[PRP] Bad Romance (Riyo/Titus)

[Inu-Mitsu]

It had been a couple of days since his suspension and Titus found himself needing to get away from school. Not that he had a lot of options on where he could go at the moment. Mostly it was to his dorm, Professor Zephron’s office, and any jobs he was assigned on campus. So far cleaning up the lunch room had been the worst and he was not looking forward to what joyful activity they had planned for him tomorrow. He supposed he should be thankful. Since his Uncle was close by and technically his guardian they were able to involve him and not his father. If his father got wind of this he risked a very likely chance he could be permanently ended.

His feet had taken him in no real direction but after a while the aches and pains that had been following him around since his crash caught up to him. The street was mostly lined with buildings and dark gnarled trees but every once in a while there was a bench and it was said bench he sat his a** on as gently as possible. Considering his crash he wasn't too worse for wear. A bruised rib or three, a cut on his lip and cheek and a small crack in his horn that had been mended with some sort of glue. Titus didn’t ask he was just glad he wasn’t going to be lopsided. How embarrassing that would be.

With a frustrated sigh he leaned back, resting his arms on the back of the bench as he stared up at the darkening sky. Life had certainly gotten difficult all of a sudden.  

[Sexy Cocaine]

Riyo hadn't exactly spoken to Titus since storming off that night. It wasn't the fact that their argument had left a sour taste in her mouth (though yes it certainly had), but more along the lines of the fact that she wasn't exactly okay with everything that was happening, and at the end of the day she still wasn't sure if all the mental preparation in the world could ready her for anything that could possibly happen next. Not that... She intended for things to go farther... Or... Wanted them to... Nope. Certainly not the case.

The park was a great place to end up, though. She liked the park. Sitting on the swings and imagining what it might've been like if someone was there to push her. Living the dream, she was. Plus, it was a great way to detox from all the unsavory characters she had to deal with at work.

Her eyes had been watching her own feet as they carried her off when a silhouette on a bench caught her attention. The feline looked up, and almost considered walking past without saying a word... But s**t did Titus look beat. Literally. What had happened to him?

Okay, how should she do this? Play it cool? Tease him? Mean mug him?

She settled for moving behind the bench and bending over into his line of sight. "Hey." Yeah. Good enough greeting.  

[Inu-Mitsu]

There were a number of people Titus had expected to see in and around the park. The very top of the list were old ladies feeding vermin. That was always a classic. Maybe some old dudes playing chess and of course the occasional scareling hell spawn. Maybe even some people getting high. It was a thing. What had not ranked on that list, or at least ranked very high, was Riyo.

The demon jerked slightly in surprise, wincing a bit as he did so. He had tensed muscles that would have been better off untensed(its a word now shh). Straightening slightly, his eyes giving away his discomfort, he turned to look at Riyo measuring carefully what he wanted to say. There were a number of things he thought of saying. None of them were particularly nice considering how their last conversation had ended.

After silence loomed for a bit longer Titus finally settled on something. He didn't have the willpower to really muster up an argument so he simply went with "Hey" as well. It was safe.  

[Sexy Cocaine]

Riyo bit her lip and stifled the desire to laugh when she caught him off guard, though it was difficult. Why was he being so quiet? No insult? Surprise surprise.

"Sorry." She apologized honestly when she noticed his wince, which instantly drained the humor out of the situation. No seriously had he been hit by a car or something?

Knowing better than to ultimately ask a direct question he didn't want to answer, Riyo instead straightened up and folded her arms over her chest. "What's a guy like you doing in a place like this? Don't you have video games you could be playing or..." what else did he do? She faltered momentarily. "... Or uh... A car to be driving?" Yeah. Those were two things Titus did.  

[Inu-Mitsu]

Leaning back Titus rested his arms on the back of the bench once again and did his best to play off like the subject matter didn’t bother him. It did. It really really did.

“Killing time since it’s the only thing I can do. My Uncle has my car and my games until I prove I deserve to have them back.” His tone was rather mocking apparently trying to imitate his Uncle’s words. Titus was very bad at imitations of other people but it seemed no one had bothered to tell him yet so the boil just kept at it when the moment presented itself.

He almost thought to mention his Uncle currently had his foxfires too but that was mostly because Titus didn’t have the means to get them food at the moment so it was better that way. His dorm room was oddly empty though.

“So why are you here? Looking for a new feline to add to your hoard?”  

[Sexy Cocaine]

Riyo's eyes widened at the description of his situation. Wait a second... Had all that been... Sort of her fault? Not realizing that Titus's night after their quarrel, the feline assumed it might've been because they had taken some of his alcohol. s**t, his uncle was a lot tougher than she realized, and Riyo knew now that Titus couldn't do an impression to save his life.

"No... I have enough cats." It was a lie. A bold faced lie. There were never enough cats. "They come and go as they please anyways." That was how she justified her hoarding. They were free to go at any time. "I just... Came to get some fresh air." Sounded like a good enough reason. Totally wasn't because she'd sit on the playground by herself sometimes.

"So." She leaned back over to look down at him. "Is your uncle mad because we drank his booze?" Riyo found it hard not to look a little worried. Titus may have been putting up a front but it was hard to think of the boil going without, spoiled little s**t.  

[Inu-Mitsu]

Titus wasn’t sure he believed Riyo. He didn’t go to her room often but there were a whole new variety of small pointy eared creatures there when he went each time. The collection had to grow somehow. “Right.” Fresh air, sure. That’s what he was doing too and not sitting here sulking and feeling sorry for himself.

