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[At the end of the day, it's still Baren. And Baren, as soon as he even has a fraction of his vision back once Chuuya pulls away from the kiss, is immediately going to walk the both of them away from the rest of the group. Public displays of affection are fine. Holding onto each other as they walk, Chuuya sitting on his lap, the idle kisses - those are fine for other people to see.
But this - when his heart beats so fast that he wonders if it's gotten stuck in his throat - he needs distance. Privacy. Just the two of them.
He keeps his forehead resting against Chuuya's even as his mouth curls into something between a grin and a grimace.]
I forgot that sometimes you just don't have common sense.
[Though he can't feel as though he minds right now.
(He's still too busy reeling from the other feelings - the warmth, the intensity, the possessiveness. They're familiar, but not enough to be exact. These are sharper, more certain, unwavering. What is it? Something in him craves to know what is it?)]
But this - when his heart beats so fast that he wonders if it's gotten stuck in his throat - he needs distance. Privacy. Just the two of them.
He keeps his forehead resting against Chuuya's even as his mouth curls into something between a grin and a grimace.]
I forgot that sometimes you just don't have common sense.
[Though he can't feel as though he minds right now.
(He's still too busy reeling from the other feelings - the warmth, the intensity, the possessiveness. They're familiar, but not enough to be exact. These are sharper, more certain, unwavering. What is it? Something in him craves to know what is it?)]
I haven't seen your dumb ass in a month, what did you expect...
[chuuya leans back juuust enough to flick his forehead for that comment. no common sense, huh...
he doesn't mind going somewhere more private, though. he may have thrown himself at baren in full view of the group, but there are things he still just doesn't say in public, like:]
Missed you, love. Next time don't get left the fuck behind.
[baren might hate that word but as far as chuuya's concerned, he's just going to have to deal with it right now.]
[chuuya leans back juuust enough to flick his forehead for that comment. no common sense, huh...
he doesn't mind going somewhere more private, though. he may have thrown himself at baren in full view of the group, but there are things he still just doesn't say in public, like:]
Missed you, love. Next time don't get left the fuck behind.
[baren might hate that word but as far as chuuya's concerned, he's just going to have to deal with it right now.]
[ugh he hates forehead flicks. there's the flash of genuine irritation on his face for a moment -
which disappears the second that chuuya gets sincere, as it always does. he flusters immediately, his heart racing faster and face flushing as 'love' registers in his ears. this is of course the second that tanuki-san feels like catching up to them, scampering up baren's leg up up to his shoulder - the heart stone tied around his neck coming into contact with baren so chuuya can feel it.
he can feel the immediate need to run, as if those words are too good for him. the embarrassment, the disbelief, the way that it feels like the ground beneath baren's very feet have been pulled out from under him because he hasn't heard it in a month. but even with all that there's the wave of possessiveness even as baren's grip around chuuya tightens as if he doesn't want to let him go.
there's the snap - ]
Shut the fuck up, Chuu, that's not my fucking fault!
which disappears the second that chuuya gets sincere, as it always does. he flusters immediately, his heart racing faster and face flushing as 'love' registers in his ears. this is of course the second that tanuki-san feels like catching up to them, scampering up baren's leg up up to his shoulder - the heart stone tied around his neck coming into contact with baren so chuuya can feel it.
he can feel the immediate need to run, as if those words are too good for him. the embarrassment, the disbelief, the way that it feels like the ground beneath baren's very feet have been pulled out from under him because he hasn't heard it in a month. but even with all that there's the wave of possessiveness even as baren's grip around chuuya tightens as if he doesn't want to let him go.
there's the snap - ]
Shut the fuck up, Chuu, that's not my fucking fault!
Edited 2018-03-04 23:14 (UTC)
[ - and then the realization.
the recognition of this warmth that isn't his - it's too foreign, too unfamiliar, too unashamed and certain to be his - and he seems to blink as it clicks.
love isn't just a word.
and in this cocktail of confused emotions, there's one more added: awe.]
.... You - really love me.
the recognition of this warmth that isn't his - it's too foreign, too unfamiliar, too unashamed and certain to be his - and he seems to blink as it clicks.
love isn't just a word.
and in this cocktail of confused emotions, there's one more added: awe.]
.... You - really love me.
