( IC INBOX / BUSINESS CARD )

[manuscripture]

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! ))

Comments

[thefuckingbeam]

oh yeah you bet

you
cute
lets make out

this is so homosexual

[manuscripture]

So forward. I agree.

Too bad I'm all the way at home. The ego-stroking is divine nonetheless.

And here I thought I liked you better if you kept your trap shut.

[ you're both bad at flirting and you should feel bad but eddie's game is on-point. ]

i cant fucking believe this

[thefuckingbeam]

i mean we could change that
im good at stroking more than egos
or at least you didnt complain the last time

it is 1030 in the goddamn morning

[manuscripture]

Are you saying you wish to pay me a visit?

You wasted no time becoming fond of me.

i love Sinning

[thefuckingbeam]

im not gonna say no to that

listen
youre real persuasive
and i dont half-ass anything

[manuscripture]

Persuasive with what exactly?

also the door is open. I'm upstairs.

[thefuckingbeam]

as in, you say literally anything and it makes me wanna get next to you

[Honestly it's almost as bad as the fuckspit.]

be there in two shakes

eddie "im not gay tho" dean

[manuscripture]

Good boy.

I'll fetch wine from the basement. See you.

[thefuckingbeam]

[What the fuck that's hot???

Eddie takes a few minutes to make himself look Presentable; he actually combs his hair, which is getting to be a Chore with the little antler nubs now pushing through between his ears. He wears one of the nice new outfits Rohan had given him, a button-down with the sleeves rolled up and a nice pair of jeans, and tucks a cigarette behind his ear before he hops on his bike and heads over to Rohan's place. Castle. Jesus, Eddie never thought he'd be dating the owner of a castle.

When he gets to the Love Shack, he parks his motorcycle outside and cuts the engine, hopping off and making his way inside and up all those winding stairs to Rohan's room. He knocks twice on the door.]

Special delivery for a, uh, Ronald? Ron?

[manuscripture]

[ The Master of the House is starting to deal with his skin wanting to fall off again. It's horrible, but it's enough to leave weird patchiness all over his tail. Exfoliating his face only goes so far... And he pulls it off well. It's already cold as fuck in the castle despite the stoves and him living where heat rises the most in the whole castle.

This means a lot of sweaters. In his own house. At all times.

Tapping at his bedroom door followed by a cheesy and terrible line slithers him away from the Shittalking Mirror for a minute. Opening the door... ]

That's a bad introduction and you should feel bad.

[ Though he can't QUITE hide some form of amusement in his voice. It just doesn't show in his face. ]

[thefuckingbeam]

[Eddie gives Rohan a shit-eating grin as he opens the door.]

You should expect that from me by now. [At least Rohan doesn't look actively turned-off by Eddie's bad jokes. That's a good sign. And he doesn't miss that little hint of amusement in his voice, either.

Eddie's bunny feet step over Rohan's coils to get out of the doorway.]

Anyone else around today?

[He needs to know for Reasons.]

[manuscripture]

[ He can't BE turned off by his bad jokes because he learned to completely endure them through Jotaro.

His tail swishes idly across the floor, allowing Eddie to step over it without any rude attempts to catch his leg. ]

The girls are with their friend Mari at the cafe redecorating. [ He lets the door fall shut. ] They're basically doing all of the upkeep work for me. Why?

[thefuckingbeam]

Ah. Right, 'course. [He shrugs, trying to look casual.] Just curious.

[He wants to make sure they're not going to get walked in on, is what. But he's not going to say that now, it'll make him look...overeager. Eddie Dean plays it cool.

His gaze sweeps around, and settles on the little carved wooden demon on the vanity.]

You really kept that, huh?

[manuscripture]

[ Eddie Dean """playing it cool""" is absolutely false.

The naga slithers on over to the vanity where he has set the little statue atop a jewelry box. He picks it up between his fingers. ]

What did you expect me to do with it? I couldn't throw something like this out. Not when it was made for me. You have a talent.

[thefuckingbeam]

[Eddie ducks his head, smiling to himself with those buck teeth of his.]

Thanks. I...that means a lot to me, actually. It's something I liked doing as a kid, but my shitty older brother told me it was stupid. Girly. Like making anything with your own two hands automatically made you weak...

[He scoops the bottle of wine off the dresser and goes to work cracking it open.]

It came in handy, though. Once I got back into it. It brought me Jake. I carved the key to the door we pulled him out of...one of the most stressful things I've ever made, honestly. But it was worth it, for Jake.

[He takes a swig of wine, and silently sends up a little hello to his little bro, wherever he might be.]

