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

[kyriff]

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

Comments

[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.

[kyriff]

[Some of those statements surprise Rethe a little. He had always seen Josh as somebody who was used to being in the spotlight, and carried himself around other people with ridiculous ease.]

Well, I don't know, but...

[Should he? Yeah, okay. Reaching out to put a hand on Josh's arm. A reassuring gesture, he hopes.]

I think you kind of deserve it? I mean, you're a really nice guy. It's only natural that people would want to get to know you, or even pay attention to you.

[larue]

Thanks, Rethe. [ It's reassuring, it is.

He feels sheepish though. ] It's just so awkward. [ Welp. Opening up about Shin Yamatai looks like a walk in the park? After all, Rethe wasn't a part of his Blade, wasn't Hikaru who was as merciless with teasing as he was on the battlefront -- wasn't... all the other awkward things.

Maybe I shouldn't have killed my fetch. Really, Bri? :c Why. ]

Maybe I'm still, I dunno. Freaked. [ Josh is looking a tad bit uncomfortable, as if the topic he's about to broach isn't something he'd like to talk about -- but he barrels on nevertheless. ]

We uh, [ slides a looks over and leans in to murmur, because even if the music is loud and the people are occupied elsewhere... he still feels ridiculously exposed talking about this. ] We took Riley to Shin Yamatai.

[ And the tone on those last four syllables drags a bit. ]

[kyriff]

[Josh's blade, Hikaru Shinta, and Shin Yamatai. Plus the trajectory of their conversation.

Things do not look good.]

...Dare I ask what happened?

[Of course he's concerned. Josh is his friend.]

[larue]

[ At the question he's remembering what it was like to walk own the entertainment district fully aware that so many eyes were on him. He would have tuned them out, except that the women -- and the men -- had called out to him, had approached, had approached Hikaru, asking things that had made him nearly blush.

It's not that he knows zilch -- at least, when it comes to understanding things like that. But there was never time or circumstance for anyone in his life even before his Awakening. Mom had left and Dad had gotten sick and Cindy was just a kid who needed him as much as he'd needed her.

It was probably the one time that he'd wondered if he should have changed into something else before they'd ventured to Vampire City; but he'd worn his suit to Seigi as a way to act as a sort-of representative for the Rhiannon Group, new as he was and mostly there because Gabriel thought it fitting that he learn the way most interns did: through hands-on experience.

Well, note for future trips: crimson? Not a good thing to wear head-to-toe unless you want vampires wondering if you swing this way or that coming onto you. ]

It was, [ a beat, and then: ] it was okay at the end of it. But, we uh. We went to the entertainment district.

[ He can leave it at that for now. ]

[kyriff]

[Oh.

Oh.

Oh dear.

Have a sympathetic look, and a pat to your arm, Josh.]

I'm kind of happy that you got out of that one in one piece.

[Not that he did not trust Josh's company at the time to have protected him (hello, Daywalker-san), but... yeah.]

[larue]

[ Oh, Rethe. You have no idea how you've made him feel so much better. ]

Glad someone thinks so. Everyone else was ribbing on me like I had a bulls-eye stamped to my forehead.

[ He hadn't had the heart to tell them all that he hadn't really appreciated being put on the spot like that. A bunch of the comments had ventured into incredibly personal territory -- and where he would gladly excuse Gabriel for asking the questions that led to them, Gabriel was asking out of purely professional reasons. And within a given context.

Huh. So maybe he was upset about the whole thing.

Owning up to Brianna being his type had been embarrassing. And he doesn't even want to go down the road to all the talk that happened later, at the bar.

He takes another drag of his cigarette. ]

[kyriff]

[Reaching over to rub Josh on the back, and tilting his head to smile and catch his gaze.]

I'm sure they meant well. Really.

[larue]

[ He lifts a hand and absently rubs at his brow. ] That's the thing.

I know they did. [ He looks over and smiles wanly. ] I guess, I'm just not used to being put on the spot like that.

[ He tries for a lopsided smile. ]