( CLOSED )

[secare]

WHO: Ryuji & Yukine.
WHERE: cafe expressive in tisse.
WHEN: 6/2, around noon.
WHAT: two idiots being idiots because of their idiot feelings.
WARNINGS: foul language.

( exactly as yukine had promised, he's sitting at one of the tables in the cafe at noon. he had told ryoji yesterday that they were going to do something about their frustration and sadness and he had meant it. granted, he's thankfully calmed down a lot since the previous day, but his irritation still feels like low buzzing underneath his skin.

leaning with his elbows on the table, yukine passes his time by playing games on his phone until ryoji shows up. he's already bought him an iced coffee and left it where he figures he'll sit across from him. )

Comments

[appraiser]

[ The day after wasn't any better than the first. Ryoji had sat up to watch the sun rise that morning, looking so wrong with the rosy hues melting into drab grey than light blue. Grey, everywhere. It's like winter again.

Despite that, it's a warm day. Expressive is warm when he enters, and seeing Yukine warms him inside too, wondering how he's so sure something can be done about any of this. So while the cheer in his voice is somewhat forced, he's willing to trust in Yukine that it'll become genuine. ]

Yukine! I'm here!

[secare]

( perking up as soon as he hears his name being called. his phone gets pocketed right then as he waves him over to where he's sitting. despite how overwhelming all this freakin' grey is, yukine smiles. )

Ryoji! C'mere, c'mere. I got you a coffee.

( without really asking him what he liked so he got something standard. iced coffee with cream and sugar. everyone likes that, right? well, he hopes so. )

[appraiser]

Thanks.

[ Ryoji likes the standards— when it's cold out, hot coffee with the hazelnut creamer he enjoys the smell of; when it's hot, iced coffee just like this that he can hold in his hands until they turn numb. Sitting down, he takes that cup in hand and holds it with both palms flat around it, not drinking but it's so he can ask- ]

How are you holding up?

[ Ryoji's calmer, now, at least. Less "THE SKY IS GREY, THE WORLD IS ENDING" distress and just... quietly anxious. ]

[secare]

Horribly.

( immediately, but he shrugs after voicing that. )

But I don't want to let it get the better of me. That's what that Jim guy wants!!

[appraiser]

[ Oh. He's honest, more so than Ryoji who would try to shrug brush it off. ]

That's the spirit. We'll show Jim he can't get us down! You said you had an idea how to make things better?

[secare]

Yea. Rather than mope, I thought it would be better if we went on a mission.

( which wasn't his original course of action. knowing that ryoji was pushed to the point of crying about losing colours is what stirs him into action. he'd stayed up for a good part of the night crafting something that they could do and even got his aunt to hand over some money so he execute operation: cheer ryoji the fuck up.

after all, it's easier to deal with stuff when you're worried about someone else.

firstly, yukine digs two disposable cameras out of his bag and places them onto table. )

These are for you.

( a smile. then he produces a small handwritten list of items for ryoji: something red (fabric), something orange (item), something yellow (small), and something purple (big). )

First, we're going to collect these and then we're going somewhere really grey! Maybe lunch inbetween?

[appraiser]

[ It feels like these days, all it takes is a nudge and he feels like crying. He'd feel like crying right now if Yukine'd told him this whole day were just for him, but those would be happy tears, and ones that don't fall because he picks up one of the cameras first, turning it around and looking at the list through the viewfinder. ]

...I used to take a lot of pictures as a kid. They'd all be so blurry because nothing would stay still. [ Cats and dogs, people, himself because he didn't have the patience to hold his breath and wait for the focus. ] I used to play scavenger hunts too. Is this what it is?

i AM SO SORRY FOR THE WAIT ;_;

[secare]

I'll teach you how to focus, so it'll be a little better!

( watching ryoji with a small smile. then he half shakes his head. )

A little like that, yea. I tried to think of what would be the best kind of day to give you?

( which wasn't that easy, but he's confident in what he came up with. )

Considering everything, I think. . .

( a brief pause as he tries to figure out how to say this. he's hoping not to sound too stupid. )

I think that if we make something beautiful together, it'll make you feel better. Like hopeful? Maybe?

[appraiser]

[ There's no 'maybe,' but a 'definitely,' from the way a smile grows on Ryoji's face until he can't help but laugh. ]

The best kind of day is one where I get to spend with a friend, so today is already that.

[ But more than that, it's finding beauty in the world he loves, something that is never defined by color and Retrospec could never take from him.

Time to drain half his coffee so they can start. He points to the last item on the list as he does: ]

There's a large wisteria tree near the Square, I wonder whether it's started blooming?

[secare]

( it's hard to look at that kind of expression. it's ridiculously contagious, so it doesn't take long before yukine is smiling back at him. )

Can't say I disagree! Any time spent with people you like is a good time.

( already, he's pushing out his chair and getting onto his feet. )

This should be the time for it, shouldn't it? I mean everything else has been blooming! Let's give it a shot.

[appraiser]

[ Right! Retrospec has no control over the seasons; spring is warming up into summer and Ryoji can still feel the sunlight on his back when he stands, spread across his shoulders like a heavy comfort blanket.

He leads Yukine outside, long legs and a brisk pace just short of running, with his eyes out in the distance scanning for soft purple trees— without blue, pinks and reds stand out more than ever, the city still awash in color if he just looks for it. At the Square, too, he can see that the grass stripped of green doesn't leave it completely grey; without green, it's flaxen, like the beginnings of a golden wheat field.

The world is still beautiful. It would never stop being so. ]