open rp/psl/etc

[head_bancho]

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[head_bancho]

I'm not ungrateful when somebody helps me.

[The seamless transition from calm and collected to losing it over one word was a little too natural. Riki furrowed his brows, leaned in and left a kiss on Rin's cheek before he stepped into the cage.]

I figured they were going to kill me but experiments? That's a new one.

[erbe]

[Like a comedic record scratch moment, Rin freezes up the second his lips touch her cheek.

Riki is warm. His lips softer than she had expected. He doesn't linger, and he's kind enough to just continue on afterward. Yet Tohsaka can't take advantage of that grace because it's a Blue Screen of Death event.]

[head_bancho]

[Coming close to just continuing the conversation, Riki glanced over his shoulder to catch Rin in a moment of shock. He leaned against the fence with his shoulder, eyes on her just to check and make sure she was alright before giving in and trying to help her reboot.

He just assumed she was annoyed with his ignorance, sounding a little guilty as he tried to apologize, looking a little downcast over it.]

Hey, Tohsaka. You stuck your neck out for me, so I'm sorry if it screwed your work up. Didn't mean to. Promise.

[erbe]

[Kiss — he kissed her!!! Sure, she kissed him first back on their little Christmas date, but... was that really an open invitation for him to do it back!?]

Shut up. They were hunting you. All you did was exist. They would have found you one way or another. What you did made it easier for me to kick them out, actually.

[head_bancho]

[It wasn't that he lacked self-preservation instincts. It was that he always put others ahead of himself. The suggestion that he was being hunted didn't bother him so much but he couldn't help but think about how it might have gone bad if they all attacked. That would have been all his fault.]

Guess that's pretty lucky. Good. If you're clearing out psychos like that? Glad I helped.

[He was preoccupied with his little blame game so he didn't think about kissing her as anything weird. Taking a moment, Riki fished a bottle of water from his jacket to push through the fence for Rin.]

By the way, you're lookin' red. Want some?

[erbe]

[Riki is almost met with refusal, but he gives her the perfect opening to pretend her red face is from the recent workout. She nods and accepts.]

Samejima, what do you know about your own abilities?

[head_bancho]

[He didn't like the sting of that question. Riki shoved coins in the machine, waiting for it to start with his back turned. Not wanting to see what look she had on her face when he answered.]

Cause I'm tough? Or, the shadows? Cause, my parents asked around. All kinds of experts. Nearly went broke just getting a bunch of opinions and a bunch of 'em thought I was 'mixed blood'. Or an oni.

[The machine went and he kept swinging. Hit after hit. In the middle of it, he had to look at her to figure out what was on Rin's mind. How weird was he to someone who probably saw weirder things than him? Each ball after kept hitting the pad.]

The last lady? Said I'm totally human. Just born in the wrong era.

[erbe]

[Tohsaka views him with interest, curiosity, and... something else. A secret third thing that even she herself refuses to acknowledge. While he speaks she'll finish off his his water and proceed to search her pockets for coins to grab something from the vending machine to replace it.]

She might have been the most correct.

[Perhaps he's descended from a mage family that became irrelevant by gradual loss of power, and it suddenly manifested in him generations later? It's not impossible. The Matous were on their way out before her father 'gifted' her sister to them.]

Any interest in learning magic?

[head_bancho]

[What did it change? Cards on the table laid out and face-up, he was left realizing Rin had only flipped one more card on her side. His were all out in the open. It was fine. If he was an open deck and she kept hers closed then at least they were talking. It was a little better than before.

He thought about what she said in silence. Was he even weird by Rin's standards? Lining himself up, he swung and hit the last ball with a sharp crack and leaned against the fence while the machine wound down. That look on her face was familiar. Thinking and judging. Probably making a decision and then...]

No. [Not since chasing people they thought were magic landed them in debt they barely crawled out from under. He made an excuse. He was looking somewhere else, far off and out of the park.]

Don't think I'm smart enough for that.

[erbe]

Mm... do you have to keep to a curfew?

[While he had finished up hitting earlier she was able to grab some water. Carefully she slips it between the chain links of the batting cage to him — wiggling it in hopes of catching his attention.]

[head_bancho]

Wouldn't be here if I did.

[Not since he recovered. Hearing crinkling plastic, Riki reached out to take the bottle. He would have paid her back right away, too.]

Look. I got friends who ask me stuff indirectly, too.

[Getting ready to turn on the machine again, Riki shot Rin a smile. There was no point to beating around the bush when he could shred his way through it.]

So, just ask. I'll probably say 'yeah'.

[erbe]

No asking. If you don't have a curfew you'll be visiting my house tonight.

[Hah! Two can play that game. And this way she gets to come across as demanding instead of flustered.]

[head_bancho]

[He didn't break eye contact with her, blink or flinch.


Rin may not have factored in his already blossomed interest in her.]

We heading there now? Yeah, let's do it.

[erbe]

Well, I meant — like, after you were done... but I guess we can go now, yeah.

[head_bancho]

Don't sweat it. [With a smack be slapped the off switch for the pitcher and finished his water in a single gulp.

A little impulsive around his crush and determined to make the most of everything he thought he was doing right.]

All set. You good, Tohsaka?

[erbe]

[Wow, he's surprisingly quick! Too bad he'll probably be disappointed later.]

Sure. Bus or rail?

[Both stations will put them at the bottom of the hill, so they'll still have to climb.]

[head_bancho]

[He'd regret his excitement when he inevitably blew up a room thanks to overexcitement.]

Rail. Still got a month left on my bus ban.

[Before they got to the gate, Riki stopped and]

Remind me I gotta bring jam with me later. I told mom what you said and she got manic.

[erbe]

I suppose you neglected to tell her you threatened me for it.

[A threat? Hardly, but if Tohsaka is anything it's difficult.

She's familiar with thw rail stations in this part of town so she'll lead them both.]

[head_bancho]

I told her it was your first date and she grilled me for like, half an hour.

[Therein was the true threat.]

[erbe]

...Why? I didn't think it was that bad.

[head_bancho]

It wasn't at all. She got mad that I wasn't enough of a 'gentleman'.

[erbe]

[Oh... oh-ho-ho.]

And what sort of gentleman did she expect you to be?

[head_bancho]

Don't laugh. [She wasn't, but he could still hear it.]

She thought I was too focused on pictures instead of you.

[erbe]

I didn't asked to be focused on, so it's fine.

[As long as the pictures are fairly generic and not embarrassing it's fine. If she actually showed emotion in them she'd be devastated!]

[head_bancho]

[He pulled up the two pictures from then on his phone and just looked at them for a little.]

Looked like you enjoyed yourself even if you didn't ask for it.