"My cat likes you. That's a perfectly good reason to worry about you, and offer hospitality." Osora crossed her arms under her chest, raising an eyebrow at him with a look that said she wasn't very impressed at his attempts to convince her otherwise. "Wouldn't this just be an opportunity for us to get to know each other?" She stepped closer to him, her eyes never leaving his, even when he refused to look at her. "Besides. I'm well assured in my knowledge that you are not the most selfish person I have met."
He laughed nervously and turned his head so he didn’t have to meet her eyes. “A-Alright fine. I’ll stay but only for tonight.” He murmured gently, running a hand through his fluffy hair.
“But, I do want to tell you that I am indeed a selfish man. I also need you to understand that I’m not actually who I should be right now.” He leaned in closer to her, not wanting Maki to hear. “This shouldn’t be surprising to you but this isn’t how I actually look… my original form isn’t as… flattering.”
"You can trust my brother with whatever you say to me." She said, matching the distance he leaned. "A selfish man you may be, but I've met plenty more so than you." I've met evil worse than you can imagine. And I've seen it in my own reflection. She tilted her head, raising an eyebrow at him. "So tell me, then, why you don't return to that form? Mask-less is the best way to gain the trust of a person."
He nodded gently, turning to look at Maki and smiling weakly. “Did you get the drift I’m not exactly human either?” He asked the boy softly, laughing nervously.
He turned to Toki when she spoke, suddenly blushing a bright red. He hid his face in a hand and shook his head. “Because it’s no good…” he murmured, running a finger over his cheek where is mark would have been. (Hehe I did leave out a little bit from his profile just so you know…) “not at all flattering.” He huffed, folding his arms. “People trust attractive people more, that’s a psychological fact.”
"She attracts non-human people like honey attracts bees." Maki said, shrugging a shoulder. "Literally."
"Besides." Osora tapped his nose, shaking her head. "Psychological facts are for the shallow, the unimaginative, or for my best friend. And I don't look for attractiveness in the people I trust, Tali. I look for people who aren't hiding behind lies. If I went by attractiveness, I would be long dead." She sighed softly, the harsh conviction in her face softening a bit. "I can't force you to do anything, that much is obvious. But I will tell you this, your appearance matters as much to me as your zodiac sign would."
He laughed gently and nodded. “Ok thank you Maki. I’m a skin stealer-by the way.” He grinned devilishly and snickered at that before he turned back to Toki, caught off guard by the tap to his nose. He blushed and stepped back. “Hey, I’m not shallow.” He huffed, frowning deeply. His eyes turned away from her and to the floor. “I’ll keep that in mind Toki, but I ask that you respect me and my choices and I will respect yours. Please, don’t look at me while I’m sleeping. I have to return to my original form to recharge. I don’t want you to see me.”
Osora nodded once, stepping back. "Of course. You won't have to worry about that anyway, I don't spend much time in my room at night." She looked over at her brother. "Yes, that means you'll be rooming with me. Maki is a bit less trust worthy when it comes to his curiosity."
"Okay, rude." Maki huffed, placing a hand over his chest in an incredibly dramatically offended fashion. "That was one time, how was I supposed to know you were making out with some boy on the fire escape? I was fourteen!"
"It wasn't some boy, it was Shou. And I was referring to you following me at one in the morning and almost getting mugged because of it."
Tali flushed suddenly, gasping. “I’m rooming with you!?” He asked with a gasp, trying to hide his fluster by putting on a pout and waving a finger at her. “Don’t you know it’s bad to let a strange man sleep in the same room as you!?”
He was so caught up in his fluster that he barely registered what Toki had said, and he completely missed Maki’s response.
Oh dear gods above, give me strength to survive this household… he silently prayed to the gods he had grown up with, shaking his head and gasping. “I-I mean I won’t do anything to you Toki! I’m a good man and know how to respect boundaries but I’m still a man with instincts!”
Osora raised an eyebrow at him, almost, almost, looking amused. "I'm not worried, Tali. Strange man or not, I can handle myself, even if you were to try anything I wasn't alright with." The red in his face, while amusing, was almost endearing too. Different from the usual flirty persona. "I'm not exactly the 'irresistible' type, anyway." She said, cocking a hip. And she really wasn't worried. Part of her really did trust him not to do anything, and any of her that had any doubts knew that with her training and experience, it wouldn't take much for her to incapacitate him.
He waved his arms around again, incredibly flustered, more so now than before. “I promise I will do everything in my power to be as respectful as I can be!” He managed to breath out, glancing up at her as she cocked a hip. He groaned internally.
“Mm I think you’re the irresistible type.” He mumbled under his breath, almost wishing she would hear him.
She huffed a breath of air, that same snort she did instead of laughing, completely missing his mumbling. "Alright, alright. I believe you." She assured, shaking her head. She turned away, bending over one of the boxes to pull out a bag of chips of some sort, recording it in her notebook and placing it on a shelf. "So that's settled. Do we still want to head out and get food? Or should you be sleeping instead?"
He began to cool himself down, leaning over and plucking the notebook from her hand to use it as a fan on his hot face. “I do still want food…” he mumbled, pouting lightly once again. It seemed to be something he did often. “Now, Let’s go. I’m starving. I used up so many calories today. Just on your transformation alone. You have such a hard body to copy.” He complained in an attempt to distract himself from his own thoughts.
"You're almost a foot taller than me. Of course that's going to be difficult to do." She pointed out, not bothering to take her notebook back. "We should get going now, then, that way we can catch the train." She reached up, letting her hair out of the ponytail and running her fingers through it to comb it out. "Maki, you going to be fine here?"
