[IC Inbox for sidereal_rp]

[survivaltricks]

KURUSU AKIRA
17/M/Earth 2017

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Comments

[survivaltricks]

[. . . kisses the top of her head and nuzzles into her hair a bit]

Soooo knowing he's into you like that is cursed knowledge, now?

[lightly teasing]

Was it cursed with me, too?

[fujimaru]

[ The only thing to do now is wind her arms around him before she sighs, deep and put-upon. ]

Oh, yeah, for sure. Do you know much I panicked after the first time we kissed? It was like--"oh no, I can't pretend I haven't noticed he's hot. I am aware of that boy."

[ She can say that with some good humor. It's true! It was absolutely cursed knowledge to have a guy you liked, but wasn't sure if you LIKED-liked and vice versa, and dealing with physical attraction on top of that. ]

It was lifted when we started dating, though. It's safe now.

[survivaltricks]

Aw. I'm touched.

[he sounds pleased!!]

Personally speaking, I think Kadoc is pretty good-looking, too. Are you also— you know.

Into him?

1/?

[fujimaru]

I...

[fujimaru]

[ god now she has to THINK ABOUT IT SERIOUSLY thanks Akira you're a pal ]

[fujimaru]

[ he's right, though, Kadoc has a pretty face prettier than hers, really but it's kind of lost in the whole I HAVEN'T SLEPT IN THREE WEEKS, SURE, WHAT OF IT thing but also ]

[fujimaru]

[ BUT ALSO, THINKING ABOUT YOUR OWN WANTS AND DESIRES IS HARD--

DIFFICULT. IT'S DIFFICULT. SHE'S NOT GOING TO MAKE THAT MISTAKE AGAIN EVEN IN THE PRIVACY OF HER OWN MIND. ]

[fujimaru]

[ why is her life difficult. why did she think she wanted to be a romcom protag. can she take it back? maybe just let her be a 4koma slice of life girl. ]

[fujimaru]

[ well, wait, what about-- ]

D O N E

[fujimaru]

[... she mushes her face a little harder against his shoulder, her voice dropping to a mumble. ]

The last time, with the mistletoe... he bit me...

[ SHE LIKES BITING, SHE DEFINITELY LIKED IT, ]

[survivaltricks]

[i]





[there is no conceivable way he does not already know this. HE JUST NODS SAGELY, still running his fingers through her hair]

So that's a yes.

And also surprisingly aggressive of him. . .

[fujimaru]

I wasn't expecting it. I was taken completely by surprise.

[ She's still mumbling, tilting her head so she can lean more into the petting. ]

Look, Akira-kun, no matter what you think about me, this isn't something that's happened to me before... ever. At all. What am I supposed to think?

[survivaltricks]

. . hn.

[okay okay, that's a sincere question, so. . . she'll get a sincere answer. no more kidding around or teasing!!]

There's no such thing as what you're "supposed" to think. There's just what makes you happy, and what doesn't.

[another pause as he searches for the words, fingers curling around red locks. . .]

. . . when we first-- you know. When we first got together, and I knew that I had a-- a thing for Akechi, too-- I didn't really know what I was "supposed" to think, either. I kind of felt like I was being selfish.

[a little quietly]

I still do, in a way. . . but I know you, and I trust you, and I believe in you. And-- and I guess along the way I figured out. . . so long as I'm happy, and you're happy, and he's happy, then-- does it really matter what I'm "supposed" to do?

[fujimaru]

Mmmm.

[ Her shoulders relax a little, though she doesn't lift her head. ]

You're right... just, I guess--somehow, I went from no one interested in me to, to two? What the heck.

[ MAYBE THREE, IF WHAT KADOC SAID ABOUT MASH IS TRUE, but Mash isn't here so Ritsuka can afford to put off that thought for the moment. ]

[survivaltricks]

[a light huff, something between a laugh and an exasperated sigh]

If I tell you that you're amazing and that anyone with eyes and a brain should be interested in you, are you going to call yourself ordinary again?

[fujimaru]

I could switch it up and accuse you of having a bias.

[ She pokes him in the side as she says it. They know how this goes, by now. ]

You can say that kinda thing all you want, but you can't argue with lived experience. I'm not ungrateful, I'm just kinda...

[ FLAPS A HAND ]

Mind blown?

[survivaltricks]

[. . .]

I wonder if you're "lived experience" is just "innocent blindness". . .

[THERE HAD TO HAVE BEEN MORE PEOPLE INTO HER THAN SHE THINKS. THERE HAD TO HAVE BEEN!!]

[fujimaru]

I'm not that innocent. I spent a whole summer tabling at a doujin festival.

[ SHE HELPED CREATE FURRY DOUJIN WITH HER OWN TWO SINFUL HANDS ]

[survivaltricks]

That's completely different and you know it.

[. . . but also--]

I'm proud of you, by the way. What was your best work?

[fujimaru]

I dunno, have you seen some of the stuff people draw?

...I was mostly like, the jack of all trades. Jeanne did most of the work--but it was a story about a monster and a princess. It was like a fairytale love story without any romance, if that makes sense.

[survivaltricks]

[huh. . .]

It does, actually. And you're making me want to read it.

[fujimaru]

We made so many books that summer, we practiced a lot.

[ Now, finally, she lifts her head, thoughtful. ]

It might even be in the library. That book was definitely the bestseller for that iteration of the con.

[survivaltricks]

"That iteration."

[HE. . . SEEMS TO REMEMBER HER MENTIONING SOMETHING SIMILAR IN THE PAST. . . HE JUST, LIKE. NEVER ASKED]

[fujimaru]

[ He says that, and she just kind of oozes more onto him, letting out a long-suffering sigh. ]

So, sometimes... sometimes, you know someone who's kind of possibly omnipotent, and she thinks, wow, looks like you need a vacation! I know, I'll trap you and some of your friends in looping the same convention week and set an arbitrary goal for you guys to break out of it! Wow, what a great idea!

[ she's completely deadpan monotone as she says it, and then with a bit more energy: ]

Honestly, of all the options it could've been, it was probably the best one. I got to spend like eleven weeks in Hawaii that way.

[survivaltricks]

[. . . . . . .]

Dooooes this happen to be the same person who-- [gestures. at his neck. she remembers the black string!!!]

And I hope you had a better time in Hawaii than I did.