[complete] like the angel, you are
Who: Doumeki and Ichijou
What: Ichijou brings Doumeki some snacks, and they have a...rather emotional conversation.
Where: Doumeki's place
When: Wednesday evening
Warnings: horribly malformed onigiri, lots of pink, talk of drinking blood
Ichijou woke up a lot earlier than he normally did so he could run to the store and make plain onigiri for his visit with Doumeki that evening. The sun was a little wearing, but since he was in top shape (having taken a blood tablet and had no injuries), the sun didn't beat on him as hard. After he bought all of the sweet snacks, he attempted onigiri.
That was a failure.
Not only had he put far too much water in the rice cooker to wear the rice was really smushy after being taken out, but also when he tried to salvage the simple dish by at least molding them and trying to let them dry a bit, they looked like large masses of 'what the hell is that?'. He attempted to put faces on them with the nori, but they looked like they were deformed at birth. Which they were.
Staring at the monstrosity, he shrugged and put it in a container, deciding to take it with him anyways. Maybe the archer would get a good laugh at it.
He gathered all of the snacks, the drinks, and medical supplies and started walking only a couple houses down, his skin a light purple in the sunset. The orangey-purple in the sky sort of matched him. He figured out what the colours meant the previous night after staring at his arm the whole time and thinking of random things. When he laughed, he turned yellow, when he thought of a sad memory he turned blue. He never turned black that night, but assumed it had something to do with anger seeing as how when Watanuki started shouting, he would turn that colour. If Doumeki hadn't fgured it out, he'd surely reveal this information.
Once he arrived, he knocked on Doumeki's door and waited patiently for him to answer.
After putting his LP away following his short conversation with Ichijou, and a few hours of restless sleep, waking up every half hour or so with Watanuki's breath against the side of his face, and the uncomfortable warm wetness of the bandage across his chest and belly, Watanuki had come around out of his sleep, and both had gone about their morning business.
It was far less awkward than he'd thought it would be, after the conversation they'd had the night before. Doumeki sat at the table and had a cup of coffee while Watanuki fidgeted around the kitchen, cooking and cleaning and fussing about 'the mess,' which Doumeki found non-existent, then insisted on making snacks for Doumeki to take when he visited Cissnei, and by the time he was left there was a pretty little plate set up with something nice and Doumeki's kitchen was cleaner than it had been since the last time Watanuki visited.
He'd gone about the things he had planned for the day, going to House 1 for his lessons in hacking, had practiced what he was learning in private, screened entries, and then had a nap.
He was just waking up from it when there was a knock on the door, pouring himself another cup of coffee and getting out a bottle of sake for the evening. That was probably Ichijou.
Crossing over to the door, he pulled it open, dressed in a hakama top that was open quite low in the front, the edge of his bandage visible, a spot of blood on the front. Holding a hand out, he gestured Ichijou inside and out of the evening sun, his skin a neutral purple with the occasional flash of blue, "Let me take some of that..." he said.
The blond stepped inside, flashing a yellow at seeing that Doumeki was doing alright and able to move around a bit. Though, he saw the random pulses of blue and knew that he wasn't doing the best in the emotional department. He pulled off his shoes and placed them neatly to the side in the entrance way. Smiling up at him, he held out a couple of bags. Mostly the lighter things so he wouldn't strain himself so much.
The smell of the archer's blood hung around him, filling his nostrils and piquing his senses. The sight of the blood that started to seep through the bandages only helped arouse his senses even more. "We should change your bandages first", he said holding up the bag of medical supplies that contained everything for cleaning and rewrapping the other male's torso.
He placed the rest of the food stuffs in the kitchen, then headed over to the bathroom expecting Doumeki to follow him. "I figured out what the colours meant", he said idly as he pulled out all of the items from the bag.
When Ichijou held out the bags for him, Doumeki took them, carrying them to the kitchen and depositing them beside the rest of the vampire's things. Tilting his head, he trailed the boy to the bathroom, nodding slightly to show his agreement. He was still sleepy, had gulped down half his cup of coffee while putting bags in the kitchen, the caffeine slowly waking up his system.
"Oh?" he asked. There was something...very comfortable about the way Ichijou entered his house, brought food, spoke casually, as if he owned the place. No, more as if he belonged here. The blue stopped flashing, leaving Doumeki a solid shade of purple, "I worked out some of them myself, but..."
He leaned his hip against the counter in the bathroom, slightly sleepy eyes watching the boy prepare the supplies.
The noble nodded and moved Doumeki by his shoulders so that he wasn't leaning, but standing up straight so he could pull down the top of his hakama. He held his breath slightly and started to unwrap the bandages, knowing that the moment the bandages were removed, a wave of the scent of blood would hit him in the face. After he pulled them off and put them in the trash can after wrapping them up in a plastic bag, he opened up the anticeptic, letting the strong smell fill the room before letting out a breath so he could breathe properly without having the whole bathroom saturated in the smell like a fresh baked roast out of the oven.
He started to clean the wound carefully. "Mhm. Yellow is happy, purple I've deemed as a calm meaning, blue is sad which makes sense, black is angry or something of the sort, pink or red is just like a blush, orange I think are nerves, but green I haven't figured out", he said with a light smile on his face, his green eyes concentrated on working on the wound.
Doumeki shifted his center of gravity, just watching Ichijou as he pulled down his hakama top, the sleeve with the egg in it swaying heavily, the whole thing held up by the securely tied belt. He observed Ichijou carefully, the way he held his breath while he unwrapped the wound, didn't start breathing properly again until the room was full of the scent of the antiseptic.
Almost without thinking, he lifted his hand and mussed Ichijou's hair in a familiar, friendly way, "You do have good control." he said, his voice quiet, lowering his hand from his head while Ichijou explained the colours, matching them up to Watanuki's colours the night before. Blue, red like a blush, he remembered Watanuki turning a bright red, remembered how, when he felt his worst, he turned a deep blue, and wondered if the depth of the colour meant...
Maybe there was still love in Watanuki for him.
His stomach clenched and his skin washed a pale shade of green. He swallowed hard, looking off to the side, "Ah. I think green is being hurt or ill..."
"I pride myself on that", he said lightly moving to throw away the bloody cotton balls and retrieve the ointment that would keep it from scarring too badly. He dabbed that on a couple of fingers and gently smoothed it into the cuts before washing his hands and getting a fresh set of bandages.
"The green makes sense too. Though it would make sense for jealousy as well. But seeing as how you're not in the best of shape...", he mused aloud drifting off as he concentrated on wrapping the bandages, making them tight but not painfully so. When he secured them at the end, he stood up straight flashing a yellow from his purple exterior.
"There. Does that feel better?", he asked giving him a warm smile.
He took a few measured breaths as Ichijou dabbed ointment onto the wound after the antiseptic, watching his fingers smooth over the slashes. He didn't flinch, though the muscles in his stomach hardened slightly with the spike of pain the touches sent through him.
"I'm glad there's no colour change for jealousy." he said, his voice low, then sighed a bit as Ichijou wrapped the bandages and asked if it felt better, his skin settling back to a normal colour as Ichijou flashed yellow and smiled at him. He returned the expression with a nod, "Much better. I'm afraid my drinking last night made the bleeding start back up and..."
He shook his head, "Should we go get shoga-yu and snacks?"
Ichijou washed his hands of the ointment and blood after throwing all of the wrappings and soiled materials into the trashcan. He pulled up the trashbag and tied it tightly, cutting off the smell of the blood wafting from the wastebin. "I guess you shouldn't drink until you're at least most of the way healed then", he said starting to head out of the bathroom.
"Alright! You can set it up outside in the back yard, I'll run and put this in the outside trash bin", he said walking towards the front of the house to put it outside. It was a biohazard afterall and it didn't belong in the house anymore.
After he was done, he rounded the house to the backyard, hopping over the gate not knowing if it was unlocked or not.
Doumeki's brows furrowed as the boy told him he shouldn't drink till he'd healed up, and he shook his head, "It'll be fine." he said, his voice low. He followed Ichijou into the kitchen, gathering up the bags and giving him a nod as he headed out the front door.
After putting on hot water to boil for tea and shoga-yu, Doumeki moved out to the small patch of space that served as a backyard - it was small, compared to his temple at home, but well-kept - a blanket from the back of the couch over his arm. He spread it out, and lay out the snacks that Ichijou had brought. Pocky, various types of dango in takeout containers, and the onigiri.
Curiously, he opened the top of the onigiri container just as Ichijou was jumping the gate. He turned his head to the vampire, his brow raised, "They look interesting."
Ichijou walked over to the neatly laid out blanket. It looked cozy in the small back yard with the food stuffs and what not set up. He paused in his footsteps as he commented on his mishapen rice balls of failure and continued flashing orange and giving him an embarrassed smile along side a matching chuckle.
"Heheh...well...I don't know if I'd call them edible, but I thought they may give you a good laugh", he said sitting down with his legs tucked under him. He looked down at the abominations and let out a defeated sigh. Oh well, he tried his best.
His eyes roamed over the array of snacks and shoga-yu. It all looked pleasant. Even the rice balls gave it an air of quirkiness and made the atmosphere comfortable. "Well! Dig in."
Doumeki settled on the blanket with his legs crossed, moving slightly stiffly to avoid aggravating his wound, picking up the container of onigiri and picking one out with his fingers. He held it up to look it over, admiring it for a moment. It was misshapen, lumpy, the face looked deformed, and the rice was just a bit too sticky, lacked structure.
It was cute, and it was something Ichijou had made for him, by hand.
The boy was orange, and Doumeki himself turned a light shade of yellow as he looked back at the onigiri, "Don't be nervous." he said, his voice even, and took a bite of the onigiri, a smallish, tentative bite, pressing the rice against the roof of his mouth with his tongue, eyes half-shut for a moment. Analyzing the taste. Less salty than Watanuki's, probably because of Ichijou's penchant for sweets, but it tasted...good.
He closed his eyes for a moment, swallowed, and then finished the rest of the lump of rice in two bites, and reached for another one, the yellow of his skin deepening.
"It's good." he said, simply.
Ichijou watched him tentatively as he picked up a rice ball and started to sample it. He bit his bottom lip, his fangs poking out a bit, still a bit orange with nerves even though Doumeki tried to coax him from that feeling. He stayed silent as if he were watching some suspenseful movie and the main character was slowly opening a door in a haunted house where the outcome could be frightening or full of relief.
When he heard the archer speak and say it was good, he perked up, the orange going away and being replaced with half yellow half pink. "Ah! Really?", he asked in disbelief, his eyes widened slightly in surprise. That was the last thing he expected to hear along with him grabbing more.
