flameinthedarkness

"There you go, totally blowing my final surprise for the day..."

Cater sighs in that dramatic, whining fashion, so clearly the joke wasn't unappreciated. Still, his smile is soft when Idia follows up with that final sentiment, nodding in return. "You too, Idia. I know it wasn't easy for you." But he showed up, despite his fear. He stuck it out. That's not something Cater's going to forget.

When bus rolls to a stop and the doors open, Cater grabs the pastry box and heads up the stairs. It would be easier to navigate if he wasn't holding Idia's hand, but he stays latched on with determined insistence, walking slower to allow them to sidle their way toward a seat in the back.

A shake of Idia's head at Cater's stubbornness, that need to hold on to him still, but Idia will work with it to get them both on board and into a seat. Even if this all raises another important question, looking down at their joined hands.

"So, ah... what we gonna do once, um, once we get back? Like... with walking into school?" How were they going to play this? This did feel part of that talk to come, but they really needed to figure out an answer before that. At least for this.

Once they're seated, Cater naturally finds himself looking at their joined hands as well. He hums when Idia voices the question that's on his mind as well, giving a one-shouldered shrug.

"It's up to you, really," he decides. "It doesn't bother me if anyone sees us together--not for any reason. Earlier, in the arcade, I hid us from that classmate because I was worried about how the attention would affect you. So..."

He gives Idia a chance to take that much in before finishing. "I won't be offended if it's too much--especially right now."

Oh. Hmmm. Idia taking time to think that over quietly for several moments as the bus got started on their return trip. Eventually though, "I'm not sure. Not yet. I... guess see how it feels once there?" He really wished he had more to offer, to have a decisive choice but... he really doesn't. At all.

A soft huff of a 'pfft' out from him, "I normally try to always have a plan and all of today I've had none..." It's so weird.

"That's alright--just lmk." In the meantime, Cater yawns, finally relinquishing Idia's hand so he can...yep, stretch his arms up over his head and then settle his arm around the other boy's shoulder. Totally smooth. "Tell me about it. I mean, we really took the train off the rails."

"K. Will do." Yeah, they were in this together, right? And while Cater says he's fine no matter what... really? Won't it bring down his rep to be seen with Idia?

Idia's still silent as he thinks it over, before glancing up as Cater pulled his hand free, confused for a moment before, "Pffft, really?" Yeah, ok, Cater's been joking about this since that day they actually turned this into a date, Idia doing his best to not jump or twitch as that arm went around his shoulders. It's... "Heavy." But, "Nice." It's been a long time since he's had this much contact with another person. Outside Ortho, of course. And again noting how very different it was to Ortho, that weight and size difference, the heat that was slowly seeping between their layers, the fact there was tiny movements to Cater's arm that Ortho's never had. It so very obvious that Cater was a living, breathing being doing this.

"Hope you didn't blow all your plans on the first date and got nothing to follow it up..."

"OMG...calling me heavy," Cater teases in mock offense...but he only grins wider as he settles in, the super cheesy action actually feeling nice once they both get comfortable. Considering they've already kissed twice, this hardly feels inappropriate.

"Ye of little faith. Just because I played my sleeve ace faster than I expected doesn't mean I don't have our second date already in the works." He winks, adding, "And besides, that's not counting Ortho's Big Day Out."

"An issue if you're that fast normally..." Idia mutters out before he can consider if a good idea or not.

But moving on, "Yeah, do want to get that sorted for him. He always wanted to go to a park, but thinking some sort of scavenge hunt? He really likes puzzles and mystery books, so think he would like having to work out where to go next." Would need a bit of planning, making sure places around the town were willing to work with them on it.

Cater clicks his tongue. Oh, Idia, underestimating him and his stamina. For now, he keeps the thought to himself, deciding it's best to focus on this new topic. It's obvious that it's something that means a lot to Idia, and that just makes Cater even more determined to help out. He hums as the older Shroud brother brainstorms, and after a moment of thought lets out a small noise of excitement.

"Ah! I got it!" His smile lights up his face. "What about an escape room? That combines puzzle solving with a narrative--and we could definitely go a mystery angle with it. Not to mention, part of the fun of escape rooms is finding the right kind of items you need to unlock new parts of the puzzle, so that adds in a scavenging element. We could even make a scavenger hunt that leads into an escape room..."

