synflux | ( closed ) what sends them to this backwood

Not... ( —exactly, but he's trying to maintain a least a little dignity through the stupor, so ) ... often.

( there hadn't been many women in his life. just a couple passing faces, and ryouma's woman who looked at him like he were a slug she'd just unearthed from under a rock. though even the brief thought of her and their arguing pangs something deep within his memory. best not to think on that right now. not those two.

one of those fidgeting hands balls into a fist. )

What. You gonna, laugh at me? For gettin' so excited?

( sorry, i lied. the usual izou is just beneath the surface, vulnerable to scrutiny and the possibility of someone trying to knock him down a peg. despite this, izou manages to beat down any building resentment, particularly towards wriothesley, who has always seemed peculiar but not exactly confrontational. there's a moment where he becomes distracted, leaning back slightly in his seat to regain his composure and focus further, and then: )

And you were sayin', she'd like... anything, long as it came from me. What made you so sure? Unless you were just, full of hot air.

[ Please, does he look like he's about to start laughing any moment now? Izou's fluster and bluster may be cute, like a small dog yapping away at the top of its tiny lungs, but he's never been the type of person to mock weakness and vulnerability in others.

He doesn't answer straight away, taking the time to sample his drink now that it's arrived. The taste lingers on his tongue, almost sweet. ]

You know March as well as I do.

[ Possibly even better at this point, depending on just how much the lines between them have blurred. ]

You know how important her memories in the present are to her, as someone without any memory of her past. [ He lifts a hand, palm facing upward and fingers slightly curled. ] Friends, gifts, the places she visits and the sights she sees, those are all memories in their own ways. And the fact that you chose to think of her and you remembered her....well, I imagine that's pretty meaningful to her too.

[ Even if she's forgotten her own memories somehow, at least she won't be forgotten by others. ]

For the record, I doubt she would have liked it as much if you'd picked a handful of weeds off the side of the road to give to her, but I was betting on you having a little more respect for her than that.

[ Good to know that he did not have to worry about Izou fumbling the bag on this one, at least. ]

( izou breathes through his nose at the rapid-fire mention of her interests and her memory, his own hand reaching uselessly for a glass that's no longer in front of him.

thank you, bartender, for cutting the man off. )

No way I could... ( in a nearly inaudible manner, with his blurred accent slurring the words together, ) —couldn't get her nothin' after the way she... always tellin' me she cares, with a smile on her face like that.

( before more can tumble out unwittingly, he rounds back to the first thing wriothesley mentioned with suspicion. )

How'dya mean, by that? How well do you know her? I know she's keen on, bein' buddy-buddy with the whole planet and all, and you... but you—y'know, what I mean.

Edited (had to go re-read smth and adjust... looks up) 2024-05-14 20:24 (UTC)

[ Bro, this guy is in so deep. No wonder he kissed her out of the blue like that. And yet he's managed to hold it in all this time? That's kind of impressive in its own right. He takes another sip of his drink. Eyeballs Izou over the rim of his glass. ]

If you're asking if I'm interested in getting to know her on a more intimate level, I'm not. [ Just to make that clear. ] I know her about as well as any of her other friends do. I'm honored that she finds me pleasant enough to want to spend time with me and that she respects my opinion enough to speak frankly with me but that's all there is.

[ Not many people have in a long time, which makes it all the more refreshing. ]

Besides, I think it's pretty safe to say she doesn't have an interest in getting to know me the same way she does you.

[ Pretty sure if he'd tried to kiss her she would have been grossed out instead of panicked. ]

( izou tries to process this information to the best of his ability, which is... not very well, given his guard is entirely down, a hand sticking clammy to an invisible glass and a half-lidded eye doing its best to focus on wriothesley's gestures and meaning.

but what's said gradually clicks into place, especially the "doesn't have much interest in me the way she does for you" part.

which is totally how that sentence went, by the way. word-for-word. his mind is running with that, all at once too excited to stop himself from smacking wriothesley on the back a couple times. rather aggressively. )

I had my doubts, about ya... but you're a, a nice guy after all, huh?! I'll pay for yer... drink.

( check out this full 180 now that he can erase wriothesley from the equation. )

[ That hand on his back catches him right as he's taking a sip of his drink, and the force of it sends alcohol burning down both his esophagus and windpipe. For a moment, there's just the sound of coughing as he tries to clear away the booze cluttering up his pipes, with the occasional interspersed word in response to Izou's very generous offer. ]

That's [ cough cough ] very nice of you but [ hang on while he clears his throat ] I can pay for [ one last wheeze ] myself.

[ Okay, cool, now that he isn't choking half to death, he can respond properly. Ignore the reddened tint to his face and the slight rasp to his voice from all that coughing. ]

You sure I'm a nice guy though? You barely know anything about me. I could be a well-hidden serial killer for all you know.

( izou smiles an easy, open smile at the comment.

the sort where he isn't bothered in the least, and damn, wriothesley is even cuter when he's choking to death. duly noted. )

Fair enough. But all I gotta do is, is cut ya down if you try gettin' the jump on me at some point. Which I ain't worry... worried about none. Been through that too many times to count.

( nice was kind, but not always good. )

Too many times to count, huh?

[ There's too much real confidence behind those words, as opposed to the usual bluster he's gotten used to, for him not to believe them, even if the only prompt more questions than answers. But now hardly seems like a good time to ask, not when Izou is deep into his cups and Wriothesley himself isn't drunk enough to let loose and ask. (A problem easily solved but also left for a different day.)

He takes another drink, careful not to choke on it this time, sighing after he swallows. The flush from before is gone, replaced by wry resignation. ]

Well, I hope for March's sake that doesn't happen again any time soon.

( closed ) what sends them to this backwood

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