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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.

[ 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

...I-

[Karamatsu's own lips pull uncomfortably around his mandibles, recalling the conversation he had with Ichimatsu about this. He decides to repeat the same words now that he said then.]

...you did not attack me, Rohan. She did. I have no interest in the gods...so. I am certain I am disposable to her.

[He was meant to be an example, but Rohan was able to fight it long enough that he only became part of one.]

I just happened to be the only target at the time.

[ Karamatsu never uses his first name. This is a first. ]

She did make me do this. [ And he'll admit it. ] She told me to begin harming Neutrals. It's why I hid the way I did while I still had time to think.

I failed to inform you because I ran out of sense.

[ A beat. ]

I blacked out. I don't remember a thing.

[Yeah, he...expected that. It makes him wonder just how deeply ingrained Rohan is, now. There probably isn't any way for him to be free from her clutches, now.

It's hard to think about, but it's not his responsibility to tell Rohan to stay aligned or not. It's none of his business, at least not until this sort of thing happens.

He waffles for a moment before stepping a bit closer to where he's coiled up on the floor.]

...do you think it could happen again?

[ Rohan doesn't flinch away. He just picks at one of the 'scars' on his arm to pop the pearly scales away. ]

I can't say that it won't. [ He's honest. ] But I can't say that I won't have better control or be able to handle it next time either. It's a double-edged sword.

It scared me, Karamatsu. It truly did. The only person who could take me on in a fight like that and win is Jotaro. No one else would be able to make it out alive.

[Oh, he's so very aware. He barely escaped with his life before. If Ichimatsu hadn't found him, he would have died just ten yards from home.]

I wish you were not involved with her. It is not good for you.

[He doesn't try to stop himself from saying this, even though he knows Rohan gets it. He's probably heard it a ton already.]

But either way...you cannot let her take away your agency. That is the only thing most of us have left, and I cannot bear to see you being controlled like a puppet on strings.

However...I may not understand it, but...I am not going to tell you what to do, either. I just want to feel safe working with you again.

[ Boy, has he. ]

I'm afraid that I cannot leave Her. Not after how I have risen through the ranks. It would be detrimental on my part and I do not want... The consequences that come with turning my tail on Her. [ That sounds painful to say. With the reservations him and Chie had expressed some days ago... ]

I can only distance myself from it. Retreat to Dyster now that I know what it feels like.

[ Rohan takes a deep inhale and abandons his towel and his work to give Karamatsu his proper attention. ]

Please, Karamatsu. [ Rohan Kishibe pleads to no one. ] You are one of the only people I have left. I know that what I have to say means little when you have been harmed by me of all people but...

[He'd been steadily moving closer, but now that Rohan's looking straight at him, he stops. He's a few feet away from his coils now, slightly angled toward the door. Just...in case.

But even so, he smiles, the expression a bit wobbly.]

Rohan. You are one of my best friends. Even if you killed me, I don't think I would be able to leave.

Ahah...I suppose I am just not very smart.

[ Shoulders drawing up, Rohan can't believe the response he gets.

It's... Something else. ]

Don't talk like that. [ He huffs, feigning a laugh with a shake of his head. ] It's not stupidity. Loyal people can do foolish things. Dangerous ones.

They come off as stupid... But it is really the opposite.

[ A twinge of relief reaches his tired eyes. ]

Thank you. I don't feel like I deserve forgiveness... But thank you.

[Karamatsu doesn't think this could have gone differently, really. He just...isn't like that. He might be oblivious and short-sighted on a good day, but he's nothing if not attached to the Naga, now. Maybe it would have been different if Rohan hated him and really meant to kill him...but then again, Ichimatsu is living proof that acts of hatred aren't enough to dissuade Karamatsu. Not even from his own family.]

I should be thanking you for still believing in me all this time. It is the only reason I ever got to where I am now.

[He probably wouldn't even be working if it wasn't for Rohan manhandling him into his job, really.]

And, well...I was looking for a new look anyway!

[The joke is dry and awkward, but hey. At least he's not coming over here sobbing over the loss of his Whole Arm.]

[ At his core, Rohan doesn't really hate anybody. Except, you know, the Select People. He doesn't hate Josuke. He doesn't hate anyone from home. He only hates the people who deserve it and Karamatsu has never done anything to warrant that side of him. Vicious as he can be, he does it out of tough love as a merit. ]

Missing limbs can be a good look. [ A wriggle of his tail makes for a dry but witty response despite the atmosphere. ] I wouldn't recommend it.

