[ Riku can almost certainly feel Arden's head snap up just a little more than it was after Arden's sure he heard that correctly.
Had he even told Riku that out loud? They'd only spoken three times, including this one, and had he actually... had he said how frustrating it was that Riku didn't call him anything at all? Just 'you' and other pronouns.
Because that kind of acknowledgement, that was one of the things missing to him. The kind of thing Riku didn't want to talk about because it only provided him peace of mind and did nothing for Riku, or so the excuse had gone.
But yeah... that guy, The Real Thing, he'd used Arden's chosen name for the first time. ]
1/2
Had he even told Riku that out loud? They'd only spoken three times, including this one, and had he actually... had he said how frustrating it was that Riku didn't call him anything at all? Just 'you' and other pronouns.
Because that kind of acknowledgement, that was one of the things missing to him. The kind of thing Riku didn't want to talk about because it only provided him peace of mind and did nothing for Riku, or so the excuse had gone.
But yeah... that guy, The Real Thing, he'd used Arden's chosen name for the first time. ]