awashrpg | USER #030066

[ dextera is only nice about it because he isn't saying anything. guren is safe, as long as his hands are away from the keyboard—but his eyes light up with honest pleasure when guren compliments him, and he leaves behind that competitive streak for now to retake his laptop. ]

It wouldn't be as fun if you were as bad as the first time we played.

[ ...mostly leaves behind the competitive streak. ]

[ Guren gives that text a long stare before leaning forward over the chess board, hooking one arm around his neck and screwing his other fist into the top of Dextera’s head in the most aggressive noogie. ]

Huh? What was that? Who was bad?! [ Friendship ]

...!

[ dextera expected such a punishment, and so he finds that a laugh—breathy and voiceless, a sound out of practice but joyful nevertheless—bubbles out of him before he can even consider another response. he's never laughed in his life as much as he's managed to with guren over the past few weeks—a welcome, albeit sad, reality.

for now, though, he's not thinking about that. he's just trying to escape guren's noogie... ]

[At this point, the fondness he feels even at the laugh from Dextera is downright embarrassing. It adds to Guren's frown, since he's always grumpy about his own feelings, and he digs his knuckles down a little extra.

But shortly after that extra-punishment, he releases him, leaning back himself to frown across the board at his friend. It's incredibly clear that he's flustered in that lame way of his, and he hates it.]

I didn't think someone who couldn't talk would be such a smart mouth.

[ dextera fixes his hair even though it was a mess anyway—it’s more just an answering gesture to the noogie than a conscious action, since he’s watching guren cheerfully as guren gripes about his attitude.

he could talk, once, and he was a smart-ass then too!!! ]

Haha.

[ he’s still laughing as he types, quieter, a sound for himself that he can’t seem to keep inside. ]

I didn’t know either. I haven’t had someone to talk to in a long time.

[Hmm. No one, huh? That's a bit depressing, like most things about Dex are. Still, hearing that someone like Dextera hasn't spoken to someone in a long time, and is just... instantly this way... It's good, isn't it? That he can speak openly without worrying about it.

Guren laughs, a quick contradiction to the anger that's already faded.]

Seriously? You're too much. [What an honest response. It's pure.]

Well, keep figuring it out. You've got plenty of people to talk to, here.

[ his communication with others isn’t perfect, and guren in particular gets dextera at his boldest, his most experimental—but it’s perhaps because he has no voice that he’s so quick to express himself anyway, with anyone who seems like they want to listen.

he nods, pleased at the thought of speaking with others. ]

Thank you.

For playing chess with me like this.

[ not a change of subject—just a smaller gratefulness instead of expressing how much he appreciates guren for tolerating him. ]

[Guren watches him quietly as he types that out, resisting the urge to interrupt the minute he sees his fingers pass over what he's sure are the keys for "thank you." Gosh. Dextera is really like this. He waits until he's done and he's shown the laptop to respond.]

You don't have to thank me for things like this. [It'd be easier if he explained why, maybe, but how many times should he say it? They're friends. He likes doing this. He's having fun. He's the one who wants to say thank you.

Alright, maybe he hasn't said all of that, but he still feels like it's obvious.]

It hasn't been so bad. [Slowly glances at the ceiling, yes. A full admission. He is so very clear about his enjoyment.]

[ dextera understands guren’s lukewarm answer all the same. it hasn’t been so bad! that’s veritable delight, he thinks, and dextera starts to type out another response to go along with it—a sorry, until he catches himself and realizes guren probably won’t want to see that either.

with nothing to say but those two comments, however, he shakes his head and closes his laptop, returning his attention to the board. he doesn’t want to play another game, but he does want guren to explain himself...!!!

he taps the board, where guren made checkmate, and his intention is clear. the way dextera offered a counter, he wants to see guren come up with one for himself, too. ]

[Guren figured he'd ask for that. He laughs, gently reaching down to grab at the piece where he's sure the move had sealed his victory. Just like Dextera had done, he moves it back, and then shows an entirely different route with his other hand. Another piece, using some obscure train of thought to counter his own oddly angled attack to begin with.

Explaining like this is a little like explaining the way he thinks. He doesn't think he minds it.]

Like that. From there, I wouldn't have been able to do anything, and you would have cornered me like the last two times.

[ it’s a strange approach. dextera would never have conceived it on his own, which was probably his mistake—and guren can likely see the gears turning, as dextera works out more of his understanding of guren from this little demonstration.

chess isn’t a perfect match to the way people think or behave in the real world, but the two of them have distinct approaches from each other. ]

...

[ he nods, tracing his finger over the board as he considers what angles he can take with such a tactic... but guren’s style is a little beyond him, for now. ]

[Guren finds himself following Dextera's hand over the board with his eyes, almost lost in how he's trying to figure out his own take on this. His own hand in his lap twitches slightly, fingers flexing almost like he wants to reach out, but ultimately he curls them into his palm and looks elsewhere in the room.

It's hard not to feel guilty, sitting here playing games. He knows it's no waste of time. Friendship is important everywhere, and Dextera is his own person, and just as important— but Guren hasn't made any progress in figuring out how to get home, and it's eating at him. He left things a mess. He was still trying to finish his plans and make sure things got fixed. It's not a waste of time here, but it still feels like one in parts.

It's always in comfortable moments like these that he's left to sit silently and think about problems, but he remembers to appreciate it for what it is, too. After his stare around the room, he looks back at Dextera with unmistakable fondness. He doesn't really need a rematch right now, either, but he doesn't want to leave just yet.]

