the sound of birds

Mia's RP sideblog. Main is yolktuba. Relationships rather predictably at /relationships

[eroikyuuketsuki-blog]

He didn’t care. Not about her obvious nervosity, not about the whole- can’t catch a cold because of this or that, and certainly not about her advice. Still, all smiles. 

“Aaah, what a pain. Here I am, trying to be considerate, and all I get is an insult. You hurt me.” Without hesitating he went back to work on her shirt. Quickly enough he was able to brush it past her shoulders and down her arms.

“Is a simple /Thank you/ really too much to ask for.”

[flowercutter]

That she’d completely failed in even stalling him was unsurprising, and she couldn’t even feel disappointed about it. This sort of thing was daily life now, really. Instead of responding to his comment, she simply looked down at her body.

It actually reminded her of the day they first met, with him forcing her to take off her shirt. Annoyance and disgust had kept her from feeling embarrassment back then, and apathy kept her from it now. Just like then, she wore a simple black bra-- it could even be the same one, though she didn’t remember if she’d had to toss it out because of the stains.

“Nostalgic,” she muttered, giving voice to her thoughts.

[sakamaki-subaru]

The sound of her chopping stopped, but he didn’t look up, rather focused on staring at his own hands. 

"—I’m fine," he replied, still looking down. A meal could not hurt, and then she would leave. No English lesson today. "Tch. I’m tired. Can you hurry it up?"

[flowercutter]

"Sure..."

It was obvious something was bothering him, but she couldn't cook and worry at the same time. It wasn't much longer, however-- about twelve minutes later (slightly longer than she had predicted), she was sliding the meat onto a plate. Before starting the the tedious process of cleaning up, she walked over to where he was sitting and set the plate down, along with a knife and fork.

"Don't burn your tongue again," she warned, before quickly dashing back to the sink.

[sakamaki-subaru]

She seemed so at home in the kitchen, something that he couldn’t nearly claim to be. It was almost uncomfortable. The first time, it wasn’t so bad because he had largely been distracted, peeling potatoes, but his time, he sat down, watching her movements, the feeling of intruding heightened.

Maybe this was just the wrong day in general to be doing this. Maybe he should have just stayed in his room. The feelings welled up inside and his stomach was doing flips, unable to cope.

"…on second thought, I—" 

He had found his voice much softer than intended, and surprised by it, he had stopped talking, instead choosing to stare down at his clasped hands resting on the table.

[flowercutter]

She paused in the middle of chopping up the chives, and turned, slowly, ears straining to hear his voice. Once it was clear he was done speaking, she set the knife down.

"You okay there?" she asked, concerned.

[sakamaki-subaru]

"Ahh." He nodded sagely, placing the packet of lamb on the counter. Still, his mind was on the question of how to pose his request—but while dancing around it, he once again decided against it. It was dumb, after all. 

"What are you making with this?" 

[flowercutter]

"Lamb chops, I guess? Nothing fancy. Lamb tastes pretty good as lamb."

This time, she had a fairly good idea of where utensils and ingredients were stored, and the skillet was tucked away where she'd found the pots and pans. She placed it on the stovetop.

"This'll take like... ten minutes, I guess?" Ducking back into the fridge, she found herself some chives and garlic. That was one vampire myth anticlimactically debunked.

[sakamaki-subaru]

He couldn’t argue with that logic. Meat was, sort of, the tastiest thing out of the things in the fridge. This was, however, Reij’s domain, and Subaru really didn’t know his way around, anyways. 

Walking to her side, he peered into the fridge with her. Somehow, it was amazing that all this manage to turn into something edible. “How can you tell?” was his only response, reaching to take the packet, as it was on the uppermost shelf and perhaps a little bit out of her reach. 

[flowercutter]

"How can I tell... that it's lamb?" She tilted her head to one side, pondering the question. "The way the meat looks and the... the cut. The part they took and the size of it."

