"If there was a button that killed everyone I hated, I probably wouldn't press it ... but if there was a button that killed everyone who hated me, I'd press it without hesitation."
[ Eyes fall on the cigarette first, a wave of nausea hitting him out of reflex. Thankfully the entire display is cheesy enough to help gently disarm his loaded anxiety, and he musters enough curiosity to approach when beckoned. Cautious, unsure.
Then the line is delivered, and he hears someone laugh. It’s clipped, and quick, and maybe a touch confused. It’s another half second before it registers that it came from himself. Where did he even have the fuel to laugh in him? ]
[ He lifts a hand, tugs down the shades so he can look at Junpei over the top of them. There's a thumbprint bruise underneath one eye, maybe a day old. The cigarette isn't lit; a magician's movement from his hand slips it back up one sleeve. To replace it, he tugs a package out from under his arm, something small and unevenly shaped wrapped in wax paper. He offers it out to Junpei. ]
I assumed you're still idiotically trying to prove something to Magda and not stopping to eat. [ To clarify: ] It's a sandwich.
[ The bruise earns a concerned look, but he holds himself back from commenting on it, opting instead to watch the sleight of hand. From the way his brows raise it’s clear that even though he’s being too much of an aloof teenager to ever say so out loud, it’s another one of those moments where House does a little something that weaves its way neatly into the fabric of his affection for him. Strengthening the crush the boy keeps telling himself he’s going to snuff out.
The doctor is right, he hasn’t eaten since breakfast, and even that was an apple grabbed from the kitchen in the boarding house as an afterthought. The sandwich is taken gingerly even as he’s trying to lie through his teeth about being so thoroughly pinned. ]
I’m not trying to prove anything to anyone. I … have to do something. I can’t just sit in my room all day. Might as well be useful.
[ Still, he’s not a total brat. His voice softens as he tacks on a quiet ‘thank you’. ]
[ It's more gratitude than House deserves, considering the way he's treated Junpei and used that little crush to exploit all that youthful energy and resilience while he does whatever he wants. A slight tightening of his expression is the only sign that he feels at all ashamed about it, and it doesn't last very long.
Sandwich delivered, he pushes his shades back up his nose and goes back to leaning on his cane and the wall behind him. ]
Is the old lady still trying to recruit you to the worship of the Great Old Ones?
[ The desire to avoid Magda's passive aggressive comments about the expedition into the forest is one of the reasons House is hanging around outside the clinic. ]
[ Stubbornness and fear of the void kept Junpei in town, but he wasn’t totally immune to being affected Magda’s disapproval. The discussion they’d had when she was stuck in the gallery lingered at the corners of his mind; the tenderness she’d shown him that had bolstered his existing dedication to the clinic. Guilt that he can’t please her is simmering away in the background with all his other problems. ]
I don’t know what makes her think I would even manage to reach the void. I’ve felt … weird ever since I was resurrected, I still can’t summon Moon Dregs, and … surviving the forest? I’ve never even been camping. It’s so stupid.
[ It's very stupid, which is why House is waiting for an opportune moment to mention that he's going. He's distracted by Junpei's response, turning his head to look at him through his dark glasses, lines drawn across the brow above them as he frowns. ]
You can't summon your.. [ Wait, what was it again? ] .. shrimp?
[ Delivered in the most unimpressed deadpan. While proper classification of ocean dwelling life forms isn’t technically a job requirement for a doctor, Junpei still feels as if there’s enough difference between the two to warrant vocal irritation.
A thought occurs as his eyes glance down again at the sandwich, fingers lightly grazing over the paper. ]
… did you … make this?
[ It’s such a sudden, subtle shift from annoyed to quietly awed. ]
[ Annoyed is better than depressed, in House's view. He reasons that at least if Junpei is irritated by his presence he's not dwelling on all the stupid things he can't fix. And that frustrated little moue is cute.
When his attention turns to the sandwich, House's eyebrows inch upwards. He'd stolen the sandwich from a pannier of supplies being prepared for a hunting party heading out into the woods, but the look on Junpei's face encourages the immediate lie. ]
[ A single thought, underlined in red and festooned with itty bitty hearts on the notebook of his mind: “He cooked for me.”
