"U-uh. Well, we lived next door for a few years, and stuff," Senji was taken aback by the slight tonal shift. She fished something out of her pocket, and handed it over, to change the subject. Rody took it, and upon closer inspection recognized that it was a phone. One similar to the phone she had been watching videos on, but it looked a little older.

"What?"

"It's..um. It would make things easier, yeah? To keep in touch with your family when you're out, and if you wanted to text any of us after we go home," she offered a vague explanation and played with the device in her own hands. Her tail curled up and flicked against his leg again, though the movement didn't seem intentional.

"I don't..thanks?," Rody wasn't sure how to respond to that so suddenly. The room fell quiet, with occasional bursts of laughter from down the hall. The minutes dragged on,with neither knowing how to address the tension that had built to a boiling point between them.

"Um!"

Both tried to speak up at the same time, then waited for the other to go first.

"So," Rody cleared his throat, hoping it would clear out the lump of emotion threatening to surge forward as well.

"I-uh," Senji tried again, but was struggling with her own ball of feelings. She nearly gave up, but balled up her fists and pushed through.

"I'm not…good with stuff like this. So I might say something weird, b-but!," she shouted the first part, then lowered her volume. Once she got the ball rolling, it should have been easy to say the rest of what was on her mind. And on her chest, which felt tight and ready to burst at this particular moment.

"It's…don't worry about it. You've already…got stuff goin' on. Besides, we're from totally different worlds. Literally," Rody tried to dismiss it, fear and anxiety overtaking everything else. Pino squirmed in his hand, chirping loudly and blushing profusely. Senji laughed at the mismatch in tone between the two, then pressed on.

"It would be long-distance, yeah. And there's a lot that would be hard to deal with. I didn't expect…a lot of stuff to build up so fast, so I can't be sure how long it'll even last or anything. But, if you want to," her face reddened as she recalled an earlier conversation. She covered her face with her hands, matching the little pink bird that had escaped Rody's grasp.

"I…what? What about-"

"That's!," Senji cut him off, almost on reflex, then caught herself. She shook her head, turning toward Rody while still looking downward. He jolted in his seat at her sudden movement.

"That's..the thing. We, um, talked about some stuff earlier. I don't…want to choose right now, sorry," she blurted out. Rody let out a deep sigh, expecting as much but not wanting to accept it before. He felt tears welling up, and tried to find a response while his voice caught in his throat. Senji reached out with her right hand, hesitating for just a moment, then took his hand in hers. He wanted to pull back, but also didn't want to, and sat stuck in contradictory emotions.

"I..don't want to choose. But," she continued, softly, peering up at him through her long and messy bangs. Her eyes reflected the dim light, appearing to glow in the shadow of her hair. Her cheeks were bright, and her body was twisted in an awkward way to face him on the sofa. He tried to ground himself, so as not to lose it completely in front of her.

"Ah!," she suddenly exclaimed, ruffling her own hair in frustration and cursing in a mix of languages at herself. Rody's tears receded for now, and he just stared at her, mind blanked out.

"Man, this is hard! Sorry, I mean, um," she spoke a little too quickly and bit her tongue. Her lips curled up into that oh so familiar nervous grin, and she tugged a little at the boy's shirt. Pulling him closer, while not meeting his eyes with her own. She inhaled deeply, holding it for a moment longer than would be considered normal.

"I don't want to choose, so I won't. I-if..if you want to try and…we can. It's weird, I know, but.. And if it's too much in any way, we can just call it quits and just..be friends. Or not talk at all, or…yeah!," she blurted everything out all at once, in a single breath, skipping past the parts that she still couldn't bring herself to say. Rody's body acted on its own, his hand reaching up to her face and brushing her hair aside. Her brow was furrowed in a weird way, and he just now noticed the two moles under her right eye with the hair tucked behind her ear. She stared him down, her pupil shaking as she fought the urge to look away out of embarrassment.

"What…are you..?"

Rody processed everything out of order. His hand, pulling back and freezing in place. His mind raced, but there were still no words. Or too many? His chest felt ready to burst, then light, then back to tightening up. His own mouth curled up, matching the goofy grin the girl wore through her determined expression. Then he finally understood, and felt a whole new rush of emotion with the wave of relief.

"I…um. We can see where things..go," Senji tried to explain in less words, but left out more important details this time. Rody laughed, unable to hold it in any longer, and she pouted back at him while turning bright red. She shook him slightly, feeling both relieved and frustrated all over again.

"Sorry! Sorry, I just..give me a minute!," Rody held his hands up in surrender. Senji released him, folding her arms over her chest and pouting. He covered his mouth with his hand, and tried to stare at anything but her. Looked at the floor, but that was no good because he spotted her tail thumping against the couch. The dishes piled up in the kitchen? No good either, because he had to look past her. His eyes trailed up, from her legs that were folded underneath her, marked by several scars. To her shoulders, where the overshirt slipped off on one side and exposed some freckles. Then back to her face, and the many piercings that shone from her ears.

"I..um," he blanked again. Senji glanced sideways at him, unfolding her arms and fidgeting with the end of her shirt.