( catchall ) time to celebrate

[rikugan]

WHO: aodh belli, gojo satoru rikugan + you
WHAT: catchall
WHERE: all over
WHEN: throughout dec 2024
WARNINGS: will cw on subject headers as needed

( ooc | a general catchall for both open and closed logs below! if we've made plans, don't hesitate to drop something in under the respective headers. otherwise, you can reach me at voicelog for plotting. ✌️ )

Comments

it's what we deserve

[rikugan]

[ huh. maybe he should have been more specific...?

but there is a limited amount of space to work with on the cake. he would have had to bake a larger one if he wanted to go into more detail. ]

Well, that's 'cause I died right before I got here.

IS IT

[gorb]

( It's just the same as the first time, the sudden ringing in his ears, the sensation of the ground vanishing from beneath his feet, the sharp wrenching feeling inside of his chest like something might have gone completely awry. Geto blinks at him, face placid. )

Very funny.

( Voice strained, his eyes drift from Gojo to the cake and back again. ) You?

( If there's a sudden vaguely hysterical note in the question well, that can't be helped. Gojo has to be lying. He has to be, because nothing can touch him, and if nothing can touch him nothing can hurt him. It's not like the time in the school, with Fushiguro's smirk before him, because infinity exists. So it has to be a trick. Something cruel, but one regardless. )

it is~

[rikugan]

No, I'm serious.

[ he can be a real dick sometimes, but not enough to joke about dying on his birthday to the three people present at this table right now. that would just be downright cruel. he might be tactless with a horribly low empathy game, but even he wouldn't go that far. ]

I fought Sukuna and I lost. Haha.

😭

[gorb]

( His grip on the edge of the table tightens, the need for violence rising in one swift peak. He can feel the want for it behind his eyes, between his teeth, a sudden ravenous desire for brutality, for bloodshed. If he killed everyone here would it would make room for the screaming grief in his own body? Would it let some of the pain out? Could the others stop him if that's what he really wanted?

He stays still. Twenty-nine. That's what the candles say. )

What the fuck?

( Semi-breathless, a little too loud. )

Don't laugh.

he's the worst lmf

[rikugan]

I even got scars!

[ he sounds absolutely stoked about it, blatantly disregarding the tonal shift in the room. ]

Do you want to see 'em? [ they're his first ones!! he has been itching to show them off for a while and, now that his death is no longer a secret, it means that he can finally stop wearing long-sleeved shirts and avoiding the bathhouse. ] I can show you later~

[gorb]

( Scars.

Geto's expression shutters, a singular second of outright anguish before it smooths out again, goes entirely blank. He thinks his hands are shaking, but he doesn't check. Instead he slides out of the booth in one fluid motion, swaying a little. He thinks briefly of just hitting Gojo, because if he can be touched enough to kill then he can be touched enough for that, but a small part of him still remembers Itadori, and how much he's trying to change himself.

Is it worth it? He doesn't know now. But he balls his fists and keeps them to himself. )

You are -. ( The worst thing that's ever happened to him, actually. He bites his cheek hard enough to draw blood. ) - via cake?

( What was the point in any of it? )

[rikugan]

Yea! I thought it would be funny. [ it is funny in his opinion. ] And creative!

[ his eyes sharpens ever so slightly behind his sunglasses as he observes suguru standing there, swaying and very possibly on the brink of lunging at him. it's impressive that he hasn't yet. he could've sworn that he would be swinging his fist at him by now. ]

So, sit back down. Have a slice of cake. I baked it myself, y'know?

[gorb]

Why now?

( He is absolutely not eating that cake. Not even if Gojo made it. Not even if - at any other point - he'd be delighted to try. It's a miracle he hasn't thrown it. )

It's your birthday. Why tell us now?

[rikugan]

Would you rather I have told you on the day I died, Suguru?

[ a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders. ]

I only keeping it a secret because Megumi and Nobara were here. Since they're gone now, I figured that I don't have to hold onto it anymore. So, why not pick a good date to share it with you guys?

[gorb]

When?

( Because if he has to get another cake on some random ass day he will actually lose it, and so it is better to be prepared. )

[rikugan]

December 24th.

[ to his credit, his voice quiets just a touch. ]

[gorb]

( The noise he makes is not quite sane, a singular choked off sound that threatens outright hysteria. All at once the fight goes out of him, gaze slanted away from everyone as he wrests it all back under control. )

I'm leaving.