A blink and pause to that. "Are those even here? Would think the island too small for that kinda thing." Then again, if there's a call for one... "I think he would really like that." Then a light gasp from Idia and an equally soft tone to continue, "It'll be like a game where you got to get all the items to continue through the plot." Oh he loves that idea. Like seriously loves it.

"I could plan that. It'll be like game design, just irl." Ok, now Idia is super excited for this.

It's hard not to see that enthusiasm and get even more excited. When Idia gets pumped about something, especially when it involves his brother...yeah, that's definitely when he's at his most charming. "Yeah! And I bet if the whole thing has an Idia flair, Ortho would have even more fun!"

Cater gives a happy little laugh, squeezing Idia slightly with the arm around his shoulder, bumping their bodies a bit closer together. "The whole day could have a whole overarching plot, and he can be the star detective!"

Oh. Oh. That's, ah, oh, that's real different. Anything Cater is saying not being taken in as he squeezes Idia like that, eyes widening a little at feeling just so... surrounded. It really is pushing his personal space on all sides and... it's not bad? Idia's hand instinctively going up to his mouth as his other arm hugged himself. WTF? WTF is this?

It's different to how they had been before, with those kisses. Cater had been in front of him during those. Yet how did this feel so much more... out of his control. Not in a bad way, but just... feels so totally like Cater could just move him around however like this.

"Mmhmm." Idia lets out, trying to at least seem like he's listening and being part of this, trying not to show how much this is distracting him.

Generally speaking, Cater's good at picking up other peoples' cues. Reading the room is necessary when you constantly adjust your own personality to fit any given mood. Feeling the way he is, though, and with how up-and-down unpredictable the day's been, this time he doesn't quite keep up.

The squeeze naturally comes to an end, Cater settling back into that loose hold, and he keeps chattering about how much fun the plan is. He tosses out a couple more basic ideas for making it all work before realizing, "...oh, hey, you got kinda quiet. Vibe check--doing okay?"

For once, he isn't teasing.

Ah, "I'm good! I'm good!" Yup, keeping those thoughts to himself, even if they may be readable on his face right now, Idia turning his face away a little and using his hood to act as a barrier. The fact Cater had asked, after what had happened at the bus stop. "I'm... I'm ok, really." Get it together. A moment later and Idia's making himself sit back again, trying to relax.

"Um," Cater had been talking during that... right? "We can, ah, do details over text, or something."

"Alright, sounds good," Cater agrees, peering at Idia with idle curiosity. Is he really okay? Well, he doesn't seem so down in the way that he did before they got on the bus, so Idia probably isn't downplaying something. Convincing himself there's no reason to worry, Cater leans back against his seat, facing forward and giving the Ignihyde housewarden at least that much personal space.

The ride back feels so much shorter than the ride into town. The stop outside the gates to the school are soon within view and Cater groans as he finally frees Idia from his casual embrace, stretching out again in anticipation for the bus coming to a full stop. Just like before, he waits until everyone else has gotten off before standing and sliding out into the walkway.

Although he waits for Idia, he doesn't reach for his hand this time. From here forward, even though they have a minute of walking before they reach the gates, it's all up to the taller boy what they do.

And they were back and... reality comes crashing back down. Though Idia's used to it in a way. And yet, looking over to see Cater still there... ok, maybe this reality isn't too bad right now.

Idia doesn't reach for Cater's hand as they get off the bus, his gaze down at his feet as he tries to figure out this next part. Of what to do. And what he wants. In a way he wants to reach for him. Today had been good. Bad too. But mostly good. And he wants that to continue.

But also, "Cater." Reaching to hold Cater's sleeve between his fingers once they were away from the bus and others filtered off to where they were going. To stop him for a moment. "I, ah... I want that talk first. Before anything else here." Idia still not looking in Cater's direction as he speaks, needing it off to the side or down to get through this. "It's not... it's not no to nothing else in future, but... just in case it is. For both of us. For others to assume only for... nothing later." Not saying it will be nothing later just... just in case.