He paused, seeing the boy flush half pink, along with yellow, after the orange faded. He could...sort of taste that as well. Doumeki himself flashed pink for a moment as he picked up another of the onigiri, looking at it for a moment as if to memorize the particular way this one was malformed, the shape of it, the look the face was giving him.
He nodded, "I like it." he affirmed, taking a bite from the second onigiri, chewing and swallowing quickly rather than savouring the taste as he had at first. Licking a few remaining grains of rice from his fingers, he reached for the kettle, pouring a small amount of the shoga-yu into a cup to test if it was ready.
Seeing the way Doumeki flashed pink made the pink side of him grow a bit deeper, not that he could see though. A bright smile came upon his face and he yellow side became a richer shade as well. "I'm glad you like them then" He picked up a rice ball and took a small bite. Well, they weren't...inedible. He nibbled on it slowly looking forward to the dango and shoga-yu more than anything.
He watched as Doumeki tested it, picked up a bit of strawberry pocky, and poked it into his mouth, letting it hang off of his lips as he waited for the status of the warm drink.
Doumeki admired the boy for a moment, the slightly deeper flush and the way he picked up one of his own rice balls to test it himself. Watching him nibble at it, the way his mouth and jaw moved, he just...admired him for a moment, his own pink deepening and the flash of yellow darkening to a mellow purple.
The shoga-yu seemed to be sufficiently ready, so he poured a cup of it, holding it out to Ichijou, ducking his head, "Shoga-yu. My grandfather used to make it for me, when I was young. If it was cold or raining outside, we would sit on the porch at the shrine, and drink shoga-yu. He would tell me stories."
Ichijou accepted the cup and thanked him as he held it delicately in his hands. He listened to Doumeki speak and sipped at the warm ginger drink, rolling it over his tongue and swallowing it. It was a nice contrast to the nori of the rice balls. A warm smile crossed over his face as he heard him talking about his grandfather and how they shared this drink together in a comforting way. That sounded nice. He flashed blue, but just briefly thinking of his own late grandfather and how he would never do something of that sort. He was too emmersed in being a leader of the Counsel of Elders and heading the fearsome Ichijou Group.
The pink side slowly faded into a light purple, the yellow still there. He was happy that Doumeki had the opportunity to have such a kind sounding grandfather. "That sounds like it was very...gentle", he said in a soft voice.
Doumeki sipped at his own cup of shoga-yu, watching the boy as he sipped it, smiling belied by a flash of blue for sadness. Doumeki could guess that he was thinking of his own grandfather, and he felt a moment of guilt for bringing it up, his purple fading and then coming back stronger as he savoured a moment of remembering good things that had happened to him before Watanuki. That life could be good without Watanuki.
Blue washed over him again, and he took another sip of his drink, trying not to think too hard about what had happened the night before, what could be considered a confession of his feelings to Watanuki...how the boy flushed red, said it would be easy to choose Doumeki...how...he'd found himself to honourable to take advantage of that in a moment of weakness.
If he was chosen, he wanted to be chosen for his own merits.
Swallowing hard, he put his cup aside, the blue deepening, "Yes. My life before Watanuki showed up was...very gentle. But also quite boring."
Ichijou noticed that the archer turned blue, wondering what he was thinking as it became deeper. The yellow faded from his body and was replaced by a light purple that matched the other half of his body. He set down the cup of shoga-yu and finished the pocky he was previously nibbling on wondering what to say.
"Gentle...", he repeated again. Maybe some...happier memories would bring him around. "How did you all meet? You, Himawari-chan, and Watanuki-kun...you said you were school mates, right?", he asked. He didn't know what was the right or wrong question for this sort of thing, so he'd stumble around in the dark until he could find the switch to bring about the light.
Doumeki lifted his chin, looking over at the now-purple vampire, eyes trailing over him. Purple was calm. He licked his lips, just watching him nibble his pocky for a moment, and then reached for another onigiri, preferring it over the dango for now. The onigiri was made with emotion that store bought food usually lacked.
Taking a bite, he chewed thoughtfully before speaking, "I knew them both through school, casually. We were thrown together when Watanuki's boss had him ask to use a room in my shrine to tell 100 Ghost Stories." he paused, looking to the side, "It's where I learned about the abilities I have."
Green eyes blinked a couple of times at the mention of abilities. "100 ghost stories...I've never played that before", he said in a soft tone. But then, there were a lot of games and the like he hadn't really participated in before with his grandfather being so strict and trying to mold him into being the next head of their Group.
"What abilities?" he then asked curiously, his colour turning into something more normal since he wasn't feeling anything in particular except inquisitiveness. Was it something like Himawari-chan's bad luck? Or Watanuki's ability to attract things like vampires? He wondered.
He washed down the pocky with the drink admiring how well ginger went with sweets, especially something as light as pocky.
Doumeki was in a calm phase again, his skin a faint purple flush over his normal skin tone as he finished another onigiri and reached for the last one, admiring it for a moment before taking a bite, watching Ichijou for a moment, then glancing down, "It's nothing special." he said, his voice low, "My stories were the best, though."
He couldn't help bragging, then lifted his chin, blinking a bit, "Ah. With my bow and arrow, I can exorcise bad spirits. Also, my blood drives away spirits that intend harm. Sometimes I can...see through Watanuki's eye. His right one is actually...half of mine that I gave to him quite some time ago, that's why it's yellow..."
He waved his hand, his skin turning blue again at the thought of it, glancing up at Ichijou and pausing for a moment, pouring more shoga-yu and sipping at it before continuing, "Last night...I talked to Watanuki about Zero."
A light chuckle escaped at the archer's bragging, flashing yellow. "I bet", he commented on him saying his stories were the best. He wondered, for a moment, if he would be any good at telling ghost stories. Maybe...considered that he was one of the things that went bump in the night or so myths said so.
The vampire was also glad that Doumeki seemed to enjoy his rice balls so much. He hadn't even finished his first one, it being half-eaten, and he downed the other five.
He mulled over the thought of Doumeki being some sort of repellent for bad spirits. So would that mean his blood would be disgusting to vampires? If Watanuki attracted his kind, then Doumeki could drive them away, right? If that was so, then why did the shrinekeeper's blood smell, well, good? He knew he didn't intend him any harm, but biting was technically harmful, wasn't it? He then blinked at the reason why Watanuki's eyes were miss-matched. It was actually a strange thought, being able to see what someone else sees. "Interesting...", he breathed out, not knowing how else to comment on something like that.
There was a silence for a moment, so he took that time to eat some of the mitarashii dango he brought, chewing the chewy ball of dough carefully. He swallowed when the dark haired male spoke up. "Mhm...", he nodded. Zero was always a rather hard subject with anyone he was close to. "What about?", he asked. It could have been a number of things, knowing him.
Doumeki finished off the last of the rice balls, and licked up the few grains stuck to his fingers while he watched Ichijou. The vampire seemed to be lost in thought, as if he was pondering something, or many things, and Doumeki wondered what was on his mind, what was going through his head. He commented that Doumeki's stories were probably good, said that it was interesting about his abilities.
"I don't know yet what effect my abilities have on vampires." he said, his voice low, wondering if he should even tell the boy that he was thinking of trying them out on Zero, something he still had to contact the other vampire about. His stomach clenched, and his skin turned a mix of orange and dark grey at the thought of Zero, but he pushed the feelings aside, focussing on the reason he was doing it - to keep Watanuki safe.
Most of what he'd done in the past couple of weeks was to keep Watanuki safe. Learning to hack. Getting his bow and arrows. Practicing his aim again. He just needed to increase his speed, in case, in case...
Lifting his chin, he glanced at Ichijou again when he asked what they'd talked about. Doumeki's colour drained, until he went white, staring off at nothing, reaching blindly for a bit of the mitarashii dango, and chewing thoughtfully, then swallowing, "Zero...makes him so angry he hurts himself. Orders him to do things that aren't his choice. I...talked to him about it. About that and...and my feelings. To some extent." he paused for a moment, squeezing his eyes shut and then opening them, "He said...that it would be easy for him to choose me. I wanted to..."
He gave his head a little shake, "I know he meant it. He turned red."
Ichijou bit off the last piece of dango from the wooden skewer and let it stay in his mouth, chewing slowly as he listened to Doumeki and watched his colours change. He wondered what white meant, he hadn't seen that on himself or anyone else yet.
He shifted and pulled his legs from under him, bringing them up to his chest and looking down at the blanket as his suspicions of the bandages he had seen on Watanuki became clear. He didn't ask about them when he brought him that thank you gift so he wouldn't be prying, but now he knew. He turned blue, a light blue. And what was worse, he couldn't help there. If he tried worming his way into any business of the Hunter's, he would be staring down the barrel of the Bloody Rose and being told to "Fuck off" as he had been everytime he just tried idle chit-chat with the vampire.
He chewed on the wooden skewer a bit, his fangs making indentions in it. "Kiryuu...has a strong hate for vampires. I haven't done anything to upset him and was even on good terms with the one person he was really close to, Yuuki, and he hates my very being to the core. I guarantee that if there was no set list of whom he could and couldn't kill, he would have shot down the entire Night Class in a heartbeat", he explained.
"A pureblood vampire named Hiou Shizuka killed his parents, whom were vampire hunters, and took his twin brother from him. Which was probably the thing that spurned his deep rooted hatred for vampires. Being a vampire himself now has probably warped him beyond all reason", he let out a sigh. "He'd probably kill me just telling you all of this, but...since Watanuki-kun is so involved...you have a right to know"
There was a slight pang in his chest as he thought of the next suject brought up. "So...he loves you and Kiryuu?", he asked.
Doumeki watched Ichijou, his vampire fangs chewing on the skewer as Doumeki chewed on another dango from the one he held, the skewer twirling between his fingers almost absently, brows furrowed. The colour faded from him as he listened to the explanation of Zero's past, and he was a little disturbed to find that it didn't elicit sympathy in him, though it should have.
That name came up again. The name of the little girl who'd recently arrived on the island. Yuuki. Watanuki had mentioned that name as well, and now it was brought up again.
Doumeki's brows furrowed, and he went white again, nodding, glancing up at Ichijou, "I see." he said, still thinking to himself, sliding the last of the dango off the wooden skewer and sticking it point-down in the grass, looking into middle space as he considered, "Watanuki...mentioned Yuuki last night. He said he didn't want to be like her." Doumeki sighed, and blue washed over the white, a pale shade as he fought to keep emotional distance.
"I...don't know if he loves me." he said, his voice low, "There are some feelings there, though. I suppose."
Ichijou set the skewer down into the now empty container that previously held malformed onigiri. His arms draped over his knees as he watched Doumeki's reaction. White then blue. He guessed the mentioned girl was a mystery to him. Nobody really spoke about her. She was an almost taboo subject with Kaname, not wanting to upset him by mentioning her and Zero, well, he wasn't sure what his reaction would be, but it probably wasn't a good one.
