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[It's so deceptively simple.

Staying could mean so many things. It's vague. Ill defined. Akechi knows that.

But it's... a start, and Ren has proven himself plenty of times before. He's the one person Akechi can trust without question, so...

Breathing in slowly, he takes Ren's hand.]

Fair enough. You've upheld all our prior deals.

[There’s a swelling of his heart when Akechi takes his hand, another freeing sensation like a heavy chain breaking in two. Ren hasn’t experienced the same kind of loss as Akechi, but he understands what it feels like to be abandoned. By his parents, when they sent him away to Tokyo for a year, over a crime he didn’t commit. By the rest of the Phantom Thieves, at the start of January, when none of them included Ren as a fixture in their ideal realities. He forgives them all, but forgiving is different than forgetting, and he can never forget how it felt to be so easily discarded.]

You too.

[It might seem illogical and dangerously foolish for Ren to trust Akechi, after everything that has transpired between them. But the heart is not a center of logic, and Ren is someone who follows his heart. His heart tells him that trusting Akechi is the right choice.

Ren gently rubs his thumb over Akechi’s knuckles, reassuring. He’ll let Akechi decide when he’s ready to let go.]

Wanna do a crossword with me?

[It's an odd feeling. They've shaken hands before, but... not quite like this, with gentle touches.

He has to be careful. The talons make handshakes a riskier ordeal, but he does his best not to accidentally prick or puncture.

Some of the tension dissipates. It's... fine. This is perfectly fine.]

Well, it's not as though I've anywhere else to be.

[Ren smiles, content with this rebalancing between them. The part of his heart that holds space for Akechi has been soothed; both have promised to stay. It’s enough, for now.

He retrieves the pencil and book of crosswords he’d tossed into the van earlier and turns a few pages in to a fresh puzzle.]

Five letters. “Sought the favor of.”

[Oh, well isn't that funny? Akechi snorts, but a wry smile hangs on his lips all the same.]

Wooed, obviously.

Obviously.

[Ren attempts to hold back a smirk as he fills in the boxes for the first clue. Task accomplished, he hums a quiet thoughtful note while picking out the second clue, effortlessly twirling the pencil through his fingers.]

Also five letters. “Expensive theater boxes.”

[Oho. There's a more niche answer. Fortunately, Akechi is well read.]

Loges, though that is a more obtuse one.

Pretend I know what you’re talking about.

[Definitely not something that came up in one of his class lectures. Still, Akechi showing off is … oddly endearing.]

Four letters, “from the top.”

This one should be simple enough for you to grasp.

[His grin sharpens.]

Anew. A fresh start...

Yeah, I know what that is.

[He returns the grin, full of warmth. This place is a hellscape, but it’s also a fresh start for both of them, and Ren can’t find it in himself to regret being here, if only for that reason. Maybe they would’ve been able to eventually start over back home too, but there’s no sense in lingering on hypotheticals. They’re together now, and that feels right.]

Seven letters this time. “Takes a turn.”

Rotates.

[He speaks swiftly, as if he knew before Ren even gave the question.]

Just as the world keeps turning, I suppose.

[Indeed it does. Ren glances up from the page with mock suspicion.]

You haven’t done this one before, have you?

No, I'm simply a model student who's well read.

[To his credit, he doesn't dip into his Detective Prince voice. In fact, his words are dripping with irony.]

Just checking.

[Ren hums thoughtfully as he glances over the remaining clues.]

OK, since you’re so well versed in theater, how about this one? Four letters, “Opera set in Memphis.”

Ah, Aida.

[Yes, he's researched opera, too. It makes him sound sophisticated and mature...]

Though, the Memphis in question is in ancient Egypt, not Tennessee.

Showoff.

[He says it fondly, with a smile ghosting his lips.]

What’s it about?

It's the story about an enslaved Ethiopian girl named Aida and a military commander's conflict between his love for her and his duties to the king. Moreover, the king's daughter is also in love with him.

[He lays out his summary in a neutral tone, as if reciting an academic text.]

Oh … that sounds like a sad story. Love triangles aren’t known to work out very well.

[He sets the crossword book down between them and pulls a knee up to his chest.]

What happens to her? Aida.

Sad is an apt way of putting it.

[Akechi breaths a small sigh.]

Both Aida and Radamès die together in each other's arms, within a sealed tomb. The latter was sentenced to death for his "betrayal," and the former couldn't bear to live without him, so she hid herself within the very vault he was to die in.

[Oof, somehow that’s even sadder than Ren expected. He hms quietly and stares out into the distance beyond the van. The unwelcome memory of Akechi disappearing behind that metal wall in the engine room punches to the front of his mind, and he closes his eyes.]

I guess people probably think that’s romantic, huh?

[Ren doesn’t. But he can understand why someone might choose death over surviving without the person they love. It’s not an easy feat to keep living with such a great loss.]

To some, there is no greater show of love than dying for your beloved. It's at the heart of many a tragedy...

[He snorts softly, shaking his head.]

But something tells me you're not one for such tragedies.

[Ren shakes his head, and his mouth twists into the tiniest wistful smile. Akechi knows him so well.]

I think … a greater show of love would be continuing to live, even though it hurts.

[He blinks his eyes open again and allows his gaze to gently settle on the figure sat next to him.]

Remembering the dead is how we keep them alive, in a way.

[It’s what he’d done.]

True. But it's no replacement. A memory can't save you, if you have no one else.

[But that's just his experience. He understands what Ren is saying.]

Lucky for you, I'm not a memory.

Glad to hear it.

[He smiles brighter, warmer, and bites back the impulse to say I love you again. He will say it again, but another time. They’ve already exchanged so many heavy words tonight. Any more might shatter the fragile peace they’ve managed to build.]

If you were just a memory, I’d need to seek out professional help. And something tells me therapists are hard to come by out here.

[Not that Ren’s likely to ever trust a therapist with those little hidden pieces of himself again. He learned his lesson with Maruki. That’s it, that’s the joke.]

I'm not sure a single therapist would be able to comprehend the sheer clusterfuck of trauma represented here.

[Not that he trusts a therapist either, but he knows Ren knows better than to assume otherwise.

Still, he relaxes once more, light amusement sneaking into his words.]

No, I suppose we'll have to endure as the messes that we are.

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