o how gentle the rain can arrive

[unfoggedlotus]

Ren follows Goro to the Dojima house, steps as sure and confident as he can make them with his heart pounding a bit louder than normal in his chest. Maybe he's nervous for this, so what? It's not every day you get to meet the alternate-reality-family your boyfriend found during his two-month timeskip that was only five hours or so to you. His head's still kind of reeling from the...everything, but he's rolling with the punches. Not like I expected things to be normal with us, he says to the part of himself that's maybe not-very-Joker-like and trying to shy away from everything.

Life comes at you fast, but Akechis come faster-- well. Hopefully not, and Ren's not thinking about that right now, nope throw curveballs at half the speed of light and expect you to catch 'em. And Ren isn't letting one slip by him yet! ...Even if this one might be aimed right between his eyes.

Ren squeezes his boyfriend's hand -- it's what boyfriends are there for, after all -- and readjusts his grip on the little...okay, large bag of gifts against his chest (hey, everything's free here, and he didn't wanna show up unprepared) as they come to a stop in front of the door.

He takes a moment, letting go of Goro's hand, for a once-over just to make sure he looks good, brushing invisible bits of dust from his jacket and readjusting his glasses. Then, with a nod to his boyfriend, Ren raises the hand carrying the pile of gifts to knock on the door.

It's showtime.

"Hey guys!" He calls out as his boyfriend opens the door, resisting the urge to run his fingers through his hair (for now). "We're here!"

> Say hello to Crow's boyfriend?

Comments

[unfoggedlotus]

"Well, that doesn't sound good."

Ren...doesn't really have anything else to say about that.

[pancakeboy]

"I see you understand." In other words, in this little town they've found themselves in, everyone is a celebrity. And if you think about it too much, it will drive you mad.

He finds himself thinking about it quite often. Turning the pages of the magazine as they sit with their lab rat status, he comes across a bundle of what look like passport pictures. Crow is younger in them, again, and pulling faces that range from annoyed through to ridiculous. Various other people are in the pictures with him.

Shit, look at them all. His mouth puckers as he looks. There are so many of them.

ren ur autidhd is showing

[unfoggedlotus]

Oh god, what's set him off now? Almost every single fiber of Magpie screams fake from the heavens but it's not like Ren can do anything about it when he doesn't accept help like a normal Akechi-being.

How to respond, how to respond..."What's got your lips in a tangle, Magpie, my guy?"

Well, no one ever accused Ren of being smart. Least of all his parents.

oh my god hahahaha

[pancakeboy]

What the hell? He drags his attention away from younger-Crow and his army of fr—uh, acquaintances, long enough to rest his head back on the couch and turn a pained look on the ceiling.

"I have to know. How did you come up with that? Is it natural talent? Are there classes I can take?" He looks sideways to Ren, voice becoming dangerously bright. "Or should you and I just kiss, and get it over with?"

Warning to all in the vicinity: Ren should not kiss him. Unless he wants to lose the lower half of his face.

[unfoggedlotus]

Ren is going to die now. If Magpie doesn't kill him, his own embarrassment will. Or maybe the cognitive world they're in will get his desperate pleas to be removed from existence and do the work for him. "I think I have an automatic skill that makes me say the worst possible thing in any situation," Ren admits, visibly sinking into the couch like he wants it to swallow him. "It costs all my SP and activates at the start of every battle. How I've survived this long is a mystery to science."

[pancakeboy]

He turns a little more, folding his arms; this is not quite the response he expected. "So what, you just open your mouth and incriminate yourself, is that it?"

Actually, that is exactly what Sakamoto appears to do, isn't it? "Aren't you a Phantom Thief?"

[unfoggedlotus]

"It's different in the Metaverse," Ren protests, weakly. "And I'm not Ryuji. Sometimes the stupid things I say are...just stupid, I guess." A little laugh, bitter and self-deprecating. "...I hope you liked your gift."

[pancakeboy]

And that—that tugs at him. Don't look like that, Ren; you're not meant to look like that. Again, his lips start to purse up; he realises he's doing it, and closes the magazine. When he answers, it's in a softer tone, still watching Ren.