"Yuuki was seemingly human from when I met her. She was a very sweet girl. Strong and kind hearted. It was probably why her and Kiryuu became close. But...it turned out that Yuuki was really a pureblood vampire. The kind of vampire that he loathes the most. I would imagine it would be the same as being betrayed. She was special to both Kiryuu and Kaname. But in the end, Kaname claimed her as his lover. I guess he doesn't want to be like her in the aspect of abandoning him." His face was contemplative and he was a mix of blue and purple. "I don't know for sure, but that's what I think. And maybe his feelings for you makes him not want to be like Yuuki even more."
Doumeki poked at the grass with his skewer, then let it be, shifting himself to take some strain off his knees and to change the position he held his torso in, to give his wounds a rest. Glancing to the side, he listened to what Ichijou had to say, his colour turning slowly to a very deep blue, the sadness overwhelming him.
He nodded a little, "That makes sense. I can see...why someone would compare him to Yuuki. Strong and kind-hearted." he sighed, and lifted a hand to rub at his eyes for a moment, digging his knuckle against the fragile skin of his eyelid, "He said he didn't want to lead me and Zero along. I told him...he wasn't. He's made it clear to me what..." He paused, for a while, his voice low, his colour a blue so deep it couldn't get any deeper, "What his choice is." softly, pausing for a while, and then speaking in a small, sort of lost voice, "Sometimes I think about it. It feels like a...strong wind blowing against me. Or like I've been stabbed in the chest." he paused again for a while, "I don't know what to do."
Ichijou listened and nodded. He even thought their personalities were rather similar to each other. But Watanuki was different. He couldn't place his finger on it, but from what it sounded like, Watanuki was more...sure.
His still-green eyes watched as the shade of blue became darker and darker until he took on a shade of an inky, midnight sea blue. He was hurt, deeply and the words to describe how he felt made it all the clearer. His heart was shattered and damn well stepped on as well.
After a long pause, looking up into the sky that no longer had a trace of sun in its colour, Doumeki's own colour nearly blending with it and his own a royal blue from becoming meloncholy, he spoke again. "Try your best...."
"Whatever you choose, whether it's moving on and staying by his side or trying to.....", he paused for a moment. "Snatch him back....Try your best. That's all any of us can really do, isn't it?"
He sat still for a long time, his head down, then lifted his chin when Ichijou started speaking. He looked at the boy, his own skin and hair gone blue, obviously sharing Doumeki's sadness. Frowning to himself, he just looked the boy over, wondering why he was so sad, why he was affected by this. Why it wasn't just a random matter for him. Talking to someone. Why he had so much empathy.
It made him want to hug Ichijou, for a moment.
He swallowed a bit, shaking his head, "If...he were to choose me, I would want it to be his choice..." he said, his throat tightening, "He's made it clear he doesn't want to change his mind without persuasion. All I can do is make sure he's safe." he paused for a while, and gave a shaky sigh, "I'm strong. I'll be fine."
Ichijou looked over at him and his shoulders sagged a bit. He was at a loss of what else to say. Doumeki kept insisting that he was strong, he'd be fine, that it would be okay, but his voice and colour revealed otherwise.
He unbent his legs and shifted around reaching out and pulling the archer into an embrace. "You say that too much. 'I'm fine', 'I'll be fine', but if everyone just shrugged it off and left you alone to 'be fine', you'll never be okay", he said in a soft, gentle voice, his lips close to his ear. "You can't be strong all of the time, no one can. We can try, but there's a breaking point and we need someone to catch the falling pieces. Relationships work two ways, leaning on each other instead of one carrying the weight of another by themselves. It's not fair to either parties" He was beginning to ramble, but that didn't matter. "You're allowed to not be fine once in a while."
His chest heaved a little bit, his breathing slightly laboured, but he wasn't looking at Ichijou and his face didn't change. He glanced up after the first thing the boy said, eyes locked on him, his body still blue, hearing what he was saying.
It reminded him of his relationship with Watanuki. Always carrying him, chasing spirits away, easing his burden while Watanuki shouted and cooked, and he'd been sure...he'd been sure that he was getting something back, but if Watanuki could throw all of it away, toss him out like this, after...
His mouth opened, and his brows furrowed a bit, speaking in a low voice and shaking his head, "I gave him half of my right eye, my vision will never be perfect there again. I gave so much of my blood to save him. I put up with his shouting. I saved his life so many times. I stood in the rain for 10 hours, holding a ribbon." he paused, exhaling a bit, and then breathing in, "I was so tired. I was always so tired. He said thank you once, by choice. Before that it was by force." he paused again, looking down, "After all that, it takes him only a few months to throw me away?"
The noble rubbed his back, he was careful not to move him too much due to his injury, but he still held him and listened. He felt his heavy breaths and his heart beat and was still the shade of blue mixed with a bit of purple, sympathizing and comforting him. Doumeki had sacrificed a lot for Watanuki, so to have all of that yanked from under his feet, he couldn't imagine.
"I...I really don't think he's thrown you away. He was with you last night, wasn't he?", he said speaking after a bout of silence. "I mean...I can't say anything for sure...I'm not Watanuki, but...I think he still cares. If he threw you away then he wouldn't have bothered to go save you from the forest or stayed with you last night. He wouldn't have listened to Kaname's threat. Any...of that"
He patted his back softly. It probably wasn't his place to say anything to that magnitude, but...he didn't want to see the archer hurt like this. All he had been doing is trying and to have it all seem like it was for nothing. It would be like if Kaname had disregarded him for everything he had done for him in the past. It would hurt.
He'd been lost in thought so much that he almost hadn't realized the vampire was hugging him. He took a shaky breath, his arms coming around Ichijou's chest, and he rubbed at his back in return, resting his head on his shoulder, brows still furrowed. Doumeki's expression hadn't changed, other than the wrinkle between his eyebrows, and he simply sat there, letting the vampire hug him, just...savouring the warmth of his body for a moment, the fact that someone would hug him and tell him he didn't have to be strong.
It didn't mean he would break, it didn't mean he would cry or anything. But it was nice to know, nonetheless.
He just rested some of his weight against Ichijou, and nodded, "I know." he said, after a long moment, "It's just that...I waited. I knew he cared for me, it was just a matter of...time. And...this island..." he shook his head, "Maybe it's hitsuzen."
His voice was low. Doumeki didn't really believe in hitsuzen, not in the way Watanuki and Yuuko did. He knew it was nothing more than a failure, and on whose part, he didn't know.
"Thanks." he murmured, after a moment.
Ichijou stopped moving his hand and just rested it on Doumeki's back, his fingers occasionally stroking the spot there. He listened to the small bit of what Doumeki had to say. Hitsuzen...the inevitable...Was it so simple to just blame something like this on something like that? Though, no one was at fault for what was happening and things like this just...happen...but "the inevitable" was a strong word.
He shrugged a bit. "I don't know...maybe it is...", he paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. "But whether it is or isn't, the only thing you can do is keep moving forward."
He leaned his head against Doumeki's in a comforting gesture. "I'll help you, if you'd like me to", he said after a pause. And he meant it, too. Doumeki deserved something, not this, something good. For all of his work, he needed something good done for him.
Doumeki gave a low sigh, lifting his head a bit as Ichijou shrugged, his eyes closed, feeling more tired than anything. The blue faded to a light colour and he just rested there against Ichijou, allowing the vampire to hold up some of his weight. He felt drained with having spoken some of what was weighing on him aloud - maybe a bit lighter, but still drained. As if it was something he should never have said.
It wasn't his place to ask for anything back from Watanuki. Protecting him was a burden, a duty, that Doumeki had chosen for himself. But he'd always thought...no, not any more. His chest panged, the blue deepening a bit as Ichijou leaned his head against his own. He could feel the movmements of Ichijou's jaw as he spoke, and he could smell his hair, and Ichijou offered...help. With moving forward.
He closed his eyes for a moment, and gave a sigh, the blue shifting away and leaving a faintly pink-tinted white behind. Pulling his head back, he looked at Ichijou's face, and nodded, "I suppose you'd be the best one to help, wouldn't you?" he asked.
Ichijou's emeralds looked into golds as Doumeki pulled back slightly and looked at his face. He could see him dusted with pink. His blue faded and turned into a pinkish yellow of his own, giving him an eyes closed smile, a light breath escaping his lips. He gave him a quick single nod. "I'll certainly try my best", he said in a more cheerful tone.
He was glad Doumeki wasn't blue anymore, that means the talk helped and he lightened his mood a bit. He felt a bit accomplished and hoped that it could stay this way.
The vampire met his eyes for a moment, and Doumeki looked back, holding eye contact for a while, watching him fade from blue to pink and yellow, trying to remember what that meant. Happiness. And a blush. His own pink deepened just slightly, and he pulled one of his hands from Ichijou's side as he said he'd try his best, smiled like that.
Doumeki lifted his hand and cupped Ichijou's cheek, just for a moment, before scuffing fingers through his hair, and nodding, "I'll be fine." he said.
Maybe this time, it was a little more true.
The noble opened his eyes for a moment when the large hand cupped his soft, pale face, the smile still on his lips. He closed his eyes again, but just briefly, when the fingers went through his hair. When he said he'd be fine again, it had a different air to it, something more hopeful and he wasn't blue or white while saying it.
His own shade of pink darkened a bit and his hand idly went for a piece of pocky and stuck it in the dark-haired male's mouth, his smile widening a bit. "Good", he said in response to him being alright.
Doumeki sat back a little bit, holding his breath for a second at the twinging in the wounds on his chest and belly, eyes still locked on the vampire. It was...strange...how Ichijou had accomplished making him feel better in a way that other people hadn't, simply by...allowing him to be human and offering to help with it.
He licked his lips, watching Ichijou go pinker, and then the vampire stuck a Pocky in his mouth. Doumeki's brow raised, and one corner of his mouth perked up slightly. Chewing thoughtfully on the Pocky, he commented, "Cute."
Ichijou sat back on his feet, smiling happily, pink and yellow split right down the middle. The pink side was darker than the yellow side, though. When he heard the comment, the pink side turned into a hot pink colour and he blinked a couple of times.
He reached up and broke off the end of his pocky stick, stealing the other half of it and eating it, giving him a mischievous look as if to say 'Still think so?'. He licked the sugar off of his lips and leaned back on his hands, the smile still on his face and his eyes closing as he tilted his head upwards towards the sky. Yes, he certainly felt accomplished today.
Doumeki sat still, watching Ichijou for a few long moments, the way he was split between yellow and bright pink like that, while he blinked, and then stole Doumeki's pocky. He could read the question on his face, and simply raised a brow in return.
That just made it cuter.
