THNMY: Chat log with dream_departed and sinofsurviving
As soon as Aya-chan enters the back room of the Kitten in the House. Her expressions can be easier to read than many books. This particular expression suggests she has a story to tell she does not think Ginta will like to hear. "Love?"
And read it he does, which is why he hesitates for a moment before answering. "...Yes?"
She inhales deeply. When she finally speaks, everything comes out in a rush. "My big brother called and said he wanted to have a talk with you about things."
In a much smaller voice she adds. "He is coming by after closing."
Ginta's eyes widen at that. "...Oh. Well, um... he didn't happen to mention what kinds of things he wanted to talk about, did he?"
Better to be as prepared as he could for whatever kind of demise awaited, after all.
She shakes her head. Her expression is half apology and half 'aren't I cute and sweet? how could you be mad at me?'
He's not mad. No, he assumes that if Aya-nii doesn't want him or her to know something, they're not going to know. He hopes the fact that his stomach is sinking doesn't show on his face too much. He needs to make sure he's aware of how readable he is before this Talk takes place, anyway. It's never a good thing to show fear.
"You can always PINpoint away before he comes, if you wanted," she suggests quietly.
Ginta shakes his head. "Naw, this is going to happen eventually, I'm sure. Running away the first few times probably won't do anything to help me... tempting as that is," he says, looking longingly at the PINpoint he hadn't realized he'd taken out of one of his pouches.
She smiles at him like he just carried the sun to her in his hands. "Ran isn't such a bad guy. You two might enjoy your talk."
"Maybe." His weak smile says that he's not counting on it.
Not long after closing when the last of the customers have been shooed away, Aya-nii's white porshe pulls up to the curb.
He steps out. Apparently his keys to the shop still work.
Ginta is in the main shop, waiting to meet him (better to get this over with, after all). He had been fidgeting while waiting, but now he held his hands behind his back to hide that.
"Hello, Aya-san."
Aya nods in greeting. Then he nods to the door. "My car is in back." That's as close to an invitation as Ginta is likely to get. Aya waits for Ginta to either agree or decline to come.
Ginta blinks. He hadn't expected them to actually leave the Kitten, much less that there would be motor vehicles involved. (Had he actually ever ridden in one? He couldn't remember now.) After a while he gets over this unexpected element and nods slowly.
"Ah, sure," he says, walking in the direction Aya-san had nodded towards.
Aya opens the door for Ginta before going around to the driver's side and getting in himself. He buckles his seatbelt.
Ginta nods in thanks when Aya opens the door before climbing in. Not being overly familiar with cars, he watches Aya like a hawk to see what should and shouldn't be done. Once Aya-nii reaches for his seatbelt Ginta starts searching for his own. The rest of the stuff there isn't a duplicate for so... he just sits tight and waits to see what happens next.
Ginta would have too little experience to recognizes Aya's look of approval when Ginta fastens his seatbelt. Aya cannot help but be unnerved by how intently Ginta is watching him. He has an 'ah-ha' moment. "Have you never ridden in car before?"
Ginta shakes his head. "Nope. Occassionally the subway and once on a plane, but never a car."
"The steering wheel controls the direction the car goes." Aya gestures as he explains. "See these two pedals at my feet? This--" He taps lightly. "--is the gas. It makes the car start. The other is the brake. It makes the car stop."
Ginta tilts his head, watching as Aya explains. "Huh, seems simple enough." Somehow he'd thought there'd be more to operating such a large, complicated machine. But then, he guessed that there was still more he hadn't yet heard about the process.
Aya is embarrassed by stopping to explain. Aya thinks he would be nervous riding in a car the first time, and knowing how to make things work generally helps. His mouth becomes a thin line. There is a moment of pause before he continues.
Aya's attitude is an odd mix coldness and concern that doesn't mesh well togher. "I'm going to put the key in the ignition to turn the car on. It may feel or sound strange. But if you have been on a plane and in a subway, nothing you cannot get used to."
The demeanor is a bit odd, but Ginta figures that maybe that's just Aya-nii's explaining mode and... maybe it's just coming off as odd because he's not used to explaining things that are so common place to everyone else.
"Shouldn't be too different from the way the giant mechanical people in the Nexus sound either, right? They can be plenty noisy and I know some of 'em are meant to look like cars."
