[Day 196] And why don't you be the artist? [OPEN]

[bedheadstyle]

Who: Haruka and You!
Open: Open
When: Days 196 (late evening, after everyone's gotten home)
Where: Dragonfield, near the lake
What: Haruka has snuck out of the hospital before he's supposed to. Why? Because he wants to draw.
Format: Prose
Warnings: N/A

[Haruka and Takane had some time to recover, though they had been instructed to get far more rest in the hospital for a little while longer before being let go to find their own apartment and settle in properly.

But being in the hospital was never fun.

Well, never fun for some one who didn't sleep for fifteen hours a day.

Like Takane.

For Haruka, though, he was beginning to get restless, and curious. He wanted to know what this place looked like beyond the walls of this hospital. Colin had given him a sketch pad, some pencils and even an iPad sort of device that he could do digital coloring on, but he could only draw Takane's face so many times before she threw a pillow at him and told him to draw something else.

So he waited until she was asleep (which meant he wasn't waiting long) and shuffled out of his bed, finding his legs shaky but strong enough to stand on. Items under one arm, still in his hospital tunic and pants, he made his way out of the doors.

There he stopped for a bit, just to stare at everything that was around him. There was evidence of the ruined world that Colin and the others had talked about, but there was still something amazing about what the Bastion was. The moon was high in the darkened sky above, illuminating the many buildings scattered across the massive hovering chunk of land in a pale glow. It was so pretty!

But he had seen something else out the small window in the hospital room, and after a bit of searching (and slow walking so he doesn't wear himself out) he came across the Dragonfield and the lake, that same moon shining silver against it's gently moving water.

Perfect place for a boy in a hospital tunic to drop down and start drawing, right?]

Comments

[bulletofhope]

That's good... my friend, Asahina-san... she found me as soon as I arrived here. Then I met a few others here and... well, it's not so bad.

[ Naegi smiled again before glancing over at the sketch pad. ]

Is that the only thing you've worked on so far?

[bedheadstyle]

You have a friend here? Ahh. That's really good! It's better than being here alone, I think.

[The question catches him off guard, but he grins and hands the sketch book over. The pages feel new, but the book is already a third of the way used up.]

There wasn't much to draw in the hospital room, so a lot of it is Takane.

[bulletofhope]

Yeah... I've made a few new ones here, too, ever since I arrived...

[ Naegi blinks curiously, looking at the drawings... wow, that's serious skill there. And how many drawings of her are there, even? ]

Ah... she's really pretty! Is she your girlfriend?

[ . . .

NAEGI-KUN... ]

[bedheadstyle]

Ah--...

[Whoops that sure got him turning red there. He lets out a nervous laugh, waving hands in front of his face.]

N-no! She's just a friend. We were the only ones in our class for the past two years so... we got really close.

[Hands lowered, he fidgeted with the hem of his hospital tunic.]

I'm really sad that everyone else is gone, but if I have to be stuck somewhere, at least I'm stuck with her...

[bulletofhope]

I see... that's good, at least? I know that if I had to be stuck somewhere unknown, it'd be with someone I was close to...

[ Naegi knows the feeling. At least there were some familiar faces here in Bastion with him, even if some of them were less expected than most... ]

Sounds like you want her to be more than just a friend, though.

[ Naegi's only joking around here, but Haruka's free to make of that what he will. ]

[bedheadstyle]

[Is it possible for some one to choke on nothing?

That's what Haruka is doing, sputtering going in to a cough and a whole lot of red face and hand flailing.]

[bulletofhope]

[ WELL. That was not the reaction Naegi was expecting, thus it dawns on him... ]

Wait, I was right?!

[ Yes. Yes, you were. ]

[bedheadstyle]

No! No no no! We really are just friends, that's it!

[Don't give him (another) heart attack, Naegi!]

[bulletofhope]

Are you sure you're happy with just being friends, though?

