We all missed these right?

[spacecase]

Who: Villa folks and YOU
When: All this curse week and beyond (maybe)
Where: ZA VILLA!
Style: Action for laziness!
Status: Open

[The residents of a certain Villa in Vatheon have sure been hard at work restoring their home to its former glory, but that doesn't stop them from entertaining guests and friends!

So what's your Villa resident up to? Maybe they're in the kitchen getting some snacks, or out in the living room thanking the mighty coral that the hole in the wall is gone. One Jade Harley in particular is introducing her ectotwin around the house herself, either way you can catch one of them at any time! Just look out for the wild truthiness!]

Comments

Meet the Heir

[spacecase]

[Hey, Jade sure looks excited about something, whatever the reason is becomes clear immediately as she pulls you aside and gestures excitedly at a boy standing next to her.]

Hey, hey, John's back!

[And if the person doesn't know who John is, Jade will immediately remedy that and explain that he is her "ectotwin, essentially my twin brother."]

[pranksterheir]

[John gives a friendly wave to whoever Jade is introducing him to, curious about who else lives in this place and looking forward to meeting all these new people.] Hello.

dis will be fun owo

[cawcawmthrfckrs]

[Davesprite's seriously only here to check up on Jade and Rin and Kid since he's been in a coma for...three weeks or some shit. He's a tired sprite and he can only do so much. Granted, he can admit that he's probably caught up on all his sleep after all that.

Still. He can't help staring at John because...when the fuck did that kid get here???? It's too fucking early in the afternoon to deal with this.

There's kind of an awkward pause from Davesprite before he actually says anything.]

...Hey.

[spacecase]

Isn't it great, Davesprite? I was worried that he would never get his windy butt back here at this point.

[symmetrophile]

[Oh, hey. Wouldn't you know it, it's another Villa resident, strolling over to greet Jade's recently re-returned brother.

He's quite, uh. Monochromatic, with the exception of peculiar golden eyes, but it's Vatheon and there are all types here, so it's not that big a deal.]

Welcome back. Jade's emotional health seems to fare ever so much better with you around.

[Kid no you're just going to aggravate Jade again stop]

[symmetrophile]

[Kid has been doing his best to keep the repairs as tidy as possible, but today sees a different sort of experiment.

At one end of the hall is a painting, and before this is one Death the Kid, contemplating its position with the usual obsessive perfectionism.

Today he tries again to challenge his own compulsion for symmetry, in an ongoing effort to make his irrational obsession less intrusive on the lives of the others in the Villa. Today, he reaches out and... prods the lower corner of the picture frame, tilting it a few degrees askew.

He turns sharply on a heel, and starts to walk away in a hurry.

He gets about halfway down the hall before his steps begin to falter, and he eventually slows to a halt.]

Ah... as I expected, it's still bothering me. What do I do?

[Wow, it's probably safer to just ignore him and keep walking.]

[keepsthefire]

[The morning had already been far too eventful for some one who regarded any hours before noon as "painful" regardless of how often he was awake during them. But most mornings weren't also filled with having the sort of discussions he did.

By the time he came across Kid again, though, he was calm enough that he didn't feel like putting another hole in their already damaged walls. For the moment, at least. Who knew how long that would last with this curse in effect.

This was... weird. Slightly above Kid level of normal weird, too, and there was no way Rin could just ignore it.]

... Kid? You ok?

[symmetrophile]

[Thank goodness, a distraction could not have arrived at a more opportune moment; Kid had very nearly turned back to the painting, but Rin's arrival has him pulling from his pocket a square of handkerchief.

This is used to dab primly at his brow. Reapers don't get overheated, this is pure nerves.]

Hardly, but better with you here. It's the picture frame.

[He waits, but because he suspects Rin might not notice just how awful it looks right away, he adds quickly:]

I've moved it.

[He is simultaneously proud of his minor achievement and utterly horrified with himself.]

[keepsthefire]

... uuuhh...

[Cue Rin staring.

And staring some more.

And finally turning to look at the frame that's--

Oh.

Oh.]

... why?

[He doesn't give Kid a chance to properly answer though, before looking back at the reaper and moving to stand squarely in front of him in a position that makes it difficult to look at the askew frame.]

You're not like... tryin' to break that whole OCD thing are ya?

