The white haired man did not speak to the dark haired one who was laying on the bed, yet every once in a while, Matsu would turn his head a fraction to view Nino for a half second before going back to his unusual chores. It was a quiet interchange between the two of them, and when time shifted suddenly, neither was concerned with it. Suddenly a nock hit the white haired man’s ears, and he turned from his cleaning job and walked towards the door. Opening it, the white haired man found himself surprised by both Ryuu and Emiko standing in the arch way. At least it wasn’t…….
“Oh why hello.” Matsu forced a smile on his face as he looked at both of them complacently. Ryuu had somewhat of a serious visage at the moment, and Emiko was trying to force what could only be described as a smile. Matsu nearly wanted to laugh at both of them for reasons that he was not entirely sure of himself .
“Can we come in?” Ryuu asked trying to make a casual statement and succeeding for the most part.
“Yes; of course,” the white haired Matsu answered only then realizing that Nino was probably still in bed. However, he couldn’t do much on the situation now due to the already greeted invite. He stepped to the side and allowed both persons to pass into the apartment. Matsu half noticed Emiko appearing to glance at the walls and several other factors that contributed to the apartment.
“This is a nice place.” Emiko commented a bit which caused a lighter smile to jump into Matsu’s face.
“It’s not much but its home for now.” Matsu replied happily. Home… indeed….
Suddenly the sound of someone forcing themselves up hit Matsu’s ears, and as he turned his head, he noticed that Nino had gotten up and was now walking down the hall with a particular sleepy face that one gives right after hard sleep. However, after another moment, the visage shifted to a half scowl at being woken up, and Matsu nearly laughed at this one remembering the bear face that was common when viewing a bunch of afternooners waking up in the morning.
“You’re up.” Matsu smiled directly at Nino, and both men exchanged somewhat of strained look.
“What are they doing here?” Nino asked as the dark haired man’s eyes latched on to not only Ryuu but Emiko.
“I want you guys to come to my birthday party,” Ryuu stated after a moment as he stepped towards Matsu and was now directly standing in front of Nino. The dark haired man was about to leave the entire statement in the air before he caught the white haired man’s eye and finally sighed outwards.
“And why’s that?” Nino questioned raising an eyebrow at Ryuu and staring at him somewhat sharply now.
“Come on both of you two are stressed, even Matsu can’t hide it. Just come and relax for once. We have a whole bunch of different games and stuff; it’ll be a lot of fun. I promise that I’ll listen to whatever you have to say. I’ll try to understand, I won’t talk back.” Ryuu said after taking a slight bow. Nino nearly twitched at seeing this similar easterner styled bow and had to force himself to remain complacent. It was one of those things that had been imprinted within the dark haired man since he had breathed, and now that it was reflected back at him by someone whose decent could be questioned on all accounts, he was unsure of what to make of it. Matsu’s side glance caught the dark haired man.
“I would like a break what about you Nino?” Matsu remarked in a light way with a cheesy smile plastered on his face.
“Tomorrow morning.” Nino said as he repressed the urge to yawn.
“Really?!” Ryuu all but jumped at this, and a light laugh escaped Matsu.
“I guess so.” Matsu smiled after another moment. Both Ryuu and Emiko exchanged a glace. Matsu elbowed Nino in the ribs sharply causing the dark haired man to move his eye and stare at the light haired one. “It’s today,” Matsu mouthed.
“The party starts at 5.” Emiko said causing both men to stare completely forwards again. Matsu nodded lightly, and with that, both Ryuu and Emiko turned to leave. After a moment, Matsu closed the door behind them. Nino shook his head a moment quietly and had somewhat of a peace pained look on his visage.
“So how was your sleep?” Matsu half laughed smiling pleasantly. Nino stared back without saying anything. “Ah I see,” Matsu answered back. “Anyways, it’s only a few hours till Ryuu’s party…. We need to get him at least something worthwhile…. Hey… are you ok? Your chi is off….”
Nino shook his head again quietly. Matsu turned his head to one side and waited for a moment wondering if Nino was going to explain further. However, there was a line engraved between the conversation, and finally the white haired man looked away back to his previous cleaning job.
Nani, in her infinite wisdom as a cat, suddenly sprang from her previous sitting arrangement on the couch and pounced the dark haired man. Nino, held the cat complacently and sighed a moment. “Well, did you have an idea Miss Nani?” Matsu joked lightly as he examined the cat in the dark haired man’s arms. The cat just made some strangely understandable comment back and then started a purring motion in Nino’s arms. The dark haired man looked down quietly and said nothing.
“Hahah,” a voice laughed causing Nino to look up sharply. His eyes dove towards the sound, but it was gone in an instant. Looking around, Nino found that Matsu was looking at him in a confused manner that one gives another when they know they have missed something of importance.
“Did you hear something just now?” Nino said darkly as his eyes shifted around the room.
“Hu? No why?” Matsu answered back, but the dark haired man had fallen silent in the conversation and was not about to answer the light haired man’s question. Shaking his head, Nino returned his gaze toe Matsu.
“Never mind,” Nino answered back.
