Your Affection
Oct. 14th, 2015 11:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madimpossibledreamerMain Points: Persona 4 AU
Chapter Summary: Souji attends another concert, and this one doesn't go as expected.
Word Count: 840
Rating: T
Note: The souji/yosuke tag is for vague references and flirting. It's (possibly) not anything stronger than their interactions in the game, though it's stronger in this one than in the previous.
Perhaps it’s the fact that he didn’t get caught that prompts Souji to sneak out again the next time Arcana Life is having a concert. It’s whispered to be a Junes publicity stunt. It’s for charity. Souji couldn’t possibly care less if he tried.
He’s nowhere near the front, but he can tell the second The Magician spots him in the crowd. There’s a wink and a salute thrown in his direction, and everyone around him gets excited. He’s lost for a few seconds, and, well…is it really him that the star is looking at? Surely he meets hundreds of people. He can’t remember one guy he took backstage, not one as boring and polite and utterly ordinary as him. Even if his hair did end up going grey early.
The Prince of Junes seems to be grinning brighter than ever, so bright it lights up the room. He dedicates his next song to the fans that spur him on, and The Priestess sends a knowing look in his direction, which just makes them frenzy even more. He loses sight of the stage, and his heart squeezes horribly. Eventually, the other fans settle down, and he catches sight of the Prince again. The smile had faltered, but it grows again, and the longing he can’t name is back, worse than ever. He can’t quite breathe.
The next song starts, and the sense of peace returns. Even then, there’s an anticipation suddenly hanging on the air, heavy, and Souji doesn’t know where it’s from.
He finds his breathing’s fast at the end of the night. He can’t clap, because he doesn’t know what he’s been waiting for and it’s not quite like it had been, not quite what he had expected. He slips out. It’s early enough to walk home.
“H-hey, wait up!” He almost doesn’t stop. He recognizes that voice, every tone, every note. He wouldn’t stop, after all, if he hadn’t noticed the hint of panic, of pain, in that voice, and he can’t, can’t bring himself to hurt The Magician like this even if every nerve in his body is screaming to run and not come back. It’s a siren call and he’s terrified.
The Prince catches up, breathing a little heavily. The look of hurt on the face is nothing he’s ever seen before and it hurts nearly as much as this nameless fear. “What did I do? If it’s…can I make it up to you?”
Souji wants to tell him to not waste time on someone so boring. That he doesn’t deserve this, this special treatment. Whim or genuine interest, he’s a nobody and the star is anything but. He can’t even get the words out.
“Wh-whoa, man, was it that bad? Sheesh, seriously, are you okay?” It’s genuine concern. His parents are so busy from their jobs he can’t remember the last time he’d heard an actual caring tone in someone’s voice. He didn’t get that from any of his so-called friends at school.
“Man, I. I’m supposed to know what to do in this kind of situation, huh?” Souji thinks the idol’s probably looking him over, but can’t quite tell through the haze of tears. Silently, The Magician takes off his furry jacket and puts it over Seta’s shoulders. It takes Souji a moment to realize he’s shivering a little from the cold. Eventually, as the tears begin to dry, the brunet states lightly, “I’m not supposed to say this. Image to maintain, you know. If you tell anyone, I’ll have to sic my manager on you.” That earns a dry, pained chuckle. “But…every now and then I’ll have a good cry myself. It doesn’t make you anything other than you.”
Souji nods silently, feeling the cold a little, now. He shivers and pulls the jacket tighter around himself and notices the slight smell of oranges on the jacket. At least it’s giving him warmth.
“So, do you want me to walk you home? I don’t have to be at the charity auction for a while.” Souji spares a thought that Arcana Life really wasn’t what he’d been expecting from celebrities before carefully considering the question. Perhaps the bold recklessness is returning, just a little, because he ends up shaking his head.
“I’d like to go back to the dressing room again, please.” It’s a little formal, and it feels a little silly because he’s standing out here with a celebrity’s coat over his shoulders and if nothing else that should have earned a little informality, but the brunet doesn’t seem to mind.
“Are you sure?” At the look he gets at the question, the Magician laughs and throws up his hands in mock surrender. “Okay, okay, I get the answer. You can make your own decisions.”
He leads Souji to a shortcut, and as suspected the dressing room is warm. They end up talking for hours, The Magician’s jacket forgotten on Seta’s shoulders. And when Souji falls asleep in his bed that night, Souji feels more complete than he can remember ever being.
