snowfield | i've had better days, man, i've known better days ☈ ᴄʟᴏsᴇᴅ

[Only when the group has left the Group Date Café with the boss defeated does Yu stop and think to himself, ’That was really weird.’ He was kind of in Leader Mode the rest of the time, where nothing matters except the safety of the team and the completion of the mission — all other thoughts were fuzzy to his recollection.]

[For one thing, there was the giant preacher throwing coffins at them. Then there was the creepy-cute giant cupids riding on other babies with horse heads. And so on and so forth. Answering the questions was actually not too bad; Yu put thought into them, of course he did, but once he made a decision he was fine with stating his answer. It seemed as though there was always at least one person who agreed with him, though that was doubtless because of the sheer size of the group. (He thinks he’s gotten all of the SEES members’ names down by now…) Finally, and most strangely, there was the whole matter of the… wedding… ceremony.]

[That was really weird.]

[He kept his cool throughout, because of course he did. But looking back on it now? Very weird.]

[Yu knows that Yosuke will be acting skittish about it, but it’s been a few hours since they cleared the dungeon, and he’s intentionally been letting the dude have some privacy to sort out a few of his most pressing hangups. But as dinnertime approaches, he sees Yosuke chilling out at one of the tables, and decides that now is as good a time as any to bother him.]

Hey.

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[Weird was an understatement, as far as Yosuke was concerned. Not only had that dungeon to be a Group Date Café and refresh all the bad memories from the school festival that came with it - the shame and embarrassment. Not only that, though, they had to top it off with a wedding - a freaking wedding ceremony! As if things hadn't been bad enough as they were.

He really wouldn't mind if he was chosen as Yu's partner (not in that sense, of course!), but that had been a bit too much. He really would have liked to stuff the whole experience under 'things he was never going to talk about again'.

But then, why was he thinking about that again?

Thankfully, distraction was coming as a familiar voice seemed to address him and he looks up to see Yu.

Man, this still felt a bit weird, but he tried to smile as casually as possible.]

Hey, partner. What's up? Do you need a break?

[Not in that sense, hm? Alright, Yosuke, just keep telling yourself that.]

Yeah, I’m going to sit here for a while, if you don’t mind. [Of course Yosuke doesn’t mind, but good manners are a difficult habit to shake. Yu slides down into a seat across from his partner.]

I could ask you the same thing, you know. Do you have any honeymoon ideas?

Sure, that's okay. [Why should he mind? It's not like he was particularly busy - though finding spots to be alone was pretty hard here.

The next question gets him totally off-guard, though, and he was almost ready to fall down from his seat.]

Wha-wha-what?!

[He could feel how the heat was rising in his cheeks at an alarming rate. Yu couldn't possibly be serious. Not cool partner, not cool.]

What kind of lame joke is that?!

[He smirks playfully, to let Yosuke know he's not serious. Just according to keikaku.]

...It is pretty lame.

[Sorry about that, man.]

[Yosuke sighs in relief and leaves his head hanging. He can't deny the idea had been making him more nervous than it should.]

It was extremely lame.

[There's another sigh before he looks up to Yu again.]

Seriously, that whole thing was crazy. Why would a group date café appear here anyways? [Perhaps it would have felt less crazy if Yu hadn't made such weird choices. Some of them had seemed awfully, well, as if he had meant to go for a certain person.

Or was that only him feeling that way? It was probably that, yes.]

I know you can be a real weirdo at times, but perhaps you should have just answered some of the questions differently.

But that would ruin the point of the exercise. I can't answer dishonestly. [Dammit, Yu, stop being so morally responsible all the time!]

There was no point- Wait, what?!

[He didn't hear that. He totally didn't hear that.] You know some of your answers had been really specific. You were joking about those, right? [Please say yes, for the sake of his nerves.]

Not at all.

[He looks so innocent. Well, emotionless-innocent.]

Do you seriously want to fight it out on the riverbed with your lover?!

[Like, that's something best friends do, not lovers. as far as Yosuke was concerned.]

It clears the air.

[He doesn't see what's so troubling about this.]

[He would understand it better if Yu hadn't given a location.]

You're really weird. [Though if fighting it out was his thing, then...] Hmm, does that mean Chie would be your type among all the girls here? [Yep, let's talk about girls. It's less brainbreak-inducing than their current conversation.]

I don't know. With Chie, all the fights kind of lose their meaning.

[Yu sees where Yosuke is going with this and he is casually nudging the conversation away from the place where his partner wants it to go. But at the same time, he's not wrong. Chie fights over everything, so after a certain point it's just par for the course instead of an opportunity to lay out your feelings bare and uncensored in front of your lover.]

Well, you have a - huh? [Wait, that was true for him and Chie, they argued about a lot of things, and Yosuke was used to be the complaints department in general, but she and Yu seemed to have a different kind of relationship.]

They do? It didn't seem to me like she would fight with you easily. She and I are a bit different there.

Well, I don't. But the two of you squabble constantly, and you're still friends, so it makes me think that for her, the urge to punch a guy out just comes and goes. [And he means this in the most loving, friendly way, Chie. It's just how you are.]

But... [He pauses, trying to decide whether or not he wants to continue.] ...I do want the kind of relationship where the two of us can come to blows, and still be close afterward. It means we understand each other. [And that they won't leave him in the dust at a single provocation.]

Really? I mean I don't think she is punching anyone else besides me. Err, though I guess you might have seen her punching other guys when you train with her. [Who knows what she is doing in her free time.]

You know, that don't have to be physical blows. Isn't that more for guys to get closer to each other? [Of course unless Yu was from the start - no. He did seem to be interested in girls, right? Ugh, thinking about this really didn't help at all.]

It's the same thing.

["Understand each other"... "get closer to each other"...]

Understanding leads to a closer bond. [He gives Yosuke a tiny grin.] You should know this.

Yeah, yeah, I know. [He tries to wave it off. If Yu's desire was to beat up his partner every once in a while, why not?

He tries to laugh - or rather, he really does. Thinking like that lead him to be more relaxed again.]

You have a real weird concept of what you want out from a romantic relationship, you know that?

Maybe I do. [He's got a real weird concept of pretty much everything, so that fits right in.]

What about you, then? What are some "normal" things to want out of a relationship?

Well, normal things - you know. Like, going in parks, cinema, I'd like to be able to protect her and stuff like that and then... other things. [As a teenager with hormones, of course that meant getting kinda physical with the lady of his choice - screw that, as if he was going to have much of a choice. He really doesn't have to spell that out, hopefully.]

[Yu shrugs.] Those don't sound bad, either.

I guess I just want to feel like I know the person well. Or that I'm learning more about them every day.

i've had better days, man, i've known better days ☈ ᴄʟᴏsᴇᴅ

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sorry for the lateness

it's okay, friend!

thanks

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