Shifting a little, Doumeki reached down and poured himself another cup of shoga-yu, sipping at it thoughtfully and then going to open the chichi dango, stealing a skewer and nibbling on one of the smaller end ones, looking over at Ichijou. He felt much more calm, his body settling to a purple colour, watching Ichijou, though slowly one side settled to a light pink as he observed him watching the sky.
"I think I won't drink tonight." Doumeki said, after a few moments, "The sky is nice."
Ichijou wasn't in the mood for anything more to eat, having already nibbled on a bit of everything already and tasting things. Plus, Doumeki had enough appetite for both of them, he was sure he would appreciate having left overs. Slowly, the pink side of him started to melt into a light purple, leaving him split between a yellow and some sort of magenta. His eyes watching as the stars peeked out through the navy blue curtain one by one.
When Doumeki spoke, he looked back down at him and a brighter smile crossed over his face, the yellow side darkening. "That's good!", he said, reaching out to refill his own cup with shoga-yu. "And that will help heal you. We don't want you bleeding out even more, now do we?", he chuckled sipping on the warm, slightly cooler than before but still warm, ginger drink.
Doumeki finished off his skewer of chichi dango, and sipped more of his shoga-yu. The night was getting a bit cooler, and the ginger was good for keeping warm, so he sat still looking up at the stars, thinking to himself, hearing Ichijou talk about not drinking, not bleeding and all. He licked his lips, shooting a glance over at the boy for a moment, still purple and a light pink.
"Does my blood smell good to you?" he asked, after a moment.
The blond tilted his head slightly at the question wondering where that came from, but then, maybe that would explain his thoughts about Doumeki's blood to vampires. Though, it was sort of an embarrassing question. The purple washed away from the pink and it became a more solid colour.
"Uhm...well...it does", he admitted. It wasn't an intoxitatingly strong scent that made vampires practically drunk at just the smell, but it was still pretty appetizing. It was a little better than blood from just any ordinary human, but it wasn't a sweet smell like a honey suckle. The smell was like...a fresh loaf of honey wheat bread out of a bakery oven. Subtle, but delicious at the same time.
"Hn." he said, his eyes lowering a bit, "I suppose it doesn't have the same effect on vampires as it does on spirits, then." He licked his lips, and shifted himself a bit to ease pressure on his torso, never wanting to keep the same position for too long. It strained him to sit in the same position for a long time.
Finishing his cup of shoga-yu, he looked at the things laid out, "We should put some of this away." he commented after a moment, "But the stars are nice." he paused, glancing over at Ichijou, then, "Stay the night." another pause, "Maybe the day too."
Lifting a hand, he scratched the side of his head. "Maybe...", he said with a thoughtful expression. So Himawari's bad luck seemed to not effect vampires as well as Doumeki's relling abilities. Then why was Watanuki so potent? He mentally shrugged. That only meant he wouldn't be "repelled" by the archer, which was a relief. "I wonder if the taste is the same as the smell", he wondered idly. This time he shrugged for real and smiled. "Oh well"
The noble finished his own cup and then looked at all of the snacks spread across the blanket and nodded. "We should so bugs don't get on them, but we can cover them up and star gaze some more", he said with a light chuckle and going to put the lids on the containers so bugs attracted to the sweet smells woulnd't try to nibble at their treats.
He laid down flat on his back. "Alright, I'll spend the night and day. But don't stay up too late on my account. You still need as much rest as you can get", he said looking up into the sky, it being easier now that he was laying down. The pink turned into purple, his yellow half going a bit lighter now.
He watched the boy put the lids on the food while he thought about that question, his brows furrowing slightly, just watching him. When Ichijou finally agreed to stay the night and day, Doumeki nodded, though he was still wondering about his repelling abilities - Ichijou brought up a good point. It might smell alright, but who knew how it tasted.
It was something he wanted to test, much like how he intended to test his exorcism on Zero, but...his colour darkened, a flash of dark grey before fading back to purple...he most certainly didn't want Zero trying his blood. He glanced up at Ichijou for a moment, thinking to himself.
"Why don't you try it? My blood, I mean. To see if it tastes how it smells."
Ichijou turned his head so that he was looking up at Doumeki from his laying position, his hands serving as a pillow under his head. "Like as a test?", he asked back. He looked back up at the sky. Would that be okay? It was a test to see if his blood was a taste repellent to vampires like some sort of pesticide. He was against biting humans, but if it was to prove something and it was just a small taste....
He mulled the thought over in his head. Well, he didn't have to bite him, he could just lick Doumeki's wound, but no, that would be disgusting with all of that ointment and anticeptic. It would taste horrible. Maybe if they just knicked his finger a bit?
"I don't know....", he said, his face unsure.
Doumeki shifted, moving himself over a little closer to where Ichijou was sitting, his colour still purple, looking down at him, "Like that. Yes." he said, his voice calm, just looking at him, "You can tell me if it's bad. It...would be a good thing to know."
Ichijou looked uncertain about it, though, and Doumeki observed him for a long moment, wondering why. He was a vampire, wasn't he? The prospect of blood...but then he remembered Ichijou's intentions to live peacefully with humans, not to bite, not to hurt them, and he realized the reason for the hesitation.
"It wouldn't be like biting someone when they didn't want it." he said.
Doumeki made two valid points. It would be a good thing to know, just in case. To figure out the extent of what his abilities were to vampires. And, well, it wasn't like biting someone that was unwilling or luring them in. This was a conscious decision unaltered by hypnotic voices, eyes, and beauty. Plus, in all reality, it was no different from taking blood from Watanuki to make the blood tablet that fueled his system right at that moment.
Letting out a defeated sigh, he looked over at the archer, his enireity of his body purple now from being calm. "Alright...I'll do it. On one condition", he said in a slightly firm voice.
He sat still, just watching Ichijou as he seemed to think it over, his hand coming unconsciously to his neck, trying not to remember the bandages on Watanuki's neck, his embarrassed reactions when Doumeki asked about it...didn't want to think about Zero feeding from him...
Licking his lips, he forced himself to stay calm, and glanced down at Ichijou as he gave a defeated sigh, "What condition?" he asked, his own voice even.
He held up a hand with one finger extended. "One: No drinking. The alcohol in your blood stream could alter the taste. I don't know for sure, but it'd be best and we'll wait until you're healed. At least most of the way.", he declaired. So, yeah, that was two conditions, but oh well, they were both for the best.
He was kind of worried since he hadn't had fresh blood in a long while. He might take more than he needed just to sample it, well, if it tasted good that is. He knew he could control himself, he would make sure of it. If he took a blood tablet, that would probably help him a lot.
Letting his hand drop and then go back to under his head, he wiggled slightly. He can't believe he agreed to something like that. But those were very valid points. "If I get in trouble with Kiryuu..." He trailed off. Well, he didn't want to think of what would happen to him if the Hunter found out. He would blame it on a vampire's lure and try to kill him, accusing him of lying and biting him for the hell of it. The purple flashed orange a couple of times
Doumeki listened to the condition - well, conditions really. He quirked a brow at the 'no drinking' one, wondering how long one had to avoid drinking to make sure it was out of the bloodstream. Couldn't be more than a day, so he wouldn't drink the night before. Simple.
He nodded at him, "Alright." he said, simply, but his brows furrowed as Ichijou commented on Kiryuu. Zero. Who had hurt Watanuki, made him angry and upset. Ichijou was worried about him too. Doumeki flashed dark grey for a moment, his voice hard as he continued, "If Kiryuu has something to say about it, he can speak to me." he said, his voice sounding very firm and final, "I won't let him lay a hand on you because of it."
Ichijou nodded when his conditons were accepted. That was good. There should be no complications then. No open wound for him to worry about and no alcohol altering the taste. This is strictly for test purposes., he told himself in his mind. It should be smooth sailing. Hopefully.
"Mhm...it would be best if you did", he said, flashing orange once more. When he heard him sounding so...protective, it made him happy, allowing him to flash a yellow amidst the purple. "Alright...If he gets angry, I'll leave it up to you. If that's okay", he said looking up at the shrine keeper, his green eyes peering into his gold eyes.
Doumeki nodded at him, his brows furrowed, seeming lost in thought for a moment, "How long before it should I avoid drinking? I heal quickly, so it shouldn't be too long from now."
Pausing for a moment, he considered what Ichijou was saying, his lips pursed, and nodded, "It's none of his business, really. If it's done by consent. There'd be no reason for him to even know about it. If he finds out, you can come directly to my place, if he's upset, and I'll clear it up."
Sighing a bit, he reached out again to ruffle the boy's hair, then gave a nod, "Let's lie down and look at the stars."
"I guess a couple of days, just to make sure", he said. He fidgetted again when he said that it shouldn't be too long. That meant it would probably be at the latest a week, if that. Well, this was important, so he'd get it done.
He let out a sigh at the fact that Kiryuu was such a worry. He wasn't going to allow this to be found out in the first place, but in case it did, he was glad they had a plan. "Alright, I'll be sure to do that.", he said in a soft voice.
He closed his eyes as his hair was ruffled, smiling something more content now and he looked up at the stars from his back, his hand draping over his stomach delicately. "They're nice and bright tonight", he said in a gentle voice.
Doumeki nodded. A couple of days - that would be a pain, but it would be worth it to know. He watched as Ichijou sighed and rested on his back, looking at the sky, fidgeting and everything. Ruffling his hair again, Doumeki moved over and gingerly lay down beside Ichijou, one arm folded under his head, looking up at the stars, and nodding.
"They are bright." he said, after a long moment, and then sighed a bit, "Don't worry so much."
Ichijou closed his eyes again as his hair was mussed once more. He let out a light chuckle and smiled. He glanced over at the archer a couple of times as he settled down beside him, making sure he was okay. He could tell he was being careful.
His smile faded into something warmer as the silence passed. "Alright, I'll try not to", he said glancing over at the shrine keeper then back up to the sky. After a moment, he scooted a bit closer to the larger male and closed his eyes.
His colour was a nice shade of light yellow and light purple. Happy and content. This evening had been an emotionally stressful one, but he felt better and he could feel that Doumeki did, too.
Doumeki relaxed in the grass, glancing over as Ichijou moved closer and slid an arm out, tugging at him and guiding him to put his head on his shoulder before releasing a long sigh, his colour back to a light blush of purple over his normal colour.
He looked up at the sky, feeling worn out. Drained. But...somehow better than he had been before. It seemed that lately Ichijou was the one to make him feel more at ease, more balanced. More relaxed. With the boy's blonde head securely on his shoulder, Doumeki found himself drifting off as he lay there looking at the stars, eyes drifting closed, then opening, then finally drifting closed again for the final time.
Yawning a bit, he fell asleep, lying on his back in the grass, Ichijou's head on his shoulder.
