Aika shook her head, leaning against the railing as she pressed her lips together in thought. Her fingers itched for the keys of a piano, or at the very least, the bow of her violin upstairs. She was lucky she'd even thought to bring it along, as it had very quickly become a source of relief when her thoughts became too much. The ding of the elevator a minute or so later drew her out of her thoughts, and she straightened, her tapping coming to a stop.
"And here we are," Rory said, smiling at the people waiting for them to leave the elevator. He tapped Aika's arm once and made to exit the elevator. "You sure you don't want to back out now while you have the chance?" he asked her, tilting his head as he looked back at her.
Aika nodded at the tap, carefully slipping out of the elevator as quickly as she could, slightly proud of herself for not bumping into anyone boarding. "I'm plenty sure, don't worry. As I said before, I'm sure they're not that bad." Her lips quirked up into that small smile of amusement that seemed common.
He chuckled and pushed his shoulders up to burrow into his furred hood, smiling idly to himself. "Alright, if you say so. Jordan's room isn't far from here, and you'd probably hear the bickering and shouting before we actually get to the room," Rory said, snorting. "I'll make sure that no one is blocking the door as well. They have a tendency to do that for some odd reason."
"That would be appreciated." Aika said with a laugh, shaking her head. She lifted her cane, tapping her fingers on the handle. "I would rather not embarrass myself completely in front of your friends. At least, not in the first five minutes."
Rory laughed softly. "Nah, I'm sure you'll be fine. But better safe than sorry, I always say—even though my mates think otherwise," he added with another amused snort, shaking his head. However much he might make fun of them, though, Rory still loved them all dearly and considered them brothers. He couldn't ask for better friends.
"You aren't wrong about that. It is always best." Aika said, shooting a smile in his general direction. "And I do hope you're right. Embarrassment isn't easy to get over." Her first recital came to mind, and she made a face for a moment.
Rory caught the face she made but assumed that she was recalling something related to her last statement. "I hope so as well, for your sake. Embarrassment is not the way to go," he said, chuckling.
"How reassuring." Aika said, lips quirking up into a playful smile. "Hopefully, if I do manage to embarrass myself, your friends won't hold it against me. Unlikely, considering what you've told me, but one can hope."
"One can hope," he repeated with a small laugh, nodding. "If you were part of the friend group, then you more than likely won't be safe from the teasing. But you should be safe," he reassured her. He looked around the hall, gauging how far they were from Jordan's room. "His room should be close," he murmured, then sighed when he heard the bickering.
She tilted her head, picking up the sound as he did. A small and amused huff of a laugh, left her, and she shook her head. "Wow, you really weren't kidding. Is that much bickering a common thing?" She asked, turning her head somewhat in his direction.
"Pretty much a daily when we're not passed out on the tour bus," Rory sighed, then tapped Aika's arm twice to tell her to stop. "Here we are," he said, the bickering coming from the inside of the room louder than before. He looked through the window and saw that Tobias, of course, was leaning against the door.
Aika pressed her lips together as she smiled, coming to a stop at his tap. Gods, he was so much more helpful than the cane in her hand. And much more enjoyable to be around, too. "What do you think they're arguing so intently about?" She asked, after judging that the door was closed by the slight muffle to the voices, despite their volume.
Rory tilted his head, listening. "Oh my God, those idiots," he muttered, shaking his head. He didn't answer her, though, as he opened the door and shoved, pushing Tobias off balance and into Rowan. The two boys yelled in protest in seeing that it was Rory—not that they would've been more polite if it was hospital staff. Rory ignored them and said, his accent slipping into full Korean mode, "요르단은 네!" Jordan is a dumbass. The other boys did a collective "Oooohhhhh" and nodded. Their argument had been how to say that phrase in Korean—without their resident Korean.
Aika tilted her head, putting bits of what she had caught before together with this interaction, and coming fairly close to the actual conclusion. Her lips quirked up into a polite smile out of habit as she turned her head towards Rory, her tapping resuming as a result of being slightly nervous. Meeting new people wasn't something she was that used to or good at, as she had a tendency to keep to herself.
Harvey, a fairly tall boy with dusty brown hair and chocolate brown eyes, grinned when he spotted a girl behind Rory, who gently ushered her into the slightly crowded hospital room. "Well well well," Harvey said from where he sat on the windowsill, "What do we have here? Rory bring over a girlfriend?" Rory sighed and muttered to himself in Korean before turning towards Harvey and scowling at him jokingly. The other boys' eyes lit up as they also spotted Aika.
"A friend, actually, last I checked." Aika said, sort of tucking herself close to the wall in order to keep out of the way, but staying close to Rory. She hadn't been kidding about not wanting to embarrass herself. She tucked the cane close to herself, keeping it out of the way of anyone's legs.
Rowan pushed poor Tobias off of him, sending the boy hurtling for Jordan's bed. "I'm not some doll you can toss around!" Tobias protested, righting himself before plopping onto the floor to keep from getting pushed around some more.
Rowan rolled his eyes, pushing his glasses up onto his head as he surveyed Aika. "And who might you be?" he asked, tilting his head.
"And why do you have a blindfold on?" Harvey blurted out, completely serious. "Are you blind or somethin'?"
"Harvey!" Jordan and Rory scolded.
"I-" Not yet, but soon enough I will be. Aika resumed tapping her fingers softly, head moving like she was glancing around, despite not being able to see. One question at a time. "Aika Higashi. It's nice to meet all of you." Polite as a default, despite Harvey's…bluntness. She opened her mouth once more, but paused, trying to figure out just how to answer Harvey.
Harvey rolled his eyes and leaned forward, elbows braced on his knees as he grinned. " 'Ello, Higashi. Mind taking that blindfold off?" Rory narrowed his eyes at Harvey in warning, as well as Jordan, and even Tobias looked warily between the three different boys and this new and strange girl. He scooted back, which inadvertently gave Harvey a straight path to Aika.
Aika pressed her lips together, shaking her head slightly. Thanks to, you know, not being able to see at all, she had absolutely no clue what was going that she couldn't gather from listening. "I would really rather not." She said, polite as always.
Harvey just grinned and got up. The other boys bit their lips and exchanged looks, but were otherwise fine with his actions, as they were curious as well—except Rory, of course. He stepped forward and tried to push the other boy back, but Harvey was taller than him and slippery. He ducked under Rory's arm and grabbed Aika's blindfold with a little "Gotcha." He scrambled back when Rory practically growled and lunged at him.
Aika let out a small and startled sound, her hand instantly coming up to shield her eyes from the sudden and bright lights. Beyond that, she was visibly unsure of just how to react, standing incredibly still as she let her eyes adjust to the light. Once they had adjusted, they focused in on Rory, widening slightly as she took a half step forward. "Rory, it's fine." Her voice was quiet, incredibly so, but strong enough to carry. So much for control.
His already narrow eyes narrowed even more as he stilled, though his glare didn't leave Harvey. Tobias was the first to speak. "Uncool man," he said, looking between Harvey and Rory, "Really uncool."
Kasper chimed in. "Well…you didn't try to stop him," he pointed out.
Tobias looked incredulously up at the band leader. "Neither did you."
Rowan just sat in the corner, watching the happenings silently with curious eyes. Jordan looked unsure of how to react to what just happened.
Rory finally looked back at Aika, mumbling a soft, "I'm sorry…" to her.
"Don't be." Aika assured, ignoring the other conversation for the moment as her dark eyes met Rory's. "This is on me." It honestly probably wasn't, but she obviously seemed to think so. "No, I'm not-not blind." This time, she was addressing the whole room, though mostly Harvey. "Not yet, at least."