Grief

Human

The day had managed to feel both long and short. Nothing out of the ordinary, no exciting revelations or dramatic ploys- Except for one thing...

Shizu-chan had been acting... Strange. I peeked over at the beast in question, watching as he plucked a whistling kettle off the stove to pour into some instant ramen.

Work had gone without a hitch, yet Shizu-chan was left stumbling and dazing off throughout the entire day. Thinking back, it started after he came back from visiting Celty last night, hadn't it?

I hummed and turned back to glance at the television. I'm certain that something is off, but I'm not exactly sure what. The protozoan was practically knocking his knees together all day, staring off into space anytime Tom wasn't trying to get his attention.

My teeth caught the inside of my lip, squinting as one of the screen character's eyes filled with tears, the teenager had just been rejected by her dream 'high school sweetheart'. I tilted against the couch, watching as the actress forced her face to turn a blotched red, stained with tears as she cried into her pillow.

Hm.

I craned my head back, arching over the couch's armrest to peek at Shizu-chan in the kitchen. Still dutifully waiting for the noodles to cook enough in that styrofoam cup, it was truly a hearty meal to be diligent over.

"I don't understand why he won't just love me!" The girl on the screen wailed as I clicked the volume lower. I cringed as her limbs started to flail, kicking in an awkward tantrum as she called out the boy's name as if he was her long-time lover who died at war and not a boy she'd only met a week ago.

I think she needed to calm down a bit.

I huffed and turned back around at the sound of thumping feet. Shizu-chan had finally deemed his hearty meal cooked enough and settled himself on a side chair, ramen and cheap chopsticks in hand.

"What are you watching?" He grumbled, staring at the tv with knitted brows as the girl wiped her face clean of dripping mascara.

"Some teen romance movie."

"Hm..." Shizu-chan picked at his food, mixing the noodles around in the broth before taking a quick bite. We watched in silence, the air growing stale as the sound of slurping and dramatic cries filled the empty space. "She's kind of annoying."

I barked out a laugh, "Yeah- Here, you choose what to watch then," I flicked my wrist, watching as the remote tentatively tossed its way over towards Shizu-chan, who grunted and had to shuffle his food into one hand to catch it.

"I mean- If you wanna watch it I don't mind..." He glared down at the remote and his awkwardly bent fingers that were holding the chopsticks in what could only be described as abstract art.

The nice splintered bend in one of them was a very artistic choice as well.

"Nah," I brushed my hand through the air, "It's a boring movie anyways. And like you said, it's a bit..." We both peered at the screen when the girl hauled herself up with a rant about self-worth and makeovers, "Annoying."

Shizuo chuckled and it felt as if the sound rolled through the air and reverberated off the walls. I blinked, watching the beast's concentrated frown as he flipped through the channels.

The... Laughing was new.

I slanted on my shoulder, shuffling to get a clearer view of Shizu-chan past the armrest. His face quirked up, satisfied with settling on some little home renovations show.

I snorted, "Really? House renovation?"

"It's relaxing to watch." He grumbled, ears fizzling to a red as he stared at some guy picking out which countertops matched best in the kitchen.