That's Not Potpourri

[undercard]

 Akihiko has been remarkably well behaved since his withdrawal stint in the clinic- there's been no monuments to Zeus made of live wiring, no fights with inanimate objects, and no obscenely loud music playing from his gym at odd hours in the morning. And today he isn't causing a large disturbance either, just sitting outside of his gym quietly,

Comments

that last person he wants to see

[greekreaper]

"Hey...Aki?"

He was about to come see him anyway but...wow.

Playing with matches is never a good sign about anything.

narc!

[undercard]

Akihiko doesn't look up at first- not until the match currently burning has completely finished. Then, while the flame fizzles on his skin, he looks up to meet Thanatos' eyes...and doesn't look away. It's quite an unnerving stare, but that can probably be attributed to his pin-prick pupils.

"Uh?"

[greekreaper]

"...Are you okay?"

Dumbest. Question. On Earth.

[undercard]

"...Who!?" He spits a little, then hurriedly turns back to the matches to light another without bothering to wipe his chin. There's a constant tap-tap-tap as his feet bounce against the floor, shaking intermittently.

[magatamas_r_us]

*Guess who comes in mewing. You're awake and he wants to spy on what you're doing.*

[undercard]

Akihiko stops when Baldy gets close enough to his body, and finally drops the match in his hand. What the hell is that thing anyway? He knows it- the shape is familiar, but he isn't sure where the thing ends and the floor begins. He reaches out dumbly, settling his hand heavily on Baldy's head.

"Hey, you...what're you doing? In here. This is place where I am, not you."

[magatamas_r_us]

*Baldy walks from under his hand to go sniff him curiously, little nose twitching.*

[undercard]

He stares, letting the strange shape move against him. It's a nice thing, this thing, so he settles his hand on its head again.

"Hiss." He mutters to Baldy, sure that it's one of the words these shapes use to communicate. "Hiss, spit."

[undercard]

He only looks up when the current match dies on his fingertips, staring at Shinjiro with wide open eyes. There's bags underneath his eyes, deep bags that suggest days of staying awake or far too much coffee, along with pin-point pupils that never stray from Shinjiro's face.

"Huh? This is...it's a public place. It's a place for people, and I can be one." He mutters, more to himself than as any coherent answer.

[undercard]

Akihiko rears back quickly, though it only succeeds on making him fall on his back. But he isn't happy about, and scrambles to find purchase on the ground spinning in circles beneath him. Eventually he manages to climb into a squatting position, grey eyes watching Shinji warily.

"You- what? Wha...why?"

[demifemme]

*Two familiar black and blue running shoes from which sprout tattooed legs stop in front of him.*

[undercard]

Once the current match is finished, he drops the burnt remains onto her shoe. It's surprising that this foot isn't shaking like his...does that make him strange? His hands too, now that he looks at them. Violently so.

"How'd you do that?"

[demifemme]

Aki? *She crouches at his level.* What are you doing???

[undercard]

"I'm..." He struggles to find the words as her tattoo's dance in front of him, crawling into different shapes and images on her skin. It's beautiful actually, but also a little disturbing. He reaches out to touch her tattoo with his burnt fingertip, mesmerized by the hallucination.

"Whoa! Whoa."

[untrueblue]

..... *He remembers this teenager, from that riot. Rio walks over very quickly and crouches near Akihiko.*

Hey, what are you doing? *He notices the burnt fingers.* You're hurting yourself. *He reaches out to try and take the match currently in Akihiko's hand.*

[undercard]

What a terrible event to be remembered by. This probably isn't giving Rio a good impression of him either, because Akihiko's absolutely shocked to realize that the match is missing. Eventually, he pin-points the blame on Rio, though he isn't even certain how long he's been there.

"You're a...a thief. You..." He lurches forward in an attempt to poke Rio in the chest.

[untrueblue]

...Hey, what's wrong with you? You were burning yourself!

[undercard]

"Nah...no, no way." He waves his hands in front of him, the motion over-exaggerated and clumsy.

"'r you a cop!?"