He nodded gently, smiling happily. He let out a soft sound when she scratched at his scalp; a hum of appreciation. He opened an eye when Maki began to sing, chuckling lightly.
“She does have a date.” He grinned brightly, only to flush a bright red at the next phrase. “Oh g-good lord Maki!” He called out, laughing.
"I just agreed to our first date, Maki, don't get ahead of yourself." Osora said, raising an eyebrow at her brother despite the light color to her cheeks. Her eyes flickered down to Tali when he called Maki by his first name, almost in surprise, but Maki seemed absolutely ecstatic.
"Okay okay, good point. No sex at all." He said, taking on a tone of joking authority like he was a parent. "Leave room for the Lord, you two. I'll let the petting slide, if only because it kind of looks like you're petting a cat right now."
Tali chuckled lightly, glancing up at Toki and smiling. “Leave room for the Lord.” He snickered softly, shaking his head. “I think we’ll be alright, Maki. Thank you for your concern. And I’m not a cat! I can like head rubs.” He murmured, leaning more into Toki’s hand. “And she gives good pets.”
"That's exactly something a cat would say." Maki and Osora spoke at the same time, eyes flickering to each other, before the former burst into laughter and the latter snorted.
"That's still weird as shit." Reeha said, shaking her head as she looked at Tali. "They do that way too often. And they aren't even twins, so there's no stereotype guidelines they could be following. Who does that?"
Tali chuckled and took the moment he had to finish off his food. He glanced between Maki and Toki, tilting his head as he listened to them laugh.
“Then they do this often?” He asked Reeha, looking at her with curiosity.
"All the damn time. If they're in the same room, it's at least a sixty five percent chance they'll say something at the same time." Reeha said, wrinkling her nose. Though she actually looked upset by that, she wasn't, and in fact found it amusing most of the time.
"It's not our fault you're an only child." Osora said, taking a bite of her last shrimp and raising an eyebrow as she played with Tali's hair idly.
“Mm that’s funny actually.” He closed his eyes, smiling happily as he snuggled closer to Toki. “Those two are close. I’m glad. My adoptive sister was rather cruel.” He pouted, sulking a little until Toki spoke.
“Reeha, you’re an only child?” He blinked, turning to look at her. His eyes felt heavy from the safety and peace he felt while Toki was playing with his hair.
"Yeah. My parents tried for a son, had me instead, and then decided I would do." Reeha said, with all the casualness of somebody talking about a football game as she took a drink from the skull mug she'd been sipping out of. "Changed their minds when I hit high school, but couldn't get a bun in the oven."
"She's an absolute liar." Osora said simply, toasting her friend with her soda. "She's had us since we met the day she crashed her father's car into the stop sign just down on the corner. I've got a picture somewhere, us as five year olds standing in front of the wreckage of a car. And her parents aren't that bad, they're just a bit too good at putting pressure on her."
Tali nodded gently, looping his arm around Toki’s leg and giving it a little hug. “Mm I’m sure they love you very much Reeha.” He murmured. “I still don’t know who my parents are. I don’t want to meet them if I’m being completely honest with you.” He frowned gently. “I really don’t want to…”
Tali fell silent for a moment longer before he looked back up at Toki and flashing her a solemn smile. “I’m glad you guys were there for Reeha.”
"If you don't want to meet your parents, that's an entirely valid choice, and one that is nobody's but your own to make." Osora said, her face softening slightly as she slid her fingers from his hair to trace the lines of his face she could reach. She understood that choice. Her own father was someone she would gladly never come into contact with, though if she ever did…it would be a more violent interaction than a sad one. "Of course we were there for her. I watched her crash a car, she was essentially immediately adopted the moment I brought her into the store to get mom."
"I got a cool green band-aid and a new place to hang. Five year old me was ecstatic." Reeha chimed in, her sort of severe expression that seemed normal for her switching to a grin. "They gave me food, too, which is always a plus. As long as I was home for prayer, my parent's didn't care."
Tali was overly delighted to have her touch his face, closing his eyes but still keeping his dorky smile upon his lips. “Mm thank you Toki. I don’t want to see them. Not at all.” He glanced over at Reeha, nodding gently and carefully.
“Obviously you fell in love with the place. Isn’t it nice here? I’ve only been around for less than a day and I love it here.” He purred.
