and one (admittedly strong punch in in the gut - when on Jack's dark world had the gryphon gotten so damn strong?) and he'd lost it. Just like in ye old days, when he'd decided that if he couldn't beat them... he'd join them. Back when he'd found friends that actually cared.
He'd not felt like that since he'd left, and he'd thought that perhaps that meant he was getting stronger, more in control, but... apparently, all it'd meant was that he just wasn't around the people that really mattered.
"Two years," he repeated the words, "And apparently, I've not gotten any stronger. Thought I had. Thought I was over this," he saw Ren rise to his feet, and for a brief moment, Gabrian thought perhaps one punch wasn't enough, and he braced himself, unflinching, because deep down... he knew he did deserve it. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how one looked at it), the gryphon did not hit him again. Instead, he curled his fingers into the fabric of his shirt and pulled him in for another, much more innocent kiss. Then, while the demon was still trying to figure out what had just happened, the other boil buried his face into his neck, prompting a small sigh from the nix.
"Yeah," he breathed as he lifted a hand and placed it on the back of Ren's head, "Seems to be a theme, that," he murmured, "My being a jackass," he left the seconds slip by, allowing his presence and warmth to seep in, to actually reach the other boil; he was indeed here, and he wasn't going anywhere, "I'm sorry," he said again and then, after a beat or two, "You're a weakness," he breathed, almost as if he'd just come to the realization, "You're my weakness. All this time, and here I thought I'd gotten better at the whole... being emotionally stronger. Turns out, you were were just not around to bring it out of me."kurotomato Sorry about not tagging you yesterday bby! I had some family dramas and... yeah, family dramas, man. Ugh.
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Posted: Sat Aug 31, 2013 4:43 pm
He wanted to smack him and shake him and punch him and kick him in his happy place all at the same time - but then he also simultaneously wanted to curl up in Gabrian's arms and just stay there for the rest of the day because he'd missed the stupid idiot so much it was rather ridiculous.
It was already well known that their relationship was not really definable in normal terms; Ren had tried explaining it once and had utterly failed, but the basic gist, he had come to learn, were that they were, inexplicably, soul mates. Not in the romantic way, but in the friend way, the way that one might find another half of themselves.
He felt Gabrian's hand on his head and gave a little snort, Ren pressing his face against the nix's neck and heaving another sullen sounding sigh. His stomach twisted and his heart leapt and Ren slid his arms around Gabrian's waist, curling his wings around the both of them.
"You're stupid," he said, his voice muffled by the front of Gabrian's shirt. "Really really stupid."
There was a long pause. Ren's grip tightened.
"I love you, by the way. Figured I'd tell you in case you disappeared again, but you're stupid and you're my best friend and I freaking love you, you stupid jackass so don't leave me again."
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Posted: Sun Sep 01, 2013 9:53 am
It was quite ironic how much tension the gryphon seemed to be in. His light twitching told Gabrian that he was, in fact, still not entirely safe from another beating, because it was becoming obvious (not only from his previous mixed signals, but also from his current body language) that Ren wasn't sure if he wanted to keep on hugging or punch him in the face.
"One free punch is all you get, Ren. I swear, if you punch me again, I'll do worse then when I slipped into your bathroom; you have been warned," still, the 'warning' in question held no real weight and was all in jest, or at least a vague attempt at calming the other boil down. Things were not like they used to, and would likely not be for a long time; people changed, times changed, but there was, at least, the willpower and conscious effort on the demon's part to drive things back to a comfortable level of tension, "If you still want to hit me, we might want to do that later on. Once I'm registered once more, and FEAR approved to spar. Given the force of that one punch, something tells me you can teach me a thing or two in that area and what the Jack have you been doing anyhow? Going to the gym while I was bored out of my skull in demonic reunions? Eesh."
There was a moment where the demon shook his head, and then fell silent, allowing the gryphon to remain where he was. In all honesty, the contact was not only pleasant, but warm and strangely reassuring; while it was true his parents had brought him up accordingly, Gabrian wasn't particularly used to this. The contact, the loving nature and the fact Ren didn't seem to ever ask for anything in return, freely giving himself up without a second's thought. He'd never been abused while growing up, but his parents had never been this... giving. It was daunting, specially after a severe lack of it during the past several years. Unconsciously, he allowed his hand to move, stroking the other's hair in slow, but long, fluid motions as the seconds ticked by, "So I've heard," he murmured, when the monster spoke up, "So I've been told. Specially today. Repeatedly. I think it's sunk in by now, Ren."
He was a bit socially awkward when it came to handling this spectrum of emotions, for some reason. Not by choice, but rather, lack of practice.
And then, Ren spoke, and he'd known that. Gabrian had known that, even back in the day, even if it'd been entirely unspoken, he'd known, and yet... the fact the words were laid out in the open, finally there between them was big, "You know..." he said after a long moment, "I don't think even LW ever said that me. That makes you the first person ever to actually tell me they love me," another pause followed the murmured, barely audible words; had Ren not been currently pressed against his throat, it's possible he would've missed them, "I knew, you know. I knew even back then. As I'm sure you knew yourself; I've loved you for a long time," he shook his head and snorted slightly, as if highly amused, "Jack only knows why because we're a mismatch.
