♔[ BIRTHDAY TIME! ] ♔

[slavic_sinner]

Mello's been here a long time, and a good portion of that time hasn't been entirely kind to him. And so, on his birthday this year, the Hotel seems finally to decide to give him a little bit of kindness-- or at least the illusion of it, in any case

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[placemyfaith]

When Ky had received the information in a pamphlet on his desk when he woke in the morning, he hadn't known at all what to make of it. He was most certainly not a servant of the Hotel, but the note went into detail about how long the man whose birthday it was had been in the Hotel and what birthdays could be like

[slavic_sinner]

Unfortunately for Ky, the nice gestures were cause for suspicion-- as most things were, to Mello. He looked at the stranger greeting him, eyes narrowed, and set a hand casually on his gun in silent warning, though he did not pull it from its holster.

"And how would you know anything about it?" he demanded cooly, curious more than hostile. He'd gotten a note; perhaps this one had, too. The Hotel did often pull tricks like that.

He remained in the doorway, shoulder propping open the door to keep it from locking unintentionally. Mello had been trapped far too many times in unwanted situations in the past three years here. He knew well enough to at least do his best at preventing them when he could.

[placemyfaith]

Ky certainly understood about a desire not to let the door close and therefore run the risk of locking, but he also understood that at a certain point he had to trust that taking reasonable precautions would be sufficient.

"The hotel left me a note. Although I'll admit we don't know each other, it didn't seem that there should be any reason you should spend your alone. Or unappreciated," he added with a purr, before straightening up again. "I'm Ky Kiske, since we haven't met."

[slavic_sinner]

"Maybe I like being alone, Ky," Mello pointed out, lifting a brow. "But all right. Looks like you went out of your way and everything." He gestured vaguely, giving the room another once-over before looking at Ky again.

"Still gives me absolutely no reason to trust you though," he pointed out conversationally. Ky probably didn't even realize he was already being given the benefit of the doubt by the sheer fact Mello wasn't threatening him and had even let his hand drop from his weapon.

((OOC: OOPS. Sorry, forgot to reply to the ooc note before. I'm all right with either, so whichever you prefer. If possession works better and you want to go for smut, feel free! And feel free to say the food is aphro'd too, if you'd like!))

[placemyfaith]

"I'm not particularly asking for your trust." Orher than that Ky hadn't put any additional drugs in the food, but he'd offer to be the taste tester if that was the issue. "I simply wanted to do something nice." As a gesture of good will Ky had left his own weapon -- his sword -- in his room, but there was no reason Mello would know that.

Ky shrugged, trying to suppress the disappointed face. It seemed that perhaps not all people appreciated a kind thought. "I could go, if you wanted."

"Or I could give you your gift." He licked his lips salaciously for a second before he went back to looking innocently at Mello.

[slavic_sinner]

In a place like this, it was likely he could guess what his gift could be.

"It's not any sort of real trust, just the kind that makes me believe you don't want to poison me or something," he pointed out, but shrugged. Toeing off his shoes, Mello left them in the doorway, letting them prop open the door instead so he could step inside.

"A gift though?" He looked interested, lips twitching a little in an almost-smile. "All because the Hotel told you it's my birthday? You're so generous to strangers."

[placemyfaith]

Ky blinked. He supposed that the cake counted as a gift, technically. It was effort he had went to for the other's birthday. "It's important to practice the good traits of human nature here," he said.

"If you're worried about the cake being poisoned, then I would be willing to forgo tradition to take the first bite. Or any other assurances I can offer you that this cake is no more poisoned than food in the hotel usually is. Although I heard that it's generally less bad for things which are baked from scratch."

[slavic_sinner]

"You made this?" Mello asked, surprised. "I'm not worried so much as-- Why would you bother, for someone you've never met?"

This time, he wasn't even teasing. He was genuinely curious, cocking his head slightly at the stranger. He was being so... generous. It made Mello suspicious simply because he'd never really known any honestly good people.

((OOC: Aaah, I'm so sorry! I must've missed this tag and accidentally deleted the notif or something DD: ))

[placemyfaith]

Ky shrugged. "It tastes much better that way. And it's your birthday, and if we don't have human decency in a place like this, what do we have? Besides lots of sex."

[slavic_sinner]

He paused a moment, watching Ky speculatively. Finally, Mello nodded slowly. He was still aware, but suspicions were only that before proven right. And he didn't want to be proven right. Though it seemed a large portion of the people he met here were hardly respectably human being with any sense of decency, Mello had to admit that a rather sizeable percent had to be, and probably were. He couldn't possibly live in constant suspicion; he could be aware without being paranoid.

"You're right," he agreed. "I think I'd like to try that cake."

[placemyfaith]

Ky brightened at that, looking clearly pleased. Well, he had made the cake for Mello. It would be a bit of a shame if Mello then refused to eat any of it. "I hope you like it. If you still wanted me to have the first slice, I don't mind. It's really up to you."

Ky continued looking at Mello, all earnestness and enthusiasm. He couldn't say that making a cake for a stranger's birthday was the best idea he'd had, but now that he had done he really wanted it to bring some measure of relief to Mello, not cause him additional agitation.

[slavic_sinner]

"Then you'll understand if I do ask you to go ahead and try it first," Mello agreed with a nod, beckoning him toward the table as he also sat down.

"Do you often go out of your way to do favors for strangers?" It was a question out of simple curiosity. "Because you think it promotes decent behavior and you'd like to lead by example? Or because it makes you feel better to think you can bring something meaningful to this animal place?"

[placemyfaith]

"When I'm in my own world I'm a captain in the International Police Force. Before that was a soldier. If I can do something to make any place slightly nicer, then I'd like to. It's not motivated by thoughts of what other people would do, it's just instinct for when the option is clear."

Ky took a seat at the table, cutting a slice of cake and eating a bite. He could feel warmth coiling in his stomach with the bite he swallowed. "It's a good deal heavier on the aphro than I expected. My sincere apologies."

[slavic_sinner]

Mello nodded, interested but accepting that explanation for now. "You'll have to excuse me, but I just don't seem to run into many actually good people around, so color me surprised," Mello commented, his tone a bit sarcastic but the words genuine.

He waited for the other to take a bite of the cake, sharp blue eyes watching him closely, and nodded. "It's to be expected. It's in the ingredients too, I'm sure," he pointed out, not blaming Ky. All things considered, the guy was being surprisingly polite and kind. It was... refreshing. Those were traits hard to come by in the Hotel, after all.

"You can leave if you want," he offered reasonably. "If you think it's affecting you a lot and you'd rather not have this go in that direction." A pause, and he added thoughtfully. "Though I wouldn't mind if you stayed." The choice was Ky's. Mello wouldn't force him, and he wouldn't touch the cake until Ky agreed; he didn't want to impair his better judgment like that or try to jump him unwanted.

[placemyfaith]

His first month here, Ky might have left, or he might have stubbornly believed himself capable of overcoming the results of the aphro. "I'd heard that it wasn't as bad in raw ingredients. I think there's less of a system to it than that, though."

Ky looked at him. "I'll...stay, if you're fine with it. It wasn't my intention, I assure you." He was still hoping that he could get by without the aphro having a huge effect, but he was also consenting to whatever might happen when he was under the effects of the drug. "But it sounds to me like you could use more contact with someone who is at least...well-intentioned."