Aya blinks at him. "No. Different from that." Aya starts the car and begins to drive in silence. He hopes the silence will go on for long enough to become uncomfortable to Ginta. It would suit the kind of talk he has in mind better. They travel into the city, into a part of Tokyo it is best not go into at night.
Ginta was uncomfortable beforehand. The talk about cars had helped but it wasn't long before the silence started to become weighty. Ginta waits a few moments and, despite all inclinations, avoids fidgeting. After a few more moments he tries breaching the silence himself.
"So..."
He then realizes that he isn't sure what he was going to say so... he clams up again.
Aya smiles internally, but doesn't let a hint of it show on the outside. He considers letting the silence go on further, but decides that he has done enough. The gaudy neon lights paint his pale skin strange colors as the flash through the window.
"My sister says you have been together more than a year."
Ginta nods slowly. "We have." And... he feels like he should say more to that but doesn't know what. He hopes that the strange lights are helping to hide the fact that he's sweating, just slightly.
Aya looks straight ahead as he drives, never once turning to look at Ginta. Aya's tone is angry in a cold kind of way, in the way the lowest circle of Hell is cold. "She did not say what 'been together' means."
Ginta is not sure what kind of answer Aya expects (even though the tone implies it isn't a good one) so... he's just going to be completely honest. "Well, we've been dating, been boyfriend and girlfriend, for nearly a year."
Aya drives in silence. Ginta has an excellent opportunity to see how pressing on the gas makes the car go faster. There is the sound of wheels squealing and shouts of curses from a nearby car as Aya recklessly cuts them off.
Ginta's eyes go buggy and he grabs on to the handle above the window for dear life. "...I'm guessing there's something else you want to hear? What is it? Because I don't really know what modern courting customs are supposed to be like so I don't know what you expect, Aya-san."
Aya's expression remains blank. He seems perfectly content driving the car through a populated area at top speeds. Most of the cars keep their distance, and, so far, Aya has been able to dodge the ones that don't.
"What do you think that means 'boyfriend and girlfriend'?"
Ginta tries settling back into his seat more, but still keeps a grip on the handle.
"Seems to mean different kinds of things based on the uses I've seen in the Nexus but... so far, the way I've thought of it as working is kind of... getting to know somebody well enough to see if you'd really want to become mates, er, married," better to use more human terms, he reminded himself, "or not. And... it's a good way of doing things. I've seen people in my time rush into that kind of thing or have it just arranged and I'm glad that I've gotten to do things the way I have with Aya, just take it slow."
He goes silent for a moment and lets go of the handle in order to look at his hands in his lap. When he speaks again his voice is quieter. "I already know I'd like to be with her for... I mean, yeah, I'd wanna be mates with her." Oh, he's going to get killed, isn't he? Oh well, might as well get it all out now."It's just figuring out when would be the best time... 'cause she's got school and my pack is getting its vengence out of the way... Urm, and if she wants to or not, of course." Which... he kind of thought she did. But he doesn't want to speak for her in front of her brother.
They left the most populated area of the city behind while Ginta was speaking. The area that they are moving through is mostly old warehouses that have been abandoned. The look like the ghosts of buildings.
In the unloading dock of one of the abandoned warehouses, Aya slams on the brake so abruptly that the car does nearly a 360 degree turn before coming to a halt.
Back to the side handle goes Ginta's hand while the other one grabs onto the side of his seat. 'OhgodsIreallyamgonnadiehere!' he thinks to himself. He scrunches his eyes shut while the car is still spinning. When it stops he opens one eye and slowly looks around. When he's satisfied that they're in one piece he opens both eyes. Some of the 'what the heck were you just doing?!' shows through in his expression, but he doesn't say a word.
Aya looks searchingly at Ginta. After a moment he begins to form words. "Have you--?" He looks down at the seats, letting out a puff of breath.
Aya turns back to the wheel, focusing on driving again. This time he drives at a more sedate pace. It's some time before he tells Ginta, "You know I will kill you if you misuse her."
"Have I...?" he asks, wondering what the end of that question was meant to be. Though he leaves it be at Aya's next statement.
"If I did anything like that I'd have it coming."
Aya nods, still looking at the road rather than at Ginta.
If Ginta can wait through the silence, Aya will quietly say quietly, "You are not what I expected."
He had been about to ask if there was anything else that Aya needed to say, but blinks when Aya speaks first. "Really?"
"If you are as you seem, then sometime Very Far From Now it may not be a terrible if you and my sister married."
