[ the warning is less for jayce's sake than oushi's, whose experience tells him it's far better to address the elephant in the room from the start, instead of allowing it to fester into something just as unavoidable but ten times more awkward.
the freckles in question do not actually appear until jayce himself walks into view, and oushi's eyes land on him. the very sight of him is a trigger of some kind, and considering closer inspection reveals those scattered pink and red spots to be heart-shaped... and considering the context of the unique situation they're in thanks to this hotel... one can probably put the pieces together about what it is about jayce that might have prompted them.
(it's your face, jayce. your stupid, handsome face.) ]
Hey. Jayce?
[ there is, of course, no need to really ask. jayce's picture had been part of the profile, after all. rather, it's more important he announces who he is, especially considering he doubts the older man would have had enough wherewithall to glance at his own profile via his username. even someone as used to smart technology as oushi had to take some time to figure out how to navigate his way through the watch's unique settings. ]
I'm Oushi.
[ freckles aside, he does not make for a particularly distinct sight. average height, average size. dark hair and eyes a deep green you'd only be able to notice if you were up close. in a hoodie and a pair of jeans that somehow fit him just fine but also swallow him up. plain and unremarkable in every way oushi has become resigned to accept about himself, amidst the backdrop of all that is spectacular about and within the hotel and its other guests.
he half-turns towards the grand double doors that lead out towards the cloud dwelling garden, just a few feet away from where he stands. ]
[He looks much like how the picture presented him: a somewhat unmaintained haircut, a mostly trimmed beard, but with an additional four purple ovals along his hairline like glowing tattoos. What the picture didn't show was much of his body- clearly muscular but on the thinner side in a slightly unnatural way, and over six feet tall. Further down is a metal brace on his left leg from the thigh down; it clicks quietly with every step he takes. His clothes are fairly plain as well- maybe even a little too casual. It looks like he just found some gym clothes and has taken to walking around in them.]
Nice to meet you, Oushi.
[He holds out his hand, the reflex of good manners taking the wheel before he remembers why that's not the best idea, and he freezes, quickly dropping his hand back to his side. Maybe that will go ignored if he just doesn't explain it.]
Lead the way, you're my guide.
i'm so sorry about the delay 😔 pls feel free to ignore if it's been too long!
[ oushi's eyes, ever betraying him, linger along those glowing marks — but not long enough it might be considered rude. just long enough to certainly be staring, to be of notice, but his attention is soon drawn to the hand that had tried to reach out to him, only to stutter along the way and quickly withdraw.
despite himself, oushi can't help but feel morbidly curious, and gestures towards that hand. ]
...Did the hotel give you a curse too?
[ too. yes, those heart freckles are not natural to him or his world, that's for damn sure. ]
[No point in hiding it now, and not from someone who's apparently cursed as well. On second glance, heart-shaped freckles aren't really that common, are they?]
It won't be an issue as long as we don't touch, or at least for too long.
[ oushi opens the door towards the gardens, waiting until jayce has followed him before letting it fall shut behind them. all the while, he glances between the man's haggard face and the hand in question. too untrained not to let his obvious interest (and wariness) show. ]
That sucks. Sorry.
[ he wonders if all touch is affected, or if it's just with hands. all the same, he's mindful not to accidentally brush arms or anything, as he starts to lead an idle path towards the pond. ]
They call mine a "love rash." [ he isn't usually so keen to divulge the details about his particular curse, but really only because he hates to suffer the embarrassment that comes with it. he scratches at a cheek now — not because it itches, but because it gives him something to do as he avoids jayce's eye, nonchalant as one can possibly be. ] They seem to show up anytime I see someone attractive.
[The name startles a little laugh out of Jayce, and he grins lopsidedly even as it's described further. He leans in just a smidge closer to take a look.]
A "rash," huh? That's a little mean when it's just a case of the freckles. Implies it's an infection of some sort.
[He'll lean away again, giving Oushi back his personal space, and his grin softens a little from teasing to more genuine.]
