Day 32: Sun Room (2nd shift)

[heraldric]

After the couple glasses of water Leon managed to gulp down during breakfast, the mage felt immensely better. He was still a bit tired, but that was nothing a little lounging on one of the sofas wouldn't cure. Stretching his arms above his head, he couldn't help but wish he'd had the chance to grab one of his new doctor's coats before leaving his

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[blood_and_pocky]

[Emo vamp reserved for Rinali. D:]

Breakfast had been more than he’d expected, but overall the conversation with Takaya had been neither a welcome surprise or an unwelcome one. It had simply been... unexpected. It left an empty taste in his mouth. Too much for him to want to sift through and process, but not enough to ease the turmoil in him. Just enough to leave more to think about, and right at that moment, the vampire only had his own actions and words circling his thoughts.

He still felt dirty, like there was a miasma around him, a gnawing onus.

Aidou pulled a chair away from the others and sat down, propping his chin up and looking to the window panels overhead. He squinted, the sunlight especially bright to his nocturnal eyes, but had no desire to nap or escape the day time.

[boot_i_licious]

Rinali couldn't believe she had slept through breakfast. She didn't feel tired, but for whatever reason she couldn't pull herself out of bed until the second shift. She hadn't even heard the nurse telling her it was time, integrating her words into strange dreams where her brother kept telling her to wake up, as if this entire experience at landel's was all one horrible nightmare.

She was dissapointed when she woke and found her brother's voice the dream, and this place the cruel reality.

She went out to the sun room, scanning the room for Allen, then saw Aidou sitting away from everyone else. "Aidou," she said pleasantly, walking over to him and sitting next to him. "Good morning!"

[blood_and_pocky]

... Damn.

The last thing on his mind was yesterday's idle activities, when he'd been playing a pointless game to entertain himself with Allen Walker and Rinali. He'd forgotten he'd invited her to talk again. Or maybe she'd found out he was a vampire and was around to make saddening comments about the time of day. Whatever the case, Aidou completely blanked for why, what, or how, and was far from in the mood to be 'Idol' and smile back at her.

He looked down, a fine wrinkle in his brow. "It's you," Aidou said without thinking. "Why aren't you with Allen Walker?"

[boot_i_licious]

Rinali was taken aback by the boy's sudden change of personality. The other day, he had been friendly and kind, except when he started bickering with Allen. Now, all of a sudden, he was sullen and withdrawn. Had something happened during the night?

"I don't do everything with Allen," she said, a little more withdrawn than before. "We're just good friends, and it's comforting to know he's here. Aidou, what's wrong?"

[blood_and_pocky]

"I... nothing." The vampire had to glance away from her, almost ashamed by his failure to dissemble. "No, nothing." Another display of weakness, to talk about his own problems to a virtual stranger, wasn’t something he could do and not hurt his dignity

[boot_i_licious]

Rinali frowned, but knew better than to press the issue. This wasn't Allen or Komui she was talking about. Aidou and she were only starting to get acquinted. Still, she couldn't help but offer a consoling, "Ok, but if you need to talk, I'm here."

She was a little taken aback by his apology. "It's alright, Aidou. Allen wasn't acting much better. I honestly don't know what his issue was. Sometimes he will have a problem but won't share it with other people because he's afraid it will hurt them. It's really silly of him, especially when he hides from the people who want to be there for him, but it's who he is." She shrugged slightly, smiling fondly at the thought of the silly boy. "Too soft-hearted for his own good, I guess."

[blood_and_pocky]

"Don’t let me trouble you." He tapped his forefinger against his cheek, saying nothing more to her offer, having no reply that would satisfy her. Aidou doubted she could understand at such a young age. Even if the lonely lot of a pureblood vampire was way beyond someone like his understanding, he still had an old and strong bloodline himself; having his emotions violated in the way he had was more staggering for him than it could be for a human.

Watching her smile, he couldn’t help letting his eyes narrow. The explanation sounded vaguely familiar, but he refused to think about it. "You must see a lot of merit in him." Perhaps a little honesty was required. "Truthfully, it’s because I hate Allen that I played to his outbursts. That’s what I’m apologizing for. It was immature of me."

[boot_i_licious]

Rinali was surprised again by such a strong remark against Allen. Sure, she knew Kanda wasn't particularly fond of her friend, and they bickered constantly, but he didn't hate Allen. She didn't even know such an emotion was possible regarding her friend.

"You..hate him? Why?"

