Sora dropped his hands back down to his sides upon receiving the response, but not before giving a small fist pump in his victory. He honestly didn’t get the chance to speak to Joshua all that much while in Traverse Town; the brunet was so caught up in assisting Neku that their conversations were generally kept brisk.

“Sounds good to me!” Who even knows where Neku is, anyway. “This place is so big, I’m pretty sure I’d get lost without you.”

He raised his eyebrows a little, at the other’s apparent enthusiasm, before sighing lightly. Really, it seemed Sora could get excited about anything. It was kind of endearing, really.

“You may get lost even with me.” He murmured, dropping his cell phone back into his pocket. “Make sure you stay close. We wouldn’t want you to get lost in the crowd, after all.  Who knows if you’d ever see the light of day again.” He was teasing, of course, and his tone made that plain, but it was a bit of a serious concern, given that the crowds here were so large and Sora was unused to them.

“So, what kind of place would you like to visit first? There’s arcades, restaurants if you’re hungry...” There was also, of course, the Dead God’s Pad but...no, he wouldn’t bring Sora down there. Not unless he got badly injured or something.

“Life’s little crossroads are often as simple as the pull of a trigger.”

“But I’m going to. Because, well, I-I want to.” He buried his face in his shirt collar, not wanting his blush to be seen. Why he even cared he didn’t know. It just felt wrong to see Joshua like this.

He let go of the hand to rub at the demigod’s shoulders, as if he could massage whatever was worrying him away. “You’re my friend. I’m not leaving when you seem upset, even if I suck at cheering people up.”

“...” He bristled a little when Neku rubbed at his shoulder, before sighing a little and relaxing, letting his eyes flutter shut. It didn’t feel bad, after he got over the initial shock of Neku touching him so...intimately. Was this intimate? It certainly felt like it. But it was also...relaxing, and so he gave himself over to the unfamiliar feelings. 

“I’m not upset. I’m just tired, like I said.” He murmured, leaning a little into the redhead’s touch, “It’s...tiring, being Composer. It takes quite a bit out of you.”

Neku’s friendship with Joshua, if you could even call it that, was an unorthodox one to say the least. Which shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, all things considering. The surprising part was that the two managed to get along at all, really. And yeah, their initial reunion hadn’t necessarily been a very nice one, but after all of the drama and yelling (mostly on Neku’s end, admittedly) things were almost… normal.

And perhaps “normal” wasn’t really the best way to describe it, but it was the only word Neku could think of to associate with the whole mess. Things were a bit like they were during that second week except, maybe, a bit more strained than before. It was hard for it not to be, what, with how many questions were left unanswered. But Neku tried not to think about it too much. The more he did, the angrier he got and, honestly, at this point, he was sick of being angry.

There were times, though, when the two of them went weeks, and even months, sometimes (which was the case here) without seeing or contacting each other. Neku didn’t mind. It was just how they were. What he did mind, though, was how much time it gave him to think and to regret.

Recently he found himself wondering about it all again. Wondering how in the world he could ever have found himself buddying around with the guy that shot him dead and put him through hell with no explanation for three weeks straight. Wondering why he found himself so goddamn thankful towards the person who had done so much to him. It was days like this where he really started to hate himself for it all.

So, when he found his eyes drifting through the loud, monotonous crowd of Shibuya’s denizens only to wind up meeting the gaze of the exact asshole he was thinking about, all he could do was stop in his tracks and grind his teeth together for a little while before he finally managed to grumble out a cold sounding “Hey.”

Even now, months after they had...come to a sort of reconciliation, Joshua still had a hard time believing him and Neku were...truly friends. How could they be? Joshua had betrayed him so viciously, and he was still...well, God of this city. He could never truly fit in with the rest of Neku’s friends. Not that he really had any interest in that, of course Neku could hang around with them and they could ignore Joshua to their hearts content. Joshua didn’t particularly care.

Neku, though...even now, after not seeing him for months, he still felt a...connection with him, a trust, an understanding. It was difficult to explain, as he had never felt it before. Neku was his friend. He had never called anyone a friend before, except for perhaps Sanae, but...the two of them could never truly trust each other with everything, and so there was always that distance.

