personavelvetroomdr | [open] And in the end I'd do it all again

Alright, Alright, this was fine. This was cool. Just vibing in the velvet room. It wasn't like it was his first time or anything. Still felt strange being here though. The doors were a new addition. Not to mention the bulletin board. Which he had yet to make sense of the most he got was multiple Akechis and code names. That was... okay. He was getting good enough at handling very-much-not-dead Akechi back home. They weren't best friends by any means but he would like to think they were on the way to actually pretty solid friends. Most of that was because he convinced Ren to stay.

So, what he had pieced together was: This was a relatively safe place, there's multiple Akechis, and there's doors. What was he supposed to do with this information. He hadn't really explored anything without someone else there, and no it's not because he was afraid, like the cat would like to tease.

1) He was staying in the room gathering the willpower required to explore the outside. But for now he was trying to put together the bulletin board. Sure was a lot of words. Ren could be called Akira, okay, he's got that down. Akechis and Ren/Akiras were together a lot. With how much Ren fawned over him, it wasn't shocking. It was at this point he realized he should probably take notes. He pulled out his phone, surprised to find it kinda worked. "Alright!"

Now back to finding out what was going on. He was scanning it over trying to piece things together. He had expected red strings, but blue worked fine too. He was reading and taking notes fine up until a particular one. "For real?!" He shouted, the first real thing he said in a long minute. "Siblings?"

2)With the courage gathered he stepped into the fifth door, glad to see a version on Toyko he recognised. He traveled around, starting to notice the almost scripted way others interacted. Creepy. He decided to start with the place he knew best. Le blanc. He hoped there wasn't anything out of place, boss would kill if he knew it was. Okay maybe not.

He was just standing at the door, looking through the glass. His hand on the doorknob. He didn't think he'd run into Ren, or an Akira. He just kinda felt weird going in there and not knowing what to expect.

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He raised an eyebrow watching him. "Thanks? I guess that's encouraging at least." He seemed nervous or something.

"Man, are you okay?" Yeah, they might not have ben from each other's worlds, but he already proved that didn't matter to him.

Are you okay.

Phoenix snorted. "What? No. I'm isolated from my friends and family, I don't know how long I'm going to be here, and when I do get back I've got an entire gigantic pile of bullshit that needs dealing with. But... I'm coping. Least the community here's decent, even if half of it's made up of people who look like me."

A beat.

"Not exactly like me, but you know what I mean."

That was more honest than anything he'd ever think to get out of Akechi. "Do you need a hug or something? I can't do anything about your isolation, but if you need something I can be there for you."

He looked like a mess, and he never thought he would see him like this, but maybe that's because of the relationship he had with his Ryuji.

He blinked, staring at the other boy for... several seconds.

He couldn't... quite help the soft wheeze of laughter that bubbled up from within his chest. "No, sorry, I'm not laughing at you, just- that is. So far outside the realm of anything I'd have expected-"

He cleared his throat. "I wouldn't object to it, but honestly. I'll be alright. Talking with Igor was enough to put the worst of my fears to bed, it's mostly just wondering how long I'll be here, and if anyone from home will wind up here, too."

Did he say something wrong? How did he made the bird reboot? Was a hug such a foreign concept to him? Then he was laughing, and apologizing for it? That he certainly didn't expect, Akechi often laughed at him.

"Alright, it's there if you need it. The offer doesn't expire."

He smiled, faintly. "... You're sweet, Ryuji. Thank you."

"Uh, thanks?" That was a new way to say things. Also he's smiling, like a genuine smile not that fake one he puts on. It's a smile he very rarely sees.

Phoenix shrugged. "It's a compliment, not a blade. No hidden nefarious motive, I promise."

"Didn't think it was a bad thing, just not something I'd been called before." He smiled. He wouldn't put it past Ann to say something like that though.

"Yeah, well. Maybe people should tell you about your strong points more."

Alright. This was definitely a strange day. He found Goro Akechi complimenting him stranger than he was a bird. "I mean, they don't need to. I'm happy just being as I am. I don't need them to tell me. I only need to know if I've upset them."

He snorted derisively. "Take it from me, if all you ever hear is negatives, you internalize that shit. I recognize that sounds hypocritical, considering I just called your entire social circle dumbasses, but I'm allowed. I am Lord King of Dumbass Island. I know dumbass when I see it. I am a dipshit sommelier."

He couldn't help but laugh at that. "What a think to call yourself," he wiped tears away from his eyes. "You know that goes for you too, you can't be all that bad. Don't tell yourself such."

[open] And in the end I'd do it all again

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