[PRP] The Dreaded Day (Titus / Riyo)

[Sexy Cocaine]

Oh Titus. So charming. Always knowing just what to say. Truly, an artist with his words. Riyo paused and looked back at the boil, her expression less than amused. "To this day I just can't fathom why I dare to share personal information with you... And yet I continue to do so." She supposed, perhaps, it was nice to have that one person in the know about her secret habits, even if he often used it against her. Still, even her quirkiest issues weren't enough to drive a wedge between them so the feline supposed that was something.

As far as the potential sour mood went, she just smiled. "Would you rather hide away in your room or conceal yourself in mine in case your pseudo-fiance shows up with hot wax and handcuffs for Scarentines?" Titus may not have thought about that, but Riyo had. Some time had passed since their last encounter and the feline remained ever on her toes after... That whole debacle.  

[Inu-Mitsu]

Titus merely shrugged. He had yet to really understand why Riyo divulged anything to him as well. Maybe it was an ongoing learning process in the realization that he was an a*****e. Slow learner.

There was a pause though when Riyo mentioned Gina, a nervous gaze shifting back to the front door. "It's safer not to be here at all. Hopefully she's too busy with her boy toys to actually remember I exist." One could hope.

To be on the safe side Titus figured it couldn't hurt to stick around in Riyo's room for the time being. "I guess your room would be fine for now."  

[Sexy Cocaine]

"While that may be true, you're not going to find an empty hotel room today." Not during this holiday. Riyo imagined the roach motels were probably packed just as well as the hoity toity joints. "Or anything, really." Restaurants, parks, everything was packed to the brim with lovey dovey bullshit.

As they approached the ghoul's room, she reached into her messenger bag for the keys, quick to unlock the door and hold it open for the boil. Riyo had sort of expected he might see things her way, and a few of her more well-behaved cats might have been wearing little party hats. The fat, almost immobile ones, mostly.

Riyo supposed she could've made a big scene out of it, maybe invite Hel and his uncle to ruin his day but... He hadn't done that and, moreover, she could make him miserable any day. "Kick your shoes off and stay awhile." Because it looked like she was locking every deadbolt and chain on her door.  

[Inu-Mitsu]

"Who said I was going to find a hotel? I could hide in a dumpster for all I care if it kept me away from Gina." Though honestly he could probably hide out at his Uncle's and be fine. His Uncle knew he wasn't fond of the reaper ghoul and would at least cover for him.

Waiting by the door Titus hadn't expected anything to be out of the ordinary so when he spotted the few rounder felines wearing party hats as he stepped into the room he became a little suspicious. "Oi, what's this?" He said pointing to one of the cats. "It's like you have this planned. I don't like parties so you better tell me right now if anyone else is here."

He didn't suspect Riyo had invited guests but there was still a lot about the feline he didn't know so it was hard to completely imagine what she had up her sleeve.  

[Sexy Cocaine]

"Well you're already intolerable to most so I guess smelling like a sewer wouldn't have made a big difference." It'd just mean she'd have to steer clear of him for awhile too. That was one way to ensure a day alone, she supposed.

Riyo walked into the kitchen, popping her head out as he questioned one of the tiny hats she'd managed to find at the minipet store. "Whats- Oh." The cat ghoul snickered as she picked one of her party-prepared meowstaches up. "I figured we'd end up here sooner or later anyways, so I made preparations."

She held the cat out to the boil. "It's just you, me, and the lethargic party brigade that lives here." Cats were a perfect replica to the standard party guest anyways. They ate you out of house and home, knocked your s**t over, ignored you when you wanted to talk to them, and got up in your face when you wanted to be alone.

"Contrary to what you think, I'm not interested in tormenting you on your birthday."  

[Inu-Mitsu]

Titus hesitated before he reached for the plus sized feline. He really hadn't anticipated holding a cat but here they were with the demon holding the small feline at arms length much like he had done the baby that had been passed off to him at the dance. He made a disinterested face at the feline, regarding it momentarily before turning his attention back to Riyo.

"The fact that its my birthday is torment enough and on such a shitty holiday." He nearly cringed thinking back to his younger years. "I'm sure you can guess birthday themes from when I was little."

