[ Whatever energy he had left seems to be suddenly gone at the mention. Oria feels even more tired by the mention alone, but Sinclair is asking, so he will answer. ]
Bora is part of the Seo family. I met her years ago, actually. She was getting bullied by some pompous squad of mean bitches and I gave the leader a bald spot by yanking out a bunch of her hair at once.
[ He almost snorts as he recalls that memory. ]
Anyway, Bora had a crush on me ever since.
[ If it happened years ago, and Oria had several exes between the time frame to present day, then there's definitely something keeping him from dating her. ]
But her older brother was really protective of her and he saw everything I did to her as leading her on with shitty motives. Which... I guess it's true, yeah. I did lead her on. I'll admit that. For me, I thought it was the best way to keep her at bay—
She's kinda mentally unstable: never taking no for an answer, has moments of hallucinations and psychosis... all that stuff. She damaged Sora's eye despite how he was protecting her because of a psychotic episode she had.
[ Yup. That guy also has an eyepatch. Bora's older (adopted) brother is Sora, who was technically born as Iria's fraternal twin, which means the Seo family bought Sora off them from whatever deal Arvel made.
And this is why it's complicated. Oria and Sora don't like each other, but the reason for Sora's dislike is very much obvious now. ]
[Sinclair takes a moment to process that. Then he squeezes Oria a little more. He'll keep petting Oria's hair, moving it to a gentle scalp massage. He had thought Bora was an acquaintance with a crush buf this adds all sorts of layers to that dynamic he could not figure out before]
...it does explain a lot about why she was...um.
[ He tries to think about it. He wonders if today opened up another thing that was meant to stay buried]
Normally a shy girl would prefer another girl to help her right? Not a guy...
[Not that Amelia was really a girl but Bora didn't know that]
We never dated, but she acts very much like a clingy, jealous ex that never lets go. I have to admit... she's part of the reason why I went to an all boy's institution for high school.
[ mrnghhhghgghhh ]
She always wants my attention, so it doesn't matter who else is around for the most part, except for Sora, who tries to shut it down at every chance he gets.
[ Which is a relief for Oria, but his dislike of Sora stems from a different place. It's fine. ]
[ When he hears Sinclair's voice trail off, he finally unburies his face to look at him in the eyes... or, he tries. He doesn't have his glasses on and everything is gaussian blurred to hell. ]
[ Oria...how are you that oblivious to how your actions affect people. He taps Oria's nose]
Brushing her hair out of her face, running in to pick her up, saying all those nice things...most people would see that as flirting you know. Especially if they're not used to close contact with people their age.
Her hair looked like it was about to prick her eyes and it's not like she could walk properly, so I might as well pick her up, right? Bloody hell, she felt more like a child I had to coddle because I don't see her that way at all.
[ He grumbles and buries his face back into thr area above Sinclair's collarbones again. ]
When you actually flirt and accidentally flirt are really different. When you actually want to flirt, you use your words. Touching seems to come naturally to you but...Hm. I guess it was like how you kept touching me without saying things that would make me blush after you rejected me.
[ talk about confusing signals for most people. Sinclair knew better but.. ]
[ Sinclair frowns, wishing he could read Oria's expression ]
...I think you should try letting other people help her first. Letting her try to help herself first...that sort of thing. [ He doesn't like saying this at all, even if it's true. He doesn't want Oria to not-help people but..] Not that you should ignore it if people are cruel, but...Her brother must have been trying to look out for her at that party too. Having someone get him for her probably would have been better for both of you.
[There's also the fact that... they're all twenty or turning twenty now. If she can't manage herself now...it would be bad for her later]
Oria thinks about this. Why does he help her in the first place when he knows that it would give her the wrong idea? Of course he knows why, but he supposes there's also merit in ignoring her. It's a delicate balancing act. The feeling that her mental stability depends solely on him is quite the pressure, only because dealing with the fallout is something he doesn't want to bother with. ]
Alright.
[ Sinclair can probably feel Oria's body relaxing. He doesn't move otherwise. ]
[ Sinclair presses a kiss to Oria's hair. It's probably all that can happen now so... hopefully Oria doesn't have pressure to continue to go out of his way to help.
Cruel to be kind. That sort of thing. He's quiet for a moment, absentmindedly petting Oria's hair]
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Mmhm. I always thought I'd feel horrible if I heard the words "you're fired" but that was the best news they could give me.
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[ The servant job definitely isn't easy. Oria has seen it all... ]
But when did you learn French? From Winter?
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Mm. When we both could speak again, I got him on video calls and I practically with him.
