CONTACT.

[clansman]

voicemail | text | video | action *
tablet status — still functional!

* This is actually a mislead: actionthreading's fine! Unless you're Tale.

Comments

[ex_longanimity327]

[ places the pot on the table as he rummages around for some bowls and spoons.

lightly taps the back of Mikoto's head. ]

Mikoto.

[clansman]

[ nope. there are things in the world worth waking for.








the reek of soup clearly isn't one of them. ]

[ex_longanimity327]

[ tugs at his hair just a liiiiiiiiiiiiiiittle bit then calmly sits down across Mikoto, checks the network, and sends mass text messages to everyone in this household while humming. ]

[clansman]

[ the sting filters through slowly -- kusanagi's probably halfway through his texting when company finally concedes to. . .


. . . make a noise. with his eyes shut. ]

Burn something?

[ex_longanimity327]

[ not looking up, without missing a beat: ]

Red bean soup from the Blue King.

1/2

[clansman]

[ and that ratchets up the eyelids, if only out of sheer incredulity.

the blankest look, the least appetising breath. ]

[clansman]

Send it back.

[ex_longanimity327]

Already here.

[ tapping the lid. ]

'Sides, I gave him a year's worth of anko. It'll take him a while to get through that stuff.

[ soup ain't enough to finish the entire thing. ]

[clansman]

A whole year, huh.

[ u n i m p r e s s e d. ]

What for?

[ex_longanimity327]

Should they bring Seri-chan over, she doesn't have ta' worry where to get her fix.

[ humming. ]

[clansman]

[ a slow glance skims from pot to face -- the look sharp, for a moment, with another thought. ]

Just that. . . ?

[ex_longanimity327]

[ he tried trolling, he really did. so he shrugs one shoulder and has a sheepish smile on his face.

he tried. ]

[clansman]

[ not what he was thinking!! but bad enough. he snorts. ]

So. Guess the next pot's yours.

[ex_longanimity327]

Send him yeti stew?

[ ... the soup looks good though. eh. can't be that bad. gets himself a bowl and takes a sip. ]

[clansman]

Since when'd you start sending him anything. . . ?

[ex_longanimity327]

Since the anko.

[ ... not bad. but yeah, he doesn't need to troll loserkata anymore. anyway, he pauses before setting his spoon down. ]

Totsuka knows. [ that he's dead, died. ]

[clansman]

. . . Who told him?

[ but the question, really, hits closer to an accusing chord of why. ]

[ex_longanimity327]

[ he raises an eyebrow, but he doesn't say anything.

who do you think. ]

[clansman]

[ he knows!!

what he's waiting for, patiently in the heavy silence, is a decent reason. ]

[ex_longanimity327]

[ silence.

and then: ]

He asked. [ an unspoken, He asked and I told him, because he deserved that much. hangs in the air. ]

[clansman]

[ he exhales and the air around him kicks up just that little more, degrees slipping from breath-warm to prickle the beginnings of sweat. it's a listening stillness, and not the right one -- not his usual drowsing indifference, but attention like forcing heels to brace on a knife's edge.

still, almost gentle - ]

And?

[ex_longanimity327]

[ a shrug. he doesn't know what's going on through Totsuka's mind after what he just said. ]

Dunno. [ he sounds unsure, but, he's no mind reader... he can't read things like these. ] He looks fine, he sounds fine... but I don't know what's in his head.

[ ... ]

I don't dare try ta' bring it up again.

[clansman]

So—don't.

[ the two syllables breathed sharp, but it's more of a dismissal now. second by second, the tension ebbs. ]

We're here now anyway.

[ex_longanimity327]

[ We're here now anyway.

They are... aren't they. And back home... if he gets sent home... he'll have to go back to a life without Totsuka and the sharp, bitter knowledge that Mikoto's going to die.

he laughs, quiet and rueful. ]

So we are.

[clansman]

[ a flicker of a glance, a beat that a less lazy man might have used for an eyeroll. ]

Quit that.