what a pleasant surprise [locked - ongoing]

[quite_excitable]

Characters: Ootori Kyouya, Eclair Tonnere, and Suoh Tamaki
Content: Kyouya and Tamaki have a hell of a lot of catching up to do, after running into one another on the streets. They also go to where Kyouya's been staying and meet up with Eclair.
Location: Somewhere near Maddison Square Garden? Considering that's where they met up...
Time of day:

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[latetorise]

Crying was such an ugly thing when it came hard and naturally. There was nothing attractive about the way anyone really, truly, sobbed. It was too raw of an emotion for it to pulled off with any sort of flair or ascetic goal in mind. Faces contorted, tears, streaks.

He tilted his head back again as another swell had risen. "I should have come sooner..."

The apology was enough to send the water held back in his eyes to finally spill over the edge, dropping here and there as the droplets from from his chin. What the hell would you have to apologize to me for? It seemed as if it was wrong for him to even utter an sorry, he was alive, and an apology would only be expected had he not been.

Kyouya gave a breathless laugh, or the ghost of one that had given in to the sob pushing in his chest, as he dropped his forehead to rest on Tamaki's shoulder. "Idiot." The words came muffled against the others shirt. "I should have known you'd gotten yourself into a fine mess..."

He kept his head half pressed into the curve of Tamaki's shoulder, even now trying his best to save whatever face had been left after nearly collapsing in his friends arms.

[quite_excitable]

Tamaki nodded mutely, agreeing that Kyouya really should have come sooner. Much, much sooner - months ago, to drag him out of New York when the going got tough, or maybe even earlier, so none of this would ever had to have happened.

There were a good handful of things Tamaki wanted to un-see or even un-live, for lack of better way to put it.

Tamaki sniffed, but the slight lightening of his mood was evident in his voice. "Kyouya, would you honestly expect any less of me?"

Ever since they had met, it was a constant cycle of Tamaki getting into trouble, and Kyouya getting him out of it. Sometimes it altered to having Tamaki get into worse trouble before Kyouya saved him, but the basic outline was all the same. Trouble was nearly his motto, by then.

[latetorise]

Kyouya pulled his hand over the back of Tamaki's shoulder to rub at his right eye until he'd been sure that any moisture left there had been wiped clean. "Honestly," he began as his opposite hand worked on his left. "No. I wouldn't have."

He'd stepped back from Tamaki now, his arms taking leave from the boy's mid-section and coming to rest at his sides as he took a long breath in, only to push it out in a quick exhale.

"Now, we're both in a mess, so I suppose you've set your own personal record?" Then something had struck him, not only were they stuck in this city, but Eclair had been as well. Last he'd seen she'd been curled in her fabric laden bed with nothing more than a foot uncovered. Lately, he noticed, she'd been taking extra measures to keep her head beneath the covers for one reason or another. As if she'd been a five year old again hiding from the Boogy Man.

There was a small frown marring his lips as he placed a hand over his face, starring down at the sidewalk distractedly.

"Eclair Tonnerre's here as well. We traveled over together. "

[quite_excitable]

He let Kyouya pull back, feeling better in just seeing his friend, foggy glasses and tear streaked face or otherwise.

Only after he saw Kyouya do it did Tamaki think it best to wipe his face. Usually his tears were dramatic and beautiful - only one or two, and he never wiped them away because they only added to the sparkling effect he was going for. It hadn't crossed his mind that now was considerably different from then, and he pushed up his sleeve to rub with the back of his wrist only as an afterthought.

"I can imagine I've done far worse damage," he said, without a smile, thinking about everyone back home. The news of the attack on New York while he was visiting must not have sat easily.

Tamaki paused in readjusting his shirt sleeve to blink up at Kyouya, in disbelief. "Lady Tonnere? Here?" He wasn't fully sure if that which surprised him (which it shouldn't have - he had extended an invitation to her, as well) as much as hearing they had come together.

[latetorise]

"The damage that's been dealt wasn't your fault. It seems I can let you slid by with a wrong place at the wrong time, but only this once." A pause. "However, the host club has suffered considerably, both emotionally and financially. I'd have contacted the school myself, but that's more difficult than it sounds."

Kyouya had begun sorting himself out, fixing the hem of his shirt, to padding out wrinkles in his pants. The look of disbelief caught him as odd until he'd made sense of it and verifying. "Yes, we cam together." Unfortunately. "She's back at a store we'd made into a sort of shelter. As you can imagine the whole experience has tired her out. I wouldn't be surprised if she's still sleeping." The last of his words had sounded harsh, he'd resented her ability to sleep off her jet-lag while he found himself restless. Restless no matter how much his body protested otherwise.

