Today was a bright, glorious, and wonderfully fantastic day that held promise. It showed in the spotless sky, the slight breeze coming from the west, the brown and blue stripped dress Neru's mother stuffed her in, and the deep scowl plus worry line combo facing the smiling blond. Ah, there was nothing like a Saturday morning with a thoroughly irritated Honne. There was no way a good day could commence until a tired man who had gone to bed two hours ago is woken up by a bucket of cold water. The sweet bliss of hearing his scream and seeing his confused and furious face couldn't possibly be topped, unless there was a bit of horror etched into the deathly pale skin. After all, a Dell who realizes what time it is and remembers what he had done and what he is in for is a supreme delicacy that Neru relished each and every second that ticked by.
Forget asking how she found his apartment and got in. Those were questions that would never be answered.
"How are you feeling during this lovely day, Dellykins~?"
Her giggles were artificial and the sweetness that came with her tone felt as sour as the drink she loved so much. Dell had never felt such a strong urge to physically beat someone as he did then.
An hour later, six o'clock in the morning to be precise, the eerily similar couple found themselves inside a pizzeria. Eating greasy food for breakfast wasn't the healthiest choice, but it could be pardoned considering the calorie-burning plans Neru had in store for the day.
Dell didn't speak a word. Neither to Neru nor the waitress with bloodshot eyes that rival his own. It was up to Neru to order their meal, and she knew she would be the one to pay for it, regardless of the unwritten law which dictated that the bill should not come within a mile radius of her body. Neru was okay with paying as she was with watching Dell squirm in his seat, trying to find a comfortable position as his eyes drooped every so often. She'd never tell, but the way he looked when he was exhausted beyond belief was actually pretty cute. So cute that she took some pictures with her phone when he was too lost in the haze of sleep to notice.
Seven o'clock landed when the pair faced the gates of the amusement park. Neru was the one to give the man at the front booth their tickets while Dell continued to mull in silence. She dragged him to a few of the booths so she could play, and she lost around twenty dollars in failed attempts to win a prize. She wasn't that big on plushies but she felt like being ironic and presenting him with a prize as a gift to see how badly he'd react, or if he'd react at all. Neru imagined Dell would roll his eyes; that thought alone was what made twenty buck easily expendable.
Then came the rides, and she just had to ride the biggest roller coaster in the fair first. Neru would hear no sass as she dragged him to the long line that had started forming the minute the fair had opened. The entirety of the wait, which had to be at least half an hour or longer, she held his hand and had forgotten to let go. He didn't say a word and the feeling of his rough skin had started to become comforting in a weird, unexplainable way. Neru had to admit she expected some form of complaint, but he barely spoke two words the entire time. Even as they descended down the slope he didn't scream.
She lowered her guard ever so slightly as she took his hand again and began to seek other ride. It was fun, she was having fun just roaming around the park with Dell by her side. Then he dropped the bomb she had almost forgotten to expect.
"You do realize I have a girlfriend, right? Why else would I refuse to go out on this pathetic 'date' with you?" Feeling the grip on his hand vanish was a relief, yet when silence stretched out for longer than normal it left Dell curious enough to stop walking turn and look at her.
Neru simply stood in place, headless of the people who tried to worm their way around her. She looked absolutely furious. It reflected in her scowl and balled up fists, as though she were a bull getting ready to charge. The fact that she didn't was what kept him in place. It wasn't like Neru to keep quiet, let alone still.
"It's not a date!"
The crowd around them tried to get away as fast as possible, while stray people with fragments of foolish curiosity slowed their pace to stare at the drama that was brewing between the two.
"You're such an idiot! You think that just because you have a girlfriend means that any girl who wants to spend time with you is interested? N to the O equals NO! You're nothing but an inconsiderate moron who can't even consider the fact that I would like to get to know you better. In fact, you ditch me the first time I try to get close to you! Did you know this stupid fair doesn't refund unused tickets? No? Well guess what, I had to waste more money just to get today's tickets. Do you have any idea how hard it is for me to save up cash? No? Well too bad for me because I already know you don't care. You don't care about anything except yourself and your stupid work and your stupid girlfriend who is almost never around and who you have absolutely nothing in common with except your stupid angst because you're just 'oh so damaged' and could never be in a proper relationship because it terrifies you!"