[ Evidence bullet: over-reaction to his joke earlier about getting together ]

[bedheadstyle]

[Shhh this is not the evidence you're looking for.]

Well... honestly I'm happy so long as she's safe. Even if we're the only ones who made it...

[bulletofhope]

Ah... I see...

[ There's a pause here as he frowns, relaxing somewhat as he glances at Haruka. ]

...

Hypothetically, though... what would you do if you found out she had feelings for you?

[bedheadstyle]

[That makes Haruka laugh, a nervous sounding one that sounds positively uncomfortable.]

T... Takane isn't that type of girl.

[bulletofhope]

Then tell me, what kind of girl is she like? She obviously means a lot to you, if... I may say as much.

[ Naegi notes that nervous laugh. Adding it to his collection of evidence bullets, as it may. ]

[bedheadstyle]

Well we've been in the same class since we started high school together! It was always just the two of us, and she was the only one who wanted to talk to me because of that.

But what kind of girl is Takane... ? Hm...

[Oh this is such a land mine. He's so lucky Takane isn't creeping some where listening in.]

She's really tough! She always wears a scowl and I think people are kind of afraid of her a little! But I'm not, because I know she can be really nice, too. And she's amazing at video games! She got second in a national tournament for Dead Bullet, and beat almost everyone at the shooting game we made for the cultural festival!

Buuuut... but she's not that kind of girl that's in to romance and frilly things at all. I think that's okay, though! Because Takane is her own person and that person is some one I like being around.

[Haruka is the girl in this relationship]

[bulletofhope]

[ . . . wow, can you BE any more enchanted with her?

Is what Naegi would ask if he were much bolder and more outspoken about this kind of thing, but he isn't, so he's going to go the safe route and listen to Haruka speak about her.

At length.

And try to deny that he likes her like the deuteragonist of a shoujo manga. Yamada would be so proud of him, knowing he was describing this in anime and manga tropes... ]

I see... you must really look up to her, huh...

... you said she's here with you in this place, right? You'll have to introduce me to her sometime.

[ So he can see for himself how shippable these two are the kind of girl Haruka seems to be enamored with... ]

[bedheadstyle]

[Shhhh you see nothing there is no crush here.]

Mhm. She's sleeping right now, though. She sleeps a lot, actually.

[bulletofhope]

Oh... any reason why she sleeps a lot, or does she just like sleeping?

[ Takane Enomoto: SHSL Narcoleptic. This is now a thing. ]

[bedheadstyle]

It's a condition she has. She's tired even when she's had twelve hours of sleep!

[bulletofhope]

... narcolepsy, maybe?

[ Hey, it could be possible! ]

I don't imagine that it sounds fun, having to wait for her to wake up to do things with her...

[bedheadstyle]

I think that might be it. She... doesn't talk about her condition much.

[But Haruka really doesn't talk about his either.]

I don't mind though! So long as Takane is around, I'm happy!

[bulletofhope]

... I see.

[ He can understand that much, at least. It can be uncomfortable if suddenly strangers started asking personal things about you.

Naegi can't help but laugh a little and grin as he glanced at Haruka. ]

Sounds like you'd be happy anywhere if Takane was by your side, huh...?

[bedheadstyle]

Probably! She certainly made class a lot more interesting!

[Oh Haruka, your crush really is obvious...]

[bulletofhope]

[ Naegi laughs quietly, though more to himself than at Haruka. Really, this was... kind of obvious, really. ]

You know, with comments like that I'd almost think that you really did have a crush on her...

[bedheadstyle]

... well there was only the two of us. It would have been boring if I was alone, right?

[LOGIC.

But he really does have it pretty hard for her.]

[bulletofhope]

I guess that's true...

[ He can't really argue there. ]

But in all honesty, I do have to wonder... is she really just a friend to you? Because she obviously means a lot more to you than just friends, it seems like.

[ As if to emphasize his point, he holds up the sketchbook with all of the Takane sketches in it. ]