dlvby:

The way he’s laughing is a bit over the top, but it slowly fades out just as the ending credits of a film. It all happens from a different laughter filling the air instead, the one of higher pitch and an irresistible tone. He swears that it’s suddenly lit up the room to another level of brightness. There’s something so comforting, so homely about her laugh, and it catches both his interest and attention. He wants to hear it again; he wants to hear it always, forever until the world reaches never. He’s captivated and there’s a genuine smile perched along his lips.

He hasn’t smiled like this in ages.

“Embarrassing together, yeah. Prov-together. Same thing.” The touch she gives him in natural, and he doesn’t feel it the least foreign. Instead, he sits to just accept it, and watches the girl’s mind switch gears in between two moments. She’s flustered again, as seen by the brief glimpse of her rosy, red cheeks. There was another moment here where he couldn’t help but to smile, again. It was as if he was probing his reflection in the near by mirror. The admittance of a vaguely embarrassing line, then the feeling of wanting to disappear into a corner somewhere — and the way the feeling burned up your cheeks and caused you to cringe even further. He knew it all too well.

His feet helped him to stand again, and his eyes were better at observing his surroundings this time. He made sure no towers of textbooks would be blocking his way as he stood outside the kitchen entrance, besides the wall that separated it from the living room. “Uh, sure, I’d love a slice.” The girl had proceeded to come out afterwards, and he followed this time again, taking a seat into one of the chairs. It was clear of how ridiculously embarrassed the girl was, and he was trying to draft a method of how he, himself usually deterred from the feeling.

“It wasn’t really that embarrassing.” He pauses and makes sure he’s got her attention, offering a pleasant smile. “One time, I met this wonderful, beautiful girl after her concert… and totally freaked out.” The memory slowly recollects, and it forms images of the same night in his head. “So I tripped — as usual, right in front of her and fell on the ground there… and she was laughing, because it was so funny.” A hand now rests upon his forehead, and a look full of regret once again appears. “My first meeting with my biggest idol and I fall upon her feet… not in the way I wanted to, anyway. But see, that was way more embarrassing.”

“Oh yea, it is huh” she murmured to herself, still afraid to turn herself around to face him. Although it was the same, she still felt her emotions waver and her cheeks uncontrollably red. It was as if their roles had switched. Just a few moments ago, his sudden phrase made him bashful and unable to meet he eyes, and now, she was doing exactly the same. Thankfully though, her blanket covered most of her face, and she had hoped that it was enough to hide the redness of her cheeks.

At the sound of his voice, low and gentle, unlike her high-pitched laced with nervous energy, Tina looked at him, cheeks still red and eyes filled with uncertainty “Of course, there’s totally nothing embarrassing” Tina stuttered in an attempt to calm herself, which had obviously failed at the slightest shyness that danced around edge of her voice and her stiff smile in return to his pleasant one. As the other recounted his history of embarrassment, Tina listened and looked at him with wide-eyes brimming with curiosity. The way he unfolded his story with the various intonations of his voice, the various gestures of his bodily language of falling down, and the subtle expression of regret that complemented the scenarios of his story caught Tina’s attention. The previous embarrassment forgotten, and the sound of his voice comforted Tina. Tina laughed at his story, “That is pretty embarrassing” Tina mused as the smile hung on her lips  "At least, she’ll remember you the most now" Tina encouraged, and nodded.

The sky turned moonless, and the snow fell heavier. Recollecting the goal of his visit, Tina tip-toed towards the door and noticed that her neighbour had been long gone. Only the empty hallway, snowy hallway remained without a hint of the previous cracked pot, just like the stranger’s visit. A visit that came and went without a trace, and another memory of their encounter buried within. But, she didn’t want him to go, though she would never admit that to him. Her bad day and a day that was doomed to be lonely turned into a memorable one because of him. Despite her wants, she had to let him go. After all, he had other things to get to, especially his work. However, she didn’t know how to say goodbye, goodbyes was something she wasn’t good at. In fact, she hated saying goodbyes, so she returned to her seat and munched into her cold pizza in silence.         

(via dlvby-deactivated20150722)

dlvby:

In complete secret to the boy, his phone is being overwhelmed and bursting with enraged, furious phone calls. He would later find out the exact number to be a ridiculous forty-five, with an additional thirteen lovely messages left in his voice mail. The source is, of course, his even lovelier manager, who is left storming without any response nor notification back within piles of pizza orders. All this is kept as a wonderful secret; the delivery boy remaining completely oblivious due to the mistake of leaving his cellphone shoved deep within one of the empty cup holders in the delivery car. Or so it was, before all the vibrations caused it to fall against the rough rug beneath the car seating.

Mikoto’s only snapped out of his fantasy world when the once colorful animations all fade away to moving white text and a bland, black background. He can’t help but feel a conflict of feelings, both a remorse that it had already come to finish, yet also a serene sense of closure. Once Chihiro and Haku have left to occupy his attention, it’s refocused to the clumsy girl ahead of him. She reminds him a bit of Chihiro all of a sudden, as he’s unable to help but just watch her tumble over textbooks.