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[ Oria closes his eyes while still burying his face into the area above Sinclair's collarbones. ]
I wanna tease him too...
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You should just call him. He'd like that...
[Including the teasing. Sinclair pets Oria's hair a little more...ugh if he doesn't ask now, he'll never ask]
Hey...um. That girl that was with you almost the entire time...who is she?
1/2
[ Whatever energy he had left seems to be suddenly gone at the mention. Oria feels even more tired by the mention alone, but Sinclair is asking, so he will answer. ]
Bora is part of the Seo family. I met her years ago, actually. She was getting bullied by some pompous squad of mean bitches and I gave the leader a bald spot by yanking out a bunch of her hair at once.
[ He almost snorts as he recalls that memory. ]
Anyway, Bora had a crush on me ever since.
[ If it happened years ago, and Oria had several exes between the time frame to present day, then there's definitely something keeping him from dating her. ]
But her older brother was really protective of her and he saw everything I did to her as leading her on with shitty motives. Which... I guess it's true, yeah. I did lead her on. I'll admit that. For me, I thought it was the best way to keep her at bay—
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She's kinda mentally unstable: never taking no for an answer, has moments of hallucinations and psychosis... all that stuff. She damaged Sora's eye despite how he was protecting her because of a psychotic episode she had.
[ Yup. That guy also has an eyepatch. Bora's older (adopted) brother is Sora, who was technically born as Iria's fraternal twin, which means the Seo family bought Sora off them from whatever deal Arvel made.
And this is why it's complicated. Oria and Sora don't like each other, but the reason for Sora's dislike is very much obvious now. ]
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[Sinclair takes a moment to process that. Then he squeezes Oria a little more. He'll keep petting Oria's hair, moving it to a gentle scalp massage. He had thought Bora was an acquaintance with a crush buf this adds all sorts of layers to that dynamic he could not figure out before]
...it does explain a lot about why she was...um.
[ He tries to think about it. He wonders if today opened up another thing that was meant to stay buried]
Normally a shy girl would prefer another girl to help her right? Not a guy...
[Not that Amelia was really a girl but Bora didn't know that]
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[ mrnghhhghgghhh ]
She always wants my attention, so it doesn't matter who else is around for the most part, except for Sora, who tries to shut it down at every chance he gets.
[ Which is a relief for Oria, but his dislike of Sora stems from a different place. It's fine. ]
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[ He'll pat Oria's hair...he feels bad for Oria but
Looks at him]
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What?
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[That's as mildly as he can put it]
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Oria is trying to figure out what Sinclair means by that, and he is... not getting any ideas. Maybe he's just that tired? ]
I don't dislike her, but she's tiring to deal with. Also, I do that usually towards people I don't like already. Right?
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Brushing her hair out of her face, running in to pick her up, saying all those nice things...most people would see that as flirting you know. Especially if they're not used to close contact with people their age.
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[ He grumbles and buries his face back into thr area above Sinclair's collarbones again. ]
1/3
I know you didn't mean anything by it...
2/3
after you rejected me.
[ talk about confusing signals for most people. Sinclair knew better but.. ]
Ah, there was that time with Nanase too...
3/3
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Then what do you want me to do?
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...I think you should try letting other people help her first. Letting her try to help herself first...that sort of thing. [ He doesn't like saying this at all, even if it's true. He doesn't want Oria to not-help people but..] Not that you should ignore it if people are cruel, but...Her brother must have been trying to look out for her at that party too. Having someone get him for her probably would have been better for both of you.
[There's also the fact that... they're all twenty or turning twenty now. If she can't manage herself now...it would be bad for her later]
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Oria thinks about this. Why does he help her in the first place when he knows that it would give her the wrong idea? Of course he knows why, but he supposes there's also merit in ignoring her. It's a delicate balancing act. The feeling that her mental stability depends solely on him is quite the pressure, only because dealing with the fallout is something he doesn't want to bother with. ]
Alright.
[ Sinclair can probably feel Oria's body relaxing. He doesn't move otherwise. ]
I'll do that.
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Cruel to be kind. That sort of thing. He's quiet for a moment, absentmindedly petting Oria's hair]
Did you want to sleep now?
[ He'll get the lights...]
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[ The hands at Sinclair's back move to his lower back— ]
Yeah, I do. Let's go to sleep.
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Mn. I'll get the lights...
[Which means dislodging Oria briefly to handle that]
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[ He lets go of Sinclair so that he can do just that as he gets under the blanket. He hopes that he'll be less exhausted tomorrow.
By the time Sinclair returns to the bed, Oria will have already fallen asleep. ]
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