manuscripture | IC INBOX / BUSINESS CARD ( ARCHIVE AS OF 12/13 )

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IC INBOX / BUSINESS CARD ( ARCHIVE AS OF 12/13 )

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[ Somewhere around town-- at the bookstore, the Tomoe-Kaname Bakery, attached to posts and notice boards --you find a small white notecard. On it is printed a little message and some numbers in ornate lettering. If you look closely, it reads the following: ]

Rohan Kishibe, Mangaka & Visual Artist
Owner Pro Tempore of Ebony Threads Tailor Shop
Highly Experienced.
Commissions & Advertising For Hire
Pay Negotiable.
Contact At: 512.66.730.91 for inquiries
Castle Lüvchaque - Directly North of Bavan per appointment ONLY.

(( feel free to use this as an action-based prompt too. any random interactions will MOST LIKELY take place in the form of walk-ins at the tailor shop unless it's pre-planned. just drop a starter in here! ))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[That, then, presents a much more difficult question for him, and the way that he falters is apparent. It's hard to say why, precisely; maybe it's the way it's framed, the way it can't be answered without combining Rohan and the snake together into one single entity. His body shouldn't have done anything to adapt, maybe, because these changes are supposed to be something that happens to people, not a symbiosis. It's harder to separate and other the monster with a question like that, and it sets him off-balance.

But he's determined to answer it. He focuses instead on the phantom sensation of where Rohan's comparatively cool hands had rested against his wing and back, and makes himself think, trying desperately to reframe his perspective at least enough to answer it adequately.]

You got your fangs. You can spit poison. You're...always cold.

[You seek warmth, he almost says, but doesn't when it makes him abruptly aware of just how close they're standing.]

The way you digest things changed. You had to...be able to slither, instead of walking. You're not using your hips to control movement anymore, it's...lower in the tail itself? When bipedal creatures walk, a step is really just falling forward and catching themselves. You don't move like that. You...wind. And you cling. When I pick you up your whole body works to stabilize yourself.

[...]

Your tail is attracted to me.

[HE MEANS TO HIS BODY HEAT BUT THANKS FOR THAT ANYWAY JOTARO GOOD HUSTLE.]

[ One of these things is not like the others............... ]

Right. My organs have all rearranged themselves and moved to different areas to accommodate my new body. Movement is based on how my scales need to cling to the ground... [ His tail swishes across the floor as he talks about it. ] I am wired to find heat sources. I can see in the dark and my eyes posses the ability of bioluminescence. My teeth fell out and were exchanged for backwards-facing ones that air in latching on to prey instead of chewing it.

[ There's a whole laundry list that he adds to it, all the while picking a new place in the center of Jotaro's back to rest both hands. ]

It isn't my tail that is attracted to you.

[ JUST GONNA SQUINT INCREDULOUSLY AT HIS HANDS FOR A SECOND. OH LORD. ]

Does that factor in, to what you want to put on me?

[Honestly, it's a miracle that he manages to even get off a line like that, because as soon as it hits the air between them he goes as still as if a ray of sunlight had washed over him; in both cases, he's rendered beautiful and silent and stone.

It's not like it comes as any sort of surprise. He's known for a while that it was true. He's spent hours and hours sitting on rooftops with the faint edge of hunger grinding in his abdomen, people-watching and thinking about it to take his mind off of it.

He also knows it's not unrequited. That's the part that's a little terrifying — how easy it would be to echo the sentiment, if it weren't for the potential for it to get all tangled up in his throat on the way out. They act like a married couple, Josuke had remarked once, but the truth is it isn't a married couple that the two of him remind him of.

Rohan reminds him of car rides and bumped knees, shared hotel rooms and moments of mutual peril.

Rohan reminds him of how it felt when he was surrounded by people he cares about, and all of them were alive.

That's what he's afraid of. That it has to be too good to be true, somehow. That if he looks too hard at this, it'll shatter. That if he observes the electron, it'll jump to someplace else and be gone forever.

