windbreak | asgardeventide IC contact

[Nothing like setting the mood than seeing his friend step down from the second floor with barely any lights on. He sits down on the steps.]

Hey. Sorry for the trouble.

[Oh, whew, he is here.] Hey, it's cool.

[Without more ado, he flops onto the bottom step himself and squints up at the ceiling.] Having said that... if you were around the whole time, why's it so dark in here?

[Well it's NOT LIKE WHAT IT SEEMS.]

I was practicing sword fighting on the roof. I can in when I heard your voice downstairs.

[You could have...oh I don't know, WALKED INTO THE DOOR INSTEAD OF USING AN OPEN 2ND FLOOR WINDOW, but that's Souji for you.]

Maybe we should turn the lights on...

The roof? [Yosuke hesitates, one foot sticking out right where it was when he was about to stand up and get the nearest light switch.] What's wrong with, like, the arena with all the training dummies? If you're gonna ask me to be your target practice...

I--

[Yosuke.]

--no that's not it.

It allows me to practice in peace, alone, that's all.

[Anyway, he needs to stop stalling for time. The faster he gets this out, the easier he can talk about it...or so he hopes.]

I'm not sure how to explain this... [He doesn't want to break a promise he was given, but he also doesn't want to leave his friend behind, somehow keeping him just at the right amount between truth and coverup. It's a delicate balance to strike. The longer he keeps this up, the more mysterious it may end up sounding.] ...all I ask is that you keep it between the two of us.

[It sounds pretty mysterious as is, but even Yosuke is capable of holding off on the jokes for a moment. In the dim light, he tilts his head.] It's something like that, huh? What is it?

That's the problem. [He puts his hands under his chin., but from little is see-able of his face, he's frowning in frustration.] I can't...tell you exactly what it is.

[Yeap, that had come out nothing like he had planned. Good job, self.]

Tch. I know it's frustrating, but I've been sworn to secrecy not to speak about it. Still...I couldn't just say nothing to you. [He's still not sure what he's expecting of Yosuke at this moment. Comfort? Anger? Confusion? All three?]

I wanted you to be aware. I still remember what you said when I went after Adachi alone in the TV, and I don't want you to find out in a few months without at least some form of warning.

Adachi? [Yosuke looks round sharply. If it's a serious response Souji wanted, that there is a name that instantly injects more than enough tension into any conversation for it.] Dude, you promised...

[He nods.]

Yeah, I know....that's why I wanted to say something. [Even if technically he couldn't say anything.] This has nothing to do with him, I promise...and it has Odin's blessing too. That's all I can tell you.

[A beat.]

I trust you with my book. I'm trusting you with this too.

[Oh, yeah. That book. Yosuke looks away again.] Mm...

[With a small sigh, he rubs at his eyes.] If you don't want me to tell the others, I won't... But in return, you don't do anything dumb enough to make me come over and knock it out of you. You remember that part too, don't you?

[There's a harshness to the edge of his words that few people hear from him, and that even fewer would find convincing. He means it right now, though.]

No matter where you are, even the ends of the earth, I'll find and knock some sense out of you.

[Maybe not as exactly as Yosuke had said it back then, but despite everything and the harsh tone of his partner's voice, he can't help but grin slightly.]

I'm lucky to have a friend like you, Yosuke.

[What the - is Souji making fun of him!? That deserves at least a light shove to the shoulder.] Jeez, don't get all sappy about it! I'm just saying. And I'm sure we all think the same.

What's wrong with sappy? [Honest question.] But yeah...I know. We're a pretty tight group, even if we've changed of the past few months here, huh? No matter what we do, there's no one else I'd rather have than all of you fighting by my side.

Heheh. [The grin Yosuke promptly shoots back at him is mostly sheepish, but there's a little glow of pride mixed in around the edges as well. Only Souji can come out with something like that and sound halfway convincing.] If you keep this up, maybe I oughta use you as target practice sometime...

[He does a thumbs up gesture at that.]

Sure. I doubt you could hit me hard enough.

[It's teasing. Teasing and goading him on, obviously.]

When's the last time we had an honest-to-goodness brawl between the two of us?

Don't tell me you don't remember, partner! I had those bruises for weeks! And I thought I'd never see my wallet again!

[Part of his mind insists it's a stupid thing to get all keyed up about, under the circumstances - but somehow, even though he knows that at best it'll only lead to a black eye, the sensation is reassuringly nostalgic. Man, how does Souji do that?]

Though now you mention it, I never did get around to the payback...

Yeah. It had been only a short while after I had arrived here...you could barely lift your own wallet, I could only make a few leaves grow.

[The grin on his mouth grows, and he raises a single eyebrow in a fake mocking manner.]

...now that we've been both training, how would it turn out, I wonder...

[Only one way to find out.]

Meet me on top of the roof?

[Grinning back, Yosuke hops to his feet.] Heh, why not? You're on!

[But a slight pressure against his chest makes him hesitate, and instead of sprinting up the steps with the same alacrity, he stops to pull one of his kunai out of his jacket and peer at it.] Oh, although... I guess I better put all of these down somewhere first.

[Because an unarmed violent punch-up on a high roof will be perfectly safe, of course.]

[It's enough for Yu to stop running before he stands there, one foot in the air, thinking about it.]

No, bring them. We can't figure out how strong we've become if we don't give it our all, right? If it becomes too dangerous, we can think of a safe word to stop the other from attacking.

[This is probably the stupidest idea. The BEST stupidest idea.]

[Blanching, Yosuke freezes halfway through twirling the dagger around his finger.] A safe word? A-Are you serious? You could... You could just cabbage me off the roof before I got a chance to say it! There's no way that's fair!

[That just causes him to laugh. Please never, ever change. The image of Yosuke getting hit not by one giant cabbage, but hundreds of them...]

I promise, Yosuke. I will not cabbage you off the roof. If you want, I can set up a perimeter. I want a brawl to test our abilities. Besides, I don't plan on using giant cabbages against the giants.

Do you want to see how strong we've gotten or not?

[Yosuke mutters something about not wanting to get beaten up by regular-sized cabbages either, but it's decidedly under his breath.] Alright, alright... [He points the one kunai already in his hand up at Souji, in a gesture that isn't meant to be any more threatening than if it was just his finger.] If you stick to that, a perimeter's probably overdoing it... But the moment someone calls time out, it's time out! Sound fair?

[With that, regardless of the answer, he does sprint the rest of the way.]

I was almost hoping cabbage was going to be our time out word at this point...

[He doesn't take the weapon at his face as a threat either, continuing to grin all the way up, attempting to pass him or at least make that intention known. Yosuke's always been faster than him, and he knows it, but hell, what's a little fun between friends if you don't start this competitive streak early?

Time to get the blood pumping. He hadn't felt this excited in a while.]

[Yosuke doesn't look back; part of his mind is already psyching him up for something that beyond a shadow of a doubt will get his blood boiling like it hasn't for a while, and another part is scrambling to recall how many knives he actually brought with him, which is to say how many he carries with him without thinking these days. Two, four, five... seven? Wait, or did he just lose count...?

One way or another, he makes it to the roof, and quickly darts away to find a spot where he can plant his feet, not too close to the edge.]

Okay...

[For an instant it looks as if he's going to fling a pair of daggers Souji's way before even facing him, but they simply stay in the air when he lets go of the handles.

He draws another pair, his smile widening even as his eyes narrow.] Ready when you are, partner.

asgardeventide IC contact

actiooooon!

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2/2 (My internet died)

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okay okay please don't hate me but I just realized for the first time the message icon had changed

I don't even know what you're saying

llllllies

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