Chapter Text
There is one thing about the Phantom Thieves that everyone has learned quickly through observation, often before being a part of the team for a full day: Morgana and Skull do not get along unless their lives depend on it. The thieves are making rounds, and there’s still plenty of time to make it through the Okumera Palace. Ryuji couldn’t help but find it hard to sympathize with Morgana unless the not-really-cat got too hurt in a fight. And while he can recognize that Morgana was always quick to call out when the bottle blonde needed healing, the two of them kept fighting. It all probably came to a head when Morgana straight up left the Phantom Thieves after Ryuji had called him useless. There was a bit of an oddness between them even after Morgana came back to the team with a promise to stay. It was weird for Ryuji, because, well. Morgana gets called useless and everybody gets a chance to reassure him, but Morgana has called Ryuji all sorts of things with no repercussions at all. Nada. Ziltch. Nothing.
Ryuji had been overlooked so many times in his life-- hell, even When Kamoshida got arrested, people apologized to the other members of the group. Particularly, people apologized to Ann about the rumors they spread about her. People in the school were sympathetic to the victims of the coach after the change of heart. But even though Kamoshida had shattered Ryuji's femur and broke his dreams of playing competitive sports ever again, people had forgotten all about it because it had been old news for then. Ryuji was just a delinquent for some reason that nobody needed to think too hard about. Ryuji was the reason the Track team disbanded. How Kamoshida related to all of that was something that Ryuji thought of every time he needed to take a break from walking for too long, but It wasn’t something that other people really thought about.
Not that it keeps him awake at night or anything. He had years to make some peace about the state of his leg. About all sorts of things in his life, mostly being the concept that what people think of him doesn’t matter unless they happen to be his mom. Above everything, he was glad that they took Kamoshida down. He was glad that Suzui was able to recover in a world free of that evil man. And more than that, he was grateful that there were no longer rumors circulating about Ann. Kamoshida didn’t just harass her and try to get her to do “favors” for him, he also succeeded in getting the whole school to think that she was somehow guilty of him not being able to keep his hands to himself.
But being overlooked like that really did start a trend of some sort. Morgana was always quick to call Skull useless for missing a hit on a shadow. He always was quick to call Ryuji stupid, empty-headed, lazy, or just try to insult his abilities and intelligence in some other way. It was draining for him after all this time, though he snapped back at the cat often enough. Sure, he genuinely did feel bad when Morgana explained that he took Ryuji calling him Useless to heart. He just wanted to put the cat in his own shoes for a second, and it worked out a bit more seriously than he had intended it to. It just felt like maybe he should have gotten an apology from Morgana too. Ryuji called Morgana a lot of nasty things, but Morgana was the one that kept it up even now that he’s back. And it was starting to piss Ryuji off, because they were a team. They were working together to try and help Haru escape a really shitty situation. They were trying to stop workers from dropping from exhaustion in overworked, abusive factories. And Morgana was too busy trying to be a jackass? It was grating. Stupid.
Today it led to more than just a fight. Ryuji and the team had been in the palace for a while- training up instead of rushing ahead to find the treasure. It was important to develop some skills and get more familiar with the palace, so the thieves were circling around and even finding some treasure chests to open up. They were doing a good job, swapping teammates in and out so that everybody would get experience. They had already been circling around for hours, and it seemed like they maybe would be able to spend another two or three here before deciding to call it a day and heading home for the evening. It was just him, Joker, Mona, and Panther fighting against a few shadows. Ryuji charged in with his melee weapon at Joker's command, only to miss his swing at the last second.
“You’re pathetic, Skull!” Mona chimes, loud and clear. He says that occasionally when Ryuji misses, but it’s grating enough to get Ryuji heated and break his focus on the shadow. The blonde turns to look at Mona’s mocking face, opening his mouth to say something when the shadow they’re fighting against whips him hard across the face. The blonde feels the contact making a sickening crack as it connects with his jaw, so shocked by the force that it’s all a blur while he flies back. Ryuji is sent spiraling back over to his team, landing limply by Panther's feet. Everything hurt for only a fraction of a second, like a bright white searing pain coursing through him, and he’s dead before he even hits the ground.
