Route 1

[espresso_doppio]

Doppio didn't like to complain...even when he really wanted to. He felt like he had a lot things he could have complained about--he got headaches more than the others. He got tired more than the others. He got carsick more than the others. Still, he didn't like to dwell on the unfairness. He felt lucky he had nice people and a warm place to lay his head down at night. When he thought about that, it helped keep things in perspective.

But right now...he really, really, really wanted to complain about Reigen's driving. It felt like they were constantly swerving or stopping--when it wasn't a rock, it was a ledge. He couldn't even look out the windows to orient himself...not that it would have helped. There was tall grass everywhere. 'It's not the Captain's fault. The road ran out miles ago.' But then the van lurched as it came to another hard stop and Doppio couldn't fight a groan as he swallowed down a wave of nausea. After several failed attempts to rise from his bunk, he had given up. He buried his head in the pillow and took a few deep breaths.

Comments

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"Your sympathy warms my heart." Reigen passed back the half-empty can and sunk backwards over the beanbag chair. "She was a bartender, too."

[throughthelookingmax]

"She?"

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"Don't act all shocked! I'm not lying."

[throughthelookingmax]

"Were you still figuring yourself out or something?"

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"We met at the bar where I learned to play the shamisen. She called me cute. ...I don't know. No one had ever told me that before." It was a painful realization that he had never told anyone else this. It wasn't like he could talk about these kinds of things with Mob. "Before you ask, it didn't end in any dramatic or funny way. One day I just...stopped going to that bar. Then I graduated."

[throughthelookingmax]

"Huh, well that's something." Max clicked her tongue against the top of her mouth. "The girl I kinda like right now works at a bar, too."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

Reigen squinted, trying to picture her. "...Has she ever used the words 'emotionally unavailable' when talking about her type?"

[throughthelookingmax]

Max laughed. "Something like that. We're not really going out now or anything."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"No way! So did mine." He laughed...and then he sighed, pushing himself back up to sit to gesture for the can. "What's stopping you from making a move?"

[throughthelookingmax]

Max took the can. "Some pretty shit stuff that happened. Things weren't exactly going great when I wound up here."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"Are you saying this place is an improvement?"

[throughthelookingmax]

"Uh... right now? Probably."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"Woof." Reigen gestured for her to finish the can.

[throughthelookingmax]

Max pounded it. "So what about you? How were things back at home when you ended up whisked away here?"

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"...Well, when I think about how I've been spared the annual holiday get-together with my family because of all this, things here aren't so bad."

[throughthelookingmax]

Max laughed. "Okay, okay. I am looking forward to finally meeting your student, though. Shouldn't be too much longer, right?"

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

Reigen scratched the back of his neck and nodded slightly. He wasn't sure how long it would take, but he really hoped it wouldn't be long now.

Without speaking, he rooted in his duffel bag for a notebook. Even with all the new tech he was still pretty old-fashioned with his note-taking. He flipped it open to a blank page and began sketching with dark sharpie. He was done in no more than a minute, handing his sketch over to her. On it was an endearingly plain-faced boy with a bowl cut. The lines were sketchy and sharp, but practiced.

"That's him. Shigeo." He smirked. "You see that look on his face? Get used to it. He's not the most expressive kid around, but...he's got a heart as big as the ocean."

[throughthelookingmax]

"You don't have any photos of him? We'll have to change that once we find him." Max held up her hands as if to imitate holding a camera, then pressed a button to capture the shot. "I'm a Professor of Photography. I'll even give you a photoshoot free of charge."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

“Yeah you are! The only photo you’ve kept of me is after that freaky horse finished giving me a tongue bath! You’re gonna do this handsome face some justice.” Reigen slumped back again with a sigh. “Ugh…maybe I’ll just pass out here tonight.”

[throughthelookingmax]

"You don't think it's nippy?"

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

“Just close the doors behind you. I’ll be fine.” He didn’t want to be ungrateful when he was the one clamoring for a nice bed the most but he also didn’t need anyone to get a sense of what a lightweight he was.

[throughthelookingmax]

"Only if you promise to sleep inside tomorrow."

[espresso_doppio]

~~

Doppio had one hand on the table and one below it. The hand above was fumbling with his chopsticks and the hand below was anxiously rolling a small strip of leather into knots on his knee.

There was no good reason for this conversation to make him as nervous as it was, but the least he could do was not let it show.

[princechid]

"Um," Chid started, trying to rouse up some confidence. "Hitomi spoke with me and I've decided I'm going with you all."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

“Oh.” Reigen managed to keep his face controlled, but he was taken by surprise—mostly by how refined and definitive he sounded. “You really want that, Chid?”