Whether it was from his natural instinct, or his need to be the gentleman spoken of in the best shoujo mangas — he was on his feet again. Before he even moves ahead in the small space, he reaches out an arm, obviously a sign that he’d aid in bringing her back up. He’s then also caught off balance, his feet having not-so-gracefully crashed onto the corner of the coffee table. “Oh, dang-nabbit rabbits —“ He hisses with the only curse words he knows of, and finds himself fallen to the floor. Eyes blink to the girl also beside him, and he can’t help but to burst into a raging fit of laughter again at how hilarious this whole scene was. He looked like an idiot, but he hadn’t been alone, nor had she. "I have… never felt more embarrassed in my life —”

Before her eyes squinted shut at the fall, she noticed a brief shadow and a sharp, but temporary pain hit her right arm and lessened by the blanket and another squishy feeling. Hmm.. I don’t remember placing a yoga mat on the floor she wondered to herself. When the fall was over, one of her eyes peeked open only to see a face she had recently gotten familiar with this past hour and one of his arms under her weight. Her eyes blinked in return at his wide eyes before she laughed more at him than herself at the situation they had gotten themselves in. “You are very embarrassing… but it’s fine, we can be embarrassing together?” she whispered loud enough for the other to hear as their laughters died down. "Are you all right?“ she asked, suddenly half-sitting up, worried that he had hurt himself. She gently touched the arm that had lessen the impact of her fall and touched his shoulders, making sure that any bleeding hadn’t occurred. 

She wasn’t sure why she had said it. After all, it seemed like tonight, they were truly prov-together as he said when they had met at the door and, for some reason, she was glad she wasn’t alone tonight. She stared at him for awhile before realising how wrong the "we can be embarrassing together” phrase had sounded, her cheeks immediately turned crimson and she immediately stood up and quickly uttered “Oh no… I - I didn’t mean. What am I saying” Grabbing at the blanket and covered half her face, only leaving her eyes, she clumsily raced to the kitchen to get the plates “Uhm, I- I’ll be back with plates. Do you want any pizza?” She shouted, but unwilling to turn around for the other to see the complexion on her cheeks.

Regardless of his answer, she took her time in the kitchen before she returned with two plates and eating utensils. Cutting a slice of pizza for each of them, she left the plate on the table for him as she began munching on her own piece of pizza, suddenly embarrassed to look at him.       

(via dlvby-deactivated20150722)

dlvby:     

It may have been embarrassing — or just plain otaku, but he was so easily immersed into the unfolding animation in front of his eyes. He’d lost count of the repeated viewing of the film after counting the hundredth. Knowing when each character entered was simple, memorizing and embedding each and every line spoken was the next step. The glorified soundtrack of the film was hummed at every moment when musical melodies appeared, whether it was the scene of Chihiro encountering the bath house or freely coursing through the skies with Haku towards the ending moments. Every hushed harmony was inscribed somewhere along the walls of his mind, evident and clear as pictures shifted the characters to different scenes every now and then. 

The view morphed from animated images to a solid color of blue as the sheet landed atop the boy’s head. It took him some time to realize that his eyes had been covered with a blanket of some kind, judging from the warmth that its fabrication provided. He was careful to whisk the blue away from his face, slipping out from underneath. The girl’s face was hidden halfway, only her eyes and nose peeping from its constraints. In response, he couldn’t help a light laugh in escaping his lips — something about the girl on the couch was adorable, child-like and so very innocent. It was something he was only graced with when interacting with his little cousins back home in Osaka. 

“I’m sorry for constantly apologizing…agh. Agh!” His laugh grew in volume, having to quiet himself down in realization. “I just did it again didn’t I, flipping Donald Duck’s flippers — sorry. I mean…” A hand smacked across the expanse of his face, an expression of frustration. “This is becoming such a bad habit…” Before another apology could bypass his mouth, he made sure to plunge it right back down to his stomach, pressing his lips into a thin line. Then they curved at the very edges, another smile overtaking his face. “I’ll just shush and we’ll watch the movie, since this part is so darn important and we almost missed it!" 

Tina failed to return her attention towards the television screen afterwards. The constant change on the young boy’s feature fascinated her: the ups and downs to the climax of the movie ranging from excitement for young Chihiro’s adventures to sadness when Chihiro returns to her hometown, leaving Haku. So immersed, so child-like, just like me Tina thought to herself at the similarity. It was another side of the boy that she had not witnessed moments ago. It was as if every second she spent with him, the more she knew about his life and also a little bit more about herself.

