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"I got invited to a mixer by some people at the school."
Reigen looks up from his newspaper. Absently, he wonders if Serizawa would be able to handle himself in such a situation, in more ways than one.
"Not bad," Reigen whistles, looking back down and flipping a page. "So, you're gonna go, right?"
When all he gets is a minute of silence, Reigen looks up again. He sighs, and puts the paper down.
"Serizawa-kun."
He jumps, fingers fidgeting. He's working his mouth and making weird sounds, and when this doesn't change for a moment too long, Reigen fights the urge to sigh again and braces his forearms on the desk.
"You know, you've come a long way in a pretty short time. You gotta trust yourself more - and if you can't quite do that, then trust in the me that believes in you. Your control over your powers isn't something to scoff at. Also, there are tons of people that are more socially awkward than you at stuff like that."
Serizawa doesn't look reassured. For a moment, Reigen wonders if he's somehow misunderstood his worries, then - no, that's unlikely. What else could he possibly be thinking about, otherwise? Finally, he speaks, eyes just a fraction too low to meet Reigen's.
"Do you... think I should go?"
Reigen stares.
(There is a part of him that wants to say 'no', that maybe it is a bit too big a jump, and after all what if he actually manages to score? But that part of him sounds bitter and filled with a feeling he doesn't want to acknowledge, and also telling him not to wouldn't help him with his goal to reintegrate into society.)
"Well. It's a good opportunity to make some friends, maybe even a girlfriend? Or a boyfriend, if that's more your style? Or heck, even just get used to more personal social situations."
Serizawa flushes, but not as much as he's started to sweat. He scratches his neck.
"I'm not sure if I want to go."
Reigen eyes him warily. "Well, it's your decision in the end, but I think you'd be really missing out, even if you end up hating it."
"Have you been to a mixer, Reigen-san?"
"Well, yeah," a couple of times where he's managed to swindle himself out of having to pay anything, "it's really not as intimidating as anime and shit makes it up to be. Plus, you can leave any time you want, if it gets to be too much."
"So did Reigen-san ever get a girlfriend - o-or a boyfriend - from one?"
Is that what this is about? Reigen huffs, steepling his hands behind his head and leaning back in his seat.
"Sure." He doesn't need to know that they lasted a grand total of three days or less. "But you can always get one outside of places like mixers. Dating sites, whatnot. And in any case, you don't have to be aiming for a relationship when you go to mixers."
Also, it's a lot easier to con people online, but he's not about to tell him that. Serizawa's nervous frown deepens, and his eyes end up meeting the floor.
"I don't... really think I can handle a relationship right now. And I don't - well, getting more friends isn't really something I'd thought about."
Reigen raises a brow. "Do you even have any friends though?"
Serizawa's eyes finally snap up to meet his, but he looks hurt, eyes wide and shoulders taut enough to play a high C. "Reigen-san isn't my friend?"
Reigen blinks. He almost falls out of his seat, and is immeasurably glad that Mob (and by extension Dimple) aren't here to see him lose his cool for approximately 0.3 seconds.
I'm your employer, Reigen wants to say. And then besides that, your co-worker, he wants to say. It's sad if your only friend is the guy getting you paid and is probably your friend by virtue of having to spend most of every waking moment with you, he wants to tell him, and encourage him to look for a friendship that's less pathetic and better for him.
But Reigen pauses, because he knows all too well that he himself doesn't exactly have a lot of friends, or any, really, and a con he might be, but he won't be a massive hypocrite. Reigen pauses because he knows if he said any of that out loud, the very real tears threatening to fall from Serizawa's eyes will spill, and he'll get that terrible look on his face that makes it seem like he's a failure and he's done nothing right and everything's his fault. Reigen pauses because that is the last thing he wants to see, like having to kick a puppy, and something in his chest twists at the idea of him having made him look like that.
He allows himself that brief sliver of warmth at the realization - ah, we're friends.
"Of course I am," Reigen says, instead, like it was ludicrous to consider otherwise. Serizawa flushes even darker, but his back is straighter than it was before, and his eyes are wide but brighter. "So is Mob. And maybe Dimple? Or that weird youkai slayer cosplay dude that came in before. But like, c'mon - your only friends are your boss, a middle schooler, a floating green fart and a weird youkai cosplay dude? You can do better than that, y'know."
Serizawa is still sweating, still bright red and still scratching his neck, eyes having meandered back to the floor, but there is a shaky smile beginning to form on his lips. "I - I like being friends with you, though, with Mob-kun and Dimple and meeting clients here. I like you, Reigen-san."
As a friend, Reigen tells himself, willfully ignoring the way his heart goes thump at the words.
"I like you too, Serizawa-kun," Reigen says, a lot more solid than he feels, and he also ignores the way Serizawa's entire constitution seems to brighten and how he seems either just about to float away into oblivion or about to accidentally explode something in the office. He hopes it isn't something expensive, and also at the very least, Reigen doesn't have to hold back the urge to clap him on the back, since he's not even close enough. "And like I said, it's up to you whether you want to go or not. I just want what's best for you, alright?"
Serizawa preens, a little longer, and if he keeps standing there with a silly little smile on his face, cheeks still pink, then Reigen is going to start going red too. Instead, Serizawa shakes out his limbs, bouncing a little on the spot, as though getting rid of all his nervous energy, and when he looks back up he's still sweating and smiling, but is significantly less red.
"Thank you, Reigen-san. And I don't think I'll go after all - the mixer is on Friday, and I wouldn't want it to impede on work."