🔪 i'm a fish inside a birdcage; open with some closed prompts

[forfeited]

🔪 WHO: Akechi and anyone who chooses to tolerate him (I'm sorry).
🔪 WHAT: December Shenanigans
🔪 WHEN: Nebulously December, possibly into January, time is fake.
🔪 WHERE: Wherever, whenever, we're meant to... No, actually.
🔪 WARNINGS: Strong language, emotional constipation, Childe, Twister. Any NSFW will be tagged within the thread but it may happen. Also Kaeya and Akechi are making out, so that's a thing.



🔪 b-b-b-bingo!

[Frequently, Akechi can be found just about anywhere within Crescentview perched neatly on something chair-shaped. He has one leg folded over the other like a prick, one arm folded against his ribs and the elbow of the other resting on his wrist, allowing him to set his chin in his hand. It's a pretentious way to sit, but it's stable, and comfortable despite how it looks. He's poring over his Bingo card for the umpteenth time, and should anyone come within a five-foot radius of him, he snaps his head up.] For our mutual benefit, would you mind cross-referencing cards?

[He's made figurative copies of his card-- on the backs of old casework from his briefcase, he's hand-written out a few lists of squares, content to always ignore the smut squares when interacting with anyone. His penmanship is neat and concise, and there are occasional footnotes alongside them.]

🔪 mountainside farming

[He has no idea how to be a farmer. He has no idea how to be self-sufficient without the internet and a paycheck garnered from murder, he's realizing, but he does have a vague know-how of a variety of things included in farming. Planting seeds, for instance, he has some degree of understanding of. His farm is set away from others, blissfully allowing him solitude, but by no means unreachable or even remotely difficult to find. He's found some old shitty tools and an old shitty sun hat, and his slacks are rolled up to his knees. He's given up on his shirt entirely, given it's white, and his shoes and socks are somewhere out of eyesight, leaving him barefoot and shirtless attempting to tear up the earth for planting things with a rusted old backhoe. There is only so much his shitty little twink arms can handle, someone want to teach him proper technique?]

pt. 2; paddle boats. [Childe]

[At some point he's given up on tearing up his land, and is standing at the bank of a small lake near his farm. More specifically, he's staring at a paddle boat just chilling, rope-tied to a questionable dock. It's pretty gnarly, covered in grime and algae, but if there's one thing Goro is relatively decent at in household tasks, it's cleaning.]

[Tartaglia will find him scooping water in and out of the thing, the legs of his slacks still rolled up to his knees-- not that it really matters anymore, given he's basically swimming fully clothed. His hair is tied back with some kind of twine into a dinky-ass little ponytail, and he pauses with some manner of bucket half-poured into the second bucket seat of the boat to look up at the ginger.] Does your staring serve a purpose, or should I pretend you're less conspicuous? I don't believe we've met.

pt. 3; twister. [Lucia]

[He's yet to figure out how to solve the issue of proper lighting, so he's moved his bizarre find while dusting out to the front yard of his plot of land. Said bizarre find, as it happens, is a classic old game known as Twister, in a banged-up old square cardboard box. It's simple enough, the spin-board in tact and the mat suffering only a few questionable stains, and Goro is seated cross-legged beside the mat reading the instructions for what has to be the fourth time. It's a very straightforward game, but he keeps waiting for something to leap out at him from between the lines to make it more complicated.]

[Movement in his peripheral vision catches his attention and he angles his head toward it, but his eyes remain on the paper until he finishes the sentence he was in the middle of reading. His eyes then meet Lucia's, and after a beat of silence, she can likely see the gears in his little rat brain turning. A slow grin pulls his mouth crooked.] Care to test something with me?

🔪 wildcard

[Akechi spends most of his time at his farm to avoid others, trying to figure out how to make this whole farming thing work without being sociable or accepting, much less asking for, help. His plotting post can be found here, but I'm open for literally anything. I can make additional prompts or you can toss me whatever you like! Please harass my shitlord. :>b]

Comments

ellis keeps getting the cute icons of akechi what sorcery is this

[forfeited]

[Ellis why are you actually the mom friend. Akechi startles at the towel produced from seemingly nowhere, and is too startled to prevent the honk of boyish laughter it gets out of him.] Well aren't you prepared. [He takes the towel with a smile, ducking into another shallow bow in thanks. He considers it a moment and then glances back to his shoddy little house, tossing his head in the direction of it.]