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Posted: Sun Sep 01, 2013 3:33 pm
He almost punched Gabrian again just because he had been deliberately told not to, but Ren decided that there were much better options in the end, especially when he could feel the nix's fingers in his hair. And even though he was still pissed, even though he couldn't quite shake off the feeling of being abandoned or being lonely, he could not separate himself entirely from Gabrian even if he tried.
He almost didn't hear him speak, but he definitely felt it, Ren's face pressed against Gabrian's neck. He curled himself around his best friend and sighed heavily, the words sinking into him, washing over him like a warm and familiar wave.
He knew Gabrian loved him, knew Alessa and LW and Jove all loved him, but it was one thing to know it and another thing to actually hear it; which was a part of the reason why, whenever he was with LW, he said it as much as possible because what if one day he couldn't say it anymore? What if one day she disappeared and the last thing he had said to her was not I love you?
He couldn't deal with that sort of regret. He pushed back the dark emotions in favor of the lighter ones.
Ren pulled back a little, an amused look on his face, but it was gently teasing as he said, "Mismatches are still matches."
Smiling with affection, Ren lifted his hands, placing them on either side of Gabrian's face again. He stepped up on his tiptoes and kissed him, lingering for a moment before pulling away, patting the nix's face in a cheeky sort of manner, a smirk on his lips.
"There, have a proper greeting," he said, tail flicking behind him as he walked to the dresser to find a new shirt to wear other than his pajamas, which he was still in.
"Have you been to see anyone else yet?" Ren asked. "LW or Alessa or anyone?"
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Posted: Sun Sep 01, 2013 5:06 pm
s Ren pulled back away from him, the demon arched one elegant brow, "I don't know. As far as I know... the point of a miss-match is that it misses or fails to be a match," he drawled, his lips tugging into a the ghost of a smile, "But then again I think I like your definition a tad more, so let's just go with that one for now,"
This time, when Ren's hands came up to cradle his face, Gabrian knew what was coming, and thus, managed to go through the necessary steps to reciprocate, which was... needless to say, better than he'd managed before, where he'd done a great impression of gaping fish out of water, "You know," he told the gryphon as he pulled away, "If you keep that up, you're going to have to seriously considering buying me dinner," he finally pushed himself up from the floor and then brushed his clothes off, "I... walked passed Alessa's room on my way here, but I didn't hear any sound and last time I walked in on her, she had a fit. Figured walking in on you was a bit more proper than walking in on her or LW for... obvious reason."
There was a moment of hesitation and then, Gabrian let out a sigh, "Truth be told, I arrived her just hours ago, and set about trying to put my room in order, because I really didn't feel like having to sleep in the lake or something like that," a pause followed, "What few students I've seen have been er... odd. I've seen a couple walking around with dazed gazes, and I saw one which I could've sworn was a year 2 back in my day, claim they were a year 1 and well..." he reached up to scratch the back of his head as he looked around Ren's room, cataloging it now that he didn't have to worry about how his friend would react, "All things considered, I figured that if people were acting weird, and taking into account how special this school is... I figured there'd been some sort of field trip recently or something. So I didn't ask them much of anything."
That said, he shrugged and moved towards the doorway, which remain cracked open, allowing a small bit of light into the room, "That's one thing I didn't miss, when I was back home," he allowed himself to shudder slightly before recomposing himself, holding the door open for his friend, "Does that mean everyone's still around? Because moving the furniture might be easier with a couple more sets of arms to help."
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Posted: Sun Sep 01, 2013 6:34 pm
Ren smirked. "Or, if we're the pair of us (a very sorry pair, I might say), we're just a goofy, silly pair of people that just happen to be a very strange sort of match, which I would still say is a match."
He pulled a shirt free of the dresser, shoving Rhys aside, and said, "I'll buy you dinner, but you probably won't like it very much, since you eat meat and I don't. But maybe if you're nice to me, I will," he added, tossing the nix a grin over his shoulder. He straightened, smoothing out the dark red fabric of a button-down.
The grin faded somewhat at Alessa's name, Ren's face showing a bit of sadness. "I haven't heard from her in a long time," he admitted, fiddling with the shirt in his hands, plucking a stray thread from it. "I lost contact with her, just as I lost contact with you. I tried finding her again, but I think she took some time away from school."
His ears perked upwards, as they always did when his ghoulfriend was mentioned. "As for LW, I know she'd want to see you," he said, setting the new shirt on the dresser and tugging at the hem of his ratty sleeping shirt. Confusion furrowed his brow, Ren pulling the one shirt off and grabbing the other, sliding his arms into the sleeves.
"That's strange," he said, fingers slowing on the buttons as he thought. "Although...there were some pretty strange incidents we've had in the past few days.
