thenearshore | [OPEN + closed/semi-closed] a nightingale in a golden cage

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[OPEN + closed/semi-closed] a nightingale in a golden cage

Who: A + B: Shun and you! C: Shun and existing CR, D: Shun and Ren
When: A: July 20th, B: July 21st, Morning, C: July 20th-22nd, late evening to ungodly hours of the morning, D: July 22nd, late evening
Where: A + B: Around the Far Shore, C: Temples of just about anyone Shun knows decently, D: Inanna's Temple
What: Shun having sleep issues and trying to be productive about them ~~by lurking suspiciously around the temples of people he knows at why this in the night/morning~~, testing the surveillance bird Ankh left him, and toting a vulture around with him as one does.
Warnings: Possible minor mentions of murderplot things, prompts C + D will be dealing with PTSD-related traumatic nightmares.

Prompts A-C [2 Open + 1 Semi-Open]

[A: July 20th, Open]

[It's been quite a while since Ankh's disappearance - almost a month and a half by now, and Shun's spent that time on and off messing around with the can bird robot the god had left him. He'd managed to work the thing's transmission method out enough to view the last video left on it by the old owner, but actually making it work to transmit images to the device he has best suited to that sort of thing, namely his duel disk, has taken much more working out. Even so, he still doesn't have a good idea of the distance the thing can transmit from or how well it can actually be remote controlled, so it's time for a little field testing.

As such, people around the Far Shore may encounter a very small, red and silver bird robot attempting to get up in various business, poking around temple gardens and maybe bumping into some heads at its worst. Not too far away in any of these cases is Shun, who might appear to be wearing some kind of oddly designed wrist computer to anyone unfamiliar with the technology. Not helping is the fact that he's returned his cards to their deckbox for the moment, since there are a quite a few people here now that he'd rather not catch wind of him having them at all, and one of them lives with him.

As always, Shun is the epitome of polite company (except not at all), and if the bird happens to be inquiring around anyone in particular, he'll call out to them across the distance with a short nod to the bird.]

Say something to it. [He mostly just wants to know how well it takes audio...]

--

[B: July 21st, Morning, Open]

[As he'd said he would a few days ago to Izuku and Lavi during their late-night discussion, Shun's accentuated his morning patrol with a friend. Specifically, an almost-metre-long, fluffy-headed, brown and white and feathery friend who is presently riding on one of his shoulders. Apparently his coat is thick enough to shield from the claws involved, and having a not-insignificant weight on his shoulder doesn't seem to be bothering him any aside from the times the vulture leans too far into his peripheral vision and he has to look around her to actually be able to see anything.

Having a hand-raised vulture is presenting one or two unforeseen problems, though, the main one being that she's prone to jumping off Shun's shoulder at the sight of other people and hopping over in apparent birdly curiosity. Her size might make even that offputting to some people, though, so it's probably lucky Shun's around to distract her if she decides to inspect anyone too closely.]

Don't bother with her, she just wants food. [Excuse him while he takes a cleanly-wrapped ball of raw meat out of his pocket and holds it out to lure her back in his direction.]

--

[C: July 20th-21st, Late Evening/ungodly hours of the morning OR July 22nd, Evening, Open to existing CR]

[Unfortunately, Shun's particular surge of productivity, even for him, has been born of something else. Namely the fact that his nightmares are coming back in force for the first time since May, and it's getting to the stage where even trying to sleep is a laughable idea, when it feels like so much as shutting his eyes is all the cue his mind needs to pull sounds and images of burning and screaming, combat and destruction out of everywhere from its surface to its deepest recesses. So obviously, the solution here is to spend that additional time on something else useful.

As such, anyone Shun knows and might be inclined to keep an eye on may end up with him lurking in and around temple grounds at what ranges from reasonable but still late in the evening to hours of the morning that should only be known to night shift workers. On one hand, at least he's quiet, so he shouldn't be waking anyone up. On the other...maybe hope your windows aren't available to be stared through, or that you don't run into him by chance. His eyes are a little sharper than they should be in the darkness, owing to the silver bracelet he's wearing with the kind of thick body and intricate lines one might expect to see more on a ring, and his focus turns just as quickly as usual to anyone he notices through it...though perhaps not quite as well as the days wear on, and anyone catching him on the 21st or 22nd stands a good chance of noticing the more pronounced shadows and lines beneath his eyes, those of sleep deprivation rather than his usual faintly worn countenance.