Voices fade in and out around him as his life returns to him. It’s strange to die in a fight, they’ve learned. Ryuji knows what it’s like when the cold starts to sink into his skin. The feeling of his heart racing after being revived like it’s trying to make up for all of the lost heartbeats. His lungs heave like he’d run a marathon, and everything hurts in a dull, yet full-bodied way. Joker is the one who gave him the revival bead, though time has become so sluggish to him that it’s like he can barely tell. Both Joker and Panther are holding him in a more upright position so that he doesn’t choke, keeping him upright even after the bead dissolves like a very uncomfortable jawbreaker. It’s actually Morgana that heals him up the rest of the way, and his mouth feels uncomfortable and dry even before the breeze of a spell washes over him. He can feel the spell physically heal the break in his jaw the rest of the way, and the nosie is like trying to suck up jello through a metal vacuum tube. He grimaces uncomfortably as the healing reconnects everything, and he moves his jaw around after like he’s massaging a sore limb after a workout. The pain in his jaw is gone now, though his face does feel a bit odd. He’s sure that even when they get back into the real world, there probably won’t even be a scar there to mark what happened to him. The full ache of his body is still there, but more like background noise now.
Panther and Joker help him back onto his feet, and she just sort of nods in Joker's direction with a quiet “we’ll talk about this later,” that Ryuji barely catches. Mona actually looks uncomfortable for a change, which fills Ryuji with a bizarre sense of satisfaction at knowing that the cat would leave him alone for the time being.
“We good here?” Ryuji asks, looking between them. Joker nods. Ryuji knows that Joker isn’t much for conversation- always preferring to say as much as he can with as little words as possible. He likes to guide decisions and conversations, trying to get everybody to say what they need to. He was a steady source of calm and charm, and Ryuji normally found it grounding. Now, looking at the expression on Joker’s face, he feels like he’s going to somehow be in some hot water about this whole thing. Joker has an expression on his face like he’s thinking about saying something, which only usually happens when he really needs to. Ryuji, as the one who has known Joker the longest, feels like he can tell a lot just from the Phantom Thief’s eyes.
The team’s footsteps are actually relatively quiet as they head in the direction of the safe room, the sound covered up by their uniforms somehow. Ryuji doesn’t say anything, and the thieves are a bit quieter as a team than normal. Even Futaba doesn’t chime in, even as somebody who grows anxious from strangeness in conversation. The team, once together at the safe room, then get the order from Joker to get ready to head out. From there working their way back out to the very beginning of the palace, staying in cover away from any shadows.
When they are finally clear and out of the way of both discovery and danger, Ann is the one that starts the conversation.
“You can’t just keep fighting like this, you two!” she starts, voice very clear-cut.
Ryuji feels the tips of his ears go red, already getting heated over being accused.
“Hey! I didn’t even start anything with him!” Ryuji argues, irritated at being treated like somebody who has any say in what Morgana says or does. What, was he supposed to be a cat whisperer or somethin’?
Makoto is the one who chimes in next, voice steady and stern.
“I notice that when we miss a hit in battle, Mona says something about trying better next time. Yet with Skull, he tends to be more… curt about it,” she points out.
Yusuke chimes in next. “While I do believe some critique is a necessary part of growing skill,” he starts, like if he’s talking about learning the intricacies of painting and not beating up some corporeal nightmare creatures. “Insults don’t inform you on what areas of your skill need growth,” he supplies.
Morgana looks defensive. Ryuji’s frown switches to smirking at him like he’s won something. It was nice for the group to recognize that Morgana was being a little shithead, even if it was at the cost of getting his jaw shattered and dying for a hot minute or two. It felt like he was finally being made up to by karma, and God was it satisfying.