[Rin wasn't aware that this had been ongoing for some time, so this was truly his first look in to seeing Kid in some sort of rehabilitation phase. It was... concerning, to say the least.]

[symmetrophile]

[Not seeing it doesn't mean it's not still there. Wrong. Sloppy. Evidence taunting him, advertising how slovenly he is for the entire world to see--

--Gosh, the lighting in here really brings out the blue highlights in Rin's hair.

But oh no the painting.

There's a little tremble to his fingers as he smooths them over his own hair, adjusts the collar of his shirt, straightens out his jacket. That helps, a little.]

I promised Maka I wouldn't let it become a problem for the rest of the residents. It's just--

[He winces.]

It's hard. What will people think? What kind of reaper lets his residence go to pieces? If I can't be trusted with one house, how can I possibly oversee an entire world?

[keepsthefire]

[No Kid, focus on Rin! On Rin!]

Well, start off with the fact that it's not "going to pieces". Ok we had a hole in the wall for a while but it's fixed now, right? And you keep this place cleaner than any place I've ever lived...

[Rin says it slowly, calmly, but soon enough a frown betrays his proper worry.]

But Kid... that's just who you are. 'memeber what I said about the stripes? I like 'em. And I like you the way you are even if you can be a pain in the ass sometimes. Seriously... if you stopped bein' you I'd worry.

[symmetrophile]

[There's a subtle groan at mention of his stripes, and Kid brings up a hand as if he means to cover them.]

You'll like me better when they aren't so... incomplete. I'll like me better. That is, provided I don't become another Kishin when they've all connected at last.

[He isn't going to dwell unhappily on that, however; he's already resolved to never let it happen. Maka's faith in him, her resolve and Rin's support, the belief his Weapons have that their Meister will somehow rise above his elder brother's fate have had a hand in that decision.

But Rin has successfully pulled his attention from the source of his immediate distress. He regards him with some wariness.]

I don't think I deserve the two of you, yet here you are. There are even some things I'm afraid to discuss with you, because they might be the last straw, and I'll lose you both. So I try-- [A gesture indicates 'things like this'.]

[keepsthefire]

[Rin was about to set in to him about all of that, about his worries over something as simple as stripes in his hair and whether or not he would actually like Kid no matter what his hair did or didn't do. He even went so far as to take that hand away and grasp it gently in his own - a weak attempt to be reassuring against the things Rin felt were meaningless in the grand scheme of things, but that he also knew Kid was going to struggle with regardless.

Everyone had demons, after all...

But the last part derailed his attention to those points, and forgetting for just a second that there was a curse in affect that Kid may have been under just the same as him, Rin blurted out:]

What things?

[only to realize it two milliseconds too damn late. His eyes went wide, knowing that if Kid was cursed he was going to have no choice but to answer.]

... aw damn.

[spacecase]

And your "emotional health" seems to fare better when people don't remind you of what a fucking wreck you are!

[Oh god, Kid, you really had to get her started so fast.]

Goddamn you, why is it that every time I try to be friendly, you just have to be an asshole? I should just give up, but no, I'm too much of an idiot that likes people to do that, even if that person is a creepy fuckhead that can't walk five feet without fixing something!

[symmetrophile]

[As always, Kid's fingers are notably more cool than Rin's, and not just because heat bakes off his skin like there's a furnace buried in his chest. He replies with the automatic, unthinking bluntness of one who has suddenly lost all sense of shame or hesitation:]

Does it bother you that I find the very idea of us having sex extremely upsetting?

[Record-scratch.

On the list of things Kid might actually discuss, let alone in a semi-public setting, this was probably nowhere near it. A few seconds later, and his fingers reflexively tighten around Rin's.




Wow, okay. He.

Really intended on breaking that news to him in a much gentler fashion. Some day.

Maybe in another week or two or maybe a month he doesn't know oh god]

[keepsthefire]

[Rin's reaction to the question was oddly physical, with a visible tensing of his shoulders and a breath sucked in as soon as the words were past Kid's lips.

But he didn't pull away. Instead there was a lengthy silence, with Rin's lips parted in some half formed thought, while his face and his expressive blue eyes went through several emotions.

Ow. Wow. Okay. It's-- Maka's like this too, for her own reasons, and I completely understand butow I think my ego just took a kick in the teeth I really didn't need right now--

No. Stop it. Don't get upset. Just--... you have to answer honestly, you know the second you start it's gonna come out so just say it. Being honest in a relationship is important anyway it shouldn't take a curse to make it that way.]

