A sad home just won't do, so let's fix that, shall we?

[poorlittleblueburdie]

Who: Avitus and Aoi (eyewillprotect), closed if you don't live/stay with them.
Where: Aoi's house, where they live now, in Libra.
Summary: After the Taurus event, neither are in the best of moods. So Avitus is going to try to make her feel better. ♥
Warnings: Cuteness? IDK, none yet

Those odd few days hadn't been good to either of them. He'd been a mess for no good reason he could put a finger on, jumping at shadows and even taking days off from his job at the town hall -- a desk job, at the moment! -- because he'd apparently forgotten how to face people, transit, and the possibility that he'd see the cat that'd been wandering around Libra now and then. Worse still, he was pretty certain Aoi'd noticed.

And she'd been so kind to him through it, humoring his nervous delusions as though they could've had a rational basis of some kind. She'd insisted on handling all their dishes herself, checked around the corner every time he looked, wondering if he'd heard something....

And now that he was feeling back to himself again, he'd caught a glimpse of her, of something... a little different in her expression.

She'd gone out of her way for him, and even before that, her calm had always been reassuring. She was a soothing presence, something in her smile never failing to make him feel better. It was high time to repay the favor, and return that smile to her pretty face where it belonged.

He went out shopping after he got off work, and by the time Aoi found him in the house, he was busy arranging flowers in a big vase, whistling softly to himself under his breath (or so it sounded, except sometimes there were two notes at once...) and looking pleased about something.

On the table with the vase were a fresh bowl of fruits and a pair of obvious presents for someone, smallish parcels of shiny silver paper wrapped around something soft and vaguely longer than it was wide, with curly ribbon holding it together.

Comments

[eyewillprotect]

While Aoi could technically answer on behalf of Otonashi, she instead chooses to keep silent for now, continuing to eat her ramen before it goes entirely cold. After all, it's his story to tell, and she wouldn't feel right trying to explain something she only vaguely heard about second-hand.

[trainwrecking]

"I'm not the best judge... Why?" He could take a guess that claiming age twenty-two was simply for the sake of ease.

"Ah, no, it's not that. I was always human." He settles his spoon in the ramen, disturbing the settled mix of seasoned broth. "I mean that I was dead before I got here. Misato told me that by coming to Hinoto-Ri, I was alive again. Me and the others... we all lost our ability to heal quickly from anything."

That gets a small sigh from him.

"Including deaths." So when Avitus says that it's rather hard to kill him, Otonashi can relate. Or could, anyway.

[poorlittleblueburdie]

"Oh...."

He was quiet a second, trying to figure out what to say to that. "That... would have been nice to keep, wouldn't it." He bit the inside of his lip a little again, thinking on it. "I'd offer to give you mine, but..." A sheepish smile; he was joking. Probably, anyhow. "...I doubt you'd enjoy the rest of it.

"Um... on the note of ages... might I ask yours? Or... more to the point, perhaps.... I mean, not that I'm planning anything for them already... but it might be a nice reason to have some sort of celebration anyhow, wouldn't it? ...since... I know humans where I'm from celebrate their birthdays... when do you celebrate yours?" A little glance from Aoi to Otonashi, a bit quieter, "...if you still do?"

He pulled his wings around himself a little, back to biting his lip, half certain he'd managed to put his foot in his mouth with that. He could've phrased that a lot better, if he'd thought it through first, he was certain.

[eyewillprotect]

"Ages?" Aoi tilts her head to the side slightly as she considers it briefly, but there's no real reason not to trade birthdays, is there? Besides, this will make it possible for her to celebrate their birthdays as well.

"I'm eighteen right now, and my birthday is the 20th of September. I'm used to celebrating it, but we don't usually do anything very large." Wealthy though her family may have been, her father was always out and about and frankly hers was not a home that often lent itself to inviting boisterous friends over. The servants would usually do something, but it all tended to be rather self-contained.

"What about the two of you?"

[trainwrecking]

A very distinct look of hesitation washes over him, as though everything he intended to say had just been knocked out of him and swept away. He scratches at his forehead, personally taking mental note of Aoi's birth date. "I... I don't know."

As far as Otonashi knew, the dead should have no reason to celebrate. However, upon coming here his friends appear to consider birthdays and other important dates. Time meant something here, as did death and birth.

"What I mean is... I don't remember it. All I know is that it--" His shoulders sag a little, testament to his guilt. He only knows anything about it courtesy of that awful event. "It falls under the Virgo sign. So... anywhere from late August to late September."

