Guys' Night [OPEN]

[seafloor]

WHO: Dudes, dude. Bring all your dudely Outsiders, bro.
WHAT: Man I sure wish I could tell you Cracking a cold one open with the boys
WHERE: The Onsen
WHEN: 4/11
WARNINGS: Alcohol, nudity, dad jokes... This'll be updated accordingly

[ A few days after the girls have had their fun (cause girls just wanna have fun), another blanket text sweeps over the Outsiders' inboxes. This time, it's from Kaito: and he is proposing a very original idea that all the guys should come by the hot springs in a few days' time. Gossip and bathing are optional, but an empty stomach is mandatory.

Several pictures of newly purchased smokers, grills, and even a fucking pizza oven can be seen at various points throughout the message. There are also mountains of stacked beer and soda cases. Kaito's apparently going to be cooking enough to feed the whole base, or so he purports.

Where did he get all the money for this? Whatever, it's free!

He also adds in no uncertain terms that if any girls try to show up and sneak a snack, he will send them home with a stern warning and a bottle of water.

If you take him up on the invitation, welcome! It's a spring cookout and Pitmaster Kaito Nagano is going to be serving up enough barbeque to temporarily turn the onsen area into a Texan territory within Japan. Seriously, there's gonna be a metric fuckton of food and booze, and the hot springs will be right there when you're ready to get hot and hungover.

There are absolutely no plans after food. Feel free to stick around and socialize, but you will not be publicly shamed for just yoinking a plate and dip setting. Probably.

Aside from the barbeque, there are some horseshoes and cornhole boards set up (google it, it's safe, this is not a bit it's just a funny name for an american game) for dudes to try their hand-eye coordination at after having one too many drinks.

If you're feeling particularly brave, Kaito's got an ice box full of artificial fish (all the meat's artificial, let's be real) that you can try to attract a feral cat with. Good luck. ]

(( ooc: hello yes i didn't want The Boys™ to feel left out so feel free to make top levels and just get some general cookout social time in with your boyos. make it as friendly or awkward or awkwardly friendly as possible. go nuts. get naked. cause a ruckus. [ insert toxic masculinity here ] ilu ♥ ))

Comments

[seafloor]

Hm.

You were more spirited, that's almost for certain. I know this trope. Hell, even I was more excitable ten years ago compared to now.

[immortalpoet]

...Actually, no.

I was the same.

[was he really]

I hate to imagine what "excitable" means compared to now.

[seafloor]

Sure you were.

And you can imagine. You had me pinned back when we talked about it in the mansion. I was volatile. Easy to piss off. Much more violent. That was my 'excitable'.

[immortalpoet]

I was. Or at least....I was probably worse.


[He...]

[He was a unfeeling monster of a machine, with a bleeding heart. A tin woodsman in the forest.]

Ha. So this is more control. I see, now. Do...you miss those days?

[seafloor]

[ Oh. Kaito doesn't like that. Not the words, mind you, but the emotions that follow them.

I'm a blink, he's in front of the Fixer, pressing a fresh, cold can to his neck. Pranked. Where the hell has he been holding all these? The Domain, most likely. ]

Forget I asked, okay? I don't need you getting depressed when we're supposed to be partying, old man.

—And for the record... I do. I miss being a little wilder, a little more free. But I wouldn't trade it for this. Or at least, what I had before I came here.

It's just a matter of perspective, and embracing your circumstances. For me, anyway.

1/2

[immortalpoet]

I-

[WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS COLD THING PRESSING AGAINST HIS NECK]

[He's immediately stepping away, scowling, WOW]

2/2

[immortalpoet]

Ergh...

[He's rubbing over his neck, glowering unhappily.]

You didn't need to do that. [REMEMBER!!! THIN ICE!!!!!!!!!] But I understand...

[...] I would...say the same.

[seafloor]

I didn't. But I did. That's friendship. [ Friendship with a trickster, maybe. ]

See? This has already been a good outing for us and our budding partnership. The more we understand each other, the more I can get away with.

[ It's a delicate balancing act. Malkuth's already warned him as such. ]

What do you think about the others, then? Anyone catch your eye, combat-wise?

[immortalpoet]

Friendship?

[what the fuck when were they friends?? HELP HIM]

Yeah, yeah. Try something else like that and I'll rip your arm off.

