When Midnight Jokes Become Real

That line of thinking would only work if he was expecting a kiss to happen in the first place. Which he arguably had no reason to. Not many options sure, but no one was saying the guy had to do that in the first place.

He would snort at the answer he received. ''I'm sure you don't want it all over your table. I'd be reaching for anything more or less blind since I have my back to the table.'' He wasn't feeling that adventurous yet, despite all the drinking happening. It would just be a hassle if things got spilled everywhere or broke. Talk about a way to kill the mood. Or such.

"Heh. No I don't, but it doesn't have to be that way," he said and then shifting a bit both to not disturb the guy too much in his positioning and also to see over the guy's side, the demon scanned the table before looking back at the other. "I can't reach the bottle, but I can reach my glass and there is still half in there if you want it."

''That's on you I guess. If you want me to be drinking more, go ahead.'' He couldn't do much anyway, unless he moved off. But he didn't feel like doing that right now, and he technically wouldn't die without the drink either. So he was in no serious hurry at the end of the day. Whatever the other felt like doing.

"Hmm. It is tempting; however, I think I'll let you determine when you want a drink or not. I ain't being responsible for getting you drunk," the demon said with a light chuckle. He was mostly playing with that last part, but seriously. He did not want to be responsible for what the other did. It was his choice to drink or not after all.

''As if half a glass was going to get me super drunk all of a sudden.'', he would huff, resting his chin on top of the demon's head. ''You're no fun.'' He seemed to be half-complaining, but he didn't sound mad or anything like that at the very least. Honestly though, if he had a problem with the drink, he wouldn't have brought it up to begin with...and even if the guy did give it to him, he could still choose whether he drank it or not himself. Unless the other thought he had to feed him or something. So, what exactly would the guy be responsible for anyway? It's not like it would be forced or such. And in case he did say he wanted it and did manage to get drunk from it...well, technically speaking, the demon would still be the one who willingly handed it over without protesting the idea. All in all, it would be no different either way.

"Well I never know what is the tipping of the scale for ya," the demon would say, his ears flattening slightly as the other rested his head on top of his. He wasn't sure where the guy was going with this, but at the same time he wasn't really thinking to hard on the matter as he let out a very soft purr not seeming to mind the action at all as he continued to hold the other.

"Maybe that is true, then again maybe it is not," the demon would somewhat teasing the other. He could be fun if he wanted to be, but this time around just choose to play it chilled. He wasn't going to fight the other on the matter because in the end, he was what he was and whether the other except that or not was up to him. Besides, as fun as the idea of getting the drink was for the demon, he was actually okay with just holding the other for now and didn't seem to want to stop doing that, so there was that too...

''Assuming I am not already.'' Well, at least he wasn't being too grumpy about it? It was kind of hard to tell though, probably. As for what he was aiming for...not anything specific, although he was not necessarily trying to just sit and sleep there either. ''That's what you say...'' It was kind of a little boring however. Unlike the other, he was not pretty much always okay with just cuddling and doing nothing. There were times, sure, but the other seemed to be okay with that all the time without fail, and it did do well at giving him twitchy fingers here and there.

"Heh. I see," the demon said, his manner remaining chilled as always. And it seemed that maybe that might actually be a problem. While the demon remained more or less still under the other he did, catch onto the other's words and energy as one ear twitched slightly as he swished his tail.

"So I did. Though I wonder, if I am not too chilled for your liking. You mentioned I am no fun, so I'd think you are bored, no?" the demon would ask as his ear twitched again. Though it seemed the ear just liked to twitch on its own hear and there or maybe the other's hair was tickling it. Regardless it didn't seem like the demon was upset with the matter unfolding, his body language remaining quite relaxed.

''And if I am, then what?'' What would the other do about that? Nevertheless, he was not going to do anything besides giving his answer for the time being. Although technically, there wasn't all that much he could do in his position anyway. Outside of maybe trying to squish the other. Hmm...

"Well then perhaps we should figure out how to alleviate that. Didn't invite ya over just to bore to death." And that was the truth. He wasn't trying to bore the other, but honestly the demon was unsure what to do. He could try something and risk things, but what could he even do that could engage the other?

He would just blink, furrowing his brows slightly. Perhaps he was a little doubtful there, seeing how much of a fail most of the 'figure out how to' sessions tended to be. Then again, he wasn't going to tell the guy to stop, because that would arguably still be the worse option to take. After a moment of thinking, he would just huff slightly, running a hand through his hair before moving to get off the other. ''Well, feel free to give it a thought if you want to. Meanwhile, I'll go to the bathroom for a second.'' Which he would proceed to do, unless the demon stopped him for whatever reason.

