[GRAM ORP] Kiss Kiss Fall in Love

[insidiousEnigma]

Lural

[To the back for games!:Citrine]

Zacharie was fairly certain that there were quite a few people that didn't actually dance at parties, but he kept that to himself and instead let his friend drag him towards the back. "Trivia games would be easy enough." He said instead. He knew tons of random bits of information, he liked learning about little, seemingly useless facts. "The last 'game' that I can remember playing was hide and seek with my nanny when I was seven." He said thoughtfully, expression distant. "Mn...well I play 'keep away' with my Drifloon when she's trying to take my pencils, if that counts."  

[insidiousEnigma]

Lural

[@ the back with Citrine]

"Irina, my Drifloon, was my fourth pokemon...she likes to take my things and hide them." He explained with a wry smile. "So...it's a bit unwilling, but she enjoys herself and I don't mind spending time with her." He shrugged a bit. He loved all of his pokemon and if they wanted his attention he didn't have any problem with setting his work aside for a moment to talk with them. "But yes, I name my pokemon...though I feel I'm not the best at choosing names. Do you name yours?"  

[insidiousEnigma]

Lural

[@ the back with Zacharie]

Zacharie couldn't imagine any of his pokemon sitting still long enough for him to brush them...or really any of them wanting to be brushed. Kuroko might enjoy it...but getting the little guy to hold still was a pain. "I have an Espurr as well. Kuroko is...interesting." He laughed lightly. "They're surprisingly cute...despite their stare."  

[Suudonym]

[Buffet > Back - Open]

"Ooookay, so we'll take a few of these, a few of these, aaaand..."

Yuki demanded, pointing a talon to a bowl of iced shrimp.

Shoyo hummed thoughtfully. "We've been eating stuff for a while and we've already got all this to take with us when we line up. How about just one for each of us?"

The Rufflet looked confused and then horrified. he objected. me. Plus one for you, one for Giant, so eight.>

Shoyo laughed, shaking his head. "You sure can be a glutton, Yuki." He supposed it was to be expected from a pokemon that had lived in the wild, constantly competing with others for its next meal. Shoyo began pulling shrimp from the bowl, "So then four: one for me, one for Giant, two for you. And if you're still hungry when we get home, I'll make you a snack."

Yuki appeared dissatisfied but didn't press the issue any further.

With that taken care of, Shoyo carried the little plate all loaded up with appetizers towards the back of the room, where he joined whatever loose line was beginning to form and peered excitedly towards the front.  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

[Buffet Area: Under the buffet table with Andre; Delic responding to Tambrey]

The Chingling answered, giving Tambrey an appreciative smile. He waved and blew her a kiss. So, she could talk to his type? He would have to remember that for the future.

Tambrey's response and the tone she spoke them with helped soothe Izaya a little and let him know she wasn't angry with him. Still, though, the embarrassment at what he'd done remained. It was probably better not to be seen or heard from under the table, especially while the games were going on. At least that way, he wouldn't have accidentally said anything stupid again and he didn't have to watch everyone playing together. He wasn't sure he could bear it.

Blinking in surprise, the man in white glanced over his shoulder and scooted to comply with Andre's request. That was right - he was supposed to keep Andre company. What a horrible job he'd be doing if Andre was out there and he was under here. Izaya's eyes filled with tears. Why couldn't he do anything right?

His purple-haired senpai's words, whether he truly meant them or not, touched Izaya. His tears spilled over as Andre affectionately pinched his cheek and he let go of his knees to cling to the older man instead.

"Y-you're just being nice!" he bawled, burying his face against Andre. Then he realized he was probably getting his elegant companion's clothes messed up by doing so and quickly pulled away to stare at the ground. "You're not supposed to be this nice; you're not supposed to care. Why are you pretending for my sake?" He put his face in his hands, causing his voice to get muffled. "Besides, I don't deserve it. Not from you. Not from anyone. I never do anything right."

Despite knowing Andre probably didn't want or care to hear it, his thoughts came tumbling out, unbidden, just like his tears. "I...I'm not a Rocket anymore. I messed up. But I'm still stuck with them because they don't let traitors live unless they're useful as experiments." He hesitated, hiccuping as he tried to remember what was and wasn't okay to say.

