Half and Empty [Open Thread - Especially to his friends!]

[poetryinfashion]

WHO: Hitachiin Kaoru {Alone at the moment}
WHAT: Cheering-up session ... or something like that.
WHERE: Eagle's Splendour
WHEN: 2nd Day after the ball

Comments

[de_novo_xiii]

He had made sure the newcomer Ritsuka was well taken care of the night before. He had taken a shining to the boy with the cat ears and tail. A tail! Just like he and Zidane had. But all the while his mind had been on other things.

After knowing for certain the Inn would serve the boy breakfast and give him new clothes, he had hurried to the darling little boutique that had been the source of his new attires over the past few days.

Kuja liked Kaoru because Kaoru knew what it was like to have a piece of you missing. Despite Kuja having found his brother here, they were worlds apart. They hardly had an amicable relationship, let alone a fraternal one. But Kaoru had a twin, a twin who was missing.

He walked into the store, calling softly.
"Kaoru? Sweetheart?"

[poetryinfashion]

Kaoru looked up from the desk. "Oh... Kuja, hi." He wiped his eyes. "How- how have you been?"

He was not the same boy that Kuja had met about three days ago. This boy was not fashionably dressed nor enthusiastic about his work, brimming with energy. This boy looked positively drained; drab in a white shirt and brown pants.

Nor did he smile. For Kuja he tried, but it came out as about a half-second lip twitch that felt entirely too fake for Kaoru to sustain. His hands in his lap, slouching, he tried to make eye-contact but just... hung his head, addressing the floor.

"Sorry you have to see me like this."

[de_novo_xiii]

"Oh sweetheart..." Kuja breathed, walking to him. He withdrew a kerchief from the sleeve of his blouse, cupping Kaoru's cheek before dabbing under his eyes with it.

"You don't have to try and be happy," He whispered, "I don't mind at all." Kuja looked around the shop, before going and throwing the curtains open so light streamed inside. "Let's try and chase the shadows out, hm?"

"Come on love, up you get." He coaxed him to stand, brushing creases from his shirt and tidying his hair. Slowly he leaned forward until their brows touched.
"I'm here for you, ok? No more silence."

1/2

[poetryinfashion]

No one had ever been that physical with Kaoru before - no one except Hikaru. He closed his eyes and sighed, trying to take a few deep breaths before speaking.

2/2

[poetryinfashion]

"I didn't- We were fighting... Before the ball. I felt bad about it, but thought there'd be plenty of time to fix things, you know? And now-" His voice cracked a little, so he swallowed and wetted his lips, trying again. "And now he's gone. And I feel so horrible for... just everything."

{sorry I vanished D8}

[de_novo_xiii]

"Now now," He cooed, "He won't be angry at you for it. It means nothing now. You've spoken to him through your journal, haven't you? He's alive."

Kuja stroked his cheek with the back of his hand. "We'll get through this, Kaoru love. We will. And you can laugh about it afterwards and how silly you two were to fight."

Slowly he wrapped his arms around him. Kuja didn't now too much about comfort- he'd hardly received any during his life, but he knew humans did this at times of need. The contact was welcomed to reassure them they weren't alone.

"He knows you love him and that's all he needs to know."

{And I gotta go to bed after this :'-( }

[poetryinfashion]

Very slowly, Kaoru reached his hands up to rest them in each of Kuja's elbows, leaning forward into the embrace.

"I know he's alive, but... I've never told him I love him," Kaoru admitted. "Back home... boys aren't supposed to get emotional like this. Hikaru's always been the strong one; I can only support him. Without him here... I feel totally useless. I can't do anything for him..."

He sighed, closing his eyes again. "But he is alive... I can't believe it, but he is alive and I don't know the last time I was so relieved to read that messy scrawl of his." It was a bitter chuckle, not really a laugh, as Kaoru said 'messy scrawl'.

But it was a start, right?

{*tucks you in* X3 }

[de_novo_xiii]

"There now," Kuja smiled encouragingly and tapped Kaoru's nose. "Now you know the very first thing you'll say when you see him again." He didn't say 'if'. He said 'when' because he believed they would be reunited. Kuja was determined to believe fate would not be so cruel to this boy, as it had been to him.

"That's just silly." He stepped back, waving a hand dismissively. "Boys can't do this. Boys have to be that." Kuja sighed, rolling his eyes. "Emotional? You were taught not to say you treasured someone? Now they're not here, you can see how stupid that was."

He was bitter about it, but also a little jealous. What would life have been like, had his sadistic Creator been a loving father instead?

"You know what I'll be forced to do, right?" He gave a light-hearted life, winking at him. "When he gets back I'll have to teach him how to write beautifully. A handsome young man like him needs handwriting to match."

{You're a sweetheart :'-) }

[poetryinfashion]

Kaoru wrinkled his nose - that was the second time Kuja had done that to him. "Well... in my native language there's a bunch of ways to say it; English is rather limited that way, so it's kinda' weird to think about saying 'I love you' to my brother." That was a half-truth, of course; it wasn't a bad-weird, it was a good-weird because of how desperately Kaoru wanted to tell Hikaru right now - to have Hikaru back in the same room, where Kaoru could see him with his own eyes and touch him with his own hands-

Rather than taking Hikaru's word for it through the journals, of course. They'd always been very physical people, especially with each other. It's how they got to sleep, it's how they woke up each morning, and how they communicated without words to the point they could plan a fake-fight right in the middle of a completely different conversation with just a look.

"And it's not that his handwriting is bad, per se, just... It could be neater. And he doesn't like writing out all his kanji, so maybe just... lazy is a better word for it

[de_novo_xiii]

"It's only weird because people have kept telling you you can't say it." Kuja stated matter-of-factly.

"Soon, all of this will be over. People are working together to straighten things out. Don't you worry love," He giggled, smiling kindly. "it'll be ok in the end. If it's not ok-" Kuja kissed his cheek. "-then it's not the end."

"Now," he turned to the people who had entered the shop. "Why don't you go say hello to the other friends who've come to cheer you up, hm?"

[poetryinfashion]

Kaoru touched his cheek, beginning to wonder if Kuja liked him a little too much... but he let that thought pass, trying to assure himself that Kuja was just doing everything he thought could cheer Kaoru up.

He still didn't have the heart to smile, but he tried to convey with a look - something in his eyes - his appreciation for Kuja's attention.

"Thank you, Kuja."

And then he moved to the front of the store to greet Amu-chan and Haruhi.