[CLOSED/COMPLETED]

[malaisetrap]

WHO: Ritsuka (be_loveless), Soubi (malaisetrap), and any of Ritsuka's housemates that would like to join in (namely, Hokuto! (thebearstars)
WHAT: Japanese Lessons
WHERE:  Ritsuka's room in Hokuto's house.
WHEN: Day 78, in the evening

Comments

[be_loveless]

Ritsuka was sprawled out on his stomach with a book propped up on the bed, but he wasn't getting very far in the book, since he kept glancing up at the window. When he finally heard the tapping, he almost thought he's imagined it and he hesitated briefly before slipping off his bed and padding over to the window. He unclasped the window then opened it up and peered out only to see Soubi standing directly in front of him.

"Soubi!" he said with a smile, though his tail flicked quickly, "Hi. Come in."

He stepped back from the window so that Soubi would have space to enter the room, then after a quick glance at Soubi again he made his way back over to the bed and sat down. Ritsuka fidgeted with the book he'd been reading before finally putting it aside on the bedside table, since he had noticed that Soubi had brought a book of his own.

[malaisetrap]

Soubi didn't so much as blink when the window swung open, and his smile stretched just the tiniest bit more at the sight of the boy leaning out to invite him inside.

The man quickly--but still gracefully, of course--stepped over the bottom part of the windowsill and landed himself quietly inside of Ritsuka's room, where he half closed the window behind himself.

Soubi adjusted his glasses, and blinked at the sight of Ritsuka's book, the way he played with it before it was tucked away. Unconsciously, his fingers curled around the book he'd brought.

"Ritsuka, what kind of books do you like to read?" With some amount of impeccably hidden distress, he asks the question with an incredibly neutral face.

What if Ritsuka didn't like what he'd picked..?

[be_loveless]

Ritsuka lifted his shoulders in a half-hearted shrug even while he eyed the book Soubi held in his hands. Unlike previous times, he didn't seem particularly upset by Soubi's presence, but his lips still curled into a slight frown.

"I'll read anything. I spent most of my life reading. I really like philosophy and science, but...," he let his sentence trail off into a brief, embarrassed silence, "Adventure novels are fun sometimes too."

He tilted his head back to look up at Soubi and his ears twitched in annoyance when he noticed Soubi was still sitting in the middle of the room. Ritsuka rolled his eyes and pat a spot on the bed next to himself. Soubi came here to read and that would be easier if they were both sitting down. Realistically, a table and chairs would have been better, but Ritsuka was sneaking Soubi in so he couldn't exactly bring Soubi out of his room.

[malaisetrap]

Soubi's face is almost completely blank save for the small smile on his face that comes and goes as he stands and makes his way to the bed and taking a seat upon it.

It seems as though the boy's dismissal the night before had affected the blond greater than he would care to admit.

There is a note of sadness that shifts around him, like an unseen shawl that kept slipping off his shoulders, only to be pulled back up, back around him, coiling cold, alive like a snake.

That sadness kept trying to overtake and Soubi struggled, in the bright light of the room to battle it back.

"It would be serendipitous that I brought an adventure one then, wouldn't it?"

[be_loveless]

"Okay, fine. If you say so," Ritsuka mumbled as Soubi's hand touched his hair. He couldn't help but give him a suspicious look, yet he didn't pull away. He could tell there was something wrong with Soubi even though he smiled like that. Still, Ritsuka doubted he would get an honest response out of Soubi even if he did ask.

"I've heard of it. I never had a chance to read it, though." Ritsuka scooted closer again so that he'd be able to see the book while Soubi read. He was supposed to be improving his Japanese and he thought seeing the words might help him. So, Ritsuka focused his attention on the book, for the moment, using it as a distraction.

[OOC: New comment, to prevent crowding. Also, sorry for responding so slowly. ;;;]

[malaisetrap]

So he began. He read slowly, enunciating each word precisely and pausing when the boy asked for clarification on a word or phrase. Contrary to any ideas of what might have conspired in place of this lesson, he was a good teacher.

Soubi's voice became firm, rumbling low in his chest and ringing true in his throat as the words filtered from between his teeth, that hand that had been around Ritsuka's hair moving slowly to his arm, slowly around his shoulders, then around his waist.

It was in this gesture that Soubi assured the boy, at last in the physical form, that he was safe against the world here. Here, against Soubi's lithe yet muscled form, the blond man would battle until the last threads of his life to keep the younger boy from feeling pain, from being harmed.

Soubi would keep Ritsuka out of the dark they had both been living in, thrusting his towards the light and warmth of the sun.

[OOC: Don't worry! ♥ As long as I get to play with you, it's all good!ALSO-- you just won my heart FOREVER because I hatehatehatehate right

[be_loveless]

Ritsuka watched the page as Soubi read and he focused on trying to match up the characters with the words Soubi was speaking. Occasionally, he stopped Soubi to ask him questions, but for the most part he just thought it through on his own. However, eventually he found that he'd become so fixated on the sound of Soubi's voice that he had stopped trying to read the words altogether. Instead, he just stared, unseeing, at the book while Soubi's words washed over him

[malaisetrap]

His hand did not shift from the boy's side, they did not stir. His palm was warm and broad, covering almost the entirety of his young, undeveloped hip. He merely held him there, the way a parent might hold their child (well, perhaps a bit more possessive), and read. It was only until his voice began to dry, half way through the story, did Soubi even realise how much time had passed. He glanced outside, listened to the relative silence of the streets, and blinked.

He paused then, feeling his heart wrench, wanting anything but to leave this warm, yellow tinged haven, but understanding that more than an hour, maybe two, had passed. His Ritsuka needed to sleep.

"Ritsuka.." His voice was soft, head tilted down and towards the boy, lips practically brushing against his brow. "It's gotten very late."