Private One Step Forward, Many Steps Back

The summer season felt too good to sit inside and play games or hang around the community center. Konpeitō wanted to do something different with Ganymede. Something that really took advantage of the nice breeze the weather provided. A few back and forth texts ended in the two settling on having a picnic when they were free.

But a lot had happened as they waited for that time. When it came, Konpeitō struggled with keeping up his usual enthusiasm towards spending time with one of his favorite people. A list that was unnervingly short and he would rather not think about. Making picnic meals didn't help him either. Every time he had to adjust for a NEK0, he remembered his annoyance with their entire group.

Once the two met up at Oceanic Park, settled down, and began talking, Konpeitō slowly returned to his usual self. He started off distant, not responding to Ganymede with his usual rambles. They were short, to the point, and oftentimes vague (specifically when it came to how he was doing). He was more than happy to let Ganymede take the lead. Being annoyed by one NEK0 didn't mean he had to ruin his relationship with this one. The times when he spoke with more emotion came when he wanted to swerve a conversation to another direction.

Konpeitō never had anything similar to a sibling. Even his closest or youngest online friends were barely friends. People he knew but not anyone he could connect to further than a shallow level. That's what happened when you had to hide your identity from everyone. Each lie he built upon only furthered his distance from his friends.

So there was genuine pride in having someone like Ganymede to take care of. To admire as he spoke about his accomplishments and how he was thriving on the island. There was an ambition to him that Konpeitō enjoyed watching grow and wondered where it would take him. If things fell through with Osmond (the idea of it horrified him and he tried not to linger long on it), then he could use that business degree to fully support Ganymede. If he decided to further pursue his cleaning business.

Apparently that ambition led to Ganymede meeting up with more NEK0s. Konpeitō managed to hold back a deep frown, leaving his smile almost non-existent. He has suspicions that Ganymede was meeting up with any NEK0 he could find. It's why he went to him on if he knew any adult NEK0s. But this was a step further than he expected.

"Oh. Oh! They must be happy having someone of their kind to help them around here." He paused, then took on a concern edge with his voice. "Aren't you worried you're keeping yourself too busy? You have school, your club, piano recitals, magic training... I thought you were focusing more on enjoying your childhood?" On some level, he was concerned that Ganymede would overwhelm himself. What he really wanted was to move on from the topic Ganymede provided.

Konpeitō didn't like how Ganymede dismissed his concerns, but he was willing to ignore it and move on. Something Ganymede apparently couldn't do. He doubled down and now there was no longer an easy way to wiggle out of this.

Well, there was, but Konpeitō couldn't do that to him.

He replied with a half-hearted shrug. "I met K.C. I'm not worried about her. If she likes being hurt, then she likes being hurt. Some people enjoy that kind of stuff. I do. There are whole communities for it. I'm sure her therapist told her about them like my therapist did."

Any other person would have had Konpeitō laughing at their prudishness. Ganymede wasn't any other person, and Konpeitō was getting better at reminding himself that discussing sex isn't normal with children. Even if they're a NEK0 and it's probably not a taboo.

"I mentioned brothels once, but she didn't show any interest in them. She seems capable though. From the times I've met her, she was happy—usually—and enjoyed the surrounding company. There's not... I don't think there's a problem." There was a finality to his voice. His last-ditch attempt at subtly telling Ganymede to shut up, eat his food, and they could happily continue on with their picnic. There wasn't a problem unless he wanted to make one. Based on how anxious Ganymede was over Katherine, that was becoming likely.

Konpeitō smiled at Ganymede, happy the topic was somewhat dropped. It was lowered to the ground, anyway. Small victories.

"She got upset at the bar when conversation stopped being fun and turned depressing, so she probably would be annoyed," he commented with vague interest. What got an eyebrow raise out of him was the last thing Ganymede said. "You think so? I thought you were doing great. You look happy." While Ganymede replied, he began eating slices of cantaloupes neatly cut up and in a bowl with other cat-friendly fruits.