Futaba has a very particular gleam in her eye that means she’s up to no good. “So, with that all in mind-- Joker,” she starts, voice thick with plotting. The group’s attention all turns on her.
“Mona and Skull are always fighting like this, and it’s no good for anybody on the team, yeah?” she starts. The group chimes back to various levels of agreement, while Ryuji and Mona both make a noise like they’re about to argue. They both stop their attempt at cutting in when Joker nods over in her direction. Ryuji can clearly see that the raven-haired thief is curious about whatever idea she’s come up with, because they are the disaster siblings from hell and Joker is most likely to entertain her weird plots.
She’s grinning now, despite all eyes on her usually being something that makes her voice clam up. “Mona and Skull aren’t really close in the same way as the rest of the group. Not like the rest of us. I mean, I think all of us hang out with each other or talk when we have free time besides the two of them! So- how about this. Mona never gets any time to spend with Ryuji to really get to know him. So how about Ryuji being the one that takes care of him for the next three days so that they can get to know each other more? I read something like this in a manga and it worked out there, so,” she suggests. Everyone is quiet, processing this plan as a soft grin settles on Joker’s face.
Disaster siblings from hell.
“That sounds like a good idea,” is all he says. And it’s done. Mona and Ryuji look at each other with shock, Ryuji shouting a “For REAL?” Ann, Makoto, Haru, and Futaba all laugh at his reaction while Yusuke looks like he’s trying to spontaneously develop a photographic memory to capture the scene with. Futaba looks like she actually won the lottery or something.
Morgana is very, very upset when the shock wears off.
“No way!! There’s no way I can live with this slob for THREE DAYS!,” he argues. “How would I even fit in his bag? He would probably leave me on the subway and say it was an accident!” he adds, voice exaggerated with grief.
“Well, now that you say it-“ Ryuji teases. Ann smacks him lightly on the arm, a very physical way of telling him that he’s not being very nice. It makes him snort out a small laugh, though. Ann can get away with roughhousing because he’s known her the longest, and she’s the only person who would actually smack his arm and pout like that over him saying or doing something rude.
Morgana is mortified. “He would zip up the bag all the way and I would run out of air!” he mews. Ryuji rolls his eyes at that one. He might not like Morgana, but he wouldn’t hurt the cat even as some kind of joke.
Haru does look a little sympathetic. “I don’t think Skull would do anything like that, Mona. Not if it meant that Joker would get upset with him,” she consoles. And fuck, she’s right. Ryuji would never do anything to upset Joker like that. Their leader already had too much on his plate. If anything, him fighting with Mona all the time just made it worse.
Joker looks amused, though. Ryuji would die for him and Joker knows that, but he doesn’t have to be so openly smug about it! Makoto and Haru have started talking to each other on the sidelines, Ryuji notes. Futaba and Yusuke are talking to themselves too, only Futaba is snickering. Joker speaks up next.
“Your mission is to keep each other alive for three days,” he settles. Morgana looks like he’s genuinely shocked that Joker is going through with this. Ryuji thinks about all the cat hair he would have to clean in his house. And all of the cuts from the cat that he’s going to have to clean up, too. He groans, loud and miserable.
But if Joker said he has to, there’s really no arguing with that.
---
Ryuji has to hold his manga in his arms so that Morgana is actually able to fit in his bag, thankful that he actually brought a bag today. Morgana settles in his bag pretty easily, not shifting around too much or doing anything to jostle Ryuji's back, which comes as a surprise to him. Akira gives Ryuji a little pat on the shoulder and the others all attempt encouragement when they part, but this whole situation feels almost foggy. Like he can’t believe this is actually happening to him- needing to take care of Morgana because Morgana hates him and very literally got him killed today. It’s not like he did anything himself, anyway. Or not this time at least. Stupid cat.
