001. every story is a song // open post.

[kyriff]

Take a prompt, take some time, drop in whenever you like.

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[larue]

[ There it is again, the hesitation he'd noted that time he'd offered to replay the movie, offering a seat so that he could share a film he'd loved since he was a kid to someone he respected and counted as a friend.

He sends Rethe a look at that: quiet smile, a little bit of a c'mon, man in his eyes. ] We can split it.

I've... [ he looks askance, sheepish again, because he'll never get used to having so much, and his default is to share his blessings with people he cares about -- since he's known what it's like to have so little and to wish that he'd had even a bit more to spare. ] You know me. I've never had much, Rethe.

And, [ softly now, looking down at his beer -- a simple Corona with a lemon tossed in, ] you played a couple of songs up there that had good memories for me.

[ Home, his boys, the girl on the ledge he'd talked back into trying, to giving living a chance. No matter how shitty things got. ]

[kyriff]

[Well, it's next to impossible to say no after seeing a look like that, and hearing somebody say such things. Easing up again, no matter how a bit of him is still quailing.]

Okay. Thank you, then.

[Besides, it IS nice to have a reward after a job well done. Mixing his own drink now~]

[larue]

[ Seeing Rethe accept the gift pleases him immensely. He leaves the Malice King to it, turns briefly back to the music playing and finds that he has to nod to what he hears.

It is also, incidentally, the first time he realizes that he recognizes the DJ now manning the booth -- and promptly feels like an idiot for not realizing it sooner. ]

Holy shit, that's Selene of the Rockin' Rollas.

[ He's seen her what? A grand total of maybe five times up close? How he'd come by Haven before and totally missed that leaves him speechless for a bit. ]

[kyriff]

Yeah. We double team on sets a lot these days.

[Brimming with pride all over again. Josh's reaction helps. He's so honest and open, it's kind of endearing.]

She's amazing, huh?

[larue]

[ He's beaming with awe because this is something he had legit missed, since everything he'd ever read up on the three most influential blades had been battle statistics, records of past engagements and generally everything that involved hunting and not so much what they were like outside of that context.

He likes her sound. It's so different from Rethe's, but fantastic all the same and the intensity that she brings to it makes him appear, to anyone looking, like a boy at the very moment that he's just put a name to the artist of the song he'd known by sound but not title.

When he looks back to his companion, he is positively alight with that. ] You both are. Seriously, wow.

[kyriff]

You're kind of lucky tonight, but I think you could have gotten luckier on other days.

[Years ago, he wouldn't have said anything of the sort. Him? Awesome? Amazing? Nope. Never felt that way.

At least he's practicing.]

[larue]

[ There's a brief flash of oh man, really??? and Josh just glances back at Selene, nodding his head to the beat, teeth catching unconsciously on his lower lip.

He's still distracted when he murmurs, ] Guess that means I'll need to drop in more often. [ And then glance back to Rethe, all smiles. ]

[kyriff]

[And because this is Selene's set, it's starting to get pretty loud at Haven.

Blinking.]

What was that?

[Raising his voice, just a little.]

[larue]

[ Yeah, he didn't catch that, but Josh figures out what Rethe said by reading the shape of the words on his mouth.

He moves on over and tries again, voice pitched a bit louder. ] I said I'll drop in more often.

[ Squinting a little at the sound and then adding: ] To listen to you guys.

[kyriff]

[Smiling, and - because he'd rather not shout - moving in closer so that they can hear each other better.]

I'd like that.

[larue]

[ Grinning right back as he listens to Selene transition into the next song; eyes scanning the crowd because the people in Haven are always so great to watch.

When he turns back to Rethe though and leans in to speak close to the other man's ear. ] So, how've you been?

[ The last few weeks have been a little crazy -- the sudden twist of Dark Hour, the Initiation into Netsach, attending the Ceremony of Measuring in Tokyo and that trip escorting Riley Falner to Shin Yamatai and the detour to the Shinta clan's ancestral home, then the days since late April working as Gabriel Marlowe's personal assistant. Sure, he and Rethe had that opportunity to catch up -- of a sort -- and geek out over movies, but they don't have the walks they used to take anymore.

Rhiannon is different, and for the most part, the only person he knows there is his new mentor -- and the arrangement they have is more formal than anything else.

It's not that Josh is comparing... it's just. Rethe has always been so easy to talk to. It's something that's pretty easy to miss. ]

[kyriff]

I've been all right, actually. I can't really say the same for some of the people around me, but I'm trying my best to be available whenever they need me.

[Beyond that, he's just been spinning and mixing and going on duty.

And yes, he's leaning in to do the same. The better for them to hear each other, really.]

