Moving in! Time to get friends! *Open*

? What's up with her? he thought, detecting the pain on her expres​sion(though he could barely see it). Did he say something wrong? By the way she was acting, and the tone of her voice, yeah, he did. I just asked her to give me some breathing space.. he said, sighing out.

"Um.. It's alright?" he said tentatively, sensing an awkward moment coming. He had heard from some people (mainly Takashi) that he looked VERY scary when angry, but he hadn't been angry then. Perhaps he just scared her? Ah, no, that's not good..

"I'm sorry too," 'Matt' said, looking vaguely concerned. "I overreacted, didn't I?"

She shook her head.
"No, Ema always told me that I was going to be considered a nuisance by anyone other than her if i did stuff like this." Her personality didn't meld well with others, she usually did stuff like this without even thinking about it.
"I'm sorry. I just seem to make the wrong choices and end up with an awkward situation. I'm just stupid, I guess." She hugged her legs tightly, smiling sourly at her current situation. If the students at this school followed tradition this would eventually lead to her being bullied. It was probably inevitable.
Seems like I won't make any friends here either.

'Matt' resumed to petting Jazz, whom he had nearly forgotten about. Note that he doesn't forget anything, but things can slip out of his head like a normal person. For instance, he might forget about an important date, but he tends to know he 'forgot' something and when he does he just thinks about it and remembers again. It's as simple as that.

"Nnh, I don't think you're stupid," he said. He had seen people (COUGHCOUGHTAKASHI) much worse than her when it came to doing things without thinking. Deciding to rather change the subject, though, he moved onto another. "Who's Ema?"

Probably not a good question, but he was curious.

"You don't? You're probably the only person I've met that doesn't, and I'm surprised after all I've done in here." It was true, even Ema had constantly remarked the fact that she was stupid. Not in a mean way, mind you.
Still hugging her legs Cyra gave away a sad smile at the mentioning of Ema.

"She's..." She hesitated. She liked Matt, she really did, but she wasn't sure she could trust him with something as emotional as this yet.
"She's a friend. Or she used to be, at least." She settled for that. Don't give the bully more material to use against you, right? Though she was pretty sure that if Matt would've been a bully he would've had enough material by now. She could probably relax.

Oh?

'Matt' raised his eyebrows at her reply. She hesitated, so did that mean she was lying? No, she wasn't, judging her past words and now. Ema was truly a friend to her, though... Perhaps Ema to her is like Takashi to me? he thought.

Did that mean....... Oh, no, no. no! He gave a faint blush. He didn't like Takashi that way, he just felt really close to him. He doubted Cyra felt the same way for Ema, right? No, of course she wouldn't.

"I'm guessing you either got separated from middle school or high school?" he confirmed. That's how most friends got separated.

Cyra closed her eyes and nodded faintly, hardly seeable. She didn't want to talk about it, but if you've said A you've got to say B. Besides, it could be good to talk to someone.
"She is two years older than me. When she gradutated she promised to call me, to keep in touch, you know?" She smiled to herself again, to this situation. She must seem to be pathetic. Clinging onto a single friend...
"But she didn't." Suddenly Cyra jumped out of the bed and went to he window, leaned on the shelf and sighed. Even Jazz seemed to have caught the atmosphere by now. He was watching Cyra with alert eyes. Of course she didn't see this. She doesn't have eyes in her neck, mind you.

Oh, so she's olderthan you. 'Matt' thought, but he wasn't stupid enough to say it out loud. That made a hell of a lot more sense, huh? He really hit a touchy subject, but he related to it as well. Not like him and Takashi actually had cell phones when they separated, AND Takashi had moved to an unknown address so they couldn't mail each other, but they really hadn't even tried to contact each other the past years. He wondered if she felt betrayed (he didn't).

"I see.." he replied, smiling quietly at the cat. "Did you ever try to contact her yourself?" he asked. He wasn't the best at giving advice, since he needed advice the most, but he could at least try.

Cyra looked down on her fingernails, studying them, as if there was something hidden underneath.
"Several times, but it's like she's disappeared from the face of the earth." She really had tried everything, but Ema's family had moved away at the same time, and she never got the new number.
"The worst part is that I don't understand why she wouldn't contact me. That's what hurts the most."
Even though she was still sad, she had calmed herself down. Talking about it felt better than she'd imagined, and somehow she felt that Matt understood.

Maybe she did.

What an unforgivable thought! He shook it off, though it was possible. Maybe Ema really did disappear. Haha, but that was really really depressing to think about, wasn't it. I don't know Ema, so it's not like I can really feel the pain she's feeling.