Somewhere in the back of his head, Ginta thinks that it's kind of silly that he should be grinning so widely at such a round about statement. Yet, he can't help it.
"I... thank you."
It then strikes him that this actually probably counts as permission. Maybe. His smile gets even wider and sillier.
Aya finally looks away from the road and glares at Ginta. "She has to finish school first! She has always wanted to finish school. If she doesn't, I will know whom to blame."
Ginta lifts his hands up in a gesture that's meant to be both placating and defensive. "I don't want to keep her from that. She seems serious about it and I don't want to interfere in it, believe me."
Aya turns back to the road. He is frowning while he drives slowly and cautiously back to the Kitten in the House. If Ginta has anything he wants to say to or ask Aya, this would be as good a time as any.
He... is actually kind of curious about what kind of question "Have you--?" was going to be, but he's not stupid enough to actually ask. Interrogation time is over and he likes it that way (not to mention, a return to interrogation time might mean a return to the scary driving and he much prefers the slow and cautious approach). In fact, anything he can think of to get into might result in more scary driving moments so Ginta stays quiet on the way back.
Aya-chan runs out the meet them when the car pulls up behind the Kitten in the House. Aya -nii rolls down the windows and unlocks Ginta's door.
"You're back!" She grins at both of them.
"Why do you seem surprised," Aya-nii asks. His sister makes a face at him.
"Did you have a good talk? she asks Ginta in a tone that means 'are you okay?'
Ginta makes the effort to actually stand and step out of the car rather than roll out. Even if they'd been keeping a safe pace for a while he still felt disoriented from the more startling parts of the joyride.
"Yeah. It was... yeah." He feels it's best not to elaborate on anything they talked about, at least not while Aya-nii is still there. Ginta gives her a genuine smile, though, a sure sign that things are alright.
She tilts her head and beams at him happily. She turns when she hears the car start. "Going so soon, Ran?"
"Yes. It's easier for you too to talk about me that way." Aya-nii gives Ginta a glance that may or may not be teasing.
Ginta laughs before actually figuring out whether the teasing is actually there or not, so it ends up sounding a bit nervous at the end. "Well, take care."
Aya kisses and hugs her brother through the open window before he drives away. She walks over to Ginta, pretending not to be deathly curiously about the drive with her brother. She reaches out to take Ginta by the arm and rest her head on his shoulder.
He rests his own head against hers, nearly slumping against her in relief.
"Whatever test I was supposed to pass... I think I made it," he said with an odd chuckle.
She reaches out to wrap her arms around him. "You think he was testing you?" She sounds like she doesn't know whether to be angry with her brother or pleased at his concern.
"Well... maybe testing isn't the right word for it since he out and out asked me what my intentions were," he says, grinning sheepishly at her. "It just kind of felt like a test would."
Aya smiles. She ignores that she is blushing. "Ah. And just what did you tell him your intentions were, Ginta of the Yourouzoku?" she asks, teasing.
"Um, well..." He looks down at his feet, trying to hide his own blushing. And even if she's just teasing, he can't help but answer sincerely. It's like he can't stop his mouth tonight.
"I told him that eventually when the time is right that, um, I would wanna, y'know, ask you to..." Sincere answer or not, it was oddly harder to say to her than Aya-nii and he stalls for a moment.
Aya-chan will not rescue him. She will not comment. She is barely breathing.
Dang, he was hoping for some kind of rescue. He squeaks out the rest of the sentence.
"...ask you to marry me. You know, when you got through with school and stuff. Which was one thing he was very, very big on, that you finish school."
He couldn't be any redder right now.
Really? Even if she were to bury her hand in his hair and pull him close for a kiss?
That actually has more of a calming effect than anything else, oddly enough! Though it doesn't help with the whole having-trouble-breathing bit. Of course, he's come to the conclusion that breathing is highly overrated at this point.
Aya-chan flicks her tongue lightly over Ginta's lips as she pulls away. "And I always thought I was going to have to be the one to ask you." She slips away, walking back toward the Kitten. She stops halfway to make sure he is following, then slinks inside.
Okay, breathing back under control, mind floating back to earth and... oh, she's talking and walking and he's got to catch up to both.
"You probably did have good chance of beating me to it, even if I've been thinking about it for a while." He starts trotting after and... hey, is she moving differently than she usually is? Not that it's a bad thing, but he's still not sure if it's the result of still being lightheaded from the kiss or what.