Shut up! You're supposed to let it all out, too! Goddamnit.
[ The last thing he wanted to do was start crying in front of a friend. He can't even cry in front of his family. While Sena is trying to pull back and cope with this situation in his own way, Takumi continues to be uncharacteristically angry. It's probably from all the pent up rage from his recent memory, but...
He pipes down when he realizes there was a chuckle. Sena seldom laughs without some underlying vexation, so it's strange yet sweet. Then there's a smile that comes after? Takumi's face was pale, but did gain some color from bawling his eyes out, but now the color only deepens to a beet red. This is embarrassing. Seeing that smile is heartwarming, but embarrassing. Sena has seen him cry, heard him whine. Frantically, he pulls his hands away and keeps to himself!
He hates this. ]
What the fuck did you call me? Do you want to die?
[ On defense now. It's probably the first time he has actually gone full tsundere on Sena. ]
Hah? [ yeah that's it, he's gonna lift his hand and flick at takumi's forehead because apparently this is a tsundere fight now? ] Don't just say that when you almost killed me, shithead. It may look like I just brushed it off like it was nothing, but I was fearing for my fucking life earlier, goddammit.
[ sighs. they both have different ways of coping through this. doesn't mean either mechanism is right nor healthy. if anything, sena's way of treating it like it was nothing, that he doesn't really care if he dies on the next mission or not - it's way worse than takumi's sleep deprivation and his tendency to fire arrows at anything that moves in his line of sight. ]
What, you don't like that nickname? You were being such a weepy brat that I just had to do it.
[ so mean!!! but he quickly changes course. ]
It's not like you to be like that, though. I-- That was my bad, I guess. I don't know how to deal with any of this myself, you know? My life... it has always been boring before the app came and ruined it. So, in a way, I... guess I'm glad that we became more than classmates. Maybe.
[ sheepishly scratches the back of his head, sena turns his eyes away from takumi, a light embarrassed blush spreading across his cheeks. u g h, this is so annoying, can't they just go back to their usual dynamic? ]
[ He was going to scold Sena, but the flick to his forehead forces a small yelp from him before he retaliates by... He can't pull Sena's cheeks, so he's going to just place both hands against his face and squish instead. Sorry, he's forcing him to look back even if he has pulled away. Let him see that flushed model face of yours. ]
How could I not be a weepy brat when you were trying to act so nonchalant about all of it like you're some too cool for life kid. Jesus.
[ ... Shit. What does he do now? What does he say? He's happy, but he can only put on such a frustrated expression out of shame. With a huff, he squishes Sena's face again. ]
So we're both idiots for whatever reason, even though you're more of an idiot. [ Sorry. He does relent, letting his shoulders drop and taking back his hands again. ] I don't mind the nickname since... I'm glad, too.
[ how many times must takumi try to ruin his beautiful face? he had various cuts on it while he was at the catacombs earlier and now his face is being squished between his hands like mochi?? sena is pretty sure takumi is holding back the urge to deck him but chooses not to, and sena honestly just finds it funny. really, takumi, you should hit him while you're ahead. it's only fair.
his face is soon released from takumi's hands after some more indignant scolding from him and sena rubs at his cheek, avoiding the bandaid that covers the fresh cut as he shoots a scowl at his friend. that didn't hurt much, but he still hates being touched without any precedence. at least warn the guy before you do that? ]
I dunno. It's pretty hard to forget having an arrow fired at you, don't you think? [ he's smiling, but it's mischievous instead of those gentle ones he's been flashing to certain people nowadays. ] I can keep my mouth shut with some sushi and that plum ice cream you mentioned back then, though. ♪
I meant—come here. [ Him crying, but... Okay? You know what? Takumi pulls him into a headlock before mussing his hair. Asking for permission is not a thing when you're friends of this caliber. The struggle continues, but finally his mother comes in and slides some sushi for them and a side of miso soup, some tempura vegetables, and ice cream.
Nothing stop this onslaught—not the appearance of food, his mother... But he does end up just giving Sena a hug, squeezing him a bit before letting go. ]
Whatever. Hurry up and eat before you pass out.
[ He vehemently picks up his chopsticks and starts on some tuna though he doesn't feel... that hungry after everything. ]
[ this is really the worst? this is worse than getting decked or shot at. sena tries pushing himself away from takumi but not before the other male embraces him into a hug. jeez, this guy. first he's all emotional, then pure rage, and now this. it looks like he has some stiff competition in the tsundere department.
they do pull away once takumi's mother delivers the goods, and sena wastes no time in clapping his hands together and thanking for the foor before grabbing a pair of chopsticks and digging in to the almighty mackerel. mmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
he does look up at takumi's question and shoots him a pointed look. how dare you say he looks terrible? although that's not totally a lie at all. ]
Like I said, I almost died. It happened underground, and --
[ he pauses. shit. the last thing he wants is for takumi to know that he almost died because of his own powers so uh. let's just gloss over that. ]
There were a lot of monsters who were out to get us, so that's to be expected. Got banged up along the way, but there was a healer who took care of my injuries. That's why I looked okay when I showed up here.