[ dextera realizes, after a few moments of extended silence, that nothing has been exchanged between them—and he looks up, his eyes softening slightly in an apology. he knows that when he's not saying anything, or trying to, that he must be boring to be around.

...even though guren doesn't look bored so much as thoughtful, dextera isn't self-confident enough to read that far into his expression. instead of prolonging this comfortable silence into awkwardness, he draws his hand away from the board, only to reach across and take guren's for his own. his laptop might be right there, but there's an intimacy he's come to prefer in writing into guren's palm.

plus, he's not sure what it is, but he feels like guren might need it too.

S-T-A-Y?
G-O? ]

...?

[He does need it, really. The despair he's dealing with in his own heart isn't going away, and human connections are all that can help, aside from that drug he has so little left of. Something like this genuinely does draw him out of it for a moment.

This is still a unique situation, though. He's not used to lingering when he doesn't have to. It's a burden on others, and he's not the type to admit when he wants company. There's always something he has to do, so it's been a convenient excuse, but now, for once, he's a little more... free. Kureto isn't calling him with demands and new missions, and the people he's setting up for training and sparring here don't need micromanaging like Shinoa's squad.

He considers the question written in his palm for a few seconds too long, he thinks.]

I'll stay for a little while longer, if I'm not in your way. It's nice and quiet here. [He figures that's a fine way to word it...]

[ dextera doesn’t want to send guren home, either. things feel peaceful now that the furniture has settled down, and there’s really no telling when the town will make its next strike against them.

so, isn’t it better to take advantage of this moment while they have it? in this place, guren is his best friend. he doesn’t want to take that for granted. ]

...

[ dextera nods, smiling quietly down at guren’s hand as he writes out his answer.

R-E-S-T, he says, and he even squeezes guren’s fingers like it’s a command instead of a suggestion. ]

[Of course he'd suggest something kind like that. Guren laughs, because he's surprised anyway, tilting his head like he's uncertain.]

I can't keep coming over here just to end up napping. [Right?? That's weird, even if he is constantly needing more sleep in some range or another. It would make him even more of a burden, and what would there be for poor Dex to do...

As comfortable as it sounds, he's having trouble justifying it.]

Even I know that would be bad company.

[ of course you can come over here to nap, guren... dextera is used to silence, and having another person around is still somewhat exciting to him. even asleep, guren would be entertainment for dextera’s low standards.

but he says no anyway! and dex seems genuinely surprised that he would gently pass on the suggestion, when dextera is so sure that guren should sleep. he denies himself too much. ]

...

[ so he stares....... his hand is still in guren’s, but there’s a long, intense moment where he’s just watching guren for a better explanation than i just can’t. ]

...

[Guren doesn't pull his hand back, but still, there's just silence and staring? Why is there staring!! This is a basic thing! Friends don't go to friends' houses and sleep there...! Ah, wait, that is a thing, actually. There's a long pause from Guren, and eventually he turns to the side, his free hand reaching up to his own face to touch under his eyes.

Does he have eyebags... Is something giving him away... Why did this worry happen!!]

Geez, you don't give in. Fine. Maybe in the corner, out of the way, or something.

[ ...dextera seems satisfied, when he relents, even though he didn’t necessarily require it. though, if guren protested more, dextera would likely protest right back.

(don’t worry, guren, you have no eyebags—dextera is just stubborn, in that silent, careful way of his.)

he starts to shrug off his coat, intent on makeshifting a pillow or even a blanket out of it—usually, for himself, he doesn’t mind curling up on the floor just as he is and sleeping whenever exhaustion hits, but what’s the point of guren staying over to rest if he’s uncomfortable? ]

[ Guren has no idea he’s taking that coat off for him, or he’d be telling him to stop. It’s too much, isn’t it? Even this... but he shifts closer to the corner of the room, shifting against the wall with crossed legs and arms. This is probably fine. ]

...

[ But he has no idea what to say? This is embarrassing. He’s just going to stare at Dextera quietly until it’s clear the coat was going to be for him, and then he’s holding out his hands. ] Hey, come on, you don’t have to worry about that.

[ Why is he so caring... it’s touching and surprising all at once. ]

[ that’s fine... but he’s going to do it anyway.

rather, he settles next to guren—and maybe that was his plan all along, to stay here next to someone, a quiet comfort that he has no explanation for. with any high comes a low, and he’s not exactly sad, but more... thoughtful, now that he’s had his laughs.

the coat is long enough that he can drape it across the both of them. ]

[...Oh. Guren stares at Dextera as he sits next to him so simply, and it's not like he can tell him to get lost when he's being kind like this, just trying to share the space and a makeshift blanket. The truth is he doesn't want him to go away, anyway.

So, instead, Guren shifts just slightly so that he can lean against Dextera, their arms touching.]

So you'll rest, too?

[ dextera nods.

he’s not even really sure that he’s going to sleep, and guren isn’t on the side for optimum comfort, but sharing space with someone like this sets him at ease. there’s no one else he feels he knows enough to get away with it, and guren isn’t fighting him when he leans his weight back against guren’s arm.

he rests his head against guren’s shoulder. ]

[It's strange how the weight of someone familiar can make an uncomfortable spot become almost cozy. He's not worried about the stiffness of his own neck, how his back isn't straight enough or how his arms are crossed when he's too busy making sure that he won't stir too much that it will disturb his friend.]

Good. [He breathes it out like a sigh, letting his eyes drift closed. He feels a little less bad about it if Dextera is going to rest in any way, too, even if he doesn't actually sleep.

Like this, he can fall asleep in ten minutes or so.]

USER #030066

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