He grows still under Rin’s sudden weight, the line of his shoulders draw tense. It’s instinctive, and he can’t help preparing himself for scrambling limbs.
It’s usually his siblings who clamor onto his back like this, and he always has to be careful not to let them fall: to let them adjust themselves before moving forwards, and avoid any slipping.
But he relaxes almost immediately when he catches sight of deep red hair, his smile growing at the familiar flash of sharp teeth.
“Oh, Rin! For a second I thought you were Ren and Ran.” Makoto smiles warmly, his eyes curving as he leans back into the warmth of Rin’s embrace. “I always have to be careful with those two, you know? They’re so energetic I never know when they’ll slip off…” He shakes his head, breathing a sigh of fond exasperation, “Gou-chan was never like that, though, was she?”
His tone is mild, teasing, as he leans his head against Rin’s. From what he’s seen of her at the swim-club, he wouldn’t put some pushy behaviors past her… but jumping all over Rin isn’t something he can see – not unless he was winning another competition, or coming back home.
“How are you doing, by the way?”
“Well, our names are certainly similar.” The arms wound around Makoto tighten just so, Rin quietly musing about his choices --- to completely let his weight shift to press as a burden on Makoto’s bones, or to stay as they are, with him still standing on his own two feet, chest pressed to back? Humming noncommittally, he leans forward to better gaze at the other, familiar Matsuoka grin tugging his lips upward as he settles his chin to the curve of a strong shoulder; lets a teasing note infuse into the words spilling out like a changing melody.
“What does that mean? You have to be careful with me too, you know. I’m fragile.” He doesn’t mean it for a second, but it’s always nice to pretend, sometimes. From young, Rin has always been the one to indulge his little sister; never the other way around, even as Gou sometimes insist, sometimes pout and declare that she’s definitely strong enough to lift her brother and his then scrawny, underdeveloped self. Rin has always been proud of his sister, of course, it’s just he can’t help but wonder when his mind drifts off. Gaze turning slightly thinking, he allows for a brief pause, the wheels in his mind turning and turning before he nods slowly, the corners of his lips softening into a more gentle smile. “She’s the really independent type, I guess -- Gou didn’t really like to be spoiled, she preferred to get what she wanted through her own means. Totally unlike Ren and Ran, I bet.”
Mirthful reds move up to meet Makoto’s eyes, and Rin relaxes when he feels the soft bump of their heads meeting, the voice rumbling in his throat feeling so foreign to him when he detects the smallest tint of fondness present within -- he’s almost surprised when his answer comes easily to him, but then again, he’s never really that surprised because Makoto has always had a different kind of effect on Rin as compared to everyone else.
“I’m pretty tired ... But not so much now. What about you, Mako? Hanging in there?”