When she asked about his Uncle, however, Titus gave Riyo a curious glance. Was she concerned that she might be in trouble? “Eh, a little. I think he would have preferred if I asked. You’re not in trouble if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Having had his fill of relaxing on the park bench Titus pushed his way up somehow keeping his groans of pain to a minimum. Once he was on his feet he faced Riyo. “I think he was more upset about me crashing into a car anyway.” He managed to say it fairly casually like it wasn’t a big deal.  

[Sexy Cocaine]

Yes, fresh air. She was glad he didn't call her out on it, though Riyo didn't realize he wasn't being completely truthful either. As he stood, the feline backed up and watched his face carefully. "No, not exactly." Though it didn't appear she planned to clarify. His uncle seemed nice, and while Riyo wasn't the friendliest of creatures, she didn't want people to get the wrong impression. She was a b***h, not a thankless mooch.

Then the truth of the matter surfaced. Riyo blinked, ears twitching. "Excuse me?" He... was in a car crash? Shouldn't he be mourning the loss of his car right now? Giving a eulogy?  

[Inu-Mitsu]

Her response was not quite what Titus had expected and his look became curious as she questioned him like she hadn’t heard right.

“Yeah, I tried to fly home. It turned out not to be a good idea.” It didn’t clarify much. Especially how one has a car crash while flying but the demon left it at that.

“Listen...about the other night.” Titus wasn’t sure where he was going with that sentence when it started which was evident by the way it trailed off into silence. “I just don’t want you to get the wrong idea. I like having you around I’m just not ready for...for that.” He couldn’t even bring himself to say the word marriage but it was probably the best apology he had managed to muster in all his years.  

[Sexy Cocaine]

"OH! Oh, okay." Riyo suddenly understood that there had been a vast difference between the implied 'car crash' and what he actually meant. Yeah, he would've been in a crumpled little pile if something had happened to that car. Her face grew more calm, though her brow furrowed after a few moments of pondering exactly how that would've happened. She wanted to ask, but a... More important topic had been brought to her attention.

The cat demon's ears folded back as she braced herself for impact. The phrase 'about the other night' really didn't sound like it could lead to many great places, but... The following was surprisingly broad and unspecific?

Her head tilted. "... That?" Such a word mixed with a cornucopia of happenings from that night could really imply... Just about anything. He wasn't ready to do what they were going to do while they were drunk? He wasn't ready to be in a relationship (though that much was obvious)? Riyo wasn't sure, but she supposed that was alright.

"I guess... I'm not ready for that either?" She shrugged her shoulders. "Look, don't worry about it." It was, at the very least, heart-warming that he showed even that iota of concern to try and justify his actions. "I like having you around too. That's all that really matters, right?" She reached out to gingerly grasp his hand and give it a soft, reassuring squeeze. It was one of the few actions she could manage without busting out into a fury of red.
 

[Inu-Mitsu]

“Yeah….that.” Titus struggled to clarify. “I mean I’ve been fighting the whole thing with Gina and my parents.”

She had taken his hand and it was a rare occasion because Titus didn’t pull away. He looked down at the point of contact and slowly wrapped his fingers around her hand to give it a light squeeze of his own. The demon had never really held hands before but the gesture was rather comforting and he didn’t realize how desperate he was for said comfort until it happened. Needless to say the last few days had been rather rough.

“So are you headed anywhere specific? I need to walk a little.” He had gotten a little stiff just from the short period of sitting down. Moving would likely help ease that a little.  

[Sexy Cocaine]

... His parents and Gi-Ohhhhhhh... That's what he meant. There was an 'aha' on Riyo's face as soon as she realized, and it was quickly followed with a smile and a laugh. "That's what you meant. Good grief, we were drunk. It was never a serious idea to begin with." It hadn't phased her that he hadn't wanted to get married. What had perhaps wounded her almost nonexistent ego was how quick he was to so thoroughly deny her of... Well... Anything. She did, however, understand. Hangovers mixed with regret lead nowhere good. They'd both said unkind things. Water under the bridge.

The ghoul couldn't say she expected much from her small gesture. She figured a little squeeze and then they'd go back to their semi-platonic regimen. By no means did Riyo expect him to reciprocate. Her eyes glanced down at his long fingers as they wrapped around hers, mind both amazed and confused at how something so small could mean so much.

"Huh? Oh. No, I wasn't." She snapped back to reality and looked around. "Lead the way, monster truck." An endearing nickname for someone who apparently wrecked cars in his spare time. She couldn't help but snicker a little at her own wit. Somebody had to.  

[Inu-Mitsu]

Not sure when was the appropriate time to let go Titus continued to hold Riyo’s hand until she pulled away on her own. It was nice like this for the time being anyway.

Managing a rather flat stare Titus drew back his lip in a sneer. “Monster truck? Really. That’s rather insulting.” Shaking his head he just started to walk in a random direction. “You could have put in a little effort and come up with a name like ‘The Bulldozer’ or ‘Crusher’ or something. Sounds much more intimidating.”  

[Sexy Cocaine]

It didn't look like Riyo had any intentions of releasing his hand for the time being. Their hands fit together so nicely, it almost seemed like a shame to pull away.

"Insulting? Please." She rolled her eyes. "What, you can dish them out but can't take them?" A chuckle escaped her as he came up with his own inventive names. "yeah, alright Crusher. I think if your ego inflates much more you might just pop." Her eyes focused on the playground as they passed by, watching some scarelings chasing each other without a care in the world. "Did you ever go to the playground as a kid?" She asked suddenly, though her head remained turned in the other direction.  

[Inu-Mitsu]

“Playground?” Titus looked toward the playground equipment and the scarelings that were running around. It was such an odd question to ask. “Once.” He nodded trying to remember the experience.

“My mom took me because my father refused to take me.” He really couldn’t remember much else about it. Just his yelling father when they had gotten home. “How about you? Ever play on any of that stuff as a kid?”