Anyone who catches him outside from inside is likely to just get stared at until such a time as they might choose to come out. If they're already outside, they'll get a slight nod from Shun as if this is an entirely normal thing to be doing at entirely normal hours.]

You're out late. [Implying he isn't.]

[D: July 22nd, Late Evening, Closed]

[Even with what he knows will be willing help available, it takes Shun a while to swallow his pride enough to take it. But by late on Friday, he can feel his alertness and habitual reactions slipping away like they had done the last time he went without sleep for longer than this, and with things as they are right now, he doesn't want to risk that. He isn't sure not being alone will help, but nothing else seems to anyway, and all that's going to happen if he doesn't admit it now is getting found out tomorrow.

It still takes him longer than it should to actually send the text asking for that help, that isn't even directly doing so. Old habits die hard.]

If you're not asleep, I'll be at your temple in a minute.

[He doesn't really think this is worth dragging Ren out of his temple or even out of bed for, but the text is more a warning for something he was already on his way to doing. It is really only about a minute before he shows up, leaping up to alight on whichever balcony happens to be closest to Ren's bedroom, and then having to lean back against the barrier and press a hand against his face as even that simple motion makes his head swim. He'd been driving himself much less the last time he went this long or longer without sleep, and the additional exertion apparently hasn't been doing him any favours.]

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[Shun doesn't really see what's so amusing about it, but he certainly has learnt to expect some level of amusement from Ren whenever he says things like that, so he just keeps frowning for a moment before letting it slide.

What makes him frown more is the shutting down of his offer to help, because as much as he came for help himself, he still feels like he should be doing something rather than lumping everything on Ren like this. Still, even if he hadn't agreed not to argue, he gets the impression even he'd have a hard time making Ren sway on this.]

It's not like you invited me. [Which is essentially his logic here, and he does sound somewhat stumped by Ren's reasoning again as he says it. He brought himself over apropos of nothing but his own problems, so clearly he should be helping somehow.

While the suggestion of what each of them can do next is reasonable enough, it does prompt something to occur to Shun, and he looks down at himself briefly as if gauging whether his clothes are in any better a state than he himself is.] I didn't bring anything to change into.

[The way he puts it is somewhere between annoyed with himself for forgetting something that obvious, and definitely only just having had the epiphany that he'd overlooked it at all just now. There are certain problems with wandering around outside for several hours before making the snap decision to stay at another temple.]

You're still my guest. [It doesn't matter if the guest invited themselves over, does it? It's his house and not Shun's, so Shun it still a guest. That is the logic he'll be going with here, anyway, although he'll probably be less stubborn about it if Shun still wants to help with things in the morning.

Now that they're inside, Ren lets go and takes a moment to user the kittens back inside as well so he can close the door again. As he turns back, he also thoughtfully eyes Shun's clothes--no, if he's going to take a shower, he shouldn't put dirty clothes on afterward--and then thoughtfully eyes his closet.]

You can borrow some of mine. Since I like wearing clothes that are a little big, I'm sure I have some things that would fit you.

[That doesn't really do anything to help Shun get it, but he just lets out a breath and leaves it there. He's kind of bad at not arguing, but he's making the attempt, at least.

Waiting as Ren coaxes the kittens back inside and shuts the door, he takes a moment to look himself over properly. While he'd been aware he looked pretty bad right now, he hadn't really observed the details, but now he's fairly sure putting these clothes back on after showering would defeat the entire purpose of showering and then some.

That said, while Ren's suggestion isn't entirely surprising, it feels like something else Shun should be able to somehow alleviate him having to do, and the whole not arguing thing briefly goes out the window yet again as soon as he opens his mouth.]

I could-- [And then he stalls, because could what? In his condition, he doubts Ren would be too impressed with him teleporting back to his temple to get something, sending Ren to do it presents the same problem as borrowing clothes, and it's not like he can clean these ones in some appropriately miniscule amount of time.

Looking frustrated with himself again, he glances to one side.] As long as you don't mind.

[It would seem Shun can't help but want to argue against Ren helping him as much as he wants, despite making it sound like he wasn't going to, but somehow, Ren isn't all that surprised. In fact, he'd be a whole lot more surprised (and concerned) if Shun did go along with everything so easily. shun just isn't that kind of person, and it's not like Ren wouldn't be asking some of the same questions if their positions are reversed.