[blood_and_pocky]

He sighed and looked away again, brows knit. With what had happened last night, he was unsure of what to say, how to explain his reasoning. It wasn’t like she would care, anyway--Allen Walker was her comrade, after all, and if a stranger’s words could shake her opinion of her companion, then it wasn’t a worthwhile bond in the first place.

"Because I..." I can’t stand anyone who threatens our safety.. His and Akatsuki’s. Anyone who spoke with such ignorance and naivety. It was why Aidou was so upset with himself now! To dare and shoot one’s mouth off and say despicable and disrespectful things like that, he couldn’t stand it. He couldn’t stand it at all. He squeezed his eyes shut briefly, catching the edge of his bottom lip with his teeth before he suddenly turned on her, looking beseeching. "You... Don’t you think I'm charming? Don’t you think I’m handsome? Why don’t you like me like that!?"

If only she’d go away, or be like a normal lovesick girl!

[boot_i_licious]

Every time Aidou had changed the subject, Rinali found herself surprised at his words. This time was no different. She had found Aidou charming ~and~ handsome, but romance was the last thing on her mind. And now he felt so sad over the whole situation, those same handsome eyes surprisingly pained and full of sorrow...over her

[blood_and_pocky]

Aidou blinked at the sudden touch, and before he could even give a blank ‘huh’ as a response, she was talking. Talking seriously, like he had made a serious overture... He swallowed abruptly, thinking back to the last time he’d harmlessly flirted with a Day Class girl face-to-face, and how panicked the Disciplinary Committee got...

This was probably why. He tried not to stare openly at her neck.

"Ah... Uh." Perfect boyfriend? For a human girl!? "It sounds like you’ve had a tough past… Rinali-chan, I--" But asking exactly what she meant by a vampire of his calibre still being a letdown even by being a ’charming prince’ was a reflexive and dumb question. He aborted it before he could finish. Akatsuki would have been proud to see how well Aidou had tempered himself today, even if the ’why’ and ’how’ of it was rather solemn. He dropped his gaze to the hand she was holding, still wondering at the fact. Um... "I’m glad that you..." He’d been about to say something like ‘I’m glad you value your friends’ or ‘I’m glad you’re not a shallow

[boot_i_licious]

"I know," Rinali said, the smile returning. "And while I don't like that you hate him, I can't change your mind. The only person who can really do it is you and Allen. I'd like the two of you to be friends, or at least not hate each other so much. I'm glad that you apologized for your behavior yesterday. It means a lot to me that you're willing to admit fault." She giggled slightly. "Most nobles I've met seem to think they're perfect."

[blood_and_pocky]

He laughed a little weakly, unsure if she were actually being serious about this. "Funny, we see that a lot more in the regular people..."

Aidou still didn’t know what to say about her sounding so grateful for his apology, probably because his feelings towards being guilty and thereby admitting to poor behavior were muddled. Rinali’s reaction did nothing to relieve it; it was almost as if he were wary of acknowledging her response, just because it made him seem like he were acting the part of a mature aristocrat

[boot_i_licious]

Rinali's smile faded at Aidou's last words. There was no hostility in her gaze, but she took the affront to her friend seriously. "Allen can be foolish at times, but I've never known him to be disrespectful. He may not always make the best choices, but he does what he does out of a deep compassion for everyone."

She touched her forehead with the tips of her fingers and closed her eyes. "I'm not asking that you ignore things about him that bother you, but it would mean a lot to me if you at least gave him a second chance. He has a lot of redeeming traits, and maybe you just happened to see the worst of him."

She wasn't going to lie to him, or to herself. She knew Allen had a lot of problems, but she also knew of all the things he did that were good, kind, and genuine. "If you still don't think you can get along with him, I'll understand."

[blood_and_pocky]

"These sorts of situations make one’s weaknesses blatantly obvious," replied Aidou. The comment was a double-edged blade, he knew. If she truly wanted to discuss her friend, however... "And I’m afraid I saw something different. During the time I spoke with him, I broached a topic that would have been beneficial to me and others and he was too wrapped up in himself to cooperate. Specifics aside, that sort of thing is in bad form

[boot_i_licious]

Rinali frowned at Aidou's reply. "That doesn't sound like Allen at all," she answered. "I'll have to talk with him about it, maybe he had a good reason for being quiet." Or maybe he didn't. Allen sometimes surprised her, after all.

"Well," Rinali said in response to Aidou's question. "You said you wanted to be friends with me. It just makes me happy when my friends get along with one another, and if we become friends, I wouldn't want to have to choose who to spend time with, you or Allen, when I could spend time with both of you. Maybe it's a little selfish of me..."