"I do, actually. I'm not sure how well I'd have received it were the situations reversed. But, since I make it my business to bring pain and suffering to the people around me—" he is obviously kidding, and in no way again observing bitterly that it would be tough to shoot point-blank through Ren's hair—"I will cherish it.

"Perhaps I can get a second one from Crow. He must have enough pictures of you on his own phone."

[unfoggedlotus]

Ren smiles, relief flooding through his body at the soft (or, more accurately, slightly-less-spiky) look. "I'm glad you like it," he says, honest, then lets out a lighthearted chuckle at Magpie's self-deprecating comment. "He probably does have enough pictures, being honest, buuuuuuut..." he flicks the magazine over to the last page. "So do I."

On the glossy inside cover of the magazine, Ren made sure to include a fair number of embarrassing photos of himself. He didn't print out nearly as many of himself as he did of Goro, of course, but the worst offenders are there, presented to Magpie freely. Ren getting smacked in the face while bringing up a giant fish, Ren faceplanting after setting the treadmill too fast, Ren fast asleep in a crepe of his own...it's there. He couldn't let Goro have all the fun now, could he?

"I hope you can terrorize both of us in the future," he grins. Welcome to our relationship. He doesn't say it out loud, but he does try to project it as hard as he can into Magpie's spiky brain. "Wanna exchange numbers?"

[pancakeboy]

And he looks at the picture on the last page, trying to stuff up the hollow inside him with resentment and rage. It doesn't work, so he just smiles. Ren dances before his eyes, bright and yes, beautiful, even with his face full of fish or planted in a crepe. Wrong Ren, but still a Ren, and it turns out Akechi hadn't scratched the surface of the tricks cognition plays.

"... why not." He pulls out his phone, offering it to tap. "Be warned, though—play tricks in my text messages and you'll find I more than match them." As Crow could testify.

[unfoggedlotus]

"I wouldn't expect anything less from an Akechi," he grins, opening his phone to get Magpie's contact info squared away. "Here's mine-- oh. My number changed. Kinda." Ren squints at the four new numbers in front of his phone.

[pancakeboy]

His interest is piqued; he glances too. "The first four numbers? That's your world code."

It is, infuriatingly, the same as Crow's.

[unfoggedlotus]

"Oh." Well, there's definitely something there, but Magpie's going all prickly again and Ren knows when he hasn't gotten enough friendship points to get someone talking. "So we know who shares worlds...neat."

He plugs Magpie's number into his phone and saves his contact info, then decides to save the other person who contacted him, too.

Hey there, Magpie! This is Ren ＼(★^∀^★)／

[pancakeboy]

He's not that prickly, just ... okay, yeah, he's prickling. He quickly texts back.

What is that? I'm deleting this number.

He doesn't delete the number, but he blinks. "I can't believe you use those. The girls in my homeroom use those." It goes without saying that he's not accustomed to his Ren using kaomoji.

[unfoggedlotus]

Huh. “You’re the second person to tell me that. Maybe I come from a universe where it’s just more common?”

Ren Amamiya! Crow’s-boyfriend-Ren
(b˙◁˙ )b

[pancakeboy]

He makes a thoughtful sound. "Perhaps. Your universe is bizarre in a lot of ways."

Wow, just because Crow has a boyfriend and he doesn't. He texts back again, with a shit-eating grin.

I've changed my mind. I'm deleting my own number.

[unfoggedlotus]

"I guess you could say we're on a bizarre adventure, then," he grins.

Well...I hate to see you leave but can't say I don't enjoy watching you go B)

[pancakeboy]

"Really." He shuts off his phone, slides it into his pocket, trying to conceal how annoying this is. "How is it possible for you to be such a dirty old man when you're a second-year? I take it you are a second-year?"

[unfoggedlotus]

"Yeah," Ren deadpans, demeanor changing in an instant. He doesn't glare at the Akechi across from him, not quite, but he gives him an Amamiya Disapproving Look. "I'm already a second year. Already a second year into being fed up with people insulting me for daring to have a libido."