Still, he feels some obligation to try to get Shun to not worry about it so much or be quite so frustrated with it, since Shun has enough to worry about as it is and it really is fine. So Ren very briefly squeezes one of the Shun's hands as he walks by and very deliberately walks right over to his closet and slides the door open with a bright smile.]

I really don't mind. [Frankly, it would be difficult to describe just how much he really wouldn't mind seeing Shun wearing his clothes, and it might even be worth it to try just to see the inevitable bewildered look Shun would get.] I also wouldn't mind dropping by your place to grab some clothes, if you want, but I think this is easier.

[There's a split second pause before he goes on, as he contemplates whether this might be end up being too forward.] Of course, if you don't want to wear anything, I would mind that either, but I think we'd get some awkward questions from Eric and Goku in the morning.

[At least they've probably gotten most of the argument points out of the way now, given he's agreed to the two main things here already and basically exhausted any relevant arguments on those. So he might actually be able to not argue now. Maybe.

In any case, Ren heading over to open his closet basically answers any question of whether he's alright with it, so Shun just lets him get on with it. He is right that this is easier, and Shun's already shaking his head by the time he gets to the point of dropping by his temple. Shun would be fine doing it himself, but if it's Ren, then he might as well make it the easier of the two options.

Any remark he was going to make on that matter is immediately overshadowed by what Ren says next, though. It being forward doesn't even really occur to Shun, because he's too busy trying to mentally smack into comprehension the concept of someone actually suggesting he not wear clothes instead of it just being a thing that has to happen occasionally that he doesn't tend to care about much when it does. If it was anyone else, it still probably wouldn't get much of a reaction, but even as he turns his head away, the rapid flush that makes it onto his face is pretty clearly visible.]

You'd end up being the one having trouble sleeping if I did that anyway. [It's his attempt at keeping control, and though it's slightly too hasty, making its intent as a cover-up a bit obvious, it's still appropriately knowing. When Ren gets distracted enough just looking at him sometimes, bringing that detail into a situation where they're likely to be in very close contact seems potentially more of an embarrassment to Ren than it would be to him.

After a moment, though, he does glance back over.] ...It's fine if you can't find a shirt.

[It's the middle of summer, and Ren's seen his upper back already. He doesn't have any particular reason to be reserved about that with him anymore.]

[...Okay, getting Shun to blush like that definitely made it worth it. And unfortunately for Shun, Ren doesn't seem all that embarrassed about his occasional lapses in attention when Shun is being particularly interesting to look at. Maybe there were certain times when he should avoid that, but here in his bedroom isn't one of them.]

I'm not the one who needs to be able to sleep.

[Even so, they're probably not going to get anything productive done if Shun ends up walking around without clothes, so Ren turns away to look through his clothes before Shun can get too embarrassed about blushing again. Although he has to laugh a bit at that concession--if Shun is really so worried about him getting distracted, he should be trying to be as clothed as possible. Leaving the decision of whether or not to find a shirt up to Ren...that's a lot of power he's definitely not responsible enough to have.]

I think the shirt might be the easier part to find...

[he had a pretty good idea what he was going to dig out as soon as he suggested it, though, so before either of them can linger too long on the idea of only finding a shirt, he's already pulling out a pair of black pajama pants and a black shirt. Of course, since it's long-sleeved like the majority of his shirts tend to be, he wouldn't begrudge Shun if he decided not to wear it.]

It'll make it harder for me to sleep if you can't sleep. [That's a pretty easy counterargument to grab for here, even if he knows neither of them is really going to press the issue anyway. He's not even averse to the suggestion on principle, given his sense of privacy was left behind somewhere in the early days of having to live in close quarters with dozens to hundreds of other people at any given time.

At least Ren turning around gives him the time he needs to recover himself (even if the laughter does get a bit of a side-eye), and after the few seconds that takes, he starts heading over to help look. That remark from Ren gives him the impression that he still doesn't know what he's going to get out, which means he looks a little surprised when Ren already has something pulled out basically by the time Shun gets over there.

After a moment, though, the surprise shifts to a more flat look, as if Shun wasn't quite sure he should've been surprised about it at all.] It's starting to feel like you've thought about this before.

[It can't be that different to when he was apparently noticing clothes that he thought would look good on Shun, and that wasn't even that long after they met.]

