IF YOU WERE A PARTY, I'D BE THE PILLS / private, luca

[ANDRAS]

once everyone left him alone, rinto had time to think in his hut on the beach. he had organized his belongings meticulously, trying to distract himself. he sorted alphabetically, and then by size, and then by color, then by how much he liked each item. he ran out of ways to sort his three items and he sighed, defeated. rinto couldn't stop thinking about luca. everyone else was nice, sure, and he appreciated them not eating him, but luca was kind and graceful, yet enticing. rinto couldn't help but think they had known each other before, somewhere. he didn't really believe in reincarnation or anything like that, so he couldn't articulate the reason why he felt like he needed to be something to him.

rinto had difficulty sleeping, despite the warm sand and the gentle purr of the ocean's waves. he managed to sleep, and woke up tired. he had to do something about this cancer in his heart. this desire to be close to luca. he took the rest of the hard candy he had brought from home and put it in his backpack, shoving on his socks and reapplying a few bandages. he trotted out into the early morning, seeing the sun rise. he didn't know where luca would be, and so not thinking straight, rinto went to the right of the middle of the beach and loudly announced "hey! does anybody know where luca is? i'm looking for him!" he was tired and yet all he could think about was luca.

[Luca]

Luca found Rinto in his thoughts as well. He spent the night awake, curled up on the pile of pillows he called his bed and trying fruitlessly to get some rest. Unlike Rinto, Luca fully believed in the concept of reincarnation. His life was a constant cycle of death and rebirth, one he had been trying to escape for decades now. No matter what he did, however, he never managed to stay dead for long. He stared blankly at his wall as he tried to figure out where he had seen Rinto before, tossing and turning occasionally as he tried to figure things out. It wasn't uncommon for him to spend the night awake, but he was still a little surprised to see the first rays of light as they shone in through his window. He pulled himself to his paws and looked out at the sunride, blinking blankly at the shoreline.

That's about when he heard his name being shouted outside. Luca's ears pricked and he made his way towards his door, pushing it open and stepping outside to find the source of the call. It wasn't too hard to spot Rinto, considering he wasn't that far from Luca's hut itself, and the hellhound was quick to close the gap between them. He often told people that they were free to come to him with any concerns, but he wasn't quite used to people following up on it. "Need something?" Luca asked curiously as he approached, his eyes lingering on Rinto's adorable body. He found himself licking his lips, and then he returned his gaze to Rinto's face, flashing a quick half-smile.

[ANDRAS]

rinto waited patiently, standing there like an idiot. he begun to really think of the implications of his outburst- what if he woke people up and then everyone went to yell at him? it was too early to be yelling like this, he realized, and was immediately ashamed. even better, he couldn't even spot luca yet, and began to panic.

he quickly glanced around, pink eyes scanning the perimeter, when he saw a familiar being walk out of a hut. that was luca! he felt his heart beat quickening and he tried to calm himself down, breathing deeply. rinto was pathetic, he realized, closing his eyes. he was brand-new to this clan and already was madly in love with someone there. "luca!" he called out, running in the sand towards him. "h-hey, sorry to bother you so early, i just thought you'd-" luca smiled and it caught him off guard and he felt completely defenseless. he was putty in luca's paws. "aaah, i..." he didn't know what to say, clearly flustered.

"i-i just wanted to thank you for... being nice to m-me," he stammered, taking out his backpack and rummaging through his things. the knife glittered in the morning sun, but he didn't pull it out, not wanting luca to see that he was armed and slightly dangerous. he pulled out the neatly-tied bag of hard candies, pink and flavored like strawberry. "here! i-it's for you. take it, it's good!" he said, offering the candy. "i just... i just..." he realized how embarrassing this all was and he glanced down. "you're really cute!" he stammered, at a loss for what else to say.

[Luca]

Rinto's cute exterior definitely didn't disappoint. Luca watched with growing adoration as the feline fumbled over his words, his eyes glowing faintly for a second as his emotions got the better of him. He almost pounced on Rinto right then and there, but managed to control himself for the time being. He wanted to hear what Rinto had to say. Since he had been called out so suddenly and so early, he automatically assumed that Rinto wanted him for something important.