It hurt to think of Cyra suggesting that Takashi was dead, though. A lot. He looked away, cursing himself silently for thinking such a thing.

"Maybe she's just busy," 'Matt' replied, shrugging. 'Just busy'. How many times were excuses like that made? Again, he didn't know this Ema girl, so he had no idea about what type of things she did. "Once two friends are separated, it's really hard to contact each other.. Sometimes it's just reluctance that makes them separated."

"Maybe..." Cyra was obviously not pleased with the answer. She stood perfectly still for several moments. With her eyes closed she took some deep breaths.
She suddenly smiled and wiped the last tear from her cheek. Her mask was on again.
"Sorry, I must be boring you with my problems." She said, struggling to keep the mask on this time. She didn't want to lose control in front of anyone again.
"I'm getting hungry! Would you like something to eat?" Changing the subject seemed to be the best way to avoid Matt getting closer to her other self(Which he has already gotten a taste of).

Pfff. 'Matt' thought at her answer. She obviously wasn't satisfied with his answer, huh? He looked at the cat, still petting it. He could easily find Takashi's info if he spent enough effort, but he didn't for two reasons. One, because he wasn't going to stalk his poor MALE friend, and two, because he just didn't want to. See, reluctance!

"... Nh?" Changing the subject, huh?

He wasn't that hungry, but it was bad to reject someone. "I dunno. What kind of food do you have?" he asked, sensing that Cyra wouldn't take it kindly if he tried to push her onto the previous subject. He had no consolation for it, because while he felt similar, he didn't feel exactly the same.

Cyra went to her refridgerator and stuffed her head inside.
"I haven't had time to fill the supplies yet, so all I can offer now is Spaghetti Carbonara." She said, never turning around to look at Matt. She had this uneasy feeling. She was almost certain that Matt shared some traits with her, history-wise. She couldn't tell him the whole story though, and without it he would never really understand. Should she ask him about it? If so, then how? She had already changed the subject, but she didn't want to let something like this slide.
"...Matt?"

Spaghetti carbonara? I never tried that before, 'Matt' thought, wondering what's in it. Obviously spaghetti, duh. So was it an Italian dish? Probably. Then--

He blinked, looking toward Cyra's direction. Her tone was serious, and it was obvious that she wasn't going to ask if he'd be okay with having water with his pasta. "Yes, Cyra?" he asked, wondering what she was going to ask now.

She turned to meet his eye again, but found it too hard and set her eyes on Jazz instead. She blushed hard now. Leaning back on the sink, she sighed and crossed her arms, as if hugging herself. She didn't know any good way to put it, so she would just say it bluntly.
"Have you ever lost a friend?" She waited a few seconds(though it felt like an eternity) and then searched for eye contact again, to see what damage she had done(Yeah, she anticipated the worst).

Ah, so that was what she wanted to know. He had asked enough about her, so now she wanted to know about him. He was really the mysterious type, wasn't he? That's why Cecilla gave him the nickname 'Prince Matt', after all.

He smiled. "Yeah, I did," he said. It didn't feel painful to talk about it. As said a billion times before, he didn't feel pained from the lost relationship, nor did he feel betrayed. He more felt like it was meant to be that way, maybe they just weren't supposed to stay friends.

He didn't seem sad about it at all. This really confused Cyra. Keeping the eye contact she moved her right hand to her chest. Her heart was beating fast inside.
"How did you get rid of the pain?" She asked, hoping for an answer that might help her. She'd tried everything she knew on the subject(which wasn't much). Time couldn't heal it, and neither could it be forgotten. It always came back.

Ah, so that's what she wants. he thought. Consolation! Didn't she change the subject just a few moments ago? But my answer to the question is bad.. he thought. 'Matt' was a real optimist: when Takashi left, he thought, Well.. At least I still have my dad... Neh dad? (Around this time is when his dad goes to a business meeting in Tokyo for a month.)

When his dad left he told himself, ... Well... At least I still have.. Uh... O.. Opportunities...!!

Yeah, consoling one's self is rather hard.

"Well, you can never really get rid of all the pain. That's called suiciding, which isn't a good option." He smiled wryly, not sure if he was trying to be humorous. "You shouldn't try to make yourself forget, either. Remembering is good. And don't try to focus on getting a replacement for the friend you lost, that'd just end up in guilt."

