🔪 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

[calla]

That's unfortunate. Well, now that you're in this world, I suspect that you'll have all the time that you need to start pursuing such things.

[ And now, Kaeya will let go and take a step back to give Akechi the room that he might want. ]

[forfeited]

[He'd gotten used to it, so he startles just enough when Kaeya moves that it's obvious, and then folds inward to avoid looking at him.]

Time, yes. [The ability to actually function around other people enough to be desired, notsomuch. Picking up his bingo card, he stands.] Well, now that you've attained a square I'll give you the space to continue on with your day. [Akechi this is why you are a lonely piece of shit--]

[calla]

Why cut our time so short?

[ stop trying to run away you little rat ]

Care to join me for a drink?

[forfeited]

[His expression pinches into confusion and he looks up, head tilted to further convey his lack of understanding.] I-- the purpose of the interaction was the square, was it not? [Why would you want to spend time with him??]

[It's him, he's the rat. Please shake him.]

[His expression slackens entirely at the second question-- he's well aware Kaeya does not mean soft drinks. He's also well aware people don't usually invite people out for drinks if they don't enjoy them in some capacity, or work with them. So he just stands there dumbly for a solid fifteen seconds trying to figure out why on earth Kaeya wants to prolong their time together and introduce alcohol to it. When he can't come up with an answer, he just shrugs.] Sure? I don't understand why you'd want to.

[calla]

[ Kaeya has his hands around rat!akechi and shaking him!! Throughout Akechi's entire confused trance, Kaeya simply stands there waiting with a simple answer. ]

There's no harm in getting to know one another, is there? And over drinks is the best time to know someone.

[ because you're more honest while drunk :) ]

[forfeited]

[He can't really be sure if he's being hit on or not, here. Flabbergasted, he just nods.] You certainly have a point. Um-- I'm not certain of the age laws in place, here. [He doesn't want to get Kaeya in trouble-- he hardly cares about underage drinking, himself.]

[calla]

I'm sure that we'd be given a pass, considering that we're guests. [ Which is just a nice way of saying "kidnapped". ] Now, shall we?

[ He'll lead the way by holding out an arm. He's curious as to whether or not Akechi will take it. ]

[forfeited]

"Guests" would not be my first choice of words, [But he grins crookedly all the same. The arm, clearly held in invitation, is ignored in favor of striding past him and pivoting, tilting his head. He taps one index finger to the corner of his own jaw, the gesture actually quite coquettish.] Have you someplace in mind already?

[calla]

[ Kaeya's smile grows a little wider when Akechi just walks right past his extended arm. He lowers it. ]

Only if you don't already have one in mind.

[ He knows a tavern! But he'll follow to wherever Akechi wants to go. ]

[forfeited]

I don't, [He resists the urge to remind he's eighteen-- it just makes him seem petulant, and he's already agreed to accompany him somewhere. He sets one hand on his hip and leans his weight onto his opposite foot, raising a hand and splaying it palm-upward.] So I'll follow your lead, for now.

[calla]

[ And he leads the way! He takes them to the local bar, which is small but quaint. Pulling up to the front, Kaeya sits down on a stool and motions for Akechi to sit next to him. ]

Know what you'd like to order?

[forfeited]

[He drifts along after him, watching his posture and trying to comb through his actions and find something to mistrust, only to come up empty-handed. It's not that he trusts Kaeya, certainly not yet, but there's nothing in how he moves that reads specifically unsavory, either. He really is acting like he's just going drinking with an old friend, despite only knowing Akechi for a few days.]

[Well, he doesn't exactly figure anyone who's known him longer would be going drinking with him, anyway, but that isn't the point. He slides onto a stool beside him, his own posture a bit stiff at the proximity, but laces his hands together atop the bar.] I'm not well-versed in spirits, what do you recommend?

[calla]

[ If Kaeya notices Akechi watching him, trying to read him, he doesn't say or do anything. He just keeps that cheeky smile all the way to the tavern, where he taps his fingers on the bar as he thinks. ]

Hmm, perhaps something light and sweet. It's easy for non-frequent drinkers.

[ He'll call over the bartender to order a cocktail, a particularly fruity one (only as fruity as akechi). It comes out rather quickly so Akechi can take a taste. ]

[forfeited]

I'm not terribly fond of sweets, [But he doesn't protest Kaeya's order for him, and takes careful stock of the drink as it's brought to him. He skims a fingertip along the outside of the glass, using his other hand to bring the straw to him and take a sip.]

[It's sweet, but not so much that it overwhelms the taste of the alcohol, mellowing the sharpness without either being overpowering. It's good. A slow smile pulls across his lips.] ...that's nice, yes.

[calla]

[ Kaeya watches with interest, wondering if Akechi will like the drink. To his slight delight, it's a hit and his smile grows a little wider. He waves down the bartender again to order his own drink, just a simple dandelion wine. ]

I'm pleased that you like it. [ Once his glass is filled, he takes a long sip. ] So, Goro, tell me a little about yourself.

[forfeited]

[He's going to try and pretend he isn't fully aware that this is classified as a "girly drink", and ignore that Kaeya definitely ordered him something vanilla because he knew he had next to no tolerance.]

[He takes a solid strawful of the drink into his mouth at the leading suggestion, giving himself a moment to work out a response.] Mm, what is there to tell? You might have to be more specific.

[calla]

Perhaps your interests. What do you enjoy to do in your free time?

[ They don't have to go into anything too deep. Wait till the alcohol take effect first. ]

[forfeited]

[He fiddles with the straw in his drink a moment, mulling the question over.]

Well to start, I haven't had a great wealth of free time, but... I enjoy cycling and bouldering in equal measure. I like to stay active, and it's harder than you'd think in the city.

[calla]

And what keeps you so busy all the time?

[ give him more info, he loves it ]

[forfeited]

[His expression pinches slightly, and if he bites his straw in vague annoyance, it's at the memory, not Kaeya's questioning.]

I spent a period of time in my third year something of a celebrity for my time with the SIU sector of the police. It... demanded most of my time.

[calla]

[ Don't think he misses that expression. ]

Oh? It doesn't seem like you enjoyed it.

[forfeited]

[He knows well enough that Kaeya is asking leading questions on purpose, given the amount of interviews he's tolerated, so he doesn't expect the state of his face to escape his notice. Making a sincere attempt at not rolling his eyes as he angles his head to look over at him (which he fails, spectacularly), Akechi fixes him with a bland look and takes a pointedly long sip from his straw.]

Do you really think spending the final year of one's base education having their every move watched and judged by the general public is something to enjoy? [Either the alcohol is already making him care less about being acerbic, or he knows Kaeya would see directly through a plastic smile and a lie.]

[calla]

No, I suppose not.

[ Despite Akechi's souring mood, Kaeya still has his friendly smile up, even as he takes another long sip of his wine. He's already almost done. ]

But do you not feel liberated by the peaceful nature of this island? You'd certainly be able to finally get your physical activity out here.

[forfeited]

[And a concise subject change-- Akechi polishes off his drink, turning his frown on the glass instead.]

It isn't really peaceful to me when our actions are monitored for the jollies of that so-called Goddess. But to each their own.

[calla]

[ Such a sourpuss, but Kaeya isn't bothered. He's used to buzzkills, so seeing that Akechi finishes his drink, he quickly downs the rest of his own. Settling the glass, he clinks Akechi's cup with his finger. ]

Another?