[manuscripture]

[ He can take the wine. Rohan just listens and toys with the thing in his claws, tapping them along it. ]

People are shitty like that. Especially men. [ He chuffs and shakes his head. ] If you have an artistic talent that you don't use to get into the manga industry, it isn't valid. Unless it's a classical art that no one pays attention to except for a niche set of people.

I remain absolutely positive that if I hadn't decided to go into illustrating manga, no one would ever take me seriously. Japan has a standard for people-- specifically men. If you don't become a businessman, then you don't have a spot in the societal hierarchy. It's just how it is there. Unfair as it may be, we have our private microcosm...

[ It's just a cultural thing. ]

I don't believe I have asked much about where you come from other than that it sounds like some weird Clint Eastwood dimension with a demonic twist on it.

[thefuckingbeam]

If you asked Henry, he'd say the only kind of art that was manly was like...being a rock star. Anything else was a little too... [He waggles one limp-wrist at Rohan, grinning.] If only he knew.

[Rohan's description of Eddie's place of origin has him laughing.]

I mean, you're not far off. But we might wanna get comfy if I'm gonna tell you about Mid-World.

[manuscripture]

[ The gesture pulls a snort from him. ]

It's the same concept in that case. [ Setting the statue down and spot-checking his face and hair in the mirror, rohan glides his way across the floor to his quilt pile and coils up loosely. He jerks the side of his head to the gathering of his tail settled there resembling a couch or something to lean on.

Maybe this is a little much to ask from somebody who has been in a Death Hug, but... ]

Get comfy yourself. I want to hear it...

[thefuckingbeam]

[Eddie's gaze tracks this movement with a hint of amusement; watching Rohan preen is like watching a cat groom itself. He glances down at those looped coils of snake tail, and raises his eyebrows.]

Really? I can—?

[As long as he's not in the coils, he can handle it.]

[manuscripture]

[ With an elbow on the raised part of his "bed" and his cheek in his hand, his eyes flick to his tail and then back to Eddie. ]

Yes. [ They are simply settled there like their own isolated little bed. ] Don't worry... You're supposed to trust me, no?

[thefuckingbeam]

[Well, shit. That's smooth.]

Alright. No big. [He grins.] 'Course I trust you.

[He's not lying. He also just doesn't want to accidentally crush Rohan or something. He doesn't know how snake tails work at this size.

He goes over and settles right in, letting his butt sit right in the gab between the "back" and "seat" of the tail-couch; his tail wiggles a couple of times as he gets comfortable. Absentmindedly, one hand smooths over Rohan's scales; he's surprised by how soft they are.]

This is nice. Thanks.

[manuscripture]

[ He makes a Grade A comfy thing if you free your mind and don't freak out. Eddie's warm and Rohan's tail shifts under him out of not really his own volition. It always seeks a nice heat source. He reaches an arm somewhere behind himself, producing a book and a pen that he proceeds to flip through. ]

You're welcome. I wouldn't say that it is overly luxurious but it will do, right?

Now hop to it and tell me about this.

[thefuckingbeam]

Hey, it's more comfortable than the couch I used to sleep on.

[Which he only recently vacated in favor of Jake's bed. It's fine.

He glances at the book and pen in Rohan's hands.]

You gonna take notes? ...Anyway. The place I came from—not the place I was born, mind you—is called Mid-World. It's...another plane of existence, basically. And at the center of Mid-World, of every world, is the Dark Tower. That was our quest. Roland's quest, really. The rest of us were just along for the ride.

[manuscripture]

[ Who in their right mind ASKS why Rohan is doing anything with a book and a pen? What's wrong with him?

His fingers stop flipping the pages, pausing his claw on one like a record scratch. ]

I feel like drawing. [ He deadpans as if Eddie should KNOW that answer already. He can pull these things out of thin air. Be ready. ] Carry on...

[ Rohan's eyes pay less attention to the pooka and more to his paper as he starts to scribble on it to the little story he's being given. It sounds damn near out of something he would write. ]

That sounds pretty badass. [ He chuckles, lifting his eyes briefly from the paper. ] How did you guys and that Roland fellow get around to fulfilling that quest? If you did, that is... [ Contemplative, he taps the pen at his bottom lip. ]

I write stories like that.

[thefuckingbeam]

Oh, right. [He shakes his head.] Duh.

Well, the thing is...I'm not sure. We made some headway, but yours truly caught a stray bullet before I could see it through to the end. But really, this is the kinda story that needs to be told from the start.

[Eddie sighs, makes himself a little bit more comfortable, his fingers still petting absentmindedly over Rohan's scales.]

I was young, and dumb. Well, younger, and dumber. And I got dragged into the wild world of heroin addiction by my brother Henry. And eventually, that turned into me becoming a drug smuggler for the mob.