Silence | Book 2

1-8: Understanding [M-T]

"Alright, nearly there, just one more round." Tristan said as his character on the split-screen reloaded two handguns decorated with an unnecessary amount of science fiction neon. Beside him Hibiki nodded, while keeping the scope of a similarly futuresque sniper rifle aimed at the entrance where enemy soldiers would spawn.

As the next wave appeared, Tristan took care of the smaller ones, while Hibiki tried to prevent the larger, bulkier enemies from reaching him. For a little while the only sounds were those of plasma blasts, explosions and the dying cries of enemies – combined with a lot of button mashing and a loudly exclaimed 'oh come on' when a huge boss appeared at the end.

After some frantic attempts to avoid and whittle down this last creature, it's health bar finally dropped to zero. A loud victory sound played, while loot cascaded from their downed opponent.

"How much do you want to bet that metal muppet comes back sometime?" Tristan said with a grin, while sorting through all the new things he'd gotten. Beside him, Hibiki huffed defiantly and flipped off the now dead boss with one hand.

"We killed it once already though." Tristan continued as he scooched a little closer to Hibiki and laid his head on his shoulder now the difficult part was over. He felt Hibiki ease up, the agitation fading, which allowed him to nestle in and make himself comfortable. But then the pause menu overlaid the screen, and he glanced up at Hibiki.

"Do you want to play something else?" He asked. Despite Hibiki shaking his head to deny that, he still laid the controller away atop the coffee table. To do so he had to push aside the plastic take-away boxes from the sushi they had for dinner. Realising what was going on, Tristan smiled and laid his controller away as well, before returning to Hibiki's shoulder.

'Are you feeling better?'

Tristan nodded as Hibiki wrote out the message on his phone.

"Mhm... I needed this. All the studying got me stressed, and it became too much? Sorry I broke down on you, I'm really trying to be happier." He glanced up with a slight smile, but it left a bittersweet taste knowing he'd broken a promise.

'It's okay, you don't have to be happy all the time. I'm relieved that you asked me for help, I don't mind.'

While he read the message, Hibiki took one of his hands and gave the back a small kiss to help get his point across. It lifted his reserved smile up into a more genuine, comfortable expression.

'Can I tell you something in return? Later?'

Tristan frowned slightly, confused by what that could be, but then nodded seeing Hibiki stare down and away rather blankly, like his mind had gone somewhere else.

"Yes, of course? I'll try my best to listen and help."

'That's all I need.'

The stare broke away from whatever image Hibiki had seen, and instead he smiled at him warm and appreciative. Before Tristan could do much, he felt two fingertips try to brush a stubborn bit of hair behind his ear. It bounced back a few times, but he didn't mind since it made the touch last longer – until he gave in to it fully and leant against Hibiki's hand.

As the evening progressed, Tristan somehow found himself lying down on Hibiki's lap. While the latter watched a Japanese action series, he quietly read through a politics article. Occasionally an intense moment on the television screen drew his attention away, glancing at a gun fighting sequence or over-acted interrogation. The set up was easy enough to follow, even through the few snippets he focussed on.

About halfway through reading the article, which truthfully went slower than he wanted, he felt Hibiki run his fingers through his hair. In surprise he glanced up, which caused Hibiki to stop.