It-- it's hardly a functional guest space, but... It feels rude to not invite you in.

the magic of cuteness

[framestory]

[ Ellis seems pretty excited to be invited into the house and it's like his eyes sparkle. He'll excitedly go up to where the front door is, but doesn't go in until Akechi goes in first. It feels weird for him to go inside first... ]

no kidding LOL

[forfeited]

[Ellis, you are sincerely too pure and sweet for Akechi and he does not know how to explain this to you. He turns the door handle and pushes it open, gesturing for Ellis to go ahead. The place is really nothing to be impressed by, though for its dilapidated state it's startlingly clean. He's organized everything and made it very minimalist, the only area untouched in regard of slight rearrangement being the kitchen. He goes in there as little as is possible, really.]

[Akechi, for his part, steps in after Ellis and just kind of... stands there, folding his hands together. He has no idea how to entertain, lord help him.]

[framestory]

[ He's not as pure and sweet as he seems, Akechi... run while you still can!! But Ellis is genuinely impressed with how clean the home is inside and his expression obviously reflects on that thought. When Akechi seems to be just standing there, Ellis walks up to him and holds up the bingo card. Let's see them squares, boy. ]

[forfeited]

[Akechi has quite certainly seen worse, if only because he is most certainly the worst, himself. The genuine expression on Ellis's face just makes him squirm a little, and he almost takes a full step backward when approached.]

Oh. [Right, Bingo. He fishes out his card and offers it, uncertainly.]

[framestory]

[ Ellis looks at the card and points to "spoonfeed". This should be simple enough, right?

Ellis learned nothing in their first encounter. ]

[forfeited]

[His reaction is fairly immediate when he realizes what Ellis is pointing to. He snatches the bingo card back and presses himself into the closed door behind him, seething slightly.]

No, thank you, that is entirely unnecessary. There are several of these squares I have no intention of ever completing, the difficulty of farming without them be damned.

[framestory]

[ Ellis knows the romantic context of spoonfeeding, but he's also aware of the familial sense. Either way, they're both with affection, so maybe that's why Akechi is reluctant. He looks at him, slightly tilting his head and writing into his notepad and making sure Akechi can see it as he holds it out: ]

Sorry. You can choose what would be easiest for you then.

[forfeited]

[He's cornered himself like an idiot, pressed against the door like he is, and he looks every bit the part of a caged animal, watching every move Ellis makes with enough tension in his limbs it looks painful. He watches him write, focused on breathing evenly and not actually snarling, reminding himself that he's the one that invited Ellis in. Reading his notepad, he just looks tired, and closes his eyes.]

Thank you, [He leans more into his shoulders against the door, slumping slightly and pulling out his bingo card again, trying to find something-- anything that is a tolerable offense.]

[There isn't much! There really isn't much. Pillow Fight and Tell Jokes are the two least offensive options, but he doesn't know how to approach either of them, so his expression just continues to crease with existential exhaustion.] ...this is so stupid.

[framestory]

[ Ellis maintains his distance, but he sits on the floor so that Akechi doesn't have to look up. He patiently waits for Akechi to decide. He has all day, really. ]

[forfeited]

[Patience is a virtue Akechi was not graced with, but he's thankful for Ellis affording it to him. With a sigh, he slides into a crouched sit against the door, staring down his bingo card again.]

I'm not allowing anyone to spoon feed me, I'm perfectly capable of feeding myself. The only remaining two that aren't completely out of the question are Pillow Fight and Tell Jokes, though I don't have many pillows and I have a terrible sense of humor. [He taps the squares in question as he mentions them, in case Ellis couldn't follow the amount of words he said.]

[framestory]

[ Ellis wants to say that spoonfeeding is basically nothing if you have two seconds to spare with no pride, but he's getting the feeling that Akechi has some... pride.

Even though Ellis doesn't have the square himself, he writes on his notepad. He knows how it can be hard starting things yourself, so he'll try to help Akechi by starting off with his own. ]

What did one toilet say to another?