[ it had been a shot in the dark, confessing to the particulars about his own little curse in the hopes it might alleviate some of jayce's own worries about his. oushi can't tell for sure if that actually succeeded, but in any case, there's absolutely no way oushi can even so much as glance in jayce's direction now, so he keeps his gaze firmly on the path before them. the gardens are expansive and beautiful, if one can sort of just forget that all this "outdoors" isn't actually outdoors.
he clears his throat. ]
Once we find a seat, I can help you with the Watch. Was there anything else you were curious about it?
[Jayce can at least pick up a little on the hint and starts to look around to the gardens instead of staring at Oushi further. It sort of smells right, like a proper "outdoors," but there's a certain stuffiness he's picking up on that sits like a constant reminder.]
Oh, yeah. There's a few other things. The Watch is the most important, but I've seen a few things I don't understand either. Do you know what a computer is?
[ there are people here pulled from all sorts of places, but oushi is used to being the one more ill-prepared (at least in terms of handling the fantastical and supernatural); it's almost refreshing to find himself being the one with more experience, even if it's about things that are a lot less consequential. ]
Yeah, I can help you with those, too, though you'll probably not have to interact with that many unless you decide to go to the library or something.
[ he picks a bench that's further away from the path, just in case jayce isn't looking to have their impromptu lesson interrupted by other visitors. once seated, he holds his wrist up, tapping his own Watch's screen to activate it. ]
You're already familiar with texting, which is what most people use this for. There's a video and audio function too, for communicating. You can look people up by their profiles. See?
[ that earns jayce a curious look — one that unfortunately involves a once-over that, in this particular setting, could easily be misconstrued as something a little more scandalous... but in reality it's oushi having to reassess his assumptions about the man. he looked — well, haggard, to be blunt, but beyond that he seems to possess a body type that oushi wouldn't normally acquaint with someone who prefers the library..........
but he supposes jocks can also be nerds, if they wanted.
anyway, he realizes he's staring a second too late, and hastily glances away.
the frank question has got him stalling a bit, and for someone who has come to take this kind of technology for granted, he finds himself a little unsure how to even explain it... ]
It's... like moving pictures? The Watch has a camera — somewhere — and it can record you so you can see who you're having a conversation with at the same time.
[ very likely for scandalous reasons, but it's not as if video calls are uncommon in his own world. ]
If you aren't too familiar with the settings, try not to touch the screen unless you really need to. Otherwise you might accidentally start a video call when you don't mean to be seen...
come meet me at chickadee's when you're done throwing the rest of your chips away
[ maybe he should have given a more definite time frame than that, but that's alright. whether oushi winds up waiting ten minutes or ten hours at the entrance of the noisy arcade, he doesn't care. vanitas will find him there, no matter what time of the day he eventually ends up showing up, seated slumped along one of the blocky plush seats dotted around the entrance, left especially there for loiterers just like him. he'll flipping through his watch, idly following the other bids going on throughout the day, head bowed so low that his fringe almost entirely covers his face. ]
[He reads the rest of Oushi's message and decides not to send it in the end. Instead, he pulls on his coat, sighs at his reflection in the mirror before heading out to meet him. Vanitas spends the walk to Chickadee's trying to sort out his hair to it falls the way it's meant to, even retying the ponytail at the back and combing his fingers through it idly so he looks somewhat put together.
For whatever reason he feels just as unwilling to make Oushi wait as he is unwilling to see him if he doesn't look presentable.]
What are you looking at? [Vanitas approached as silently as possible, only speaking when he's close enough to peek down at him.]
[ oushi doesn't glance up until vanitas is right there, the noise from the arcade and vanitas' own silent footsteps perfectly shrouding him from notice. he blinks once, gaze seeming to catch on something, but he soon brings his attention back to his watch.
he scoots to make room on that bench for vanitas, and as soon as the younger man takes a seat, oushi will scooch closer until they're shoulder-to-shoulder. until oushi is practically leaning into him — all so he can better show vanitas his watch, of course. ]
Some of these bids are getting kind of crazy. See?
