Late night in the Gryffindor 6th Year Dorm
One of the best part of Dari skipping ahead a year, as far as Ichiyo was concerned, was the fact that he was no longer alone in going to bed early. Both him and Dari were relatively consistent in returning to the dorm room before 10 o'clock, and frequently found themselves brushing their teeth at side-by-side sinks. It also left them time to talk, as they waited in their individual four poster beds for sleep to claim them.
This particular night, Dari had spent a lot of time staring at himself in the mirror, letting his toothbrush dangle from his mouth in a particular fashion that Ichiyo would have laughed at had he not known that Dari was only acting with such a lack of dignity because he was deep in thought, and whenever Dari was unsettled, laughing at him was a recipe for disaster.
So it wasn't until Dari had silently crawled into bed, taking a moment to hide his face in his pillow before fully settling in, that Ichiyo decided to ask.
“Why are you acting so weird?” He asked, not wanting to be subtle about it.
“Why do you always phrase questions in the most offensive possible manner?” Dari retorted, his face still half-hidden in his pillow, his face red with a blush.
“I just don't pretend I'm asking something else.” Ichiyo replied indignantly. “What happened?”
“...You were meddling in my life is what happened.” Dari spoke with equal amounts of resentment and appreciation, though he frowned as a smug grin spread across Ichiyo's face. “It was uncalled for.”
“...What happened?” Ichiyo asked with far too much self-satisfaction.
“Were you talking to Glynna too?” Dari mumbled. “How much did you tell her?”
“What happened?” Ichiyo insisted.
“...She said she liked me, and I asked her to go to the Halloween party with me.” Dari's voice slowly grew quieter as he talked, and he added in a near whisper, “I held her hand. We held hands.” He waved his arm slightly as if to demonstrate. “...Handholding.”
Ichiyo blushed despite himself. He felt the combined urge to make fun of Dari and tell him he was absolutely adorable at this particular moment. He settled for a combination of both. “Finally! Now you two can be happy together. And make out in the library and one day get married.”
“WHAT.” Dari pulled his pillow over his head out of instinct, peering out from underneath it. “You're getting ahead of yourself. We just held hands.”
“And you'll probably do it again tomorrow!” Ichiyo declared.
“NO. I mean- yes - that would be- very enjoyable, but... SHUT UP.” Dari cringed as Ichiyo burst into laughter.
“I would, but I'm having fun.” Said Ichiyo genuinely.
“Ichiyo, sometimes I am concerned by the level of sadistic joy you derive from embarrassing me.” Dari muttered.
“Well it used to be a challenge, because you almost never care when I make fun of you, or you just get mad because I have to make things up to bother you,” Ichiyo shrugged “but now it'll be easy because you have a girlfriend.”
“No such labels were established.” Dari corrected mildly.
“Okay, you have a maybe-girlfriend.” Ichiyo agreed.
Dari sighed exasperatedly, and then paused, looking at Ichiyo with renewed focus. “Actually, we were talking about you.”
“And how you should name your first baby after me because it's thanks to me you got together?” Ichiyo grinned.
“First of all, two white people can't name their son “Ichiyo”.” Dari replied. “Secondly, no. We were concerned about you. ...You've been very insistent in your matchmaking. And you aren't normally this gossipy. It kind of seemed as though you were working out your own issues by pushing us together.”
“But you got together anyway!” Ichiyo declared proudly, although a slight shift in his tone of voice indicated he wasn't comfortable with the subject change.
“We held hands.” Dari corrected again. “...We held hands and we're going out on a date. ...I don't know if that means we're together. ...That probably means we're together, but- no. I just meant - it feels like you're channelling your issues into your... meddling.”
Ichiyo's frown matched the one in his voice. He hadn't enjoyed Glynna's earlier insistence on broaching the subject, and wanted even less to revisit it. “I don't have any issues,” he declared, “at least not issues that can be magically fixed if you and Glynna kiss. This isn't some weird fairytale where you have to fall in love or else I turn into soup.”
“...Soup?” Dari's train of thought was always easily derailed by nonsense.
