Snippet #2699584

The second Emi touched Nao's hair, Nao froze, whole body stilling unnaturally as if he were a character on tv and someone had pressed the pause button. But it only lasted less than an instant - in a second he was pulling back, blinking in surprise and smiling as if nothing was wrong, although his eyes held a bit of irritation and confusion. That moment had happened so fast that anybody not looking would have missed it, and anybody looking wouldn't have realised it unless they were specifically looking for it. Nao fell back a couple of steps, smile hiding the torment going on in his head.

First - irritation. Emi had touched his hair. Repeat - Emi had ruffled his hair like a child (alright, he was thirteen - or fourteen, who knows - but he wasn't a child! He was a preteen! Not a child!) and his ponytail, as perfect as he could tie it as taught by Naoko during the past year, was now.... not perfect. What if Riku noticed? Riku liked perfection! And as his saviour was good at being perfect Nao was doing his best to emulate him and now it was gone.

And did Nao mention that he was being treated like a child? Which he wasn't - he had done things no kid should do, which meant he wasn't a kid like everyone thought he was! So there!

Second - it actually felt kinda... good. Like praise. Weird. Nao resisted the urge to reach a hand up to his head to check his hair- not yet.

Third...

Calm down, heart. She's the Blue King. She's not... them. Being pat on the head is ok and not a threat.

"Ok!" Nao chirped cheerfully instead. Damn, his escape path was gone.... Or maybe not. Nao took a deep breath, shoulders tensing as he steeled himself. "But you might get hungry on the way, so I'll see if i can take some for you before you go!" He said brightly, beaming his biggest sincerest smile, and with that he turned tail and walked towards the snack area as fast as he could without looking like he was running. "I'm also hungry, so I'll get some for myself too!" He said cheerfully behind his shoulder, trying not to think of whether he was going to get punished for taking the initiative for this step. It was only after he was out of sight and a good time away that Nao slowed to a normal walking pace, allowing the smile to drop from his face with a smile.

It had taken a bit long, but Nao had eventually learnt that it was ok to ask for things, ok to eat more than what he needed to survive, ok to just... y'know. Ask shit. Talk back. But this was new territory, and it was still a bit nervewracking testing the boundaries.

A lot of things were nervewracking, if Nao had the will to admit it.

Not the time, however. Bringing his hands up to his hair with a sigh, Nao neatened his ponytail the best he could with only his hands for a comb. Then he went to grab snacks - small cakes, peanuts, small finger sandwhiches. There were a few left over, and Nao wasted no time loading some into a convenient plastic bag for takeaway, stuffing a few into his cheeks too. He hadn't been kidding about wanting some himself. Chewing thoughtfully on a chocolate roll (mmmchocolate), Nao was making his way back when a man flung his arms wide, nearly smacking him in the face.

Almost instinctively, Nao dodged back, hands raising up and curling into fists as he prepared himself for a punch - but no, it was just a man gesturing expressively to his friends, letting out a hearty roar of laughter. Even as Nao watched they were already fading away into the crowd. With a frown, Nao dropped his hands - only to realise that he had accidentally knocked someone over when he had taken a flashstep back.

Whoops.

He looked down. What he saw was a small child with brown hair - a girl around a head shorter than him who looked familiar. Taking a step back, Nao's eyebrows wrinkled. "Sorry, for knocking you over," he said, sounding only a little apologetic. He had bumped into her, after all. "Watch where you're going next time, please," he added, only remembering to use 'please' at the last moment. Tucking the plastic bag of snacks into his belt as if it were a strap on pouch, Nao hesitated a bit before bringing a hand out towards her for the girl to take.

Helping people up was what Riku would have done, after all.