candybox | OPEN POST: Makoto Niijima

[She looks at the hand on hers, and places her other hand over his, smiling softly. Just that little gesture is enough to ease those feelings of loneliness and frustration.]

Yeah. I know you do. I don't know what I'd do without any of you... but especially you, Ren.

[Her cheeks tinge a little again at the admission, but it's the honest truth.]

[He can tell. He can hear it in her voice, he can see it in her eyes, and it brings this warmth bubbling up in his chest that washes away the discomfort from a moment ago.

[His smile start to return, slowly working its way back across his face as he just ... lingers there for a moment, before giving her hand another squeeze.]

That goes both ways. You know that, right?

Right. [She can feel tears springing in her eyes, and she reaches up to brush them away quickly, still smiling.]

Sorry, I'm just really happy. I never guessed things would end up like this.

[A short, breathy laugh escapes. It's not directed at anyone - he isn't laughing at her - he just ... he really knows how she feels.]

Me neither.

[Being sent here, away from his friends, his parents ... it felt like everyone had written him off.

[He didn't think he'd find people here that he cared about, and who cared about him.

[He didn't think he'd meet someone like her.

[He gives her hand one more quick squeeze.]

Let me go lock up, okay?

Then I'm all yours.

[A thought that makes his heart beat a little faster.]

Okay.

[She smiles, squeezing his hand in return, and finishes her coffee while he goes to close up. It feels like a weight's been lifted off her shoulders, somehow, in the same way as when she first made a contract with Johanna.

Of course, now she has all new nerves to worry about with how to navigate a relationship (gosh, that's a scary word) from here, but she trusts him.]

[He's feeling those same nerves fluttering in his chest ... but they're a lot quieter than they were before.

[Maybe they'll be back later on, when they've gone upstairs and they're alone in his room, but now that they've talked? Now that everything's out in the open, and they've made the decision to start that relationship?

[He just feels good. Content and relieved as he quickly rinses out the chemex and crosses the room to the front door.

[The sign flips over to 'CLOSED', the lock clicks shut, and he makes his way back across LeBlanc, wordlessly extending his hand with a playful smile.

[Is it a little bit extra? Absolutely. But hopefully it gets a laugh out of her.]

[That does earn a laugh from Makoto, seeing a bit of theatre that's more Joker than Ren -- though of course, they're really just one and the same. She takes his hand, blush deepening as she plays along.]

I didn't know you could be such a gentleman.

[An invitation to perhaps show her a little more.]

When the mood takes me.

[He replies with a jokingly understated shrug of his shoulders.]

I have to do something about that delinquent reputation, right?

Maybe you just need a little help from the student council president.

[She laughs. People are going to be surprised if gossip spreads that they're dating, that's for sure.]

[Oh, the rumours will be flying, there's zero doubt about that.]

You sure people won't just think she's fallen for the bad boy?

[He cocks head to one side, arching his eyebrows above his glasses as if the idea is just utterly scandalous.]

Well, maybe she has.

[She gives a coy smile, before she grins and breaks character.]

Seriously, though, people can gossip all they like. The only opinion I care about is yours.

[The playful edge to Ren's smile softens at that - quite a bit actually.

[He knows what that means coming from her, and it's hard not to ... well, melt just a little at that.

[So, yeah. He breaks character too, and the hand holding Makoto's adjusts, shifting so that he can interlace his fingers between hers.]

Let 'em talk, then. They're doing it anyway, this would actually be a nice change of pace.

Yeah. [The feeling of Ren's fingers laced with hers is so simple, but nice. She's a little shy again when she suggests:]

Can we... go upstairs? I doubt anyone will be looking through the windows at this time of night, but...

[It still wouldn't hurt to have a little privacy.]

Yeah. [He nods, turning back towards the stairs.] C'mon.

[It's a familiar walk. A few paces to the back of the café and up the narrow staircase. They'd done it a thousand times before.

[It just felt a little different now -- kicked up another brief stir of excited butterflies in his stomach as they climbed the stairs, hand-in-hand.