What: Ichijou brings Doumeki some snacks, and they have a...rather emotional conversation.
Where: Doumeki's place
When: Wednesday evening
Warnings: horribly malformed onigiri, lots of pink, talk of drinking blood
Ichijou woke up a lot earlier than he normally did so he could run to the store and make plain onigiri for his visit with Doumeki that evening. The sun was a little wearing, but since he was in top shape (having taken a blood tablet and had no injuries), the sun didn't beat on him as hard. After he bought all of the sweet snacks, he attempted onigiri.
That was a failure.
Not only had he put far too much water in the rice cooker to wear the rice was really smushy after being taken out, but also when he tried to salvage the simple dish by at least molding them and trying to let them dry a bit, they looked like large masses of 'what the hell is that?'. He attempted to put faces on them with the nori, but they looked like they were deformed at birth. Which they were.
Staring at the monstrosity, he shrugged and put it in a container, deciding to take it with him anyways. Maybe the archer would get a good laugh at it.
He gathered all of the snacks, the drinks, and medical supplies and started walking only a couple houses down, his skin a light purple in the sunset. The orangey-purple in the sky sort of matched him. He figured out what the colours meant the previous night after staring at his arm the whole time and thinking of random things. When he laughed, he turned yellow, when he thought of a sad memory he turned blue. He never turned black that night, but assumed it had something to do with anger seeing as how when Watanuki started shouting, he would turn that colour. If Doumeki hadn't fgured it out, he'd surely reveal this information.
Once he arrived, he knocked on Doumeki's door and waited patiently for him to answer.
After putting his LP away following his short conversation with Ichijou, and a few hours of restless sleep, waking up every half hour or so with Watanuki's breath against the side of his face, and the uncomfortable warm wetness of the bandage across his chest and belly, Watanuki had come around out of his sleep, and both had gone about their morning business.
It was far less awkward than he'd thought it would be, after the conversation they'd had the night before. Doumeki sat at the table and had a cup of coffee while Watanuki fidgeted around the kitchen, cooking and cleaning and fussing about 'the mess,' which Doumeki found non-existent, then insisted on making snacks for Doumeki to take when he visited Cissnei, and by the time he was left there was a pretty little plate set up with something nice and Doumeki's kitchen was cleaner than it had been since the last time Watanuki visited.
He'd gone about the things he had planned for the day, going to House 1 for his lessons in hacking, had practiced what he was learning in private, screened entries, and then had a nap.
He was just waking up from it when there was a knock on the door, pouring himself another cup of coffee and getting out a bottle of sake for the evening. That was probably Ichijou.
Crossing over to the door, he pulled it open, dressed in a hakama top that was open quite low in the front, the edge of his bandage visible, a spot of blood on the front. Holding a hand out, he gestured Ichijou inside and out of the evening sun, his skin a neutral purple with the occasional flash of blue, "Let me take some of that..." he said.
The blond stepped inside, flashing a yellow at seeing that Doumeki was doing alright and able to move around a bit. Though, he saw the random pulses of blue and knew that he wasn't doing the best in the emotional department. He pulled off his shoes and placed them neatly to the side in the entrance way. Smiling up at him, he held out a couple of bags. Mostly the lighter things so he wouldn't strain himself so much.
The smell of the archer's blood hung around him, filling his nostrils and piquing his senses. The sight of the blood that started to seep through the bandages only helped arouse his senses even more. "We should change your bandages first", he said holding up the bag of medical supplies that contained everything for cleaning and rewrapping the other male's torso.
He placed the rest of the food stuffs in the kitchen, then headed over to the bathroom expecting Doumeki to follow him. "I figured out what the colours meant", he said idly as he pulled out all of the items from the bag.
When Ichijou held out the bags for him, Doumeki took them, carrying them to the kitchen and depositing them beside the rest of the vampire's things. Tilting his head, he trailed the boy to the bathroom, nodding slightly to show his agreement. He was still sleepy, had gulped down half his cup of coffee while putting bags in the kitchen, the caffeine slowly waking up his system.
"Oh?" he asked. There was something...very comfortable about the way Ichijou entered his house, brought food, spoke casually, as if he owned the place. No, more as if he belonged here. The blue stopped flashing, leaving Doumeki a solid shade of purple, "I worked out some of them myself, but..."
He leaned his hip against the counter in the bathroom, slightly sleepy eyes watching the boy prepare the supplies.
The noble nodded and moved Doumeki by his shoulders so that he wasn't leaning, but standing up straight so he could pull down the top of his hakama. He held his breath slightly and started to unwrap the bandages, knowing that the moment the bandages were removed, a wave of the scent of blood would hit him in the face. After he pulled them off and put them in the trash can after wrapping them up in a plastic bag, he opened up the anticeptic, letting the strong smell fill the room before letting out a breath so he could breathe properly without having the whole bathroom saturated in the smell like a fresh baked roast out of the oven.
He started to clean the wound carefully. "Mhm. Yellow is happy, purple I've deemed as a calm meaning, blue is sad which makes sense, black is angry or something of the sort, pink or red is just like a blush, orange I think are nerves, but green I haven't figured out", he said with a light smile on his face, his green eyes concentrated on working on the wound.
Doumeki shifted his center of gravity, just watching Ichijou as he pulled down his hakama top, the sleeve with the egg in it swaying heavily, the whole thing held up by the securely tied belt. He observed Ichijou carefully, the way he held his breath while he unwrapped the wound, didn't start breathing properly again until the room was full of the scent of the antiseptic.
Almost without thinking, he lifted his hand and mussed Ichijou's hair in a familiar, friendly way, "You do have good control." he said, his voice quiet, lowering his hand from his head while Ichijou explained the colours, matching them up to Watanuki's colours the night before. Blue, red like a blush, he remembered Watanuki turning a bright red, remembered how, when he felt his worst, he turned a deep blue, and wondered if the depth of the colour meant...
Maybe there was still love in Watanuki for him.
His stomach clenched and his skin washed a pale shade of green. He swallowed hard, looking off to the side, "Ah. I think green is being hurt or ill..."
"I pride myself on that", he said lightly moving to throw away the bloody cotton balls and retrieve the ointment that would keep it from scarring too badly. He dabbed that on a couple of fingers and gently smoothed it into the cuts before washing his hands and getting a fresh set of bandages.
"The green makes sense too. Though it would make sense for jealousy as well. But seeing as how you're not in the best of shape...", he mused aloud drifting off as he concentrated on wrapping the bandages, making them tight but not painfully so. When he secured them at the end, he stood up straight flashing a yellow from his purple exterior.
"There. Does that feel better?", he asked giving him a warm smile.
He took a few measured breaths as Ichijou dabbed ointment onto the wound after the antiseptic, watching his fingers smooth over the slashes. He didn't flinch, though the muscles in his stomach hardened slightly with the spike of pain the touches sent through him.
"I'm glad there's no colour change for jealousy." he said, his voice low, then sighed a bit as Ichijou wrapped the bandages and asked if it felt better, his skin settling back to a normal colour as Ichijou flashed yellow and smiled at him. He returned the expression with a nod, "Much better. I'm afraid my drinking last night made the bleeding start back up and..."
He shook his head, "Should we go get shoga-yu and snacks?"
Ichijou washed his hands of the ointment and blood after throwing all of the wrappings and soiled materials into the trashcan. He pulled up the trashbag and tied it tightly, cutting off the smell of the blood wafting from the wastebin. "I guess you shouldn't drink until you're at least most of the way healed then", he said starting to head out of the bathroom.
"Alright! You can set it up outside in the back yard, I'll run and put this in the outside trash bin", he said walking towards the front of the house to put it outside. It was a biohazard afterall and it didn't belong in the house anymore.
After he was done, he rounded the house to the backyard, hopping over the gate not knowing if it was unlocked or not.
Doumeki's brows furrowed as the boy told him he shouldn't drink till he'd healed up, and he shook his head, "It'll be fine." he said, his voice low. He followed Ichijou into the kitchen, gathering up the bags and giving him a nod as he headed out the front door.
After putting on hot water to boil for tea and shoga-yu, Doumeki moved out to the small patch of space that served as a backyard - it was small, compared to his temple at home, but well-kept - a blanket from the back of the couch over his arm. He spread it out, and lay out the snacks that Ichijou had brought. Pocky, various types of dango in takeout containers, and the onigiri.
Curiously, he opened the top of the onigiri container just as Ichijou was jumping the gate. He turned his head to the vampire, his brow raised, "They look interesting."
Ichijou walked over to the neatly laid out blanket. It looked cozy in the small back yard with the food stuffs and what not set up. He paused in his footsteps as he commented on his mishapen rice balls of failure and continued flashing orange and giving him an embarrassed smile along side a matching chuckle.
"Heheh...well...I don't know if I'd call them edible, but I thought they may give you a good laugh", he said sitting down with his legs tucked under him. He looked down at the abominations and let out a defeated sigh. Oh well, he tried his best.
His eyes roamed over the array of snacks and shoga-yu. It all looked pleasant. Even the rice balls gave it an air of quirkiness and made the atmosphere comfortable. "Well! Dig in."
Doumeki settled on the blanket with his legs crossed, moving slightly stiffly to avoid aggravating his wound, picking up the container of onigiri and picking one out with his fingers. He held it up to look it over, admiring it for a moment. It was misshapen, lumpy, the face looked deformed, and the rice was just a bit too sticky, lacked structure.
It was cute, and it was something Ichijou had made for him, by hand.
The boy was orange, and Doumeki himself turned a light shade of yellow as he looked back at the onigiri, "Don't be nervous." he said, his voice even, and took a bite of the onigiri, a smallish, tentative bite, pressing the rice against the roof of his mouth with his tongue, eyes half-shut for a moment. Analyzing the taste. Less salty than Watanuki's, probably because of Ichijou's penchant for sweets, but it tasted...good.
He closed his eyes for a moment, swallowed, and then finished the rest of the lump of rice in two bites, and reached for another one, the yellow of his skin deepening.
"It's good." he said, simply.
Ichijou watched him tentatively as he picked up a rice ball and started to sample it. He bit his bottom lip, his fangs poking out a bit, still a bit orange with nerves even though Doumeki tried to coax him from that feeling. He stayed silent as if he were watching some suspenseful movie and the main character was slowly opening a door in a haunted house where the outcome could be frightening or full of relief.
When he heard the archer speak and say it was good, he perked up, the orange going away and being replaced with half yellow half pink. "Ah! Really?", he asked in disbelief, his eyes widened slightly in surprise. That was the last thing he expected to hear along with him grabbing more.
