stop yourself from thinking

[drainedpaladin]

Who: Doumeki and Watanuki
When: midday, November 1, after the night of their re-arrival in Siren's Port
Where: Baseball Diamond to their apartment
Summary: Doumeki and Watanuki are figuring out that they're not exactly where they're used to being, and, having been informed that they own an apartment, they're going to go check it out. Only to

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[successoroftime]

[Watanuki nodded, yawning a little and keeping close to Doumeki. He hadn't been able to sleep properly despite his anemia and his exhaustion; the best he could manage was a slight doze, and the growling outside had been too close for comfort. Thankfully, the dug-out held, and there had been enough light for him to help change Doumeki's bandages.

At least they had been safe.

The mornings in this new world were different. There were actually people -- people -- walking in the streets, a few early risers watching them slip out of the stadium as they themselves left the bars they had stayed over at. This place was somehow grimier, closer to the lesser maintained parts of Tokyo as he remembered it.

A Tokyo that he wouldn't be able to go around in for a while.

His steps slowed down for a moment. They could be pulled back there as easily as they ended up in the Port. It made him uneasy that he couldn't remember the first time they had arrived here, almost a years' worth of memories... people. Faces. All gone.]

...ahh. [he looked up

[drainedpaladin]

[even if they'd known it wasn't the Island anymore, seeing this kind of thing, this City, the people in it, the way some of them casually used strange abilities in the open, how some of them didn't even look human as they went to what seemed to be normal jobs - it definitely made it clear. it wasn't home, and it wasn't that Island either. he couldn't even clearly remember the Island anymore, the scenery yes, but the people...someone, he knew that someone was important, with blond hair, and another with red, someone with silvery hair...but that was where it ended. facial features blurred, voices refused to sound. he left it be for now - finding a place to clean up and sleep was more important

[successoroftime]

[other friends they didn't know of. Watanuki's heart twinged at that phrase. He knew it was more than likely, after seeing his previous entries on his LP... ah, no, they're called NVs now

[drainedpaladin]

[the idea of having friends he didn't know about was unnerving, leaving him hanging like the feeling of knowing he had left friends behind that he could no longer remember. still, he had Watanuki, and Himawari, and those were the people who mattered the most to him for now. had meant the most to him, aside from his family, for the past several years. he would've felt wrong if things from that Island he had gone through with Himawari weren't the same anymore - he wanted to see her, but he needed to sleep and to make sure Watanuki was safe. perhaps he would cook something for her this evening...she'd been the only one to not profit from his recent interest in cooking

[successoroftime]

[Doumeki needed as much sleep as Watanuki did, and likely moreso. The other boy had, after all, spent most of the night awake, and had fought the monsters that had crept up on them even before that

[drainedpaladin]

[the ride in the elevator was short, but he felt dizzy by the end of it, pressure against his head from the movement, the gravity, combined with his own exhaustion and the headache that had been threatening at the back of his skull blooming into full life with a slow throbbing...it would be nice to lie down, but he wasn't sure how comfortable they could possibly be in this apartment, with the trappings of five years inside and their life together, however it was

[successoroftime]

[Watanuki leaned on the wall of the elevator compartment, closing his eyes, feeling his breath stifled by being in a small area. After last night, staying in an enclosed area like this was rather uncomfortable, as if maybe, maybe they wouldn't get out after this.

He made a sigh of relief when they were finally stepped out, taking one long moment to take a deep breath of air before looking at Doumeki. The other teen looked uncomfortable, though the pain didn't seem to be coming from his wounds. Watanuki made a soft sound of concern and stayed close, in case Doumeki fell or needed something to rest on.]

Noisy and disturbing.

[he stayed quiet for the rest of the way, his anxiety remaining a tightly-wound thread in his gut now that the elevator ride was no longer a pressing concern, and his gaze darted from number plate to number plate. A few more doors to go, and then they were there.]

Nothing too heavy. [a wry smile crossed his face.] I don't know about you, but I'm still not sure if my head will start hurting again. It'll be better

[drainedpaladin]

[he moved along quietly beside Watanuki as they move toward the door of the apartment they shared. his stomach was clenched up and his hand came up to press lightly against the bandage on his belly, his lips pressing together into a tight line as they got closer. and then they were standing in front of the door.

he lifted his hand, and pushed the key into the lock, turning it, then glancing over at Watanuki. the tension was palpable, as he removed the key and turned the knob, stepping inside and sliding off the flip flops he'd gotten from the Dugouts. padding inside, he glanced around. a pretty average place, a kitchen with a two-person table, a low couch with a coffee table. nothing spectacular. masculinely decorated with things that obviously didn't cost too much. he exhaled a soft breath, glancing back at Watanuki]

Something light is good. I've already got a headache.

[successoroftime]

[Watanuki met Doumeki's gaze and nodded, steeling himself for the moment when the door was opened.

He followed Doumeki inside, slipping off his own slippers in suit, feeling his breath catch in his throat at how simple and neat it was. It did look like something the both of them would be comfortable with at their ages, calm, relaxing, and without any fuss.

He spotted a hibachi on the small table next to the sofa, his pipe lying on it as if in wait. Watanuki smiled a little and closed his eyes. Maybe this was what his own apartment would look like years from now had things not turn out as they had and... well.