Despite his best efforts, Cater can feel his nerves starting to rattle as he walks off the bus and hops onto solid ground. When Idia stops him, it's all he can do to keep himself quiet--patient as he listens. He guesses he's expecting Idia to say that this was all a bad idea, that he just got swept into the energy of the day and...well, they could just be friends.

Idia himself had seemed to want to put off the "so what are we, exactly" talk until later, so that it's coming now doesn't exactly bode well.

What he says isn't that bad, though. Not that bad. He nods slowly, letting it all sink in. "So, just keep it to ourselves while we feel this whole thing out?"

When Cater puts it like that...

Idia lets out a huff, "I'm not meaning it like, you know, going to avoid you for like a week or so. I'd... rather deal with it sooner than later..." So he can... deal with it? The fallout of it? If it goes bad then... Idia had to make a plan to... cope. To get through this all. Even if saying it had been fun and it's fine if that's it... this would change things, wouldn't it?

"Was thinking more... see how wiped we are and... if we up for it tomorrow, then, ah... maybe then." Leaving a problem without a solution? Yeah, Idia doesn't like that. And this was a problem that needs an answer.

"Guess it's a good thing we don't have classes tomorrow. Yeah, I can do that." He's not going to get any sleep tonight, he's sure. Anxiety is going to keep him up, wondering where they both end up when they talk tomorrow. Hopefully he'll have enough energy to put up a split card for awhile and keep people off his tail. Regardless of his energy, he knows he doesn't want to put a pin in this for very long. "We'll text updates on our recharge levels?"

"Yeah, yeah." And while Idia knows he has to let go of Cater's sleeve... he doesn't want to. Lingering there several moments. Before forcing himself to let go. To step away to the side.

He's so confused.

"Ah, let me know a good spot to do this, ok?" Since Cater has better ideas on that than Idia.

When Idia's fingers uncoil from his sleeve, Cater can't help a feeling of disappointment from creeping in. It's not like he actually expected they'd be holding hands all the way to the hall of mirrors or anything, but...

Well, maybe he was fantasizing, a little bit, even if he knew better.

"You got it!" Might as well start walking since they're going to the same place, anyway. Maybe it's a little awkward, suddenly walking side-by-side at a respectful distance when they've spent so much time that day doing the opposite. "At least we know we have the tower, but depending on what time it is I'll do a bit of scouting."

Unable to give a final note of teasing, though, he does toss out, "I could always come infiltrate your secret lair."

Idia instantly regrets it. But forces himself not to go back on that. It wouldn't be fair, to have said one thing then act opposite it. Instead shoving his hands into his pockets, forcing himself not to reach out again as they walked.

"I can always check on cameras to see if anyone is heading there. Or any other spots, really. Or have Ortho do life sign scans of different spots." Yup, the Shrouds had a lot of access to the school systems... not that they needed it.

"Pfft, I would say I got the best security system, but he would just invite you in." Ortho has been very happy about Idia making a friend.

If it wasn't so useful, Cater would be kind of unsettled by just how much power the Shroud duo had over the school. They could really do a lot of damage, if they wanted...Crowley better stay on their good side. Actually, that's probably why he's allowed to skip out on so many classes, now that thinks of it.

"Ha! Shouldn't have told me that. I'll conspire with him to never let you know true peace again." He's kidding, of course, if the devilish grin wasn't enough to cement that--he'd be miserable himself if he never had the chance for real privacy. "JK, JK. It's only fair I grind to earn all your secrets."

Yes, he chose his words very carefully.

"Yeah, really gotta get that rep up with the 'shut in otaku' faction." Ok, Idia can do this. This kind of joking... And maybe missing Cater's very specific words. No doubt he will pick it up more and more as they go on. And have to learn to deal with it.

"Gotta slide into more of your dorm's DMs. I know some of them follow me on Magicam." It's just, you know, actually start conversations in person is pretty much impossible when it comes to Ignihyde students. And with how loud of an overall reputation he's made for himself, it's not like he can just ask Idia to put in a good word for him. "Maybe I'll start uploading more memes."

Ah...they're already at the Hall of Mirrors. How did that happen so fast? Cater's heart sinks as he looks toward Heartslabyul. He can't believe he's already kind of missing Idia when the guy is standing right next to him. He can't believe he already feels so tired at the prospect of being back in his own dorm.

"Guess this is TTYL?"

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