crescentview | summer catchall

Then we've reached an accord.

( He makes a beckoning hand gesture, like he's telling him to follow. )

Come, come. It's a little less busy this time of - evening, is it? But we wouldn't want to stall too long and return to a bustling building, would we?

[ Still sputtering, but he can hardly just stand there like an idiot while Mishka traipses away. He stumbles out after, wondering if he's lost his head for real this time. ]

I'm sorry, where are we going, exactly? And you're -- you really mean, as in -- ?

[ He got duped once by Ellis talking up (no irony intended) the kissing square, only for it to be quite innocuous. He thinks Mishka might be pranking him as well. ]

( He gladly begins to lead them into town proper! )

Are you perplexed because you hesitate to think I might like to sleep with you, or do you hesitate because you'd prefer not to sleep with me?

( In Mishka's perspective, Ryuki didn't seem to mind when Mishka prodded the subject during their little date - no backing up and going, "Ah, actually, not those ones though," which Mishka is certain anyone who felt strongly about the topic might. )

Ah, we're going to the clinic, by the by. The beds have curtains, so I wouldn't worry too much.

( You know, like that declaration's reassuring at all. )

No, no, it's not that -- I mean, the second thing...

[ Would it be self-deprecating-sounding to admit the truth? Oh, fuck it. He's already trailing along after, anyway. ]

I guess it's the former...

[ He is trying very hard to keep up, his mind a wave of static after blurred static. Huh? Tiles? Public -- ? The clinic? Blessed he, Tama remains silent for the time being, though he can feel her presence. Maybe he should have left her behind, but too late now, and it'd be weird if he said 'brb', and came back with only one eye. Weirder. ]

( Mishka glances down at Ryuki, his smile remaining, but a little softer at the edges. )

I enjoyed our little date, and I enjoyed talking to you. You're quite cute.

( He reaches out, and, without real explanation, fluffs his hair a bit. )

Still, I wouldn't much blame you should you find it hard to believe me. I'm told I rarely sound serious.

[ He looks like he's about to protest some more, especially upon being called cute. However, when Mishka's hand starts coming for him, he firstly, minutely, winces and draws back. Just a tiny bit, and delayed, and then... blinks, when his hair is fluffed. Oh...

Give him a moment to find his tongue again. ]

...No, really, it isn't that. I was just taken by surprise, I wasn't expecting...

[ ...And also, he just might be a bit nervous, eyes flicking off to the side. Usually, he has a lot more drinks in. ]

( He doesn't miss that wince, but he doesn't comment on it for the time being. One can guess, given the sort of place Mishka is used to, but he doesn't know Ryuki well enough to know if those guesses have ground. )

I suppose I didn't do much to really set the mood, did I?

( He lifts his hand from Ryuki so he can stroke his own chin, thoughtful. For him, this really isn't that much different than asking someone out for ice cream on a whim - it's just a task done to entertain this Goddess, that he's claiming to satisfy his own curiosity, too. Still - perhaps this is something to improve upon, even if this isn't exactly what Ryuki was getting at.

They're coming in on the clinic, but it wouldn't be much of a detour to divert to the inn from this path, either. )

Well, I won't force you, if you're not feeling to certain. Did you want a moment?

[ He looks at the clinic and wonders in his heart if he has a medical kink anywhere. So far so, no, though that isn't actually the core aspect of what they're currently going for, and he tries not to curl up in embarrassment. He does look up a little when the hand leaves him, almost biting his tongue at the brief thought that he might already miss that touch. ]

I'll -- be alright. It's just sudden, and -- I need to work myself up a bit. I think. I'm usually a few drinks in before I hear something like that...

[ It's one way to put it. He's nervous at the sudden invitation, it shows, and it's always the first step that's the hardest to get over. He's glancing around like? People?? Hopefully not??? ]

( He laughs, and starts steering them toward the inn. )

Well, if that's all you need, then we can drink. I'll pay for as many as you'd like.

( He walks with much more ease and vivace as the sun hangs this much lower in the sky, and while he can't see into the dark like he used to, he feels more comfortable, still - blind as he may be. Inn, coming up quick. )

This isn't the first time you've been propositioned, then?

Edited 2023-01-11 13:26 (UTC)

[ Oh. He feels a bit bad -- that clearly isn't the clinic, which indicates a change in plans. Because he acted like a teenager... ]

No. I mean -- well, no. [ He doesn't know where he was going with that 'I mean'. ] Not like this, but it'd be a bit odd if sudden late night calls for bingo were a regular thing for me.

You were so confident right out the gate, though. I'm sorry, it was just sudden, I'm not rejecting you.

[ He wishes he had that kind of confidence. Like, on the regular, and not when he's going through some kind of somnium-induced mania. ]

It takes more than a moment's hesitation to throw me off the trail - you needn't worry yourself.

( If there's anything Mishka's quite good at doing, it's taking things in stride. But he does think it's amusing how Ryuki seems to worry about Mishka and his feelings when Mishka is the guy asking to commit to scandal in a clinic.

