CICONIA: WHEN THEY CRY

[insinning]

It's a holy night. Silent night.

All is calm.

Everything is b r i g h t.

Comments

[dissimulative]

[ He more or less expected this sort of response, so he doesn't look crushed or anything. He just grins and takes the offered parfait. Yummy. ]

Yeah! Me too.

[ Oria would never say "love" so easily, but that's his personal problem and no one else's.

He starts eating his mountainous pile of pancakes drenched with syrup. Mmmmmm... ]

[insinning]

[ Oh, Oria accepted his offering. He's even happier now]

How are your pancakes?

[ He'll take back his parfait and work on his burger first. Sugar tastes even better after something salty]

[dissimulative]

Soooo good. Everything tastes good when I'm hungry.

[ Not like it hasn't already. He takes a giant piece of pancake and eats it. Nom. Kirby time. ]

[insinning]

[Even for a gauntlet knight, sometimes it seems like Oria can just vacuum up an entire restaurant. But Sinclair can understand]

That's good. I would have felt bad if the reviews were all lies.

[dissimulative]

[ Maybe the food he eats just disappears to the dimensioned container. ]

Oh? You looked up the reviews and everything?

[ He seems incredibly fond. ]

[insinning]

Yeah. It seemed like a nice place by the way people talked about it. I thought it'd be nice if we could go together.

[ Research for friends outings!! not that Sinclair can leave without strict restrictions being met but... sometimes he likes to imagine and prepare for that]

[dissimulative]

[ Sinclair is extremely endearing, Oria thinks. This makes me so sad... lonely sinclair... ]

It's comfortable here and the food is awesome. You definitely picked right, so thanks!

[insinning]

[Sinclair blushes a little, pleased and tried to hide that behind his burger]

Mm... I'm glad. You should help me with the chips though. I might have ordered too much.

[dissimulative]

Gladly.

[ Sinclair is so cute... Oria keeps that thought to himself. ]

Only after you feel full though.

[ He doesn't want to take away Sinclair's food otherwise. Boy... you need to eat. ]

It would be nice if we could do this every day.

[insinning]

...me too. [ There's a wistful note to Sinclair's voice. It's nice to fulfil one of his daydreams. The Public Order of the Bath just isn't the same.]

I'm lucky. I fulfilled my conditions this month at least even though I lost my temper at teacher...

[small hard won freedoms. And Sinclair eats dutifully!! But he likes sharing food and experiences...]

[dissimulative]

Hm? What conditions?

[ He tilts his head. Sinclair? What's that?

And yeah, the Public Bath order really isn't the same at all. ]

[insinning]

Mm...avoid any marks against my behaviour record, complete any tasks assigned to me, that sort of thing.

[ And put up with...certain things. It's hard okay]

[dissimulative]

Why are they so strict on you... Are they really doing that comparison thing?

[ "Why can't you be more like x" etc ]

[insinning]

I mean...[ Aria knew why but] ...I guess it's because I'm not really under the military like you. So I have to prove their training works. Or something.

[dissimulative]

[ ...

Oria frowns as he quietly takes a sip of his beverage. ]

Geroy?

[insinning]

...yeah. Because I'm 'broken'.

[He pushes his fries around with his fork. Hah.]

[dissimulative]

[ ...

Oria takes his own fork to steal one of Sinclair's fries. Not because of him wanting those fries, but to get Sinclair's attention. Don't give your fries attention!! ]

Do you think you are? I think you're just as human as the rest of us.

[insinning]

[Ah...he had offered but that's rude!! He looks up]

...I like to think I am. Human, I mean. But it was hard, when they kept telling me otherwise.

[dissimulative]

Not back then. What do you think now?

[ Certainly, ever since being selected for the Striking Badgers kette, the two Severine siblings cared for Sinclair in their own way--comforting him, slowly(? cannot be defined for oria's way of thinking) drawing him out of his shell, and creating memories together. Those days were nice, and Oria thinks so too... but he's not the type to dwell on the past.

...

At least that's what he tells himself. ]

[insinning]

[Thank goodness for the gloves now because Sinclair can only twist his fingers together nervously]

I'm human. I'm...not broken or anything else they've said or I wouldn't be able to be here with you. [There's the unspoken 'and Aria' that lingers, a shadow that haunts them both]

...Aria reminded me of that too.

[dissimulative]

[ He pauses and holds his hands out across the table toward Sinclair with his palms up. It's an invitation to hold his hands. ]

[insinning]

[...ah. He reaches out to hold Oria's hands, clinging a little]

...this is real, right?

[The happiness, and grief and everything that lay in between]

[dissimulative]

[ Even with Sinclair's gloves, Oria holds his hands tight. ]

It's real. We're real, right here in this eatery known for their burgers and pancakes, holding hands. I'm real and you're real. So are our emotions.

[ He speaks in a volume that's quieter than usual—soft and his attempts to comfort the person he likes, but most importantly, his best friend. ]

I think we're all a little broken, really. It's okay if you're not perfect. I'm not either. Neither was Aria. Humans... can break too. But you're still here, with me.

[ He laces their fingers together, gloves or not. ]

And I think that counts for something.

[insinning]

[Oh. Sinclair colours a little, and it feels like he can feel the warmth of Oria's hands seeping through his gloves too.]

...yeah. I'm glad you're with me still.

[Still. Even if nothing is okay anymore, and nothing has felt really correct since Aria died...they still had this, fragile and strong all at once]

This is important to me too.

[dissimulative]

Yeah? I feel the same.

[ Oria smiles, but then it starts to gradually look strained. He's probably fighting with Keropoyo about spontaneously turning on inappropriate background music for the current atmosphere. BITCH. HE'LL FIGHT YOU. ]