[forfeited]

[Some is about the worst underestimation of Akechi Goro ever. He has a lot of self-hatred and a lot of complexes and fears, but more than anything he's a stuffy brat who won't do something he doesn't want to. He's extremely protective of his agency.]

[Not having any for most of your life will do that to a person.]

[It takes him a moment of frowning at the notepad for him to understand what Ellis is doing, but even then he just tilts his head and shakes it after a moment.] I've no idea.

[framestory]

You're flushed.

[ Haha.

Ha.

Anyway, it's Akechi's turn now. ]

[forfeited]

[His frown just creases his eyebrows together, and he waits a moment before he realizes that was it, that was the punchline, it was supposed to be funny, before he just shakes his head and clears his throat.]

[Unfortunately the prompt is tell jokes, meaning he's supposed to respond in kind. He sits in pensive silence for a few minutes, trying to think of something even remotely funny to add. Unfortunately for Ellis, he goes with:] What's the difference between a bag of chips and a gun? [Akechi Jesus Christ.]

[framestory]

[ Unfortunately, Ellis sees nothing wrong with what Akechi said, so he's about to reply with "you can only eat one", before realizing that's technically not true.

Anyway. ]

Only one is usually full to max capacity.

[ Bag of chips are half air, half chips. At least guns can fully load bullets to their hold amount. ]

[forfeited]

[It's not the answer he had in mind, but Akechi can't help the slight grin that pulls at his lips at the one given.]

When you pull one out in class, everyone wants to be your friend. I'm not sure I've ever had a full round of bullets in a gun, thinking on it. [Akechi please stop casually discussing your gun usage.]

[framestory]

[ You know what. That answer is valid. If Akechi looks at his card, he'll see it stamped. Ellis looks at Akechi, interested in what he does with guns. ]

What do you shoot?

[forfeited]

[He isn't certain of how to answer the question, at first, frowning.]

Do you mean what am I shooting with guns, or what guns am I shooting?

SORRY I CLICKED ON ACCESS STUFF ACCIDENTALLY

[framestory]

[ Ellis holds up one finger: the first option. He doesn't know enough about guns to know about variety. ]

MOOD TBH

[forfeited]

[This was the harder of two questions to answer. Akechi mulled it over, his shoulders drawing up toward his ears in a loose shrug, and folded his legs across one another, leaning into the space made between.]

...that's difficult to answer straightforwardly. Cognition, shadows. Only one person, though he turned out to only be a cognition, as well. I shot him thinking he was real. [He has a very faraway look in his eyes as he says this, but he doesn't seem overly upset about it.]

[framestory]

[ Cognition and shadows... He's assuming that these terms has a different context in wherever Akechi comes from, but it's not like Ellis doesn't have things that sound wild in comparison without context either. ]

How did it feel, thinking that you were going to shoot a real person?

[forfeited]

[A thin, fragile sort of smile pulls his lips wide enough to look painful, and he laughs very quietly.] Powerful, honestly. Which is a joke, given the entire thing was a setup, but I suppose that's fitting.

[He glances up, snapped free of his visceral memory.] ...ah, but not to worry, I wouldn't shoot without cause, even if I had a gun.

[framestory]

[ Ellis nods. He hasn't personally experienced shooting anyone with a gun, but he can understand how it would feel powerful. Imagine having so much power over a person. Couldn't be Ellis.

And honestly, even if Akechi shoots without cause anyway, Ellis wouldn't care, even if it was at him. ]

Can you tell me more about Cognitions?

[forfeited]

[That's a little fucked up, Ellis! Welcome to the club where no one has mental health stability or good coping mechanisms.]

[Akechi has to take a moment to sit there, digesting the fact that he's sitting on the floor in a farm house that abruptly belongs to him, with someone he's known less than a month, talking about shooting the closest thing he ever had to a friend point blank in the head. ...Even if he definitely left out several important details about said shooting.]

[His expression is strangely bland.] ...I'm one of a handful of people where I'm from with an ability to enter and fight within a parallel world known as the Metaverse. Things within it are called cognitions, or shadows, depending on the area you're in. [It's a bit of an oversimplification, but it'll do.]