It probably wouldn't have been a good idea to tell any of this to a non-Rocket at all, but Andre already knew and Izaya didn't think his former upper-classman had any interest in turning him over to the authorities. There was nothing for him to profit from it and, if there was, he probably would have done so by now.

Slowly, cautiously, he continued. "If I do or say the wrong thing, I could get knocked out or killed. But...but I never know what's okay to do or say!" A fresh wave of misery caused his shoulders to shake. "Even before, when I was a Rocket, I never seemed to do anything right. All the people who could ever tolerate me...I know I shouldn't make friends, but...but it was nice talking and laughing with them, even on a superficial level. It was less lonely. B-but now..."

He smiled painfully, shaking his head. "Now no one wants anything to do with me. Either I do something wrong or push them away too much. And...and Tam-chii...she's one of the last people who's nice to me and I upset her!"

Crawling over to the edge of the tablecloth, he stuck his hand up to feel for where he thought the napkins had been on the tabletop and snatched a few to blow his nose and wipe his face on. "Even people who aren't Rockets...like Dith-san...he's over there...and I...can't talk to him!" His sobs got worse as he blew into the napkins and hiccuped between words. "He's nice and...and years ago we talked...but...now he...he probably knows I'm a Rocket...and he must hate me!" He buried his face in his napkins. "And Rosie, too! And I- I...I just wanted to..." His voice trailed off as he wailed, pressing into the napkins and his hands to quiet his noise. What did he want to do? He wasn't even sure anymore.

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InsidiousEnigma

 

[VerityHattress]

[Near the games - Keita with Kirk & Lex]

So this was Lex some of the time? A bit confusing but she was sure that she could figure it out sometime ", It is a pleasure to meet you Lex. I am not sure I remember you from the team building exercise, although I wasn't there for the majority of it I will admit," Once again, stupid kid and his Skiddo.

Whoever Zach was, she had no idea who they were. Did they work with them as well? She had no idea, but it did seem like there was a bunch of them tonight for sure. As for drinking, she had only just managed to start off with such. That meant she wasn't a huge drinker yet ", How have I been? I've been doing nicely, yes. Been trying to enjoy myself at this party, but Kirk has started to make it interesting for me."

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Shaddaling

TawnyAngel

 

[insidiousEnigma]

[Buffet Area: Under the buffet table with Izaya]

If he didn't spend years mastering his body's instinctive reactions, he would have tensed when he suddenly found Izaya pressed against his side. As it was he simply raised a hand to hesitantly rub what he hoped were soothing circles into the crying man's back. For a brief moment he regretted not dragging Zacharie over to deal with this because while his little brother had no idea what to do with his own emotions (let alone someone else's) he could speak honestly and sympathize.

...He could at least speak honestly.

"Does it really matter?" Andre asked with a bitter sort of tone. He knew his flaws and accepted them but it wasn't like he liked people flinging them in his face. "You seem to need someone to be nice to you, in this particular moment I don't mind being nice to you, you need someone to listen to you, and here I am so you might as well get it out." It wasn't the nicest way to put it but it seemed to get the job done because the words came as quickly and freely as the man's tears.

So Andre listened because if anything, he was good at listening.

"Hmn..." He hummed thoughtfully once Izaya began trailing off. What was the best way to phrase this? "It sounds to me like you have royally ******** up." The purple-haired man said bluntly. So...perhaps that wasn't the best way to put it but Izaya shouldn't expect any sort of flowery response from him in the first place. "There's a time and a place for everything, Izaya. Patience is a virtue. Good things come to those who wait, blah blah and all other sorts of sayings that most people should probably live by." He waved his hand dismissively as he shifted to get a bit more comfortable. "It sounds as if you're a bit too far gone to do much about your...Rocket situation." He gave a helpless shrug. There was a reason that he worked outside of organizations, there were too many restrictions, too many risks. "But as for your 'friend' problem...if you want them, why not have them?" He asked this out of genuine curiosity. "It sounds like the only person stopping you is yourself."

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IZAYA ORIHARA

 

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

[Buffet Area: Under the buffet table with Andre]

"I...I can't." The black-haired man rubbed at his eyes as he forced himself to stop crying. His hiccups still remained to punctuate his sentences every so often. "I'm not like you. I wouldn't be able to handle it if I cared too much about individual humans. It already happened, and when she died, I...I didn't know what to do!"