The demon would see the look given, but for the most part would return it with a rather sheepish smile. He kind of understood that the other didn't have much faith in the whole "figuring it out session" and maybe that is because that had happened one too many times. Perhaps it was one of those circles the other was speaking about earlier, but what else was he to do?

Well it seemed like the other was about to give him some time to think since he excused himself to go the bathroom. "Alright," the demon would say as he let the other go do his business. As soon as the guy was off his lap and kind of gone the demon would grab his glass and while he didn't typically drink fast, he would drain the half he had left for now before moving to close the pizza box for now.

Well, perhaps it was. And perhaps it wasn't even so much about a lack of faith, as it was about what it implied. If anything, he didn't quite have a huge interest in sitting there and having a long-ass talk about what the other needed to do. Which was typically how most of these went. A lot of bark, but no real bite in the end. While he didn't mind some discussion over things here and there, and could get into it when in the right mood, sometimes he really wished that it could be as simple as just trying something out hands on and seeing if it worked instead of killing the mood with conversation about it. By the time it did get to maybe doing something, he would likely already not feel like it anymore. His state of mind/mood could fluctuate pretty quickly at times after all. And he did tend to be less engaged when the other side wasn't really into it themselves. It was kind of like...okay, maybe it's best to just give it up...

Internal woes aside, the demon would have approx a few minutes to himself there, before he walked back onto the scene. He wouldn't really say much for the time being though, as he moved to sit back on his own chair this time around.

About time the other got back from the bathroom, the pizza box would be closed for now and he would be in the middle of pouring another glass of liquid. As the other came back and sat in his chair, the demon would take a sip of the liquid as he observed for a moment his eyes narrowing, slightly as he brought the other into more focus.

"Mmm..Prefer a chair over mah lap?"

An odd question and maybe even out of place, but the demon didn't seem to be slurring or anything, so whether he had an idea or if it was the drink finally working on him in a way, one would not be able to tell just from observing him.

He would tilt his head slightly, before shrugging a bit. ''Well, what's really the difference?'' No offense of course, but all he was apparently doing on either was just sitting anyway. And at least here, he could reach things on the table whenever he felt like it, while being on the other kind of just made him a sitting duck. It did feel a bit pointless unless he could also do something interesting enough while there....or maybe if it was in a different setting. Like doing that when on the couch and at least having a TV to watch or something. Sure...he could sit and do nothing for longer periods of time and just busy himself thinking, but wouldn't that be a buzzkill considering they didn't necessarily do this all just to have each of them do their own thing and stare into space? ''Besides, now I can actually reach things.'' Speaking of which, he would go refill his glass too...

The demon's eyebrows would furrow. "Well for one, a chair ain't warm nor can it talk or do things to ya," the demon said wiggling his hands and not seeming to care if he came off creepy or not. In any case, he'd eventually let his hands drop to grasp the edge of the table the first four fingers on each hand lightly drumming the table as he leaned forward a bit being careful of his own drink.

"Well that is one benefit ta havin' a chair, I suppose. Closeness does make it a bit harder to juggle things, but it can be done," the demon said before pausing to take another sip of his drink.

He would raise an eyebrow. ''I'm not cold, we can talk from any distance, and you weren't doing a whole lot there.'' As in, your point? That said, what he said was true in a sense. It wasn't like he needed extra heat in this weather, so that one wasn't a win-over point. Talking could easily happen regardless of where he sat as long as they were withing decent distance of each other. And the guy had been doing little outside of keeping his hands rested on him pretty much...which he wasn't going to go heads over heels for by itself. ''Well, I'm not trying to break my neck for nothing after all. Maybe you'd need to give me a good reason to want to make things harder for myself.'' It was a lot simpler to stick with the chair based on previous happenings at least. That said, he would take hold of his own glass, although not drinking just yet. He could afford to take some time anyway, seeing as he was on the 3rd glass already.

