#sculmask

[soulcluster]

"Hey, Strohl?" The room of the inn is so quiet that even Victor's whisper feels too loud, a disruption in the thick grief that has veiled them all. It's been days, but without seeing Maria, with the pain in Fabienne's eyes, with Strohl blaming himself, the tension of loss hasn't seemed to dispel.

The slow exhale of his breath trembles slightly as the other bed shifts a bit beneath Strohl's weight. "Sorry if I woke you..." He doesn't think he did, but he's sorry for it anyway, the words feeling appropriate for making a sound at all. "I csnt sleep. I was going to see if Fabienne had something to drink. Do you want me to bring you something?" Victor doesn't drink much alcohol, knowing it can take a quick toll on his small frame, but there's an itch of mourning behind his exhausted eyes, and he thinks even something watered down would help him sleep a little better tonight.

Sleep is elusive, as it always is. He makes a great show of pretending everything is fine but only so that no one worries over him. Yet with Victor, he finds it so easy to let those walls down, and Strohl both relishes it and disdains himself for it. Victor has enough to contend with himself, he doesn't need to add Strohl's problems to his worries.

Yet when Victor calls, his voice a mere whisper in the night, Strohl turns toward him immediately, as if he'd simply been waiting for the opportunity to talk.

Strohl shook his head. "I wasn't asleep," he assures him. "Hmm, why don't we go together?"

He can't help but notice the weight on Victor's shoulders and the way exhaustion rims his eyes. Without thinking, he places his hand on his shoulder. There's few words that can be said to ease either of their pains and on some level he knows that.

"Selfish as it is...I'd rather not be alone right now."

[soulcluster]

@sculmask / akihiko He's never been great around girls; the ones who follow him around the school are usually easy enough to ignore, but this is different. Akihiko really likes this girl. It took her forwardness to make him realize that it isn't just her battle form or technique, or that she's easy to get along with, that draws him to her. He has feelings for her that go beyond platonic. It's hard, even in his own mind, to put it to words in a way that makes sense and isn't just rambling. Which he thinks his mind is doing now. He approaches her with careful but sure steps, wanting to be casual, though he knows the blush covering his cheeks will give him away. Once he knows she's seen him in her periphery, he taps her on the shoulder and smiles. "What are you listening to?" he asks when she removes one of her earphones.

Music was her one escape out in public. The feeling of her ears muffled and the music overlaying the world, drowning out all else around her. She could exist in this makeshift bubble for a time. It was easier to keep her smile in place when there was an upbeat tune in her ear, and the numbness was a familiar comfort.

However, there were a few she had started to feel differently around. Her brother first and foremost, he was a constant comfort, but the others too. Visions of their faces flashed through her mind, but the one that lingered was...

There he was. Kotone removed one of her ear phones to listen, then smiled.

Instead of telling him, she said, "here," then reached up and held the headphone to his ear so that he could hear the music. This made it so that she had to stand close enough for the cord to reach, but she didn't mind.