wipesfaith | ( appointments )

[Ahhh, now it's Marco's turn to be the enabler. He's pretty sure Jean doesn't have any regrets about attending classes, so maybe Haruka will benefit from going to school too. He'll just ignore his food in favor of giving Haruka an excited little speech.]

You should come too! Professor Sage is a really good teacher. We've been learning loads of interesting stuff. All our classmates are really nice too.

[Argh, dammit Jean! Dirty mackerel snatcher! ...Oh well, there's always mackerel tomorrow.

Haruka's attention fixes on Marco as he speaks. Honestly, he doesn't have much interest in attending school. And as for classmates? He couldn't care less. Haruka's response is firm.]

I'm only interested in swimming.

[It seems unlikely there will be anything that will actually interest him there that he can't do himself. Sorry, Marco.

Since he'd pretty much been eating while the two had been talking earlier, he's almost eaten his fill, having only the last of his soup to go.]

Guess that answers that. [He says through a mouthful of mackerel, hardly sounding put out.]

You tried, Marco. [Reaching out to give him a consoling pat on the shoulder...but as soon as his hand lands, he feels awkward about touching him in any capacity (even if they'd agreed that nothing happened) and he quickly recoils.]

[Marco wouldn't have regarded the shoulder pat as anything odd if Jean hadn't acted as if he'd been burned on contact. As it is, he looks up at his fiend with a confused expression. Is he still frustrated about the mistletoe incident, or was it because of something else?

He'll just... uh... try not to draw attention to how awkward that shoulder pat was and focus on the subject at hand. Right. He was talking to Haruka.]

But... even if swimming is the thing that you love most, that doesn't mean you can't have other interests. You love cooking too, right?

[Haruka's gaze flickers between the two, but doesn't comment on the strange behaviour. As long as whatever it is that's going on between them doesn't interfere with Haruka's life, he doesn't care.

He pauses, bowl halfway to his mouth, looking aside.]

It's just something my late grandmother taught me.

[His voice is flat, as if he doesn't have much attachment to it, really. Nevermind that he actually makes an effort beyond standard recipes for all his dishes.]

[He ignores the looks from both of them, stuffing the last bite of mackerel into his mouth.]

I dunno, it's hard to tell when he just looks like he doesn't give a shit all of the time.

[That comment catches Marco off guard so badly the mix of vegetables he was raising to his mouth slips right off his fork again. Leave it to Jean to throw a blunt comment like that into a perfectly civil conversation. Sure, he kinda has a point, but...]

J-Jean...!

[I'm right here. Haruka's brows crease in irritation, but he doesn't say anything. Instead, with his soup finished, Haruka silently pushes back his chair and stands. He doesn't see enough reason to continue this conversation, so he turns and takes his dishes to the kitchen sink and leaves them there.

Someone else can wash them.

With that, he'll be exiting stage left if unbothered.]

[Swallowing the large bite he had taken.] What? It's true, isn't it?

[He's not particularly bothered by the fact that Haruka has stood up so abruptly, and so shortly after he dropped that comment. See, he's just finished eating is all.]

You're being rude! [That's about all he snaps at Jean before he pushes himself to his feet to chase after Haruka, abandoning the rest of his dinner for now. His friend may have less common courtesy than a dog, but Marco doesn't.]

Haruka, wait!

[Unfortunately, Haruka is not the best at waiting when called. But he does pause, hand on the handle of the door to his apartment.

His response is flat.]

It's fine.

[Jean can do what he wants.]

[He watches Marco leave with something of a scowl - why bother? - before turning back to the end of his meal. Looks like they're keeping the leftovers, then.]

[Pausing is good enough. It allows Marco to catch up to Haruka in the privacy of the hallway.]

It's not fine. I mean... I know Jean doesn't mean any harm by it, but he still shouldn't have said that.

[Haruka's gaze lifts from the doorknob to Marco's face.]

Jean can say what he wants.

[It doesn't bother me. In a way, he actually doesn't mind Jean's directness, even if half of what he says is dumb in Haruka's opinion; he'd rather honest words than words that hide their true intent.]

It's better that way.

[If this were a slice-of-life anime, this is where Jean would be sneezing. But it isn't, so he's not.]

[Better that way? He's not so sure about that. If Jean ends up hurting someone's feelings... Well, at least Haruka seems to be made of thicker stuff than Marco gave him credit for.]

Are you sure?

[Grandma was wrong ):

Haruka's attention returns to the doorknob.]

Yes.

[A turn of the handle, and Haruka steps through the doorway. But before he closes the door in Marco's face, he does at least turn and say--]

Have a good new year.

[He means that. A pause, before he adds--]

Jean, too.

[He's still over here, doing little of relevance. But he's done eating, so he'll make himself useful by taking dirty dishes over to the sink; the rush of water from the faucet drowns out the indistinct voices coming from the hallway.]

[Marco looks stumped for a moment, but then his mind catches up with him again.]

Oh, uhm... You too! Thanks for dinner! [He wishes he could say more, but allowing Haruka to retreat into his apartment now is likely for the best.]

[The only sign of acknowledgement Haruka gives is the smallest of nods before closing the door. Bye guys.

don't make out too much.]

( appointments )

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