He wondered, sometimes, if Neku regretted his decision to start talking to him after the game, to even reach some kind of unspoken friendship. He wasn’t a very good friend, after all. He was often busy with the city, or the Game, or the Reapers. He had responsibility. So he couldn’t be around to hang out with friends that often. Even now, even though he was walking around, he was patrolling the city, checking for any inconsistencies, he still wasn’t really off the clock, as some would say.

Though it was a huge jolt to see Neku again. All he had done was glance up, and there was the redhead currently occupying his thoughts, standing right in front of him, staring at him with unwavering sapphire eyes.

“Oh, hello there, Neku.” He gave his trademark giggle, flipping a few locks of his hair back, “my, if I had known I was going to run into you, I would’ve dressed up a little more...I hate to be unimpressive, after all.”

Sora placed his hands behind his head, bouncing back lightly on his heels with a smile. He didn’t mind coming across Joshua of all people, even if he was mostly looking for Neku first. Still; a friend was a friend, and he supposed since he found Joshua first, he’d hang around him first as well.

“Yeah, it’s pretty cool actually!” Even if he wasn’t too familiar with being around such large amounts of people, it wasn’t particularly unpleasant. The brunet’s gaze traveled across the crowds for a moment, before Joshua’s last comment caught his attention again. “Huh? Why not you? Are ya busy?”

He tensed slightly when Sora asked him that, glancing up with puzzlement darting through his eyes. Hmm. He’d been certain that Sora would want to see Neku or Beat, maybe even Rhyme or Shiki. In fact he was surprised the other had talked to him for this long. Perhaps it was something to do with his strong heart, as Sanae had mentioned. He glanced back at his phone after a moment, replying as he typed..

“...Well, no, I’m not busy. I suppose I could show you around, if you wanted me too, instead of Neku.” He smirked a little at that, “I do know all the best places to be in Shibuya, after all.”

It was nice knowing he wasn’t the only one with no clue what to do. He was making this up as he went along, unsure if a demigod would appreciate the same thing as a human.

Really, he was doing what he guessed he wished people would have done for him without him flat out needing to ask for it.

The lack of snark was growing more worrisome with each passing minute. Black wings curled forward and encircled Joshua as Neku reclaimed his hand.

“… I-I’m not going to leave, if that helps. Not until you stop feeling… tired… partner.”

He honestly had no clue what to do, either. He...wasn’t used to affection, and his analytical brain was going ballistic trying to figure out why Neku would ever want to show him this type of affection. The shock of it was almost suffocating, overwhelming, so much so that his breath actually hitched when Neku took his hand. He frowned a little, and didn’t squeeze back, looking away and letting his bangs fall into his eyes again.

“...I...you don’t have to stay.” He shook his head slightly, feeling something jolt inside him when Neku called him partner...he really was on edge with all this affection, if he was feeling things like that.

“Oh, hey Joshua! I was just dropping by to say hi, really!” Good thing it didn’t take too long to find him. “I’m on a small break, so I thought I’d visit you guys.”

“...Is that so.” He murmured, casually letting his finger slip down from his chin. To see Sora after all the other had done for him was...strange, to say the least. He felt a certain protectiveness for the other, rather akin to seeing an innocent stray puppy. He sighed a little, flipping open his phone.

“...Shibuya is a busy and crowded place, as I’m sure you’ve noticed.” He flitted his eyes up from his phone at that, “I could ask Neku or Beat to show you around so you don’t get lost, if you like.” After all, even if Sora was kind and selfless, there was no way he’d rather be lead around Shibuya by Joshua.

“Tired.”

No. Neku wasn’t the best with people and he especially wasn’t good with Joshua, but he could tell the statement was a lie. It was too melancholy. Distant. Very un-Joshua.

Which was why, when the glass was pushed aside, Neku’s thumb rubbed against soft skin as the Reaper stood and lead the Composer to one of the couches. Even if it made him blush he tugged Joshua into his lap, giving a somewhat awkward hug.

“You’re not tired.”

Tired had been the best word he could think of at the moment, but there were other’s that fit. Lonely. Exhausted. Melancholy, even. But he would never admit that to anyone, let alone to Neku Sakuraba. He glanced up and blinked in surprise, though, when Neku began to lead him off somewhere.

“Ah...what are you--?”