[sakamaki-subaru]

"I don’t know." Words clipped, he walked into the kitchen, sitting down. Couldn’t possibly ask her. "Anything. Make it tasty." 

[flowercutter]

"Meat is tastiest. I will look for meat." Nodding to herself, she wandered over to the fridge and pulled it open.

As before, it was almost completely full; meat, fruit, vegetables and cheeses of all kinds were neatly stacked, some of which being completely foreign to Mia. Reiji, she assumed, knew a lot more about the culinary arts than her. She scanned the contents once more, closely, until her eyes fell upon something she hadn't even thought of.

"There is lamb in this fridge," she commented, turning towards Subaru, as if asking for permission. Clams were one thing, but surely the bespectacled vampire would care if an expensive cut of lamb were to suddenly go missing. Who would he blame, anyway? Did anyone but him know how to cook in this place to begin with?

[sakamaki-subaru]

"…something else this time," mumbling this quietly, he shut the door behind him, wary that she had seen what sort of havoc he had wrecked. Almost guilty. It was strange, but he didn’t say anything, starting to walk, steps a little fast, as though telling her to keep up or she would be left behind.

[flowercutter]

"What kind of thing would you like?" she asked, keeping pace behind him. "Do you like meat?"

[sakamaki-subaru]

He was surprised, most of all, by the way she approached his question. Really, Subaru had not expected her to give him a concrete answer. For a moment, when he listened to her speak—it didn’t seem like her speech was going to end—he could almost laugh, the corners of his mouth threatening to smile.

"You’re stupid," he replied smoothly, rolling his eyes. Reliable, huh. Well, he could not say that he minded having her around. Taking a step closer to her, he reacted in a way he only knew how from watching her, and placed his hand on her head. "You’re really stupid, but I’m hungry. So. Let’s go to the kitchen." 

[flowercutter]

The moment he spoke, her eyes lit up, but she tried to play it cool. Things had gone about as well as she could have hoped, but she wasn't in the clear yet; if she annoyed him, he might change his mind.

She nodded solemnly. With his hand still on her head, it looked rather silly.

"Okay. I will make you food."

[eroikyuuketsuki-blog]

"Nfu. A ribbon?" He has watched her reaction closely and he could tell she didn’t dislike it. He did a good job, after all. 

Taking a step back to sit down on the toilet seat, he crossed his legs, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, chin in his hands. 

"Maybe. Do whatever you want." He smiled a toothy smile, his eyes narrowing slightly.

[flowercutter]

He was unnerving as always, but Mia wanted to make the best of the situation. After a moment's pause, she picked up the brush and approached him, staring down at his head. She wondered if his hair naturally fell that way, or if he applied products to it while she wasn't around. Hopefully she wouldn't unintentionally mess it up.

She was, at least, very used to brushing hair, and his provided very little resistance. It looked smooth and soft, and were he anyone else, she might be tempted to feel it. Unfortunately for her, that would probably end unfavorably, like anything else when it came to him.

"You know," she said, still brushing, "I have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing. Your hairstyle is unusual."

[eroikyuuketsuki-blog]

He frowned. She was acting in a way that annoyed him. But oh well, good enough.

Reaching over to the sink, he grabbed the hairbrush and a ribbon. 

"Hmm." He hummed, brushing her hair and putting it up into his hand. Long. Her hair was long. Now that he thought about it, she never put her hair up. Sadly. Her neck sure looked more alluring this way. 

"You know.." Keeping up the brushing, he took a step closer, leaning against her back lightly and bringing his face closer to the side of her head. "You look pretty alluring with your hair up like that." He smiled, a chuckle escaping his lips and leaned back again, focusing on putting the ribbon around the high ponytail. 

"Done!" He exclaimed happily. "Your turn. Make it look good, or I will have to punish you~" His voice was way too sweet compared to his words.

[flowercutter]

She was glad he couldn't see her roll her eyes up into her skull. There was a reason why whenever she braided her hair, she let it cover the back of her neck. Living with a vampire made you take certain precautions.

