Snippet #2696566

Only ignorance (and longtime practice) kept Nao's face from twitching with irritation or his eyes from lighting up with anger at being called short, even if it was from someone he respected with all his heart. As it was he continued smiling and wondered, with all seriousness:

What's Thumbelina?

He had a vague feeling that it was an insult, but before he could think more about it Ken brought out-

The sweets. One orange flavoured, one grape flavoured, pressed into Nao's hand like smuggled drugs from the Mexican border, the colorful wrappers gleaming in his hand like sugar jewels.

Seeing Nao's reaction was like watching a kid receive his first christmas present. His smile beamed like a ray of light (or like a druggie taking another hit), eyes lighting up like the sun as he clenched his fists tightly around the goodies. Nothing fake about this expression, at least, just pure undiluted happiness at being given sugary candy. Nao actually looked his age for once.

Unfortunately, before he could give his thanks to Ken, Riku woke up.

Nao froze when Riku yelled Ken's name, eyes going wide with panic. Oh shit. Unfreezing, he quickly took a small, silent step back as Riku whirled to yell at his boyfriend, hiding the sweets inside his pocket. Ever since Riku had caught him eating a whole packet of Giant Gummy Bears, he'd promised to keep track of Nao's sugar intake, and Nao didn't want him to remember that declaration. Sorry, but you're on your own, Ken.

It was, although Nao would never admit it even on the pain of excruciating death, actually kind of funny to see Riku lose it at someone else. Yeah, it was kind of scary, but since it wasn't at him Nao found it hilarious. Keeping an extremely passive look on his face, Nao let a bit of a grin pass through his mask in response to Ken's eyeroll, the amused smirk in his eyes making his message clear - at least it ain't at me, man - before biting it back into a passive expression and watched the show, wondering when Riku would turn around and notice that he was standing there.

And... there. Pfft, Riku's reaction was priceless - he clearly hadn't expected spectators. Biting back a laugh and feeling a little bad for doing so, Nao smiled and gave a bright little wave as if they were having a normal greeting. "Good morning! Am I interrupting something?" He asked a little too innocently and cheerfully to not be on purpose, resisting the urge to smirk.

It wasn't that hard. The man had saved his life, after all.

Nao wrinkled his nose and turned his head to the side as Ken gave Riku a kiss, the expression making him look his age for a moment. Eww, gross, PDA! Did Ken even knew what that mean? Nao returned Ken's look with one of his own, a slightly hesitant look which slid slightly away from direct eyecontact that said uh, sure, yeah, totally gonna do that, yup, which was. Well. Not really going to happen at all if Nao could help it.

As Ken's car peeled out of the driveway, Nao turned to Riku, who was still tomato red - oh wait, it was going down. Slightly impressed, Nao noted how fast Riku's complexion went back to its normal pale peach. Looking up, the boy returned the look with a bright, cheerful smile befitting of a polite cheerful child, the best he could construct - which honestly wasn't that hard. The events from earlier had been funny enough to put some natural lift to Nao's cheeks.

It helped that it was, once again, the man who had saved his life. Acting was always easier around one of the people Nao had originally constructed the mask for, after all.

Of course, the fact that he probably shouldn't be smiling at a funeral didn't cross Nao's mind. "I'm not sure!" He replied, straightening up almost subconsciously. He smiled up at Riku, but it didn't make the words any easier to swallow. "She might be mad if you didn't appear, but she's been busy taking care of the white haired girl so maybe she didn't notice that you weren't here!" Turning around, Nao began to walk towards the area where the wake was held. "Want to check?"