infinite_reflection

"G-chan?" Seiya tested the waters, rolling the words around in her head. No, too girly. "We'll stick with G-kun. Or just Gureg!" Her accent was thick, but the poor girl was trying.

Peeking into his bag as he opened it, Seiya grinned. "Woooow [businessman!] I bet they look great on you." Holding up both of her thumbs, she nodded.

He snorted at the butchered name, shaking his head and being quietly happy that she'd planned to stick with 'G-kun'. "I like to look, uh... Huhm. I don't know the Japanese word. [Snazzy]?" Something told him she wouldn't know what it meant, but oh well. In any case, Greg had the sense that this could only get awkward when Seiya clearly had something on her mind... Hmm. Well! He'd be a good friend and ask, at least, right?

"What're you, uhh..." So, it was easier in his head. He wasn't exactly sure how someone generally asked this kind of thing. The boy blinked several times, awkwardly quiet, and then shook his head with a look of some determination. "What's wrong? You, uh, you seem 'off'." There, he did it! Christ, conversation was nerve-wracking sometimes.

"[Snazzy...]" She repeated it carefully, the word actually sounding more like a sneeze. As Greg tried to push their conversation in another direction, her brow furrowed.

Seiya shuffled her feet, keeping her gaze locked on the tips of her shoes. She hadn't really expected him to ask. Fiddling with the edge of the bench, Seiya sighed. "I feel really helpless." Biting her lip, she pondered how to continue. "With all of... this." Gesturing to nothingness, she huffed. God, explaining was frustrating! "The mirror stuff."

"Helpless?" An eyebrow raised and he leaned forward to get a look at her face, "You're the one here who, uh... Who seems like they can do the most about it, heh. Maybe not alone, though... So I see what you mean." It might've been cruel, but he hadn't pictured Seiya as much of a deep thinker! She seemed for the most part carefree, so it came as something of a surprise that she was actually worried about something in the first place. Greg quietly scolded himself for thinking that couldn't happen.

The boy lifted a hand to rub at his chin, apparently thinking. "Have you been back, uh... Since the whole thing with Ren-san?" Not that she'd have any reason to... Then again, if he had one of those Personas he'd probably go inside the mirror almost every night. That was likely just him, though... Whether it was his curiosity or inability to take this whole situation seriously.

"Me?" Knowing that he thought she was the most powerful caused her to bury her face in her hands. Attempting to maintain composure she mentally scolded herself. He'd just agreed to be her friend! Now she'd send him running.

"I don't know. Arthur said it's supposed to be really straightforward, but just thinking about going back makes me want to curl up in a ball."

Arthur? Greg didn't know an Arthur... That was not a Japanese name, either, obviously. "Who? I, uh... Only know of one other American guy here. Simon, you're the one who told him about me." That wasn't too important, though, more important was the fact that she seemed scared of the mirror world! The boy wasn't sure how to say it without sounding too stern and making her feel worse, but he figured he'd try. "Is it, uh... About the mirror place, that is, does it scare you or what? You could probably have Ren-san back you up, uh... Like, the buddy system and all that. Do you guys have that here?"

"Arthur's..." Seiya shook her head, giving up on explaining the whole velvet room thing to him. Fighting demons in your bathroom mirror seemed crazy enough for one lifetime. "If I am some kind of leader, I'll be responsible..." Trailing off, she pouted a bit. It was hard to imagine, let alone say. "... when people die."

It was hard to imagine anyone dying if they had something like a Persona to protect them. What he'd seen of them was frankly amazing, so Greg's answer sounded fairly confident. "No one's gonna die. It's, uh... Even if someone does, no one will blame you. Or I won't, heh, anyways." The boy was pretty sure that neither Miho nor Ren would, either, although he didn't know the latter entirely well. Still! "Uh, either way! It's just not gonna happen, Seiya-chan."

A weak smile tugged at her cheeks. Maybe he was right! She was just one person, after all. "If you say so." Greg had seen Hlin in action, and Americans never lie!

Seiya nudged his arm appreciatively. "Thanks, Gureeeeeeeegoriiiiii~" Sitting up, it seemed as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. At least a bit, anyway!

Looked like he'd helped, in some small way. That was nice to know, and Greg leaned back while she seemed to sit up straighter. "Heh, uh, of course." It was really difficult not to grin at just how stupid she sounded when she tried to say his name, but the boy's neutral and flat expression proved far too practiced to give for something like that. Still, it looked for a moment like he was going to crack something like a smile. "But... Anyway, are you working? Or just... Hanging out here? I thought you, uh... Didn't like this place." Or maybe he was making assumptions, whoops...