That didnt seem to be the case, however, as Rinto soon blurted out that he wanted to thank Luca for his kindness. Now that was a first. The hellhound stood by and watched as Rinto took off his backpack and started rummagaing through it, a hint of confusion in those luminous rose eyes of his. He sat down and curled his tail messily around his paws, wondering what exactly Rinto meant. He didnt remember being overly kind (his personality wasn't the best thing he had to offer) but then again, maybe Rinto just had crazy low standards. Luca watched as the feline pulled out a cute little bag, taking it when it was offered to him. "Thanks," he said, flashing another of his soft smiles. He wasn't all too sure what was going on, but he always appreciated gifts, especially from those that Luca considered cute.

It was Rinto's last sentence, however, that seemed to clear things up for Luca. His smile grew into something a tad more sly, heat rising to his cheeks. "I see," he said somewhat breathlessly, although he regained his composure relatively quickly. He giggled a little, swaying to his paws. "But out of us, you're definitely the cuter one," Luca shot back, drawing closer to the feline in an attempt to nuzzle him a little. Luca had always been physical with his displays of affection, much to the dismay of the people around him.

/mobile

[ANDRAS]

rinto was taken aback by luca's blunt but reassuring words. rinto was... cute? he didn't mean to be cute, he just wore what he thought was comfortable and hid the scars somewhat decently. rinto would never himself as cute. he was ugly, or a failure of a girl is what his dad called him. wincing at the thought, he broke eye contact with luca, instead staring at his own paws.

then a surge of confidence took him like a disease. "aah.. you really think i'm cute? thank you, luca-kun!" he said excitedly. "to be honest... you're way cuter than me, absolutely!" he nodded excitedly, then tilted his head. uh, maybe i shouldn't be yelling out here in the morning. do you maybe want to... come back to my hut? w-we can talk and eat candy!" he said, getting excited.

/ mobile yeet

[Luca]

Luca had his own fair share of insecurities. His father had always been disappointed in him for being too weak, too feminine and cowardly. He was a lot stronger and braver now, although his dad still wouldn't be pleased if he could see him now. In fact, running into his father again was one of Luca's greatest fears. He knew he was still around due to the faint angel blood that ran through his veins, so the possibility was definitely there. He wondered what he would say to him if they ever did come face to face again. Nothing good, he knew that for sure. He distracted himself from his thoughts by focusing on Rinto, whose excitement seemed infectious. Luca's cheeks burned beneath his fur as the feline continued to compliment him, his tail curling restlessly around one of his hind legs.

"Sure, I'd love to!" he said in response to Rinto's offer, his heart starting to speed up in his chest. Since coming to the typhoon, all his advances had been promptly shut down. This was the first time that he had any hope of reciprocation, said hope only intensified by the fact that Rinto had made the first move. Maybe if he made the right moves he'd be able to do something other than talk; after all it had been so long since he'd last fed, and he was starting to get a hungry for something other than food. Real food wasn't what kept his body running. "Which one's your hut?" He asked, setting his eyes curiously on the feline before him.

[ANDRAS]

rinto grinned. deep down, he could tell luca was seemingly starved for attention like he was. rinto had observed everyone in the typhoon- carefully, he took notes on everything he observed that had to do with luca. rinto could only write in japanese, so the notes were unreadable to the general public. "good!" he said, almost as if he wasn't sure what to do if luca declined the offer. "it's this one," he said, almost purring, indicating he really did want something more out of luca.

he made his way to the hut, and slid in. there wasn't really a whole lot going on- to the left was a pile of fabric and a little silk pillow, clearly his sleeping arrangements. next to the bed was his backpack, open and empty. the notebook was there too, labeled 'ルカ' with hearts all around it- that translated to luca's name in katakana. on top of the notebook was a just-polished knife, almost glimmering in the light of morning. it had a pink hilt and silver blade, and was not perfectly sharp, indicating it had been used before.

"sorry there's not much going on. i just got here," he said, smiling. "but now you know where i live." this was somewhat useless- rinto wanted to know where luca lived, but wanted luca to think he was hospitable. he paused for a moment, moving to take off his socks.

"so then... are you hungry, luca-kun?" he asked while he pulled off one sock, a coy grin spreading across his freckled face. he was referring to the candy, not knowing what luca really fed on.