[ he scrolls to one he'd been following in particular, where a small handful of people seem to be duking it out trying to win some guy named nanami. ]
[Vanitas sits down, crossing his legs automatically, head turning to look at Oushi when he scoots in close again. He wants to focus on what he's being shown but it's hard when he can quite literally feel the guy's body heat radiating into him. It's not a big deal in the grand sense of things, but it does take him a second to force some composure for a normal conversation.]
I'm not sure who that is, but his bidders seem very...passionate. [He can't even properly judge them. He was ready to do the same for Getou, but for all the wrong reasons. Thankfully he decided to let that go and would hold on to his savings for a while longer.]
If you had more to bid with, is there anyone you'd want? I'd offer to help cover the cost, but I'm not sure my savings are that robust. [Vanitas leans in closer, going to Nanami's profile to see what it is that has these people in a frenzy.] Ah, of course. The mysterious older gentleman. I suppose I get it.
[ oushi hadn't gotten nearly as... passionate as some of these bidders have gotten, but part of that was because of his own non-existent funds. the fact he's somehow managed to be the top contender for vanitas' own auction is a freak twist of fate, or so he's convinced. ]
I don't really know that many people, [ he answers, if one can even call it an answer. he wasn't so much as concerned about bidding on people, because that kind of thing feeds a little too much into the nasty, possessive side of him he thinks shouldn't be enabled. but there were some people he wanted to make sure didn't end up forced in a situation with people they didn't like... vanitas included.
but as vanitas tap-taps on his watch screen (bringing them closer still), oushi's gaze drifts from the profile to the man currently pouring over it. he keeps his expression relatively impassive, but there is an intensity in his eyes that is keen for any sort of reaction from vanitas himself. ]
[Vanitas only got passionate for revenge, but revenge alone isn't enough to outbid people who have been around far longer than he has. It's probably for the best. He doesn't suspect he would have done anything good to Getou.]
I feel the same way. [He's not antisocial exactly, but he's kept close to the small handful of people he's gotten to know. Oushi being one of them. If having invaded the older's space isn't any indication of that.
The question causes Vanitas to stop scrolling to look at Oushi for a solid few seconds, blue eyes narrowed in confusion then widening in realization of something he doesn't voice out loud. All he does is laugh, turning away and covering his mouth so he doesn't cackle in his face.]
Already looking for reasons to be jealous? [Which isn't an answer to the question, but Vanitas thinks the best answer to that question would be handing Oushi a mirror.] No. I prefer someone around my age. Don't worry.
[ don't worry, he says, and the petulant part of oushi wants to insist he had never been anywhere close to that. but he knows better than anyone what a giant lie that would be; that he has already felt the sting of lost chances once before, and the threat of it again cripples him to the point of paralysis.
one would think that sort of thing would encourage him to be a little more honest, wouldn't it..? yet here he is, refusing to so much as glance at the mirror vanitas offers him. ]
I was just asking, [ he still attempts to insist, but there is hardly any fight in his tone. instead, he retaliates with a faint shove against vanitas' shoulder, but rather than draw away after, he just stays there. glued to the other's side. ]
Besides, [ he says, faces mere inches away, ] you realize I'm technically an older guy, right?
[ now why the hell is he reasserting himself this way, after he just made vanitas confess to liking the opposite? because he's fucking stupid, that's why. ]
[The shove causes Vanitas to sway in the opposite direction, then right back into Oushi's side, smirking because he thinks he has this guy figured out. He's pretty easy to read, and even more than that, Vanitas can follow his logical gymnastics to see where he's coming from--just not where he's going.
Because he really doesn't understand the pivot if the point of that was to get reassurance. Maybe Oushi is just contrary, and unfortunately that is something they have in common.]
Mm, are you saying I'm too young for you? [Vanitas turns his face, a bad idea, he knows, but how else is he going to play this game without increasing the stakes a bit. His nose is close enough to touch Oushi's face if he makes the wrong move, using every bit of his resolve to appear aloof and unaffected by their proximity.]