“Like the little mermaid.”
“...The little mermaid did not turn into soup.” Dari said incredulously. “She turned into seafoam, not tomato bisque.”
“Well this isn't a fairytale where people don't turn into soup either.” Ichiyo answered shortly.
“I have no doubt your issues won't magically be resolved because you're forcing them onto proxies, Ichiyo, but that doesn't mean they don't exist.” Dari hesitated as Ichiyo's expression darkened. “I'm not actually trying to pry. I'm concerned. If you need to... discuss something...”
“It just really bothered me that you were waiting around.” Ichiyo shot back. “If you had been watching you two dance around it like idiots for years, you'd be frustrated too.”
“Don't be an asshole, just say you don't want to talk about it, if you're really that concerned with being utterly secretive.” Dari replied resentfully, more angry that Ichiyo was spoiling his good mood than anything.
Ichiyo fell silent, and for a long moment there was nothing but the sound of the wind lightly rattling the window panes. “...It's not that I don't want to talk about it.” He said finally. “I do, I just can't. Because there are some people who can't deal with their feelings. ...And they stop me from dealing with mine too.”
Dari frowned. “What does that mean?”
“It means I can't talk about it, Dari.” Ichiyo said quietly. “It's nothing bad or anything. I just can't talk about it right now.”
There was another long silence where Dari considered what to say, but Ichiyo beat him to it.
“I just feel like if- if everybody else is dealing with their own feelings... then maybe things will change and I'll be able to talk.” Another pause. “But that wasn't why I told Fiona about Janus, that was just because I was sick of watching Janus' feelings get hurt, even though he pretended they weren't being.”
“His feelings got hurt more dramatically, though.” Dari finally spoke up.
“Yeah, but at least for once she realized it.” Ichiyo turned over in his bed. “And now she's being nicer. Because she actually realized what she was doing.”
“...I suppose.” Dari turned over too, recognizing that Ichiyo was settling in for sleep. “...I assume whoever's stopping you from talking is doing something similar to you.”
“...Yeah. A lot like that.” Ichiyo added quietly, as the sound of the footsteps echoed up the staircase outside, indicating their dormmates were returning. “But I'm used to it.”
Before Dari had a chance to reply, Ichiyo added, “Goodnight.”
This particular night, Dari had spent a lot of time staring at himself in the mirror, letting his toothbrush dangle from his mouth in a particular fashion that Ichiyo would have laughed at had he not known that Dari was only acting with such a lack of dignity because he was deep in thought, and whenever Dari was unsettled, laughing at him was a recipe for disaster.
So it wasn't until Dari had silently crawled into bed, taking a moment to hide his face in his pillow before fully settling in, that Ichiyo decided to ask.
“Why are you acting so weird?” He asked, not wanting to be subtle about it.
“Why do you always phrase questions in the most offensive possible manner?” Dari retorted, his face still half-hidden in his pillow, his face red with a blush.
“I just don't pretend I'm asking something else.” Ichiyo replied indignantly. “What happened?”
“...You were meddling in my life is what happened.” Dari spoke with equal amounts of resentment and appreciation, though he frowned as a smug grin spread across Ichiyo's face. “It was uncalled for.”
“...What happened?” Ichiyo asked with far too much self-satisfaction.
“Were you talking to Glynna too?” Dari mumbled. “How much did you tell her?”
“What happened?” Ichiyo insisted.
“...She said she liked me, and I asked her to go to the Halloween party with me.” Dari's voice slowly grew quieter as he talked, and he added in a near whisper, “I held her hand. We held hands.” He waved his arm slightly as if to demonstrate. “...Handholding.”
Ichiyo blushed despite himself. He felt the combined urge to make fun of Dari and tell him he was absolutely adorable at this particular moment. He settled for a combination of both. “Finally! Now you two can be happy together. And make out in the library and one day get married.”
“WHAT.” Dari pulled his pillow over his head out of instinct, peering out from underneath it. “You're getting ahead of yourself. We just held hands.”
“And you'll probably do it again tomorrow!” Ichiyo declared.