[ There is really only one way to go about this sealing the deal business. They need levity and the only method Rohan can think of is the one Josuke pulls on him. His tail slips forward to gently take the faerie by the ankle with no malicious intent behind it. If he fears it, the pull still won't waver.

Chilly as he is, Rohan still manages to pull his friend into a warm hug.

Karamatsu is going to end up with gross scale flakes all over him but it's the principle. ]

I can't thank you enough.

[Oh.

The feeling of Rohan's tail grabbing his ankle sends a very poignant spear of ice through his body, and for a half second he feels real terror dig its claws into him. It freezes him in place, making it that much easier for Rohan to pull him forward.

...but it's just a hug. He's not wrapping him up or trying to hold him still so he can tear him limb from limb. He's just...hugging him. It's not a ruse, or a trick, or anything like that.

Karamatsu feels himself waver, Rohan's tail keeping him from shifting too much beyond moving closer forward, his two lower arms reaching up to return the gesture while the other remains curled against his front, claws buried deep within the fur laying on his chest. He blinks away tears and opens his mouth to speak, even though it's choked near the moment he does.]

O....Of course. Of course.

Thank you for being my friend.

[ Rohan never lets his hugs linger for too long. After a few beats of staying quiet and merely enjoying some form of closeness, the naga leans away.

Smiling. Genuinely. ]

Thank you for being mine. You remind me of my best friend back at home. I don't know if I will ever see Koichi again but I feel as though I have found someone much more valid.

It means a lot. Thank you for forgiving me.

[Well holy shit. Rohan just outright went and said the one thing Karamatsu absolutely lives, breathes, would die just to experience- validation.

Valid. You're valid.

He blinks again, and even though he's smiling right back, there are tears positively gushing down his face that he can't...really stop.]

It is all water under the bridge now, non? The only thing we can do is keep going forward!

[He's leaking like a faucet yet he's pretending he's not, just ignore it he's fine.]

[ WELL... Rohan casually reaches for the rag he has been using, wringing it out in his hands and bothering to go ahead and try dabbing at Karamatsu's face.

Because you should be taking care of your friend with the towel you have been peeling your skin off with. ]

That's right. Now stiff upper lip and none of this crying now. It's a bad look.

[ don't get scales in his eyes he has enough problems ]

The shop needs a few repairs as things thin out... I just don't know when that is going to be. I sort of shattered the display window by jumping through it. [ because marco looked at him funny ]

[Go ahead and get scales in his eyes, it's not that much worse than what he's already dealt with.

He sniffs, lifting a hand to scrub at his cheek once Rohan moves away, touched regardless by the gesture.]

I-I know, I-

[...]

E-eh? Ehh!? You- ehh??

[WHY DID YOU JUMP THROUGH THE WINDOW ROHAN]

Marco threw a rock at me and needed to get to him.

We'll... Replace it. [ Somehow. ] Have you told your brothers about what happened?

[Oh that sure changed to a subject he didn't want to have to talk about, but here we are.]

Mm...I told Ichimatsu. He pressed, and I could not lie.

...and, well. He is the one who took me to the hospital, so I had to explain myself.

[ Dodging subjects is a skill. ]

How did he feel about that situation? I know I'm in the doghouse with a few of your brothers who don't trust me.

I bet he wants my head too.

He is...not happy. But Ichimatsu is not happy about most things.

[I MEAN. It's true.]

I explained what happened as best as I could. He knows that I do not fault you for what happened, but...what he feels is something I cannot really help. I already know he is upset with the gods as well, particularly the Fourth for destroying the park that harbored his tree.

[ Rohan takes a look at his nails... ]

He can get in line. [ Blase. ]

Half of the peninsula wants me dead, Karamatsu.

[ but... ]

They can't kill me now.

[Well that's. Ominous.]

What do you mean?

[ It gets worse. ]

While I have endured a lot of hardships for being Her follower, I have reached the rank second only to Her priests.

I'm immortal now, Karamatsu. She granted me eternal life. I can only be killed under highly specific circumstances.

I...

[Fuck.]

...did you ask for this?

Ironically, I did not. The only thing I asked for was to have Jotaro protected.

The rest was a perk. [ sorry kara ] Does it bother you?

I...do not know? I mean...I am not the one who is immortal.

[It's...weird. You can't really die forever here anyway, so that's...kindof like immortality, isn't it? He's not really sure.]

Are you okay with it?

( IC INBOX / BUSINESS CARD )

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i'm not crying there's just some rain on my face

im definitely crying i havent stopped since yesterday

im taking a break on tags i said as i did tags

me all the time though

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