He finds himself muttering some complaints under his breath on their way to the train station. After going to the palace, his knee always feels really sore for a while, and today is no exception. He’s doing too much good being a Phantom Thief, and telling the group about the constant pain would only work to slow everybody else down. He’s had worse days for sure. Now that he’s been exercising so much by running around everywhere, it takes him a lot to get him out of breath. The downside? Having to really baby his knee back to health whenever he’s finally back at home. He’s glad they were able to switch everybody out in intervals today, because he would be sitting on the ground by the train station for a good hour if the soreness got too bad. Imagine trying to explain that to Morgana. The cat was impatient enough as it is.
Morgana seems to move about in reaction to his mumbling, whispering at him to quit fidgeting around so much. The two silently make their way onto the train they need to go on, but Ryuji doesn’t even notice that he’s bouncing his good knee, filled with restless nervous energy. That is until he feels Morgana swat at him through the fabric of his bag and hisses back a complaint.
The second they get out of the station, Ryuji takes off his bag and opens it up for Morgana to get out. Morgana just looks lost and confused for a moment before he carefully steps forward onto the pavement. Ryuji puts all his stuff back in his bag and puts it back on his back. Morgana looks about ready to throw a tantrum.
“What? Are you just planning to leave me out here?” he asks.
Ryuji rolls his eyes. “Hell no, Akira would kill me. I just don’t need to be carrying the extra weight around. You’re a cat. Just walk with me to the apartment,” he argues.
“I’m NOT a cat! And Akira never makes me walk when we get off the train!” Morgana whines.
Ryuji huffs. “Well, I’m not Akira,” he shrugs.
“Are you’re saying you’re so weak that you can’t even carry a few extra pounds in your bag? I thought you were training with Akira to be more fit!” Mona continues. Ryuji decides to start walking in the direction of his apartment, and Morgana follows after him very grumpily.
“Yeah. We have been training. But we just came out of a palace and I got things to do other than carry you around everywhere,” he grumbles. Morgana hops up on a fence line, walking near Ryuji while keeping some higher ground as they walk.
“You shouldn’t be doing anything after that run from today. I’m tired. Let’s just go to sleep when we get there,” Morgana orders.
“Hell no! I have things to do in the house. You think I can just go home an’ pass out whenever I feel like it?” Ryuji exclaims. He sees a light turn on in a nearby house in reaction to the noise and starts walking a little faster, keeping a mental note to lower his voice.
Morgana huffs, which is a funny sound coming from such a small creature. “What do you even need to do that’s so important? Just wait for tomorrow. You’re just going to play video games all night anyway,” he complains.
Ryuji wishes Morgana were able to shut up for at least five minutes. “Mom won’t even be home yet by the time we get back. I need’a make her somethin’ to eat and leave it in the fridge for later. And there’s some laundry I need to get done so all our shit is clean by tomorrow morning for when she goes to work at her other job,” he explains, already getting heated again. His tone of voice implies that Morgana is almost stupid for asking. But the cat actually gives pause at that, like he didn’t expect for Ryuji to do much of anything besides eat ramen, play games, and be a general delinquent stereotype.
“Isn’t there anybody else around the house that would be able to help?” Morgana asks instead, voice shifting to something less argumentative and more neutral. Ryuji shakes his head, expression calming a bit at the lack of escalation.
“It’s just me and ma,” he replies, voice a bit quieter.
“She works two jobs?” Morgana asks. Ryuji’s limp has been getting a little worse on the walk back to the house, and while Morgana notices it now, he also knows a lot better than to point it out when it wasn’t something Ryuji could do anything to change.
“Shujin academy is… Well, I got into school with a track scholarship, right? It was supposed to be a really great place to go, and they would give me the sports scholarship even though my grades sucked. And I lost that track scholarship when- uh, after the whole Kamoshida thing,” Ryuji supplies.
“So your mom pays for your school?”