He was cut off from his questions when Neku pulled him into his lap, wrapping his arms around him. He felt his body freeze, tense, with the sudden contact and intimacy. Joshua...was not used to either of those things, and he had absolutely no idea how to react. Especially when he was getting such attention from Neku Sakuraba of all people.

“...Tired...was the best word I could think of.” He managed to choke out, too exhausted and shocked to think of something snarky to say.

That tone… No, lack of. There was no snark, no pride, no smug playfulness. It made Neku frown, going tense as wings perked. The tightening of the hand holding his didn’t go unnoticed.

Joshua wasn’t exactly human, but he had the form of one and that gave away all the tells the Reaper needed to see to know something was off.

He sipped his drink again, glancing at Joshua and not missing how he hid his eyes. Curse being antisocial. He had no idea what to say or do.

He could try though.

Neku squeezed the hand in his again, his other adjusting his pins before he telekinetically grabbed another glass and set it in front of the Composer. “… Wanna talk about it?”

He glances up at the reaper’s offer, surprise glinting briefly in his lilac eyes. The cup in front of him was also a surprise. Almost instinctively, he raises his hand and pushes the glass aside, shaking his head slightly, his other hand still firmly twined with Neku’s.

“...Not really. There’s not much to talk about. I guess I’m just...Tired.”

Tired was probably the best way to put it, as it wasn’t really a lie. He just wouldn’t elaborate on why he was tired, not even if Neku pestered him about it for hours.

He got like this, sometimes. It couldn’t be helped. Or, that’s what Sanae said, anyway. That the loneliness and isolation would get to him, though he didn’t think it would gnaw at him so greatly, that he would come down here,  out of the blue, and take his only friend’s hand.

At that thought he wondered idly if Sanae still counted as a friend. He wasn’t sure, even now.

“...No reason, really.”

His voice lacked the usual snarky tone it usually had as he squeezed the other’s hand a little tighter, the loneliness of before being so suffocating he never wanted to go back to it. It seemed softer, more vulnerable, as he let his bangs fall across his eyes, blocking them from Neku’s view in case he glanced over to try and read his motivations.

“H-Hey, shut up! I’m at least trying to understand, even if apparently it’s for the wrong reasons.” Ulg, his face was heating up. He did want to know Joshua as a person, but Joshua made it irritatingly difficult to like him. Didn’t help that, as the Composer had pointed out, Neku wasn’t very social.

It was almost comical how his wings flapped rapidly to show off his irritation. The things had a mind of their own, always seeming to give away how he was feeling at any given moment.

He still didn’t really know what exactly they were. All he’d been told was that their size and shape was determined by his power and that he had a lot of it.

Really, the offer Joshua gave only worsened his blushing. “No way! Way too much responsibility. And not enough fun. I can’t fuck with the assholes that deserve to be erased if I’m cooped up doing your job. And if we’re both stuck here, then how are you going to get your treats from outside Shibuya?”

“It’s also rude to tell people to shut up. Really, Neku, I thought you would learn some courtesies, at least.” He giggled again, glancing up, “really, I think I deserve an apology, hmm?”

For as observant as he was, he didn’t notice Neku’s wings flapping. He really didn’t like looking at Neku’s wings. It wasn’t that he thought they were hideous or monstrous or anything....looking at him just made him...again, almost mournful. So he focused his gaze on the paper in front of him instead, weaving words together on the page as he spoke.

“It was a joke, dear. After all, if you took my job, you’d have to erase me. I don’t think either of us want that.”

A quick and dirty RP policy guide

“I dunno. You looked kinda bummed out,” He said nonchalantly. “I gots two ears for a reason, after all.”

He frowned up at the other, a slightly puzzled look on his face...he didn’t understand the aura that surrounded the boy, almost as if he were glowing, like something within him was struggling to burst out...light...or...something...

...Whatever. He was used to seeing weird things. He tossed his head and decided to ignore the other’s strange appearance.

“Again, I don’t see why you would care if I looked upset. It’s none of your business, really.”

“Ooooh, burn, yo. I’m gonna need some emergency ice.”

“What’s up, little man?”

“..” Briefly, he stares at the other almost curiously, before scoffing and looking back at the ground.

“Nothing’s ‘up’, and even if it was, I have no idea why it would be any of your business.”