The demon would blink a bit, surprisingly not very ruffled as he heard the comment. "Well no the only thing I did was kiss ya and hold ya." Things the demon was fine with, but apparently they didn't work for the other. It was true they weren't physically engaging, but for the demon at least they were a form of engagement... "I can't say you don't care for that stuff, but I can't say that you like it either. Don't take this as me trying to be negative or anything, but I find it really hard to do what you ask me to do. You say just try or do, but at the same time every time I do, I seem to miss something and then when I am doing something small I fail spectacularly for some reason or another," the demon would shift to grab his drink as one arm came to rest across the the table while the other was propped up holding the drink. "You are very confusing and to be honest. I am running out of ideas of what I can do with ya," the demon would say before pausing to take a swallow of his drink. Leaning his head against his arm, he would look at the other, his left eye narrowing.

"A good reason. Hmph..." The demon would repeat the words softly, but didn't say much else after that seeming to be thinking as he watched the other go through the motion of getting a third glass. Well the demon at least didn't seem agitated or being overly negative with the words he was saying, so perhaps this was good?

Well, yes, but the kiss happened only once, and as nice as holding was, that alone wasn’t going to keep him there with all the cons floating around. Besides, the chair setting wasn’t that greatly comfortable anyway. After all, a chair isn’t normally meant to properly hold two grown up people on in. Sooner or later, he would have likely sought to get off regardless of how their interactions went there. That said, it wasn’t necessarily about some super extra physical engagement either. Just…maybe something beyond a simple ‘hug’ which he would forget he was even part of after a few minutes since nothing was reminding him of it? Considering how there was no other entertainment by the table, it did seem like it needed a bit more spice to be interesting enough.

He would huff slightly when he heard the words spoken. ‘’That’s…the thing though. It’s true that I come off as neutral towards most things, but I’m not getting mad at your or telling you, you can’t do this or that, am I? I don’t really dislike it in a negative sense…I’d say the biggest turn off is actually you shrinking away or stopping to mull over everything the moment it doesn’t go as smoothly as it could. It’s not like I mind an occasional small fail. It’s not going to kill us. But when things come to a screeching halt almost every time things don’t follow though the best way, it does kind of kill the mood, don’t you think?’’ He would shrug lightly there. And when that happened, he wasn’t really sure what to do either. He couldn’t just pretend to be sunny about it to avoid the guy thinking it was going badly, because that would just crash eventually…and if he didn’t, well, they ended up here, as the demon started getting caught up in questioning what to do too hard once again. Lose-lose, apparently. Hmmm.

‘’And well…I think everyone who isn’t your copy would be confusing in some way. That doesn’t need to mean that unless you get a super happy reaction, you need to start re-evaluating everything each time though…’’ If he had a big problem with things, he would be obvious about that. Though right now, the biggest issue was the whole start-stop train that kept happening. That aside, he would just hum faintly when the demon echoed his words about reason a bit later, this time taking a small gulp from his glass as he watched in silence for a while.

The demon would watch the other with calm eyes, surprisingly not flaring or anything of that nature as the other spoke his piece. With a blink the demon would shift in his chair, leaning back as he picked up the glass he had and took a sip from it as he stood up.

“Well, I can agree there,” he would say and pausing he would drain a bit more of the liquid taking the cup down to half point before settling it on the table. Then moving from the table he’d would move towards the center of the room before settling down carefully making sure not to tilt himself over as he stretched out his legs. He’d lean back a bit on his arms, his tail flicking, but his gaze remaining on the other at the table.

“We don’t like stop and go either unless we are on a road trip or something and honestly this doesn’t seem like one. While it does seem I am throwing in the towel or taking this negatively, I think the thing is, I still trying to figure you out. You don’t respond in normal ways, so I can’t read you or assume that a reaction is similar to the standards. So I find myself trying and then taking a step back and then trying again. It doesn’t seem like that on the surface, but trust me the dance is much more complex and elegant in my head than I can actually put out. If I tried to replicate the dance in my head, I’d probably look like a bird hopping around trying to court a mate that is just unimpressed, but at the same time not because they haven’t flown off yet.”

The demon would look down a bit at that one shaking his head, a small amused smile on his face rather than despair. Huh. How curious.