“NO. I mean- yes - that would be- very enjoyable, but... SHUT UP.” Dari cringed as Ichiyo burst into laughter.
“I would, but I'm having fun.” Said Ichiyo genuinely.
“Ichiyo, sometimes I am concerned by the level of sadistic joy you derive from embarrassing me.” Dari muttered.
“Well it used to be a challenge, because you almost never care when I make fun of you, or you just get mad because I have to make things up to bother you,” Ichiyo shrugged “but now it'll be easy because you have a girlfriend.”
“No such labels were established.” Dari corrected mildly.
“Okay, you have a maybe-girlfriend.” Ichiyo agreed.
Dari sighed exasperatedly, and then paused, looking at Ichiyo with renewed focus. “Actually, we were talking about you.”
“And how you should name your first baby after me because it's thanks to me you got together?” Ichiyo grinned.
“First of all, two white people can't name their son “Ichiyo”.” Dari replied. “Secondly, no. We were concerned about you. ...You've been very insistent in your matchmaking. And you aren't normally this gossipy. It kind of seemed as though you were working out your own issues by pushing us together.”
“But you got together anyway!” Ichiyo declared proudly, although a slight shift in his tone of voice indicated he wasn't comfortable with the subject change.
“We held hands.” Dari corrected again. “...We held hands and we're going out on a date. ...I don't know if that means we're together. ...That probably means we're together, but- no. I just meant - it feels like you're channelling your issues into your... meddling.”
Ichiyo's frown matched the one in his voice. He hadn't enjoyed Glynna's earlier insistence on broaching the subject, and wanted even less to revisit it. “I don't have any issues,” he declared, “at least not issues that can be magically fixed if you and Glynna kiss. This isn't some weird fairytale where you have to fall in love or else I turn into soup.”
“...Soup?” Dari's train of thought was always easily derailed by nonsense.
“Like the little mermaid.”
“...The little mermaid did not turn into soup.” Dari said incredulously. “She turned into seafoam, not tomato bisque.”
“Well this isn't a fairytale where people don't turn into soup either.” Ichiyo answered shortly.
“I have no doubt your issues won't magically be resolved because you're forcing them onto proxies, Ichiyo, but that doesn't mean they don't exist.” Dari hesitated as Ichiyo's expression darkened. “I'm not actually trying to pry. I'm concerned. If you need to... discuss something...”
“It just really bothered me that you were waiting around.” Ichiyo shot back. “If you had been watching you two dance around it like idiots for years, you'd be frustrated too.”
“Don't be an asshole, just say you don't want to talk about it, if you're really that concerned with being utterly secretive.” Dari replied resentfully, more angry that Ichiyo was spoiling his good mood than anything.
Ichiyo fell silent, and for a long moment there was nothing but the sound of the wind lightly rattling the window panes. “...It's not that I don't want to talk about it.” He said finally. “I do, I just can't. Because there are some people who can't deal with their feelings. ...And they stop me from dealing with mine too.”
Dari frowned. “What does that mean?”
“It means I can't talk about it, Dari.” Ichiyo said quietly. “It's nothing bad or anything. I just can't talk about it right now.”
There was another long silence where Dari considered what to say, but Ichiyo beat him to it.
“I just feel like if- if everybody else is dealing with their own feelings... then maybe things will change and I'll be able to talk.” Another pause. “But that wasn't why I told Fiona about Janus, that was just because I was sick of watching Janus' feelings get hurt, even though he pretended they weren't being.”
“His feelings got hurt more dramatically, though.” Dari finally spoke up.
“Yeah, but at least for once she realized it.” Ichiyo turned over in his bed. “And now she's being nicer. Because she actually realized what she was doing.”
“...I suppose.” Dari turned over too, recognizing that Ichiyo was settling in for sleep. “...I assume whoever's stopping you from talking is doing something similar to you.”
“...Yeah. A lot like that.” Ichiyo added quietly, as the sound of the footsteps echoed up the staircase outside, indicating their dormmates were returning. “But I'm used to it.”
Before Dari had a chance to reply, Ichiyo added, “Goodnight.”