Leaning back on her heels and turning around, she reached up, feeling what he had done to her hair. Well, she thought, that was far from the worst thing that could have happened.

"Would you like a ribbon, too?" Her question wasn't sarcastic; she genuinely had no idea what he wanted. Honestly, his hairstyle was odd to begin with.

[eroikyuuketsuki-blog]

A sigh. A heavy sigh. Shaking his head slightly he put on a professional face. “It’s not supposed to be. Now turn around, you have to turn your back towards me.”

[flowercutter]

"Uh, okay." Not really wanting to expend more effort than necessary, she rolled along the wall until her face was pressed up against it. There. Her back was towards him.

[eroikyuuketsuki-blog]

"Aaah, now nice.", he chirped, leading her to the bathroom door before letting go of her shoulder. He took a step forward, opening the door.

"Ladies first, nfu."

[flowercutter]

She rose an eyebrow at his request, but didn't bother protesting. Once she was inside, she leaned against the wall.

"Regrettably, this bathroom is not very spooky."

[eroikyuuketsuki-blog]

In a way too fast motion he suddenly bent his upper body forward, bringing his face close to Mia’s and putting on the same frown. 

"You’re acting like a bitter old man. Not very cute." Cocking his head, he narrowed his eyes a little. "You know.." And the smile was back, bright, false. "I happen to start taking a liking to that holiday. So~" He turned on his heels, took a few steps backwards until he stood behind her and put one hand on the girl’s shoulder. 

"Sooo.." He started pushing her forward, not enough to make her stumble but enough to make it clear that struggling was not an option. "We are going to do it my way. You’ll do that for me, right, Mia~?"

[flowercutter]

As always, familiar discomfort set in, and she sighed, resigned to whatever fate he had planned for her... for now. Still, she was slightly curious as to what his idea of Halloween entailed.

"Yeah, yeah, sure," was her mumbled response. Her good mood from earlier had all but disappeared.

[eroikyuuketsuki-blog]

What? No comment? His lips curled into a smirk and he raised his brows a little, burying his hands in the pockets of his jacket while watching her chew the probably pretty gross candy. 

"That’s it?" His voice mimed disappointment, contrasting to the amused expression on his face. "I thought Halloween was such a big deal for humans-

How boring..”

[flowercutter]

Finished with the candy, she frowned slightly. Suppressing the urge to retort with 'you're boring' was difficult indeed.

"It's not as big of a deal in Japan. Besides, I'm too old to go trick-or-treating. It's like Valentine's where the best part comes the day after, when all the candy is discounted."

[eroikyuuketsuki-blog]

He blinked once. Twice. Three times before he burst out into loud laughter. She looked ridiculous. Kinda cute, but mostly ridiculous.

"W-well." He had a hard time calming down, wiping away a tear out of the corner of his eye and reaching out with his other arm, poking the halloween candy sticking to the girl’s teeth. 

"That’s.." He hardly managed to contain another chuckle. "Intimidating."

[flowercutter]

His laughter stunned her into silence; not because she was offended, or because his laughter sounded the same as when he was watching her suffering-- which it did, and was sufficiently creepy-- but because she hadn't expected a reaction bigger than 'slight amusement'. She dropped her arms and closed her mouth, letting the candy fall back inside. It tasted exactly as cloyingly sweet as she had expected.

[eroikyuuketsuki-blog]

"You finally decided to confess your undying love to me."

[flowercutter]

She shook her head, not treating his words with the disgust she normally reserved for such situations. Now was not the time.

Without warning, she spun around, facing away from him. Before she turned back, she brought up the two pieces of candy she had been holding in one fist, and placed them in her mouth, in front of her teeth. Once she faced him again, she stuck her arms out in a manner she thought to be spooky.

"Candy corn vampire!"

[flowercutter]

Finally, it had arrived. The day she had been waiting for. It had been an excruciatingly long time, but it was here. Finally.

"Raito. Guess what guess what."