He paused, seeing the boy flush half pink, along with yellow, after the orange faded. He could...sort of taste that as well. Doumeki himself flashed pink for a moment as he picked up another of the onigiri, looking at it for a moment as if to memorize the particular way this one was malformed, the shape of it, the look the face was giving him.
He nodded, "I like it." he affirmed, taking a bite from the second onigiri, chewing and swallowing quickly rather than savouring the taste as he had at first. Licking a few remaining grains of rice from his fingers, he reached for the kettle, pouring a small amount of the shoga-yu into a cup to test if it was ready.
Seeing the way Doumeki flashed pink made the pink side of him grow a bit deeper, not that he could see though. A bright smile came upon his face and he yellow side became a richer shade as well. "I'm glad you like them then" He picked up a rice ball and took a small bite. Well, they weren't...inedible. He nibbled on it slowly looking forward to the dango and shoga-yu more than anything.
He watched as Doumeki tested it, picked up a bit of strawberry pocky, and poked it into his mouth, letting it hang off of his lips as he waited for the status of the warm drink.
Doumeki admired the boy for a moment, the slightly deeper flush and the way he picked up one of his own rice balls to test it himself. Watching him nibble at it, the way his mouth and jaw moved, he just...admired him for a moment, his own pink deepening and the flash of yellow darkening to a mellow purple.
The shoga-yu seemed to be sufficiently ready, so he poured a cup of it, holding it out to Ichijou, ducking his head, "Shoga-yu. My grandfather used to make it for me, when I was young. If it was cold or raining outside, we would sit on the porch at the shrine, and drink shoga-yu. He would tell me stories."
Ichijou accepted the cup and thanked him as he held it delicately in his hands. He listened to Doumeki speak and sipped at the warm ginger drink, rolling it over his tongue and swallowing it. It was a nice contrast to the nori of the rice balls. A warm smile crossed over his face as he heard him talking about his grandfather and how they shared this drink together in a comforting way. That sounded nice. He flashed blue, but just briefly thinking of his own late grandfather and how he would never do something of that sort. He was too emmersed in being a leader of the Counsel of Elders and heading the fearsome Ichijou Group.
The pink side slowly faded into a light purple, the yellow still there. He was happy that Doumeki had the opportunity to have such a kind sounding grandfather. "That sounds like it was very...gentle", he said in a soft voice.
Doumeki sipped at his own cup of shoga-yu, watching the boy as he sipped it, smiling belied by a flash of blue for sadness. Doumeki could guess that he was thinking of his own grandfather, and he felt a moment of guilt for bringing it up, his purple fading and then coming back stronger as he savoured a moment of remembering good things that had happened to him before Watanuki. That life could be good without Watanuki.
Blue washed over him again, and he took another sip of his drink, trying not to think too hard about what had happened the night before, what could be considered a confession of his feelings to Watanuki...how the boy flushed red, said it would be easy to choose Doumeki...how...he'd found himself to honourable to take advantage of that in a moment of weakness.
If he was chosen, he wanted to be chosen for his own merits.
Swallowing hard, he put his cup aside, the blue deepening, "Yes. My life before Watanuki showed up was...very gentle. But also quite boring."
Ichijou noticed that the archer turned blue, wondering what he was thinking as it became deeper. The yellow faded from his body and was replaced by a light purple that matched the other half of his body. He set down the cup of shoga-yu and finished the pocky he was previously nibbling on wondering what to say.
"Gentle...", he repeated again. Maybe some...happier memories would bring him around. "How did you all meet? You, Himawari-chan, and Watanuki-kun...you said you were school mates, right?", he asked. He didn't know what was the right or wrong question for this sort of thing, so he'd stumble around in the dark until he could find the switch to bring about the light.
Doumeki lifted his chin, looking over at the now-purple vampire, eyes trailing over him. Purple was calm. He licked his lips, just watching him nibble his pocky for a moment, and then reached for another onigiri, preferring it over the dango for now. The onigiri was made with emotion that store bought food usually lacked.
Taking a bite, he chewed thoughtfully before speaking, "I knew them both through school, casually. We were thrown together when Watanuki's boss had him ask to use a room in my shrine to tell 100 Ghost Stories." he paused, looking to the side, "It's where I learned about the abilities I have."
Green eyes blinked a couple of times at the mention of abilities. "100 ghost stories...I've never played that before", he said in a soft tone. But then, there were a lot of games and the like he hadn't really participated in before with his grandfather being so strict and trying to mold him into being the next head of their Group.
"What abilities?" he then asked curiously, his colour turning into something more normal since he wasn't feeling anything in particular except inquisitiveness. Was it something like Himawari-chan's bad luck? Or Watanuki's ability to attract things like vampires? He wondered.
He washed down the pocky with the drink admiring how well ginger went with sweets, especially something as light as pocky.
Doumeki was in a calm phase again, his skin a faint purple flush over his normal skin tone as he finished another onigiri and reached for the last one, admiring it for a moment before taking a bite, watching Ichijou for a moment, then glancing down, "It's nothing special." he said, his voice low, "My stories were the best, though."
He couldn't help bragging, then lifted his chin, blinking a bit, "Ah. With my bow and arrow, I can exorcise bad spirits. Also, my blood drives away spirits that intend harm. Sometimes I can...see through Watanuki's eye. His right one is actually...half of mine that I gave to him quite some time ago, that's why it's yellow..."
He waved his hand, his skin turning blue again at the thought of it, glancing up at Ichijou and pausing for a moment, pouring more shoga-yu and sipping at it before continuing, "Last night...I talked to Watanuki about Zero."
A light chuckle escaped at the archer's bragging, flashing yellow. "I bet", he commented on him saying his stories were the best. He wondered, for a moment, if he would be any good at telling ghost stories. Maybe...considered that he was one of the things that went bump in the night or so myths said so.
The vampire was also glad that Doumeki seemed to enjoy his rice balls so much. He hadn't even finished his first one, it being half-eaten, and he downed the other five.
He mulled over the thought of Doumeki being some sort of repellent for bad spirits. So would that mean his blood would be disgusting to vampires? If Watanuki attracted his kind, then Doumeki could drive them away, right? If that was so, then why did the shrinekeeper's blood smell, well, good? He knew he didn't intend him any harm, but biting was technically harmful, wasn't it? He then blinked at the reason why Watanuki's eyes were miss-matched. It was actually a strange thought, being able to see what someone else sees. "Interesting...", he breathed out, not knowing how else to comment on something like that.
There was a silence for a moment, so he took that time to eat some of the mitarashii dango he brought, chewing the chewy ball of dough carefully. He swallowed when the dark haired male spoke up. "Mhm...", he nodded. Zero was always a rather hard subject with anyone he was close to. "What about?", he asked. It could have been a number of things, knowing him.
Doumeki finished off the last of the rice balls, and licked up the few grains stuck to his fingers while he watched Ichijou. The vampire seemed to be lost in thought, as if he was pondering something, or many things, and Doumeki wondered what was on his mind, what was going through his head. He commented that Doumeki's stories were probably good, said that it was interesting about his abilities.
"I don't know yet what effect my abilities have on vampires." he said, his voice low, wondering if he should even tell the boy that he was thinking of trying them out on Zero, something he still had to contact the other vampire about. His stomach clenched, and his skin turned a mix of orange and dark grey at the thought of Zero, but he pushed the feelings aside, focussing on the reason he was doing it - to keep Watanuki safe.
Most of what he'd done in the past couple of weeks was to keep Watanuki safe. Learning to hack. Getting his bow and arrows. Practicing his aim again. He just needed to increase his speed, in case, in case...
Lifting his chin, he glanced at Ichijou again when he asked what they'd talked about. Doumeki's colour drained, until he went white, staring off at nothing, reaching blindly for a bit of the mitarashii dango, and chewing thoughtfully, then swallowing, "Zero...makes him so angry he hurts himself. Orders him to do things that aren't his choice. I...talked to him about it. About that and...and my feelings. To some extent." he paused for a moment, squeezing his eyes shut and then opening them, "He said...that it would be easy for him to choose me. I wanted to..."
He gave his head a little shake, "I know he meant it. He turned red."
Ichijou bit off the last piece of dango from the wooden skewer and let it stay in his mouth, chewing slowly as he listened to Doumeki and watched his colours change. He wondered what white meant, he hadn't seen that on himself or anyone else yet.
He shifted and pulled his legs from under him, bringing them up to his chest and looking down at the blanket as his suspicions of the bandages he had seen on Watanuki became clear. He didn't ask about them when he brought him that thank you gift so he wouldn't be prying, but now he knew. He turned blue, a light blue. And what was worse, he couldn't help there. If he tried worming his way into any business of the Hunter's, he would be staring down the barrel of the Bloody Rose and being told to "Fuck off" as he had been everytime he just tried idle chit-chat with the vampire.
He chewed on the wooden skewer a bit, his fangs making indentions in it. "Kiryuu...has a strong hate for vampires. I haven't done anything to upset him and was even on good terms with the one person he was really close to, Yuuki, and he hates my very being to the core. I guarantee that if there was no set list of whom he could and couldn't kill, he would have shot down the entire Night Class in a heartbeat", he explained.
"A pureblood vampire named Hiou Shizuka killed his parents, whom were vampire hunters, and took his twin brother from him. Which was probably the thing that spurned his deep rooted hatred for vampires. Being a vampire himself now has probably warped him beyond all reason", he let out a sigh. "He'd probably kill me just telling you all of this, but...since Watanuki-kun is so involved...you have a right to know"
There was a slight pang in his chest as he thought of the next suject brought up. "So...he loves you and Kiryuu?", he asked.
Doumeki watched Ichijou, his vampire fangs chewing on the skewer as Doumeki chewed on another dango from the one he held, the skewer twirling between his fingers almost absently, brows furrowed. The colour faded from him as he listened to the explanation of Zero's past, and he was a little disturbed to find that it didn't elicit sympathy in him, though it should have.
That name came up again. The name of the little girl who'd recently arrived on the island. Yuuki. Watanuki had mentioned that name as well, and now it was brought up again.
Doumeki's brows furrowed, and he went white again, nodding, glancing up at Ichijou, "I see." he said, still thinking to himself, sliding the last of the dango off the wooden skewer and sticking it point-down in the grass, looking into middle space as he considered, "Watanuki...mentioned Yuuki last night. He said he didn't want to be like her." Doumeki sighed, and blue washed over the white, a pale shade as he fought to keep emotional distance.
"I...don't know if he loves me." he said, his voice low, "There are some feelings there, though. I suppose."
Ichijou set the skewer down into the now empty container that previously held malformed onigiri. His arms draped over his knees as he watched Doumeki's reaction. White then blue. He guessed the mentioned girl was a mystery to him. Nobody really spoke about her. She was an almost taboo subject with Kaname, not wanting to upset him by mentioning her and Zero, well, he wasn't sure what his reaction would be, but it probably wasn't a good one.