Heisenberg's Feelings Principle. How ridiculous.

But he's also acutely aware that he's kept Rohan waiting on him, and there's something to that, something about it, that bothers him. Stringing people along isn't something he likes to do, and sooner or later it's going to start feeling like that. His tendency to avoid is the immovable object, and his tendency to do the right thing is the immovable force. Sooner or later something will have to give.

He has to clear his throat before he can manage to answer further than that; when had it gone thick and dry? Somewhere in there, probably.

He looks at himself in the mirror, looks at Rohan with his hands on him.

Strange how it doesn't look wrong.]

I...owe you more than just a bribe, don't I.

[ They've been in his element since Jotaro walked into the shop. Design theory, discussion about aesthetics, a biology lesson. No mind needs to be paid to the quiet moments of mutual admiration while one spoke and the other didn't. Rohan had the floor on something Jotaro knew little about but still made it full of elements he could attach himself to and try understanding at his level of interest.

No one likes to hear Rohan talk. Vietnam did. She's gone now.

He had talked to Josuke recently about how he missed being alone. Alone in Morioh, that is. Large aspects of how he lived his life have had to change to keep Jotaro in mind. Sharing a home and being in the same room as another person while he does his work that he prefers to keep private. Jotaro Kujo violates every single one of his rules.

It isn't something he minds. Not so much anymore. There was a time where they had to be cramped in a hotel room together-- one on the floor and the other in the bed. There had been Rohan going out of his way to get them a place to live after walking (and being carried) from one town to the next. He had never been more agitated about a living situation in his life. Actively sequestering himself in his room or shooing his roommate out of the living room so he could work alone. Now it was commonplace to have them in the same room while he painted near his favorite window with Jotaro on the couch playing his guitar or engaging in understandably stilted smalltalk.

Jotaro stopped being a burden a long time ago.

Rohan is stuck being unable to look up properly and acknowledge the other man through the mirror. His eyes remain fixed on the middle of his back. ]

What do you think you owe me?

An answer.

[He tries his best not to stare too long at Rohan in the mirror, seeing the way he's not looking back, and working out the reason why after a second of brief reflection. It's not altogether fair for him to just look and look and look, when Rohan is stuck not being able to return the favor if he likes.]

I told you not to ask me what it meant — that one time, I mean. You haven't. But that doesn't mean I haven't...kept you waiting on something you deserve, when I shouldn't have.

[He sucks in a slow breath, obviously rattled, and yet just as obviously powerfully determined in a way that has nothing to do with brute strength.]

Is there...is there something, that isn't a rejection...

[Again, he hesitates.]

But that...maybe...can't bring itself to acceptance, yet?

[ An answer.

He has to put real thought into it before he places what he's getting an answer to.

Don't ask me if that meant anything..

Right, right. ]

If you're going to speak to me about something like this, at least turn around and look at me.

[ This wasn't supposed to go here. Nothing is ever supposed to go to PLACES but these two have a flow. ]

You don't want to reject but you can't bring yourself to accept either. Do you realize how little sense that makes? Assuming we're on the same wavelength. [ A beat. ] Which, let's face it, we probably ARE... [ Because what else is new? ]

Edited 2016-08-09 00:06 (UTC)

Hold still, then. I'm going to turn around, I don't want to hit you with my wings or something.

[He closes his eyes for a moment, sucks a breath. There's probably a wisp of smoke when he lets it back out again, but he doesn't notice it as he carefully draws in his wings and turns around until he's facing Rohan.

Before he can think better of it, he doesn't stop with just that. He brings his hand up, wavering only slightly with indecision before reaching to cup Rohan's cheek and jaw against his palm.]

And that's not what I said. I said it's not a rejection. I just don't know if it's fair to call what it is...accepting. Not yet.

I don't know if I have any right being given someone's feelings to safeguard. Does that make...more sense? I don't know if I'm...I don't know if I should be...

