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 Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 8:56 pm
It had been about a week since Scyeth had seen RuiZhi, nevermind spoken to him. To be blunt, the blond had been avoiding him since his ex-roommate moved and there had been stuff discussed. Yes, stuff. Scyeth wasn't comfortable with the 'stuff' being any less vague. But it was really starting to wear on the blond. He didn't know what repercussions his rash actions would bring upon him, and at this rate, he would never know. Never knowing would be better than ruining something he just started moments before.
Right?
...right!?
It was driving Scyeth mad and the Australian was seriously beginning to wonder the merits of ignorance. (Whoever said ignorance is bliss was horribly, horribly wrong.) But how did he go to see RuiZhi after all this...stuff? And so the blond was left with a serious conundrum...which could be solved by a book. No, seriously. Scyeth dug up an old book of RuiZhi's he had 'borrowed' (read: stole) while they were still roomies a while back. He should probably return it.
A few minutes later, Scyeth found himself at RuiZhi's door.
...huh.
So, he knocked.
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Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 9:15 pm
It'd been a while since he'd moved. Everything was in place in his single bed room, but...it still didn't feel right.
RuiZhi didn't dwell on it too much because it wasn't something he could really make sense of. He wasn't one for the archaic or unknown, so if it didn't have a solution through a book or some type of definite answer, he wasn't inclined to put too much thought to it, not right now. He hadn't always been like this, but it was easier than simply accepting some things for face value. Far easier than dealing with the strange warmth in his belly and the irregular heart beat when he thought of a certain thing.
Of course, he was thinking of such things even as three books lay spread before him. He was reading and digesting the information, but it was all a process, an auto-pilot that he almost didn't need to be a part of. Thus the knock at the door took him a short while to respond to, drawing himself both out of the books and his own mind. Brown eyes blinked behind round glasses, adjusting them on his nose as he crawled off the bed and moved to open the door.
He didn't think he looked any different, but he'd already grown accustomed to the uniform he now wore. The rich green of the jacket off set his jet black hair, the tails lining his equally black slacks nicely. He was even comfortable with the boots, and that was quite remarkable from his simple loafers. Opening the door and looking into the face of his friend, RuiZhi might have just stopped thinking completely.
"Scyeth!" Surprise. Pleasure. "How've you been?"
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Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 9:29 pm
Zhi was wearing a uniform. He was wearing a uniform. Stunned (and mildly bewildered), Scyeth let his guard down. His jaw dropped and he stared for a total of three seconds before he caught himself. He snapped his mouth shut with a sicking crack, giving RuiZhi a blank look like nothing had happened. At all. Instead, he just raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Uh. Nice uniform?" And that was all. Not even a hello, how are you, why don't we talk more, I'm an idiot, the list goes on. Scyeth was just feeling particularly smooth today, that was all.
It actually took a moment of standing there in awkward silence for Scyeth to suddenly remember his cover. "Oh!" he said, holding the book up. "I found this." He offered said book to the Chinese student, sighing a little. It sounded a lot more lame when it actually came out of his mouth. Oh, well. Maybe he'd buy it anyways. The blond shifted uncomfortably, still standing outside RuiZhi's door. Well, his mission was accomplished, so to speak...but...now what?
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Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 9:51 pm
RuiZhi stared at Scyeth. Was there something on his face? He looked behind himself and then back to the older boy when his mouth shut, smiling a little. What was that all about?
The youth blinked at the book, accepting it with mild surprise. "Oh..." He rubbed his hand over the cover with familiarity. It wasn't a book he needed anymore, but he wasn't about to say that. Even if the book had been one of great value, it wouldn't matter, not right now. Brown eyes peered up into the other's blues, trying to think. It wasn't working very well.
He reached out his hand from the cover of the book to Scyeth, gingerly taking the hand of the other. "Why don't you come in for a minute? I haven't seen you since I moved. What's new?" It was all chatter, and he really wasn't sure what he was saying. He just wanted to spend some time with his friend. Yeah. Not gossiping like old hens out in the hallway, right?
Oh who was he kidding? He just didn't want Scyeth to run. RuiZhi didn't know why, but he wanted the blonde to stay, if even for a minute.
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Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 4:32 am
Yeah, the book thing was kinda lame. He knew. But even if RuiZhi agreed, he spared Scyeth the humiliation of explaining, and for that, the blond was thankful. He shrugged and shook his head, nothing was new, nothing changed, other than him being home, but that wasn't really new anymore. But he accepted the invitation, feeling just a little less awkward if anything else. He tipped his head and stepped into his old roommate's new room and looked around.
...wow. It was pretty nice in here. Scyeth would have to lie if he said he wasn't going to look forward to moving forward in his studies, if it meant having a room like this. Of course, he'd miss the roommate shindig, but that was neither here nor there. But he could really only distract himself for so long. Scyeth twisted to face his friend, blue eyes searching his face. This was not...going to be easy. But something needed to be done.
"...there's something up between us," he said cautiously. Maybe if he brought up the topic, he could get RuiZhi's opinion on the matter without actually having to ask. (Of course, the Chinese student hadn't slammed the door in his face, so he couldn't have been doing too poorly, right?)