“Yeah. She wants me to have a chance, y'know? I try to help out around the house as much as I need to, but there’s no way I would be able to get into another school with my grades,” Ryuji explains. He’s definitely leaving out some details with everything he’s saying, but it looks like Morgana is actually considering his words and not making an effort to pry too much. Ryuji would almost appreciate it if he didn’t dislike Morgana so much for being a jerk.
They reach his apartment building in relatively good time, and Morgana sees that it’s a pretty big complex with an elevator hosting a very old “out of order” sign. It becomes clearer why Ryuji didn’t want the extra weight on his backpack, because his limp is a lot more obvious when he goes up the stairs. All of his weight is on his left side, and it’s obvious to Morgana only because there isn’t anybody else around to pay attention to. Ryuji's steps are softer on his right foot and hardest on his left, his keen cat ears twitching at the footstep pattern made easier to hear by the cheap metal steps.
This place was kind of a dump. And they weren’t even inside yet. The railings were old and everything seemed to have rust on it. Paint was chipping and the ceiling had marks from past leaks. The doors on the apartments they pass are in varying shapes, some very old and others having been replaced more recently. The smell wasn’t as bad at the station, to be fair, but it wasn’t exactly a candle store out here.
Ryuji only lives on the second floor despite the large building, pulling out his keys and opening the door to a small living room. Morgana moves inside and walks around the edges of the room, taking in all of the sights and smells. The house smells strongly of tea and cinnamon in a way that seems almost softer than Leblanc. Leblanc smells strongly off coffee beans and the spices from curry, while this home has a much gentler scent with a vanilla twinge to it. It was surprisingly nice, though very different from what the feline was used to. Compared to outside though, the shift from being outside and inside was definitely a bit of a shock for a second.
Ryuji goes over to the sofa in the living room, throws his bag to the ground, and lays down across the sofa like his body is dead weight to him. The thud of his body against the fake leather actually makes Morgana jump from where he’s looking around, startled. The feline is able to hear Ryuji take a big breath in and out, which to be fair, was the exact thing that Morgana did the second he got into the house too. Ryuji leans to the side to pick up a pillow with a very odd shape, moving his knee on top of it and closing his eyes with a groan.
Morgana moves to hop up on the sofa, lightly moving a paw at the pillow to see what it feels like. It looks like an hourglass, almost, but curvier so that Ryuji could specifically rest the back of his knee on it. It’s weird seeing Ryuji’s home for the first time. He always expected Ryuji to throw all of his things around and leave everything a mess, but the house is actually pretty tidy. Maybe the windows need some cleaning and the furniture needs a bit of polish, but the floor has been vacuumed and there’s no dirty dishes or trash all over the place. There’s a stray manga here or there, but only one or two, and upon closer inspection it seems like the little bookshelf in the living room has a mix of books for him and his mom. Somehow Morgana just never really thought about Ryuji’s mom reading some of the things that he does. After all, Sojiro doesn’t seem to really get the whole scene, so it just didn’t register to Morgana as something that a parent could have in common with their kid.
Ryuji has been motionless for the good 15 or 20 minutes that Mona spent looking around, so the cat moves back up by his leg on the sofa to nudge at him.
“Ryuji, didn’t you say you weren’t going to sleep? What about cooking?”
“I’m gonna cook. I just need like, another ten or fifteen minutes to give my knee a break. And then I’ll go up and get my mom some dinner. Maybe get something to eat for myself,” Ryuji grumbles.
Morgana makes a noise of disbelief, and Ryuji groans in irritation at the sound. “Morgana, I’m not going to fall asleep after I just got home. That pretty much never happens unless I’m super drugged up or something,” he argues.
“Yeah? And why should I believe you won’t go to sleep right here?” Morgana meows back, making it clear that he just wants something to complain about more so than him not actually believing Ryuji.
“Dude, I never go to sleep when my leg is bugging me like this,” Ryuji complains.
To be fair, Morgana was never told much about Ryuji's knee other than the fact that Kamoshida hurt his leg somehow over a year prior. The cat doesn’t seem to recognize what that severe an injury would be like to recover from, especially when Ryuji was now a much better runner and overall athlete due to his time as a Phantom Thief.