You make me happy. But sometimes it's like I'm still struggling to remember how to even be happy. If I can't give you better than that...

[...]

Look, I'm not...I'm not good at this, I...I don't know if I can make you happy. I don't know if what I have in me to give is enough. I've been thinking about it ever since and I can never figure out if it's enough...

[ He leans accordingly as to not be smacked with a wing. They could easily kill someone with their bulkiness and that isn't what either of them are willing to put up with tonight. He can look up without having to worry about the mirror, ignoring it completely once Jotaro is facing him and has gone the extra mile of touching his face, which he had not expected. ]

You don't have to be good at this. You don't have to be good at anything. [ Tact is something Rohan will never have a full grasp of. That's just a universal constant. A Law. ]

You--... [ If this is an upgrade from getting feelsy after talking about setting a man on fire, he wouldn't know. ] You make me happy too. [ Ignoring how he has to keep instinctively looking away from Jotaro's eyes, it sounds sincere. He isn't tensing in his shoulders or threatening to coil back and away like he's running away from something. ]

If you're getting that much done, you're doing something right. I don't need ten thousand things to be happy, Jotaro. I'm not as unpleasable as people seem to think I am. I have my art, I have a place to live that isn't on the street. And I have--

[ Being sentimental leaves the taste in his mouth as thick and mildewy as licking a bathtub plug. It's a taste he has to goad back down and cram against his diaphragm because something tells him that Jotaro will not appreciate being puked on right now. That could happen. IT COULD... ]

I would think that me telling you that you make me happy is enough. I don't think I've ever made a single person happy either but hearing you say it is enough for me to believe it. [ He thinks.

Man. Feelings are dumb. 0/10 would not consider again. ]

I'm better at drawing feelings than I am explaining them. I don't know if you've noticed.

You're better at everything when it involves drawing. But you should try that sometime. Anything's easier than...this, probably.

[Speaking of being on a wavelength about things, this is assuredly one of them. What is talking about feelings. Feelings suck.]

Sometimes it feels like I'm letting people down if I'm not good at...

[He motions vaguely, and thinks about saying everything, but then amends it.]

...whatever it feels like they're counting on me for. Like I have to be better than myself. But maybe that's just...

[He stops then, seeming to think, and then unexpectedly lowers his head and buries his face in Rohan's hair, just for a second.]

...So it's okay, then? If for you I just be me, whatever I am? Fucked up or not?

[ Now his shoulders hop up to a little bit of tension. Blindsided by Jotaro's face in his hair, he feels warmer than before. It's difficult to formulate exactly what he wants to say but he realizes that his hands have been left idle at his sides since Jotaro turned around. What to do with them is the question--

He feels obligated to not just stand there and to animate himself in some way. If Jotaro's hand is still on his cheek, Rohan has his fingers curling around his wrist to hold it there. The other one isn't sure where to go. It is miles behind his tail, which has linked part of itself around Jotaro's ankle since it cannot reach his hand right now. ]

Jotaro, I wouldn't want you to be anything other than whatever you are. It's more than okay. [ He tries to look up slowly without disturbing the gargoyle, ending up just eye-level with his throat. ]

You don't have to change. At all. Ever.

...Do me a favor, and don't let me forget that.

[Feeling the way Rohan is tilting his head, he draws back slowly, but not far. The height difference between them is pronounced, and especially so at this distance, but Jotaro still does his best not to loom, and instead just stays close.]

Should...should we keep going on the clothes? Or would you rather I take you home...?

[ Rohan has every ability to just rise up another few inches on his tail. That would be a nice thing to do. He considers it. ]

I already know what I want to do about the clothes. [ He draws back himself but not enough to give the impression that he's about to take off toward the door. His free hand smooths its way up Jotaro's shoulder and to the side of his neck.

Cool but not cold. ]

Do you want to go home...?

No. I...want to stay here for a while.

[A beat.]

...Like...this, awhile. With you.