... it hurts a little. But-- Kid, c'mon, if our relationship was based on that alone for any of us I'd say we've got problems. Yeah, okay, I wanna have sex some day but whatever, we can deal with that later and whatever happens, happens.

[But since he was being forced to be completely honest, there was one last thing that slipped out before he could stop it.]

I really did like makin' out with you though-- ... and I really hate this fuckin' curse goddamnit. I'm sorry, that was... really inappropriate.

[symmetrophile]

[Oh no, he's messed this up too, right on top of the--

--the--

...What was it again? It's too much of a bother to recall, not with Rin making those sorts of expressions and this uncomfortable knot in the pit of his stomach giving a sick twist of guilt.]

It's not-- personal. I mean not to you. It's with anyone-- [Wow no he is just making this worse; his gaze cuts off to the side.] Maybe there is something wrong with me.

[Other than the usua--

o h . . .]

Really? So did Iiiiii think there's something to this 'curse' rumor after all.

[heartandsoul]

[No, never ignore him.]

Fix it, don't be contrary to your instincts, it's stupid.

[keepsthefire]

Yeah pretty sure it ain't a rumor.

[A sigh raised his shoulders and lowered them, but with the noise a twitch of the corner of his lips turned his mildly upset expression in to a warmly amused one. His thumb rubbed against the cool skin of Kid's hand.]

You're not even human. I don't think there's anythin' wrong with you if you're not in to the idea of what humans do behind closed doors. c'mon, even I know sex is kinda... weird when you really get down to it.

[Or when your roommate shows you some very odd, somewhat disturbing porn. Thanks, Shima.]

Look, the only thing that's hurt is my ego. I mean it.

[symmetrophile]

[He hears her voice, and his first instinct is to smile, an expression that goes a long way to brightening up a face that was, seconds before, looking a little peaked.

Then he actually hears what she said, and deflates a little.]

But I promised!

[As if that explains anything. Oh wait, not enough apparently, because there's more tumbling out of his mouth like it's some kind of byproduct of exhalation:]

Because I'm going to give you a perfect world worthy to have you in it, but I suppose that also means learning to tolerate imperfection, even if I can't really appreciate it like you can.

...Also half the time lately your pigtails are precisely symmetrical but I fix them just as an excuse to touch your hair.





[Oh.]

[heartandsoul]

That doesn't mean you have to force yourself to ignore or even make something out of order, there's a difference between tolerance and acceptance.

[And she raises an eyebrow at him, cheeks turning pink.]

Oh...kay...at least some part of me is appealing.


[........................Uh she didn't mean to say that either.]

[symmetrophile]

...What?

[He is totally baffled; there's a moment of silence there, just a beat where Kid is first uncertain if he heard something else, or he's misunderstood something, because he just doesn't understand how she might not have appeal.]

The only part about you that isn't appealing is your habit of delivering concussions with heavy books. I would say the factors that are favorable greatly outnumber the ones that aren't.

1/2

[symmetrophile]

[He's relieved, a little.

But the effect is spoiled significantly by the way it cost Rin some of his pride. He would have rather that have been a discussion that didn't hurt anyone at all. Maybe that's not possible. Maybe Kid's just too different, but there's genuine warmth in the affectionate gesture of a thumb against his hand, a reassurance that this was not endangered because of his... lack of a drive.

Maybe Angelo's insistence that sex was a vital part of a relationship was meant for people who weren't grim reapers.]

I'd have rather not have hurt any part of you at all.

2/2

[symmetrophile]

[Oh no, it's time for another episode of Shit You Shouldn't Say in Public.]

If you and Maka have made out, and you and I have, but Maka and I haven't, aren't I throwing this entire thing off completely?

[heartandsoul]

Oh, don't give me that, I already know that the only appeal I have towards anybody is the fact that I achieve academically.

[But she's started and she can't stop running her mouth.]

I'm unattractive, I have a bad temper, my sex appeal is in the negatives--I can't even attract Weapon partners besides Soul, while he gets unqualified Meisters asking to be his partner. That stupid asshole, then he has to go and say it's because of my lack of sex appeal, as if that has anything to do with being a Meister.

[Basically she's saying this whole "people putting emphasis on her looks" thing is kind of bullshit and she's tired of it.]