#get a lil kiss and allow amity to enact the spell

[noblechaton]

Fic title: Your Pain is My Pain

I'm seeing something post-canon (as in, somewhere post-Strikers) that sees the Phantom Thieves finally getting a break from the constant madness of the metaverse and thereon, each finding their own sort of reprieve in the aftermath of several cataclysmic events - Haru focuses up on her gardening, Ann spends time with Shiho, Yusuke dives into his artwork and Ryuji continues working on himself. Everything's calm, for once, and normalcy starts to creep back in - but that doesn't sit right with everyone. Amid her attempts to live a more outgoing life among her fellow citizens, Futaba can't help but keep tabs on Ren, himself having ended up living a relatively close distance to the others after all. While that quiet, somewhat stern behavior of his remains on the surface, she and the others come to profess worry over their former leader and best friend - after all of that, despite what's changed and the catharsis he might have felt alongside all the help he'd given them, it's not as if he'd really decompressed, as far as they knew, with who knows how much otherwise bottled up inside.

So they send Makoto over, dragging him out of his apartment and spending the day with him on the town. They reminisce over all that's happened throughout trips to the familiar places, the movie theater, Big Bang Burger, etc., but he doesn't seem to crack until he realizes that Makoto's taking him back to Leblanc for the first time in however long. Ren's expression shifts from subtle and restrained to something more uncertain, almost anxious as they approach the doors, some obvious silhouettes distorted by the glass. It processes then what all of this has been for, why she'd led him through town and avoided the topic of the others for so long. Makoto takes him by the hand and asks him if he wants to go inside, fingers between his own and her eyes soft on his. Silence falls as a gentle rain starts right on the verge of dusk, the moon above blocked by the clouds as they stand for what feels like eternity.

"Yes," Ren's lip trembles with his eventual, inevitable answer. "Let's...get inside."

All the bracing in the world couldn't quite prepare him for the welcoming faces that greet him, that invite him into a booth and supply him the finest cup of coffee in Yongen-Jaya. It's been a few months since he'd last seen everyone, and yet they all behave as if they'd not missed a beat. Ryuji makes a few bad jokes, Yusuke makes things weird, Ann and Haru offer gifts from their own professions - something stupid expensive and somewhat useless from Ann, a bouquet of flowers mixed with vegetables from Haru. Sojiro keeps the food and drink coming, while Futaba is the one who eventually settles the group down enough to confront the issue at hand, getting their attention with a loud clearing of her throat before she nods behind him.

Makoto eases her arms onto Ren's shoulders then, warmly asking him if he'd like to talk. When he tries to downplay and otherwise avoid the subject, the others nudge him back. Ann encourages, Haru assures, Ryuji affirms and Yusuke - in his own way - inspires. Ren's head dips some, his eyes to one side in a glance towards a Sojiro who shrugs him on. Ren then sits upright again, a twinge of red on his face as he finally, fully speaks his mind. He'd not been silent before, he was often blunt about things, but in this moment, he's allowed to fully process the utter insanity that's been his last few years now, the group listening and replying where they can and where best it fits. He talks and talks and talks some more, of Maruki, of Kasumi, of Akechi. Ren exhausts himself, a glance at his watch revealing that, for a change, he'd been the one talking for a near hour straight, with some tears having subtly welled up in his eyes. He's clearly embarrassed afterwards, but finds himself surrounded. One hand in Ann's, the other in Haru's with Yusuke across from him, sketching out his own inspiration from Ren's flood of emotions. Ryuji places a palm to a shoulder while Makoto rests one on the opposite side and Futaba, who'd earlier slipped onto his side of the booth, leans against him

His friends insist that it's okay, each sharing looks with him in their encouragement, that it's alright - it's alright for him to feel, outwardly, like this, given all they'd been through. Ren's somewhat unfamiliar with this, but comes to relent - he holds hands back, leaning into the touch of his friends with a slight smile across his face as they all share and repeat the sentiment that his pain is their pain, and that they'll all be alright, together.

#thats right im gonna be insufferable about my interests over here too #another idea I had while writing out this one was something a bit shorter and more simpler #that would see luz bonk herself and amity resolve to use some sort of pain sharing spell to help her feel better faster #luz would insist that such a thing isn't necessary but after all they'd been through amity would insist herself #that its important they continue to go through things together #luz would joke that this feels like a bit of an overreaction to a scrape or bruise or w/e but she'd shrug eventually #get a lil kiss and allow amity to enact the spell #could also be a nier thing i bet