[ There's a surprise. ]

That's fine. I have the time.

[ The time for someone for once. He taps three fingers along Jotaro's neck in a manner similar to how he had tapped on the doorframe earlier. Less click-click-clicking and more of a dull thump from each. Thoughtful... Thinking... Pondering while he tries to find Jotaro's face again with his eyes. ]

Come closer. Let me do you that favor... So you won't forget.

How much closer can I really get?

[But he tilts his head against the feeling of those light beats against his neck, seeming to savor it before doing as he's asked.]

How's that? A little better? Or do you want me to lift you up, like usual?

[ The naga scoffs in hifalutin confidence. ]

You can do that, or I can do it this way.

[ This is about as smooth as Rohan gets-- gathering himself up, coiling a bit to hoist up another inch or three. Those few inches make all the difference, giving him the allowance he needs to nuzzle his lukewarm lips to Jotaro's minus the amount of hesitation he exuded the last time he made such a move.

It's gotta be one of those weird moon nights or something because SOMEHOW chemistry is Working. ]

Oh.

[That's what he gets out, Captain Eloquence himself, in the short space between when Rohan says this way and when they're kissing for what's going to end up being the third time now, unless you toss out the Mitsuhide-involved one and just call it the second.

It's not that he's hesitant in return, exactly, but he is undoubtedly careful and reserved; it's immediately apparent that he's letting Rohan have the lead, following it without making any overt attempts to seize it away.

Maybe it's a little bit like admitting that this doesn't have to be anything. He's got no goals in mind, nothing to live up to.

For now, he's just doing exactly as he said — being himself, and nothing else.]

[ With nothing to live up to, there is not much expected of him. That in itself is fine by Rohan's standards. He keeps his bar set pretty high and it is apparent that he isn't lowering it for anyone. Jotaro skates by on merits earned purely through chance.

There is nothing greedy about what he is doing. His hands are not going anywhere they do not need to be, respecting their space without the sense of entitlement he is so known for.

Jotaro wants to be reminded that he makes Rohan happy and that he doesn't need to change anything about himself to do so? He can have that fact wrapped up in a kiss uncharacteristically affectionate and able to articulate the message without clunky, awkward words that neither of them are very good at. His fingertips slip back on Jotaro's neck to fiddle with his hairline, playing in his dark hair as another gesture meant to relax him by any stretch. His tail winds further around that ankle, squeezing as it would if he were holding his hand.

Feeling are awful and affection is gross. He lacks finesse but fakes it pretty well if it is left undetected. ]

[For a while, it stays as simple as that. There aren't a lot of words to exchange, not much to be concerned with save for standing and letting the tension ease in time with the slow rhythm of kisses. And indeed, there are arguably as many lapses in that rhythm as there are beats of it; some of the time Jotaro spends simply with his eyes closed, holding still and radiating warmth and trying to memorize the feeling of respite from needing to think at all.

Eventually, though, things wind down and taper off. Eventually they've been standing there together for a while, and continuing to do so for much longer starts to seem a trifle silly. Eventually he catches Rohan's shoulder with his hand and runs his thumb over the curve of it, drawing away and this time doing a little bit more to maintain a separation between them rather than staying close enough to invite it to close yet again.]

My legs are starting to get tired. Isn't your tail?

[ It is only when it is pointed out that he realizes all of the muscles in his abdomen are getting a little tight. Sitting on himself is easier than trying to keep 'standing' the way he has been for the time that has gone by. He seems comfortable with stopping there, leaning back a touch more to compensate for the budding soreness in his trunk.

Make him lean down next time. ]

Yeah. [ He casts a glance to the door. ] It's not my tail as much as it is everything that needs to work on holding me up. [ Another fun little lesson about himself. It's not all Snakebutt taking the credit. ]

You have also been standing in nothing but your underwear for well over an hour. [ NOT THAT HE MINDS. He's only pointing it out. ] Let's go back out front and I can close up again. [ He slips a hand from wherever it decided to plant itself, pausing on Jotaro's upper arm for a long enough beat to notice. He could be beckoning for him to follow or he could just be touching him for the sake of doing it. Nonetheless, it fleets away when he parts from him.

