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Oh, do I?

[ He hasn't gotten a good look at the mirror lately, but if he does, he'll probably be surprised at how worn out he looks. ]

I've been sleeping well though... Must be the stress.

[ ...

Good thing he didn't buy his takoyaki yet. ]

Wanna go to the cafe? My treat.

Have you?

[ His eyebrows knit, but only for a moment before he pulls a troubled smile. As sad as he is, he can't not worry about how Terry looks, and the mention of stress.

He's about to argue about being treated - but he decides against it. Let's go with what Terry wants. He quietly takes a deep breath, before mustering up his most cheerful voice ever. He's not an idol for nothing!! ]

Waaaai! Rii-tan's treat! Let's go, let's go ♪

Edited 2019-10-14 01:45 (UTC)

Yeah, I feel like eating sweets too. They're probably good this time around.

[ He smiles and starts leading Leon to the cafe. Even if it's fake, smiles are contagious... for the most smile, so it's easier for him to smile when Leon does. ]

You can eat anything you want too.

Really? Hehe, what shall I order~?

[ Leon makes sure he walks at the same pace as Terry is, keeping his best smile on his face. ]

Lately there's been a huge fad on tapioca milk tea in Japan. I wonder if they have that in the cafe?

Milk tea?

[ Despite being from the future and how milk tea has been popular in America too, Terry never drank one before. ]

Is it... good? Is it seriously just milk that tastes like barley tea?

[ ???

At least it helps get the attention away from the gloominess. ]

[ It certainly helps... quite a bit. Leon's pulling a very offended look that Terry has probably never seen before. ]

You've never tried milk tea before?! I can't believe it... I hope they have it here!

[ When they reach the cafe, Leon makes it a point to walk straight to the menu stand in front of the store, flipping through the pages to check out the beverages. ]

...Oh! They have it! They also have the tapioca milk tea! Rii-tan, we're definitely drinking this today.

Is tapioca like... peach...?

[ ??? The heck is that. But okay. Terry is always down to trying out new things anyway. ]

Is it that bad that I haven't tried it??

Nnmou! I can't believe it!

[ Leon drags Terry with him to enter the cafe then, asking for a table for two when the waitress greets them. Before even opening the menu book on the table, the moment Leon sits, he immediately says: ]

Can we have one tapioca earl grey milk tea, and one tapioca hojicha milk tea for starters?

[ To which the waitress cheerfully says yes to, subsequently going over towards the counter to relay the order. ]

[ He gets dragged and... wow, everything is happening so fast that Terry forgot that he should be sitting. So he stands there, looking puzzled. ]

You'll see what I mean when you try it!

[ With his focus is mostly on Terry and the bubble tea, he can keep this mood up. Maybe, just maybe, he subconsciously tries not to think about anything else.

And it really helps that they don't take too long to make the drinks. Leon's impatient though, so he keeps glancing at the counter, not realising the pressure he's giving the baristas. When their drinks come, Leon leans forward just slightly point at the black pearls on the bottom of the drink. ]

That's tapioca. Try it, Rii-tan.

[ Terry will probably notice that the straw is bigger than any normal drinks usually, and for what purpose when he actually tries the drink. ]

Okay, um...

[ Terry finally sits down and drinks with the... big straw... why is it so big? Does it really need to--

He chokes on the tapioca. ]

Ah, crap! [ Leon immediately gets up from his seat. ] I forgot to say-- you should suck it in slowly! [ He walks over to Terry's side, giving him pats on the back. ] Rii-tan, are you okay?!

[ He coughs, but covering his mouth with a hand. They don't come out of his mouth, but he ends up swallowing them. Ugh. He can feel saliva building up, so he'll just drink it again, completely forgetting what Leon literally just said and chokes on it again. ]

[ TERRY......... Roses are red, violets are blue, Leon is dumb, but so are you. ]

Mou... Rii-tan! [ He continues to stroke Terry's back, hoping none really gets stuck there. ] Excuse me, can we have a spoon?

[ It's like the waitress can sort of tell they're gonna be some kind of Mess, so she was already standing by in their proximity. She comes back with a spoon quick enough, and Leon hands it to Terry. ]

There. You can just scoop it like that.

[ ......

Leon then starts chuckling. Now that he thinks about it, this is just so silly. For the first time in these few days, he lets out a genuine laughter, even if it's much quieter than it usually is. ]

[ Terry ends up swallowing the tapioca he's been choking on and tries to catch his breath. He takes the spoon and... does he have to resort drinking beverage with a spoon now... why!!! But fine, he takes a spoonful and eats some of the tapioca too, though it takes a while since he's wary from having choked twice. ]

It's like... jelly....

Mm, mm! It's nice, right? What do you think?

[ It won't be the full experience drinking it with spoon, but he doesn't want Terry to die silly.

Meanwhile, Leon just slurps his drink without a trouble, popping the tapioca pearls into his mouth and munching on them like nobody's business. The look in his face is just slightly, very slightly brighter. ]

[ Terry likes a brighter Leon. It's like a small chain reaction, because Terry feels like he can adjust to be a little happier too. ]

It tastes good... chewy things make me space out though, because they take so long to eat.

Ahaha! It's okay. Sometimes it's good to just space out and not think about anything.

[ Which... is mostly what he's been trying to do. It used to come so easily for him - he didn't think of things deeply, not until RO leaves him-- leaves Hirajiro. In fact, this started ever since he learned of Terry's 'death'. ]

That reminds me, my groupmate back home-- Reiji-kun always says he's meditating, but he really is just sleeping. He's sleeping like half the day away, don't you think he's like a cat?

[ He chuckles quietly. ]

Even then, he always gets good grades, I don't know how he does it...

But grades aren't everything, right?

[ As expected from someone who seems pretty book dumb. Terry keeps the smile on his face. It's not forced anymore. ]

Sometimes I wish I could sleep like that... but I'd probably get restless.

Mm! It isn't!! At least I'm not the last in... um, our grade ranking!

[ He didn't say he wasn't last in his own class... ]

Do you always not sleep well, Rii-tan?

I get enough sleep, but sometimes it's... hard. I can't tell whether I want to stay asleep or awake, but I know I need to stay awake, out and about.

[ Sometimes he doesn't feel like he has a reason to get up in the mornings, but he goes to avoid the recurring nightmares of his friends dying repeatedly (haha). ]

[ Leon stares at Terry, carefully listening to what he said. And yet... ]

I'm not sure I really get it... is there a reason why you need to stay awake?

I've been having nonstop nightmares lately.

[ Even if it breaks the previous happy atmosphere, he might as well come out with it. He knows Leon would appreciate it better if he was truthful about it anyway. ]

So it feels better to stay awake and do things... sleep doesn't really feel restful anymore.

[ Hence why his eyes looked really tired. ]

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