are you hurting the one you love?

[stealhearted]

psst psst [clicks tongue for akechi, sets out curry as a treat]--

Comments

[forfeited]

[He leans back against him, just a touch, and focuses on his coffee.] I'll remember my phone.

[stealhearted]

Okay. Ann'll let you have it if you don't. [ Which is probably one of the scariest possible things, next to Haru being upset with him, and Akira knows it. ]

[forfeited]

[He hums thoughtfully, nodding and shifting to take Akira's hand in a sort of absent contact.]

[Boyfriend was a hugely daunting concept to him. Akira simplified it, to an extent, "just being together", but not solely because they were stuck. He doesn't really trust himself to perform this properly, because it seems to hinge on feeling and on far more honesty than he is prepared to display regularly.]

[He folds inward.] I don't think I'm going to be any good at this.

[stealhearted]

There's nothing to be "good" at. You just have to be you. [ Which is probably still daunting, to someone like Akechi, who spent so long with manufactured personalities -- but Akira likes all of those iterations of Akechi, likes everything in between.

Well, he maybe doesn't like the wildly self-destructive Akechi, but that's only because Akira recognizes unhealthy coping mechanisms when he sees them. In other people.

He takes Akechi's hand back, rubbing his thumb across the back. ]

I know you think you're not any good at that, either, but it's okay. I like you regardless.

[forfeited]

The notion that I'm not sure who I am to perform these still stands, [But there is oddly a great deal of comfort in Akira's insistence he likes him anyway. Maybe it's finally getting through to him.]

[stealhearted]

Well, now you're my boyfriend. So that's one thing you are. [ Akira doesn't know if that's a big thing or a small thing, in the grand scheme of things, but it's something that Akechi really is -- without anything else attached. Without faking it at all. ]

[forfeited]

[Having it phrased that way just makes his eyebrows disappear into his hair and his whole face turn pink, and he nods. Morgana snickers, picking up his dish in his teeth once it's empty and trotting off downstairs with it in an unspoken means of giving them space. Akechi lifts his head enough to watch his tail retreat down the stairs, and a figurative lightbulb goes on over his head.]

Kuru-- ... I should. Call you by your first name, shouldn't I.

[stealhearted]

You don't have to force yourself. [ Akira doesn't mind if it takes awhile for that level of intimacy to fully complete itself. He thinks a lot of things with Akechi will resolve in time. ]

Is it... okay if I call you Goro?

[forfeited]

[He flinches, just a bit, and nods, uncertainly.]

It's... been a very long time since I've readily answered to my first name. [Probably because his mother was likely the last person to call him by it that he would actually allow.] It's not as if I haven't called you Akira before.

[stealhearted]

I can wait, if you want. [ Akira doesn't mind, but. He gives Akechi a soft smile, then finally stands up to stretch again, his coffee largely finished. ]

I'm not in a rush. Do you want breakfast? I can make -- [ Wait, hold on. ]

... food. [ He was going to say pancakes. ]

[forfeited]

[That pause is sus as hell, sir.]

[Akechi reaches out to take his hand, nodding. He finishes his coffee, and then stands up as well, frowning and glancing over Akira's shoulder-- when Morgana still appears to be downstairs, he steps forward and kisses the corner of Akira's mouth.]

[He then lets go of his hand and speedwalks to the stairs.]

[stealhearted]

[ Akira is absolutely enamored with Akechi and it's a little overwhelming to receive affection from him like that. Affection that he's pretty sure Akechi is actually trying to give because he wants it, not because he has to or feels obligated to.

It's nice.

He follows down the stairs, a little sedately. ]

I can make whatever you want, probably. Maybe not well, but.

[forfeited]

[He's fingercombing his hair as he gets to the bottom of the stairs, realizing he's a sleep-mussed disaster, and Morgana chuckles at him again, hopping down from where he'd jumped up onto the sink to set his dish down in it gently. He can't really wash it, himself, since he has no thumbs, but he likes to at least put it in the sink. Akechi watches him, and then turns to look at Akira, thoughtful.]

...are there eggs? Just... eggs, over rice, would probably be fine. Takamaki will insist I eat all of my crepe, so... [Even as early as it is in comparison to the double friend-date planned in the afternoon, he just Doesn't Eat Much.]

[stealhearted]

Yeah. I can do that. [ And then Akira is cooking, since eggs over rice is easy and he needs to make a big batch of rice for the opening of the cafe anyway. Which is what he starts doing -- it's too early to be opening, really, but it's a nice surprise for Sojiro. ]

You can finish getting ready.