Rejecting Mishka seems more reasonable than not - though he did pick Ryuki out in part because he didn't feel Ryuki was the type to reject him, discomfort or no.

When they get to the bar he'll get payment squared away with the barkeep with rapt fluidity before he plops down ar a bar seat and he gets a little a mixed drink for himself, too (mixed...... with sugar !!) (not literally but that's basically his pick). Why not? )

You know, the drinks here are so much lighter compared to my home's it's almost pleasant. I could have this as water.

[ He looks at the mixed drink... cute. So Mishka does have a sweet tooth after all...

He sidles in across Mishka, returning with, well, straight brandy. Appropriate for a farm setting, but it also just is his favourite. ]

Cocktails can sometimes be pretty strong, but they're pretty light... I guess you guys must be the whiskey or vodka type of people.

[ And after a brief moment's hesitation, fucking shotguns this brandy. Sooner the edge is off, the better. Bartender, another please. ]

( Brandy... Solid choice. Also me handwaving all the alcohol names getting translated, because yeah, Mishka seems to be set to agree when Ryuki suggests he's used to harder drinks.

Before he can reply, Ryuki just goes at it. My. He does a little sippy. )

That nervous?

You could say I've developed a tolerance.

[ Looks at just how many glasses there were in canon until he was just absolutely smashed. He's stronger than most Asians, of the non-anime powered variety. ]

There used to be someone who took me out for drinks a lot.

( Mishka, elbow leaning on the table and mostly turned toward Ryuki as he drinks slow, settles on watching Ryuki attempts to outdrink some of the most ambitious alcoholics he's known in his past. )

A friend of yours?

[ He takes the second one slower, but its still with the ease and frequency of drinking water. ]

He... [ Friend. Can he even use that word? ] ...was my mentor.

( Hmm... )

Oh? In the police? ( He leans in on his palm a little, drink to his lips. ) What was he like?

( The odds of Adelis ending up rooming with a cop (trained by a cop?) when he was trained by an assassin, though... Not that Mishka can talk, given he's the aforementioned assassin, taking the aforementioned cop out for a drink, for licentious reasons. He does wonder if Ryuki might feel deceived in some way if he realizes, eventually.

Ah, well. )

[ A problem for future Ryuki, perhaps. Even now, even though he may have rationalised it, Tama can confirm she saw a spider crawl out of this guy's mouth, and the only reason she hadn't said anything is because Ryuki didn't mention it and she can't risk him getting worse by affirming something that didn't need to be affirmed. We're all stuck between a rock and a hard place aren't we? ]

He was... really nice. To me. Told me I don't need to doubt myself, that the path I believed was right was correct, even if other people disagreed; that what was most important was my own conviction.

[ ... He grips his drink, burying himself in it further. ]

( He did wonder if that past tense was a "He's still around, just back home," or a "He's not around, even at home" sort of thing, and Ryuki's reaction makes him wonder if it's the latter. )

He sounds like a sensible man.

( Oh, to be in agreement with a cop's mentor. A sip... )

... Did something happen to him?

.........

[ "R̸̥͖̥̓y̷̜̎͛ǘ̷͇̜̐͠k̵̢̦̓̈̐i̶̥̮̔?̴̯̥̊ ̸͖̜͋͊͊" ]

... So, what kind of stuff are you into?

( Ooooh, something interesting happened, hm? But he'll take the ball Ryuki passes him, metaphorically. Too much depression and this guy might be more of a dead fish in bed than Mishka already suspects he might be. )

Let's see... ( He swirls his glass a little. ) Is it strange to say I enjoy the maths? Number puzzles, for instance. I've found I also enjoy hiking up to the forest to collect mushrooms, and treading into the ocean - the waters are strikingly clear.

[ Hey....... he would feel bad if he was a dead fish. He puts out reasonably. He laughs into his glass, pretty humourlessly for how he'd been thus far. ]

That's all really cute, but it isn't what I meant. I thought you weren't out to mess with me.

[ Like, come on. You know what he really meant, right? ]

( Mishka will be very proud of him!! Anyway that was studybrain replying but you know what, we roll with this. He's a little a tipsy and he's not been so before, but he also doesn't seem it very much.

He laughs. )

Was I messing with you? ( Gaslights Ryuki... jk. He shrugs. He knows he mentioned he's been pretty busy with work for a good while, so he continues, ) Intimacy has been far from my mind for some years. The things I enjoy on the field are like to be a bit brutal if transferred to the bedroom.

( Or the clinic, as it were. In a sense he's probing the idea, mostly because he's curious, but it doesn't matter to him either way. )

[ Psychologists should be all over this piece of work so so can blame Mishka... Ryuki is a scrambled wonder. Three drinks in should do it, just enough to be loose lipped. ]

I can handle a bit of rough.

[ Boldly enough, as if it's almost a bit of a dare. The provoking is not too one sided, it seems. ]

Mmmm... 'A bit' of rough, is it?

( He slides just a little nearer, glass hanging from his fingertips, and his voice falls just slightly lower so the barkeep doesn't have to be privy. )

And if I pushed that a little more?

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