[ he can be contrary to the point of shooting himself in the foot, but somehow, in this instance, a wiser part of his brain kicks in and he realizes there's something far, far more important to be done here than "winning" whatever standoff it is they've suddenly found themselves in.
because when vanitas meets his stare head-on, and they're nose to nose like this, he finds his head flooded with a dizzying kind of heat that makes a man want to do something reckless. something bold.
so he leans in, stealing a kiss from lips he's started to memorize. lips that haunt him sometimes, in the late hours of the evening when his mind wanders, and he has to resist the urge to reach out and pester. ]
Definitely not.
[ when he licks his lips, he can feel the heat of the kiss still lingering there. he can feel that heat travel down to the pit of his belly, where it rests like a cozy embrace.
as much as it feels like a chore to pull away and stand, he brings himself to his feet anyway. but at least he offers a hand out to help vanitas along, unable to fully resist the pull of being close. ]
Oushi catches him off guard and his plan to tease him into submission backfires on him. The fleeting kiss has Vanitas flustered enough that he forgets where they are. If he listens to that voice in the back of his mind and gives into temptation, he would have pulled Oushi in by the neck of his shirt for another.
But they're in public. And he still feels the lingering sensation on his lips. Vanitas glares at Oushi, conceding. The victory is his this time.]
No, I haven't. [He's been waiting for Oushi to take him, truthfully. But expressing that now would offer him more of that sense of victory, and Vanitas would rather not. But he does take that hand offered to him, and laces their fingers together even after he's on his feet and on his way inside.
While he doesn't quite know what to expect, the inside of the arcade isn't anything he could have expected. The machines lined most of the walls. Some looked like what he's come to understand are computers, and others seemed like more mechanical games where levers are pulled and buttons are pressed to keep a ball from sliding into a hole. Fascinating. And the UFO catcher seems self explanatory.]
[ now, did oushi mean for that kiss to be something of a "gotcha"? no no, certainly not. it was an impulse, and a highly intoxicating one, one that oushi often finds himself battling with whenever he gets particularly close to vanitas, or happens to catch the man's eye for longer than a second. it is, in many ways, a weakness in and of itself.
but it does feel rather good to see the other man look so stunned for a moment. oushi will be keeping that look in his back pocket for a while yet. ]
It can be pretty overwhelming, [ he announces over the din, glancing vanitas' way and watching the various flashing lights reflect in wide, blue eyes. he gives that hand in his a tug, coaxing vanitas closer still. ] You should stay close, in case it's ever too much.
[ a paltry excuse to keep the man by his side, of course. he knows vanitas is made of far tougher stuff than a few flashing lights and loud sounds could ever scare away.
he glanced around. it doesn't look different from his last shift there, a few nights prior. the vouchers he'd earned then practically burn a hole through his pocket. with every game requiring chips, and many of his currently riding on an auction for the very man he's holding hands with, oushi is grateful for whatever help he can get.
as for his favorite... ]
I'll show you later. Let me show you the claw machine first.
[ because he wants to win vanitas a plushie.........
steering him towards the long line of machines, he gestures with his free hand.
[He's going to conveniently forget about being caught off-guard like that for the sake of his sanity, but he'll also conveniently remember when it suits him to do so.
The lights and sounds inside the arcade could grow to become overwhelming pretty fast if he wasn't accompanied by someone who knew his way around these things. No amount of reading or film viewing could have readied Vanitas for this, but in addition to the unfamiliarity there's also wonder and curiosity. Still, Oushi is with him so he wants to at least appear cool...chill...WITH IT.
And he's the vision of tranquility until Oushi pulls him closer and suddenly he wonders if these machines might come alive and attack them.]
Claw machine? [He follows along apprehensively, expecting some form of torture device, but instead there's a glass prism with plush toys inside and a dangling thing that Vanitas assumes is the claw.]
What about that one? [Using his free hand he taps his index finger against the glass where there's a black and blue plushie that looks like a possessed cross between a labubu and a nyanpire.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
—
jayce.
the freckles in question do not actually appear until jayce himself walks into view, and oushi's eyes land on him. the very sight of him is a trigger of some kind, and considering closer inspection reveals those scattered pink and red spots to be heart-shaped... and considering the context of the unique situation they're in thanks to this hotel... one can probably put the pieces together about what it is about jayce that might have prompted them.