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Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 10:42 am
The youth released Scyeth's hand once he entered and closed the door, moving to place the book among the shelves that housed several other tomes. He turned to look at the blonde, feeling momentarily light headed as he realized he was being scrutinized.
"Hmm?" he inquired intelligently at the statement. RuiZhi took off his glasses, breathing on them to clean them with the underside of the jacket, taking the time to regain some semblence of thought. "I haven't seen you since you got back." Yeah, nothing like stating the obvious. "So I'm...not sure how anything can happen in the absence of being together." He jerked his head up a little, brushing a stray piece of hair from his cheek, "I-I mean, well, you know..."
Smooth. Nothing like being aware of what was going on. He wasn't as terribly naive as he used to be, much as he may like to try and be otherwise. He took a deep breath and put his glasses on the nightstand, his fingers moving absently over the frames. "You know..." He paused again, not looking at the other. "You know I'm not mad at you, right?" It was important to RuiZhi that Scyeth knew that.
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Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 10:59 am
Scyeth blinked and released the breath he hasn't realized he'd been holding. He wasn't sure what he had been waiting for, but that sounded pretty good right about now. Scyeth moved across the room with grace unnatural for the average human being until he found himself standing next to RuiZhi. "I do now," he muttered, cursing himself and praising the powers that be all at once. But that wasn't enough, it couldn't be, now that he knew what he knew. Being mad and returning the sentiment were two different things entirely.
"RuiZhi," Scyeth said seriously, pausing in mid-thought to wonder when was the last time he actually used his fellow student's full name. "RuiZhi, I-" Scyeth shut his mouth and gave a great sigh. He couldn't even figure out what he wanted to say, so how did he expect to word it? "...uh. The demons. And your village, and stuff." Scyeth looked away. How could he ever expect this to go somewhere with such a tragedy between them. It might not have been Scyeth's fault, and it certainly wasn't the village's, but it still happened. And Scyeth was still one of them, as far as he knew. Try as he did, he would never fit in. He took a step back and prepared himself to say two words he rarely, rarely uttered. "I'm sorry."
There was nothing else to say.
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Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 11:11 am
Using his full name was definitely a good way to get his attention. The youth turned, startled, looking at his friend with open surprise. RuiZhi was definitely not expecting the other to bring up what happened over a year ago; as far as he remembered, he'd never mentioned it. His heart ached to see Scyeth like this, and for him to apologize...
"Don't..." He moved towards the older boy, looking as though he'd reach out, stopping short and smoothing Scyeth's shirt instead. He didn't know what would be welcome at this rate. "You had nothing to do with that, and...this is my home now. I've let that go. They weren't..." RuiZhi recalled the darkness, his two important people bleeding and hurting. "...they weren't like you. You're a good person. To me, you are, so don't say otherwise."
He cast Scyeth a light smile, trying to make light of a situation that wasn't terribly light to begin with. His brown eyes lowered momentarily, trying to reassure his friend. "You're here now, aren't you? That's...important to me. Don't carry that on your shoulders. If not for it, I might never have come here. Never had met you."
And that, he was finding, was a frightening thought. His stomach knotted, and he couldn't figure out why he was so nervous. He sneaked a glance up at the blonde, biting the inside of his lip in worry.
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Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 11:27 am
There was a long, still silence. It couldn't be called awkward, because there was great purpose in a silence so huge, so deafening. It was leading up to something. So when Scyeth finally decided to break the silence, he'd have to do so with great force. "Okay," was all the blond could say. What else did one say in a situation like that? There was nothing. There didn't need to be anything else. He understood. As far as he could tell, Scyeth understood, and that was half the battle.
The other half rested in his ability to make RuiZhi understand him, too.
So the blond did the only thing he could think to do. He twisted quickly and cupped the other's face gently with his hands. And he kissed him. It was just like the first, sweet and simple and quick. And it was honest. Scyeth was never very honest about anything in his life, he didn't like to be. (The truth just wasn't that much fun.) But this? Truth seemed like the only option. So Scyeth said something he swore he'd never repeat again.
"I like you."
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Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 12:33 pm
He wasn't expecting it, but he felt somewhat relieved to find his face being cupped, his lips being kissed again. It was as surprising and mind numbing as the first time, but a comfort, leaving RuiZhi somewhat weak in the knees and stumbling over himself.
There had to be logic in all this. He looked into those earnest blue eyes and felt so lost. But he felt peaceful, too; he felt at ease, as though his room was finally right again. He realized that he really missed Scyeth's presence, the impromptu bandaging of the reckless youth and the silly antics of poster shopping and spoiling Banish. The only logic he could grasp in all that, was that he was happy when the blonde was around, and everything seemed much more...well. More real, and less of the detachment he was used to.
He took a short, quivering breath. Good. Breathing was a good start. "I..." He hiccuped. "I th-think I like you too, Scyeth, but I...I'm a little scared." There. Honesty. He could handle that. RuiZhi blinked widely at the Aussie, biting his lip again. He wasn't even sure what scared him so much, but everything felt so sudden. The youth needed to slow down, and THINK, but he seemed to be incapable of thinking clearly when it came to the youth in front of him.