What was that? A smile? The small signs faded as quickly as they'd come, so Seiya decided it was probably just wishful thinking. Shrugging at his question, she checked the time on her phone. "My dad wanted me to wait for a shipment to arrive, but they're late. So I'm not technically working." As for disliking Yamada Mart? Well, he wasn't far off the mark. "I don't. Maybe I'm too obedient for my own good! Oh, you're probably here for the usual, huh?"

"Oh late? Uh, that's lame." Greg shifted in his seat, leaning more to the side now, and then nodded in regards to the question. "Yeah, that's why I came here anyway. I was gonna head home afterward, uh... Unless you're not busy, or something." A bit of hanging out sounded like it'd be good for Seiya at the moment, at least to get her mind off of that worry. "Y'know, and if there's anything you even wanna do around here. Uh, yeah." Grrr. He wasn't very good at this, sometimes.

Perking up, Seiya looked at him in disbelief. Whoah, he wanted to spend time with her? Awesome! Arthur had lectured her on the importance of bonds, and Greg was a pretty cool guy, so of course her answer was: "Yes! We should go to the arcade!!" That was something he enjoyed, and last time was certainly a blast! "Or get ice cream!" Quickly, she dove into the store, making up a sign for the late delivery guy.

Seiya was certainly eager, huh? The boy watched her downright fly into the store, blinking in surprise, and by the time she'd plastered the sign up and returned he was standing and apparently ready to go. "Ice cream sounds nice. Uh, both sound nice, but can we stop by my apartment first? I don't wanna..." Greg wiggled one of his arms, the one with his shopping bag hanging off of it. "Carry this around all day, or anything. It's not too far from here, either." Had he mentioned that before..? No, probably not... Oh well, now she knew.

Wow! The chance to see a real american's home! Seiya nodded, locking up the shop with a keyring that was home to over 50 keys. What exactly did this girl have access to? "Sounds good to me! I didn't know you lived so close." Turning to him, she slid her keys into her bag, nodding as if to say she was ready. "I shoulda guessed, though. It'd be kinda weird if you lived really far out but still shopped here."

Unfortunately for Seiya, he still had a Japanese apartment! Granted, it had a few western touches thanks to its residents... Hopefully she wouldn't be too disappointed at the lack of American flags everywhere. "Yeah, uh, it would." He liked this store, though, so Greg probably still would have even if it was a trip. The boy was not the type to dwell on these things though, so as soon as she seemed ready he turned around and got to walking.

'Not too far' was a relative term, it took about fifteen minutes and if Seiya kept her eyes open she would've realized Yamada Mart wasn't exactly on a direct path from school to his house. So hey, maybe he was going there just 'cuz! The apartments looked pretty normal out front, a rather faceless building and prrrobably not the richest in town either. Greg stopped in front of the apartment complex's door, not quite sure how to... Ask... This. "Did you wanna, uhm..." Was it rude or weird for her to just waltz on in to his place? "Like, come up? I don't think my dad's home."

Wait. No, wait, that's not what he meant. "Uh, fff-- That is, he's kind of annoying!"

As they walked along, Seiya began to realize that her friend's definition of nearby was definitely different than hers. Watching the back of his head as she followed him, she shook her head. He must really love her dad's shop.

Taking in the view of his apartment building, Seiya was awfully giddy. "This is so cool!" Calm down, Seiya, it's not even that different on the outside. Once Greg invited her inside, adding that his dad wasn't home, her cheeks went pink. "U-Uh... I-If it's no trouble! I mean, I'd say yes even if he was!"

Even Greg's cheeks were a light shade of pink after that foul-up, and he had to turn away in the hopes she wouldn't see. Anyway! "We'll see if he is, huh? Come, uh, come on." He opened the door, letting Seiya in first, then led her to the elevator and they were off! The ride was a little awkward, if only because he was still mortified, and they went up ten floors before the thing finally dinged and its doors slid open. The boy led her down a hallway to the left, and then they stopped in front of the door marked '1001'. Neat apartment number, in Greg's opinion!

His keyring had a measly 3 keys on it, nothing compared to Seiya's gargantuan stash, but that probably made it easier to find the one he needed. In a second or two he had the door open, and Greg stepped in first this time. "[Hey, dad! Are you home?]" ... Silence. Looked like no, then. He turned back to Seiya and shrugged. "Just let me put this stuff in my room real quick..." With that he scurried off into one of the apparent three rooms in the apartment... That left her in the entrance-slash-big-room-with-a-TV.

