pslplz | Futureverse

"Can you know for certain that you're not interested when you've never met her?" Naru countered.

Really, he knows that Nagi is focused on his career, but that's sort of exactly the dilemma to Naru. It doesn't seem healthy for career to be the only important thing in a person's life. And he knows Nagi isn't as much of a social butterfly as he is. That's why as his friend it only makes sense for him to use his own charm to help Nagi meet more people.

"Spoken to," Omi repeats, nowhere near as appeased with that response as Yuushi seems to be. So a verbal slap on the wrist for the perpetrator of this foul behavior, and two weeks of suspension with remedial classes for the people who did something about it!

"Why should he even be allowed to return? Someone who acts like that doesn't belong there in the first place."

This time, at least, he manages to keep his anger more controlled.

"Cool. So I'll come bug you after work and see what's clear? I want an official day!"

He snorts softly. Naru never really changes. Even back in school, it was always Naru who was getting him into all the extracurricular activities (some of them not always permitted by the teachers, but Nagi didn't really mind).

"You weren't interested."

If that's a prompt for Naru to discuss why he wasn't, he can take it as such. Generally though, Nagi doesn't quite understand Naru's thought process in his dating life. Maybe because for Nagi, becoming interested in anyone at all is such a rare occasion. How can one become disinterested so quickly?

"Hmmm okay."

Goku wonders for a moment if that's it, but he decides not to press. Besides, he'd like to catch up with his brother instead!

"So what're tutoring? You said you're in school? What are you doing?"

"...not lately." There might be a tone of gratitude there, because he does think that the kids in most part have left him alone because of his association with Naru, Omi, and Ken.

"Why, are you gonna beat them up for me?" he says with mild amusement.

"Hm. Well, if he doesn't feel the same way, it might get awkward," Naru says bluntly.

"Er, not that I know he doesn't. He's a little...unaware generally of things like this, if you know what I mean."

Not just of his own attraction to guys (of which Naru is fairly certain), but about his feelings in the romance department at all.

"I was interested!" Naru protests. Sure, not long-term interested, but he'd known that going in. Long-term wasn't the intention and he didn't mean it as the intention for Nagi (though if the cards fell that way, he'd be happy for him).

"Anyway, why does that matter? We're different people."

"I offer in math, science, and history. I graduate this spring and have a scholarship to Neo-Tokyo U where I'll be majoring in engineering. General for the first year and moving into a specialty after that."

It's a safe category. Engineers will always be needed, and it tends to pay well. And NTU was one of the top-ranked colleges in the country.

"Have you ever seen me hit someone?" Omi counters with some amusement of his own. "You know I don't fight with my fists."

The underlying message, of course, being No, but I might make sure they're sorry all the same.

Yeah, and that was the rub, wasn't it?

"I don't want to make things awkward for our group," Omi presses his forehead against the railing.

"It's dumb, right? If it were someone outside our circle, I'd totally go for it... Why is it easier with the people you aren't tight with?"

"Obviously because you don't wanna sabotage what you've already got and risk not being friends with them at all," Naru says bluntly. Hey, as a friend, it's his job to let him know what's at stake.

"At least for a little while, anyway. You want me to feel him out? See what's going on in that head of his? Maybe send some suggestions, subtly of course."

Omi's stomach twists a little at Naru's suggestion, and he grimaces. It's a kind gesture; it's just not one he can comfortably accept.

"No... Thanks, but I'm not dragging anyone into my stupid crush drama. I can talk to him myself or suck it up."

And Omi knows himself well enough to guess which of those it'd be.

And Naru knows too, which of those will likely happen. Well, it's not the worst thing ever. Eventually, Omi will find another crush and move on. Ken will just be...Ken, and maybe one day he'll slam face-first into a relationship. He has a feeling that's how things go with the guy.

"All right. Maybe you could date around instead, casual like. Find a bad boy who can get your mind off of things."

At that, Omi gives a low laugh.

"A bad boy, huh? Yeah, I should. Then my transformation into an anti-Nii-san will be complete."