[His room was the same as it always was. A big book case off to the right, slowly collecting souvenirs. A desk cluttered with the tools and components in the back left corner, just behind the couch and TV. His bed, presently unmade, and a slightly open window just above it, letting in a faint, cool breeze.

[Just the two of them.]

[Makoto's heart skips a beat, even though Ren's room is the same old hideout as before. Little details seem new to her, now, like the plant he'd bothered to take such good care of since moving in, or the giant stuffed bear she'd gifted him in Dome Town sitting next to it. Not to mention all the little knick-knacks he'd collected from others, too, the little scratches on the furniture from a certain cat.

Ren's life is filled with kindness for and from other people. This dusty attic is proof of it. So the fact he'd chosen her, above anyone else in his life...]

Ren... Um... [Suddenly she feels overwhelmed again, and at a loss for what to say, or how to proceed.]

It's okay.

[His voice is gentle, but reassuring as turns to face her. There's a small, but warm smile on his lips.]

I'm a little nervous too.

[And despite the fact that he's showing a little more of that trademark confidence ... it's true. Yes, this is their hideout, but it's also his bedroom, and they just decided to start a relationship.

[There's ... there's a lot tied up in that, whatever comes next, and he's definitely not blind to that.

[He wants to make sure she's alright.]

Edited 2020-05-20 00:13 (UTC)

Glad to hear it. Well, I'm not glad that you're nervous, but--

[That they're in the same boat. Had he been more confident, perhaps more experienced, he might have found her lack of it more difficult to deal with.

She's going to babble on again, though, so she stops herself.]

Never mind. Can you... um... kiss me again?

[He understands. It's why he said it in the first place -- just so there'd be no doubt that they're in that same spot together - even if he is doing a bit better at keeping his cool than he was before.

[Now that there's no doubt though, about how they both feel, and what they both want?

[He feels a whole lot better about just going for it.

[So one hand slips around her waist, drawing her in closer so that he can lean down and press a kiss to her lips.]

[The sudden and intimate hand around her waist feels like it sends an electric jolt through her skin. Still, the kiss is a little less daunting the second time, eyes sliding closed as her hands move up to rest on his shoulders, and she tenderly presses her lips to his.]

[There's a split second there, when he feels her tense as that electric jolt races up her spine, where he wonders if he didn't go just a little too bold ... but then she relaxes. Then, he feels her hands settle into place on his shoulders.

[It's easy, then. To just settle into that same, gentle rhythm that he'd set before. To disentangle his hand from hers and cup Makoto's cheek, and shift in just a little closer so that they're flush up against each other.]

[She leans into that hand against her cheek, wondering absently if he can feel how warm she is, her cheeks are practically on fire. Even so, it's a flush of excitement more than embarrassment now, when their bodies are pressed as close as this. Just like when she first heard the voice of her Persona, she realises she just needs to let go, to be honest with herself.

Still, she has to come up for air sooner rather than later, and when she does she looks up at him.]

This feeling, when you touch me... I've never felt anything like it.

[Her voice is barely above a whisper.]

[He can feel it.

[Even if he couldn't, he can see the rosy flush in her cheeks as soon as she pulls away, and ... he probably looks a little pink himself, judging by how warm he feels.]

I feel it too.

[She laughs, lightly, fingertips reaching up to ghost against his jaw.]

You can-- keep going, if you want.

[She stammers only briefly. She may have fantasised about this a little since sending that initial text, even if she'd never actually expected it to come to this.]

[There's a little shift in his posture, his head tilting to lean into her touch.]

You're sure?

[He didn't expect they'd get here tonight either ... but he does want this. He's wanted this -- wanted her for a long time, and this is a moment he's thought about even before that text.

[There's no uncertainty in his eyes, or his voice, or the way he's holding her. He knows what he wants. He just wants to be sure beyond any doubt that she is too.]

[She didn't think it would get this far this fast either. Beyond every glance exchanged that made her heart skip a beat, beyond things like Joker protecting her in Futaba's Palace, or letting her cling to him when she was scared of the dark, or all the times they'd spent time alone around the city...

Well, she never dared to believe it could mean more. Now she has it, she can't possibly let go.]

Yes. [She nods, certainty reflected in her eyes.] I'm absolutely sure.

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