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Rory laughed softly. "Nah, I'm sure you'll be fine. But better safe than sorry, I always say—even though my mates think otherwise," he added with another amused snort, shaking his head. However much he might make fun of them, though, Rory still loved them all dearly and considered them brothers. He couldn't ask for better friends.
"You aren't wrong about that. It is always best." Aika said, shooting a smile in his general direction. "And I do hope you're right. Embarrassment isn't easy to get over." Her first recital came to mind, and she made a face for a moment.
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Rory caught the face she made but assumed that she was recalling something related to her last statement. "I hope so as well, for your sake. Embarrassment is not the way to go," he said, chuckling.
"How reassuring." Aika said, lips quirking up into a playful smile. "Hopefully, if I do manage to embarrass myself, your friends won't hold it against me. Unlikely, considering what you've told me, but one can hope."
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"One can hope," he repeated with a small laugh, nodding. "If you were part of the friend group, then you more than likely won't be safe from the teasing. But you should be safe," he reassured her. He looked around the hall, gauging how far they were from Jordan's room. "His room should be close," he murmured, then sighed when he heard the bickering.
She tilted her head, picking up the sound as he did. A small and amused huff of a laugh, left her, and she shook her head. "Wow, you really weren't kidding. Is that much bickering a common thing?" She asked, turning her head somewhat in his direction.
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"Pretty much a daily when we're not passed out on the tour bus," Rory sighed, then tapped Aika's arm twice to tell her to stop. "Here we are," he said, the bickering coming from the inside of the room louder than before. He looked through the window and saw that Tobias, of course, was leaning against the door.
Aika pressed her lips together as she smiled, coming to a stop at his tap. Gods, he was so much more helpful than the cane in her hand. And much more enjoyable to be around, too. "What do you think they're arguing so intently about?" She asked, after judging that the door was closed by the slight muffle to the voices, despite their volume.
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Rory tilted his head, listening. "Oh my God, those idiots," he muttered, shaking his head. He didn't answer her, though, as he opened the door and shoved, pushing Tobias off balance and into Rowan. The two boys yelled in protest in seeing that it was Rory—not that they would've been more polite if it was hospital staff. Rory ignored them and said, his accent slipping into full Korean mode, "요르단은 네!" Jordan is a dumbass. The other boys did a collective "Oooohhhhh" and nodded. Their argument had been how to say that phrase in Korean—without their resident Korean.
Aika tilted her head, putting bits of what she had caught before together with this interaction, and coming fairly close to the actual conclusion. Her lips quirked up into a polite smile out of habit as she turned her head towards Rory, her tapping resuming as a result of being slightly nervous. Meeting new people wasn't something she was that used to or good at, as she had a tendency to keep to herself.
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Harvey, a fairly tall boy with dusty brown hair and chocolate brown eyes, grinned when he spotted a girl behind Rory, who gently ushered her into the slightly crowded hospital room. "Well well well," Harvey said from where he sat on the windowsill, "What do we have here? Rory bring over a girlfriend?" Rory sighed and muttered to himself in Korean before turning towards Harvey and scowling at him jokingly. The other boys' eyes lit up as they also spotted Aika.
"A friend, actually, last I checked." Aika said, sort of tucking herself close to the wall in order to keep out of the way, but staying close to Rory. She hadn't been kidding about not wanting to embarrass herself. She tucked the cane close to herself, keeping it out of the way of anyone's legs.
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Rowan pushed poor Tobias off of him, sending the boy hurtling for Jordan's bed. "I'm not some doll you can toss around!" Tobias protested, righting himself before plopping onto the floor to keep from getting pushed around some more.
Rowan rolled his eyes, pushing his glasses up onto his head as he surveyed Aika. "And who might you be?" he asked, tilting his head.
"And why do you have a blindfold on?" Harvey blurted out, completely serious. "Are you blind or somethin'?"
"Harvey!" Jordan and Rory scolded.
"I-" Not yet, but soon enough I will be. Aika resumed tapping her fingers softly, head moving like she was glancing around, despite not being able to see. One question at a time. "Aika Higashi. It's nice to meet all of you." Polite as a default, despite Harvey's…bluntness. She opened her mouth once more, but paused, trying to figure out just how to answer Harvey.
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Harvey rolled his eyes and leaned forward, elbows braced on his knees as he grinned. " 'Ello, Higashi. Mind taking that blindfold off?" Rory narrowed his eyes at Harvey in warning, as well as Jordan, and even Tobias looked warily between the three different boys and this new and strange girl. He scooted back, which inadvertently gave Harvey a straight path to Aika.
Aika pressed her lips together, shaking her head slightly. Thanks to, you know, not being able to see at all, she had absolutely no clue what was going that she couldn't gather from listening. "I would really rather not." She said, polite as always.
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Harvey just grinned and got up. The other boys bit their lips and exchanged looks, but were otherwise fine with his actions, as they were curious as well—except Rory, of course. He stepped forward and tried to push the other boy back, but Harvey was taller than him and slippery. He ducked under Rory's arm and grabbed Aika's blindfold with a little "Gotcha." He scrambled back when Rory practically growled and lunged at him.