[larue]

That's good. [ His thoughts turn to Hikaru -- in those days after the Quiapo Engagement, in the span of time between Setsuna Shinta's arrival where the woman had waited on the steps of Falner, sometimes joined by one of the Malice Kings, or by groups, large and small.

He thinks about Aidan and how those two never seemed to occupy the same area for a while, though now things between them appeared to be on the mend (?).

He remembers something then, something he'd promised himself that he'd bring up if the chance came by to do so. ]

We saw this spirit... I think. Over at Seigi. [ He smiles to himself and then leans back in to continue: ] It was shaped like a koi fish in one of the smaller ponds at the Zangyaku base. Kaz's boyfriend -- Nico -- he told us after I'd asked, that he loved to listen to stories.

[ A shrug, but still smiling. ] It was a pretty awesome thing to see.

I remembered the time you took me to see The Green.

[kyriff]

Oh, I've met that spirit... he's really nice. [Smiles.] The Green was asking about you last week, actually.

[larue]

[ He blinks at that. ]

She was?

[kyriff]

[Nods.]

She thinks that you're really nice, and... well. You are, so she's right.

[Ehehe. A little shy all over again. Josh really IS nice.]

[larue]

[ He remembers The Green, remembers that walk around town with Rethe and how well it all went and he looks down at his drink, smiling quietly. ]

I should go see her, one of these days. When I'm not so busy with Rhiannon.

[ Weekends, most likely. Maybe Sundays, so that his father could attend mass while he went to say hello. ]

[kyriff]

[Oh right, Rhiannon... Jessie had been pretty vocal about that once.

Honestly, though, Rethe thought that it was kind of really cool. Operatives got to do cross-conspiracy training like that often enough, but not everyone got to stay within close proximity to the likes of Gabriel Marlowe.]

How is Rhiannon treating you?

[larue]

Pretty good, actually.

[ He shrugs lightly. ] Never thought I'd have any reason to be in a place like that, but it's working out just fine so far.

[kyriff]

That's good. I think it kind of suits you, though.

[Then, after a furtive glance and a shy look.]

And you look nice like that. You must get a lot of looks in the office.

[larue]

[ Aaaand, he is just going to pour himself a glass of that drink he bought and not even going to ask for a coke because -- how bad can it be, right? ]

Actually, [ a bit of hesitation, and then: bottom's up. ] Some.

[ He's not quite sure how he feels about the attention at the office, but at least it wasn't as nerve-wracking as wandering through Shin Yamatai's "entertainment district". ]

[kyriff]

Oh?

[Somehow not surprised. Josh really IS good-looking, and he only looks more handsome now that he's making more of an effort to be presentable.]

And has anybody... you know...

[Ehehehe.]

[larue]

[ He laughs helplessly and pours himself another drink because wow, who knew this stuff tasted so good.

To Rethe's question, he just shrugs. ] A lot of talking mostly. I'm-- [ he hesitates, just a little ] --I'm Gabriel's PA. [ Glorified secretary, he might have said glibly, except that it wasn't that. Gabriel Marlowe was a good teacher and every single day there was something new to learn. ] I'm surrounded by people who're committed to Rhiannon for as long as they pretty much still breathe and... I guess... [ shrug ] I'm sort of "fresh meat".

[ He actually does air quotes for that.

And then lights a cigarette. ]

[kyriff]

[Chuckling at that, and giving Josh a sympathetic look.]

That is the way it seems to work down there, from what Arisato-san has told me. I hope it's not making you too uncomfortable, though.

[larue]

It's not so much that, [ hedging now, because the last thing he wants is to give the impression that he's complaining about a great opportunity. He'd lingered, after all, after his run with Gabriel was done; had elected to join some of the people and get to know them -- because it made sense. He was a Sin-Eater whose sum total of experience with his abilities hadn't even started the moment he stepped into Falner, but much, much later, after Hikaru, of all people, had given him the nudge that maybe you could use your Boneyard.

He'd done a lot of reading and studying, but not the whole lot of application until that day at the Regardi estate when he'd been told, point-blank, by his current mentor that you know how -- you just don't want to do it.

And Gabriel had been right. ]

I'm just not used to so much attention. [ He leans against the bar, finishes the rest of his drink and sets the glass aside. And then amends that statement. ] At least not where it concerns... [ he gestures awkwardly to the full length of him: head, shoulders, feet.

He looks over and keeps talking: ] I was a quarterback but I had my eye on going pro. Figured it was... oh, I dunno... trips to other states to compete by getting the better of the opposite team.

[ A smile tugs at the corner of his mouth and he sends Rethe a look. ] Corporate was hardly going to factor in there, unless it was signing contracts and switching teams and dealing with managers.