He shook his head emphatically. "I can't do that again. I just...can't." Setting aside his used napkins, he sniffled and hugged his knees back up to his chest once more.

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InsidiousEnigma

 

[insidiousEnigma]

[Buffet Area: Under the buffet table with Izaya]

"People die, Izaya." Andre said slowly, incredibly relieved that the other had stopped crying. "Whether by natural means or by tragic accident, it's inevitable. I will die, you will die, Louis will die, Zacharie will die, Vincent has..." He paused briefly, that pesky lump in his throat making another appearance. "Vincent has died. It happens...and when it does we have to go on. Even if it hurts." He murmured the last bit to himself, his head bowing so he could look at his hands folded neatly in his lap. "You can't let the inevitable rule your life. That would not only be incredibly boring but you can't grow as a person...and Izaya," He reached out to take a hold of Izaya's arm to ensure that the other was paying attention. "In our line of work if we do not learn and grow, we slipped up and are killed."

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IZAYA ORIHARA

 

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

[Buffet Area: Under the buffet table with Andre]

"I know they die," he whimpered. "But this wasn't an accident or natural. She died saving me. It was my fault!" Izaya seemed on the verge of tears again, but he sucked in a deep, shuddering breath to calm himself.

"Vincent died?" His wet eyes shone back at Andre, his eyebrows knitting together in concern. "I'm sorry, Andre." He diverted his gaze to the ground again, wondering how Vincent had passed away and why Andre hadn't mentioned it before. The fact that he had only mentioned that Vincent had returned to Grande Ile, though, suggested to Izaya that Andre preferred not to talk about his former bodyguard. "So you did care about him."

Startled by Andre's taking hold of his arm, he blinked back up at him. "I-I know, but..." Putting out his other hand to clasp the other's, he squeezed it tight. "What's there to learn from the pain of losing friends? There's too many ways to lose them - death, betrayal, a change of heart - so I tried not to make any from the start. But it's so hard! So lonely," he added in a quieter voice. "I'm not like you. I can't be surrounded by people and disconnect myself from them. Not anymore. It's all Aila's fault!" he cried.

Taking another couple of deep breaths, his shoulders slumped and he hung his head. Izaya half-heartedly withdrew his hands and arms from Andre and turned away from him again. "I'm sorry, Andre. I didn't mean to waste your time with stuff no one and nothing can fix. I'll be okay. You should go back and join the party."

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InsidiousEnigma

 

[insidiousEnigma]

There had been quite a few times that Andre had wanted to take Izaya by the shoulders and shake him. And this was definitely one of those times. "Do you think she gave her life to save you just so you could waste it?" He tsked lightly. "I can only imagine she did it because you were her friend and she cared for you. I doubt she saved your life so you could spend the rest of it hiding yourself away." He pointed out, tugging Izaya back against his side when he moved away though he was glad the others back was turned.

He really didn't want to talk about Vincent.

"Of course I cared." He snapped, glaring at the tablecloth in front of him. "...I suppose I still care...considering my behavior since he passed." He admitted softly. "We had been through a lot together...he knew me the best. Accepted me for who I am." He fell quiet for a moment before signing. "But life goes on...and so must I. I can't stay caught up in those emotions or they'll drag me under...like they've done to you."

He tightened his grip on the other man. "It's entirely up to you to decide how you will continue living your life, but if you choose to stay on this path you have no right to complain because you chose it." He shrugged slightly. "I don't mind it, Izaya. Quit being such a victim, if I didn't care to listen, I wouldn't."  

[insidiousEnigma]

Lural

Suudonym

[@ the back withC Citrine and Shoyo]

"You're fine. I've read that it's important for friends to know at least the basics about each other." He said simply with a slight shrug. Though he wasn't really used to people taking such an interest in him and honestly all of this socializing was starting to wear him out. It was good practice though, he supposed. It wasn't such a bad thing to be able to converse with people for extended periods of time. "I have 12 pokemon in total...though I only regularly train 7 of them." He explained before giving a soft grunt as he bumped into another guest.

Turning his gaze away from Citrine, he was met with...nothing.
And then he turned his gaze down a bit and met orange.

"Ah..I didn't mean to bump into you." He said by way of apology.