There truly just wasn't a point in trying to emulate perfection, after all.

"Wow. Sounds like you're real smart." He grins. Not that Hak's not smart or anything, but he's more of a different kind of cool.

"What're you gonna do after?"

"Exactly."

Point being, Naru can be interested and disinterested in lots of people. Nagi isn't the same. He's always been slow to make connections with people. Maybe that means he doesn't date around much, or at all, but that suits him just fine. It's probably better this way. The last time he had a real interest in someone, they were interested in someone else.

"Your target is on the move."

That was totally a subject change! Maybe a fair one, though. Naru probably shouldn't expect Nagi to humor discussion about his love life (or lack thereof) for long. Still, he doesn't like the thought of Nagi spending his whole life alone. Deep down, he doesn't think Nagi likes that thought either.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm watching," he says as a rounds a corner in pursuit.

"You down for a game tourney in a few weeks? Thought it'd be fun to get a big group of gamers together, order pizza and watch each other get pulverized."

Smart, maybe. Growing up on strapped income, seeing the toll that it takes on an adult, can make for a pretty good motivator to study hard and focus on building a future that will give you the financial freedom to pursue more than the best deals. And he did have the benefit of an in-home teacher that stressed the importance of doing well in school his whole life. Which was all to say that Mamoru attributes most of his academic success to hard work and circumstance.

"I'm not sure. The advantage of spending the first year in general engineering is that it lets you sample all of the different fields to see what you like. What about you? Do you have any plans for yourself after school?"

"Hmm, I dunno yet. It'll be nice to just settle down somewhere for a while and see what's interesting."

Having traveled around a bit, it's kind of hard to imagine what kind of a steady gig you can really have. But he's willing to give it a try.

"Sure," he says. Nagi isn't all that great in big groups, but gamers at least speak the same language as he does. And in a tournament, they'll be more focused on talking about the game than small talk.

"Are you going to be on my team, or the losing team?"

"Hey, you know I'm going to be on the winning team," Naru banters back. "I haven't hashed out all the details yet. We'll all have to network and figure out who's available when-- I'll send out a calendar for everyone to block in."

It's a funny contrast, though not an unfitting one. Mamoru is so accustomed to structure, direction and clarity of objectives. It's hard to envision this wait-and-see approach Goku seems to be taking. It's so easygoing (like Goku himself, or at least what Mamoru remembers of him).

"That sounds relaxing. I hope you find something interesting without trouble-- and that it doesn't turn out to be trouble itself."

It's an easy destination for the young and aimless.

Well. This is not entirely where he expected to be tonight.

Hak adjusts the strap of his duffle on his shoulder, the bag seeming over-tiny against his tall, broad and muscular form. He steps out of the lift and, for a passing moment, allows himself to feel awkward in the final walk to Goku's apartment. Not over the lack of advance notice to the residents, but over his own unpreparedness. His clothes are wrinkled and his hair dissheveled like that of a man who until recently had been napping (he had been). Possibly, he shouldn't have answered Helena's nagging reminder that his laundry wasn't going to do itself with an assurance that it also wasn't going to run off and leave him naked.

He owns it's slightly embarrassing, if only to himself. Not that he plans on getting into the details. The bottom line is he's now out of a roof over his head and as long as he's newly responsible for providing for his own place to live, it might as well be close to his brother, right? Brothers, even.

He reaches the front door, looks it up and down, and rings the bell.

The game projector is on pause, but the effects are still pretty stunning in standby mode. The entire living room looks like the bridge of a futuristic starship, with the tv screen doubling as the ship's own window into the galaxy. A fluorescent glow of the various command panels bathe the room. Goku hasn't bothered to switch it off, since he plans on going back to his mission after a brief snack break. He's in the kitchen fixing himself a sandwich when he hears the doorbell go off. Weird, since he's not expecting anyone.

He puts down the bread (but grabs a quick bite of it) before trotting to the front door and sliding it open.

"Hey!" Goku's face lights up. He's surprised, but not in a bad way. "What's up? Come in!"

Futureverse

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surprise houseguest

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