a little drabble of a friend's characters c:

I guess this is a little "AU" ... :B

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It's not often that Soot is quiet, still. But at the moment the pink-haired man is sitting morosely on his bed, elbows on his knees, his chin resting delicately atop his folded hands. "How did you do it?" He asks softly, the whisper carrying across the room to the person leaving it.

Takuna pauses, not bothering to turn and face him. "What?"

"Your father..." Soot watches the boy in the doorway tense, watches his back stiffen slightly before the other offers him a low, mirthless chuckle in response--both a cue to continue and a warning to watch his tongue. "How did you--"

"Twenty-two caliber."

Soot sighs and tucks his hair behind his ear. "That's not what I meant." He waits for the grunt of acknowledgement before continuing, "How did you learn to... not care?"

Takuna swivels around, his long, dark hair swishing behind him as he turns in the doorway, fingers curled tightly around the ratted frame. His amber eyes search the older man's innocent features, scrutinizing his full lips for any hint of mockery, his childish eyes for insincerity. At length, he looks away and mutters noncommittally, "Call it a talent of mine." His gaze slides back to the other's and he sees that Soot's lips do betray a little mirth now, the corners curving up into the smallest of grins--such a far cry from what he hears the pink-haired man used to be like, once upon a time, but a smile nonetheless.

"Can you teach me?"

And Takuna starts, because no one has asked him that before. People have always tried to change him, told him it's unhealthy, told him he's withdrawn. And Soot--the boy who deserves nothing more than to be all smiles again--wants to be... like him? "What, you want to learn how to be a dick?"

"Well." Soot purses his lips, contemplating. That wasn't what he'd meant--not really--but he knows that Takuna knows that much. "Something like that," he allows.

"No can do," Takuna says flatly, the change in his tone an auditory flip of the bird. As he turns to leave, for real this time, he adds over his shoulder, "But if you stay here a while, it might rub off on you."

Soot springs to his feet at that, darting forward and wrapping the younger boy in a massive hug. "I love you, man--!" Before he can finish that thought, his ass is acquainted with the ground, Takuna's arm still outstretched from swatting him away.

"Don't do that," Takuna says from the doorway, lowering the arm to his side. "You'll get attached."

Soot sobers up a little as he stands, saluting smartly. "Sir!" As the other starts down the hall with an exasperated sigh, he beams and calls after him, "You're an amazing teacher, Taco!"

Takuna doesn't bother to look back, shaking his head incredulously. You are such a fucking idiot.

God only knows why he, for once, doesn't really mind.

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Takuna and Soot © Scision