[so that's what it feels like on baren's end, what's behind all those reactions-- it very nearly dims chuuya's own outpouring of emotions to feel that need to run, but the possessiveness there holds it stable and the way baren holds him tighter keeps him in place.
is it really like this for him every time...?
that only makes chuuya more certain he wants to change it, though, wants to make him stop feeling that urge to go along with the need to keep him close.
what does stop him short are baren's words and the awe he can feel, and he leans back to look him in the eye, a brow raised.]
I thought you knew that. I keep telling you I do, yeah?
is it really like this for him every time...?
that only makes chuuya more certain he wants to change it, though, wants to make him stop feeling that urge to go along with the need to keep him close.
what does stop him short are baren's words and the awe he can feel, and he leans back to look him in the eye, a brow raised.]
I thought you knew that. I keep telling you I do, yeah?
I'd go pass out on the couch in that case.
[So no, no black out. His eyes are dilated to hell and back, but he's sorta cognitively aware? No drunker than Baren has ever seen him.
But anyway, back to the mess of ingredients that stare accusingly from the counter. Arms folded, Sanji studies them with uncertainty, like an American trying to read Sanskrit for the first time.]
.. Oh, right. [Snapping his fingers in triumph] Oven. Gotta... gotta set that shit at something.
[... 500F is a fine temperature for a cake.]
[So no, no black out. His eyes are dilated to hell and back, but he's sorta cognitively aware? No drunker than Baren has ever seen him.
But anyway, back to the mess of ingredients that stare accusingly from the counter. Arms folded, Sanji studies them with uncertainty, like an American trying to read Sanskrit for the first time.]
.. Oh, right. [Snapping his fingers in triumph] Oven. Gotta... gotta set that shit at something.
[... 500F is a fine temperature for a cake.]
Don't. But you ever realize you can't feel your butt? It's weird.
[which... hm. actually...] ...did you feel it when I got frozen?
[which... hm. actually...] ...did you feel it when I got frozen?
[Sometime on the 4th, Baren will get a message--a photo of Yasusada, standing in his apartment, next to the sword rack that now holds his and Kashuu's vessels. It looks like a normal photo, except that over his regular clothes, he's wearing something out of place--a blue and white haori, immediately recognizable to anyone familiar with the Shinsengumi.
He doesn't know if Baren is, though. Baren told him he'd lived in the Sengoku era, which seemingly puts several hundred years between their past selves, but... there's no way to know for sure unless he asks. Not with the things they're capable of these days.
It's a simple question, but something about it (or maybe the expression Yasusada's face, in the photo) makes it obvious that it's important.]
do you recognize this?
He doesn't know if Baren is, though. Baren told him he'd lived in the Sengoku era, which seemingly puts several hundred years between their past selves, but... there's no way to know for sure unless he asks. Not with the things they're capable of these days.
It's a simple question, but something about it (or maybe the expression Yasusada's face, in the photo) makes it obvious that it's important.]
do you recognize this?
I—
[He's not sure how to describe it. His brows knit together as the words fail to leave his lips, if only because he doesn't know what to use to describe his emotions. The heart stone does the job for him -
Because never once in his life has Baren felt this type of emotion before. This kind of sincere and certain love for another person that you're not related to by blood, tied by a new bond that is created out of fondness and sweetness and interaction, not out of DNA and preconceived notions of what unconditional love looks like. He's wrestling with it. Trying to understand it.
This is what Chuuya feels all the time?
This is what Chuuya feels for him all the time?
There's no hiding his disbelief, letting it filter through the stone right to his partner.
With it comes a wave of a different feeling, a different notion: I don't ever want this to change. There's the flicker of guilt (I don't deserve this) but it passes quickly in favor of the hope that this feeling will never go away. That Chuuya will always be his, beyond a shadow of a doubt. So he can't do much more than shake his head, recognizing his own inability to bring his feelings into the air between them.
Instead he leans in to press their lips together again and in that kiss he murmurs, soft:]
I've wanted to believe you.
I think I'm starting to.
[Even if it took too long.]
[He's not sure how to describe it. His brows knit together as the words fail to leave his lips, if only because he doesn't know what to use to describe his emotions. The heart stone does the job for him -
Because never once in his life has Baren felt this type of emotion before. This kind of sincere and certain love for another person that you're not related to by blood, tied by a new bond that is created out of fondness and sweetness and interaction, not out of DNA and preconceived notions of what unconditional love looks like. He's wrestling with it. Trying to understand it.
