(open) bet you thought you'd seen the last of me

[forethinking]

Who: Ren and YOU!!
What: His return to the Void after his canon update
Where: Everywhere, we know how I roll, I'll probably update this forever
When: OOCLY, around the 10th of December!
Content Warnings: 100% Persona 5 Royal Spoilers will happen BUT I will put it in the comment subject if anything comes up.

Comments

music room - closed - leo

[forethinking]

(Not in his room, not in Heavenly Blanc. It's with decided steps that Ren walks the hallways of the school, directed to the music room. The melody is concise, and now that Ren understands a little bit about style, it definitely means Leo is behind the door.

He opens it without much hesitation to find his orange-haired friend and listen to the rhythm his skillful fingers produce.

He's back, hello, he knows he'll have to wait until Leo notices him. It's fine.)

[bachagain]

[ oh, ren's learning. fortunately, this time, he doesn't have to wait three songs. it only takes the one -- stretched out for a couple of bars more, elaborate but played with ease -- until leo turns around, almost as if he'd been paying particular attention to the sound of the door. and, umm, maybe he had?

there's a flash of surprise, mixed in with something else that he doesn't quite have a name for... until leo kinda scoots over on the bench, patting the space beside him.

come now, ren. when he comes on by, leo's expression will be the same as always. as if ren hadn't gone and vanished like some people did.

but leo supposes if one were to break the pattern and come back, it would be ren. ]

Hey, you're late! For that, I'm gonna play the ruthless, mean teacher now. [ he's KIDDING, ] Here, here, surprise pop quiz! Play something you've learned, and play it loud!

[forethinking]

(It's almost like Ren has never left. He has made enough people upset, so he's somewhat relieved when he approaches Leo and takes the seat offered with a kind smile to the other.

Of course, Leo delivers his notice of Ren's absence in the most Leo way possible, and Ren can only snort and nod, cracking fingers before he plays a simplified version of No More What-Ifs, a song he has been trying to crack by himself since Leo has taught him how to read music notes and comprehend the sheets. After he is done, he just sends another smile to the other.)

How was it?

[bachagain]

[ oh... wait, this one isn't familiar?

leo's listening to every key press carefully. he may have been joking about being the ruthless, mean teacher, but he's always carefully evaluating -- brutally honest and playfully picky, in the way only the genius known as leo tsukinaga could be.

but...simpler melodies like this, the beginnings of music made by people just starting out...? those aren't bad. he's come to appreciate those, too. and this one means something to him, given it's made by his DITCHING STUDENT. ]

Woah, wait, that's a new one! I didn't teach you that one, Ren! [ color him SURPRISED. ] It's simple...

[ he has to be honest.

but there's also a pleased note there, transparent and clear. a quiet ring of "it's not bad, though," that goes unsaid. ]

... Where'd you pick that one up from, huh? From wherever you ran off to, or was it somewhere else?

[forethinking]

Home.

(He doesn't mind the comment - he knows it's not a masterpiece, or at least, it's not one yet. There are plans in his head to keep improving it, working on it until it sounds exactly what his memory dictates it to be. He needs his teacher for that, though.

He hopes that one word answered both questions, "wherever he ran off to" and where that song is from.)

[bachagain]

[ part of leo expected that?

and yet, there's a beat of silence where he's not sure what to say. a beat of silence where he recovers, quickly, and laughs. ]

Pretty funny how you say that so casually, wahaha! Like we haven't been stuck here for who the heck knows how long!

[ and, you know, pretty funny how leo says that casually too. maybe he's a little surprised to hear that... a little homesick, again, at the prospect of being able to even return home... but, in true leo fashion, he doesn't make that immediately obvious. ]

Didja enjoy it, being back for a bit? Having time and months and the sun and moon? I wonder why you got pulled out there all of a sudden, hmm...

[ he won't say he missed him, not yet. ]

[forethinking]

(The silence is met with Ren's fidgeting, curling the larger strand of his hair while he waits for a response. And look who's talking just as casually, Ren laughs at the thought and just bumps his shoulder weakly against the other.

He knows that the fact he disappeared and returned gives others hope of achieving the same, perhaps never to return. It's a sigh before words come out of his mouth again.)

I didn't remember not having it.

(He just returned to the same moment, like he had never left.)

[bachagain]

[ ah, shoulder bump! leo's gaze drops a little at that, fondness flashing through his expression as he bumps ren back. even the implications of ren's next statement don't quite shake that away, though there's something that flashes in leo's gaze for a moment -- like, maybe displeasure, or a little surprise? a mix of both.

because... ]

You didn't... Aha, that sounds like you kinda forgot this place! Or... you did, didn't you?

[ fooooorgot him?

that's not what's going to happen when they manage to permanently go home, is it? ah, let him more on from that one-- ]

... Darn! They brought you home and then scrambled your brain like that. That's tough!

[ and yet he says it like it's not. ]

[forethinking]

I did. I'm sorry.

(Not that he could control any of it.

If he had a choice, he would hold onto his memories closely, never letting go of the lessons and the dear people he has met in the Void. Alas, he didn't, and it only fuels his rage against whoever is behind the experiment they're living in.

At the last bit, Ren just shakes his head. He knows that Leo's way of coping with things is to say whatever he'd like in an upbeat motion, he doesn't find offense at it.)

I'm fine now. What will you teach me today?

[bachagain]

[ leo doesn't really need that apology... but he gets where it's coming from, in the face of the lack of control they all have in this situation. it's why he doesn't keep the odd expression he gives ren at that -- it lasts only for a reactionary moment, until what crosses is something more understanding, as if expecting that.

did you know? leo's other way of coping with things -- which is unhealthier and something he's gotten much better about -- is to actually avoid them entirely!

so, he won't get further into it. there's not much to say about that anyway. ren's fine, so that's all there is. leo pulls on the other thing he's been given instead -- takes the melody he's set out and hums what he remembers, replays it on the piano. he'll refrain adding anything to it; it's ren's song, after all. ]

Let's work on this. It's not done yet, right? I wanna see you fumble over it! I wanna hear you refine it, wanna hear you go "ah, darn! This is what I wanna say, I know how to say it, but how the heck do I...?" with all the stuff I crammed in your head!

[ "I WANNA SEE YOU STRUGGLE" - leo tsukinaga ]

I'm here if you get suuuuper stuck, I guess, but let's see how far this little fledgling flies when it's set free. [ for the umpteenth time in his life, it still remains: ] Ah, my favorite part!

[forethinking]

(Honestly impressed that Leo could replicate it perfectly, even when he has heard it one time.

Ren gives a warm smile as the melody enters his ears. Unfortunately to Leo, that's all Ren has done, this isn't exactly anything new since he started attempting to play this song on his own.)

It's a complete song from home, I just can't play it yet.

(It almost feels like a confession; that he is learning something that means a lot to him, because it does.)

I can't do the background well.