Prompt Six: Wearing Each Other’s Clothes
Word Count: 819
Summary: Oreki tries to cheer up a gloomy Chitanda…By wearing some of her clothes.
He took in the sight of her long, straight black hair falling gently around her shoulders, which peeked out from the overly large shirt that covered her body. It was his shirt, and it was a sight that he was used to seeing now. Being intimate without any large sense of shame or embarrassment, that was the stage they were at now, and Oreki was glad for this. He liked not having any mini-panic attacks in his brain, and he liked it better when Chitanda was open with him.
He liked it when she dragged out the person inside of himself that wanted to be a part of the high energy, rose colored world in which she and so many others lived in. That was the part of her that attracted him and that he loved. In the beginning it frustrated him. She always seemed happy and interested in the world around her. But then, over time, he became able to distinguish the times when she was really happy…To the times when she was pretending. He could tell when she was sad or upset or when she was working herself to death.
And right now, as she sat on his bed hugging a pillow to her chest with one hand, and fiddling with her phone with the other, her eyes were just staring straight ahead. They were dull and unfocused and her lips were pulled downward ever so slightly.
She was sad.
He looked closer: there were tears trailing down her cheeks silently.
She was miserable.
What had happened, Oreki did not know, since the night before she had been laughing, smiling…teasing. But this morning…
Her fingers curled tighter around her phone.
…Ah.
The only thing that would make her cry like that would be the death of her uncle. So, that had to be it.
Oreki sighed.
He wanted to cheer her up like she was always doing for him and everyone else. But how…? He looked at her again, in his shirt, and then he looked at the clothes scattered across the room. There were his pants, her skirt, and her blouse from the day before. There were other bits of clothing here and there, but they were not important. For what he had planned the skirt and blouse would be of the utmost importance.
Oreki sighed again, and then designed himself to his fate and walked over to the clothes. Picking up the skirt and blouse, he exited the room as quietly as he could, so as not to disturb her in her time of grief…Especially since he was going to be doing that in a few minutes.
He headed to the bathroom, getting slightly annoyed with the clothes, but eventually he got both skirt and blouse on. He also decided to tie up his hair in pigtails for an extra affect. It was a bit odd, walking at first, but Oreki eventually adjusted to it, and he headed back to his bedroom. Once in front of the door, he opened it, somewhat loud and obnoxiously.
It was enough to grab Chitanda’s attention.
Her head whipped around and she spotted Oreki standing in the doorway. His messy head of hair was sloppily pulled to the sides in tiny pigtails, and he stood slightly awkwardly in the door way, dressed in her skirt and blouse. Oreki watched as she took in the sight before her. He watched as her sharp intakes of breath caused by the crying, steadied themselves and the tears dried up to be replaced my eyes squeezing shut in giggling laughter.
Hearing her laughter and seeing her smile, caused his lips to turn upward slightly. And his heart was light with a sense of accomplishment. He made her feel better, even if it was only a little bit. The curious gleam in her eyes was even starting to return. Oreki could see it clearly as she advanced ever closer to him. It was then that he realized that something had captured her attention and she was going to do it.
She was going to say that.
“I’m curious.”
And then she said it.
But what was she curious about?
Oreki did not get it at first. Not until she reached up a hand and undid one of his pigtails. She then reached for the other side and undid that one as well. Chitanda ran her fingers through his newly released hair and stared him dead in the eyes.
Around her eyes there was a slight red swollenness, and the tear trails could still be seen on her cheeks, but her eyes themselves. They were once again Chitanda’s eyes: alive and sparkling and horribly curious. She was looking him dead in the eyes when she repeated it:
“I’m curious.”
And this time he got it, as she brought her lips close to his and kissed him.