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[ashioki]

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[ashioki]

[ this rizz???????? stop.... ]

if it's anything like the ones i have back home, there's a good handful i like
i'll show em all to you if you want

[ ahhh should he check out the arcade on his own beforehand so he can practice?? would vanitas be impressed if he managed to get a toy from a claw machine...... ]

[maladie]

[Vanitas wonders if Oushi is blushing wherever he is.]

Yeah, I'd like that.
It will give me a better idea of you as a person.

[And he's genuinely trying to get used to technology.]

[ashioki]

[ yes. incredibly. ]

so what's someone gotta do to get a better idea of you as a person?

[maladie]

Why in the world would anyone want to get a better idea of me?
I can save you time and effort, there's nothing worth knowing.

[ashioki]

what, so you get to know all about me but i don't get anything?
bullshit
i can decide what i want to use my time and effort on, thanks

[maladie]

Not everyone's life is so splendid that their worst experience is being turned down by a girl.

[He doesn't really know for sure if that is the worst of it, but based on what he's learned about Oushi, it's enough to use against him. Belatedly, it's probably a low blow, but too late now.]

[ashioki]

[ ....yeah, actually. it is a pretty low blow. and instinctively oushi feels himself flinching back at the first brush of it, and he feels it all — hurt, embarrassment, betrayal. anger.

it's fortunate that this is through text. that his initial reaction isn't the one he's left to mull over, long after the interaction is over.

because he breathes. tries to reorient himself. realizes that, if the meanest thing someone can say to him is mocking him over a broken heart, then yeah — he can stand to be punched down a little. especially by someone who is clearly lashing out in response to his own pain.

so, fine. vanitas wants him to back off? he will. ]

next time, you could just say you don't want to talk about it

[maladie]

[The longer he waits for a response, the more it dawns on him that he likely went too far. He thinks about sending a follow up message to downplay the severity of what he'd sent before, but maybe this is fine.

Distance is better than the pity he thinks would follow that conversation. But then again Oushi is..not someone he wants distance from. It's very much the opposite. So the message he receive stings, but he deserves that.]

I'm sorry. Sometimes I push people away.
We can talk about it in person, okay?

[ashioki]

it's fine

[ honestly? it is. it stung like a bitch, but oushi is more than aware his pain is so much more minor than most everyone else's suffering. ]

you can tell me as much or as little as you want
you can even push me away
so long as it's something YOU want
and not something stupid like you think it's what i need or deserve or whatever

you get to decide how you want to live your life
just like i get to decide i'd still like to get to know you even when you're being a jerk

got it?

[maladie]

I didn't have the happiest life.
I just don't want you to pity me.

[And usually he's perfectly find keeping people at a distance and never revealing anything specific about himself in that capacity. But there's something about Oushi that makes him feel...safe? Comfortable? He doesn't know, and stubbornly won't think about it too long.

But he does know that he doesn't want Oushi to feel bad because he's so uncomfortable getting close to people.]

I understand.

[ashioki]

[ oushi thinks of the scars he had seen, the very first time they met. ]

then i won't pity you

i don't think i would have anyway, but now i definitely won't

but if i fuck up and start to anyway, you have my full permission to beat me up until i stop

i think

[ hm. ]

i had a pretty easy life compared to... i think almost everybody here
it'd probably take me a million years to even wrap my head around half the stuff you probably had to live through
i know a chump like me has no business pitying someone who's seen and gone through worse
that's like a chicken pitying an eagle

so i don't think you'd have to worry about me pitying you
i'd probably be way too busy admiring you

[maladie]

I can accept those terms.
And I'm sorry about what I said. Heartbreak is the great equalizer.
It happens to all of us, I mean.

[Maybe the reason he's able to weaponize it so easily is because he's never known the sting of it himself. He's not even certain he's ever truly been in love, but things are different here so he's not closed off to it as of recently.]

I think my life has been on the more difficult side of that spectrum, but I want to say there have had good moments as well, but they're always followed by--well, we'll talk about it later.

Oh. Okay.

[Well. Shit. Now he is the one blushing.]

[ashioki]

it's not like you were wrong
you can always tell me when i'm being out of line, and vice versa

[ damn. and oushi is none the wiser. 😔 ]

i meant it though
don't feel obligated to tell me anything more than you want to

[maladie]

I think it's safe to say that this time, I'm the one that was out of line.
I'll try to make it up to you somehow.

[A kiss sounds like a good consolation prize, except he'd enjoy it too much. And at that point it would be more of a reward for himself. Then again, Oushi doesn't need to know that much.]

I want to know more about you, so it's only fair if we both end up sharing. Right?

[ashioki]

sure
we can start off slow, anyway
simple stuff, you know?

like.... do you like sweets? what about flowers?

[ ...no ulterior motive here, nope. ]

[maladie]

I don't like sweets.
I do like flowers, though.

[He should put 2 and 2 together about those very two deliberate things, but his mind is more concerned with what questions he can ask Oushi in exchange for this one. And he might not like them himself, but he is pretty good at baking--cooking in general.]

What about you?
What do you like?

[ashioki]

[ 📝 ]

what, between the two? sweets, i guess
i never really know what to do with flowers

[maladie]

You put them in a pretty vase and watch them die.

[Okay, maybe that's a little morbid. But he takes note of Oushi's preference, already scheming.]

What's your favorite food?

[ashioki]

[ . . . i mean he's not wrong, though? ]

well i don't have a pretty vase
or much room in my suite
so flowers would just be a waste

curry
japanese curry, i guess i should specify
have you ever had it?

[maladie]

No, I haven't had Japanese curry, but I've had gyudon before.

[But with another guy. Who is also Japanese...and who he also has some sort of a crush on. Vanitas keeps that all to himself, and makes a mental note to not fall for any more of them--not that the two are similar in anyway.]

I'll do some research so I can make it for you.
Unless you'd prefer it from a restaurant?

[ashioki]

[ vanitas.... are you a weeaboo— ]

gyudon's pretty good
curry's got more of a kick to it, but they're both sweet in their own way

[ hang on tho— ]

you'd seriously make it?

[maladie]

[Where are all the French girls and guys!? He needs to make a network post at some point about this.]

More of a kick? I'll keep your spice preferences in mind too.
I want to know what it tastes like, and how will I know I did it right if you can't taste test the result?

[Because obviously it doesn't have any more meaning than that...Definitely has nothing to do with feelings, or acts of service. Nope.]

[ashioki]

[ the only french oushi knows is kissing EYYYYYYYYY ]

ok that's fair...


can i watch?

[maladie]

I don't see why not.
It might actually be better if we work together.


Unless you can't cook, then by all means, just enjoy the view.

[ashioki]

i could be motivated

[ siri is this flirting ]