[thread] walkin' on sunshine

[teh_sword]

Who: Allen, Goku, Miku, Ren Kimura, anyone who wants to lurk in the hotel, [at least] mentions of Murata
When: After Murata and Ren FINALLY make it to the hotel with Renlen
What: UNMITIGATED FLUFF TOTAL ANGST Exploring the hotel and meeting up with friends
Where: Ren's hotel room/the hall
Rating: PG [until unless Ren gets physical on accident]

Comments

[monkeyprince]

Goku walked in with a slightly embarrassed look on his face, there’s suppose to be food he-
Goku trips over the sprawled figure.

[teh_sword]

"Ye--"

Ren was cut off as Goku tripped suddenly into the fray. Flailing slightly, he just barely managed to pull himself and the kitten out of the growing mess of bodies on the floor. Kitties were easy to squish, after all. He didn't want that sort of thing happening.

"--ah, 's Renlen. Hey, Goku!" Switching gears was as easy as changing moods, really. Smile bright and beaming, the Ultimate Offense pointed in the direction he'd discovered the kitchens to be hidden. "There were some meat buns back that way, behind the big silver doors. Have you eaten yet?"

Somehow he found himself gravitating in the confusion over toward Allen. They were supposed to be talking, after all.

[secretlyadept]

Allen offered a consoling smile, remembering that yes, they were supposed to be talking. He blinked at the new figure for a few moments before breaking out a smile again.

Following after Ren's example, he chirped, "Oh yeah! Those meat buns! There's a whole bunch of them in the kitchen! In fact there's all kinds of food... Right, Timcanpy?"

The gold golem simply flew around his head a few times.

[monkeyprince]

“Meat buns?!” Goku hurried over to the kitchen, he could almost smell them from were he was. 'What was that thing Hakkai always told me ta' say…?'
“Thank ya’!”
[[ooc: Sorry, I’ll let you guys talk ^^;]]

[teh_sword]

[[ooc: *loveson* It's cool. We made it an open log thinking other people might be around to talk to each other in general. Don't mean to scare you off or anything! Muraken is lurking around to be pestered, if you like. >>]]

"Don't mention it! Enjoy them!" Ren called after Goku's vanishing form, waving with the hand that wasn't holding the kitten. For a moment after the hungry boy vanished, the Sword's face fell, tired and drawn and at least twenty years older than his usual youthful smile.

Soon enough he was grinning again, skritching Renlen under the chin and blinking in confusion at the golem circling Allen's head.

[secretlyadept]

Allen's smile immediately faded at the same time Ren's did, particularly because his new friend looked so crestfallen, Allen couldn't help but feel miserable along with him. His smile managed to return for a bit when Ren's did, but he still felt somewhat miserable.

Pushing hard to keep it on, he asked cheerfully as he grabbed Timcanpy from the sky and stuck him in his hood, "So then! Did you want to talk?"

//OOC: I'm an idiot and forgot to hit "post comment" for the longest time. >>;

[teh_sword]

"I... well... um..."

Ren wasn't supposed to hit people unless he meant it. And really, he did a very good job at that, most of the time. He'd taken countless beatings growing up, on the school yard and at home, only ever fighting back after Rai had come back into his life and explained how to use his power properly, how to save people.

Despite that, despite his desire not to harm anyone and despite his rather submissive nature, Ren was a completely physical person.

Kitten stored safely under one arm, he took a moment to check the angle before slamming quite suddenly into Allen, something like a hug aiming to push them both back through the open door into his hotel room. It was an almost violent form of affection, carefully tempered against actually hurting anyone by a year of practice and control. It startled Renlen greatly, causing a small panicked yowl before Ren brought her up between his and Allen's bodies and commenced with a sort of clinging snuggle.

"...yeah."

[[ooc: *pets*]]

[secretlyadept]

"Eep!"

He squeaked in shock for a moment at the sudden impact as they were thrown into the room. He landed on his back, but found himself suddenly laughing as Renlen and Ren alike were pushed up for cuddles. He giggled slightly and hugged the other boy and the kitten brightly. After a moment, he gre slightly more wary of his left cursed arm and loosed his hold a bit. Proping himself up with his elbows, he asked with a smile, "What was that for?"

[teh_sword]

Ren looked at Allen briefly as if the other boy were crazy. Which Allen clearly was, if he was asking for a hug between friends to be justified.

