[Day 9 - Late Night] Space In Between (Closed)

[Boogiepop]

Usagi Yuria

"I do..." The memory slowly dawned on her and she gave a few small nods at the tune. There was a small smile on her face as she found herself humming along. However, there were a few blinks from her as she found herself wanting to remember the actual words. A singer did make her living on actual singing, after all.

"But. I do remember it was almost dead there when you walked in...I think there was a local game that night or something. People weren't exactly interested in hearing me sing. In a way, you've saved me from a night of singing to myself." She mustered a small smile at that.

[Usagi Rei]

"That's right." Rei said, both encouraging and encouraged. "I remember that. You could hear the cheers from the bar sometimes." He shrugged. "But that was fine with me. It felt like you were singing just to me. I think maybe you were, in fact." He teased ever so gently, smiling. "Of course, you had all of my attention, too."

He could see the confusion on her features as she tried to hum. Rei took a breath, blinked a few times, and then began to sing, ever so softly, the parts she was struggling with. His baritone wasn't the perfect match for the tune, but it wasn't a bad one. And rusty as he was, he'd practiced with her, at least. It was his first time singing since she'd disappeared.

[Boogiepop]

Usagi Yuria

"Maybe I was," she said with a faint smile on the matter. "You were there only for me, so that's fair."

As Rei took the reigns of the tune, her humming started to fade and she quietly watched him sing. Her gaze looked at him a bit curious with some appreciation. It felt in many ways this was his song now, she was his sole audience at the nearly vacant lounge and he was singing it to her for the first time.

[Usagi Rei]

With his audience of one, Rei continued to sing. Sometimes haltingly, as he too had trouble remembering the words, or his unused voice stumbled on the melody. And sometimes his voice shook as the feelings welled up too strongly inside him.

At the end, he sighed, smiling. His eyes were on her, watching her. Maybe he could almost pretend that the last few years were a dream, and this was their first meeting, again.

But he couldn't. Not quite.

[Boogiepop]

Usagi Yuria

"...that was very well done, Rei," she would say after a moment to break the silence, mustering a faint smile. Her mind was a bit at a loss of how to correct her to guide him. It felt so familiar but that memory seemed like it was just out of reach. It was a very vivid dream some time ago and then she woke up and could hardly piece the details together. The emotion and intent lingered, although she was at a loss of what to attribute those feelings to or give them meaning.

"...maybe, I can learn the words, one day?" she would add afterwards, perhaps giving a vague lifeline to what almost seemed like fading hope. In this case, it might be literal.

[Usagi Rei]

Rei closed his eyes for a moment. "Of course, Yuria." He said, his voice rough. "We can try it whenever you like." He smiled, but Fortunes, it hurt. Whatever was affecting her seemed to have stolen so much of who she was. It was a strange contrast to how he'd felt; he had the memories, but they were soured. She had few of the memories, but what she had she seemed to remember fondly.

Slowly, he opened his eyes to look at her. The pale brown orbs glistened in the dim lights of the street, catching the unshed tears that he refused to brush away. They would fade, in time.

"Do you remember our first date?" Rei asked, smiling. "We met at the club. I still go there, you know. I remember you asked me to dance, but you remember how bad my dancing is? I didn't want to show you that..." He chuckled softly, his own fond memories coming back as he shared all those moments with her...

/fadetomemories...