icarusalsoflew | 003. and in every raindrop... // open post.

[He's going to dwell on the pleasant implications of Makoto helping out with all of this later.

Pulling himself up now, very quietly.]

We could pretend that we've been up for a while. I mean, we looked fine to them yesterday?

[And they were fine now, so they can totally do this.

(Did he just read your mind without knowing it? Probably.)]

[ To be fair, it was what he was thinking about when you voiced it for him. However, he's just suddenly remembered the reason he ended up in this room.in rhe first place.

Getting that familiar warm flush at the back of his head now as his fingers worry on the hem of your pajama bottoms. ]

Um. About that.

Yes...?

[Watching you in the same way that Mitsuru is watching him, only for different reasons. Kitten wants Food. He wants to know what you're thinking, because that flush isn't much to go on right now.]

[ He's going to... ease into it.

Because he doesn't want his blademate in trouble. Not when everything seems to have worked out for the best. ]

You never asked how... I knew.

[ He looks askance, before looking back with an expression that pretty much spells out: About this. About you. And me. ]

[Oh, right.

Sitting up now, looking pensive.]

To be fair, there wasn't any real room for me to ask.

[There were bigger things on the plate last night, weren't there?]

[ Watching you carefully... and then shifting close to cup a hand at your nape and leaning in to press a tender kiss to that mouth.

When he pulls back, the look in his eyes is, he hopes, reassuring. ]

Yeah. But... just. We wouldn't be here if the slip up hadn't happened. [ Leaning in for a second kiss now, ghosting his mouth hesitantly over yours. ] I've gotten good at reading you, but I'm not psychic.

Sin-Eater, right? Not one of the Touched.

[Fair point. He's responding to that, just... not as much as he could be.]

Who was it?

[Is he worried? A little. Just a little.

Wait no. Okay. Maybe a little more than a little.]

[ Catching that, and applying gentle pressure to where his hand is still resting at the base.of your neck. ]

Does it matter?

[ He already knows the answer. It's kind of on your face. Still, the look on his is: Should it? I'm here now. With you.]

[That makes his lips purse just a bit, but then he tries for a smile and shakes his head.]

I guess it doesn't.

[As things stood, Josh was right? So.]

[ Still watching you, and totally catching that.

Head bowing now as his hand falls away.

Sorry, Stan. He'll have your back though. ]

It was Stanley. [ He shifts a little away -- doesn't mean to. But he does. ] I was having something of an... epiphany.

And he kind of just... slipped.

[ Turning his attention to Mitsuru now and picking the kitten up and setting the tiny creature on his lap. ]

He said... you were already shelving your feelings.

[ A pause as he worries a little on his lower lip.

Might as well go for broke, right?

Looming away now before he adds, in a really soft voice: ] Hearing that... hurt.

Oh.

[Admittedly, that was not as bad as he had hoped it would be. Taning had, after all, ended up being the one who had called him out on what he was feeling. What he was doing.

Reaching out now, to hold your cheek with one hand and turn your face his way.]

I'm sorry.

[For what it counts, it doesn't look like he's ever going to have to do that or even think that he had to do that ever again. That is, hopefully, what the look on his face is telling you now.]

[ And this is Josh offering a tiny -- and grateful -- smile right back before he's shifting and leaning in to press his lips against yours all over again.

Softly, against your mouth now: ] No need to apologize.

[ The smile is back in his eyes now. And his heart feels strangely... full. ]

Worked out for the better, right?

[ He certainly thinks so. ]

Yeah.

[He's relieved to see that you're looking better and that he's somehow managed to put you at ease again. Call it crazy, but he's just a little hyper-vigilant right now. (Because he's still worried that if this does fall through somewhere down the line, it's going to be because of him.)

Still. Honesty is good, right?]

He called me out on it. Sniffed out the fact that I was wrecked over you. [Laughing just a bit now, soft and rueful.] I guess I should be thankful that he ended up slipping.

[Because, admittedly, if Taning had not, Hikaru would have had more time to lock away more things and promptly forget all about it on purpose. It would have been easier to hide, and get one step closer to falling into the motions of staying far, far away from you, for better or for worse.]

[ And because you still don't look or sound like your usual self, he reaches out and threads his fingers through your own.

It's surprisingly easy, touching you, enjoying the feel of your skin against his. And if he smiles just a little right then and there, it's because he's realizing that he's going to have to be careful -- he's going to look for this. A lot. ]

Kind of hard to imagine you wrecked over me.

[ His tone is teasing, but kind. ] You've always been so good at getting me to come around.

[ A subtle reminder at how you'd gotten him to cave enough to learn how to chat up people in a club. To open up about his mom. To get him to say fine, okay, I'll go with you and Kaz. ]

I draw the line at dancing in public though.

[ Offering you a smile that might be familiar. Because he can now own up to and name what it was that he'd felt while watching you at Relik just last night. ]

Edited 2014-03-15 00:00 (UTC)

[He has words about that first statement, but he'll let them lie. Instead, he focuses on that little jab.]

Really? Even if it's with me?

[He's teasing you right back now.]

[ The slightest twitch of one brow as he leans in to steal a kiss. ]

I don't dance.

[ Catching your bottom lip now, gently between his teeth. ]

[He makes an amused noise at that before he kisses you.]

Spoilsport.

[And kissing you again, before he's breaking away with a smile and moving off to feed Mitsuru. The poor kitten has been waiting for a while.]

[ And he's watching you go through those motions, smiling quietly at the way the kitten responds to you, the way that, for all your protesting and previous comments that your tiny new charge is another one you have to look out for -- there is care and affection in your touch, in the way you move.

It's really sweet. And it reminds him a little of the way you treat Brianna.

Turning away from that thought for the meantime though. ]

So, I have an idea.

Edited 2014-03-16 02:40 (UTC)

Do tell.

[Straightening up and looking in your direction once Mitsuru has been fed, just as he looks like he's going to pull his shirt off.

Yeah, he's comfortable with you already. Besides: he really needs a shower.]

[ And if Josh actually stalls -- well. Um.

Looking down at the bed now. ]

We could just play up the idea that we've been talking all morning.

[ It's not like he doesn't get up at 5AM anyway, right? ]

[Not responding immediately, not until the shirt's off and tossed on the chair.]

So we're really going to go for that?

[In spite of, well. New developments?]

[ And he's sliding a glance before promptly picking at something on the bedsheet. No flashes of memory this time, but it's a little hard to miss those tattoos and how they are tempting his mind to go places.

But, seriously now: ] We don't have to.

[ A pause. ] I just thought it might be a good idea to throw them off the scent of things for a while.

At least, until you've gotten a chance to speak with Brianna.

[ He doesn't know what the both of you are to each other just yet. Are you dating? Seeing where this goes? A Thing? And you'd know this, Hikaru. Josh doesn't like to presume. He has also never been in a relationship before, so he's obviously ( to you, not to him ) feeling this out still. ]

[Considering that a moment as he's crossing over to the bathroom, and then nodding.]

Yeah, when you put it that way... okay. Let's do it.

[Opening the doorknob, then glancing back in your direction - huh.

Oh right. Maybe he should've... well. Too late, now. Play it cool, Blade King.]

I'll take a shower really quick.

[ And he's offering a quiet smile in turn. ]

I'll probably need to take one after you.

[ And oh-- ] And uh, can I borrow a shirt?

[ Sheepish now. ]

Sure. Might want to pick one of the newer ones in the closet out, though.

[Because he has some 'favorites' that the Hounds have seen him in several times. It doesn't hurt to be careful, right?]

Give me five minutes.

[He can be quick! Shutting the door now.]

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