"Are you coming or what?" Murakumo rolled over on the bed, attempting to throw a pillow at Void who had been parked in front of the computer for hours at this point. "Cyk said dinner on him!"
"Yeah," They took a deep breath. "I'm almost done reading."
"It must be really interesting," Murakumo sat up.
"You know-" Void turned around to see Murakumo putting on his shoes. "I can't believe there's someone actively blogging about my old stupid small town."
The words came out all at once from their mouth. Old stupid small town. It was what Void did when Void didn't want to talk about it. Murakumo knew he could force himself to see what was on the screen but what if he wasted his gift for the day only to see some barely legible blocks of text instead of pictures, and then his night was over already.
Void got up and tied up their hair into a ponytail, the teal streaks under the black hair looking faded. At least Murakumo couldn't see that- it was one of the benefits of not having to be on point every day. Besides, there were so many people in the city that if someone had a bone to pick with Void over hair vibrancy, it would be a such a slim chance that they might as well buy a lottery ticket after.
"Sunglasses or no sunglasses?"
"I think my hat is fine for tonight," Murakumo threw on his blue jacket. "I wanna give another server a good story of serving an eyeless customer."
"Server? Did Cyk say where?" Void asked, locking the door behind Murakumo.
"No."
"Good." Void paused. "He's not getting away with another night of only paying for twenty five cent wings then racking up my tab."
"We had wings the other night," Murakumo put his hands in his jacket pocket. "Well, he paid me in wings to cover an hour of his shift and I'm pretty sure I let a kid take half the little toy dinosaurs out of the prize bin."
"Someone actually came into the arcade that wasn't us?"
"I know, right?" Murakumo laughed. "Of course it's when I'm there and can't see shit."
Void laughed before grabbing Murakumo's hand and guiding him across the street. It was the little things- the swear here and there coming from the small, innocent boy that made them both laugh. The rumors. The city at night. It was being alive as Void put it so delicately in their diary, an occasion that Murakumo would use his gift to catch up on once in a while.
"Besides, he was probably getting money for dinner anyway." Murakumo turned around, though he was facing the wrong direction. "I know you're gonna ask for fancy pho."
"Fancy pho and?"
"Well, if you'd stop thinking about your stupid old town in your own words, I could tell you exactly what you're gonna order."
Void gulped. They knew he could hear the thoughts in their head, obviously clouded by everything they had been reading. They tried to clear their mind, the mental image of some houses torn to shreds dissipating into nothingness, replacing the scene with one of a strawberry boba slushie and pho with more toppings than they could eat.
"That's better!" Murakumo smiled as they walked towards Cyk standing outside of the mall, waving at the two.
Void shuddered but knew it was for the best. Besides, all it took was one slip up of Murakumo in front of Cyk who would be all too curious about the place. Cyk was still in his urbexing phase but Void didn't want to go back just yet.
Murakumo felt an odd sensation, as if he was momentarily picked up into the air, before being put down. Void stopped, Cyk squinted through his sunglasses before shrugging.
"Cyk, I know you can pick me up better than that!" Murakumo shouted into the empty air in front of him.
"I'm over here," The boy laughed. "It wasn't Void either- do you think they could even pick you up?"
It was at that moment Murakumo felt a weird throbbing in his chest, eager to keep the feeling a secret until he could close his eyes for the night and forget about it.