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Tsukasa-kun… is rather fascinating. Tsukasa-kun is a very bright, natural leader. He’s the type of boy who wants to give his all no matter what it is. Shows? He’d have the whole script memorized in a couple weeks. Schoolwork? Tries his best, but I have to help him through some rather complex problems, hehe. Even something miniscule—baking, for one. We’d baked at his house one weekend and he made it his job to do all the mixing so my wrist didn’t hurt. Even after, he wanted to make the frosting all perfect, so he spent minutes making every swirl perfectly complement the previous.
Yet, I suppose he is quite stubborn. I worry he’s too stubborn for his own good. He’s a stickler to his beliefs and his judgment no matter what you say, unless you try again and again.
Actually…
Stubborn may be the wrong word. It’s more like refusing to shake your view on anything.
On second thought, he’s not very stubborn. Maybe he’s much too hard on himself. The thing he’s stubborn about is himself in a way.
He has a rather huge drive to make things perfect and ovation-worthy, and in that category is himself.
“Rui, do you actually… like this?”
“‘This’?” Rui tilted his head.
Tsukasa’s eyes widened just a little as if he wasn’t expecting a response.
“Like, hanging out together. I mean—well—of course! Or— not of course. It's just,” he leaned back on the couch with a sigh, a few blonde strands of his hair drooping off the side. “Is it too quiet? I mean, it just feels weird! I usually say a lot when we are with the others and I just feel so quiet here.”
“Tsukasa-kun,” Rui’s finger pressed the pause button on the remote. “We are watching a movie. I’m not expecting you to talk during it.”
Tsukasa watched the screen darken and stop at a rather blurry motion frame. The room went quiet except for the domestic sounds of Tsukasa’s house.
“Yeah, I know that! But maybe I should make commentary?”
“You don’t need to do that…”
The blonde put his hand to his chin. “I guess the girl in the last scene was pretty strange for not fighting back, and…”
“Tsukasa-kun.” The sound of Rui’s voice cut through whatever half-formed comment Tsukasa was starting to say. “I do really like hanging out with you. Just sitting next to you already makes my day.”
Tsukasa’s mouth tightened. “That's… that's good!” He agreed reluctantly, forcing a smile.
“I’m serious, love.” The term of endearment slipped off the inventor's tongue. “You don’t have to make it entertaining for me or anything. I’m here for you, not what you can do.”
“Haha. No, of course! Thank you, Rui.”
Rui didn’t believe a word of it.
Of course, pushing didn’t do much good. Not with how stubborn Tsukasa was. So instead of confronting him again, he smiled to show his acknowledgement and pressed the remote again.
Immediately, the movie started up again. Although this time, Rui wasn't paying much attention to the screen. Instead, his attention rested on the boy beside him. Before long, Tsukasa started making little commentaries again. He would be a menace in a theater.
“Wow, how did he do that?” Tsukasa gasped, watching the main character do a simple stunt out of the screen. “That's so…”
His voice trailed off into silence. Looking down at his hand that pressed against the couch, he saw that Rui had gently placed his hand over Tsukasa’s.
The gears in Tsukasa’s mind turned once. Then twice. He looked up at Rui who had turned to face him. His amber eyes stared at Rui’s yellow ones before looking back at the screen.
Tsukasa’s hand tightened against the green cushion of the couch. “Sorry, was I being too distracting…?”
“No. Not at all. But I worried it was getting exhausting for you. I mean… the movies is right there, and you’d have to pay attention to what to say instead of it.”
“Exhausting? Of course not! I can do it for hours!”
“You don’t need to do it for hours, though. And you certainly don’t need to prove it to me either. I just want to make sure you’re enjoying it, not just tolerating it for my own enjoyment.”
“That’s not— what it is…”
“Tsukasa-kun, really,” Rui smoothed his calloused thumb over the top of Tsukasa’s hand. “Do you think I’d bring up the idea of a movie with you if I found you boring?”
The movie was merely a distant hum now. A witness to their conversation unraveling.
“No! That's… that's not what I meant. I just fear that…” The blonde glanced at his hands. “That I’m not doing enough to make it enjoyable. I don’t know what I’m doing when I’m alone with you.”
Rui listened quietly.
“At least at the stage, Emu’s there to be all bubbly and somehow make every moment super happy. And Nene is quieter but still comes up with interesting topics for us. Then out where it’s loud and energetic, I can be all loud. Things just go together so easily with everyone or outside. But if it’s just us in a living room alone, I don’t have a single clue what I should do to make it exciting… then I’m scared you’ll not want to do this again because it’ll be all awkward.”
The room fell heavy with Tsukasa’s words. The AC hummed while the movie continued in the background, adding muffled dialogue and music to the silence.
Rui glanced at their joined hands then back up at the, surprisingly vulnerable, boy beside him.
Finally, Rui spoke up.
“Love.”
“Hm?”
“Do you know why I asked you to watch a movie with me?”
Tsukasa paused.
“Because… you wanted to watch it?”
“No, actually.”
A confused expression crossed Tsukasa’s face. Rui expected as such.
The taller boy shifted himself so his body faced Tsukasa’s more directly.
“Tsukasa-kun, if I wanted entertainment, I would go to a show. If I wanted noise, I could find it anywhere.”
Then gently, he took both of Tsukasa’s hands, holding them in his own.
“I asked you because I wanted you.”
“Oh… but…” He mumbled quietly, trying to find his footing on a coherent sentence.
Rui smiled, letting out a small chuckle. Tsukasa was very fascinating.
“Look. The movie is already far ahead. We got so off track.”
The star froze, and it melted into a wave of panic. “Ah—! We should put it back then!”
“Hehe, no need.” Rui’s hands tightened over Tsukasa’s once more. “Do you remember the scene we even left off at? I don’t.”
Tsukasa let the tension in his body leave like a balloon. “Ha… me either.”
“Do you want to just cuddle? Maybe watch the ending?” Rui suggested. There wasn’t much point to watching the parts they missed if it wasn’t investing enough to keep them from going into full conversation.
The blonde smiled warmly. “Yeah, that would be nice.”
“Yay, I get to cuddle with my star~” The director possessed his iconic cat smile and reached out his arms for Tsukasa, pulling him down with him.
“Agh—! Rui!” Tsukasa protested. Though he didn’t truly have anything to protest against.
For the rest of the afternoon, they watched the rest of the movie with each other. Thankfully, a little quieter.
When the final scene ended and the credits rolled onto the screen, Rui closed his eyes and set his chin upon Tsukasa’s head.
“You can just be here, okay?” He whispered softly against his blonde hair.
Tsukasa hummed.
“Okay.”