At first it was a case of see, watercolors are different from people as Declan went off on one of his rambling, but thoughtful tangents. That hindmost voice grumbled skeptically, but Aoba started to use it to reinforce the idea that just because Declan was honest and open, whatever Aoba’s own awkward reactions towards him were, it didn’t mean that the Guardian himself-
Scratch that. Declan just used the word ‘attractive’, and there were certain connotations there that raced right past mere aesthetics. The part of Aoba’s mind that was all his own did a complete record scratch, floundering at the sudden look of horror on his friend’s face.
“What? No, I- I mean back in my time is one thing, but you- coming from you, that is, I, ah….”
Forming a reassuring answer he was not, the color deepening in his cheeks as he lost the ability to answer a simple question all on the possibilities of context.
“The culture of Aoba’s hometown is not particularly receptive to homosexuality,” put forward a deep little voice, whipping Aoba’s head around. Ren watched them both quite levelly, his tongue sticking out in his general expression as if nothing were amiss. “It still faces numerous stigmas and heteronormativity remains the expected default.”
Aoba didn’t even have time to wonder what Ren was doing. It was an honest answer, yes, along the same lines of factual that Declan could have gotten from Ghost, but—the Allmate wasn’t done, it seemed. There was a little shift in the dog’s dark eyes, hard to see if one wasn’t used to Ren’s subtle expressions, but Aoba felt that regard land on him before-
“Aoba’s own explorations of his sexuality have been limited as a result.”
no subject
Scratch that. Declan just used the word ‘attractive’, and there were certain connotations there that raced right past mere aesthetics. The part of Aoba’s mind that was all his own did a complete record scratch, floundering at the sudden look of horror on his friend’s face.
“What? No, I- I mean back in my time is one thing, but you- coming from you, that is, I, ah….”
Forming a reassuring answer he was not, the color deepening in his cheeks as he lost the ability to answer a simple question all on the possibilities of context.
“The culture of Aoba’s hometown is not particularly receptive to homosexuality,” put forward a deep little voice, whipping Aoba’s head around. Ren watched them both quite levelly, his tongue sticking out in his general expression as if nothing were amiss. “It still faces numerous stigmas and heteronormativity remains the expected default.”
Aoba didn’t even have time to wonder what Ren was doing. It was an honest answer, yes, along the same lines of factual that Declan could have gotten from Ghost, but—the Allmate wasn’t done, it seemed. There was a little shift in the dog’s dark eyes, hard to see if one wasn’t used to Ren’s subtle expressions, but Aoba felt that regard land on him before-
“Aoba’s own explorations of his sexuality have been limited as a result.”