mineo.

[enfangs]

Comments

[enfangs]

[IT SOUNDED LIKE IT if it's wrong then it will just be a false rumour

when white feels mineo's embarrassment, he quickly does his best to shove down his own flustered feelings. right, not supposed to be crushing on this guy right now.]

... Uh. You should go back to your vegetables.

[sengokus]

[ . . . . he just snorts faintly at that before letting go and heading back - he'll wash his hands again for hygiene reasons - before going back]

... but that's what I've been thinking about.

What was on your mind?

[he hasn't forgotten the point of it coming up at all]

[enfangs]

[absentmindedly, he rubs at where mineo touched his face earlier, before looking at a point near the floor.

...]

The same stuff, basically. What comes after this.

[sengokus]

[you edited it to make it gayer wow

anyway mineo will go back to chopping the veggies now]

... yeah?

You have to go back to help someone important to you, right?

[from what he remembers]

[enfangs]

[yea i did]

... Something like that, yeah.

[well. that's assuming he manages to get what he wants in the first place, at least.]

[sengokus]

[ . . . ]

And then - what happens after that?

[enfangs]

[he shrugs.]

That's the million-dollar question.

[and there it is again—the agitation, worry, and dread, followed by a fearful hope against a backdrop of exhaustion and aching for something that never was.]

[sengokus]

[ . . . he taps his fingertips against the counter for a second after he finishes chopping the ingredients before looking back up at white]

... no plans?

[enfangs]

[a scoff, though not aimed at mineo in particular.]

Well, the first plan is to stop the universe from ending.

[... which is far from a sure thing, but white is choosing to believe it'll work out—because if he can't do that much, then there's no point in even holding on here.]

[sengokus]

[ . . . . a beat.]

Solid plan.

And I thought that my home situation was rough....

[it was not.]

[enfangs]

[that gets a brief laugh.]

Well, at least I don't have to solve murders or shit.

[just figure out his own life, if everything manages to settle down.]

[sengokus]

.... yeah.

[ . . . . he looks thoughtful about that for a second before he goes to put more of the curry ingredients together]

.... were you thinking about how much you'd miss Endorsi?

[giving the longing and the loneliness earlier]

[enfangs]

[...

he just

gives mineo a dead look]

[sengokus]

You can admit it. I know you two are friends.

[enfangs]

[THERE'S AN IMMEDIATE FLARE OF EMBARRASSMENT]

Shut up.

[...]

And why would you name just Endorsi there?

[sengokus]

[ ? ]

Well, she was the one you were talking to....?

[enfangs]

[white goes to sit down by a counter.]

God, I hate you.

[sengokus]

Why this time?!

[enfangs]

At least put yourself on the list, you fucking moron! Why do I have to say this out loud!?

[sengokus]

[oh -

he pauses at that and his heart does a stutter before he can think better of it, face flushing a bit as he looks away]

I don't.... want to make assumptions....?

[enfangs]

... Idiot. [...] I'd miss both of you.

[the loneliness is there for a lot of reasons, but that much is the truth, as difficult as it is to get the words out.]

[sengokus]

[ . . . . oh. he leaves the curry to stew for a second then, leaving it behind as he goes to check on white. there's a sort of understanding in his chest, coupled with a concern]

.... hey.

[he reaches out again - this time to try to just catch white's hand]

[enfangs]

[white lets him take it, though he glances away.]

... You don't need to keep dropping everything you're doing.

[just because white happens to have an emotion.]

[sengokus]

It needs to simmer a while - we've got a bit.

[i'm not looking up a curry recipe to figure out how long 'a bit' is

but mineo's just going to keep holding onto his hand then! and he'll give it a squeeze]

.... I don't really have anything I can say. I haven't figured it out for myself either.

[enfangs]

... Well, it's not like any of us thought it'd be forever here. Going our separate ways was inevitable.

[nothing lasts. that's one thing white has learned well in his long life, after outliving almost everything and everyone he's known—even those that seemed as though they would never disappear.

...

he opens his mouth again, before the awkwardness burns up and he closes it, because what he was about to say definitely toed the line of being platonic.]