The silence was as suffocating as one of those western movies when there's a showdown. Dell knew she has a gun pointed straight at his heart and she wouldn't miss, while he had a flimsy piece of cardboard as a shield. His gun was lost before the battle began.
Neru took a deep breath, flipped the bird at the crowd around her, and stared at him with an expression he had seen far too many times in his life; pain. Neru was hurt and tired but he knew she wasn't going to stop until she had said everything she needed to say.
"I know because I'm like that too..."
It's then that Dell sees something in her, something he had caught glimpses of before but disregarded with time. As she walked forward to take his hand and drag him away, most likely to go somewhere private to continue her rant, his thoughts drift back to a bird from years in the past.
Was it still alive?
After some more yelling and teen angst that seemed abundant in Neru, Dell dragged himself away to catch a break. His short walk took him to a nearby vendor where he bought two cup of orange soda, the only drink on the list that wasn't sold out. It was the least he could do considering what he had put her through plus all the cash she had wasted on him. Then again, since when did he care about Neru's feelings? No, he did not, which is why when he walked back he put the cup on the far side of the bench she had taken a seat on and stood directly in front of her, giving her a nasty look and hoping that the further height difference brought about by their position annoyed her.
It did, and with a scowl she muttered "this could have all been avoided if you had just shown up the first time..."
There she goes again with the guilt trip. Dell had enough of this, of Neru and her persistence no matter what he did to distance himself from her. There was a line, he drew it clearly, yet she had to waltz in with her exaggerated long hair and cross it. Neru had no right to be mad, if anything he was the one who should be angry at her for being who she was and bringing up feelings he had felt before and didn't want to feel again, and just when his life had seemed to be getting stable.
Dell was boiling and was close to tipping over when he did the biggest mistake he could have done that day -he broke eye contact and looked at the tree that stood behind her. There were birds of different shapes hanging on the branches, one in particular that chirped on a lower branch of the tree caught his attention and pushed it all the way back to memories he seemed to recall whenever by her side.
He hated the bird for what it represented and hated himself for what he realized was coming out of his mouth.
"You know, you're just like a mockingbird."
One look and Dell knew Neru was long gone. No one appreciates a good smile, especially when it's the rare ones he never showed. Is it really so shocking that he can do something other than scowl? Yet the way she looks at him with awe, confusion, and curiosity made him feel two ways; he wants to hit her upside the head and keep talking.
He never liked talking.
"Back in middle school when Haku and I lived in a trashy apartment complex there was this bird. It would randomly come and sit on the railing facing our door and start making all this racket." The look on Neru's face was hanging dangerously close to bored and annoyed. It only helped his signature scowl return from its short vacation. "So one day I got some rocks and a rubber band and started shooting it."
The ice in Dell's soda had melted, leaving the fizzy drink with less bubbles and the disgusting taste only a select few liked. He hated soda, let alone watered-down soda, but he gulped it down. Too much talking made his throat drier than Neru's split ends.
"Since then whenever that bird saw me it would chirp nonstop. Never left me alone. So that's why you're a mockingbird. You yap and yap and never go away no matter what I do."
Their eyes never broke contact, even as she took a sip from her own drink. Dell expected sass. He believed she would have kicked or yelled or done a similar action he had come to associate with her. Instead, she grinned and said something that left him more furious and infatuated than ever before.
"Chirp chirp."
Boy were they bipolar.
A/ n:
Guess who's back, back again. I My Me Mine is back, tell a friend~
If you know what lyrics those are then you rock so much. Wazzap party people! How long has it been since we last saw one another, like three months? Pshaw, who's counting!? Okay, I am, and I feel pretty bad about taking so long but ehh, writers block affects everyone. Regardless of the overdueness of this chapter I hope you enjoyed this very Dell x Neru centered chapter and look forward to the chapters to come.
Special thanks to Ryuchu for beta-ing and encouraging me to edit this chapter till I finally felt satisfied with it, and Ten-Faced for her inspiring fic idiosyncrasies, the final push I needed to get me off my lazy bum and to pressing the publish button for this chapter.