"It's home." Osora's earlier words were repeated by her, her friend, and her brother, Reeha blinking before groaning amidst Maki's laughter.
"The Tokino's have lived on this exact plot for generations, and the building itself carries the spirits and love of those generations." Osora continued, tucking her hair behind her ear as she pushed his back from his face gently, tracing the bridge of his nose and then lingering on his upper lip for a moment before continuing.
He nodded gently, relaxing and humming happily. “It is home. It feels safe. It feels like many generations of love have lived here. I like it. A lot actually. It’s much better than my shrine or any other place I had.” He murmured, smiling gently.
He blinked his eyes up at her innocently, smiling wider as she traced his upper lip. “Mm that feels good too Toki.”
"Then it's lucky you ended up getting to stay here, instead of that shitty place you were renting." She stated matter-of factly, raising an eyebrow as he made the comment. After a moment, she seemed to come to a decision, almost teasingly dragging her thumb along his bottom lip.
He nodded gently, shivering softly as she ran her finger over his lip. He grabbed her wrist and brought her hand to his lips in a kiss. “I’m glad I’m here too. Thank you Toki.”
He glanced up at the others and smiled. “Toki is amazing. How did I ever manage to find her!?”
"It's what she does." Reeha said, looking between the two of them as though trying to figure something out. "She finds people like us, outcasts in their own ways, and somehow draws them in. Then draws them together. You know, she's the reason two of the-of our friends got together. They've been dating for five years now, all because she kept one of them from getting robbed and punched the other in the nose, and they couldn't stay away."
He made a low humming noise and stood suddenly, leaning against the counter to plant a kiss on Toki’s cheek. “Mm it looks as if you forgot to tell me something, then, Toki. I didn’t know you were a magnet for people like us. Nor did I know you were a matchmaker.” He grinned, Leaning in closer towards her.
She blinked as he stood, that light blush returning to her cheeks as he pressed a kiss there and stayed close. "Maki told you." She said, motioning to her brother, who looked like he was considering pulling his phone out again. "He said I attracted people who weren't full human, or something along those lines. And I'm not a matchmaker, I just brought them together by accident. And then I told King to get his shit together and figure his feelings out." Because they almost got him killed.
He nodded softly, humming as he rested his head against her shoulder, yawning. He was still exhausted even after eating. “Mm. I’m going to say you’re magic. Beyond the, you know, actual magic.” He chuckled and buried his face in her neck, sighing deeply. “I’m getting a little tired.” He admitted quietly, so only she could hear.
“Then you should get to bed.” She said, voice low to match his quietness as she wrapped an arm loosely around his shoulders. “Want me to show you to my room? So you can get to sleep. I’ve got some things I should be doing, so I have to grab those from in there anyway.”
He nodded gently, looping an arm loosely around her waist. “That sounds perfect… thank you.” He murmured, yawning again.
He had to get to sleep before he couldn’t keep up his fake persona. “Mm I guess I’ll have to let go of you so you can show me, huh?”
“It might be a tad bit easier than any alternatives.” Osora agreed, nodding. She didn’t make any move to push him away though, as though waiting for him to do that first. “It would be kind of hard for me to walk, you being so tall and all .”
Tali chuckled and gently released her. He took a step back and stretched out his long arms, glancing around at everyone as he bent down to pick up his food. “Where would you like me to place this?” He asked gently. “I would like to clean up as repayment for your kindness.” He dipped his head low.
“Garbage in the garbage and silverware in the sink, son.” Koharu said, smiling warmly at him as she pointed to each place she named.
Osora slid off the counter, sticking what was left of her curry in the fridge before dropping her chopsticks into the sink. Reusable ones, luckily. She stretched her arms up, her muscle tank rising with the movement as she did, exposing a sliver of midriff. “Hey, Reeha, text Shou and let him know my phone died, would you? If I don’t, he’ll show up here worried that I-“ She paused, glancing at Tali, and then back to her friend. “You know.” Reeha nodded knowingly, pulling out her own phone, a much better model than Osora’s, to send the text.
He nodded, doing a soft he was told with a stiffness that showed how obviously tired he was. Though he tried to hide it, his eyes shifted to steal a glance at her midriff, a light pink tinting his face. He smiled weakly at Toki when she glanced his way, shifting nervously.
Tali’s fingers played with his ring subconsciously, twirling it around and feeling along its smooth surface. He didn’t speak, only stood awkwardly as he waited for her.