some things in life are undeniable

Koa

Don't take this the wrong way
You knew who I was with every step that I ran to you

Have the words 'I need to talk to you' ever inspired anything but dread in the person they're directed toward? They certainly have Koa blanching, his cheeks growing (relatively) pale beneath the body glitter he'd scrubbed off of Mateo's chest. "O...kay," he'd responded a bit unsteadily, too dizzy with alcohol and tonal whiplash to do anything but grab his drink and his shirt and follow obediently behind as Soh leads him to the back room.

He steps inside and turns around to find her leaning on the shut door, and for a moment they stay like that, a wealth of possibility in the (relative) quiet. Unsure if she's planning to scream at him or jump his bones and too weighed down by the haze of the past few hours to decide which would be better, Koa fidgets with his shirt as he waits for what feels like forever but is really maybe fifteen seconds for Soh to say her part.

He's just opened his mouth to prompt her when Soh's voice finally cuts through the din, sliding their way into his brain. And while it takes a second for him to parse exactly what she means, once he does his teeth snap shut, before opening again. "You... finished." The quest. The rose.

Hope blooms like dawn on Koa's face, his open expression made even more frank than usual by the lubrication of alcohol and surprise. Taking a half-step toward Sohalia, he blinks down at her in half-disbelief, too scared to let himself think it's true. "Are we... I mean, do you still..." Koa swallows, pushed beyond his usual limits to form coherent thoughts. There's only one word that matters, in the end, one thing he must confirm before he can really know how he should feel.

"Noe?"

Only blue or black days
Electing strange perfections in any stranger I choose