Tali watched her with narrowed eyes, his gaze upon the hair she had just let down. Beautiful. “you should put your hair down more often. It’s pretty.” He found himself saying before he could stop himself. He turned the notebook over to Maki, smiling and winking at the kid. “I won’t have your sister for long, kid. I guess I’m staying here so I’ll see you later tonight.” The skin-stealer turned to Toki and brought a hand up to run his fingers through his own hair.
“Toki? Would you mind if we stopped by a place to pick up my things? I have a small suitcase that holds my clothes and other hygiene stuff… I kinda need it.”
"It's pretty." Osora blinked, not quite sure how to respond to that. Her fingers paused in her hair, before she continued to comb out the oddly colored locks, shifting on her feet to watch Tali hand the notebook back to her brother.
"Keep her as long as you want, man. She never spends enough time doing fun things." Maki said, flipping through the notebook and making a face. "Your handwriting is a curse on this plane, Toki. Anyway, have fun you two." He waved to them, before making a shooing motion at Osora, who shook her head slightly and turned to start towards the door.
Tali hummed and waved goodbye to Maki as he followed the female out the door. The second he caught up with her out on the street he shoved his hands in his pocket and frowned. “You didn’t answer me, Toki. Can I go get my things while we’re out?” He poked her head and smiled brightly. “I would love your company.” He purred, laughing softly before his hand returned to his pocket.
"Of course we're going to get your things." Osora said, swatting half-heartedly at his hand as he poked her. She lowered her own once his was in his pocket, glancing at him before looking back at the street as they walked. "I've been told my company is incredibly enjoyable." She said, her tone entirely serious, but the sparkle in her red eyes pointing towards it being a joke.
He sighed in relief, almost worried he would have lost his things. My talisman… he shook his head of that thought. He didn’t need it to live. But if he lost it he might be ripped apart. He tore his thoughts away once again and turned to look at Toki with a small smile. “I personally think you’re the best company I’ve ever had. And that’s saying quite a bit seeing as how my other company have been mostly romantically involved.” He chuckled lightly, waving at a woman who looked to have just turned twenty. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this but i went on a date with her. A rather fun night it was. We went to a bar and got a little to drunk and I, well, the details aren’t important.” He said sheepishly, running a hand through his hair.
"I went to high school with her." She mused, tilting her head as she looked from the woman, to Tali, and then back ahead. "Sweet girl, and apparently, sweet woman now too. Little bit less uptight though, definitely." She slipped a hand out of her pocket, turning over a small rock in her palm as they walked. He was right, she didn't really need the details, but she didn't exactly mind him talking about dates. "I highly doubt I'm the best company you've ever had."
He chuckled and looked to Toki with a smile. “Mm really? She is a sweet woman. But not my type. Do you know how hard it is for something like me to find someone?” He asked with a soft snicker, mocking himself. “I originally came here to find someone. Guess that didn’t work out, oh well. It was still fun. I got a lot of neat things and best of all I met you~” Tali nudged her gently.
“You’re the best company ever. I’ve never had someone want to get to know me like you do.” He leaned back on his heels and gestured for her to turn with him as he made his way to a side alley. “The place I’ve been staying at is this way,” he said softly before continuing. “Most just want a kiss or sex. No one ever wants to just know Tali and what he likes. No one ever asks Tali to stay the night without ill intentions towards him.”
“I think just Tali is just fine.” Osora said, shrugging a shoulder as she followed him into the alleyway. No hesitance in her step. She knew these streets. “You came here to find someone? And let me guess, all you’ve been finding is…gods, the best term I can think of is ‘fuckbuddies’.” Granted, she didn’t know a whole lot about sex, having never really cared much about it. Even as an adult, she didn’t care.
He nodded gently, looking back at her and shrugging. “Something along those lines. It’s frustrating you know. Sure it’s nice to have so many pinning after you, but I’d rather just have one person I can love and hold. Hell, I don’t care if I have to wander until I’m almost dead.” He pouted, holding his face in his hands. “Hmph… I even like guys too and I haven’t been able to find anyone.” He grumbled under his breath for a moment before he turned and opened a rather dirty door with a key he pulled from his pocket. The inside room was just as dirty, with a small mat in the corner for him to sleep on and a single door leading to a bathroom that didn’t look too sanitary. A single, handheld stove sat on the ground in the middle of the room along with a singular mat to sit on. “Mm good riddance to this place.” He scowled at the state of it. “It’s what I get for choosing to have a discount from an old man. I just didn’t want to spend money.”
“Shady decisions beget shady repercussions.” Osora said, stepping into the small apartment and looking around. His words hit her, and she mulled them over in her mind thoughtfully. “You’re not going to like this. But honestly, the best way to find someone who loves you, is to be you. Otherwise, they tend to only be set on the idea of you.” She said, pulling out her phone as it went off to alert her of a text. Not a ding or buzz, but the sound of a clock chime. She tucked her hair behind her ear, responding to the all caps-locked texts from her best friend, who somehow always knew about anything that happened to her. Which meant Tali was today’s subject.
Tali’s eyes narrowed menacingly at her words. She was too carefree… she spoke too lightly of things she didn’t understand. He remained silent, letting her deal with whoever had text her.
He instead went scurrying around to find his talisman. What a bother… he should have just worn it. He peeled up a floorboard and removed the black ring from its place, slipping it onto his right ring finger. A sigh of relief left his throat.
Osora sighed, lifting her phone and raising an eyebrow at Tali. “I’ve been quite literally ordered to take a picture of you. Is that alright?” She had taken the earlier one without permission, but that had just been for her phone, an image she didn’t plan on sending to anyone else. But Reeha wanted a picture, chances were to see if it matched any mugshots in existence. On occasion, the overprotectiveness was a bit much, but Osora couldn’t really blame her friend. Not after everything that had happened, everything she’d been through, that they’d been through together.
