July 29/ Severity/ PG-13/ Ended!

[Max]

Character(s): Max Kimori and Sora Takahashi.
Time: Around noon.
Location: Room 30C


Max still hadn't meet his roommate, even after a few weeks of being there, and it was starting to bug him. He needed to know who was sleeping on the bunk below him, or if someone was sleeping there at all. Obviously there was another person living in the room, because a lot of the stuff thrown about it wasn't his, but Max had never seen him.

The light-haired boy assumed his roommate was a 'him,' but he knew what people said about assuming things.

"I'd only be so lucky to get assigned a girl roommate by accident," Max joked to himself.

Rolling his eyes, Max continued to swing his legs over the edge of the top bunk. He'd decided that today would be the day he met his roommate, even if he had to miss all of his classes to do so. Max was prepared to sit in there all day, tinkering with whatever he could find to keep him occupied. He was one step away from going through his roommate's belongings to find out more about him.

Nah. Max wouldn't stoop that low. His curiosity was gnawing at his insides, though. The boy began tapping his fingers on the wooden bed supports, waiting rather impatiently now and growing steadily more bored.

Maybe he would make a fort out of his blankets and pillows while he waited.

[andou]

Sora had made it a habit of finding other places to sleep, or he would come back to the dorm in the wee hours of the morning when his roommate was already asleep. He hadn't really noticed that they had never met, but he was starting to feel rude. He lived with the boy, he might as well know his name.

He woke up on the roof this morning. Sora blinked at the rising sun as he yawned. Running his fingers through his disheveled hair he stood up and looked around, trying to figure out what time it was. "I need a shower." He grumbled, as he fixed his wrinkled uniform and walked back to his dorm.

He yawned again before he found his keys and unlocked the door. "Lucyyyy I'm hoooommmeeee~" he sang, as he usually did when he walked into his dorm. Most of the time the dorm was empty, but today it wasn't. Sora jumped when he saw the boy sitting on the top bunk. "Oh, hey roomie! I'm Sora. Nice to finally meet you." He waved.

[Max]

The light-haired boy had only been swinging his legs off of the bed for a few moments before the dorm's door swung open. His eyes jerked to the sudden movement, then narrowed when a blonde boy entered, calling out a vague greeting and jumping a bit himself when he spotted Max on the top bunk.

"Oh, hey roomie! I'm Sora. Nice to finally meet you." Blondie told him, a sleepy smile on his lips.

Sora looked rough, like he'd been beaten to hell and back several times in the past few days. Max wondered what had happened to him, but wasn't curious enough to ask. He nodded once, hopping down from the bunk and landing on his feet, offering a hand to the blonde.

Though Sora was a bit taller than him, and bruised something fierce, Max didn't sense that he was intimidating in any way. Which was a good thing, considering who Sora reminded him of.

Max's roommate looked remarkably like Takashi, and, if he hadn't known that his old "friend" didn't have any male siblings, Max would have believed that Takashi and Sora were related.

"I'm Max," he told the blonde, his voice suddenly icy and thick. Max tried to swallow the lump in his throat as he thought of something more to say to Sora. "It's, uh... Nice to meet you, too. Where have you stayed the past... fuck, past month?"

[andou]

"I'm Max," He sounded kind of grumpy, like Sora's presence was bothering him. "It's, uh... Nice to meet you, too. Where have you stayed the past... fuck, past month?"

Sora laughed nervously, loosening his crooked bow tie and throwing it on his bunk. "Here and there. I sleep here sometimes, you're just sleeping when I get here... you snore." The blonde yawned, placing a hand under his un-tucked shirt and rubbing a sore bruise on his ribs from days ago. Max didn't need all the gruesome details.

"Takahashi." Sora breathed out, taking a seat on his bed, "That's my last name... if your were wondering... Max." Taking a well deserved lie down, Sora looked at the boy and smiled, "This first time I meet you and I look like hell. Sorry man."

[Max]

Sora yawned a rubbed at his side, slowly making his way to his bed. "You snore," he told Max, who grunted in response, not exactly sure if he did snore or not, and he didn't feel like arguing with Sora, either.

The blonde sat down on his bed, "Takahashi," he nearly whispered, tossing himself backward and laying down, smiling at Max. "That's my last name... if your were wondering... Max."

Max sighed quietly, relieved that the boy in front of him couldn't possibly be related to the fuck that helped ruin his teenage life. He felt instantly more at ease in Sora's presence, something about the bruised blonde was comforting to Max.