“Is it really that bad?” he asks. He sounds less skeptical than Ryuji would expect from him, considering.
“Hey, Morgana?”
“Yeah?”
“If I tell you a thing or two about my leg, can you promise me you won’t run off and tell everybody else about it?” Ryuji asks. He sounds exasperated.
“As a Phantom Thief, I’m a professional at keeping secrets. It’s your big mouth that we really have to worry about,” Morgana chimes.
“Don’t be a smartass about it, that’s how we got Makoto on the team. But if you’re going to be staying here for the next few days, there’s a few things you’re going to have to get used to. And I just don’t want you running your mouth to everybody and talking shit about all the leg stuff,” Ryuji insists.
Morgana opens his mouth, but then closes it and looks off to the side instead. It seems like he’s too curious about what Ryuji would have to tell. “Why is it only tell somebody staying at his house, but not one of your own fellow partners in crime? You’re out running all the time,” Morgana questions.
Ryuji doesn’t make eye contact. “Because there are some things that I don’t want to make a big deal about,” he answers. “Like, here’s a small one. Sometimes I use a cane when I’m around the house. I have a wheelchair in my room for when I’m really hurtin’. My knee is still all messed up because of that bastard teacher, but bringing it up won’t help anybody. Ann probably doesn’t want to think about him. He almost got Akira expelled and then kicked out from Sojiro’s place. And it’s not like there’s anything I can really do other than take it easy and listen to my doctors and whatever,” he explains.
It actually kind of makes sense. Morgana hums in thought, and Ryuji keeps talking like he’s ripping off a bandaid.
“I had knee replacement surgery, and it was such a bad break that I still go to physical therapy every once in a while to get some dry needling done. So if you see me walking around with my cane, or me getting in my wheelchair to get to the kitchen and cook because I’m not feeling it, I don’t want you to start talking shit about it. Just let me do my business in peace and whatever,” he starts.
Morgana is shocked, to say the least. “You have a wheelchair? Isn’t that just for people that can’t walk at all? You run around palaces all the time,” he chimes in. He genuinely doesn’t seem to understand, so Ryuji figures he could cut him a little slack. Even though he groans very loudly at the very common and unfortunate assumption.
“It’s like this. If you walked on a bed of really dull needles, it would hurt, right? But it wouldn’t kill you. And if you only had to walk on them for about an hour, it would suck, but it wouldn’t be too bad. But if you walked on them for sixteen hours or whatev, it would hurt a shitton. It would be possible, bit miserable. I only really use my chair when my knee is giving me more trouble than it’s worth. And the cane just helps me keep some of the weight off of it,” he explains. Morgana actually has his full attention on him, taking in all of the information like a sponge. Leave it to Ryuji to try and explain the situation with a metaphor instead of more medical terms, Mona notes.
“Why don’t you use your cane around school, then? Akira and everybody else would probably beat up anybody who tried to give you any trouble for it,” Morgana comments.
Ryuji hums at that, like trying to figure out what to say. Morgana moves to hop on his chest, curling up into a ball to face him while the blonde thinks through his response.
“It’s just embarrassing, I guess. Not that it’s embarrassing to use a cane or a chair- it’s just that. I feel like people would think too hard about it? Rumors going around about me getting into a fight or somethin’ else. Or people thinkin’ I just want attention since the whole femur thing happened a long time ago now. I just feel like- when I’m in class I’m mostly just at my desk, yeah? I don’t carry too much with me. I only really walk and run around a lot in Palaces. And I can always lean up on something if I’m not feelin' too hot. Especially 'cuz Akira chooses weapons for me that I can usually lean on. Like a long hammer or a bat or a pipe or whatever. Stuff that I can just prop myself up with instead of having something extra around with me,” Ryuji rambles. Morgana figures that Ryuji and Akira have already talked this through and if he’s just late to the party. Does Lady Ann Know? She’d known him the longest, right? While Morgana thinks this over, Ryuji is too caught up in his own explanation to complain about Morgana sitting on his chest. The pressure is actually kind of comfortable.