[Well, he can see why Shun might think that, but as Ren turns around and goes about messily folding the clothes, he smiles in a way that says he doesn't think Shun should be giving him that much credit on this one.]

Not really. I just know what sizes my clothes are. And I think black would suit you better than red.

[Okay, so maybe he has considered it before, just in passing (although Shun would probably say that's still more thought than he'd ever give to it). But it was definitely less consideration than he'd giving that jacket hat one time.

With the set of clothes now in an acceptably folded stack, Ren thrusts them out for Shun to take.]

Here you go! There should be some towels in the bathroom you can use too.

[Shun considers that for a moment, apparently very seriously.] The shade of red you wear, maybe.

[Look, he still has his Resistance pride. A certain kind of red suits him well enough. But he doesn't actually argue the matter, since it's a trivial one, and Ren knows more about that sort of thing than he does anyway.

Taking the small stack of clothes with only a brief hesitation, Shun nods a little in what passes for thanks where he's concerned.]

I doubt I'll take long. [He still feels like he has to make that clear, that he won't inconvenience Ren any more than he has to. He's not the type for extended showers anyway, so he'll just have to make sure he's thorough.

In keeping with that, he turns away once he finishes speaking, heading in the direction of the bathroom. He still remembers where it is from when he stayed over after Tanabata.]

[That's pretty much all the thanks Ren would be expecting at this point. so he just cheerily waves goodbye as Shun gets moving and he also starts moving, to head downstairs to the kitchen with the kitten following along behind him.]

I probably won't be ready when you get out, so you're free to wait in here or come find me, if you want.

[Personally, Ren would rather Shun just waited for him here, where sheer luck could mean the slightest possibility of him just passing out on the bed, but he's willing to leave the option of coming to help him later open just keep Shun from feeling too restless and frustrated. As long as he's not doing most of the work, helping a little bit would be fine.]

[There's a short nod in acknowledgement of the parting words as Shun enters the bathroom, though he's almost tempted to question whether Ren actually thinks he'd take the option to wait here. Then again, it seems like the kind of thing he'd add in the hopes Shun would take a hint anyway, and he probably knows by now how little that tends to work.

It doesn't take him long to clean up, or at least, it doesn't by anyone's standards but his own. Almost as soon as he closes the door, he puts the borrowed clothes to one side, and removes his own to form into a surprisingly neat pile beside them. At least if they stay in here, they probably won't be in the way. While he takes maybe a few minutes longer under the water than usual, partially because he's particularly sweaty and partially because it's a pleasant feeling that he doesn't have the energy to turn down right now (and yet he will still swear up and down he isn't stressed), it's still a shorter time than most people would take in the shower before he comes out. Once he dries off - or in his hair's case, gets as much damp out of it as he can so it'll dry itself quicker - he surveys the two clothing piles for a moment before pulling on the pants Ren offered him and tying his own red scarf in a few loose loops around one wrist. While he does at least pick up the shirt Ren lent him, it's only so he can put it back where Ren got it from on his way past.

His steps down the stairs are close to silent, but for the subtle sounds of just-dried skin trying and failing to cling to a smooth surface. With his hair still a little damp and heavy, he's using one hand to push it away from the eye that it drops far enough to cover, though he lets it down again when he reaches the bottom of the staircase. It's still retained an impressive amount of shape despite that, so the effect is largely that his winged fringe is hanging downwards rather than sticking up (and even then making a valiant attempt at trying to stick up again), and that the sections of his hair that usually sit a bit more stiffly are straight with wet. It also means he has to turn his head entirely towards Ren when he enters the kitchen so that he can actually see him, since he only has one eye fully available right now.]

That took longer than I thought. [He doesn't sound particularly abashed - it's more in the mildly self-disapproving manner a runner might note they missed their goal time by a few milliseconds.]

[As predicted, the tea isn't quite ready yet when Shun comes in, although Ren does have everything ready to go so now it's just a waiting game until the water is boiling (which, by the sound of it, it almost is). Ren is waiting on a stool, looking like he tried to sit cross legged and failed at it, and is determinedly trying to pull a toy on the end of a stick free of an equally determined kitten's death grip on it.