Bruised. Right.

"What the hell happened to you, if you don't mind..." Max trailed off, moving to straddle his - Sora's? - desk chair. "Me asking." The brown-haired boy wrinkled his nose. "You really do look like hell, no offense."

Max remembered the last time he had looked like that - a month ago, some of his bruises were still fading even now - and, if anyone had bothered to ask him what happened, he would have laughed and shrugged them off.

[andou]

Sora wasn't the embarrassed type. If he got the shit kicked out of him... he got the shit kicked out of him, he wasn't going to change the story to make him any more valiant that he really was. What was the point of lying anyway? The answer? There was no point, Max would find out through the grapevine eventually and it would probably be a completely different story by then so... why not just tell him the truth now.

"I don't mind you asking." Sora laughed, "I cuddled with a girl who had a boyfriend, boyfriend beat me up." He shrugged. He left out the parts like that the girl said her boyfriend was never ever coming back and he tried making her feel better but... it was better to look like a honest dirt bag than to look like a lying dirt bag pretending he was a good person. The story that he told Max was vague but truthful, the real story was long and it would sound way too rehearsed.

"You don't look too good yourself. I know fading bruises when I see 'em." Sora pointed to the slightly green yellow fading bruises on the other teen. "What's your story, Max? If you don't mind me asking~"

[Max]

Instinctively, and with an insane speed, Max reached for the bruise on his bicep, the ugly one that peeked out from beneath the sleeve of his t-shirt. No one had seen it before because he had never left his dorm room in a t-shirt, for fear of this exact situation unfolding.

Shit. Max sighed, his fingers ghosting over the mark that, even a month after the fight, still ached when poked and prodded at.

"What's your story, Max? If you don't mind me asking~" Sora questioned, his pointing finger still hovering in the air.

Shit.

The light-haired boy looked to the ground. He tried to find a reason to not tell Sora what he'd done before Aozora. Max racked his brain for a long moment, only to come up empty handed. There wasn't a reason - Sora had told him, hadn't he? 'Common Sinner's Courtesy' is what Satsuki had called it - someone explained their past transgressions to you, it was only polite to return the favor. Right?

"I... uh, I was abandoned -- or something, I don't remember it clearly --, then adopted into a nice, but shit-poor family." Max started from the beginning, not knowing where else to go from. "I wanted to go to this school for a long time, but couldn't afford it, and I was already mixed up in a really shitty crowd because I was bored. So, when I told them I needed money, they said they'd help, but only if I helped them out, too." Max swallowed hard, the lump back in his throat. "I did... a lot of stuff I'm really not proud of - sold drugs and sucked businessmen off in bathrooms, let them beat the shit out of me for fun - the usual, y'know," he chuckled humorlessly. "They gave me the money, I applied here, got accepted, left my old school, and now I'm... here -- avoiding going off campus and minding my own business, for the most part."

Max felt another small weight leave him - just like it had when he had told all of this to the bluish-haired girl in the hallway the other day - and decided that she had been right about getting this shit off of his chest. He rolled his shoulders, his hand still placed firmly on the huge bruise on his left arm.

Without thinking about it, Max added, "You look like you could be the brother of one the guys I hung out with, so I tensed up a bit when you came in. Sorry about that, didn't mean to come off cold."

[andou]

Sora nodded, placing his arms behind his head and looking at Max from the corner of his eye. "That's one hell of a story," Sora smiled bitterly, "Welcome to the abandoned kids club." He wasn't trying to be insensitive, but he would have hated if he told his own story and the other stared in pity at him. He got here didn't he? He's past all that shit and he's better now. Well.. Sora was assuming so.

"Gotta do what you gotta do right?" Sora grinned, propping himself onto one elbow and leveling Max with his blue eyes. "I got a little sister that I love waiting for me to come home, but I can't go back until I get a steady job so I can take care of her myself. But... That's nothing compared to your story." Swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, Sora sat up and cracked his back before looking back to Max.

"Nah, don't apologize. I thought you just instantly hated me. It wouldn't be the first time someone did." He grinned, hoping to lighten the mood. "So Max, how old are you? I'm a 17 year old dancer."

[Max]

Folding his arms on the back of the chair, Max leaned down and placed his chin on his forearm, sighing tiredly. The brown-haired boy felt about as tired as Sora looked, but, when the blonde spoke again, Max instantly snapped awake again.