"My room's a little, uh, a little messy!" If she poked her head in the door, she'd find it a little dishevelled. Pretty small, too, though it had what looked like all of the essentials. The video gaming consoles under the TV were surprisingly dusty and looked untouched, with how much of a gamer Greg seemed to be. On his bed were a few open textbooks, and the screensaver on his laptop looked like a... Dancing pig, of some sort. Huhm.

On the ride up, Seiya avoided looking at Greg. She sucked in her cheeks, hoping to cause the color to fade. He either hadn't noticed or was too polite to mention, because it seemed to go unmentioned. Stepping out of the elevator, Seiya followed Greg to apartment 1001. Mentally noted!

Following him inside, she took in the room with a childlike curiosity. Her first time in a boy's house! SO [COOL]! Politely sliding her shoes off, she gave herself a little tour. Practicing the principle of 'look with your eyes, not your hands', Seiya wound up at his room. Peeking in, she giggled. How very Greg. "It's not that bad! It's cute, even!" Leaning in the doorway, she smiled. "Cute screensaver~"

Seiya would find a small kitchen, a closed sliding door (probably his dad's room) and then the room that they'd come in to... That was it, minus Greg's! Not the biggest place, by any means, and it looked like both inhabitants weren't very fond of cleaning up. There was no food or anything particularly gross lying around, thank goodness, but most of the corners and certain other areas seemed pretty dusty. There were even two boxes from their move that hadn't been unpacked after a few months! Tsk tsk.

Cute? Well, it was small... Had everything Greg needed, too, though he found the term 'man cave' annoying and refused to use it. He sort-of subconsciously shut those textbooks when she came in, then took a seat on the bed and shrugged. "That, uh... The screensaver came with the computer. Can't... Figure out how to change it." Not true, he just thought it was pretty cute. The boy was actually glad that had come up, because he wasn't quite sure what he'd left on the screen this morning! ... Not that it could be anything too terrible.

"Not one American flag in the house, heh. That, uh... Disappointing, much?" Greg's tone said he was kidding, on that note. "I've got some English posters, but those aren't unpacked yet..." Yep, his walls were pretty bare!

Finding it rude to invite herself into his room, Seiya stayed where she was. Idly tapping her fingers on the door, she raised a brow quizzically. She'd offer to help him change it, but something told her the little piggy was fine.

Sighing, she pouted legitimately. "I was expecting flags and a portrait of the prime minister!" You mean president. "But this suits you better, I think. Your walls look lonely, though." Pressing her ear to the wall she was closest to, Seiya faked a gasp. "My God, Guregori they're crying!"

Greg snorted, then sat up a bit and realized she was probably standing there because he hadn't invited her in. "Oh, uh! Come in if you want, sorry. Not that we'll be staying here long, or anything. Just need a quick break before the walk to the mall, if that's, uh... Okay." Now that he actually thought about it, the walls did look pretty darn empty. Maybe he'd unpack one of those boxes tonight, or at least find the posters and slap them up for some flavor. In truth, the boy spent most of his time here with his nose in a book.

"Actually, I think you'd like my dad, heh. He's kinda, uh..." What was the right word for it? He tried really hard to be that 'cool dad' who was all 'hip' and crap... In the end just looked more dopey than anything. Something told him Seiya would either mistake that for 'American as hell' or just find it endearing, though. "Well, he's... -Energetic-." That'd do.

"Ah, thank you!" Seiya entered his room, taking a hesitant seat at his desk chair. Spinning in little circles, she couldn't help but beam. "That' s fine with me!" She was oddly enjoying herself.

"Yeah? I'd love to meet him." Did that sound weird? After the mis-communication earlier, well, Seiya turned red again. "Because he sounds nice!" Yes. Good. That worked. "I should show you my house too." Well, so much for recovery.

That thankfully didn't come off as weird to Greg, because again he sounded like someone she'd like. Seeing her house also sounded fun, in its own weird way. "Yeah, that'd be fun sometime. I've only been inside Miho-san's, and uh... Well, it looked pretty..." Nnrrr, he really didn't know the right word. "Rich? Like somewhere a celebrity would live." Apparently he didn't know about her mother's previous job! All he knew was that now she owned a cafe, and that he also had to dress in pink and red while he worked there. Ugh.

"Hahaha! Yeah, Mi-chan's house is really extravagant." Seiya spun again, keeping herself going by kicking her feet. "My house is..." How could she describe it? "I live on the older side of town." That seemed good enough! "You'll see."

Grinning like a smug cat, Seiya rested her chin in her palm as she came to a stop. "You met her mom didn't you."

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