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[ It's their first full moon since they've Bonded, and since moving into the same house -- and while Yako isn't the sort to put any sort of significance on that for its own sake, this is also the first full moon since Ritsu's lost the company of his brother and friends. She can feel his attention focused on ... something early on in the evening, and she'll push past her own feeling of being drained to step lightly down to the cellar, carrying a bowl of what a witch at the Coven swore were foolproof Puca treats -- really just a rock-hard mix of oats, carrots, and other grains packed tight into cookie-sized pellets and baked, perfect for gnawing on. ]

Ritsu ...? [ She calls softly from the entrance of the cellar, squinting at the interior. It doesn't feel like he wants her to be away from him, but that doesn't necessarily tell her a lot about what state of mind he is in. ]

Edited 2019-08-16 02:20 (UTC)

[ He's had, as of late, the urge to dig - though the last time he got to digging, it put him a mess of trouble - and so, after spending a few days casually checking out the cellar, he'd set upon it. The area is nice and dark, the stone easy to overturn, and Nel is likely to be cross with him -

but that's okay. His ears stay perked listening for danger as he works, instinct that is his but isn't, at the same time, paying more attention than ready alertness, and he feels her approaching before he hears her. It's impossible not to; their Bond ensures that, and a mix of fondness and relief slips through it. When she calls for his name, he at first responds only with a distracted hum - from the far corner of the cellar, and his head slowly lifts from the decently deep hole he's already made there.

His ears wiggle, his one golden eye glimmering, and he pulls himself out a little better. ]

Ya-ko-cha~n~♪ [ He grins at her, propping his chin in his hands. ] Yo. What brings you to this part of the neighborhood, huh~?

[ Like she doesn't live here now, or something - he's only teasing, grin curving into a more natural smile. ]

I thought I'd come and see what you were up to. I could feel you were concentrating really hard down here... [ She holds up the bag of treats, though she doesn't advance into the room just yet. ]

And I brought you something to snack on, if you wanted to. Can I come in?

[ Ah, snacks... Ritsu's nose twitches as he leans forward a bit, eyes narrowing in focus. ]

...Your blood'd be the best snack, Yako-chan, but I'll take whatever you make, too. [ Sliding back into his little burrow-hole-! ] Yep, mmmhmm, come in... Long as you don't mind getting a little dirty.

I don't think my blood has a lot of nutritional value. [ It's a familiar exchange by now -- Ritsu asks, while Yako finds ways to gently refuse him. The ritual of it is a good enough cue to step further into the cellar -- today is a day for housework, anyway, so she's dressed in a simpler dress than usual. ]

I'm coming in. [ She announces, not like she really needs to, but some habits die hard. She ducks down as best as she can to crawl into the Ritsu-sized hole, a little curious exactly how much he's managed to do here... ]

[ One day she should just say yes..!!! But, like with most people he asks, he's not holding out too hard for it.

He's managed to do a surprising amount - surprising for him, at least, considering she's likely noticed he's not a very active type. The tunnel is also not as small as it seems on the outside, curving in a gentle slope as if avoiding something further down; the bigger room he's dug out - or more accurately, is still digging out - is just big enough to accommodate them height-wise, one of the walls distinctly made of stone. It's a sharp contrast to the rest of the burrow, considering the rest is made strictly of dirt. There's no real decoration - what could he really put down here anyway? - or anything too comfortable to lay on, aside from Ritsu himself, who flops against the rounded wall furthest from the stone one and stretches out.

All in all, it's half the width of a small bedroom - so it isn't so much room, but definitely more than someone might expect for him to have done so far. ]

Y'know, it's not about the nutritional stuff for me. I just like how it tastes. [ Even now, probably. He hasn't... actually had any blood in a while; he doesn't know if he'd still like it, or if his changes would discourage him from it. Ritsu shifts uncomfortably at the thought, but opens his arms and waves her over. ] C'mere, c'mere. I haven't managed to steal any pillows from upstairs yet, so I guess you can lean on me so you don't get too sore.

[ More important, he'd like her to; it takes a moment to focus on that feeling, but he picks it out and wills it over. (He still isn't entierly sure how this all works, but that feels right - wanting her to feel things.) ]

[ It's one of those things Yako's still growing used to over time, and it's something she's come to appreciate. Living with a Bond doesn't mean unfettered access to someone else's thoughts and feelings; like she'd thought of it once, it's like living in the same house with all the doors open. While going everywhere might be possible, it's still a matter of basic kindness not to go where she's not invited.

Since she's being invited now, though ... after a look around the area, more to satisfy her curiosity than anything else, she'll step over to him and into his arms, reaching up with the hand that isn't holding the bag of treats to lightly touch his chest, over his heart. ]

How long did it take you to dig all of this out? [ More to the point, is it safe for the foundations? ]

[ It's a world away from how his Bond had been with Rei - but he and his older brother had... difficulties, and he brushes the thought aside as he leans down to nuzzle her nose with a chuckle; his arms settled around her waist, pulling her a little closer, but not enough to squish anything. ]

Couple of hours. [ He's gotten good at it, a thought he also doesn't like but that works just fine for him in the present moment, seeing as he needs to finish his little hole. And, as if sensing her more pressing matter: ] It's not exactly under the house, so things should be okay... Whatcha think? Cozy, right~?