Aika let out a small and startled sound, her hand instantly coming up to shield her eyes from the sudden and bright lights. Beyond that, she was visibly unsure of just how to react, standing incredibly still as she let her eyes adjust to the light. Once they had adjusted, they focused in on Rory, widening slightly as she took a half step forward. "Rory, it's fine." Her voice was quiet, incredibly so, but strong enough to carry. So much for control.
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His already narrow eyes narrowed even more as he stilled, though his glare didn't leave Harvey. Tobias was the first to speak. "Uncool man," he said, looking between Harvey and Rory, "Really uncool."
Kasper chimed in. "Well…you didn't try to stop him," he pointed out.
Tobias looked incredulously up at the band leader. "Neither did you."
Rowan just sat in the corner, watching the happenings silently with curious eyes. Jordan looked unsure of how to react to what just happened.
Rory finally looked back at Aika, mumbling a soft, "I'm sorry…" to her.
"Don't be." Aika assured, ignoring the other conversation for the moment as her dark eyes met Rory's. "This is on me." It honestly probably wasn't, but she obviously seemed to think so. "No, I'm not-not blind." This time, she was addressing the whole room, though mostly Harvey. "Not yet, at least."
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((well, she finally has a face to put with the voice))
Rowan reached over to smack the back of Harvey's head. "Way to go, dipshit." Harvey actually ducked his head apologetically, the most Aika would get out of him. Jordan whistled. "Damn, I can only assume you're stuck in this hell hole for a lot worse of a reason than I am." Tobias offered a small smile of reassurance, wrapping his arms around his knees loosely. Rory had a slight inkling of what might be going on with her, but it was still something else to actually hear that.
Aika shook her head, shooting Harvey a small half smile in response, before looking over at Jordan. "There's no 'worse'. Both of us were…unlucky, I guess." She sighed, lifting her cane, tapping the handle the way she had with Rory when referring to it. "Tumors…in my eyes. They think I've got a few months left of sight. The blindfold was…a way to stay in control of the situation, the best I could. Stop seeing on my own terms." A face to the voice, at least.
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Rowan did the whole group a favor and smacked the back of Harvey's head again. The abused party of the group scooted away from Rowan, rubbing the back of his head. "Okay okay, I'm sorry. I was just curious," Harvey said, looking up at Aika at that last part. Rory offered her a small smile, understanding.
Jordan, being Jordan, sighed dramatically and flopped back onto his back. "That is waaaaaaaaaay more badass than my problem. Concussion. So lame."
"No, you don't-you don't have to apologize. I owed you, and Rory, honestly, and explanation." Aika said hurriedly, shaking her head. She pressed her lips together as her eyes returned to Jordan, and she tilted her head. "A concussion is no small thing, you know. Depending on the severity, it could have long lasting effects."
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Jordan shrugged, sitting back up. "It wasn't that severe. Docs said it could've been way worse."
Tobias leaned forward so that he could be seen from his spot on the floor. "How did you and Rory meet? He left on his own and then came back an hour later with you." That reminded Rory of the spaghetti, and he walked over to Jordan's side to give it to him. The other boy's eyes lit up as he grabbed it with a plethora of 'thank you's.
Aika blinked, leaning against her cane slightly as she set it back on the floor. "I was stumbling around the hallway, lost on my way to the elevator a few hallways away from my room." She said, reaching up to push her hair away from her face. "He helped me find it, and we kept each other company while we ate lunch. I would have crashed into plenty of people, if it weren't for him."
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Tobias grinned and twisted so he could look up at Rory. "Awwwww, our Rory's a hero," he cooed. Rory shot him a halfhearted glare and nudged him with his boot as he walked by, knocking over the boy yet again. "Heyyyy," Tobias whined. Rory looked to Harvey, and the other boy tossed him the blindfold without needing to be told. Rory then came over to Aika's side and handed her the blindfold. "I wouldn't go that far," he muttered, burrowing into his coat.
Aika shot him a grateful smile, looking down at the blindfold in her hands. "I don't know, you saved me, and all the people I would have sent crashing to the floor on accident." She pointed out, tying the bandana around her wrist and settling back against her cane. A little while until the first chemo treatment wouldn't hurt, right? Besides, it would give Rory a break from saving her from bumping into things.
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"All I did was talk and tap," he said, shaking his head and trying to deny it. He didn't really see what he did as anything special—it was just something semi-normal anyway. Rowan arched a brow as he glanced between the two, then a smirk slid up his lips as he continued to stare. Tobias saw the look and opened his mouth, but Kasper beat him to it. "Shut it, Tobi. Let the man dream."
Aika tilted her head, her eyes flickering from one boy to the next, before settling on looking around the room, despite her slight confusion. The hospital room looked a lot like hers had when she'd gotten here, but something about it seemed different. More…full of life, despite being a hospital room. "Helpful, still." Gods, she still had barely any clue who any of them were. Rory she knew, obviously. Jordan was the one they were visiting, and Harvey had been yelled at enough for her to commit his name to memory, but the others…she debated asking, but eventually decided on staying quiet.