Making a sandwich is not cooking, technically … but as has repeatedly been the case with things House has said or done, Junpei takes a crumb and makes a meal from it. In the midst of all the gray hopelessness of his recent daily life, the little lie sparks light. While he does his best to try and keep his expression neutral, there’s practically a sparkle in his single visible eye and the tiniest, cutest smile. The perhaps not so secret soft side of the boy who works so hard to be seen as serious and mature. ]
… oh.
[ Just a single word hinting at the deluge of swooning the dam is holding back.
But he shakes off the fuzzy feelings, knowing they can’t stick around. It was pleasant to visit for a moment, and it did feel better than sadness and fretting. ]
Did you … really just come by to bring me lunch? There’s something else, right?
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Then the line is delivered, and he hears someone laugh. It’s clipped, and quick, and maybe a touch confused. It’s another half second before it registers that it came from himself. Where did he even have the fuel to laugh in him? ]
… The Breakfast Club …
[ He can’t help it, that’s also a reflex. ]
Sensei, what in the hell are you doing?
no subject
[ He lifts a hand, tugs down the shades so he can look at Junpei over the top of them. There's a thumbprint bruise underneath one eye, maybe a day old. The cigarette isn't lit; a magician's movement from his hand slips it back up one sleeve. To replace it, he tugs a package out from under his arm, something small and unevenly shaped wrapped in wax paper. He offers it out to Junpei. ]
I assumed you're still idiotically trying to prove something to Magda and not stopping to eat. [ To clarify: ] It's a sandwich.
no subject
The doctor is right, he hasn’t eaten since breakfast, and even that was an apple grabbed from the kitchen in the boarding house as an afterthought. The sandwich is taken gingerly even as he’s trying to lie through his teeth about being so thoroughly pinned. ]
I’m not trying to prove anything to anyone. I … have to do something. I can’t just sit in my room all day. Might as well be useful.
[ Still, he’s not a total brat. His voice softens as he tacks on a quiet ‘thank you’. ]
no subject
Sandwich delivered, he pushes his shades back up his nose and goes back to leaning on his cane and the wall behind him. ]
Is the old lady still trying to recruit you to the worship of the Great Old Ones?
[ The desire to avoid Magda's passive aggressive comments about the expedition into the forest is one of the reasons House is hanging around outside the clinic. ]
no subject
[ Stubbornness and fear of the void kept Junpei in town, but he wasn’t totally immune to being affected Magda’s disapproval. The discussion they’d had when she was stuck in the gallery lingered at the corners of his mind; the tenderness she’d shown him that had bolstered his existing dedication to the clinic. Guilt that he can’t please her is simmering away in the background with all his other problems. ]
I don’t know what makes her think I would even manage to reach the void. I’ve felt … weird ever since I was resurrected, I still can’t summon Moon Dregs, and … surviving the forest? I’ve never even been camping. It’s so stupid.
no subject
You can't summon your.. [ Wait, what was it again? ] .. shrimp?
no subject
[ Delivered in the most unimpressed deadpan. While proper classification of ocean dwelling life forms isn’t technically a job requirement for a doctor, Junpei still feels as if there’s enough difference between the two to warrant vocal irritation.
A thought occurs as his eyes glance down again at the sandwich, fingers lightly grazing over the paper. ]
… did you … make this?
[ It’s such a sudden, subtle shift from annoyed to quietly awed. ]
no subject
When his attention turns to the sandwich, House's eyebrows inch upwards. He'd stolen the sandwich from a pannier of supplies being prepared for a hunting party heading out into the woods, but the look on Junpei's face encourages the immediate lie. ]
Yep. I left out the sex herbs this time.
no subject
Making a sandwich is not cooking, technically … but as has repeatedly been the case with things House has said or done, Junpei takes a crumb and makes a meal from it. In the midst of all the gray hopelessness of his recent daily life, the little lie sparks light. While he does his best to try and keep his expression neutral, there’s practically a sparkle in his single visible eye and the tiniest, cutest smile. The perhaps not so secret soft side of the boy who works so hard to be seen as serious and mature. ]
… oh.
[ Just a single word hinting at the deluge of swooning the dam is holding back.
But he shakes off the fuzzy feelings, knowing they can’t stick around. It was pleasant to visit for a moment, and it did feel better than sadness and fretting. ]
Did you … really just come by to bring me lunch? There’s something else, right?