Ren doesn't glance up when Shun walks in, but he does when Shun says something, and he very nearly loses his grip on the stick in his hands. It's not so much the lack of a shirt as it is just the entire image. Half dressed and with his hair hanging down like that, he look surprisingly cool--not that Shun didn't always look cool, but this is a different kind of cool. Well, maybe it's the same kind of cool, just concentrated? Somehow, it's not quite what he expected, anyway.

The kitten rolls over and finally tugs the toy completely out his hands. Ren sighs as the stick clatters to the floor, but he lets the kitten have its prize and smiles over at Shun instead of making an effort to retrieve it.]

You didn't take that long. You have good timing, though; I think the water's going to be ready any second now.

[It's probably a good thing Shun doesn't really notice that near loss of grip on the stick when Ren looks up, assuming it's more to do with Ren turning his attention away from the kitten at an inopportune time. The rapid disarming of the stick from Ren soon after supports that theory well enough, and Shun walks over to pick up both stick and kitten even as Ren smiles at him.]

I still took longer than usual. [Apparently it not being that long by anyone else's standards isn't so much the concern here, though he doesn't actually look bothered by it in any way as he straightens up with the kitten still clinging to the toy, despite his argument.] If you need anything else for it, I can get it for you.

[Much as it looks like he has everything set up anyway, maybe there is still something else he can help with. Even if the downward tilt of his head as he tries in his own way to coax the toy out of the kitten's claws as well only serves to highlight the depths of the shadows below his eyes and not at all do anything for his case for helping.]

[For a moment, Ren at least looks like he's thinking about what Shun could possibly help with at this point, despite having zero intention of actually giving him anything to do other than carry his own tea back upstairs. Somehow, being clean has only made it more obvious how tired he looks.

Lucky, he's saved from having to come up with anything actually productive when the kettle starts its feeble preliminary whistling. Ren immediately hops up to catch it before it gets too loud.]

You can make sure I'm not going to be tripping on her. [He reaches out to wiggle his finger at the kitten as he passes by, a kitten who is suddenly twice as tense and getting tenser and more likely to try to claw her way to the floor as the whistle of the kettle gets louder. At least until Ren grabs the kettle and silences it, hopefully before the kitten gets too anxious.]

[It's pretty obvious what Ren's doing, and Shun gives him a bit of an unimpressed look.] That's barely helping.

[As the kitten gets tense, though, Shun turns his attention to her for the moment, taking the opportunity to tug the toy out of her paws and set it aside before gently holding her scruff and using his other hand for a stroking motion at the head which also serves to pull her ears down a bit and hopefully obscure the sound. This kind of thing isn't a particularly uncommon occurence at the cat cafe.

Once the kettle is silenced, Shun stops bothering at her head, instead leaving that free hand on her stomach to be toyed with as the kitten sees fit. With how quiet things are now and how much Shun's had on his mind recently, he knows there's at least a few pieces he needs to impart to Ren.]

I haven't had the chance to tell you yet, but since you're one of the only other people here who knows about it, be careful how much you say about Duel Monsters in front of Fubuki. He's from the same world as someone else who was here and had the game in theirs. [Even as he says that, his fingers tense and twitch a little, and he turns his head away a bit as the discomfort of remembering exactly why Johan only was here starts to settle in again.]

[Ren is in the middle of pouring their water, so he doesn't notice Shun's tiny danger signs and instead perks right up at the mention of the other guy with Duel Monsters.]

You mean the guy who can talk to Duel Monster spirits? [The guy who's name he never even learned so he's still talking about him in present tense...] Or is there someone else I should meet? I won't say anything about it around Fubuki-kun either way.

[It's probably a good thing Ren's looking in another direction right now, because Shun pales somewhat at the realisation that Ren knew Johan as well. He really shouldn't be surprised, given Ren had been the first person he'd thought of when he'd learnt about Johan being able to see Duel Monster spirits, but it makes it much harder to know how to proceed. Especially since Ren seems to have brightened up at the subject...]

Yeah, him. Johan Anderson. [He can't do this, or at least not convincingly. His voice has already gone flat - too flat, the kind of neutral he ends up in when he's trying to talk about the battlefield in more detail than he wants to remember.] He's not a risk anymore. He's--

[Shun stops rather abruptly at that, unable to quite force gone out of his mouth when he knows damn well that doesn't cover it and never could, but also more unwilling than he's ever been to just say dead when Ren seems so cheery about him. The conflict is obvious in the pained narrow of his eyes and the clench of his jaw - he looks almost nauseous, when it's all put together - as well as his complete lack of reaction to the kitten now trying to drag his free hand towards its mouth for a good chewing.]

