Waking the Dead 2.0 || August 19, 2063 || Friday

[icarusalsoflew]

[This one disappears for about thirty minutes, and returns as quietly as he left with two briefcases. He doesn't explain where he went, but from how he ducks into Hikaru's room for about fifteen minutes after that, it can probably be inferred that he fetched a few things from Falner.

Looks like he'll be staying at the Tower while he has taken control of his Brother's body. You're usually going to spot him hovering around, smoking, working through a glass of rum, eyes crimson-ringed and glowing oddly in all lights (or lack thereof) watching... who knows what he's watching? And that suit he's wearing - three-piece, black, pin-striped, with ghostly faces and smoke occasionally moving over the "fabric" - is pretty nice, creepiness aside.

Please excuse him if you find him suddenly popping in on you. It's just what he does.]


OOC Notes:
+ Drop starters as you please! I'll have Death haunt you accordingly. ♥
+ Feel free to do other stuff among yourselves here as well.
+ Do note that Makoto's out and solid for this evening too, so you can bug him or ping me if you want him to come around and bother you.

Comments

[bostova]

[ This one is in her room, still bare save for the bed magicked by Taning earlier on. She's staring at it-- no, glaring at it, wondering if it would turn into bacon if she even touches it.

It's not that she doesn't trust Taning with his magic, it's just that he's such a goddamn troll that she expects it to do something ridiculous if she even thinks of lying down.

She... she'll need to do furniture shopping soon. Definitely.

(Death--anyone--can totally drop in, the door's wide open.) ]

For Death, well after everyone's probably gone to bed.

[larue]

[ Josh wanders back into his room after his exchanges with the rest, and tidies up a little before he even thinks to sit back down with that projector.

The last forty-eight hours have been eventful, and the last time he and Hikaru were here, they hadn't exactly had time to get ready, do a quick clear of the things that were scattered all around before finally heading out the door. ]

because more cr for these two is a thing?

[larue]

[ He's leaning against the door and catching the way you're glaring at the bed. ]

I'll take you shopping.

[ Yep. He's smiling. Sorry, not really sorry. ]

I still owe you a new dress.

[icarusalsoflew]

[About an hour after Josh settles in, Death is slipping into your room without an announcement.]

We need to talk.

[It must be eerie, hearing Hikaru talk and knowing that it isn't Hikaru.]

OTA.

[larue]

[ The moment he gets in, this one's shutting the door to his room and quietly locking it with a single thought ( Industrial Marionette, you are so useful ) because he hasn't really had time to properly check that everything's in order over there.

After that, he's mostly wandering around. It's the Tower. It's home. ]

[larue]

[ It is... but he's getting used to it. Some.

As it is, he was just about to put the reels away. He was thinking of watching a little more of Kurosawa, but Hikaru isn't around and that was a thing they'd started and it only feels right that he wait until his boyfriend gets back. ]

Uh... sure? [ He gestures towards the general area of the room. There are a couple of pillows on the floor and a small couch off to the side with the football Kaz gave him months sitting by it's lonesome, but other than that -- the only other piece of furniture to sit in is most definitely that bed of his. ]

Feel free to sit. I'm just putting these away.

[ The room is nice, though he hasn't spend enough time in it. His shelves are also empty, but he'll get to that eventually. ]

[icarusalsoflew]

[Nodding once, closing that door behind him --

-- and moving to sit right across of wherever you are. His head is slightly tilted, as though he's appraising you.

No words yet. Just watching. There is much that he is curious about, and he also has some... concerns.]

[larue]

[ There's a moment where he does glance over his shoulder and waits to see that Brother Death has settled down. There's an eerie likeness to the way he moves, so very much like Hikaru -- economical, graceful -- only... more somehow that it feels like that trick people use in movies when everything is all clean lines, blurs and focuses artfully placed. ]

So, uh. [ He's setting the reel up on that hanging shelf now, before he turns around and leans back against the table beneath it. ] What did you want to talk about?

[ His arms cross loosely over his chest, as if he were keeping himself warm from cold. ]

[icarusalsoflew]

He will not hear the conversation that we are going to have tonight. I have told him that I wished to speak with you in private.

[That said...]

Do you find this arrangement difficult?

[This arrangement, of course, being that Hikaru will not be in for the next few days. That the 25th is coming.]

all the cr

[bostova]

And a bed?

[ Asking with a raised eyebrow and an amused smile. ]

[larue]

[ There's a momentary Ah on Josh's face when Brother Death mentions that Hikaru will not be hearing this conversation.

It feels a little like being left alone to speak with your significant other's... elder family member. Who is also the abstract construct of The End.

When he does find his tongue to reply though: ] I'm fine with it.