Why wasn't there a book on these types of things?!
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Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 12:44 pm
A sigh of relief. A smile. A laugh. "That's good," he said, blue eyes twinkling. Ah. Now there was the Scyeth who had left from the island. He wouldn't be around for long, but this was fine. "That's good," he repeated, unable to think of anything else to say. All he could do was feel relieved, terribly relieved. It was probably the biggest gamble he'd made to date, and it'd paid off. How could he not feel positively giddy!?
Still grinning ear-to-ear, the blue-eyed youth shook his head and chuckled again. God, but his world was a strange, twisted place. Who would have ever that Scyeth, chick-magnet and smooth talker extrodinaire, would have fallen face first over a shy bookwormy...guy? Certainly not him! (And not his father, but Scyeth would sooner kill Banish than let this news journey home.)
The Aussie reached out to pat the other student's shoulder, at a loss of anything else. "So where to, now?" Now that they had gotten that thing off their chests.
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Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 3:41 pm
RuiZhi felt immense relief at Scyeth's laughter, something he hadn't heard since the youth had returned from his four month hiatus. He offered a weak smile, feeling his stomach knot even more. He was scared, and uncertain, but he felt some sense of lightness at the confession. The boy hadn't realized the truth of the matter until the words left his mouth. In some ways, he was still very jaded and naive.
Of course, he was concerned about liking a guy as well, but he had never had any issues with females to compare it against. He lifted his hand to cover Scyeth's on his shoulder, feeling the other's warmth and presence. No, this didn't feel wrong either. In fact, the small touch made him sigh with satisfaction. It was nice...sweet. Much like the kiss.
His sandy cheeks glowed with a faint blush, eyes finally returning to Scyeth's face. He wasn't embarrassed, not really, just uncertain of what was expected of him. "I...I don't know. Am I...are we...boyfriends now?" he asked, genuinely perplexed. "Are we dating? Does this...change anything?"
He didn't know how often he'd get to see Scyeth, or if the admittance of feelings would be able to withstand the pressures of school. RuiZhi didn't know anything about this, and it was bothering him greatly. He needed a direction, some step to take, to alleviate the turmoil he felt.
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Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 3:57 pm
Scyeth's eyes widened and he blinked once or twice. "Uh." As long as they were being honest, Scyeth might have to admit he hadn't thought that far in advance. But, you know, it seemed like a pretty good idea. "Yes. Yes, we are," he replied with much more certainty than he felt. "Yeah, it changes some things," he added, smile shifting into a sly smirk. It was definitely the concerning kind of smile.
"It means we have to see each other a lot." A sage nod. "I'll come study in your room. It's nicer," he added. It was the truth, and boy, what a good excuse! "And other things." Scyeth gave the Chinese boy a sideways look, grin growing again. It could even be called a Cheshire Cat grin. "Means I can do this more often, too." And the blond leaned down to steal another kiss. He drew back slowly and raised his eyebrows.
"Can ya live with that?"
It was funny how simple truths could make such a big difference to the young man.
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Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 5:28 pm
A quiet chuckle escaped him at Scyeth's own uncertainty. It made him feel better, that maybe this was something new that they'd figure out as they went along. And then the other had to go and give him that smirk. One that made RuiZhi even more uneasy, even if he knew the intent was likely just to rouse that from him.
"We have to, huh?" he smiled a little again, before laughing a bit at the part about using his room. "It is bigger than the other one," he agreed good naturedly, his grin faltering a little at another suggestive smile. Ah, that's exactly what it was! Suggesting things the Chinese youth wasn't even prone to imagine, which left...well, left plenty to BE imagined. That thought followed by another swift kiss was nearly enough to really give RuiZhi something to fear.
But really. Fear what? Affection? Someone who cared about him? Someone who wanted to be around him? Those were silly things to fear, and Scyeth deserved better than that. Maybe it was the title of boyfriend that was unnerving him, or the lines it drew to his brother, but he wasn't going to be conquered by it. "I think I can live with that," he smiled, feeling a bit giddy. "You okay with it? Might ruin your image to be seen with a little geek like me."
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Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 7:27 pm
Scyeth quirked an eyebrow. Ruin his reputation? What reputation? As far as he knew, he was resident asshat, known far and wide for crashing, bashing and generally irritating the hell out of people. "Don't worry about it," he said with a shrug, shaking his head. It didn't really matter. "If I wasn't okay with this, I wouldn't have pushed it." Better to let sleeping dogs lie (or was it lay?) and all that jazz.
So the blond did the only thing he could think of. And that was grab Zhi and drag him over to the bed. He flopped down and twisted to look out the window. "...it's nice in here, you know?" He nodded and looked back over to his friend (boyfriend? That was going to take some getting used to.) and grinned. "I have a good feeling about this," he said with a firm nod. He did. This was going to work. He was going to make it.
"C'mere."
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