( 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

[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.

[gorb]

( He holds his breath for a moment, lets it all out in a noisy rush. )

It just -. It was meant to be different, Satoru. All of it. Everything we did, I wanted it to end better. You dying? It was inconceivable back then. It still is now. I don't know why you'd think I'd be just fine with it.

[rikugan]

End better? [ a derisive scoff. ] You already died, Suguru. [ how could anything really be better after that? ]

Neither of us can turn back the clock. I've been dead for almost a year now and I've accepted it. You're going to have to too.

[gorb]

I hate you.

( Softly, because he doesn't. He never did. He loved Gojo Satoru like he was the sun and all those years of absense did nothing to dim that. So when he reaches for him to curl his fingers around his old friend's wrist it feels natural, easy, like he would have done it regardless. )

Asshole. Give me my piece of cake already.

( Wet around the eyes, but still. Maybe it's time to let everything else go. )

[rikugan]

Haha. Happy birthday to me. Right?

[ his own voice softens as a bright smile emerges on his face. obligingly, he raises his hand, guiding both the fork and the fingers around his wrist to geto's lips. ]

Open wide, Suguru~