[ closed ] simmer for seven days

[seafloor]

WHO: kaito and pals
WHAT: post-surgery and mid-month event shenanigans
WHERE: around town
WHEN: from april 12 to the end of the month
WARNINGS: potential discussion of body horror; will update as things Go On

Comments

[seafloor]

[ Kaito nods. It's the same model for [redacted] so he doesn't have trouble rewording it all. ]

Pretty much. We go after rich folks who won't miss their kryptos. You know, like the people at the club the other month.

Convincing them that they can go without such a rare collector's item is easier than it sounds. Rich people are greedy, too.

[immortalpoet]

So you've a full-time scam artist.





This makes a lot of sense for you, actually.

[seafloor]

[ Kaito flashes a thumbs up. ]

Only for a month! That's about how long any good scam holds up, anyway.

And now that I've got decent funds, I can start my food cart.

[immortalpoet]

And what is your food cart going to be about? Not desserts, definitely.

[seafloor]

Absolutely not.

...Honestly, I'm not sure. I've been playing with this idea that there simply isn't a menu, and I just cook whatever I feel like cooking on any particular day.

Don't like it? Don't eat it.

Something like that.

[immortalpoet]

What if I don't like anything you're serving? Can I make requests?

[seafloor]

Nope!

Unless it's for dietary restrictions or allergies, if you don't like what the chef's cooking then you come back tomorrow.

I think it'll be pretty decisive—which means it'll be interesting.

[immortalpoet]

I think you just want an excuse to be mean.

[mean chef...]

[seafloor]

You and I both know I don't need an excuse for that.

[ Grinning. ]

[immortalpoet]

[A HEAVY SIGH LIKE YEAH THAT'S WHAT HE EXPECTED YOU BASTARD]

I want discounts.

[seafloor]

[ Grin Becomes Smirk. ]

Seeking preferential treatment? What'll your employees say when they find out?

[immortalpoet]

Oh, they'll deal with it.

[h eh]

[seafloor]

Oh, go a little harder with that. You're so close to a smile...

[immortalpoet]

I haven't smiled once in my life.

[#serious(?)]

[seafloor]

I'm almost willing to believe that...

But I suppose it gives me work to do.

[immortalpoet]

You're making it sound like your homework.

[seafloor]

Should I call it my duty instead?

[immortalpoet]

You can find better duties than that. What a waste of time.

[seafloor]

Yeah, well, I'm a disaster.

[ Boy oh boy is he about to prove it this week. ]

[immortalpoet]

Join the line.

[WE'RE ALL FUCKING DISASTERS!!!]

[...He glances to the side.]

You're not special.

[seafloor]

[ He shifts to the side, smirking. ]

We're all special, Vergilius. That's why we aren't.

[immortalpoet]

Didn't take you to be the philosophical type.

[But no, that makes sense for him, he thinks.]

You're....a lot like water yourself, aren't you.

[seafloor]

Believe me, I try not to be. My hands have always been better public speakers than my mouth.

[ Scoffing. Kaito peeks a gold open afterward and puts on a smaller smile. ]

What makes you think that?

[immortalpoet]

What, because of how much you use them to gesture and touch people?

[MISTER SHOULDER NUDGE AND ALL]

[But the question makes him gaze out a little pensively.]

Water can take on the form of its container. It flows. It ebbs. It can storm up, it can be calm. You move here and there. But to hold you in one place, even in a container...it difficult. And you want it that way, don't you?

[seafloor]

Maybe that's part of it. [ And just because he mentioned it, Kaito gives his shoulder a pat.

But the analysis shuts him up. Truth be told, he's heard most of the answer before. Mayne times before, in fact. That unfailing flexibility of his is probably how he's stayed alive, or won over as many men and gods as he has. He's even been told that he's difficult to pin down, literally or otherwise.

It's the last sentence that punches the air out of his lungs.

You want it that way, don't you?

The last time he heard anything close to those words was on a cold December morning, minutes before dawn. ]

"You didn't 'let Itsuki have me', Kaito. You ran away from me."

The speaker in question smothers her cigarette and smiles that same shining smile that stole his heart a decade ago. Kaito hunches over the railing, finishing off his own, refusing to look at her.

"You ran away because you didn't want to be tied down. Whatever the reason, you didn't want to commit. I bet you still don't. ...And that's okay, Kaito. You don't have to."

Golds snap to meet grays that somehow shine far more vibrantly than his own. As he turns, his cheek smushes against the woman's index finger.

"Just be honest about it. Be honest with yourself, and be happy."

[ An eternity passes in half a minute. Kaito flashes Verg another one of his trademark obnoxious smiles, but something heavy weighs down on his shoulders. ]

...Yeah, maybe.

Water's tricky like that, isn't it?