[He's managing to calm down, though he's offering the man a raised eyebrow. That's a question, alright.]

Why do you want to know.

[seafloor]

Information! Information is key, Vergilius. I shouldn't have to tell you that.

[ Look at him acting like a tutorial NPC. He's out to steal yo job— ]

On a serious note, we're a little more alike than you'd probably care to admit right now. You can guess what that means, can't you?

I want to know who the monsters here are. The monsters among monsters.

They're the ones to watch.

[immortalpoet]

[grumblegrumble MAYBE YOU HAVE A POINT grumble]

[The monsters among monsters, huh.]

There's a point to watching, sure. But...what do you want to do about them, then?

[seafloor]

Nothing. Not right now. Maybe not ever.

But it's good to know regardless. Good to know who to be paranoid about. Good to know who you can rely on when chain of command goes to shit. Things like that.

[ A beat. He glances sidelong and smiles. ]

...Good to know who'll make an interesting sparring partner.

[immortalpoet]

[No, of course it makes sense. This is not one super happy family or anything. They can't just assume it will always work out.]

[Kaito is smart. He gives him more respect for that, despite his bastard nature, though the last part makes him vaguely smirk into his drink.]

Ah, so you've given up on me because I would give you a run for your money.

[Heh.]

[seafloor]

Who says I've given up on anyone, huh?

[ Oh, Kaito knows where this is going. He shoots the old man a smirk. ]

If you've got some time in your busy schedule, we should dance. See if you can really keep up with the young'uns.

[ He's young'uns. Kaito tilts his beer Verg's way, tapping the can against his. ]

Have you tried asking Malkuth to spar? Part of me wants to, but the strain from her E.G.O.s worries the rest of me.

[immortalpoet]

This is where you're going to tell me you're one hundred years old or some nonsense.

[Malkuth had her three lives, he's already expecting Some Bullshit.]

If you haven't pissed me off by then, maybe. [The mention of Malkuth makes his expression sour, though, a pang of vague worry through his chest.] No, I haven't. E.G.Os are not to be used lightly. Did she tell you about Corrosion?

[seafloor]

Nah. But I am older than what my documents say. The gap's just not that large. On paper I'm supposed to be twenty-seven, but I'm probably already past thirty. Time's weird.

[ He had a whole explanation ready and everything...

The playful expression fades when they shift topics. ]

...She did.

I had to break her out of it, the first time we trained together. I still remember those vines, and that voice...

[immortalpoet]

That so. Went into some time distortion, or what?

[In the City: more likely than you think!]

[But oh....now that makes a shadow cast over his eyes, his mouth pulled into a tight grimace.]

And this was training? Why...she should know better......she keeps doing stupid nonsense like this. Throwing herself into danger, for what?

[seafloor]

[ Kaito also grimaces. Sorry, Malkutie. ]

A trait she and I share, [ he murmurs. Kaito kicks at the dirt. Something tugs at his chest, harsh and tight. A sharp sensation he felt just a few days prior, after the first dance lesson.

He's starting to better understand what it is.

It leaves him at a loss for words. ]

[immortalpoet]

...That so.

[And now, he casts his gaze to Kaito's face - as if taking it in, casting it in his memory.]

[He's trying his best to be stern, here, the very nature of an old guide, but there's some sliver of concern, genuine concern, hidden underneath the gruff nature.]

Don't be stupid, either.

[seafloor]

[ Oh, but he catches it. That threadbare sliver of emotion. He holds it tight. Unyielding. It's laid bare to his empathy... and he wishes he could forget. It turns the screw, and the tightness in his chest magnifies. ]

I can only do my best, [ Kaito whispers. ]

[immortalpoet]

[Hey, idiot, have a cold can of beer against your neck. You bastard. You menace. GET BEER-CANED]

1/2

[seafloor]

[ hey what the fuck— ]

2/2

[seafloor]

[ Kaito reels, but he doesn't yell. He shoots Verg a look, but it quickly bleeds into a smile. The kind of smile that only Malkuth's seen since he's arrived. ]

Thanks. I needed that.

That's why we're friends.

[immortalpoet]

We're not friends. I just don't want to deal with you being sad. Its weird.

[not HIS emotional baggage!]

[but despite it, there again is that sliver, like a sprout of mild relief]