“Oh well, I was just saying that maybe we could get Ryuu some kind of shaman item, you know like the people back home made..” Matsu said after giving Nino a wary eye. “What do you think?”
Nani yowled some sort of complaint on this notion, and the dark haired man shook his head. “We’ll think of something,” Nino responded back causing a surprised notion out of Matsu. He went as pale as a ghost just now….Matsu thought to himself but said nothing afterwards.
Suddenly a knock on the door caused both men to look up. “Well we are certainly getting a lot of people today,” Matsu half laughed to himself. Walking to the front door once more, the while haired man opened it to find Aiba standing in the doorway. “Well hello Aiba,” Matsu half laughed seeing the very out of breath dark haired boy.
“This place is so confusing,” Aiba groaned. “It took me forever and a half to find this place, and I even asked for directions.”
Matsu let out a light laugh, but just as he moved his eyes up, the white haired man noticed that Nino had stepped forwards and all but smacked the younger version of himself on the forehead. “What are you doing here, little brother?” Nino said somewhat resuming his dark mannerism. Aiba looked up sharply at his older brother.
“Now, now none of that,” Matsu half laughed. “What would Sho say if he saw all this bickering?”
Nino said nothing for a moment and just stared darkly at Aiba who was trying desperately to return the look with increasing interest.
“Geeze, I shouldn’t have even bothered,” Aiba answered finally looking away. “I figured you’d want your phone back at least.”
Nino raised his eyebrow, but as Aiba produced the phone, Nino sighed at it. “Don’t tell me you didn’t even notice it was gone,” Aiba half laughed in the manner that one tries to make something funny that really isn’t. “I dealt with a case by the way.”
Nino reached forwards, took the phone, and put it in his back pocket all in one fluid motion. Aiba’s face suddenly became fierce. “Hey! I stole it first!” Aiba challenged, but Nino was no longer concerned with the situation. The dark haired man had turned and was now walking back into the rest of the apartment. Matsu laughed lightly in a non-teasing way.
“So did you want to come in, Aiba?” Matsu asked lightly. “We were actually thinking of what to get Ryuu for his birthday.”
“Who is Ryuu?” Aiba asked after a moment, and the dark haired boy found that he had something methodically walked into the apartment without really thinking about it. The only thing that brought him to this conclusion was the fact that Matsu had closed the door after him.
“Ryuu is the Moratorium that I was talking about earlier,” Matsu answered back lightly. Aiba looked dumbfounded for a moment.
“You’re celebrating a Moratorium’s birthday??” Aiba all but demanded.
“Why he invited us to his party, and besides, Nino and I are getting to know him well,” Matsu answered back. Aiba shook his head again as if confused.
“Who’s kid is he?” Aiba asked after another moment.
“Asa’s child,” Matsu answered back. Suddenly the white haired man turned his head as he heard the springs of a mattress compress. “I guess Nino went back to sleep… anyways…”
“A Moratorium….” Aiba said again as though tying to keep the word in line with his thoughts on the matter.
“Aiba it isn’t polite to talk that way,” Matsu said after another moment causing the dark haired boy to jump.
“So… what is the Mora-…uh.. what is this Ryuu person like?”
“Oh he’s got a very interesting soul as well as the others that he is with,” Matsu answered back lightly. “Emiko, Aisling, and Mari appear to be either already good friends or developing friends, it’s a nice thing to see….”
“Aisling?” Aiba said suddenly remembering the red haired girl from before… we… he had heard the name and made the connation at least.
“Oh have you met her?” Matsu asked smiling. “She’s a cute little girl with an interesting bit of power.”
“Maybe,” Aiba answered.
Suddenly the sound of something falling and smashing on the ground brought both pairs of eyes over and down the hall. “AIBA! YOU BROUGHT YOUR STUPID DOG???” Nino’s voice all but roared. Aiba’s eyes grew large and shifted to Matsu who only reflected a look of confusion back.
“Uh….” Aiba said unsure of what to say, and suddenly the sound of a screaming cat and a barking dog moved through the air as well. Both dark haired boy and white haired man exchanged yet another glance before heading towards the situation.
~*~
A full hour passed, and with that hour gone, Matsu found himself walking with Nino in tow towards Ryuu’s house. Aiba, as punishment for Io, his dog, ‘s adventures in Nino’s room, the dark haired boy had been forced to stay home and clean the mess that was left while the two men were out. Matsu patted the box that he was carrying complacently while Nino walked a meter behind somewhat darkly looking downwards. As the two men reached what was explained to be Ryuu’s house, Matsu walked up to the door and rang the doorbell and forced a perfectly light smile on his face. Ryuu appeared to open the door almost in astonishment that the white haired man was standing before him and the dark haired man standing not too far backwards.
“Happy Birthday Ryuu,” Matsu smiled holding up the elegantly wrapped box that he had been carrying.
“Ah, hah thanks,” Ryuu answered stepping somewhat to the side to allow for Matsu and Nino to enter. “We were just about to get started with the party…”
“Well isn’t that excellent timing on both parties’ accounts,” Matsu smiled wider.
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Left it pretty much open ya lol.