And even then it was only an excuse for his mother to throw a party so her friends could come over so they could all drink wine and get plastered. That was all well and fine, Titus could have dealt with that he supposed. They often left him be with a toy or two to keep him quiet but then he would be shuffled off to his room shortly after when other guests would arrive who were always male and oddly dressed. He never figured out who they were.  

[Sexy Cocaine]

The cat looked at Titus briefly before letting out a little yawn, the little purr motor in it's throat starting up shortly after. Whether or not the nightmare demon was happy to see him, Reginald was grateful for the attention.

"You poor schmuck." Riyo chuckled, trying to picture the poor boil with heart shaped cakes and wrapping paper.

"Well. You lucked out this year. I didn't buy anything heart or scarentine related." She had considered wrapping paper, but figured newspaper was much more classy and within the theme their birthdays for each other had adopted. She'd even written 'GIFT' on them much like he had. "Didn't even buy a cake." Because who was going to eat it? Don't get her wrong, she had been a little tempted but you could only smear food on each other so many times before it got old.

"Figured you'd like these better anyways." The ghoul pulled a bag off the table covered in foreign writing, with only 'Wasabi Peas' in the roman alphabet.  

[Inu-Mitsu]

Titus wasn't going to admit that it was a relief to know she hadn't gotten anything Scarentine's themed. Nor would he admit it would have been a waste to buy a cake. Both were overrated.

What caught his interest, however, was the strange bag she held up to him with a fair amount of foreign lettering, "Wasabi peas?" It was hard to hide the interest in his eyes as he set the cat aside and reached for the bag to look it over. "So that stuff comes in more than just paste?"

His expression was full of childish curiosity as he pulled the bag open and experimentally popped one of its contents in his mouth. "Ah! Bon goût!" He threw a few more in his mouth before he held the bag out to Riyo. "Want some?" At least he was willing to share.  

[Sexy Cocaine]

Riyo was quick to relinquish the bag, mildly surprised that he was so interested right off the bat. The ghoul smiled as he inspected the bag and had a seat at the table, propping up her head with her arm.

There was something satisfying about seeing his reactions to the undoubtedly disgusting food. It was rare that Titus seemed so pleased with... Anything, really. Besides causing emotional anguish, of course.

The feline had been watching him contentedly, a weird little smirk glued to her lips when the bag was offered to her. She sat up, brows furrowing, and sniffed at the bag with a grimace following closely behind. "Well..." She reached in to claim one for herself hesitantly, examining the pea with a mild sort of horror. Riyo cringed and popped the morsel into her mouth. It was hard to not look grossed out, but she did her best as she quickly swallowed the piece without chewing. That was gonna linger for awhile..

"... Y-yeah. Tastes like sunshine dust..." She gave Titus a reluctant thumbs up and quickly reached for her glass of water on the table from earlier. "The rest is yours." She gasped after a big gulp of H2O.

"You've got gifts to unwrap too, birthday boil." She pointed to the clumps of newspaper at the other side of the table. One thin and long, the other small, but thicker. Both were clearly labeled 'GIFT' with marker.

The feline had taken a bit of a shot in the dark with the gifts. At first she had considered buying him a videogame, but the second she walked into one of those stores... Riyo realized she didn't know the first thing about them or what the boil even had console-wise. So that went out the window. She had instead decided on a sketchbook and fancy pencil set. Maybe Titus could do the same thing on paper that he did with coffee?  

[Inu-Mitsu]

Titus' smirked at Riyo's reaction to the small wasabi pea and ate a few more while he watched her choke it down and chase it with a large gulp of water. "Fair enough." If the rest were all his that was fine with him. He didn't eat often but he would certainly eat these. "Maybe you should have made a cake with these I might have eaten it." Titus had no idea how gross of a suggestion that was. To him it seemed like a good idea.


"Gifts?" He was mid way to popping more wasabi peas in his mouth when his attention drifted down the table to the lumps of newspaper clearly labeled 'gift.' "Haha I see you took a page out of my book." He set the wasabi peas aside, approaching the gifts with caution. It was never too late for something terrible to happen. His father had certainly taught him to always keep his guard up.