"Yuuki was seemingly human from when I met her. She was a very sweet girl. Strong and kind hearted. It was probably why her and Kiryuu became close. But...it turned out that Yuuki was really a pureblood vampire. The kind of vampire that he loathes the most. I would imagine it would be the same as being betrayed. She was special to both Kiryuu and Kaname. But in the end, Kaname claimed her as his lover. I guess he doesn't want to be like her in the aspect of abandoning him." His face was contemplative and he was a mix of blue and purple. "I don't know for sure, but that's what I think. And maybe his feelings for you makes him not want to be like Yuuki even more."
Doumeki poked at the grass with his skewer, then let it be, shifting himself to take some strain off his knees and to change the position he held his torso in, to give his wounds a rest. Glancing to the side, he listened to what Ichijou had to say, his colour turning slowly to a very deep blue, the sadness overwhelming him.
He nodded a little, "That makes sense. I can see...why someone would compare him to Yuuki. Strong and kind-hearted." he sighed, and lifted a hand to rub at his eyes for a moment, digging his knuckle against the fragile skin of his eyelid, "He said he didn't want to lead me and Zero along. I told him...he wasn't. He's made it clear to me what..." He paused, for a while, his voice low, his colour a blue so deep it couldn't get any deeper, "What his choice is." softly, pausing for a while, and then speaking in a small, sort of lost voice, "Sometimes I think about it. It feels like a...strong wind blowing against me. Or like I've been stabbed in the chest." he paused again for a while, "I don't know what to do."
Ichijou listened and nodded. He even thought their personalities were rather similar to each other. But Watanuki was different. He couldn't place his finger on it, but from what it sounded like, Watanuki was more...sure.
His still-green eyes watched as the shade of blue became darker and darker until he took on a shade of an inky, midnight sea blue. He was hurt, deeply and the words to describe how he felt made it all the clearer. His heart was shattered and damn well stepped on as well.
After a long pause, looking up into the sky that no longer had a trace of sun in its colour, Doumeki's own colour nearly blending with it and his own a royal blue from becoming meloncholy, he spoke again. "Try your best...."
"Whatever you choose, whether it's moving on and staying by his side or trying to.....", he paused for a moment. "Snatch him back....Try your best. That's all any of us can really do, isn't it?"
He sat still for a long time, his head down, then lifted his chin when Ichijou started speaking. He looked at the boy, his own skin and hair gone blue, obviously sharing Doumeki's sadness. Frowning to himself, he just looked the boy over, wondering why he was so sad, why he was affected by this. Why it wasn't just a random matter for him. Talking to someone. Why he had so much empathy.
It made him want to hug Ichijou, for a moment.
He swallowed a bit, shaking his head, "If...he were to choose me, I would want it to be his choice..." he said, his throat tightening, "He's made it clear he doesn't want to change his mind without persuasion. All I can do is make sure he's safe." he paused for a while, and gave a shaky sigh, "I'm strong. I'll be fine."
Ichijou looked over at him and his shoulders sagged a bit. He was at a loss of what else to say. Doumeki kept insisting that he was strong, he'd be fine, that it would be okay, but his voice and colour revealed otherwise.
He unbent his legs and shifted around reaching out and pulling the archer into an embrace. "You say that too much. 'I'm fine', 'I'll be fine', but if everyone just shrugged it off and left you alone to 'be fine', you'll never be okay", he said in a soft, gentle voice, his lips close to his ear. "You can't be strong all of the time, no one can. We can try, but there's a breaking point and we need someone to catch the falling pieces. Relationships work two ways, leaning on each other instead of one carrying the weight of another by themselves. It's not fair to either parties" He was beginning to ramble, but that didn't matter. "You're allowed to not be fine once in a while."
His chest heaved a little bit, his breathing slightly laboured, but he wasn't looking at Ichijou and his face didn't change. He glanced up after the first thing the boy said, eyes locked on him, his body still blue, hearing what he was saying.
It reminded him of his relationship with Watanuki. Always carrying him, chasing spirits away, easing his burden while Watanuki shouted and cooked, and he'd been sure...he'd been sure that he was getting something back, but if Watanuki could throw all of it away, toss him out like this, after...
His mouth opened, and his brows furrowed a bit, speaking in a low voice and shaking his head, "I gave him half of my right eye, my vision will never be perfect there again. I gave so much of my blood to save him. I put up with his shouting. I saved his life so many times. I stood in the rain for 10 hours, holding a ribbon." he paused, exhaling a bit, and then breathing in, "I was so tired. I was always so tired. He said thank you once, by choice. Before that it was by force." he paused again, looking down, "After all that, it takes him only a few months to throw me away?"
The noble rubbed his back, he was careful not to move him too much due to his injury, but he still held him and listened. He felt his heavy breaths and his heart beat and was still the shade of blue mixed with a bit of purple, sympathizing and comforting him. Doumeki had sacrificed a lot for Watanuki, so to have all of that yanked from under his feet, he couldn't imagine.
"I...I really don't think he's thrown you away. He was with you last night, wasn't he?", he said speaking after a bout of silence. "I mean...I can't say anything for sure...I'm not Watanuki, but...I think he still cares. If he threw you away then he wouldn't have bothered to go save you from the forest or stayed with you last night. He wouldn't have listened to Kaname's threat. Any...of that"
He patted his back softly. It probably wasn't his place to say anything to that magnitude, but...he didn't want to see the archer hurt like this. All he had been doing is trying and to have it all seem like it was for nothing. It would be like if Kaname had disregarded him for everything he had done for him in the past. It would hurt.
He'd been lost in thought so much that he almost hadn't realized the vampire was hugging him. He took a shaky breath, his arms coming around Ichijou's chest, and he rubbed at his back in return, resting his head on his shoulder, brows still furrowed. Doumeki's expression hadn't changed, other than the wrinkle between his eyebrows, and he simply sat there, letting the vampire hug him, just...savouring the warmth of his body for a moment, the fact that someone would hug him and tell him he didn't have to be strong.
It didn't mean he would break, it didn't mean he would cry or anything. But it was nice to know, nonetheless.
He just rested some of his weight against Ichijou, and nodded, "I know." he said, after a long moment, "It's just that...I waited. I knew he cared for me, it was just a matter of...time. And...this island..." he shook his head, "Maybe it's hitsuzen."
His voice was low. Doumeki didn't really believe in hitsuzen, not in the way Watanuki and Yuuko did. He knew it was nothing more than a failure, and on whose part, he didn't know.
"Thanks." he murmured, after a moment.
Ichijou stopped moving his hand and just rested it on Doumeki's back, his fingers occasionally stroking the spot there. He listened to the small bit of what Doumeki had to say. Hitsuzen...the inevitable...Was it so simple to just blame something like this on something like that? Though, no one was at fault for what was happening and things like this just...happen...but "the inevitable" was a strong word.
He shrugged a bit. "I don't know...maybe it is...", he paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. "But whether it is or isn't, the only thing you can do is keep moving forward."
He leaned his head against Doumeki's in a comforting gesture. "I'll help you, if you'd like me to", he said after a pause. And he meant it, too. Doumeki deserved something, not this, something good. For all of his work, he needed something good done for him.
Doumeki gave a low sigh, lifting his head a bit as Ichijou shrugged, his eyes closed, feeling more tired than anything. The blue faded to a light colour and he just rested there against Ichijou, allowing the vampire to hold up some of his weight. He felt drained with having spoken some of what was weighing on him aloud - maybe a bit lighter, but still drained. As if it was something he should never have said.
It wasn't his place to ask for anything back from Watanuki. Protecting him was a burden, a duty, that Doumeki had chosen for himself. But he'd always thought...no, not any more. His chest panged, the blue deepening a bit as Ichijou leaned his head against his own. He could feel the movmements of Ichijou's jaw as he spoke, and he could smell his hair, and Ichijou offered...help. With moving forward.
He closed his eyes for a moment, and gave a sigh, the blue shifting away and leaving a faintly pink-tinted white behind. Pulling his head back, he looked at Ichijou's face, and nodded, "I suppose you'd be the best one to help, wouldn't you?" he asked.
Ichijou's emeralds looked into golds as Doumeki pulled back slightly and looked at his face. He could see him dusted with pink. His blue faded and turned into a pinkish yellow of his own, giving him an eyes closed smile, a light breath escaping his lips. He gave him a quick single nod. "I'll certainly try my best", he said in a more cheerful tone.
He was glad Doumeki wasn't blue anymore, that means the talk helped and he lightened his mood a bit. He felt a bit accomplished and hoped that it could stay this way.
The vampire met his eyes for a moment, and Doumeki looked back, holding eye contact for a while, watching him fade from blue to pink and yellow, trying to remember what that meant. Happiness. And a blush. His own pink deepened just slightly, and he pulled one of his hands from Ichijou's side as he said he'd try his best, smiled like that.
Doumeki lifted his hand and cupped Ichijou's cheek, just for a moment, before scuffing fingers through his hair, and nodding, "I'll be fine." he said.
Maybe this time, it was a little more true.
The noble opened his eyes for a moment when the large hand cupped his soft, pale face, the smile still on his lips. He closed his eyes again, but just briefly, when the fingers went through his hair. When he said he'd be fine again, it had a different air to it, something more hopeful and he wasn't blue or white while saying it.
His own shade of pink darkened a bit and his hand idly went for a piece of pocky and stuck it in the dark-haired male's mouth, his smile widening a bit. "Good", he said in response to him being alright.
Doumeki sat back a little bit, holding his breath for a second at the twinging in the wounds on his chest and belly, eyes still locked on the vampire. It was...strange...how Ichijou had accomplished making him feel better in a way that other people hadn't, simply by...allowing him to be human and offering to help with it.
He licked his lips, watching Ichijou go pinker, and then the vampire stuck a Pocky in his mouth. Doumeki's brow raised, and one corner of his mouth perked up slightly. Chewing thoughtfully on the Pocky, he commented, "Cute."
Ichijou sat back on his feet, smiling happily, pink and yellow split right down the middle. The pink side was darker than the yellow side, though. When he heard the comment, the pink side turned into a hot pink colour and he blinked a couple of times.
He reached up and broke off the end of his pocky stick, stealing the other half of it and eating it, giving him a mischievous look as if to say 'Still think so?'. He licked the sugar off of his lips and leaned back on his hands, the smile still on his face and his eyes closing as he tilted his head upwards towards the sky. Yes, he certainly felt accomplished today.
Doumeki sat still, watching Ichijou for a few long moments, the way he was split between yellow and bright pink like that, while he blinked, and then stole Doumeki's pocky. He could read the question on his face, and simply raised a brow in return.
That just made it cuter.