An icy smile appeared on his roommate's lips. "Welcome to the abandoned kids club."

Oh. Max blinked at him -- once, twice, three times -- wondering if that was supposed to be funny. He didn't think it was, but that was mainly because Max didn't know him. Miscommunication was always a problem with Max -- he never believed what others found funny was actually very funny.

Max said nothing and let Sora continue.

"Gotta do what you gotta do right?" Sora grinned at him, swinging his legs over the side of his bed and sitting up. "I got a little sister that I love waiting for me to come home, but I can't go back until I get a steady job so I can take care of her myself. But... That's nothing compared to your story."

The other boy shrugged, watching his roommate curiously. Max couldn't really find anything he disliked about the boy -- which is relieving, don't get me wrong -- other than the way he spoke so flippantly about the past. Max didn't easily joke about things like that, but he had never spoken up when someone else did.

Sora was still talking. "So Max, how old are you? I'm a 17 year old dancer."

"I'm sixteen," Max told him, his head bouncing comically against his arm as he spoke, teeth clicking together quietly between words. "And I'm an actor, kind of." He shrugged again, uncertain of what else to say. "How'd you end up dancing?"

[andou]

Sora hated dwelling on his past. He didn't understand people who tried to do so either. What was the point anyway? People who live in the past, make their present miserable and don't believe that a future is possible. Sora refused to live a life in the past and joking about it was the only way he knew how to. His parents already fucked up his past, he wasn't going to let them touch the future, the future was his. Besides, if he always thought about that stuff he'd probably be beating the shit out of everyone that got in his way with all this stupid teen rage.

The blonde smiled at the younger boy, "Kind of?" he asked tilting his head.

How'd you end up dancing?"

He shrugged, "I've always liked dancing. It was probably the only thing that I've ever been good at. But that's probably not what you meant," Sora struggled, his charm failing him. Something was off today. "Some producer saw me dance once and asked me to be an extra in a movie, so when I saw that I could get money for being a professional dancer... I came here." He hoped that answer was sufficient.

"So," Sora said, his charming grin back on his face. He leaned forward onto his elbows and put his chin onto his bandaged hands. "How did you end up kind of acting?"

[Max]

Max ignored Sora's first question -- "Kind of?" --, listening instead while the blonde continued to talk. He didn't have much to say at the moment, and was content with just... listening. Sora seemed bored with listening to Max talk, anyway, and he was fine with that. Used to it.

Sora shrugged again, "I've always liked dancing. It was probably the only thing that I've ever been good at. But that's probably not what you meant. Some producer saw me dance once and asked me to be an extra in a movie, so when I saw that I could get money for being a professional dancer... I came here."

That sounded like the easy way to go about it. Max was jealous that someone had recognized Sora's talent, as opposed to having to shove it in everyone's faces, jumping and shouting "Look at me! Look at me!" like Max had. If he hadn't been so horribly persistent, Max didn't think he would be at Aozora.

He didn't want to think about that, either.

"So," Sora said, grinning like an idiot. He leaned forward onto his elbows and placed his chin in his bandaged -- Bandaged? How did I not notice that before? -- hands. "How did you end up kind of acting?"

Sighing, Max reached up to run a hand through his hair. How did he explain it without sounding like a cliché teenage fuck? He didn't know.

"This is going to sound really goddamn stupid," Max told the blonde boy, tilting his head as he spoke. "But I don't have a single idea of who I'm supposed to be. When I'm acting, I'm told who I'm supposed to be, so there's no confusion." Max exhaled hard, looking away from his roommate and out the window. "And I've kind of been hoping that I'd find someone I want to be instead of just..." -- Max gestured vaguely to himself -- "this shit. Does that even make sense?"

Max had no idea.

[andou]

"This is going to sound really goddamn stupid, But I don't have a single idea of who I'm supposed to be. When I'm acting, I'm told who I'm supposed to be, so there's no confusion." The younger boy breathed, looking away from him and at something out of the window. "And I've kind of been hoping that I'd find someone I want to be instead of just..." -- Max gestured vaguely to himself -- "this shit. Does that even make sense?"

Sora nodded, taking in Max's words. They made complete sense to him. "I don't think it's stupid," He smiled gently, finally deeming Max worthy of seeing his kinder side, "and it makes complete sense, but... I wouldn't be so quick to want to change who you are." Sora didn't know much about Max other than he has had a rough life and now he wanted to be someone other than himself... anyone other than himself. A sad thought, because... Sora liked the boy he saw sitting there.