[ They're doing nicknames? They're doing nicknames. Takumi takes a sip of the miso soup, enjoying it in full before rolling his eyes at Sena's offended glower. Sorry, dude, you look like shit right now.
Quietly, he listens as he chews on some fish, pensive. He doesn't seem as mad that his friend almost died since there are people backing him up, even a healer ready to save them. Instead of getting another piece, he idly nibbles on the ends of his chopsticks, forgetting his manners altogether. ]
It's good that the healer took care of your. [ Nodding once, but— ] And this is all for what...? Did you guys learn anything at all?
[ Since... That sounds like a lot if they came out empty-handed. Takumi's eyebrows knit, unforgiving if Retrospec sent people to their deaths with nothing to show. ]
[ is takumi really using the same nickname asuka uses on sena whenever the former is being particularly annoying? fine, it's only fair. sena takes his time chewing on his own food, his face thoughtful as he tries to remember what happened so far in his little foray underground.
swallows. right, get ready, takumi. you're not gonna fucking believe this. ]
We're dealing with something much bigger. The reason why monsters started appearing, why they just deleted the two most important colors from our lives --
It's because of temporal anomalies. We're fixing unreality.
[ i
you still here with me, man
because yeah, sena doesn't know what he himself just said either ]
[ Maybe he's just on the same wavelength on Shin and Sena is just out of loop? It only shows how well they know each other, to be honest. Takumi blinks once, twice, and sips loudly as he takes this all in. ]
You know what? That would make sense. Temporal anomalies do the creation of separate alternate realities and universes. If there's something that even causes a shift or imbalance, it may spill into ours.
[ Fortunately for Sena, Takumi is rather intelligent, also he's just not surprised by anything anymore after this monsters fiasco. Please continue? His bright eyes practically glisten in intellectual curiosity and this determination that won't die down. ]
I have a feeling fixing unreality will take more than just a couple of teams to fix... I can't even imagine time. [ ... ] What is Retrospec?
[ wait, takumi's not finding any of this weird at all? is this because he watches anime like their missing mutual friend here? this is really annoying! but this is actually even better, because let's spare the dramatics this time around, all right? they just had a Moment, after all.
anyways, the sushi has been consumed, so sena moves on to the tempura. better eat these quick before the ice cream melts. ]
Retrospec is working on getting some of its users back. Ones who are currently "out of contact". [ complete with airquotes ] Apparently something or someone is causing these twists of unreality to happen, and they need our help in turning them back to normal.
Dunno what these twists look like just yet, though. We're going into the next phase of this mission tomorrow so stay tuned, I guess.
[ Wow I meant *do include, but you get me. Sena... There are monsters roaming around town. How can any of this weird him out even more? There's a fucking dragon flying around the city, please. To be honest, a weird cause only makes sense for a weird situation.
Usually, anomalies happen for whatever reason, but he can't easily accept that there's possibly someone behind it. A being like that must be powerful, even godly. His expression twists at the thought... ]
Sounds like one hell of a ride... But at least they're doing something. [ Which is better than he expected. ] Did they debrief what this next phase entails?
[ He'll help with the tempura vegetables before he takes his bowl of ice cream. Sena's bowl waits there, ready to be gobbled. ]
All they said was to deal with four unreality twists in our current location.
[ chew, chew, and swallow. he probably shouldn't eat more than he's required, but it's only now that he realized that he's starving and that the food here tastes almost like home. ]
Mm, but someone in our group enabled me to gain "level 2 access" or whatever, which pretty much means installing some sort of GPS in my phone to keep track of our other team members. Look.
[ fishing out his phone, sena thumbs over to the retrospec app and opens it, revealing a map and a series of dots all over the city that's indicating the current location of their members. pretty neat, huh? ]
Now that I have this, I won't have any reason to be any more reckless out there, right?
[ just gonna eye the ice cream because oh man almost there he's kind of excited already ]
[ Huh... He'll only have to trust that Sena and his team can do that. Takumi doesn't question more since he imagines if he knew more, he would tell him. For now, he'll nudge the bowl of ice cream closer to his friend, knowing full well he might forego for his model diet.
You're dying, might as well die happy? He does lean in to check the GPS, carefully plucking the phone from Sena's hand so he can get a closer look. Hm. He does look impressed. ]
You know, this definitely will help ensuring everyone's safety, but you can also make some dangerous strategic plays with this, too...
[ High risk, high reward—then this would only give them more opportunity to reap benefits. He'll return the phone, curiosity overall sated. There's something itching in the back of his mind, but he's not sure what it is. Isn't it weird to be given such a great asset without a con?
