G is for Gifts. [OPEN]

[alastinglight]

Characters: Takasugi, all the people he's giving gifts to, and whoever wants in!
Location: All over the place. Feel free to choose where Takasugi meets you - I'll have him drop in on you. :3
Rating: G for now!
Time: December 24, during the day down to early evening or so
Description: He doesn't celebrate Christmas, but he knows it's important for

Comments

Outside Danse Macabre | Evening

[frissonic]

Before work, the musician had slipping into Takasugi's apartment, a simple task, to leave the only gift he'd gotten anyone in Death City before heading to work. He had been fortunate that the teen had not been home; had that been the case, he simply would have done the task at a later time.

Now, Bansai was standing outside the club establishment, taking a smoke break after finishing his first set of the night. The air was cold, though the tobacco helped to warm him as he leans against the wall of the building. It was still hard to believe that there was snow on the ground, when it had not been all that chilly during his arrival in this world.

[frissonic]

"Not at all."

He was amused, yes, but not laughing at him. There was a distinct different.

"It seems that you still have the capability to surprise me, is all."

[alastinglight]

That made Takasugi roll his eyes. So now he existed to amuse the other man, did he?

"You're welcome."

Yes, his voice was dripping with sarcasm right about then.

[frissonic]

"Hush, you do not need to take offense. I am not trying to upset you."

He leaned his back against the brick wall, seeming to contemplate something as he watched the teen.

"I suppose I should return the gesture of good will, hm?"

[alastinglight]

"Huh?"

What was that supposed to mean? He couldn't imagine what Bansai could do that would make him feel any less nervous, uncomfortable, awkward better.

[frissonic]

"I apologize for angering you the last time we met like this. I spoke out of turn, and I should not be keeping anything from you simply out of any insecurity I might be feeling."

Brutally honest words, though he seemed calm enough saying them. In truth, the reason he had kept such things to himself were mostly because he wasn't sure that they could recover, if he knew the truth. Shinsuke still might run for the hills and never return, though given the fact that he was just given a key to his apartment makes him hopeful that that won't be the case.

[alastinglight]

Well, that was... surprising. Surprising enough to get Takasugi to stare a moment, and have nothing to say off the bat.

"It's nothing."

Was this really all right? This was a man from his future. A man with secrets, who knew things.

Still, Takasugi couldn't just leave things the way they were. But now...

[frissonic]

"That is incorrect. It has been twice now that you have requested something from me, and I have denied it."

In the time it took to say those words, he'd pulled another cigarette from his pack, lit it, and taken a drag as he finished.

He figured he might need it if the boy pushed again.

[alastinglight]

"You had your reasons, I guess."

A slight frown now, as he was recalling, yet again, the way their last conversation had gone. No pleasant feelings there, really.

[frissonic]

"I did. I still do, if we are being technical, though they are more reservations than anything else."

His head tilted to the side as he regarded the teen, taking another drag off his cigarette.

[alastinglight]

There was something slightly unnerving about the way Bansai was looking at him, but maybe it was just his imagination. Maybe.

"Then...?"

What was Bansai getting at? Because if they weren't going to go anywhere, he was going to leave.

[frissonic]

"Let me try to put it this way," he said slowly, before inhaling another section of his cigarette and blowing out the smoke.

"If you were to have someone close to you, but they were not just your comrade or your friend. Closer than that, about as close as one can be without being family. Perhaps closer, more complicated, because what ties you is not blood, but something else entirely. What do you think of?"

[alastinglight]

"Get to the point."

His opinion wasn't important yet, not until he was sure. Besides, this wasn't like Bansai, was it? Hadn't the man always been direct with him to an almost distressing degree? Why was he shying away from saying what he needed to now?

[frissonic]

"He would laugh at me if he heard me describe our relationship in such a way, but it is about as close as I think I can get to helping you understand."

He took a final drag off that cigarette before flipping it away and into the cold snow, before his hand reached for the scarf Shinsuke had given him. With one smooth movement, he'd lassoed one end around the teen's body and regrabbed the end, gently pulling him forward so that they stood in front of one another.

"To be more direct, what would you do if I were to kiss you, Shinsuke?"

[alastinglight]

What the hell was he --

Doing...

Congratulations, Kawakami Bansai. You've managed to shock Takasugi into complete silence.

And now he was blushing several successively deeper shades of red. Suddenly, you're in his space. Suddenly he can't move a muscle.

"...What?"

That finally managed to come out, after working his jaw quite a bit.

[frissonic]

His expression was a mask of pure seriousness. He wasn't joking, and he wasn't being smug about it. It had been a simple question, and he'd gotten the reaction he'd expected.

"Because where I am from, you would not hesitate. In fact, it was you who came to me, the first time. Years ago."

He tilted his head to the side. Despite what he'd done, there was still some distance between them. He wasn't going to try anything, not like this.

"Do you recall when I said that there were things that I could tell you that would make Matako jealous? What else could they have possibly been?"