[quite_excitable]

Tamaki sighed, but he wasn't going to argue that Kyouya wasn't right about it being a situation of time and place. Even still, he felt bad about it, wishing there was something he could have done. While Tamaki was someone who always did what he could (even if it were not helping himself), a lot of things here were outside his power.

"Am I to assume no one can't be contacted from here?" He'd tried himself, after all, and now Kyouya was in the same place. It was a shame - what he wouldn't give to hear his father's voice, or get a text from Haruhi. Even the twins, with all their perversion, would be great to talk to.

The harsh tone wasn't fully unexpected. Tamaki didn't expect no ill feelings to sit between the two, after what had taken place when Tamaki had last seen her, and Kyouya did so enjoy his sleep...

"When did you both arrive? Where is the building you're staying at?"

[latetorise]

"I haven't a cell phone to even try to contact anyone with and any land lines I've tried have been down." He sighed pushing his fingers through hair. The situation was frustrating enough without Kyouya having to think over the fact his family had a top notch police team, and yet no way to contact them.

That and after having Tamaki disappear and then Kyouya as well he was sure the other host club members might be inclined to try and recover them after not receiving word from either of them.

To him Eclair was selfishly taking Tamaki from the group of people that had, and still, needed him. It had boiled his blood then and even now he felt the simmering bubbles in his veins at the memory. She was selfish. He was more than selfish. Had it been hypocritical for him to resent her in the slightest, he didn't care enough to repent either way.

"A few days ago. It's just off of 6th avenue on 34th street in an electronics shop. The fact that it had been rob at a time like this amazes me." In truth he could not a see anyone with a need for a new Plasma, or a used PS3 while they'd been marooned in Manhattan, with no set order outside of surviving.

[quite_excitable]

Tamaki expected as much, so he didn't let that news disappoint him. It certainly had to be a nuisance to Kyouya, but to Tamaki it was just another thing he had started to accept. Not like - no, not at all - but accept. At least there was a network of people still available, he figured, because any more time spent on his own would have been too much.

He wasn't surprised by news of the electronics missing, either. Though he himself couldn't fathom why someone would ever want something like a breakable TV that no longer got channels (he assumed, anyway), he himself was guilty of searching through stores for the more luxurious clothes he was used to.

After all, after being stuck inside and dirtied for so long, why not indulge in a well-fitted suit?

"Can we go there? I'd like to see her." Though he didn't want to disturb her sleep, Tamaki hoped he would be forgiven. It wasn't best for anyone to be left alone for any period of time, anyway. The crab parasites were terrible things with no concern for a lack of fairness in hunting unaware victims.

"And I would like to apologize once more, Kyouya, in advance; I may seem a bit different. This place... Well, I've been through a lot." He rubbed the back of his neck, and gave a soft though not lighthearted exhalation. "I'm glad you're here, even though it's hardly a safe place to be."

[latetorise]

Kyouya's hands had dropped to his pockets, running his fingertips over the dulled seams running the length of them. "Of course," He'd taken a few steps back around the corner he'd arrived from, sparring a look over his shoulder in order to confirm his friend had been in the wake of his lead. Then as an after thought he'd added," Leaving her to herself as long as I have was probably not wise...."

There was a chill knotted in his back from the brisk air of October, he'd already noted to find jackets for both him and Eclair, and he found his shoulders curling forward as if trying to pull heat from the muscle tension. It hadn't been as effective as he hoped and the foul mood Kyouya had been in had returned despite the buzz in his chest from the unexpected reunion.

The cold was just so...irritating.

"If your going to make these unneeded apologies a habit yours, you're going to find my patience worn thin. It's understandable, I can't imagine months leaving you unchanged, and I don't see much reason to holding that against you."

Kyouya had paused, the thin line of his mouth curving into a small smile.

"Despite it all, I'm glad I'm here too. If only because I found you, I could do without the 'here'," a finger circled, indicated their surroundings. "in the whole equation, but glad either way."

[quite_excitable]

Following Kyouya had been easy, though not necessary. He'd stared at the maps provided to him long enough to memorize what was where (and most importantly, how to get home - though it wasn't really home). Getting lost would do no good, in this city, especially after everything went downhill.

Tamaki was bundled up nicely, though not oblivious to the curl in his friends shoulders. It seemed Kyouya was as tense as ever, Tamaki noted with a small bit of amusement.