(it's your face, jayce. your stupid, handsome face.) ]
Hey. Jayce?
[ there is, of course, no need to really ask. jayce's picture had been part of the profile, after all. rather, it's more important he announces who he is, especially considering he doubts the older man would have had enough wherewithall to glance at his own profile via his username. even someone as used to smart technology as oushi had to take some time to figure out how to navigate his way through the watch's unique settings. ]
I'm Oushi.
[ freckles aside, he does not make for a particularly distinct sight. average height, average size. dark hair and eyes a deep green you'd only be able to notice if you were up close. in a hoodie and a pair of jeans that somehow fit him just fine but also swallow him up. plain and unremarkable in every way oushi has become resigned to accept about himself, amidst the backdrop of all that is spectacular about and within the hotel and its other guests.
he half-turns towards the grand double doors that lead out towards the cloud dwelling garden, just a few feet away from where he stands. ]
You wanna take a look?
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Nice to meet you, Oushi.
[He holds out his hand, the reflex of good manners taking the wheel before he remembers why that's not the best idea, and he freezes, quickly dropping his hand back to his side. Maybe that will go ignored if he just doesn't explain it.]
Lead the way, you're my guide.
i'm so sorry about the delay 😔 pls feel free to ignore if it's been too long!
despite himself, oushi can't help but feel morbidly curious, and gestures towards that hand. ]
...Did the hotel give you a curse too?
[ too. yes, those heart freckles are not natural to him or his world, that's for damn sure. ]
it's ok!
[No point in hiding it now, and not from someone who's apparently cursed as well. On second glance, heart-shaped freckles aren't really that common, are they?]
It won't be an issue as long as we don't touch, or at least for too long.
🥺🙏
That sucks. Sorry.
[ he wonders if all touch is affected, or if it's just with hands. all the same, he's mindful not to accidentally brush arms or anything, as he starts to lead an idle path towards the pond. ]
They call mine a "love rash." [ he isn't usually so keen to divulge the details about his particular curse, but really only because he hates to suffer the embarrassment that comes with it. he scratches at a cheek now — not because it itches, but because it gives him something to do as he avoids jayce's eye, nonchalant as one can possibly be. ] They seem to show up anytime I see someone attractive.
[ .. ..... ......... ANYWAY,,, ]
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A "rash," huh? That's a little mean when it's just a case of the freckles. Implies it's an infection of some sort.
[He'll lean away again, giving Oushi back his personal space, and his grin softens a little from teasing to more genuine.]
But I'll take the compliment.
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he clears his throat. ]
Once we find a seat, I can help you with the Watch. Was there anything else you were curious about it?
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Oh, yeah. There's a few other things. The Watch is the most important, but I've seen a few things I don't understand either. Do you know what a computer is?
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Yeah, I can help you with those, too, though you'll probably not have to interact with that many unless you decide to go to the library or something.
[ he picks a bench that's further away from the path, just in case jayce isn't looking to have their impromptu lesson interrupted by other visitors. once seated, he holds his wrist up, tapping his own Watch's screen to activate it. ]
You're already familiar with texting, which is what most people use this for. There's a video and audio function too, for communicating. You can look people up by their profiles. See?
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[With how unfamiliar this place is, and honestly pretty overwhelming, being in the library will be a relief. Even better if no one else is in there.
Oushi continues to explain the watch, and Jayce leans in again, this time to see the more nuanced details.]
Right. Uh. What's "video?"
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but he supposes jocks can also be nerds, if they wanted.
anyway, he realizes he's staring a second too late, and hastily glances away.
the frank question has got him stalling a bit, and for someone who has come to take this kind of technology for granted, he finds himself a little unsure how to even explain it... ]
It's... like moving pictures? The Watch has a camera — somewhere — and it can record you so you can see who you're having a conversation with at the same time.
[ very likely for scandalous reasons, but it's not as if video calls are uncommon in his own world. ]
If you aren't too familiar with the settings, try not to touch the screen unless you really need to. Otherwise you might accidentally start a video call when you don't mean to be seen...
no subject
That’s incredible! And the fact it’s so common place it can fit in such a small device, and you don’t seem all that surprised by it at all.