"Well," Ren corrected himself, finishing the buttons and now looking for a pair of pants. "There are always strange things to be happening around here; Amityville's not exactly known for being normal and really why would it be?"
He disappeared into the adjoining bathroom and came back several moments later dressed in a pair of black slacks and the red button down, Ren absently tucking in the hem of his shirt, still looking somewhat lost in thought. "We had something happen yesterday," he said finally, tapping a finger against his chin. "A weird sort of...communal dream."
Reaching into his closet and ignoring the dozen or so foxfires that scrambled around about his feet, Ren plucked up a set of suspenders and slung them over his shoulders, snapping them against the waistband of his pants as he walked out the door of his room, not bothering to shut it. Out in the hallway, he finished dressing properly and turned his head to look at Gabrian.
"LW might be free to help," he said. "And Jove, of course, though he's not very, er, physically strong."
Both names were said with a distinct amount of clear affection, pleasure showing on Ren's face as he thought of his two favorite people - and now here was Gabrian, his other favorite person. Ren slid his hands into the pockets of his slacks.
"Does it feel weird being back?" he asked.
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Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 10:53 am
Gabrian watched his friend as he moved out of the room and began walking down the hall, "Hmmm..." he lifted an arm, rolling his sleeve up to look at his watch before making a mild face, "I don't know," he murmured, "Pondering that just a little bit more... it might be unwise to wake LW up. It's late; there'll be more than enough time for me to say hello tomorrow, after she's had a good rest," a pause as he looked down a particular hallway; Alessa's dorm room used to be down that way, and Gabrian couldn't help but shake his head sadly before walking onward, side by side with the gryphon boil, "That aside, given your reaction to my presence in your room, I'm not quite sure what LW will do when she sees me," his left hand came to res on his stomach, rubbing it absently before frowning for just a few, fleeting seconds, "Frankly, I don't think my body's ready for round two yet," nor was his heart ready either but he decided not to voice that last tidbit out out just yet.
"Tomorrow," he said with a nod after a few beats, almost as if he'd given it some good thought, "You're enough of a handful for tonight, let Jove get some rest too; besides, he's cute and a rather large distraction from where I'm standing. I'd hardly be of any help if i'm busy with him," he drawled, the underlying message clear; he wanted some time along with Ren first before tackling something new. A lot of time had gone by, and he'd not just said he'd missed the other boil just for show, after all, "I'm curious though; what sort of communal dream, and should it be something I should worry about or prepare myself for? I'm afraid I'm a bit... out of shape. I've just been mostly sitting and doing paper work or talking to my father's associates. I might need some exercise. Hopefully you can help me with that too."
He'd caught the amount of affection Ren expressed when he'd said Jove and LW's names, and he'd been unable to withhold the soft smile that graced his lips; some things never changed, "Is there any one else new in your life that I should meet, or have things been mostly the same around here?" he held the door that lead outside of the monster dorm rooms open for the other boil before walking outside, snorting slightly, "It's weird, but it's a strange sort of weird," he said, "I never wanted to leave; I came here in the first place because I couldn't see myself walking in my father's footsteps. I wanted to become stronger, physically, mentally, emotionally... though I didn't quite realize the latter until, well... later," he allowed his lips to quirk up into another smile before continuing, "I've learned a lot while being here. Despite the ups and downs, and despite all the rather questionable stuff I witness, and... honestly, this feels like home," he murmured, and then looked at the other boil, "Something about home being where the heart is, I guess."
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Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 3:48 pm
"Tomorrow, then," said Ren decisively, and bumped his shoulder against Gabrian's, still feeling that stupid and ridiculous sense of happiness that the nix was back. He shifted towards the other and without much warning, leapt up so that his arms were around Gabrian's neck from behind, Ren flapping his wings to keep himself steady.
"She'll be happy to see you," he said, as though he hadn't just pulled an impromptu piggyback ride. "LW and me, we're still going strong, just so you know."
He beamed with pride, practically glowing with pleasure. "Hopefully one day I'll get to marry her, but not while we're students, because that would be too soon. But we're probably going to graduate soon, and then we'll figure out what to do from there."
The communal dream made him feel slightly less happy, Ren frowning slightly.
"It's...difficult to explain," he said slowly, his face in Gabrian's hair as he thought. "Everyone was asleep all at once and we were all in this one place where we...had something to do with memories..."
The vague explanation was probably wildly unhelpful. Ren tapped a wing against his cheek, ears flattening back against his hair. "Other than that, things have mostly been the same. I'm still the best big brother ever, but I did meet some lovely new friends!"
He could hear the soft tone of Gabrian's voice and something in Ren's expression softened. He flapped his wings, twisted around so that he was in front of Gabrian now, arms still around his neck, except floating princess style in front of him.
"And your heart is with my heart," he said simply and curled himself around Gabrian in a rather feathery hug, his face pressed against the demon's shoulder. "So don't leave again and you'll be all right."
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