He leaned back a bit, propped up by one arm, while the other hand stroked the cat, which he had now placed on his lap. "It's hard to explain, really. I'm so used to it, losing people, that by now it's rather easy to lessen the pain. Though saying 'Just lose more friends' isn't a really good piece of advice either," 'Matt' said, smiling. He hoped he wasn't just making it worse. "I looked at the bright side. You know, the lame saying, 'Hey, the sun's still going to rise tomorrow.' Those type of things. Though telling yourself this while you're having a tantrum will probably make you punch something-or someone-, it's not a bad thing to do when you're just going through a phase of doubt. It's not like the world ended. You're still alive."

He blinked, realizing that he was talking as if Cyra's friend, Ema, died. Ahaha, no, that wasn't the case. "Sorry," he said, smiling at her. "I didn't help, did I?"

Cyra kept the eye contact for the whole time Matt talked. Then she looked at her feet. She was standing quite odd, pointing her feet toward each other(not enough to hurt).
"Hmm." She waited a moment, collecting her thoughts. Several moments later she looked back at Matt.
"Used to losing friends, huh? Must be more painful than not having them to begin with." She bit her lip.
"Do you have friends?" She asked. "Here, I mean." She added quickly when she noticed how mean that sounded.
Without thinking about if he had answered or not she started to prepare the food. She picked up some minced meat and threw it in a frying pan, and then proceeded to boil some water for the spaghetti. She could concentrate better when cooking.

'Matt' was THIIS close to twiddling his thumbs together during the awkward pause, but, again, he resisted the urge by stroking Jazz's head with his thumb. More painful, huh... he thought, agreeing. It was much more painful. He knew what it was like not having friends; he didn't the entire middle school thanks to his antisocial-ness. Around high school he finally opened up.. And drew in the wrong crowd.

He chuckled at her seemingly blunt question. "Yeah, I do, believe it or not," he joked, smiling. "Not a lot, since this school isn't that big, but they're fairly nice. I've made a few, though some I'm not sure if we're close enough to call 'friends'."

Sensing what she was thinking, he smiled. "You won't have any trouble getting friends, either. Some people here are similar to you."

She paused her cooking for a split second to sigh under her breath. Maybe she had a chance after all?
"This isn't the most normal conversation for people who've just met, is it?" She giggled insecurely.
"This is why people doesn't like me." She fell in thought for a moment.
"Oh, and that no respect for personal space part, as Ema would've put it." She said with a spoon to her chin.

Again, he smiled, but didn't laugh. There was quite some truth to her word. "Well, I don't mind at the least. It's good to have a serious conversation instead of avoiding it like other people do," he answered, shrugging. A lot of people didn't like having serious conversations. He wasn't the type to, either, but he was so not not serious that it happened anyway.

"Sorry about that," 'Matt' apologized, cringing inside a bit as he realized just how much he had hurt her with that comment. "I'm.. Just not used to being really close to anyone physically, I guess. I'm sure others won't mind as much," he said. Ah, jeez, wasn't he revealing a lot about himself today?

"True." She said, reflecting what he had said. She didn't often have serious conversations, but then again, she didn't often have conversations.

"Ah, no! It's my fault, really. It has been bothering everyone I've met, except for Ema, but it's become a real bad habit." She said as she took some spices from a shelf and poured them carefully into the food. Spices was a delicate art, one that she loved. The food had now started to give away a wonderful aroma that spread around the room.

"Hmmm. Well they say that people without bad habits are liked the least," he said, smiling as he reused a quote from Toriko. Yeah, that's right, he got a quote of wisdom out of some manga (though he was dead sure they got that quote from somewhere else).

'Matt's' sense of smell wasn't nearly as bad as his eyesight, but it was halfway there. To make it plain, his sense of smell was pretty bad compared to a normal person's sense of smell, which was quite a conflict when it came to cooking. Despite this, even he was able to tell that Cyra had a talent.

"You're rather good at cooking, aren't you?" he mused.

She giggled at him.
"It is one of my two biggest passions." She said with warmth.
"My parents have always worked late, so they never had time to cook. I started cooking and one thing led to another."
She put the food on two plates, then placed them on her small table. She sat down at the plate with the smaller portion and gestured Matt that it was ready.

Of the two? 'Matt' wondered, but Cyra was still talking. It'd be rude to ask.

She.. Really is similar to me. he thought as she gave her explanation to why she was good at cooking. Though he didn't exactly see cooking as a passion, it was something he did thanks to lack of available parents... Is this a coincidence?

Nothing is a coincidence. Everything is a part of fate~ the senior quoted from Yuuko in xxxHolic.

He gently plucked Jazz from his lap and set him down on the bed before making his way to the table. Sitting down at the seat Cyra indicated, he looked at the meal. Even with bad eyesight.. "Hmm, it looks really good," he said, smiling. He already said before that he had little appetite, but it'd be nice to try someone else's cooking.