Picking up each gift Titus looked them over carefully before he carefully pulled the newspaper off of one and then the other. "A...book." This had to be a joke but when he opened it the pages were blank. Ha ha he knew he didn't read Riyo but this was....oh...wait...pencils. His eyes traveled between the two before he finally put it together. "A sketch book." He finally corrected.

Close call.

The longer Titus looked at the gifts he couldn't help but be more confused. His father had always told him art was always a useless talent and not to bother. It was a waste of time. This was probably the first time someone had gotten him something beside his Uncle that was actually contradicting that thought. It was hard to process but he managed to mumble a soft 'thanks' while he continued to stare over the blank pages, his mind a buzz with things to fill them with.  

[Sexy Cocaine]

"Haha... Ah... Yeah..." Two things. 1. Riyo set things on fire when she tried to cook. 2. Things would not end nearly as well if the night was a repeat of her birthday. Oh Jack no...

No more of those thoughts now, though. "I did. I learn from the best." The ghoul joked, suddenly feeling anxious as he reached down to open one of them.

It was such a strong feeling of nervousness as he examined the items, the 'thanks' barely catching her sensitive ears.

D-did he like it? Did he not? "I-it's okay if you don't like it. I kept the receipts and you can always take them back if... You wanna get something else." She tried to sound aloof, as if she didn't really care, but she might've cared a lot more than she originally realized. The ghoul would never admit it, but she had thought long and hard about what to do for the boil's birthday. Even if it hadn't been important to him, it had been very important to Riyo.  

[Inu-Mitsu]

It took a moment for Titus to realize Riyo was trying to tell him he could return his gifts for something else. His thanks probably wasn't enough but really he didn't know how to react. Nice gifts were so rare he was usually guarded for something else.

"No, these are....nice." He confirmed. "I would like to keep them." Making art at the cafe, even though mostly irritatingly cute things, was still fun. It would be nice to actually unwind and draw something he was interested in for a change.  

[Sexy Cocaine]

Riyo's expression shifted from shocked, to relieved, to... Well... Happy. There wasn't a better way to describe it. Everything felt right, and her efforts, for once, hadn't ended in utter failure.

Leaning forward, she cradled her head in her hands as she watched him, the ghoul's smile soft and calm. "Happy birthday, a*****e." Her voice was almost a whisper as she spoke. It was still almost unbelievable that Titus could create such adorable and amazing things, and now maybe he'd be able to hone his skills further. Destruction was a simple thing. Anyone could destroy, even unintentionally... But true skill came from creating. Riyo was certain Titus would never stop doing what he did best, but perhaps it would help bring the boil just a little inner peace to have some kind of outlet besides breaking things.

When she started caring so much about his well-being was beyond her, but there it was she guessed.

Taking in a deep breath, Riyo finally leaned back in her chair. "Guess this means I don't have to resort to my contingency plan."  

[Inu-Mitsu]

"Yeah...thanks." It was still weird but this wasn't completely bad. Sure the birthday part was awkward but these had been some nice gifts.

Setting the sketchbook and the pencil set on the table for now Titus rose a brow at Riyo's next statement. "Contingency plan? You had a backup encase this didn't work out? What was it? A trip outside to go kick sand in scareling's faces and destroy as many couple's romantic moments as we could." Honestly that didn't sound all the bad and had mostly been what Titus had planned for himself from the start.  

[Sexy Cocaine]

"Of course I did. I had no idea if this would be satisfactory or not." The boil wasn't exactly easy to buy for. Well, easier now that she had an idea of what he liked but still.

"Ah... No, not exactly." The ghoul cleared her throat and glanced out the window, pretending he hadn't asked just what that backup plan was. "But we can go do that. It's your birthday, after all." Not that she necessarily took as much joy in the misfortune of others, but if it lit his face up like a Christmastival tree what the hell.

The feline seemed to realize something, her eyes widening for a moment. "Oh yeah." She reached to the side of the table for the decorative taper candle she had, reaching for the lighter and striking the flint. "Here. Makeshift birthday candle." Once the candle was lit, she looked down at the fatcat that had laid down just where Titus had left him. "Sing the birthday song Reginald."

To which the feline promptly responded with a 'meow' that appeared to be more of a yawn than a tune.

"Make a wish." The ghoul laughed, scooting the candle forward.