This is what Chuuya feels all the time?
This is what Chuuya feels for him all the time?
There's no hiding his disbelief, letting it filter through the stone right to his partner.
With it comes a wave of a different feeling, a different notion: I don't ever want this to change. There's the flicker of guilt (I don't deserve this) but it passes quickly in favor of the hope that this feeling will never go away. That Chuuya will always be his, beyond a shadow of a doubt. So he can't do much more than shake his head, recognizing his own inability to bring his feelings into the air between them.
Instead he leans in to press their lips together again and in that kiss he murmurs, soft:]
I've wanted to believe you.
I think I'm starting to.
[Even if it took too long.]
[Being rooted in place is gonna cost you your guy, Sakichi!
Seeing as Baren is going to turn a real quick corner, into a random alleyway, and will then be hopping up to the fire escape and rooftops to call Tanuki to bring him the rest of the way home!
:')
Bye.]
Seeing as Baren is going to turn a real quick corner, into a random alleyway, and will then be hopping up to the fire escape and rooftops to call Tanuki to bring him the rest of the way home!
:')
Bye.]
shinsengumi
[ - but that's because he lived in Japan and studied extensively. He'd done research on even Kashuu's sword when he first got it, searching for answers to determine its origin. He technically knows plenty.
He just never bothered to share.]
a gift from retrospec?
[ - but that's because he lived in Japan and studied extensively. He'd done research on even Kashuu's sword when he first got it, searching for answers to determine its origin. He technically knows plenty.
He just never bothered to share.]
a gift from retrospec?
yeah.
[If nothing else, the fact that he's using proper punctuation is enough of a sign that this matters. He types and erases a second response, then another; it takes him a while to actually decide on what to send.]
my former master got one just like it.
[He'd posted about it on the network, too, though he doesn't expect Baren to remember that. Briefly, Yasusada wonders if he should've mentioned all of this then--but no, that conversation had been for him and Soujirou alone.
Now, though...
Baren never made him promise to tell the truth. But that's because he'd never needed to. Yasusada is alarmingly honest by nature, and this is just further proof of that.]
[If nothing else, the fact that he's using proper punctuation is enough of a sign that this matters. He types and erases a second response, then another; it takes him a while to actually decide on what to send.]
my former master got one just like it.
[He'd posted about it on the network, too, though he doesn't expect Baren to remember that. Briefly, Yasusada wonders if he should've mentioned all of this then--but no, that conversation had been for him and Soujirou alone.
Now, though...
Baren never made him promise to tell the truth. But that's because he'd never needed to. Yasusada is alarmingly honest by nature, and this is just further proof of that.]
Yes, as far as I know. I was speaking directly to her.
Settsu is a city in Osaka. Alternatively, it was an old province with Osaka at its center.
Provincial Settsu's only distinguishing trait seems to be its role as a distribution center for matchlock firearms. Perhaps I was in search of a gun.
Settsu is a city in Osaka. Alternatively, it was an old province with Osaka at its center.
Provincial Settsu's only distinguishing trait seems to be its role as a distribution center for matchlock firearms. Perhaps I was in search of a gun.
Edited 2018-03-05 07:59 (UTC)
Took you long enough.
[but chuuya's smiling against his lips, and that warmth hasn't faded. the hope in that mix of emotions didn't go unnoticed, and it's met with the same from chuuya's own heartstone as he steals another kiss from baren.]
But I'm still going to keep telling you, you know that, right?
[if baren is only starting to believe, he'll continue until he does. even if baren does fully believe it, that's never going to stop chuuya from reminding him that it still holds as true as it ever has, maybe more.
a third kiss, and then-]
Ready to go home?
[but chuuya's smiling against his lips, and that warmth hasn't faded. the hope in that mix of emotions didn't go unnoticed, and it's met with the same from chuuya's own heartstone as he steals another kiss from baren.]
But I'm still going to keep telling you, you know that, right?
[if baren is only starting to believe, he'll continue until he does. even if baren does fully believe it, that's never going to stop chuuya from reminding him that it still holds as true as it ever has, maybe more.
a third kiss, and then-]
Ready to go home?
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