(open) where have you been? been searching all along 𝅘𝅥𝅮

[forethinking]

Who: renren and you!
What: a catch-all!
Where: bathhouse, hblanc, apartments, market place...
When: august-september
Content Warnings: none, but i promise nothing and will update this if needed! spoiler warnings will be on the top level or in the subject of the comment.

edit: remember when i said i promised nothing? there's people bathing in here

Comments

[forethinking]

None.

(He does have a few brotherly bonds, though. Futaba being the easiest one to name if so needed.

Ren wants to find every single of the Phantom Thieves if they made it, each new location triggering new worries that someone is there... And Futaba just happens to be the one he is in most despair about not finding quickly enough.

You know, maybe because she's was a shut-in. With severe anxiety. Who is very much dependant on her computer. And the youngest of all 8 of them.)

Do you think more people might arrive?

(Ren knows Leo can't read his mind to get the infobomb, but also... It's fine.)

[bachagain]

[ oh! he blinks at that, recollects himself, then: ]

... I dunno. Maybe.

[ it's not a useful answer, he knows, but the truth is he doesn't know. why would he say something that he can't be sure of?

part of him wants the answer to be yes, because if he's not going to be able to leave just yet there's people he wants to see again... but he's also not sure if he wants to be selfish enough to drag them all out of the business of getting their shit together for himself.

ah, what a conundrum. ]

Thinking about some not-in-blood-family you miss? That's what I'm guessing, anyway, since you pulled out that random question after I asked about siblings!

[ he can't read minds, but he can reference context well enough sometimes... at least. ]

[forethinking]

(Out of his head, Leo! Ren squints in response, but after, he nods. He is blessed to have someone with him, even if their relationship is complicated to say the least. A lot of people didn't have this luxury, like the boy in front of him and many others he has spoken to... )

The people Akechi told you about and others. We've been looking, but no success on that.

(He's on the same position. Wouldn't want the Thieves to be here at all, but if they were, he has to know.)

[bachagain]

[ leo: i will stay here in your head forever ren

okay, he figured that those two that akechi mentioned before would be in that group... he doesn't remember their names clearly (given his inability to remember names of people he meets directly, it's not a surprise that he can't recall the names of people mentioned off-hand), but he thinks they were his best friends? maybe that's what akechi said? something of a found family for ren, he assumes, like the way knights was for him.

hmm. ]

... You wanna tell me a little about 'em? I can keep an eye out too, in case they ever show up.

[ three pairs of eyes better than two and all... ]

[forethinking]

We're eight.

(And he could write a book about each of them.)

Takamaki Ann.

(He is under no expectation that Leo will remember the names Akechi gave them when they pose no importance to Leo himself, but at least he will give him her full one just in case.)

You'd recognize her easily. She's a model, Japanese, with blue eyes and blonde hair. She's one I think you'd get along the most.

[bachagain]

[ wow, eight...

there's a thought of his that he can't leave unvoiced as he hears about that, and that's: ]

I'm glad you found such a big place, Ren!

[ despite everything. truly. ]

Anyway, I think I remember you saying I'd get along with someone in particular a little bit ago... That was her, I guess? Why d'you think that?

[forethinking]

(He smiles too, a little. They're his family after all.)

It's her and Yusuke Kitagawa.

(That would be it. He can see Leo and those two becoming best friends in a matter of seconds.

Yusuke with his ART and Ann with her easy-going personality.)

Same vibe on both accounts.

[bachagain]

[ these are names he's going to forget again, absolutely, but he can try a little harder for ren. ann and yusuke, ann and yusuke, ann and yu--

--ah, wait, he's a little concentrated on that task and almost entirely disregards what ren just said. that was... um. he looks a little as if he just got snapped out of a daze, which he did a little bit... ]

Ahhh? What was that? Same vibe?

[ maybe? is that what he said? he's gonna continue on like that's what ren said, ]

Should I take that as a compliment, Ren? My mind says yes, since these are your important companions...! But my mind's not always so reliable, you know? What is my vibe, huh?

[ it's said playfully, yes, but part of leo...

... does want to know, very genuinely, the answer to that question. maybe that comes through a little bit. despite his grandiose personality, and despite his ability to go on without being affected too much by people's opinions on him, he does still want to be liked. that's just human, after all. ]

[forethinking]

(Ren expects Leo to really not even remember the names on the long run! If they end up here, Leo would know. Ren would be glued to them, showing them the Void and introducing them to the new friends he has made.

It's with a throat-y chuckle that Ren notices the shift in Leo's mind.)

I think so. She's very extroverted and friendly.

(Ann, that is. A fierce lady who is not afraid to speak her mind and stand up for herself. Ren's eyes turn into little half-moons, he's so proud of her...)

Yusuke is a painter. He shares your art ideals, I believe.

(He is equally as proud of Yusuke! He went through hell in his journey to follow his dreams and inspiration just hits him from every corner and nothing compromises his ideals of art...)

You're extroverted and artistic. You remind me of them, in a way?

(That being said, Leo is his own person, with his own quirks. He likes both the parts that are similar and differ him from his friends...

Confidant rank up?)

The three of you would hit it off immediately.

[bachagain]

[ ... ♪♪♪

that little bit of half-uncertainty at his edges makes way for just a hint of amusement and interest in what ren has to say. it's good leo's eccentricities haven't quite put him off, though leo didn't expect him to say anything particularly damaging. ren is pretty kind, after all.

talking about all these people from home makes him wonder who ren most reminds him of... he's kind and unexpectedly personal like naru, but maybe he's more like... oba-chan? ah, the glasses and messy hair match, too-- ]

Intense art types don't always hit it off! A guy I know hates my guts and he's something of an artsy genius too? Not that I won't try real hard to get along with your Suke and Ann.

[ he'll try... and shu is something of a special case, anyway. a tumultuous relationship, but not exactly a bad one. ]

Mmm... though the best case scenario is if I never get to meet 'em, right? It's weird! Wanting to meet someone but not wanting to meet them at all, wahaha!

[ he's had that kind of feeling before, but in a very different context than now. ]

[forethinking]

... Just for that?

(He inquires with an eyebrow quirked. Obviously there should be a sense of competition, after all, they are all artists and those tend to have very particular views on what art should look like, but even then... Just for that?

He gives Leo a chuckle. He agrees wholeheartedly that it's best they never meet. Ren can't tell how time works here in relation to back home, but he knows that if things just move on without them, it's best that they don't ever come. They have brilliant futures! He'd rather them to live them than to be stuck here with him, no matter how much he misses them.)

You're right.