Watanuki's fingers brushed on the back of the sofa, feeling the texture of the cloth on his skin, before he slowly walked to the kitchen. No regrets - not for the choice he had made before, nor for how he had lived his life on this island. Judging from how things looked, maybe they had been happy.]

Soup might be enough. I'd also make gyoza, but that'll be a little heavy.

[drainedpaladin]

[his eyes skim around the apartment, and he took a few steps in, trying to work out how things were. their possessions are mixed, obviously. Watanuki's pipe, and his jacket draped over the back of a chair, a book on the coffee table that could only belong to him, with a thin blue ribbon as a bookmark. he exhaled slightly, taking the place in, accepting taht it was the place he lived. it was comfortable, at least, it wasn't hard to believe that this was a place he would live in, nor that it was a place Watanuki would live in.

he nodded slightly]

I could eat gyoza. Or you could make udon, if there's ingredients.

[he paused, and shifted a little]

I need to change.

[successoroftime]

Go ahead.

[he stands in the doorway of the kitchen a while after he flicks on the switches, the breath that had caught in his throat translating to a gentle ache. It wasn't just his kitchen, even though most of the items were arranged according to his usual habits. There were other things - a cabinet where to store bottles of liquor, more towels spread out and folded than usual, more cookbooks in one of the cabinets (Watanuki never used those with incredibly simplified instructions, to be sure), and even certain utensils with different-colored handles.

Not just his. TheirsWatanuki swallowed, that raw feeling surfacing again, and leaned on the door frame. The hand he had placed on the wooden panel trembled a little. More than how their apartment looked, how the kitchen was right now said a lot about just how well they got along. Even if Watanuki had let Doumeki use his kitchen a couple of times back at the other island, the fact that Doumeki probably also used this kitchen as often as he did said... quite a lot

[drainedpaladin]

[he hadn't had a chance to look at the kitchen, not in any detail, but there were many things throughout the apartment that implied a shared life rather than two lives in one apartment. as he moved back through the apartment to find the bedrooms, he felt a sort of tightening in his chest, not in a particularly bad way - just a sort of anxiety and excitement at what this place implied. they'd been living together, and had been that way for a long time. their relationship had progressed to some point. no pretenses of separate lives, just sharing something between themselves. he moved down the hallway, peeking into one door and finding the bathroom with two towels, one blue and one dark green, hung up on a towel rack side by side, then moved on to what seemed to be the only other door in the hallway, his heart feeling as if it was in his throat

[successoroftime]

[It took Watanuki some time to recover enough to go around the kitchen, reciting the recipe for miso soup and gyoza like a mantra. His hold on himself was shaky at best; he couldn't stop the ache in his chest from growing as he immersed himself in the life an older him had left behind

[drainedpaladin]

[when he moved back into the kitchen, Watanuki had been holding a bowl against his chest, looking upset, down at the floor tiles, and Doumeki felt a strange surge of something in his chest - maybe grief, maybe worry, maybe regret - the way Watanuki was standing reminded him of how he stood in the rain, holding a dead cat, wet and cold and alone. he stood still for a moment, until Watanuki started moving to prepare food, then he stepped into the kitchen, steeling himself, tugging at the loose collar of the samue he was wearing. he moved across the kitchen and stood next to the shorter boy, leaning his hip against the counter, eyes locked on him, an expression on his face of concern mixed with a sort of deep internal shock. he sighed softly]

I found something to wear in the bedroom.

[he paused for a long moment, just watching Watanuki, trying to work out what emotions it was that the boy was feeling, and then shifted]

Is there something I can help with?

[successoroftime]

[he was thankful that he had washed his face before Doumeki had gotten here; at least for today, he didn't know if he should worry the other boy more. He nodded without looking up and focused his gaze at the rest of the ingredients, licking his dry lips and swallowing.

He was thirsty. His throat still felt raw.]

There isn't enough for udon, but we can have ramen. Could you slice the vegetables?

[Watanuki finally thinks he's ready to look up, and he does, only to find that his next words -- where Doumeki could find the chopping board -- died in his mouth.

That was a really ill-fitting samue Doumeki was wearing. He could guess whose it was.

A ghost of a smile appeared on his lips as he leaned back on the counter to look at the other properly. It was a pattern that reminded him so much of Doumeki. The tips of his fingers itching as he wanted to properly pin that top on Doumeki so it wouldn't look like he had just flung them on or something. Maybe later.]

The other you had grown so big, it seems.

[drainedpaladin]

Ramen is good.

[it was a simple statement, an acceptance that whatever it was Watanuki would give him would be food he wanted to eat. good food, to nourish his body. he shifted, and leaned down slightly, the collar on the samue gaping slightly to show a slice of his scarred torso all the way down to the top of the bandage on his belly, the bottoms of the samue legs folded up slightly, and opened a cupboard, pulling out a chopping board and then glancing up at the boy when he didn't finish speaking.

ah. the samue.

he stood up straight and placed the board on the counter, looking down at the samue]

It seems I was much taller, and broader. [his mouth curved slightly into a small frown] I must have been a lot bigger than you. [somehow, that coupled with the single bed in the single bedroom made him slightly uncomfortable, heat building up in his chest - he didn't want to think that way, and so he busied himself with getting the vegetables out of the fridge. somehow, moving in this kitchen felt very natural to him. he licked his lips