Drabble Collection: Wonderswan Games
-by Ajora Fravashi
-NB: The following trio of drabbles involves Ryo and Osamu. The latter two involves them in a romantic relationship at one point. Just so you know! Sorry for those who aren't interested; this is my favorite ship forever, no one else in English fandom writes it as often as I do, so I pretty much have to keep myself entertained with stuff like this. There's always the next set of drabbles!
Title: Constructing Masks
Series: ... Somewhere between Anode Tamer and Tag Tamers. Post-Adventure, pre-02.
Characters: Ryo, Osamu
Rating: G
Pairing: Not really.
Words: 300
Note: In Ryo's defense, he's 12. Sort of wrote this to show where Ryo picked up his ability to mask what he's thinking. Originally posted 2007/01/30.
-.-
"How do you do that?"
Osamu looked up from the book at his friend, who paused in his internet browsing. A quick glance at the video of his latest interview suggested to him the nature of the question.
"If you mean impressing people, I'm just that good."
Ryo smiled, not taking him the least bit seriously. "No, I mean... I know you were really moody that day. How'd you managed to make it look like you were happy to see them all?"
"Well." He put the book away to explain. Normally he wouldn't have done this, but Ryo was the closest thing he had to a friend. "You have to fake the smile sometimes, or think about something else. Feed them all the lines they want to hear, be polite. Everyone wears a mask in public, but the successful people are the ones who can manipulate it."
The smile disappeared. "Sounds like lying."
With a small nod of admission, he continued. "It is, a bit, but it's not that different from using tact to get around uncomfortable situations. Try it."
For the moment Ryo looked puzzled, but soon settled his features into a reasonable mirror of Osamu's usual subtly smug smile. It reminded Osamu that they spent entirely too much time around each other. Now to test the mask.
"I want you to imagine a set of events. First, that teacher you hate yelling at you."
There was a small, barely noticeable shift, but it would be undetectable by anyone unfamiliar with Ryo. Good. Now something he knew would shake the mask. "Second, imagine being kissed by a girl."
The false smile remained for all of a few seconds before the mask fell apart and the childish disgust appeared on Ryo's face. "Ew!"
Osamu grinned and returned to his book.
Title: 10
Series: ... Somewhere between Anode Tamer and Tag Tamers. Post-Adventure, pre-02.
Characters: Ryo, Osamu
Rating: G, maybe PG for attempted kiss.
Pairing: Ryo/Osamu
Words: 300
Topic: Soft
Note: 10 is the hardness of diamonds on the Mohs scale, which is used for mineral identification. This is because I can't think of a better title. Originally posted 2006/09/01.
-.-
Ryo wasn't interested in "soft."
If he wanted soft hair and a gentle demeanor, he would have been willing to wait for Ken to grow up. If he wanted soft skin and features, he would be interested in girls.
Sharp elbows and an acerbic tongue hold his attention more readily than soft bodies and honeyed words. Intellect and wit so cutting they hurt are what makes his breath catch in his throat. He has a secret fondness for the hard hinge of eyeglass rims digging into his chest or shoulder, and a not-so-secret fondness for eyes like chips of blue-violet ice. His attention glosses over praise and platitudes with the absentmindedness of boredom, but comes into focus when presented with brutal honesty and sparse phrasing.
If Ryo wanted "soft" and all that came with it, he wouldn't have appreciated Osamu quite so much. It was something like being with a diamond: all sharp edges, smooth facets, and brilliant shine that made everything else pale in comparison. Sometimes all that hard, sharp brilliance made the rare moments when Osamu showed that he actually cared all that more precious.
A quiet voice shattered the silence of "their" laboratory closet, which had been in regular use by them during lunch periods for months now. "You're thinking about romantic nonsense again, aren't you?"
He chuckled at that. "When I'm with you, yeah."
There was a brush of thin lips across the skin of his neck, and he could feel the muscles curling them into the too-rare gentle smile Osamu only gave him. "Don't ever change," Osamu muttered. "I'll kill you if you do."
"Wouldn't dream of it," Ryo said, grinning as he felt the hard rims of glasses bump into his cheekbone in an attempt to kiss him. He wouldn't trade this for anything.
Title: Full Circle
Season: Digimon Adventure 02/Tamers/Wonderswanverse
Characters: Ryo, Osamu
Rating: PG
Pairing: Implied Ryo/Osamu
Words: 300
Topic: Time
Note: The mention of Hachiko's statue is there for a very good reason. Originally posted 2006/06/17.
-.-
It started years ago. In the beginning they met here every weekend, just to enjoy each other's company. Ryo's memory highlighted every conversation and brush of skin, it shadowed the arguments to the point where he was sure they seldom happened. Sometimes they talked, sometimes they simply stood in silence near Hachiko's statue as the world sped by.
Then Osamu died and Ryo still came back. He turned up every Sunday at four p.m., like clockwork, to stand by the statue and wait for someone who would never come back. It was the last connection he had to Osamu. Sometimes he wondered if he was going mad.
"I met my real digimon partner," he murmured. "I don't know what to do. There's so much bad history and it's nothing like with the other kids and their digimon. And the digimon reflects the partner. What if I turn into him?"
He could imagine Osamu beside him, still short and too thin and armed with a razor sharp mind underneath it all. "You'll manage."
A year later and it's the same old tune. "I met this girl-"
"Don't delude yourself," Osamu would say with just the right amount of disapproval. "You're gay."
"It's not that, it's... It's like she has your attitude and my habit of attracting trouble. I got to thinking about how much I miss and love you, and-"
"Stop-"
"Then I thought, the ENIAC owes me. Maybe I can go back in time and save you. Maybe I'll grab a digignome and see how big a wish they can grant. Maybe-"
"Delusional schemes, entitlement, obsession."
Ryo blinked, wondering where that came from. His fantasies never involved this kind of argument. "What-"
He didn't have to imagine a flash of blue-violet eyes staring him down. "You are turning into him."