[ The smile he offers might be a little hesitant, but mostly because it's been a while since that Walk he joined you on back when things hadn't changed between him and Hikaru and he's... not entirely sure if smiling is... appropriate? But hey, whatever, right? ]

What Wiseman Tagabigay did for me earlier... [ and his thoughts are flashing briefly to the way he'd faced his inner demon, his insecurities ] ...it helped.

[ He bows his head at that. Holding a dying Hikaru in his hands had felt real, but he'd also understood, once he'd let the emotion bleed out, that his boy was alive and well, and Brother Death's Hour was just one of the many things that he would have to learn to accept and understand as part of that one.

Long haul.

I decided I loved him. Me. ]

[icarusalsoflew]

[He's quiet for a couple of heartbeats after you finish talking, and watches you without blinking.]

So emotionally, you are "fine", as you say.

[It seems as though Death is as deliberate with his word choice as Hikaru is.]

Y!!!

[larue]

[ He's going to grin a little. ]

You don't like the one Stan got for you? [ Walking in now to actually look at that bed before he bumps his shoulder lightly against hers. ] We can look at designs on my tablet and have him change the look of it?

It's what he did with mine.

[larue]

That's a... funny way of putting it, but-- [ have a light shrug of his shoulders, and a smile that is better than the last one as well. ] Yeah.

I'm good. [ And because Hikaru isn't around to listen. ] I'm not going to let my insecurities hold me back anymore.

I love him. And I don't want to waste any more time worrying over time when I could spend it enjoying what we have.

[shuryoinai]

[This one will be the first one you see when you step out. He's lounging on the couch, smoking from his pipe, looking VERY satisfied.]

You guys have a great place. Don't think I ever got to tell you that.

[icarusalsoflew]

Good.

[Now he's going to go for his (Hikaru's) cigarettes.]

And it is serendipitous that you should mention "enjoying" the time that the two of you have.

[That may make things easier.]

open post!

[bladeweaver]

[This one has commandeered the sofa, staring at the ceiling and thinking... random thoughts, actually.

Further proving the wisdom of Lia's decision to bench the Hounds, Taning is actually, for the first time in what feels like a while, quite relaxed. Not that anyone would know this tell (except maybe Sabina?), but when he's relaxed he's actually much, much less of a troll.

As it is, he is flicking his index finger at the ceiling, watching as he sends thin, almost insubstantial forks of electricity, cinders, and ripples of force into the air.

Looks like he'll have to agree with Kitty on one point: Obrimos light shows are pretty. And distracting, so anyone can just pop in anytime.]

[larue]

[ It's automatic how he goes for his lighter, flicks the flame to life and offers it over. ]

Well, most people only have one life to live.

And given my circumstances, this is actually my second.

[ Because he accepts now, that he did die, and that it was only because Coach intervened that he's back on his feet. Internal pun intended. ]

[icarusalsoflew]

That is an impressive show of power.

[That statement's coming from directly behind you.

Yep.]

[icarusalsoflew]

Indeed, it is.

[Yes, he's picked up that Hikaru Shinta mannerism where a sentence that sounds final isn't final at all, because there is more that he wishes to say.

No smile, though, not from this one. Just a straight, unblinking gaze.]

[larue]

[ Yeah, this might be feeling a little bit creepy.

Not the bad kind, mind you. Just... strange. Because he knows that this is Brother Death with Hikaru's face, and he knows that they're two separate entities in and of themselves -- who just happen to share a body. ]

You um, [ he cants his head unconsciously to the side. One of this one's tics when he's trying for an opening. ] I get the feeling that... there's more that you'd like to say.

[ Might as well come right out with it, yeah? ]

[bladeweaver]

[As this is not Hikaru's presence, the sudden arrival of which has almost ceased to surprise him, but Death's, he is certainly startled enough that the jackstone-sized ball of kinetic force he was containing pops with a muted whoof right in his face.

Slightly ruffled, he turns to address Death Incarnate.]

Hello, Brother Death. Oh, and no, I just find that it helps me to think. I didn't know that it did as late as a few months ago.

[Yup, back when he was still quibbling about magic.]

[icarusalsoflew]

[A nod.]

I have concerns over your sexual habits with my brother.

[Because what is subtlety or easing into sensitive topics? Hell, what does "sensitive" even mean? That's so human.]

[larue]

[ ... ]

Uh... oh. I, uh.

[ REALLY. What a way to put it. ]

W-what... about?

[ Josh is feeling the familiar creeping of a flush at the back of his neck, because of all the questions that he figured Death might want to ask -- this was not in his Top Ten. ]

[icarusalsoflew]

Ah.

[Now he'll come around to sit across of you. No leaning back for this one: he's sitting straight-backed, and somehow succeeding at making his posture not look like he's tense at all. Because he isn't.]

A means of meditation then.