...
He trusts Sena. Just repeating that to himself. ]
Your chess plays aren't bad, so your group made a good choice. I kind of wish there was something I could do to help.
[ takumi has a point, something that sena hasn't considered at all - he's glad that his friend actually acknowledged his chess prowess, considering that he hasn't played in a while aside from that loss from ritsu, and maybe sena should look at it that way. become a strategist and just direct people on where to go so as not to suffer any more grave losses.
but as much as sena prides himself for being intelligent, stuff like that just isn't his thing. he didn't mean to be so reckless out there either, but it felt like he somehow belonged in that chaos. just standing there and not doing anything is stupid anyway. ]
You're doing the best you can, all right? You don't have to force yourself. Though... we do need a lot of medical supplies since we only have one healer in our team and all. Maybe we can shop for that later.
[ and so he finally gives in to that sweet dairy temptation, eyes starry as he dips a spoon into the bowl of ice cream and takes a bite. oh man...... this is actually pretty good and while it's not halo top he'll take what he can get. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
[ The last thing he wanted to do was start crying in front of a friend. He can't even cry in front of his family. While Sena is trying to pull back and cope with this situation in his own way, Takumi continues to be uncharacteristically angry. It's probably from all the pent up rage from his recent memory, but...
He pipes down when he realizes there was a chuckle. Sena seldom laughs without some underlying vexation, so it's strange yet sweet. Then there's a smile that comes after? Takumi's face was pale, but did gain some color from bawling his eyes out, but now the color only deepens to a beet red. This is embarrassing. Seeing that smile is heartwarming, but embarrassing. Sena has seen him cry, heard him whine. Frantically, he pulls his hands away and keeps to himself!
He hates this. ]
What the fuck did you call me? Do you want to die?
[ On defense now. It's probably the first time he has actually gone full tsundere on Sena. ]
no subject
[ sighs. they both have different ways of coping through this. doesn't mean either mechanism is right nor healthy. if anything, sena's way of treating it like it was nothing, that he doesn't really care if he dies on the next mission or not - it's way worse than takumi's sleep deprivation and his tendency to fire arrows at anything that moves in his line of sight. ]
What, you don't like that nickname? You were being such a weepy brat that I just had to do it.
[ so mean!!! but he quickly changes course. ]
It's not like you to be like that, though. I-- That was my bad, I guess. I don't know how to deal with any of this myself, you know? My life... it has always been boring before the app came and ruined it. So, in a way, I... guess I'm glad that we became more than classmates. Maybe.
[ sheepishly scratches the back of his head, sena turns his eyes away from takumi, a light embarrassed blush spreading across his cheeks. u g h, this is so annoying, can't they just go back to their usual dynamic? ]
no subject
[ He was going to scold Sena, but the flick to his forehead forces a small yelp from him before he retaliates by... He can't pull Sena's cheeks, so he's going to just place both hands against his face and squish instead. Sorry, he's forcing him to look back even if he has pulled away. Let him see that flushed model face of yours. ]
How could I not be a weepy brat when you were trying to act so nonchalant about all of it like you're some too cool for life kid. Jesus.
[ ... Shit. What does he do now? What does he say? He's happy, but he can only put on such a frustrated expression out of shame. With a huff, he squishes Sena's face again. ]
So we're both idiots for whatever reason, even though you're more of an idiot. [ Sorry. He does relent, letting his shoulders drop and taking back his hands again. ] I don't mind the nickname since... I'm glad, too.
[ Awk. Ward. ]
This never happened. Got it?
no subject
his face is soon released from takumi's hands after some more indignant scolding from him and sena rubs at his cheek, avoiding the bandaid that covers the fresh cut as he shoots a scowl at his friend. that didn't hurt much, but he still hates being touched without any precedence. at least warn the guy before you do that? ]
I dunno. It's pretty hard to forget having an arrow fired at you, don't you think? [ he's smiling, but it's mischievous instead of those gentle ones he's been flashing to certain people nowadays. ] I can keep my mouth shut with some sushi and that plum ice cream you mentioned back then, though. ♪
no subject
Nothing stop this onslaught—not the appearance of food, his mother... But he does end up just giving Sena a hug, squeezing him a bit before letting go. ]
Whatever. Hurry up and eat before you pass out.