Shifting a little, Doumeki reached down and poured himself another cup of shoga-yu, sipping at it thoughtfully and then going to open the chichi dango, stealing a skewer and nibbling on one of the smaller end ones, looking over at Ichijou. He felt much more calm, his body settling to a purple colour, watching Ichijou, though slowly one side settled to a light pink as he observed him watching the sky.
"I think I won't drink tonight." Doumeki said, after a few moments, "The sky is nice."
Ichijou wasn't in the mood for anything more to eat, having already nibbled on a bit of everything already and tasting things. Plus, Doumeki had enough appetite for both of them, he was sure he would appreciate having left overs. Slowly, the pink side of him started to melt into a light purple, leaving him split between a yellow and some sort of magenta. His eyes watching as the stars peeked out through the navy blue curtain one by one.
When Doumeki spoke, he looked back down at him and a brighter smile crossed over his face, the yellow side darkening. "That's good!", he said, reaching out to refill his own cup with shoga-yu. "And that will help heal you. We don't want you bleeding out even more, now do we?", he chuckled sipping on the warm, slightly cooler than before but still warm, ginger drink.
Doumeki finished off his skewer of chichi dango, and sipped more of his shoga-yu. The night was getting a bit cooler, and the ginger was good for keeping warm, so he sat still looking up at the stars, thinking to himself, hearing Ichijou talk about not drinking, not bleeding and all. He licked his lips, shooting a glance over at the boy for a moment, still purple and a light pink.
"Does my blood smell good to you?" he asked, after a moment.
The blond tilted his head slightly at the question wondering where that came from, but then, maybe that would explain his thoughts about Doumeki's blood to vampires. Though, it was sort of an embarrassing question. The purple washed away from the pink and it became a more solid colour.
"Uhm...well...it does", he admitted. It wasn't an intoxitatingly strong scent that made vampires practically drunk at just the smell, but it was still pretty appetizing. It was a little better than blood from just any ordinary human, but it wasn't a sweet smell like a honey suckle. The smell was like...a fresh loaf of honey wheat bread out of a bakery oven. Subtle, but delicious at the same time.
"Hn." he said, his eyes lowering a bit, "I suppose it doesn't have the same effect on vampires as it does on spirits, then." He licked his lips, and shifted himself a bit to ease pressure on his torso, never wanting to keep the same position for too long. It strained him to sit in the same position for a long time.
Finishing his cup of shoga-yu, he looked at the things laid out, "We should put some of this away." he commented after a moment, "But the stars are nice." he paused, glancing over at Ichijou, then, "Stay the night." another pause, "Maybe the day too."
Lifting a hand, he scratched the side of his head. "Maybe...", he said with a thoughtful expression. So Himawari's bad luck seemed to not effect vampires as well as Doumeki's relling abilities. Then why was Watanuki so potent? He mentally shrugged. That only meant he wouldn't be "repelled" by the archer, which was a relief. "I wonder if the taste is the same as the smell", he wondered idly. This time he shrugged for real and smiled. "Oh well"
The noble finished his own cup and then looked at all of the snacks spread across the blanket and nodded. "We should so bugs don't get on them, but we can cover them up and star gaze some more", he said with a light chuckle and going to put the lids on the containers so bugs attracted to the sweet smells woulnd't try to nibble at their treats.
He laid down flat on his back. "Alright, I'll spend the night and day. But don't stay up too late on my account. You still need as much rest as you can get", he said looking up into the sky, it being easier now that he was laying down. The pink turned into purple, his yellow half going a bit lighter now.
He watched the boy put the lids on the food while he thought about that question, his brows furrowing slightly, just watching him. When Ichijou finally agreed to stay the night and day, Doumeki nodded, though he was still wondering about his repelling abilities - Ichijou brought up a good point. It might smell alright, but who knew how it tasted.
It was something he wanted to test, much like how he intended to test his exorcism on Zero, but...his colour darkened, a flash of dark grey before fading back to purple...he most certainly didn't want Zero trying his blood. He glanced up at Ichijou for a moment, thinking to himself.
"Why don't you try it? My blood, I mean. To see if it tastes how it smells."
Ichijou turned his head so that he was looking up at Doumeki from his laying position, his hands serving as a pillow under his head. "Like as a test?", he asked back. He looked back up at the sky. Would that be okay? It was a test to see if his blood was a taste repellent to vampires like some sort of pesticide. He was against biting humans, but if it was to prove something and it was just a small taste....
He mulled the thought over in his head. Well, he didn't have to bite him, he could just lick Doumeki's wound, but no, that would be disgusting with all of that ointment and anticeptic. It would taste horrible. Maybe if they just knicked his finger a bit?
"I don't know....", he said, his face unsure.
Doumeki shifted, moving himself over a little closer to where Ichijou was sitting, his colour still purple, looking down at him, "Like that. Yes." he said, his voice calm, just looking at him, "You can tell me if it's bad. It...would be a good thing to know."
Ichijou looked uncertain about it, though, and Doumeki observed him for a long moment, wondering why. He was a vampire, wasn't he? The prospect of blood...but then he remembered Ichijou's intentions to live peacefully with humans, not to bite, not to hurt them, and he realized the reason for the hesitation.
"It wouldn't be like biting someone when they didn't want it." he said.
Doumeki made two valid points. It would be a good thing to know, just in case. To figure out the extent of what his abilities were to vampires. And, well, it wasn't like biting someone that was unwilling or luring them in. This was a conscious decision unaltered by hypnotic voices, eyes, and beauty. Plus, in all reality, it was no different from taking blood from Watanuki to make the blood tablet that fueled his system right at that moment.
Letting out a defeated sigh, he looked over at the archer, his enireity of his body purple now from being calm. "Alright...I'll do it. On one condition", he said in a slightly firm voice.
He sat still, just watching Ichijou as he seemed to think it over, his hand coming unconsciously to his neck, trying not to remember the bandages on Watanuki's neck, his embarrassed reactions when Doumeki asked about it...didn't want to think about Zero feeding from him...
Licking his lips, he forced himself to stay calm, and glanced down at Ichijou as he gave a defeated sigh, "What condition?" he asked, his own voice even.
He held up a hand with one finger extended. "One: No drinking. The alcohol in your blood stream could alter the taste. I don't know for sure, but it'd be best and we'll wait until you're healed. At least most of the way.", he declaired. So, yeah, that was two conditions, but oh well, they were both for the best.
He was kind of worried since he hadn't had fresh blood in a long while. He might take more than he needed just to sample it, well, if it tasted good that is. He knew he could control himself, he would make sure of it. If he took a blood tablet, that would probably help him a lot.
Letting his hand drop and then go back to under his head, he wiggled slightly. He can't believe he agreed to something like that. But those were very valid points. "If I get in trouble with Kiryuu..." He trailed off. Well, he didn't want to think of what would happen to him if the Hunter found out. He would blame it on a vampire's lure and try to kill him, accusing him of lying and biting him for the hell of it. The purple flashed orange a couple of times
Doumeki listened to the condition - well, conditions really. He quirked a brow at the 'no drinking' one, wondering how long one had to avoid drinking to make sure it was out of the bloodstream. Couldn't be more than a day, so he wouldn't drink the night before. Simple.
He nodded at him, "Alright." he said, simply, but his brows furrowed as Ichijou commented on Kiryuu. Zero. Who had hurt Watanuki, made him angry and upset. Ichijou was worried about him too. Doumeki flashed dark grey for a moment, his voice hard as he continued, "If Kiryuu has something to say about it, he can speak to me." he said, his voice sounding very firm and final, "I won't let him lay a hand on you because of it."
Ichijou nodded when his conditons were accepted. That was good. There should be no complications then. No open wound for him to worry about and no alcohol altering the taste. This is strictly for test purposes., he told himself in his mind. It should be smooth sailing. Hopefully.
"Mhm...it would be best if you did", he said, flashing orange once more. When he heard him sounding so...protective, it made him happy, allowing him to flash a yellow amidst the purple. "Alright...If he gets angry, I'll leave it up to you. If that's okay", he said looking up at the shrine keeper, his green eyes peering into his gold eyes.
Doumeki nodded at him, his brows furrowed, seeming lost in thought for a moment, "How long before it should I avoid drinking? I heal quickly, so it shouldn't be too long from now."
Pausing for a moment, he considered what Ichijou was saying, his lips pursed, and nodded, "It's none of his business, really. If it's done by consent. There'd be no reason for him to even know about it. If he finds out, you can come directly to my place, if he's upset, and I'll clear it up."
Sighing a bit, he reached out again to ruffle the boy's hair, then gave a nod, "Let's lie down and look at the stars."
"I guess a couple of days, just to make sure", he said. He fidgetted again when he said that it shouldn't be too long. That meant it would probably be at the latest a week, if that. Well, this was important, so he'd get it done.
He let out a sigh at the fact that Kiryuu was such a worry. He wasn't going to allow this to be found out in the first place, but in case it did, he was glad they had a plan. "Alright, I'll be sure to do that.", he said in a soft voice.
He closed his eyes as his hair was ruffled, smiling something more content now and he looked up at the stars from his back, his hand draping over his stomach delicately. "They're nice and bright tonight", he said in a gentle voice.
Doumeki nodded. A couple of days - that would be a pain, but it would be worth it to know. He watched as Ichijou sighed and rested on his back, looking at the sky, fidgeting and everything. Ruffling his hair again, Doumeki moved over and gingerly lay down beside Ichijou, one arm folded under his head, looking up at the stars, and nodding.
"They are bright." he said, after a long moment, and then sighed a bit, "Don't worry so much."
Ichijou closed his eyes again as his hair was mussed once more. He let out a light chuckle and smiled. He glanced over at the archer a couple of times as he settled down beside him, making sure he was okay. He could tell he was being careful.
His smile faded into something warmer as the silence passed. "Alright, I'll try not to", he said glancing over at the shrine keeper then back up to the sky. After a moment, he scooted a bit closer to the larger male and closed his eyes.
His colour was a nice shade of light yellow and light purple. Happy and content. This evening had been an emotionally stressful one, but he felt better and he could feel that Doumeki did, too.
Doumeki relaxed in the grass, glancing over as Ichijou moved closer and slid an arm out, tugging at him and guiding him to put his head on his shoulder before releasing a long sigh, his colour back to a light blush of purple over his normal colour.
He looked up at the sky, feeling worn out. Drained. But...somehow better than he had been before. It seemed that lately Ichijou was the one to make him feel more at ease, more balanced. More relaxed. With the boy's blonde head securely on his shoulder, Doumeki found himself drifting off as he lay there looking at the stars, eyes drifting closed, then opening, then finally drifting closed again for the final time.
Yawning a bit, he fell asleep, lying on his back in the grass, Ichijou's head on his shoulder.