[ Getting her nose nuzzled will earn him a hand cupping his cheek in turn. A few weeks of this has taken the worst of the embarrassment of the intimacy off, and now it's just ... comfortably, mostly. Familiar and grounding, as she feels the contact cycle her magic through him and back again, even through passive contact just like this, and it relaxes her enough to shut her eyes. ]

Just a couple of hours? That's impressive. [ She really shouldn't underestimate what the full moon can drive monsters to do. When he asks her for her opinion, she hums a little, opening her eyes and glancing to the side.

Except, you know, she can't actually see anything, so it's hard to answer that question. She'd been able to approximate Ritsu's location by his voice and the tug of their Bond, his willing her to come to him guiding her more unerringly than her own eyes could, but that doesn't mean she can actually see in the dark. So, she'll wiggle around in his arms, dropping the bag of treats on his lap, until she's sitting on the ground beside him and both her hands are free. A little concentration lights them up with a soft glow, and with a puff of breath, they scatter upwards in a stream of glowing points, sticking to the ceiling like small, warm stars. They don't brighten up the room completely, but they show her enough, and she makes her pronouncement after another few moments of consideration. ]

It doesn't feel like much of a home yet. [ She isn't one to lie about that sort of thing, and in any case, he could feel it over her bond if she was. ] ... But it could be.

[ How pretty. Ritsu leans against her, tucking his head into the crook of her shoulder; his hands place with the bag idly as his gaze travels across the lights. He appreciates their not-so-brightness, honestly, especially given he's been in the dark for a little longer than her now. ]

Feels more like a home already with you here, [ he replies, warm but - ultimately, teasing, as he cuddles further against her. ] Fufun... Let's stay here together forever, just you and me. The others can take care of themselves...♪

We can't. [ Yako answers, quietly but firmly, even as she adjusts her position to leth him cuddle closer against her. ]

... After all, we do need to eat sometime. Conjury can't feed us, you know... [ She grins up at him. Unsurprisingly, of course, her mind's on food. But she did come here with a question in mind, so she'll rest her hand over one of his, leaning her weight against him.

'How do you feel?' seems like a bit of a pointless question when you can feel someone else's emotions, so instead, she sends a silent inquiry over their bond, a mental nudge to check in on how clearly he's thinking, even with the full moon up. ]

[ Of course she had an ulterior motive, but it's nothing he resents. Given everything that's happened in the short time they've been here, of course she'd be worried about him - especially now that a good bit of the people he knows from home are gone. Better for them too, but he won't deny he feels just a little lonely, and he closes his eyes, taking comfort in the hand on his and in the weight resting against him.

It's grounding the same way that following his instincts to burrow has been, even if he doesn't... like that he feels better doing so. He turns his hand over to better hold hers, exhaling slowly. His mind's mostly clear, and he gives her a mental nudge back to demonstrate so, though it's littered with pinpricks of restrained self-loathing. ]

...I'm doing better than I have been, [ he mumbles softly, in better explanation. ] Compared to the last two moons, anyway...

[ Which isn't saying much, but he brushes aside those feelings before they get too far. ]

Kinda sucks. [ Ritsu's quiet for another moment, opening his eyes again. He hates they don't match anymore ] I think the rest of 'em were lucky, goin' home before they got too far.

[ It's nice, if nothing else, to have confirmation that the Bond works as it's meant to -- she'd worried it wouldn't, irrational as it is, even if there's plenty of evidence around that it's an arrangement that residents of the city benefit from. Those small pricks of self-loathing, she's less sure what to do with, and so she reaches up to brush some hair from his face with the hand that isn't tangled with his. She could feel that, but she won't push it, for now. ]

Maybe ... but it's all right to miss them, though. If you do. [ In his position, she's sure she'd feel similarly -- conflicting feelings of being glad that her friends are somewhere not so strange, coupled with sadness to not have familiar faces around anymore. ] Did you ever ask the Coven how that works?

[ His ears turn back a bit, and he hums; his mood sours over their bond, because the one thing he's never been good at is hiding when he's disgruntled about something. It's not even a hard read on his face, but he turns it away to hide it. ]

Nah. I'm not that curious... [ A bit of a lie. He hasn't gone back to see his mirror anyway, worried it'd freshly show those he's missing now. ] I don't really wanna deal with the Coven anyway... If I ever get really curious, I'll just ask over the watch or whatever. Someone's gotta have checked that out. No reason to do the work myself if I can just copy someone else's answers, y'know? The best effort's the one with the least amount of effort.

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[ on the night of august's full moon ]

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