[The future seems so advanced by his standards. Not to even mention the level of advancement in medicine…]
I hadn’t thought about that. You mean in the middle of… personal moments.
[Actually, that’s mortifying to think about. Giving someone the business and you accidentally have live, moving pictures, showing exactly that…]
(no subject)
vanitas.
come meet me at chickadee's when you're done throwing the rest of your chips away
[ maybe he should have given a more definite time frame than that, but that's alright. whether oushi winds up waiting ten minutes or ten hours at the entrance of the noisy arcade, he doesn't care. vanitas will find him there, no matter what time of the day he eventually ends up showing up, seated slumped along one of the blocky plush seats dotted around the entrance, left especially there for loiterers just like him. he'll flipping through his watch, idly following the other bids going on throughout the day, head bowed so low that his fringe almost entirely covers his face. ]
no subject
[He reads the rest of Oushi's message and decides not to send it in the end. Instead, he pulls on his coat, sighs at his reflection in the mirror before heading out to meet him. Vanitas spends the walk to Chickadee's trying to sort out his hair to it falls the way it's meant to, even retying the ponytail at the back and combing his fingers through it idly so he looks somewhat put together.
For whatever reason he feels just as unwilling to make Oushi wait as he is unwilling to see him if he doesn't look presentable.]
What are you looking at? [Vanitas approached as silently as possible, only speaking when he's close enough to peek down at him.]
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he scoots to make room on that bench for vanitas, and as soon as the younger man takes a seat, oushi will scooch closer until they're shoulder-to-shoulder. until oushi is practically leaning into him — all so he can better show vanitas his watch, of course. ]
Some of these bids are getting kind of crazy. See?
[ he scrolls to one he'd been following in particular, where a small handful of people seem to be duking it out trying to win some guy named nanami. ]
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I'm not sure who that is, but his bidders seem very...passionate. [He can't even properly judge them. He was ready to do the same for Getou, but for all the wrong reasons. Thankfully he decided to let that go and would hold on to his savings for a while longer.]
If you had more to bid with, is there anyone you'd want? I'd offer to help cover the cost, but I'm not sure my savings are that robust. [Vanitas leans in closer, going to Nanami's profile to see what it is that has these people in a frenzy.] Ah, of course. The mysterious older gentleman. I suppose I get it.
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I don't really know that many people, [ he answers, if one can even call it an answer. he wasn't so much as concerned about bidding on people, because that kind of thing feeds a little too much into the nasty, possessive side of him he thinks shouldn't be enabled. but there were some people he wanted to make sure didn't end up forced in a situation with people they didn't like... vanitas included.
but as vanitas tap-taps on his watch screen (bringing them closer still), oushi's gaze drifts from the profile to the man currently pouring over it. he keeps his expression relatively impassive, but there is an intensity in his eyes that is keen for any sort of reaction from vanitas himself. ]
Is that your type?
[ as nonchalant as one can ever be, of course. ]
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I feel the same way. [He's not antisocial exactly, but he's kept close to the small handful of people he's gotten to know. Oushi being one of them. If having invaded the older's space isn't any indication of that.
The question causes Vanitas to stop scrolling to look at Oushi for a solid few seconds, blue eyes narrowed in confusion then widening in realization of something he doesn't voice out loud. All he does is laugh, turning away and covering his mouth so he doesn't cackle in his face.]
Already looking for reasons to be jealous? [Which isn't an answer to the question, but Vanitas thinks the best answer to that question would be handing Oushi a mirror.] No. I prefer someone around my age. Don't worry.
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one would think that sort of thing would encourage him to be a little more honest, wouldn't it..? yet here he is, refusing to so much as glance at the mirror vanitas offers him. ]
I was just asking, [ he still attempts to insist, but there is hardly any fight in his tone. instead, he retaliates with a faint shove against vanitas' shoulder, but rather than draw away after, he just stays there. glued to the other's side. ]
Besides, [ he says, faces mere inches away, ] you realize I'm technically an older guy, right?
