[closed] Benjamin, you mark the life that was left behind

[whitenighting]

Who: whitenighting , becoming_gau
When: After this thread
Where: Gau's apartment
Format: Paragraph
What: Allen and Gau reunite as one of the few people remembering Kannagara in a strange kind of reverse situation from when Allen first arrived there.
Warnings: Glomping?

Comments

[becoming_gau]

There's no movement from the young man sitting on the edge of the bed, at first. He's been waiting for Allen, but he's also still discovering his surroundings, and his notebook is open beside him, a black pen resting between the pages.

Making notes, already, except now he's stopped and is just... soaking things in for a moment. He looks out-of-place just by himself, in the way his dress has become half one thing and half another, the hakama not quite right with his dress shirt and sweater vest, the katana still at his belt conflicting with his slender frame, his delicate features.

Green eyes turn upward toward his friend, after a second, and then... well, there's a flurry of motion.

Quick steps toward the door, and then Gau is quite honestly flinging himself at the other young man, wrapping both arms around Allen and squeezing tight about his waist, resting his head against his friend's shoulder and just holding on.

"ALLEN-KUN!"

[whitenighting]

Oh dear sweet lord he sees it coming but is a little frozen and-oof.

"Ah-Gau!" It's awkward at first because quite frankly the smaller boy makes him stagger for a moment, hands up and where to put them, he's...

...

He's Gau.

Allen laughs for a moment, a little rare actually, pats Gau on the back if a bit awkwardly.  Even if he might be a little odd about his personal space, how he deals with it or others...

"It's good to see you, Gau." Even if it's only been a few days-it feels like there was a lot of distance there anyway.

[becoming_gau]

It's always after hugging someone that Gau remembers that it's not quite appropriate. It's not that he doesn't understand manners, or that he doesn't know that while teenage girls can go around glomping their friends all they want, boy's shouldn't... and he's already eighteen now anyway, if his math is right.

He really should learn to be a proper reserved Japanese adult male, but it's just not happening, and his swings between temper and overwhelming affection don't help.

He realizes all this, of course, in the moment after he's hurled himself at his friend, when it's too late to take the action back and he's standing there clutching Allen, his face starting to heat up with a blush. A slow loosening of the arms, and then he's stepping back, just a bit, one hand sliding to catch Allen's forearm, not quite sure if he's ready to let go, manners or otherwise.

"It's good to see you too. I-I thought for a moment I was going to be all alone again."

[whitenighting]

And maybe ironically enough for Allen, it's not so much about manners as...

Well, it's just his preference. Being hugged like this and all that-it's alright? But... he doesn't... do the same, really. A hand to a shoulder, a move to protect, to reassure, offer comfort or connect when words can't and there's no other way to express something often desperate-but that's... Um. About it? But he's alright with other people hugging. Mostly.

The sheepish grin he had drops at those words, though. Again?

"Aa." There's that flicker of he knows, a quieter and apologetic expression, but Allen smiles again a second later and pats a hand lightly, reassuringly over Gau's. "But you're not. I'm here, and so are some of the others."

And then a little concern-it had been... It had absolutely not been the kind of situation he'd ever leave behind. "Are you... alright? Were the others?"