[ He vehemently picks up his chopsticks and starts on some tuna though he doesn't feel... that hungry after everything. ]
What were you even doing...? You look horrible.
no subject
[ this is really the worst? this is worse than getting decked or shot at. sena tries pushing himself away from takumi but not before the other male embraces him into a hug. jeez, this guy. first he's all emotional, then pure rage, and now this. it looks like he has some stiff competition in the tsundere department.
they do pull away once takumi's mother delivers the goods, and sena wastes no time in clapping his hands together and thanking for the foor before grabbing a pair of chopsticks and digging in to the almighty mackerel. mmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
he does look up at takumi's question and shoots him a pointed look. how dare you say he looks terrible? although that's not totally a lie at all. ]
Like I said, I almost died. It happened underground, and --
[ he pauses. shit. the last thing he wants is for takumi to know that he almost died because of his own powers so uh. let's just gloss over that. ]
There were a lot of monsters who were out to get us, so that's to be expected. Got banged up along the way, but there was a healer who took care of my injuries. That's why I looked okay when I showed up here.
no subject
[ They're doing nicknames? They're doing nicknames. Takumi takes a sip of the miso soup, enjoying it in full before rolling his eyes at Sena's offended glower. Sorry, dude, you look like shit right now.
Quietly, he listens as he chews on some fish, pensive. He doesn't seem as mad that his friend almost died since there are people backing him up, even a healer ready to save them. Instead of getting another piece, he idly nibbles on the ends of his chopsticks, forgetting his manners altogether. ]
It's good that the healer took care of your. [ Nodding once, but— ] And this is all for what...? Did you guys learn anything at all?
[ Since... That sounds like a lot if they came out empty-handed. Takumi's eyebrows knit, unforgiving if Retrospec sent people to their deaths with nothing to show. ]
no subject
swallows. right, get ready, takumi. you're not gonna fucking believe this. ]
We're dealing with something much bigger. The reason why monsters started appearing, why they just deleted the two most important colors from our lives --
It's because of temporal anomalies. We're fixing unreality.
[ i
you still here with me, man
because yeah, sena doesn't know what he himself just said either ]
no subject
You know what? That would make sense. Temporal anomalies do the creation of separate alternate realities and universes. If there's something that even causes a shift or imbalance, it may spill into ours.
[ Fortunately for Sena, Takumi is rather intelligent, also he's just not surprised by anything anymore after this monsters fiasco. Please continue? His bright eyes practically glisten in intellectual curiosity and this determination that won't die down. ]
I have a feeling fixing unreality will take more than just a couple of teams to fix... I can't even imagine time. [ ... ] What is Retrospec?
no subject
anyways, the sushi has been consumed, so sena moves on to the tempura. better eat these quick before the ice cream melts. ]
Retrospec is working on getting some of its users back. Ones who are currently "out of contact". [ complete with airquotes ] Apparently something or someone is causing these twists of unreality to happen, and they need our help in turning them back to normal.
Dunno what these twists look like just yet, though. We're going into the next phase of this mission tomorrow so stay tuned, I guess.
no subject
Usually, anomalies happen for whatever reason, but he can't easily accept that there's possibly someone behind it. A being like that must be powerful, even godly. His expression twists at the thought... ]
Sounds like one hell of a ride... But at least they're doing something. [ Which is better than he expected. ] Did they debrief what this next phase entails?
[ He'll help with the tempura vegetables before he takes his bowl of ice cream. Sena's bowl waits there, ready to be gobbled. ]
no subject
[ chew, chew, and swallow. he probably shouldn't eat more than he's required, but it's only now that he realized that he's starving and that the food here tastes almost like home. ]
Mm, but someone in our group enabled me to gain "level 2 access" or whatever, which pretty much means installing some sort of GPS in my phone to keep track of our other team members. Look.
[ fishing out his phone, sena thumbs over to the retrospec app and opens it, revealing a map and a series of dots all over the city that's indicating the current location of their members. pretty neat, huh? ]
Now that I have this, I won't have any reason to be any more reckless out there, right?
[ just gonna eye the ice cream because oh man almost there he's kind of excited already ]
no subject
You're dying, might as well die happy? He does lean in to check the GPS, carefully plucking the phone from Sena's hand so he can get a closer look. Hm. He does look impressed. ]
You know, this definitely will help ensuring everyone's safety, but you can also make some dangerous strategic plays with this, too...
[ High risk, high reward—then this would only give them more opportunity to reap benefits. He'll return the phone, curiosity overall sated. There's something itching in the back of his mind, but he's not sure what it is. Isn't it weird to be given such a great asset without a con?
...
He trusts Sena. Just repeating that to himself. ]
Your chess plays aren't bad, so your group made a good choice. I kind of wish there was something I could do to help.
no subject
but as much as sena prides himself for being intelligent, stuff like that just isn't his thing. he didn't mean to be so reckless out there either, but it felt like he somehow belonged in that chaos. just standing there and not doing anything is stupid anyway. ]
You're doing the best you can, all right? You don't have to force yourself. Though... we do need a lot of medical supplies since we only have one healer in our team and all. Maybe we can shop for that later.
[ and so he finally gives in to that sweet dairy temptation, eyes starry as he dips a spoon into the bowl of ice cream and takes a bite. oh man...... this is actually pretty good and while it's not halo top he'll take what he can get. ]