ʟᴏᴏᴋs ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴡᴇ'ʟʟ ʙᴇ ʟɪᴠɪɴɢ ᴛᴏɢᴇᴛʜᴇʀ [ʜᴀɴɴᴀ]
ʜᴇ ᴄᴀɴ ᴏɴʟʏ flinch, thanks to instinct, when he turns back around to face the roommate to return the gathered papers. Even catching a glimpse of that uncanny impression of some keenly curious bird is discomforting, setting aside the compliment - itself admittedly more unsettling that the last - which accompanies it.
Suffice to say, no, he will not smile again, knowing now what reaction doing so would have.
None too surprisingly, then, he is sure to return to his own half of the room almost immediately after neatly lying down the papers he’d collected atop those strewn across the desk. Simply to keep his distance. It thenceforth takes little effort to settle again, at least ─ as long as he keeps that overly-interested reaction to his smile in the recess of his mind. Seeming to follow suit, the now-dubbed ‘Oberon’ retreats to sit upon his own bed, knees drawn up to his body slightly in lieu of legs being left dangling off the edge.
Never mind what other names Hanna supplies now, he fancies that second suggestion still, and inwardly breathes a sigh of relief when this bout of rambling eventually draws to a close. "…’Oberon’ is quite fine, thank you."
But once the formalities are over and done with and conversation is thus allowed to turn towards a topic more meaningful (one which has been on his mind since setting foot inside the room), however, the fellow has fewer qualms with engaging talk. “I shall stay here for as long as I feel is convenient,” he admits plainly, glancing off to one side to smooth out the bedsheets beneath him before continuing. “Of all the towns I through which I have travelled thus far, this has felt the most homely, if truth be told. ‘Pretty creepy’ or not.
"—Although I do not doubt that I am the only…one of my peculiar disposition here, no.” He hesitates momentarily, watching keenly now for reaction, “Unless I am quite mistaken, there is also you, Herr— Cross, was it not?”
Hanna was quite used to dealing with tough customers, but ones that were more on the fussy side as opposed to terse or blunt. Somehow, he managed to note that something; well. Possibly everything he had said had proved to be disenchanting to his roommate. Really, he’d just been babbling and trying to initiate small talk but, he had little doubt that lack of thought had been the culprit. But to apologize would be a shot in the dark so to speak.
Luckily for Hanna, he had shooting in the dark boiled down to an art. ✖
“Oh! I didn’t mean creepy in a bad way or anything! I just think it’s interesting, is all,” he said, hands flying up to his sides in a gesture of surrender. “I mean, I’ve always kind of been interested in this stuff. All of these different cultures have their own theory about how being dead works, but. I don’t know it’s pretty cool to see that it isn’t really the same for everybody. I'm sorry. I must've gotten a little carried away. ” He sat up, took a deep breath.
“Oh… Not exactly,” he said. “It’s a bit of a long story, but... It’s really just something I’ve been working through. I got myself into a bit of a mess, but it’s not so bad.” He paused, idly fiddling with a loose string along the bottom of his shirt, which only caused it to unravel further. Despite having the distinct feeling that he should shut up, staying silent and on topic made him nervous. “So- what about you? I mean, do you remember anything from being alive? It seems like it just sort of depends on the person.”
