deercountry | If I had died

Shiro is like a golden retriever half the time. He doesn't know how to be anything other than genuine where other people are concerned. His eyebrow arches for a second, watching Ritsuka's ears. But he doesn't comment. Maybe the kid heard something down the hall. Wouldn't surprise him in the slightest.

The blushing - he very purposefully does not comment on, and also very purposefully, igores.

"Take your time," is what he says instead. "And only if you want to. Don't feel like you have to make dinner every night or anything, okay?" Adam, himself and Keith are all pretty much adults, they can manage on Trench PB&J if nothing else. And Chloe is more than capable in the kitchen. He's... not sure about Venus, though, and makes a mental note to check.

"I don't... like eating alone," he mumbled, his ears pressing back against his head. He's done it often enough, at lunch before Yuiko butted into his life, when mom passed out from her meds, when dad refused to come home altogether. He used to always eat with Seimei and then...

He preferred not eating alone, for all his constant talk of wanting to BE alone.

"Okay," he says, easily and simply. "I don't think that's going to be a problem while you're here. There's enough of us, someone will probably almost always be in the kitchen. Or eating."

They all probably keep weird hours, to an extent. But that's not quite the point, and he smiles, gently.

"But I mean it, if you don't feel up to cooking, don't feel like you have to."

He gave a small nod as he took another bite, leaving his utensils in his mouth for a bit in thought. Learning to cook had been a means of taking control over something he had never had control in... it was also necessary because he had been living alone for some time. But he learned that he didn't... like eating all alone. Sometimes he wanted peace and quiet, but with how often as he ate with Yuiko and Yayoi, Natsuo and Youji, Soubi, his mom... then when he came to Deerington...

He was more used to eating with people than anything else.

"I'll uh... keep that in mind. Maybe in the morning..." Ritsuka was not an early bird.

"Mornings tend to be anything we can grab and coffee," he admits. A little sheepishly. He's been chided about that before. Several times. "Cereal if there's time."

So, there's no real pressure for Ritsuka to cook, is what he means.

"Except toast, obviously," he smiled, unable to help it as he bit into his food, his tail wagging with amusement.

"Oh... uh... no one is scared of ghosts here, are they?"

Shiro... sighs. "Except toast," he admits, trying to keep his face from turning red. And failing.

Yep - Ritsuka is going to fit in here just fine.

"It depends on the ghost? Why do you ask?"

"Um..." he glanced to the side. "Well..." He whistles, the sound unique in length, pitch, and tone. Withing seconds, his Mismagius appeared right in front of Shiro's face.

"Yuiko is my Omen."

"Oh-"

That's kind of a surprise. But with the warning? And, besides, that's actually kind of cute?

"Hey there, Yuiko." He lifts a hand, and gives the little ghost a wave.

"Yuiko, this is Shiro-san," the pokemon circled Shiro making a soft noise as she did so and coming back around until they were eye to eye.

"Yuiko's been with me since Deerington. She's protected me ever since."

"Then it's nice to meet you, Yuiko."

They'll get used to her, he's sure. If they can get used to the others' omens and a wolf from space, a cute ghost is perfectly fine.

"Thanks for keeping an eye on Ritsuka. I know he's got friends who definitely appreciate it."

The Mismagius trilled and her sound might cause a slight headache, that's just the nature of her voice.

At the mention of friends, Ritsuka blushed deeply and looked away.

"I um... pretty sure most of my friends are gone, actually... and... I'm pretty bad at making new ones." He's an introvert who just kept getting adopted by extroverts. "It-it's okay though, I'm more used to being alone."

Shiro's smile for the ghost turned a bit strained - ow. But it stayed. Only to soften as he looked over to Ritsuka.

"Well... you've already got a pretty good start here," he said. And it's as gentle as ever. Assuring as he can make it. "Chloe and Keith are good people. They're like my siblings. Venus - just got here, but reminds me a lot of you, actually."

Not to mention Adam, who absolutely would be happy Ritsuka was moved in.

His ears perked and he tilted his head. "Really?" his tail wagged and Yuiko snickered, becoming invisible as she went to go play with Ritsuka's tail.

At the mention of Venus being like him, his ears bent back.

"Uh... is... is that a good thing? That Venus is like me?"

"Really. And, yeah, I think it is."

He really does. They're both a little jumpy, anxious. Ritsuka has more snark and bite than Venus does, but that doesn't mean they wouldn't get along. Maybe it'd be good for Venus, having another friend who can sass.

"It means I think you'll get along."

He opens his mouth and is about to instantly refute that he's not nice, that people SHOULDN'T like him because he's... well, self-aware enough that what he says can be both rude and jerky, that he has a bad temper and is persnickety at the best of times and an outright sarcastic asshole at the worst.

He closes his mouth. He doesn't want to say that to Shiro, he can't meet the man's gaze and his ears press back. Maybe being like him will be okay, though. He, Youji, and Natsuo are all pretty similar in a lot of ways, and they DO get along.

"I... guess we'll see," is the best at optimism he can manage.

Maybe that was the wrong thing to say. The body language alone doesn't look like it's going to bode well. But Shiro really doesn't want the poor kid to feel forced into anything, either.

"It's okay if you don't want to jump in right away," Shiro adds, after a moment of watching Ritsuka's reaction. "Just... know I think it'd work out. That's all."

A beat, and he chuckles a bit.

"After all, you get along with Adam."

His ears perked up and he gave a small nod, the pressure of "befriending them" taken away and it allows him to become more relaxed.

He tilted his head and lifted a brow.

"Adam-san isn't particularly difficult to get along with..." plus Adam was pretty much by his side day one when he got here.

"He can be a little prickly," Shiro says, though there's way too much amusement in the words for it to be a serious complaint.

More like an old joke.

"He's fought people with kitchenware before. You know, fight first, talk later."

"That's fine, I can be massively prickly," he offered with a shrug. "I'm outright antagonistic plenty of times." There's something to be said about being self-aware.

His ears pressed down.

"I've seen people fight with rubber ducks."

I see why you adopted him - Shiro thinks, something his partner will more than likely pick up on. It's not a bad thing. Just an observation. More of that back and forth between them.

"That's fine," is what he says aloud. "It doesn't bother me."

And it doesn't. Really it doesn't. Though he blinks, startled more by the statement about ducks than anything.

"Rubber ducks?"

Ritsuka froze, realizing he had never... told that many people about the Fighter and Sacrifice situation he had going on back him. His ears bent back and he cleared his throat.

"Rubber ducks and jungle gyms, she was young and had to rely on imagery she already knew," he bit into his food.

Okay. That was clearly the wrong thing to ask. He can't undo it, can't take it back. So, forging ahead it is.

"Understood," he says, simply. We can leave it there. "Remind me to ask him about the Carrot Incident sometime where you can hear it. He gets this look like..."

And here Shiro makes a game attempt to imitate one of Adam's patented Takashi You Idiot expressions. Swerving the subject hard away from discussions of kids fighting with ducks. He really hopes he looks ridiculous.

Ritsuka couldn't help it, he laughed. He blinked, somewhat surprised by the sound but couldn't help but laugh again.

Oh heck yeah. Nailed it.

"I'm serious! He looks just like that."

But he's grinning as he says it, too. Then he holds his hands up in pretend glasses, to enhance the look.

"Takashi you are impossible."

If I had died

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CW: Child neglect

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