[poorlittleblueburdie]

So she'll be nineteen... next step, find out when September was. Why did people name the months so oddly here?

He looked to Otonashi. His was a bit before Aoi's? "Well... if you'd like to celebrate it, I see no reason not to decide on a day to represent it and do so. Or... we could celebrate when you arrived here, if you'd rather? Or some other date?

"I don't celebrate my human birthday either. I... think it would be more appropriate for me, to observe the day I came here, which was... near enough the winter solstice. Else, I can think of another day I'd feel like celebrating... but if anyone from my world knew about that...." He rolled his eyes a little, as though dismissing it, while trying to hide a wince. "It... wouldn't go over well with my clan in the slightest, if they found out somehow, so... I probably ought not to."

[eyewillprotect]

"Ah, right... the ID card doesn't display the actual date." It was so easy to forget when so much other information was displayed.

After pausing to listen to Avitus, Aoi nods. "I agree. There isn't any reason we couldn't come up with a date, could we?"

She turns then, her voice encouraging as she speaks to their resident vampire. "It's up to you, but... If you are going to choose a day to represent your birthday, I feel like the most significant date would work best."

[trainwrecking]

"No, it doesn't. It has my full name on it, but the rest is city information..." Admittedly, it disturbs him to know that Hinoto-Ri's government knew his name when even he didn't. For a moment, he seems too fixated on the bowl in front of him, as if maybe he isn't listening to them at all.

Did Philemon read minds? Did he keep pry into people's minds to dig that information out at all? No, worse yet, maybe the government did something to everyone and observed them from some sort of... giant fortress, maybe it was mechanical and controlled--

Thankfully, their suggestion snaps him back to reality. His imagination is a dangerous place indeed.

"Ahh--... I guess I don't see why not... Maybe not when I arrived here, that doesn't feel right. I'll think about it." He turns to Avitus, this time opting to stray from asking questions.

"If that date is important to you, then... you could do it. What would be the harm if it was a small celebration?"

[poorlittleblueburdie]

He nodded to Otonashi, but at the comments after, gave a quiet snort. "It wouldn't be a birthday, but it would be something, certainly. As I said, I came here about the time of the winter Solstice; the other event I can think of would be roughly fifteen days after the fall equinox. ....I think."

[eyewillprotect]

It's a bit of a dated way to refer to times, but she manages to understand at least. "The winter solstice would be close to Christmas. If we celebrated then, the city would also be lit up for the festivities."

It's more something to note than an outright suggestion. She definitely feels this is up to Avitus to ultimately decide, so she won't try to deliberately sway him one way or another.

[trainwrecking]

"Ah, yeah, I'm sure Hinoto-Ri decorates everywhere for..." He trails off mid-thought, his mouth still lingering open. His breathing hitches; his eyes gloss over, distanced from the conversation, until he forcefully shakes it off and leaves himself with an overly rigid posture. "... Christmas."

Standing and bowing is all he can manage at first before he remembers to pick up his dish. "Ah. It's late... I'm going to clean up and rest." His voice comes out dull, and when he tries to thank both of them, he soon finds that the words die on his lips. Holding a normal conversation is completely lost to him; holding this conversation incites a sort of agony that he can't fully and accurately explain.

[poorlittleblueburdie]

If he forgets to take his presents with him, Avitus will probably try following after with them. As it is, he's sitting up a little straighter, watching Otonashi, worried. He caught that change in demeanor easily enough; he knows it well. He knew that this Christmas thing had a connection to the Solstice celebrations here, and those strings of lovely little colored electric lights he'd bought, but beyond that, nothing. Certainly nothing about why it should bother the other boy so much.

"Is everything all right?" No, obviously not, but if Otonashi wanted to volunteer any details, he would.

[eyewillprotect]

Naturally, Aoi is concerned as well. She doesn't move to stop him - after all, even his being here was a way for him to have some time to himself - but there's quite a bit of worry in her voice. "Otonashi...?"

[trainwrecking]

The presents wouldn't have crossed his mind right away if Avitus had not brought them into the kitchen. Otonashi looks up and neatly stacks the newly-washed bowl into place.

"R-right, thanks... I'll talk with Misato about doing this... later. When we're both free." He doesn't sound ungrateful: only flat and unfocused.

"I would... just like to rest. Thanks again, both of you."