He would give the guy a slightly odd look when he went and flopped down on the floor, but wouldn’t comment on it out loud for the given moment. ‘’I’m not sure how much that actually matters. We’re not birds, nor does it look that way in reality anyway. That said…I don’t mind the idea of taking a step back once in a while, but I feel like it happens a bit too much here. You say you get confused by my reactions, while I’m starting to sometimes get confused about how determined to push through you really are when you just keep going back and forth all the time. If I were someone else, I might have already decided to give up on this due to being frustrated about you pulling back or not going all the way though with things so often or something like that.’’ He would frown mildly, thinking. Well, that’s not to say everyone would, but he could see that happening in case that type of behavior was coupled with a lack of clear communication. After all, who wants to be just hopped around all the time? Birds maybe, but they were far from being any species of a bird, were they not? It doesn’t quite apply the same way to every being. To be honest…he’d admit that he most likely would be rather unimpressed by having someone just dance around him, simply due to the act itself. If you want something, come and get/take it, don’t just wiggle around the proverbial safe line. He really didn’t mind a more headstrong approach, as long as it wasn’t done to be purposefully mean or such. A bit of intensity could be interesting. He had his chill moments, sure, but too much of that stuff could cause him to just look around for a more entertaining sight.

‘’And no…I suppose I’m not very much in the standard, but perhaps all you need to do is shift it a bit? I think I’m just a bit more passive when it comes to reacting, so you could move the whole scale lower, probably. My reaction is usually better than what it seems like, I’m just not that expressive.’’ A neutral reaction from him could easily be what should have been at least a mildly good one. He didn’t jump through the roof super easily, even if he felt that way on the inside. And when he seemed mad, it probably wasn’t as bad as it appeared, again. It was kind of moved a notch down, for everything. Well, that was that for now, so he would move back to sipping on his drink while he waited for any kind of response from the other.

The demon would sigh inwardly as he looked back up at the other listening to what he said. His lips were surprisingly sealed as he let the other say his piece. As he listened his tail would flick and the demon’s eyes would occasionally drift elsewhere; however, he was attentive as hinted by his the direction of his ears (tilted in the direction of the other's voice) and the fact his eyes did return to the other here and there. And when the other finally became quiet again?

The demon would tilt his head slightly, his expression hard to read. “No...we aren’t birds and I suppose they don’t matter in the end,” he would begin quietly and then blinking he would actually lay on his back on the floor and look up at the ceiling. “I assume you think I am not determine or serious because my behavior always ends  in the negative zone or uncertain waters. I admit I can be bold when I want to, but more often than not I am cautious. Maybe overly so. And to be honest, I am probably the most frustrating person, you’ll have the displeasure of knowing. But that is how I am. I have my issues and flaws. The fact I am not doing everything in my power to hide these things should be sign enough that I am dead serious about this. I don’t show things just because.  As  determination, I am still here taking the beatings and haven’t backed down, so I honestly don’t know what else to do to prove or show that I am actually trying here.” The demon would close his eyes.  “Look I know I keep hopping around...and I can’t say it will or will not get better. I have work to do on myself and I’ve told you before I am a mess. I am not using my flaws as an excuse or anything, I...am just doing the best I can as I am….I just...Heh. Need to shut up. My rambling is probably not enjoyable anyway,” the demon would shake his head at that one before his eyes reopened. No matter what he said it was going to sound bad, so why keep digging himself into a whole and making it stressful for the other? Anyway…

The demon's tail would swat the ground lightly in thought. “Maybe. Or maybe I just need to shut down thinking completely. It seems to get in the way of everything,” the demon would say as he rubbed his a bit with a slight chuckle.

Sigh. This again? Honestly, it was starting to get way too repetitive for his liking. On top of the fact that the point apparently kept flying over the other’s head. Either that, or the demon got a kick out of putting himself down and believing everything was a hit at him specifically. He didn’t get what the guy wanted anyway. Ok, so the other wanted to know why his attempts weren’t working etc. etc., and when he did give an answer? It just came down to this, pretty much every time. What was the point of it though? It wasn’t like hearing about it over and over was suddenly going to change his preferences towards things and make everything peachy. It isn’t like he didn’t get it either. But what? He couldn’t just turn upside down and start liking the way the guy went about things on spot. It wasn’t going to happen no matter how many times they went through this conversation, no matter how he answered to it. That’s kinda like….if someone hated a certain type of food, but the other person kept only cooking them that, and saying that it was the only thing they knew how to make and wanting to be shown appreciation for it. Well, sorry but even if I accept the fact, I’m still not going to like it? There isn’t really a way around that. Not without some things changing at least.