"Presuming this, " Sora waved a hand toward Max gesturing to him, "is the real you, I wouldn't say you should change much. I like this Max." He probably shouldn't be talking so much about this boy he barely knew but... it seemed right to do, and he wasn't lying.

[Max]

"I don't think it's stupid," the blonde smiled at him, "and it makes complete sense, but... I wouldn't be so quick to want to change who you are." Sora told him, a genuine look in his eyes that caused Max to turn away again.

You sound like a Disney movie. Max wanted to hit himself. Internally snapping at someone that had just told him he didn't need to change himself was a stupid thing to do.

"Presuming this," waving his hand at Max, Sora continued, "is the real you, I wouldn't say you should change much. I like this Max."

Max hummed noncommittally, not knowing what to say to the blonde boy. Sneaking a peek at his roommate -- wondering if he was just kissing ass now --, Max regretted it immediately. The same glint was still in Sora's eyes, telling Max that he meant everything he had said.

The brunette boy sighed, leaning back to sit up. "This Max is a whiny cry-baby that runs away from his problems." he deadpanned, blinking at and motioning to Sora. "You, sir, have reasons for being here. I just wanted out." Max shrugged again. "Sorry to dump all this shit on you -- rough week."

[andou]

Yeah Sora was being a little cheesy today. Maybe it was because he missed being a big brother, or maybe he was just in a helpful mood... but he really wanted to help Max. Help was the wrong word. Sora didn't want to help. He just wanted to be a person that Max could be himself around.

"This Max is a whiny cry-baby that runs away from his problems. You, sir, have reasons for being here. I just wanted out. Sorry to dump all this shit on you -- rough week."

The blonde rubbed a band-aid on his eyebrow as he laughed gently, "1st thing, what is so god damn wrong about running from your problems? You see this?" he gestured to his battered body, "This shit is what happens when people face their problems. I mean, if ya wanna learn how to face your problems then I say go for it, but who cares if you don't? They're your problems, face them or not, it's your decision." Sora shrugged, seeming indifferent. He didn't mean to sound like he didn't care about Max, because this was Sora's special way of caring. "2nd thing. 'Wanting out' is a reason. A fucking awesome reason. Don't cast it off as nothing." There he went again... talking too much. He should probably learn how to listen better.

Sora waved off Max's apology, as if to wipe it out of the air before he could hear it. "Nah, don't worry about it, man. It's cool. We have roommie bonding to catch up on right?" He winked toward Max.

[Max]

The older boy pawed at his forehead, laughing. Max couldn't understand what was so funny but said nothing again, waiting for Sora to explain.

"First thing," Sora said, "what is so goddamn wrong about running from your problems? You see this?" he waved a hand over himself, reminding Max of how broken his roommate looked. "This shit is what happens when people face their problems. I mean, if ya wanna learn how to face your problems then I say go for it, but who cares if you don't? They're your problems, face them or not, it's your decision." Sora shrugged again. If it had been anyone else telling this to him, Max would have called them a dick and stormed out, but Sora still held that airy, genuine tone that told Max he needed to listen to what the blonde was saying.

Which he didn't do. He heard what Sora was saying, sure, watched him wink, but didn't take anything into his memory like he should have. This shit is what happens when people face their problems. This is what happened. Max knew that was what happened, he'd paid several times for trying to stand up for himself.

Standing up with shaky limbs, Max wrenched up his t-shirt, turning to show Sora the large, violent-looking purple bruise that had been taking up the left side of his body for nearly a month now. It was faded slightly around the edges, but the middle was still a deep bluish.

Max's voice was even, quiet, as he spoke. "I know what trying to face my problems gets me, but that doesn't make me feel like any less of a coward." He dropped his shirt again, sitting back down quickly with burning cheeks and trying to pretend that outburst hadn't been real -- nope, it didn't happen. Sora had already seen a few of his marks, it just felt like he was showing off now, starting a competition to see who was more banged up.

"Nah, don't worry about it, man. It's cool. We have roomie bonding to catch up on, right?" That's when Sora had winked. Okay. At least Max had caught that much from the blonde.

The younger boy shrugged. "Sure, what did you have in mind?" Max almost added a joking warning about cuddling with him and the dangers of his boyfriend -- to try to lighten the mood because I opened my fucking mouth again --, but thought better of it, smirking solemnly at his hands.