[ now why the hell is he reasserting himself this way, after he just made vanitas confess to liking the opposite? because he's fucking stupid, that's why. ]
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Because he really doesn't understand the pivot if the point of that was to get reassurance. Maybe Oushi is just contrary, and unfortunately that is something they have in common.]
Mm, are you saying I'm too young for you? [Vanitas turns his face, a bad idea, he knows, but how else is he going to play this game without increasing the stakes a bit. His nose is close enough to touch Oushi's face if he makes the wrong move, using every bit of his resolve to appear aloof and unaffected by their proximity.]
Because you weren't complaining before.
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because when vanitas meets his stare head-on, and they're nose to nose like this, he finds his head flooded with a dizzying kind of heat that makes a man want to do something reckless. something bold.
so he leans in, stealing a kiss from lips he's started to memorize. lips that haunt him sometimes, in the late hours of the evening when his mind wanders, and he has to resist the urge to reach out and pester. ]
Definitely not.
[ when he licks his lips, he can feel the heat of the kiss still lingering there. he can feel that heat travel down to the pit of his belly, where it rests like a cozy embrace.
as much as it feels like a chore to pull away and stand, he brings himself to his feet anyway. but at least he offers a hand out to help vanitas along, unable to fully resist the pull of being close. ]
Have you been to an arcade before?
no subject
Oushi catches him off guard and his plan to tease him into submission backfires on him. The fleeting kiss has Vanitas flustered enough that he forgets where they are. If he listens to that voice in the back of his mind and gives into temptation, he would have pulled Oushi in by the neck of his shirt for another.
But they're in public. And he still feels the lingering sensation on his lips. Vanitas glares at Oushi, conceding. The victory is his this time.]
No, I haven't. [He's been waiting for Oushi to take him, truthfully. But expressing that now would offer him more of that sense of victory, and Vanitas would rather not. But he does take that hand offered to him, and laces their fingers together even after he's on his feet and on his way inside.
While he doesn't quite know what to expect, the inside of the arcade isn't anything he could have expected. The machines lined most of the walls. Some looked like what he's come to understand are computers, and others seemed like more mechanical games where levers are pulled and buttons are pressed to keep a ball from sliding into a hole. Fascinating. And the UFO catcher seems self explanatory.]
Wow. Show me your favorite?
no subject
but it does feel rather good to see the other man look so stunned for a moment. oushi will be keeping that look in his back pocket for a while yet. ]
It can be pretty overwhelming, [ he announces over the din, glancing vanitas' way and watching the various flashing lights reflect in wide, blue eyes. he gives that hand in his a tug, coaxing vanitas closer still. ] You should stay close, in case it's ever too much.
[ a paltry excuse to keep the man by his side, of course. he knows vanitas is made of far tougher stuff than a few flashing lights and loud sounds could ever scare away.
he glanced around. it doesn't look different from his last shift there, a few nights prior. the vouchers he'd earned then practically burn a hole through his pocket. with every game requiring chips, and many of his currently riding on an auction for the very man he's holding hands with, oushi is grateful for whatever help he can get.
as for his favorite... ]
I'll show you later. Let me show you the claw machine first.
[ because he wants to win vanitas a plushie.........
steering him towards the long line of machines, he gestures with his free hand.
See anything you like?
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The lights and sounds inside the arcade could grow to become overwhelming pretty fast if he wasn't accompanied by someone who knew his way around these things. No amount of reading or film viewing could have readied Vanitas for this, but in addition to the unfamiliarity there's also wonder and curiosity. Still, Oushi is with him so he wants to at least appear cool...chill...WITH IT.
And he's the vision of tranquility until Oushi pulls him closer and suddenly he wonders if these machines might come alive and attack them.]
Claw machine? [He follows along apprehensively, expecting some form of torture device, but instead there's a glass prism with plush toys inside and a dangling thing that Vanitas assumes is the claw.]
What about that one? [Using his free hand he taps his index finger against the glass where there's a black and blue plushie that looks like a possessed cross between a labubu and a nyanpire.]
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