He would just shake his head, not saying anything at first, instead focusing on emptying up his glass so that it wouldn’t distract him anymore for the moment. Once he did that, he would rub the bridge of his nose slightly with his eyes closed. ‘’I should probably start keeping a tally of how many times you’ve already told me this in various forms….Look, I KNOW, okay? But that alone isn’t going to change things. Nor does this have anything to do with me not understanding that you’re trying. This isn’t about that at all. I just can’t change what I like and what I don’t at the snap of a finger. I don’t think anything about you. I’m simply telling you what doesn’t really do it for me. It is what it is, but just because you are being serious in your mind, it isn’t going to automatically mean I will enjoy your method of showing it. You’re the one always wondering about why I react the way I do and all that, but you repeating this stuff more or less every time I give you some sort of answer and talk to you isn’t going to do some magic fix there. What do you want me to do? Pretend I like all of your attempts so you don’t feel like I don’t actually appreciate anything you do? Because honestly, sometimes I feel like that’s what I would have to do to make this apologize and beatdown circle to stop for once.’’ What was going to come out of putting this out there all the time anyway? It isn’t going to up and fix itself by the time it gets said a certain number of times or something. It only starts grating the ears eventually. Besides, how should he feel about it, considering the other keeps wanting to let him know so many times as if he wasn’t getting it or something. Repeating stuff gets tiring. He wouldn’t even really talk so much about things himself if it wasn’t for the demon falling down into the questioning hole so often, or any of the like….

The demon would hear the other’s words as he spread his arms to either side of him and stared at the ceiling. "Heh. I knew it…” the demon would mutter to himself and then with a light groan, he’d roll to his side and then get to his feet as he drifted back to the table and standing by his chair, he’d grab his glass and he take the moment to drain it before settling the glass back down as his free hand moved to grab the bottle. He’d pour another half, but instead of draining it, he’d hold it one hand as he looked at the other, his eyes narrowing.

“And see, I get that you get that. Yes I repeat a lot, but not all of it is trying to make a point. I do ramble and while my words are not always...mmmm….” the demon would pause as his eyebrows furrowed a bit as he swayed slightly as he thought. “Nice or positive. Do not think for one second I am tossing things out of the window, not hearing ya or considering what you say. Don’t mistaken my pessimism for giving up, whining, or seeking to break you through pity tactics. I understand clearly you are going to stand firm where you are and that is fine. I hear feedback even if my own responses aren’t great or fluid or seem stuck in some type a spiral,” the demon would say keeping his eyes on the other his expression the most serious it had been all day. “And no. The worse thing you can do is humor the behavior by pretending it’s alright. I much rather we have fights and struggles than try and paint over something that cannot be painted over. You don’t have to do anything different. Except understand that I lean towards pessimism versus optimism when it comes to struggles, but even so. That doesn’t mean I am not making a step forward. Yes it seems I am running all over the place and maybe to someone who is more straightforward, I am.” The demon’s expression would soften slightly. “I understand frustrating and I may seem like a terrible weight threatening to sink you, but I do hear you so please just….bear with me okay?”  Sometimes people tried to pull others up, other times people just let go and swam off leaving one to drown, but Rika? Rika was already drowned so it was best to let him float and figure his own way back to life….trying too hard to pull the sort of case that Rika was would only drown the one trying to save him.

‘’Then why? I honestly don’t get what am I supposed to say then. It doesn’t seem to matter what I say anyway, since we always come a full circle back to this regardless. If I’m not supposed to think this or that, or really do anything, then why are we always talking about this again and again? That's exactly how these things are going to happen, because you can't really expect to not get opinions like that sooner or later when it's being put out there periodically.’’, he would frown. ‘’I don’t really care about the pessimism and that stuff…I just hate not doing anything. Honestly, if this keeps being brought up over and over, while you always tell me to just eat it and sit, I am going to seriously go insane. It’s…why are we even doing this all the time then?’’ It didn’t even make sense. If the go to solution was meant to be him being a soundboard for the demon’s rambles and whatnot, he wasn’t sure how long he could handle that. While he didn’t mind listening once in a while, this was a little bit too much even for him. And he partially didn’t get it anyway. Why keep stuffing it into my ears so often when you don’t want me to do shit about it? He wasn’t really the type of person who was okay with sitting on their butt and nodding to everything no matter what it was. One day, he was going to throw something at the guy. And honestly, he didn’t even see this as fighting anymore. It was starting to edge into the lame territory at this point. If it’s not supposed to be getting fixed asap, why keep dissecting it day in and day out? It wasn’t exactly the type of conversation he wanted to have three times a day for absolutely no reason in the end.

He would sigh, rubbing his temples slightly. ‘’I think I’m seeing stars now….’’