"I'm just putting it out there," Tamaki said, unsure of if he actually brought it up because he wanted to talk about it, to get it off his chest (to warn them just how bad this place was). In case someone did ask, he was preparing himself to put anything out on the table, from the second he stepped off the plane up to the embrace between him and Botan - all the good, the bad, and the ugly.

"I couldn't agree more; not being 'here' has been the preferred choice for months."

[latetorise]

Inquiries had been piling up. What had happened? When? Where? How much had changed? They'd been persistent, but ignored with an equal amount of zeal. He was sure there were plenty of unpleasant experiences to beheld within city limits and there wasn't much sense to have it relived.

Kyouya himself, although not going through much at all in comparison, had been changed if only from witnessing the aftermath. It hadn't seemed real that something like this could happen, that a city could be destroyed. Dead bodies hadn't phased him nearly as much as he would have expected, if only because he couldn't seem to wrap his mind around the idea, unless it had been gruesome enough to send him speeding for a garbage can.

"It just doesn't sit well. I feel like we've been sucked into an updated version of Godzilla..." For a moment he was silent as they passed the old pile of garbage bags where the cat, that had now become a compacted press of fur and decay, had died. Then he spoke again this time with a small smile on his lips. "I wonder, if Namihage and Shisa had been on the same stage who would win?"

It had been a passing thought brought up from the mention of the iconic movie monster mentioned formerly and for whatever reason had been voiced aloud.

[quite_excitable]

"Shisa!"

Tamaki exclaimed this without so much as a moment of thinking it over, but once the thought had turned over a few times in his mind, he reconsidered. "No! It has to be Namahage."

Moving so he was alongside Kyouya, off of the curb, Tamaki moved his arms with each of the sudden ideas that surfaced. "Yes, Namahage. There's no other choice. Shisa, you know, may be all over, but Namahage would sneak up in the middle of the night!" Throwing his hands to the air, Tamaki's voice rose and rose in volume as he got more excited over this imaginary battle.

"That's when just about everything is vulnerable, Kyouya, don't you see? Namahage is nothing short of a master!"

Stopping suddenly, Tamaki looked up with a grave seriousness to Kyouya. "But it could possibly be Shisa." Tamaki kept walking, obviously thinking too hard on this. "Oh, I just don't know. No, no. I do. It's Namahage. But what if it isn't?"

[latetorise]

"Shisa is much smaller than Namahage. I can't help, but feel he'd be more apt to sneak around at night."

His tone had been mellowed, but convincingly serious as Kyouya rationalized the fantasy battle. He'd been spurring Tamaki on if only because it would prove to, not only be amusing, but refreshing. Kyouya could spare a moment or two for Tamaki's mind to run it's occasional circles.

"It must be Shisa in my opinion."

[quite_excitable]

"But is Shisa known for being out at night? No," Tamaki reasoned.

Kyouya making up his mind subconsciously forced Tamaki to take the other end of the argument. Granted, it wasn't because he needed to be in a constant fight against Kyouya, but sometimes there were agreements that wouldn't come so easily.

"Shisa wouldn't be able to find Namahage through all the day and upon sitting down for a cup of tea - " Obviously, it was the proper thing to do when resting. Tea was still driven into his mind even if he'd not had a cup in a long while. " - Namahage would sneak out and strike!"

[latetorise]

"...Tea...?" Tamaki always had a way with scenarios, so it would have been incorrect to assume Kyouya had been surprised that a ward would indeed sit down for a cup of tea in Tamaki's world. "Let's not forget that Shisa ward off bad spirits. Had Namahage been out for damage...wouldn't he be warned off?"

Another turn and Kyouya had sent their course down 34th street, idly watching their figures warp along the windows of the familiar store fronts, rippling like reflections spilled oiled. Eclair spent most of her time in front of the store, sitting in the sun with whatever she found to entertain herself that day, but after seeing her square of concrete unoccupied he felt something like worry spark through him.

It bothered him that he'd even concerned himself with the idea, but shrugged it off as he'd prefer not to bring Tamaki here only to disappoint.

That was it.

[quite_excitable]

Tamaki paused. That was a good point, of course, but it was easy enough to come up with an answer for it - even one that made sense (to him, at least). "Ah, but he's relaxing! A break, Kyouya! He certainly wouldn't keep warding while he was spooning his sugar, because then he might distracted, and wouldn't count correctly!"

As they rounded the corner, Tamaki kept his eye out for an electronics store. Granted, he was sure Kyouya would show it to him, but he couldn't stop his eyes for trying to search out Eclair's familiar face.

He, of course, didn't know that she was expected to be out front at this time, listening to Kyouya that she might still be asleep.