Bloom Six

[awokentospring]

[The message starts out normally enough. Just another strange question from Spring.]

Does anyone else hear the music about the fighting, or is it just me? Also, I think yellow is a youthful color, but it is not youthful and manly like green!

[There's a pause in the writing, and when it continues again it's written in a slower, more deliberate

Comments

[grab_my_bells]

Maybe. Or maybe that's only the lead up to dying, and when it actually sets in you feel nothing. Kind of like life--it hurts, and then is over.

[Heavy subject for you, chibi. He's worried just what you saw.]

Something of mine? Sure. I'll be back to the house in a minute. [Something you have to give back to him personally? Bell is not sure if he should look forward to this, or dread it.]

[awokentospring]

That is [pentaps] really sad to think about. And I do not like to think that life only hurts and then it is over. Life is beautiful!

[If Bell were to ask after just that, he'd get the same answer Spring gave Gai: he didn't see anything.]

Yes. Please knock on the door to my room when you arrive and have time to spare. [He will not elaborate over the journals, so have fun sweating it out for a few minutes more, Bell.]

[grab_my_bells]

But doesn't it also hurt to know that something beautiful is only going to die someday?

[He knows. He saw the reply to Gai, and doesn't expect more since he's not Spring's 'dad'.]

Uh. Ok... [There's a part of him that wonders if somehow, despite everything shown in his own memory, if Spring saw Bell's death and wants to ask about it. He can't even begin to guess what it is the kid has that is Bell's that he isn't willing to just hand over in the livingroom.]

[Quicklog?]

[Bell shows up at Spring's door and knocks politely. He doesn't need the kid mad at him for barging him. Tenzou waits anxiously beside him, as if he suspects this time will somehow be different and he can go in the bedroom!]

Spring?

Journal ==> Quicklog

[awokentospring]

That can hurt, but considering that should only make each moment all the more beautiful and precious, in my opinion.

Thank you.

[Quicklog~]

[Spring answers almost immediately after the knock, as if he were waiting anxiously right behind the door the whole time. He only opens the door a crack at first, not only to keep Tenzou out but to check for certain that Youth isn't standing right behind Bell out of curiosity. Seeing that Bell was alone, Spring opens the door a bit wider, still wary of allowing the big dog inside.]

Bell-san, please come in.

Journal ==> Quicklog

[grab_my_bells]

Maybe.

Yeah, sure thing.

[Quicklog]

[He isn't sure what kind of covert operation Spring is running with this 'return item to Bell' mission, but it seems important to the kid, if also a bit comical. Typical of Spring and his not-father. At Spring's invite, Bell nudges Tenzou back and slips in the room, closing the door behind him. He stands there, relaxed, hands in his pockets, looking at the kid skeptically.]

Is there a reason for all the secrecy?

==> Quicklog

[awokentospring]

[Spring isn't sure how to go about breaching the subject he had planned. It was not something that he was altogether comfortable with, but it did involve Bell and it was important that it be handled through him.]

[Spring opens his mouth to reply, then shuts it. Hesitates, then opens his mouth again.] Just a moment.

[Moving to his bed, he reaches under the mattress, and pulls out a good-sized stack of papers. He returns to Bell, but he doesn't hold it out just yet. He's a little pink in the face.]

I believe you left these out while Youth-san and I were forced to live elsewhere. I thought Tenzou might drool on it, and since it is Uncle Book's I wanted to keep it safe...

==> Quicklog

[grab_my_bells]

[It's awkward, or difficult at least, whatever it is, and Bell wonders if maybe he would rather not know what Spring needs to return to him.]

[...The stack of papers if unremarkable, but recognizable. Bell had been looking at them ever since Book put them in his care. When Book had asked for their return, Bell bought himself time while he wondered where the papers had wandered off to; he figured maybe they would turn up in the desk drawer, or under the couch, or under Gai's pillow. ...Not Spring's room. In contrast to the younger man's pink cheeks, Bell's face pales a little.]

[Great. The couch. For a week at least.]

Ah ha...yeah. [A slightly nervous chuckle. Gai was going to kill him.] Thanks. [He holds out his hands for the papers, awkwardness dissolving as he took an opportunity to tease. Obviously Spring knew...some of what he had, or he wouldn't be blushing. Bell wonders just how much Spring's read.] Did you enjoy Book's writing?

==> Quicklog (and it is sad that there is no blushing older Lee icons)

[awokentospring]

[Spring doesn't notice Bell's own discomfort, and it never struck him that he could make the other man feel awkward in this kind of situation. He saw Bell as a kind of sex fiend. This should be comfortable territory for him in any situation. Or so Spring was apt to believe.]

[He blushes a bit brighter, still not quite relinquishing the manuscript to Bell.] It was... not bad. Ah...

[Reluctantly, he holds it out a bit, allowing Bell to have it. Eyes glance to the side, then down at his suddenly empty and wringing hands.]

You... you would not happen to have some other books that are... similar to that one... would you?

==> Quicklog

[grab_my_bells]

[Bell would consider himself more a pervert and porn connoisseur than sex fiend, and even if he was a sex fiend, right now Bell's thinking he needs to do something to make sure his future opportunities for sex with Gai aren't jeopardized permanently.]

['Not bad' hm? He takes it back, looking at the manuscript thoughtfully, then at Spring's wringing hands. Book's writing is more than 'not bad.' And since it seemed Spring had an interest in girls, Book's writing was probably playing to a great deal of the kid's adolescent fantasies.]

Similar, yes. [Not nearly as well written. He smiles at Spring.] I assume you'd like to borrow a few?

==> Quicklog

[awokentospring]

[It really was too bad he had to return it so soon. There had definitely been some parts in that story that he have liked quite a bit, enough to want to read them over again, but it was not his to hold indefinitely.]

[Spring clears his throat, fighting back the blush that continues to burn ever brighter on his face. He looks at anywhere that was not at Bell.]

If... if you could, er, that is, I do not wish to borrow any if Youth-san were likely to find out! But I... y-yes.

==> Quicklog

[grab_my_bells]

[Spring is not nearly as youthful as Gai wanted to believe he was. Awkward as it is, Bell is kind of proud of the kid. Reading porn like a normal teenager...]

You'll take good care of them, I assume? [He nudges the mattress thoughtfully.] The covers could get bent under your mattress--so you'll have to find a better hiding space.

[Bell really feels he should be taking advantage of this situation, maybe bribing the kid to tell him what all that death discussion was about on the journals, or making him promise to stay out of the house for a given few hours while Bell and Gai amused themselves. He is curious to see what Spring might offer up, though.]

But what do I get out of it?

==> Quicklog

[awokentospring]

[Spring was very youthful, but he was definitely very much a normal teenager. He recently had done many things that Youth did not approve of and which Spring himself was not very proud of, but this... this was different. Or so he told himself.]

Of course! [Spring's eyes are trained on the mattress. It really was his best hiding spot. But maybe later he'll be able to make a hidden area somewhere amongst his CDs.] I will find one. Or make one.

[Really, this is seriously the most embarrassing thing he has talked about to anyone ever. He can't think of anything that could possibly make him feel any worse than he already does, but he finds himself gritting his teeth, worrying about what kind of things Bell could possibly want in return. Still, it was unfair to take then give nothing in return...]

Whatever you want. [He squeezed his eyes shut, practically hissing through his teeth.] I will give it, if it is in my power.