He will follow.

Space between them grows as Rohan takes his leave, slithering out from the workroom and back out to the storefront where he goes to pick up the pile of the gargoyle's clothes to hold them out when he decides to come out too.

That is quite enough excitement for one night. ]

Oh, good. You're not going to make me fly you home pantsless.

[He says, as he follows Rohan out a few steps behind and reaches for his clothes when they're offered.

As he begins the somewhat delicate process of stepping back into them, he lets his attention wander around the interior of the shop, mostly to watch Rohan go about his business, but also somewhat to just take in the atmosphere.

As he does, a thought strikes him, and the opportunity for a one-liner arises.]

...Hey. Aren't you glad you let me in after all?

Hush.

[ Rohan rolls his eyes, heading to whichever mirror he unveiled earlier to throw the sheet back over it. He'll have to do the other two in the back the next time he is in before he ends up breaking it. Subtract all the super garbage things about being a naga and busting mirrors is the worst part. A tailor who breaks mirrors. Who would have thought... ]

Stop being a smartass and put your pants on. [ Upon pinning up the sheet, he heads to the little lamp on the desk. ] Hurry up.

[This looks so much more awkward than it actually is, but here he goes, getting back into his pants and actually looking reasonably satisfied with himself for being called on his smartassery.

Once that's completed, though, he decides to make himself useful by getting out of the way of Rohan's bustling, which makes him decide to head for the doors to idle there until his roommate (guy...person...friend...we kissed...thing) is done with everything he's doing.

It's only when he gets there that he notices something he hadn't before, what with all the banter and commotion of his arrival: the two paintings hanging close by, one of a koi fish mermaid that he's sure he's seen and complimented before when it was in its middle stages, and the other —

...Oh.]

[ Jotaro's now-clothed gawking has Rohan wrinkling up his nose in the way he just DOES when something isn't quite going his way. He is clearly not the one being stared at-- ]

What are you doing?

[ He looks up and sees his two paintings over the desk, somewhat framing himself as the middle piece with them on either side. He forgets that he put them there sometimes despite being arguably his best pieces. ]

What do you think of those?

[ He's also forgotten that the one of Jotaro is one that he sort of discreetly worked on and then hid around the house to make it not look like an Ode to Thirst during its creation. ]

I couldn't think of anywhere better to put them to keep them safe.

I don't remember seeing this one.

[Him and Vietnam. When she'd disappeared Rohan had been all but beside himself with his emotions, sad and listless with no answers in sight. And here is a painting of himself, on the same level as her — the same status, the same reverence.

It goes without saying that the art itself is breathtaking. What's moreso is that now he has understanding to tie into it — a concrete example in practice of Rohan's feelings expressed through his art instead of his words.]

I think I remember telling you the first time I saw this one of her, that you made it look like she really was frozen in time. That that's what it looks like, when everything stops and you're the only one who can see it.

I...didn't realize. That...that this is how I look to other people. Maybe. That it's...this.

[He motions faintly at the painting of himself.]

I never see...this. I'm glad you do. Glad I've gotten to now, too, for a little while.

IC INBOX / BUSINESS CARD ( ARCHIVE AS OF 12/13 )

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every time i think i cannot make things worse

this thread is a ride

when are our threads not honestly

who greenlit this

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feel free to close it up here if you want!

all set!

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, ROHAN KISHIBE. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 512.66.730.91 * USER has joined 512.66.730.91 <AUTOMATED REPLY, DO NOT RETURN:> You have reached the inbox of Rohan Kishibe. I am currently away and unable to answer messages. Leave a BRIEF** message with a subject line below. Messages will be replied to in order of importance and subject matter. Advertisements and junk mail will be ignored and blocked from this server.