Ryuji continues. “I have medication anyway. Keeps my muscles from tightening up too much and stops muscle spasms,” he adds. It also makes him kind of drowsy, which makes it easier to fall asleep in class to boring lectures. Not that he wants to say that to Morgana, seeing that the cat would probably just tell him that he’s making excuses.
“Kamoshida hurt you that bad? I mean, I know you have a limp. I just figured that was everything,” Morgana voices. He sounds sincere, like he isn’t trying to insult Ryuji over it. To be fair, it would probably be way meaner than anything Morgana could let himself do.
“Well, when somebody smashes your leg in right above the knee with a brick and breaks the toughest bone in the human body, I’m pretty sure it’s all downhill from there,” Ryuji explains with a voice laced in sarcasm.
The description of what happened is actually enough for all of Morgana's fur to stick out on end, defensive and angry.
“He did that?!” is all he can manage, voice shrill and high. Ryuji hears the thump of a broom on the ceiling from his downstairs neighbor and his expression goes sour. He lowers his voice again, having not even realized he had been raising it to begin with.
“Yeah. And I don’t want to think about it any more than I have to. That bastard is behind bars anyway, huh? Things are different now,” he assures. Morgana is still tense about it, fur sticking up on end as he thinks about what Ryuji just said.
The femur is the hardest bone in the human body, huh? It must take a lot of force to shatter it, then. Morgana doesn’t know very much about bones, but he knows enough about Ryuji to figure that the femur is the bone that goes from the knee all the way up into the hip. Kamoshida got punched in the fact after provoking Ryuji in some way or another, right? And then Kamoshida smashed a brick of some kind into Ryuji's leg so bad that he needed to have a knee replacement. It wasn’t something Morgana ever really thought about before, but now he felt almost dumb for never giving it much thought. Ryuji was a lot better at hiding the extent of his leg injury than he would have ever expected from the airhead. It was very surprising to think about how despite everything, Ryuji doesn’t complain about his leg at all around the rest of the thieves if he can help it. He’ll complain about just about anything else: Not getting enough sleep. Being hungry. Wanting something fizzy to drink. The Monabus not having enough AC. Never can Morgana place him actually complaining about pain. He remembers Ryuji tripping during the collapse of a palace, but didn’t think it over too hard at the time. He just figured that the bottle blonde was clumsy. Uncoordinated.
Ryuji moves his hand over to smooth out Morgan’s raised fur, but only pets him once. Like it’s some sort of scandalous gesture to try and be soothing with all of the bad blood between them.
“Also Mona, it’s been way more than fifteen minutes. I gotta get started on dinner.” Ryuji redirects. Mona gets up off of his chest as the blonde shuffles his things to the side, stretching out before moving into the kitchen. Mona moves to the kitchen counter and watches him start to take things out of cabinets, watching him closely as if the new information would lead to him seeing something that he never notices before. Ryuji puts some headphones on and plugs them into his phone, starting up some kind of music program. Morgana yawns, already exhausted from the palace alone.
Ryuji looks over at him.
“Y’know, if you’re tired, you can go to sleep on the sofa for right now. And I guess I’ll just wake you up when I’m done with the cooking and the laundry,” Ryuji offers.
“Yeah- just don’t make too much noise. I know that’s impossible to ask from you though,” Mona chimes back. Ryuji actively rolls his eyes at him.
“Yeah, try me. I’m going to be listenin’ to some tunes. I’ll bug you in like, an hour.”
And with that, Mona hops off the countertop and moves onto the sofa. He finds that he actually kind of likes the weird shape of the pillow on there, finding himself curling up beside it. The idle noise from the kitchen works to soothe him like the sound of Sojiro prepping the morning coffee, and before he knows it, Mona is out like a light.