Probably he meant the whole 'tackle through a door onto the barely carpeted floor' aspect of the hug. Then again, that seemed fairly self-explanitory as well.

Shrugging a little sheepishly, Ren rolled off the other boy, settling in against Allen's side instead with Renlen still squeezed comfortably between them. The kitten was probably once again the most content of the trio: curled between two warm bodies where two sets of hands could scratch her behind the ears.

"...I needed a snuggle," the Sword explained quietly, smile softer than usual as he ran a finger up and down the kitten's back. "To help when I start talking about something sad."

[secretlyadept]

Petting Renlen absentmindedly, Allen cocked his head to the side as he observed Ren's changing expressions. He anticipated the bouts of sadness to come and vaguely wondered what it could be that distressed the other boy so much. He pressed his lips together thoughtfully for a moment before smiling lightly again.

Reaching over, he pushed the door closed to further ensure their privacy. He pet Renlen once more before reaching over to pull Ren into another friendly hug just for the sake of hugging.

"Ok," he said, giving the other boy's shoudlers a squeeze. "You can start any time you want."

[teh_sword]

The second hug and gentle squeeze of his shoulder were comforting, just enough to feel solid and grounded in the world before he settled down properly on his side on the floor. There was a momentary silence, filled only with the soft purring of the kitten curled between them, before Ren began. He spoke softly, eyes on the floor, unwilling to look at either Allen or the kitten while he explained himself.

"...when I was really little, I had these two best friends. My baby cousin and this boy from the orphanage. We did everything together, 'cause my auntie and uncle... they didn't treat Mio so good. So me and Rai, right? We were gunna protect her forever. It was... right before she was gunna go be somewhere safe..."

[secretlyadept]

Allen listened patiently, still occasionally petting the purring kitten from time to time. He watched the the top of Ren's head carefully, as if hoping to be able to decipher the other boy's feelings by doing so. He wasn't sure if saying anything would be appropriate at this time, so he simply remained encouragingly silent.

[teh_sword]

"...I don't remember how she died. I just remember... there was so much blood everywhere... But Rai... We were going to save you, you know? We hadn't protected her... from... but we could make it up by bringing her back, and getting stronger, so she'd never have to feel that kind of pain again... And we... to save her that way, we traded our souls in. ...when they found us, they said we were murderers, you know."

For Ren, that was the biggest indignity. The third biggest was having lost his soul to the Diabolo, being caught in this twisted cat-and-mouse game until his 18th birthday finally ended everything (was it really already 13 years since that day?). The thing that stung, however, was the accusation of having killed Mio. It burned him like a sin, woke him up at night sobbing angrily, kept him going when the boys at school had beaten him to within an inch of his life.

The second greatest indignity that day had been losing Rai.

[secretlyadept]

There was something heartwrenching about the way Ren looked right then, so much that even Renlen paused to cuddle next to the boy's hand and lick his fingers reassuringly. Allen felt his eyebrows knit upward in concern and his lips draw downward. He had been holding back the urge to fling himself forward and give his friend another big hug, an urge he finally decided to release right now. He hugged Ren wordlessly for a moment before commenting rather painfully, "You can't bring someone back from the dead no matter how much it hurts. I know how you must have felt, and I had to learn the hard way too."

Several memories of Mana flooded back into his head along with all the instances of his encounters with Akuma and the anguished people who had called them back. Allen sighed shakily, closed his eyes, and hugged Ren just a little tighter.

[teh_sword]

For a moment, Ren didn't react. It happened from time to time. He'd always been the sort of person to become lost in an emotion, happy or otherwise, even before his soul had been taken. Now he was silent and still for a moment, stuck in his private haunted memory of the day he'd been torn away from the only precious things he'd had in the entire world.

The soft, pained words caught his attention again, and in a heartbeat Ren was snuggling into the hug, arms tight around the other boy as he clung on with a shaky sigh. No one should have to learn that sort of thing. Chiaki's parents should have been protected from it, let alone such a nice person as Allen...

"...'m sorry."

[secretlyadept]

Those last two words surprised Allen slightly. He opened his eyes again and blinked a few times.

"Don't apologize!" he blurted in concern. Honestly, he didn't even know what the apology was for. That just made him not want the apology even more.