[Ren pauses very slightly before turning back to the stove to put the kettle down. That name isn't actually completely unfamiliar--someone had mentioned him on the board the other day. That also isn't at all the tone Ren would expect from Shun right now, even if they are talking about someone who's gone.

But it does help keep him from feeling too disappointed that this person he liked and his similar powers are gone. If Shun's sounding like that about someone he'd undoubtedly been suspicious of, there's something else going on. As Ren looks over at him, he feels even more sure of that. Just disappearing wouldn't rattle Shun this much.

Maybe if Shun didn't look like that, he'd say something about how he didn't think Johan was the kind of person to put Fubuki at risk anyway, or that it's a shame he didn't get to compare notes on their powers a little bit more. But Shun looking like that demands being more direct.]

What happened?

Edited 2017-06-27 11:20 (UTC)

[More than suspicious of, Shun had been outright angry with him at the time of the murder, but the whole thing had slapped him back to his senses as effectively as anything possibly could. Seeing a death that brutal was still new to Shun despite all his time on the battlefield, and there's little else in the world that sobering.

At Ren's question, he grits his teeth harder, as if he doesn't really want to answer. But he'll probably find out one way or another even if he tries to hide it, and it's really a bit late to do that now.]

...He was murdered. Decapitated. The morning after that age shifting wore off. [Despite the obvious unwillingness to say it and the stuntedness of the sentences, there's an element of rehearsed detachment to his words, as if he's had them on his mind a lot. As he goes on, though, the affect of composure starts to wear thin, and he looks away again like he had earlier, as if in shame at his own perceived weakness.] I couldn't let the other two who found the body see I was shaken as well. They needed someone to hold them together.

[It's an attempt, an excuse, to say why he's failed to keep holding it down. He's been holding it down since the murder, and though some remaining reasonable part of him is aware that this isn't the kind of thing he should be able to just handle, the rest still thinks it should have been his burden to bear. It's not like he could share that part with the rest of the group investigating.]

[It's a good thing he isn't holding anything (like the kettle of extremely hot water or the very breakable mugs of tea), or it would be on the floor now. Whatever he'd been expecting, it definitely hadn't been that.

Decapitated... That, more than anything else, has him looking a bit ill. Not that he hasn't seen worse while he's been here--he did watch and help clean up while Hakkai dismembered some creature right in front of him...but that wasn't Johan. And he's certainly imagined inflicting worse tortures (and probably will be again in a minute), but nothing that was real...]

That's... [all he can get out for the moment, despite having a million questions. Why? How? Who? Why Johan? What happened to his monsters? Why hasn't Johan come back yet? But if Shun knew the answers to any of that, he'd undoubtedly say so on his own.

...And Shun had to see him that way? No wonder he hasn't been able to sleep.]

...You don't need to do that with me. [He should never have felt like he needed to do it at all...although Ren can't say he wouldn't try to do the same thing in that situation. He's already trying to tuck some of his shock and disgust away, just so Shun doesn't feel like he has to do the same thing. It's probably less convincing than it could have been, as he ends up having to (casually) grab on to the edge of the counter to help ground himself.]

[Despite the turn of his head, Shun's gaze shifts to Ren to check his reaction, to see whether he might need to do anything for him in the wake of that revelation. It's not surprising to see Ren looking a little ill as well, nor that he can't find the words to describe it. Shun had enough trouble himself, and he's well-versed with death and losing people. If he didn't know Ren had a much stronger constitution, he almost would've expected his reaction to be more in line with Izuku's.

But stronger constitution or not, Shun turns his head back with an unreadable look when Ren says he doesn't have to conceal it. It's been a good week or so now of dealing with people using the exact same coping mechanisms Shun does and failing to hide them from him, and Ren's not doing any better a job of it.

As Ren grips the counter, Shun eyes the motion and steps forward, letting the kitten in his arms up onto his shoulder for the moment so he has his hands free. In the space of a few strides, he crosses the kitchen, leaning over Ren and moving to pull him into a hug. There's a kind of gentle security to it, a little more subtle than his usual protectiveness.]

