Into the Whirlwind [Open]

[fallingjunkyard]

Characters: Joshua and Ness, and any of the overly protective types who want to spy on them and attack Joshua
Content: A totally not!date between Joshua and Ness
Setting: Starting on the Way's deck, and moving to all over Shashta
Time: Evening-Night, backdated to before the Way left Shashta
Warnings: Incredible amounts of fail?

Comments

[eighthmelody]

Ness hadn't been waiting long at all. If ten minutes could be considered not long. He didn't wear anything different. After all, it wasn't a date. They were just going out.

...or something like that.

He was genuinely surprised when Joshua offered to take him out, but he wasn't going to complain. Sometimes surprises were good things, and he smiled when Joshua approached.

[fallingjunkyard]

Joshua grinned, and turned aside to make his way down from the Way, not bothering to wait for Ness; he knew Ness would follow. The streets and roads of Shashta were lit with lights in preparation for the night as the sky quickly darkened.

Joshua chose the path they had walked before on the night Ness had left the Way, walking in silence, just enjoying everything before he chose to speak. "I've never been one to go walking on an empty stomach. How familiar are you with the use of chopsticks?"

[eighthmelody]

And Joshua was be right, because Ness would follow him across the Badlands if needed. It was oddly familiar. This wasn't the first time Ness was following Joshua into Shashta.

"Chopsticks?" Ness asked. "I'm actually pretty good with them." He could credit that to one of his childhood friends.

[fallingjunkyard]

"That's good." Joshua rolled his shoulders and slipped his bare hands into his coat pockets, before he turned his head to face Ness with a grin. "It'd be terrible if you wouldn't be able to eat."

He gives a little shrug, before he turns his gaze back to Shashta and continues, a hint of teasing in his voice. "Of course, it would've been more fun watching you try to use them."

[fallingjunkyard]

Joshua lead Ness to one of the nearby tables, leaving behind the minor chaos of Eldoon's Noodles. He made sure to pick one unoccupied by other people; it just wouldn't be good form if he made Ness too jealous.

Setiing his bowl on the table, Joshua slid onto a seat and said quietly, "Itadakimasu," before the picked up the disposable chopsticks Eldoon had handed to them. He split them in two, but, as always with these kinds of chopsticks, they didn't split perfectly down the middle.

Oh well. Good food was good food, even if it was slightly too salty, and Joshua savoured the food and just being out here with Ness.

[eighthmelody]

Now that things had quieted down, Ness was starting to feel a little bit better about their...whatever it was. Certainly not a date.

Joshua had picked a quiet table, and even though Ness could faintly still hear some commotion at the noodle stand, it felt kind of silent. Maybe he was just too used to meals both at home and the Way: lots of talking, laughing, joking...

But this was nice too, and Ness couldn't help but smile a little at the change.

[fallingjunkyard]

Joshua took his time with his food. Good food always deserved his full attention, and that's what he gave his ramen. While he didn't eat quickly, he didn't eat so slowly that it went cold. An excellent bowl of ramen like this was one way to stop Joshua from talking.

Though... he idly wondered if the old guy was as good at making beef as he was at noodles.

Joshua's chopsticks inched towards Ness' bowl.

[eighthmelody]

Ness couldn't remember the last time he had ramen, but he was certain that it wasn't as good as this. Salt aside, they had that homemade feel that you can't just get at a fancy restaurant. Bigger and more expensive didn't always mean better, especially when it came to the subject of food.

Although he was somewhat lost in that train of thought, he didn't fail to notice the pair of chopsticks creeping towards his bowl. He immediately gave them a light flick with his chopsticks.

"Get your own."

This was his food, thank you very much.

[fallingjunkyard]

Joshua just smiled; there was a little more to the fountain he wasn't telling Ness.

He lead Ness closer to it, close enough to see the faint gleam that came from below the water's surface. The gleam of coins, small change tossed into the fountain.

There's a restaurant near Levi's house that hasn't cleaned out the coins their fountain ever

[eighthmelody]

Coins. It was a common practice for people, especially children, to toss a coin into a fountain and make a wish on them. There were many variations on this, if it mattered what coins you used or whether or not you should stand with your back to the fountain and lob it over your shoulder and pray it didn't hit someone in the head. No matter what myths a person believed, the general premise was the same.

Make a wish, and maybe it will come true.

There were a few coins in this fountain, enough to reflect the wishes of people, but not too much to overcrowd it.

Absently, Ness dipped a hand in the water. It probably wasn't the cleanest water, but it was cool to the touch.

[fallingjunkyard]

When Ness moved forwards to touch the water, Joshua loosened his grip on Ness' hand and let go. In a way, he admired the people who could drop a coin in there and make a wish; they knew what they wanted, even if sometimes it wasn't good for them. Sometimes all you needed to do was ask and you'd receive.

But Joshua had never known what to ask for.

He wasn't one to ask for what he really wanted (whatever that was) anyway.

Grinning and taking a few steps back, well out of waterflick range, he called to Ness, "I wouldn't touch that, Ness. Some people can't contain their bladder near bodies of water."

[eighthmelody]

Even though he was standing a good distance away, Ness flicked the water anyway. For most other people, yes, this would be a futile tactic, but it helped when you had telekinesis on your side. Nobody around them seemed to notice. And if they had, so what?

"I'm a doctor. I've touched worse."

Which he had, but the idea of someone possibly relieving themselves in a fountain was gross all the same.

[fallingjunkyard]

What Joshua wanted most from Ness was to start reaching for him again. The moments he remembered vividly were the times where he could really feel the reason why he agreed to this. They were all moments where he had been leaving, or reuniting, and were all moments where he was there, in person, with Ness.

But the moment they met was the most vivid of them all.

His mouth lingered on Ness' as he closed his eyes and leant more fully into their kiss, free hand reaching to touch Ness' wrist.

[eighthmelody]

It frustrated Ness that he didn't know what Joshua wanted. He just didn't understand. But getting to know and understand a person took a lot of time, and Ness knew he would just have to try harder if he ever wanted to strengthen his connection with Joshua.

When Joshua leaned closer, Ness responded by putting his arms around Joshua's neck.

[fallingjunkyard]

Joshua slowly broke off their kiss, but didn't pull away. The arms around his neck were slightly reassuring, though it hardly changed the way he behaved towards Ness.

He didn't want his thoughts clouded.

"If you keep on waiting for me, you'll be waiting forever."

[eighthmelody]

Ness was silent for a moment, and then let Joshua go.

"It seems more like you're waiting for me," he replied quietly.