( Dull, but normal enough sounding, except for the fact that his eyes might be wet and he wants to hit something. )

And if you make me stay I'll kill someone.

( A warning, gently given, but they all know he might. He's moving mechanically anyway, grabbing for his jacket. )

[rikugan]

[ well,

that was the part that he knew wasn't going to go over well. but still, this went off better than he could've expected except for the crying. he will be paying suguru a visit later though. they aren't done with this conversation, but at least he can give him a few hours of space. ]

I'll save a slice for you then.

[gorb]

Please don't.

( But he's leaving regardless. He can figure out everything with the others later. Right now he needs to disappear. At least he somewhat waves, if he's not looking at anyone. And nobody gets stabbed on the way by.

Good job. )

a few hours later—

[rikugan]

[ he did tell him that their conversation wasn't over, so like a true man of his word, gojo satoru teleports into geto suguru's room with +1 slice of cake in hand later that night. maybe a part of him is immensely proud to find his quasi-former bff has not gone on a murderous rampage because he's pissed at him. ]

I've brought you your cake. [ he's so thoughtful. ]

[gorb]

( He really should have been expecting this, but unfortunately Geto had assumed more time - or at least a little forewarning, and not teleportation. It means he flinches badly when Gojo arrives, sat on with his bed with his back against the wall with one arm over his knee, eyes red.

He blinks, mouth twisting, then heaves a sigh and scrubs his palm over his cheek, visibly rallying. )

I told you I didn't want it.

[rikugan]

[ ah,

someone's been crying. ]

But I put a lot of work into it. [ unceremoniously plopping down onto the bed, he stretches out his legs as he breaks a piece from the slice with the fork. ] And we're celebrating my birthday today, aren't we, Suguru?

[gorb]

You mean beyond the shitty message? Oh wait, you said you baked it.

( Despite himself he watches Gojo closely, his gaze flickering over his face. It's hard to settle on any one point so he doesn't bother, instead he keeps searching it, almost frantic. )

Do you still get to after it's done?

( Do they? )

[rikugan]

It wasn't shitty. It was the truth.

[ maybe the delivery was a little insensitive, but it was the best way to rip off the bandaid in his opinion. ]

I don't know. [ that's also the truth. ] Do we still age here? [ he prods his stomach. ] Do these bodies work like that? [ he never thought too much about the clone body LILITH downloaded them into. ] I think Yuji would want to celebrate it next year though.

[ it's just a matter of whether he'll be putting down 29 on the cake again or finally 30.

leaning over to him, he extends the fork towards his mouth. ] Open wide, Suguru. It's chocolate fudge, so it's especially delicious~

[gorb]

( He lifts a hand to flick the fork gently aside with two fingers, exhausted but still somewhat spiteful. )

Eat it yourself. It's your obituary.

[rikugan]

I already ate it.

[ he's just going to keep shoving it towards his lips. open wide, bitch. ]

And it's way too early for my obituary. It'd make more sense on the 24th.

[gorb]

( There it is again, the sharp slicing between his ribs. Geto reaches out, grasps him by the wrist to stop that jabbing fork. Beneath his fingers the skin is warm and when he shifts his touch to dig the tips between the tendons he can feel a steady pulse.

It feels wrong to think it might not be. )

You didn't have to follow my lead in everything, Satoru.

[rikugan]

It's poetic though, isn't it?

[ he died exactly a year after taking the life of his best friend. in fact, he chose the date himself. it couldn't be more justifiable. ]

[gorb]

Fuck, poetic.

( It is, that's the terrible thing. They've always been inexplicably tangled in each other. Geto's ten year absense apparently did nothing to sever the ties they had. He hates it. )

You should have cursed me, at least then I could have been useful.

( What was it all for, if Gojo Satoru dies too? What point was any of it? His fingers tighten. ) You were meant to be the one thing that wouldn't change.

[rikugan]

I haven't changed though. [ he momentarily abandons his cake feeding objective, his posture straightening. ] Or at least I don't think I have...? [ he lifts his arm, pretending to sniff himself. ] Does death change you? [ rhetorical. ]

Anyway, don't you think it's a little too late to be crying over spilled milk? I would have died after you no matter what. And it wasn't like I had planned on dying that day. He just managed to pull one over on me.