You don't have to do it with me either. Assuming either of us can even hide it from each other anymore. [They're not particularly good at leaving well enough alone when it comes to each other's problems.]

[Ren tenses up in surprise at the sudden hug--Shun is hugging him???---but only for a moment. Then he smiles and wraps his arms around Shun as well as he leans against him, definitely grateful for the support. Even though...he can't be the one who needs it most here...]

Aren't you the one who really needs this...

[His smile fades away again as he leans his head against Shun's shoulder. Shun undoubtedly needed this more than he did, but he's be lying if he said he didn't need it at all. The shock of what Shun told him hasn't quite worn off yet. He didn't even know Johan that well but...it's kind of like hearing Christopher Lo had died. He'd only spoken to Chris a couple times too, but he was still important. They're alike, in a way. They're connected. And Johan had been important that way too.

It's true that they can't really hide anything from each other anymore, and Ren doesn't really want to. He's also pretty terrible at trying to express his feelings with words, nor does he particularly like trying (which was why he'd started letting Leon do it for him), so Shun will just have to glean what he can from Ren standing there silently for a while. Eventually, he does think of something he can say and he tightens his hug a bit.]

I'm sorry you had to see something like that.

[As long as Ren doesn't voice his surprise about the hug, Shun doesn't mind. It's been a while since he's hugged anyone, and quite frankly, with all that's going on he doesn't really want to think too hard about who he usually hugs either. There's enough on his mind right now.]

This way we both get it. [It's not quite an admission that he might've needed something like this as well, but it's at least a concession that he had considered it might be best to have it go both ways. It's certainly voiced in that very straightforward way he usually presents his logic in, even if it's less bad for him than his logic tends to be.

Turning his head slightly so it leans a little on Ren's, Shun shifts his hands a little, one to hold against his upper back, the other down near the base of his spine. It's meant to be an expression of support, and it's easier to position himself for that now that Ren's leaning on him instead of the counter. Otherwise, he keeps the silence until Ren speaks again. Sometimes that's all that can really be done in a situation like this.

Shun's fingers tense slightly at the apology, but at least he doesn't have to bite his tongue on rejecting it. This kind of thing is one of the few situations he considers that reaction fairly valid, but he's still not sure it should be pointed at him so much, and it takes him a few moments to answer. His voice is quieter this time.]

It's the others who saw it I'm worried about. [Their initial reactions had been bad enough, but he hasn't heard from Naoto at all since then, and Izuku he already knows is having as much trouble sleeping as him. Neither of them had seemed equipped to handle it, and it's hard not to be concerned.]

[It's at this time that the kitten has decided she's tired of being where she is and the fastest way to get to the floor is to move onto Ren's shoulder and climb down his back. Ren hisses lightly at the sudden onslaught of claws and also leans even more against Shun in an unconscious effort to get away from them. Once the kitten is dashing out of the kitchen, Ren straightens back up a little, but not quite to where he'd been before.]

That's okay. I can be worried about you instead.

[Somehow, he isn't surprised Shun would be more concerned about the others than himself, even though he's definitely been affected by it too. That lack of concern for himself isn't something he's going to get over overnight, if ever. But his acknowledgement that he needed a hug too--and that he was having trouble sleeping and could use some company--is a good start and more than enough progress for Ren right now.]

As long as they have people they can lean on too, I'm sure they'll be okay. [Eventually. But he doesn't want to say that.]

[One of Shun's hands shifts a little as if he's planning to let the kitten down himself instead of letting it go down Ren's back, but by the time he gets there it's already most of the way down, so he reluctantly leaves it and instead moves his hand up and down a bit to try and rub out some of the pain. This, at least, is more familiar to him, more like a consoling motion even if that isn't entirely the intent right now.

Ren's comment just makes him let out a low breath, though.] You know I don't like worrying people.

[It's a nice sentiment and he recognises that, and he's glad he has Ren to help when he needs it. He still just doesn't really think he should need it. That he should be able to handle it, and be the person other people are coming to for this.

There's a slight nod at the mention of if the others have people to lean on. Kanji doesn't seem like the kind of guy who'd let his shinki languish in pain if he knew about it, and Izuku had been talking about that Todoroki guy often enough for Shun to be confident there's support happening there.]

It might hurt them less in the meantime, at least. [Either Shun picked out that unsaid "eventually", or considered it to have been inherent to a statement like that anyway. It's hard to tell.]

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