Why was she so quiet? Why did she look like that - why wouldn’t she look at him? Was she... going to reject him? Did he just make a fool of himself yet again? Maybe this is cosmic payback for all that he’s done... for all of the evil he’s committed and the wrongs to both the living and the dead. Maybe if he just told her he could change---
No, before he could get a word in edgewise his nightmare started to unfold.
“I…I-I’m sorry Nue…but I don’t feel the same.”
“I…I can’t love someone I barely know.”
...Why is he even surprised?
“I’m sorry.” He cut in abruptly, bowing his head in shame and digging his nails into the fabric of his pants. “I’m sorry for discomforting you, i’m sorry for being selfish, i’m--... oh no, i’m doing IT again.”
Self-realization washed over the ignorant godling when crimson hues painfully set upon Takeno’s crying face. He wasn’t used to people crying... no, he’s never seen anyone cry before - hencewise whenever he did, as was often, he’d form an inner hatred for himself - thinking it weakness weighed over with overwhelming guilt.
He was doing It again. It being crying, It being weakness, It being putting himself and his own selfish feelings, thoughts, and needs above everyone and everything else. To think, he could be so heartless as to do this to Takeno... absentmindedly at that, maybe he really didn’t deserve her.
( It’s just the brat state of mind that makes ‘I get what I want’ law. )
This time, he listened through without interruption.
Managing the thinnest of facades in an act of false strength.
If not for himself, he needs to be strong for her.
“..Hehe, I didn’t know life was so complicated.” Wiping the tears from his own eyes, he took a deep and shaking breath only to release it in attempt to fully calm down. “But if there’s one thing i’ve learned in my time here it’s that you can only mature with experiences, good or bad. I needed this one, just like I needed to be embarrassed by your friends. I wouldn’t be here if it didn’t happen, and I never would of met someone as perfect as you.”
Maybe inappropriate by social queue, he decided to reach towards her - giving the warmest smile he’s ever managed before wiping gently at her tears with his sleeve. “You shouldn’t cry Takeno, i’m okay and you did nothing wrong... y-you know?”
“I don’t know alot about life or society. I don’t know how to act or what to say in certain situations, and i’m only now learning of right and wrong or boundary lines in relationships. I’ve no one to properly teach me as Kubanashi became anti-social in death as did her men... and even then, all they’ve ever known is war.” A pause as he rolled up his now damp sleeve, for some reason finding a bit of irritation in just that feeling alone. It was such a small thing and yet it made him twitch... perhaps that’s just one of his many yet undiscovered quirks.
“I want to take you up on that offer, Takeno. I want to be your friend, a-and friends... c-can hug each other, right? I d-don’t like seeing you so sad and... whenever i’m sad Kubanashi hugs me so... i-if you would allow me to....”
Calm down, no stuttering, no need to be so shy. Just take a deep breath, and...
“To burn away your sorrow with the flames of my dark soul! Let not these petty tears stain your precious face any longer, Takeno Konoko, for I - the almighty Lord of Dark Flame, am now your friend! May our friendship blossom like sakura in the spring.. and, like... stuff.”
There we go, that’s the Nue we all know and love.
vaporwave
blakekathryn
stormborns