The reason she liked Ghibli studio films so much was because the main character reminded her so much of herself. The fear, the uncertainty, the second-glances, and the courage to trust someone when you suddenly become all alone in the world. However, the only difference was that TIna lacked the will to be brave during times of need. "They say that the best blaze burns brightest when circumstances are at their worst ” as quoted by one of the ghibli movies. Tina wondered if she were to ever come across that “worst” condition, would she have the will to burn the “brightest” or just painlessly let darkness consume her? Her eyes lost focus as she fell within her deepest thoughts, only to return to the real world when he replied.

She covered her mouth with her blanket to stifle a laughter at his clumsiness and her eyes brightened with amusement. She briefly returns a nod and refocused her attention to the movie. After awhile of silence and side glances at the other boy, vertical scrolling marquee letters came in and out of the screen until the screen gradually turned dark for a brief moment, only to announce the next program that was soon to come next. Her apartment had turned considerably dim as the last bit of light disappeared behind the city scape and the pizza had turned cold. Hmm… I should get plates she thought to herself, after all, she was kinda hungry. Getting up from the couch with her long blanket trailing under her, she walked, more like skipped,  towards the mini kitchen cabinet to get a plate, only to trip and fall over a pile of books that she had forgotten existed, while rolled up in her blanket. “ouch.. how unpleasant” frowning at her own clumsiness, how embarrassing. Not to mention, it was her own home that she tripped in. 

(via dlvby-deactivated20150722)

dlvby:

“You certainly don’t understand a thing about being messy, if you think this is being so.” Both hands were brought up to gesture towards the rather half-organized clutter that the other kept her homely space. Anyone would think it nothing less than neat after putting it in comparison to the delivery boy’s residential place. From mismatched socks to the student’s stacks of history and mathematics textbooks — which now had found a place in the very corner, with a tidy layer of lint along the cover and the edges of the bindings. Not to forget the friendly lumps of animal fur clinging to every surface imaginable; a very personable gift from his beloved pet pup. Perhaps people weren’t fooling around too much when saying that one’s home had some parallel to the state of their lives. Mikoto’s was well…

A chaotic mess.

There was no back story which called for tears or something so terribly tragic that it’d left scathing scars along the glimpses of his soul. His history was simply that of none; which happened to be the crux of the problem. Twenty one years he had been breathing, and for twenty one years, he had yet discovered anything of such great gravity to move him. He lacked passion, any sort of meek drive — he’d never felt anything that drove him delirious, excluding the sounds of his pizza boss.

"I totally forgot it was on tonight…” The empty space right in between the cozy couch and the coffee table set was where his body had decided to make temporary home, lounging without much thought. “Oh, my pardon. I’m doing that thing again.” He had found this a ridiculous habit of his, getting too comfortable in stranger’s homes. It was plain miracle that he hadn’t found adventure in a criminal’s thus far. “I really should leave, I can’t believe I just barged into your house like this and now I’m beginning to make myself comfortable on your floor, and…” The meager appearance of such a familiar character of the wicked witch crept just the corners of his eyes, and he was deterred from logical thoughts again. “Chihiro’s going to get her name taken away, that dumb thing — !”

She hadn’t quite understood his meaning, since, in her opinion, her room was quite messy. She could never imagine anyone’s room messier than hers, and she definitely had no plans to even bother imagining. Make up boxes and brushes scattered on top of her vanity table located at a corner, her favourite plushies on her messy bed that she had recently rolled around in into wrinkled sheets due to boredom, and a pile of dresses along with undergarments she had pulled out to match various pieces to form complete outfits for the date she had originally planned with her friends, but was later on cancelled. Tina is also a bookworm, which is evident from novels stacked upon one another at the end of her bed and a few stacks next to her couch.

When the stranger came within her peripheral view and settled himself on the floor. Her attention returned to the stranger and her cheeks became warm again at her own carelessness. Carelessness, for letting this stranger walk into her apartment with such ease and comfort. In this sense, she would normally chase the person out or immediately chastise the other, but strangely, she didn’t. Another thought that added to her embarrassment was how easy she showed her childish side to him. Stupid, stupid me she mentally chided herself as she gave him side-glances. Tina was innocent when it came to strangers. Sure, she always has her guard up and constantly overly- cautious of her own surroundings, but she lacked adamancy. Timid and fearful, she would back down and cower in a corner alone, away from all support she could’ve received if she had opened up to others. Sometimes, she wished that she were braver, stronger. But, just the thought of being brave, scared her.

Till now, she still wasn’t sure whether he meant it when he said that they could prov-together and, for some reason, she thought it was best that she didn’t know. She wasn’t sure if it was right, but she told herself that this was momentary and that he would leave soon. She would never see him again after this. Although it was merely a thought, the thought somehow saddened her. Pushing away her thoughts, she scooted over; leaving ample of room for the other, she gently placed the blanket over his head. Hiding half of her face behind her half of the blanket out of embarrassment, she mumbled “It’s fine… stop apologising. After all, it’s my fault for dragging you in to begin with. So, do- don’t sit on the floor, I feel… kinda bad ”           

(via dlvby-deactivated20150722)