[forfeited]

[He lingers, instead, Morgana starting back up the stairs ahead of him, and he shifts his weight around a minute before shuffling into the kitchen behind Akira, peering over his shoulder.]

...not in such a way that I would set the kitchen on fire, of course, but is there something I can help with?

[stealhearted]

Sure. I'm just opening early. [ So Akira picks up on where they'd left off last time he'd taught Akechi how to open -- starting up all the various kinds of coffee makers, checking the beans for freshness, starting up the curry roux and chopping the vegetables. ]

[forfeited]

[He's good at taking direction-- especially when he wants to, so he does pretty well with the tasks he's given. He avoids starting the curry roux because cooking remains farthest from his confident skillset of just about anything, but chopping vegetables and starting coffee makers and checking beans he handles like a pro. He even wears a spare apron like he belongs.]

[Like he's willing to believe that he does.]

[He takes two discs of carrots he's chopped and wanders back over to Akira, putting one in his own mouth and holding the other out toward him, watching whatever he happens to be doing.] I think that's enough vegetables? I'll go make myself presentable before Sakura-san gets here, if that's okay.

[stealhearted]

That's fine. Thanks. [ Akira's hands are busy, so Akechi gets a quick peck on the cheek as thanks, and the entire thing really is startlingly domestic given that they're two criminal teenagers fighting their way through some definition of love. ]

Take your time. There's nothing we need to do today until we go meet up with Ann and Ryuji, so we could go do something, if you wanted. [ Yes, he's asking Akechi on a date. ]

[forfeited]

[He is entirely oblivious, as usual, crunching through his carrot slice thoughtfully and shrugging one shoulder.]

The weather is nice... It'd be nice to get some fresh air. Inokashira? [Literally the most datelike date destination he could have possibly chosen. Maybe he's less oblivious than he seems.]

[stealhearted]

Yeah. It should be nice, since the crowds aren't there anymore. [ Hanami season is mostly over, so the park is back to normal kinds of crowds. Still a little crowded, but considerably more do-able. Akechi has been less skittish lately, too, which certainly helps. ]

We can go on one of the little boats.

[forfeited]

[He scrunches his face, but smiles faintly.]\

Sure. I'll let you know when I'm finished. I'd say I'd watch the cafe while you got ready, but... [He reaches up and combs his fingers through his hair, absently.] ...you more or less already are.

[stealhearted]

I'm going to change. [ Into something slightly nicer than his around the cafe clothes, at least. It's a date! But he can't dress too fancy. Luckily his style tends to look very casually fashionable anyway. ] That counts, right?

[forfeited]

[A flat look.] You say that as if it will take you any time at all. I'll be back, [And he wanders upstairs.]

[He sits in a crouch by the couch with his hands over his face for a long time, having an absolute Moment, and Morgana blessedly pretends to see absolutely nothing. He changes, fussily, because he's... dully aware that this isn't just "going to Inokashira Park", because there's this sudden concept of "boyfriend" hanging in the air and Akechi Goro has no idea what he's doing, for the umpteenth time since falling into the care of Akira. In the end he winds up with most of his clothing laid out across the table and couch, pacing idly trying to figure out what to wear.]

[Eventually, Morgana has mercy.]

「 He likes that blue vest of yours a lot, I think, 」[Nonchalantly, from the bed, where he is grooming himself like he hasn't been watching Akechi have a crisis over what to wear on his first formal date with Akira.]

[Akechi moves to the sweater vest immediately-- he's worn it in the summer, before, surely late spring would be fine? He puts the rest of everything away, pulls the vest on over a short-sleeved button-down (because it was a little warm, and Akira was warmer, and knowing him he'd want affection) and fidgets with it for a long time. Akira has no fucking mirror in the attic, so he's working with his own tiny one that Sae included in his bag of toiletries until Morgana supplies him mercy again. He hops off the bed and moves to sit on the couch, giving him a silly look.]

「 Akechi, you look fine. Don't tell him I told you this, but Akira has liked you for a long time. He's gonna be really excited to hang out with you like this regardless of what you're wearing. 」

[Akechi sets the mirror down and sinks into a squat, idly stroking Morgana's fur, much to the mascot's enjoyment.] ...thank you, Morgana.

「 Anytime, buddy. You're one of us, remember. Little to the left? Yeahhhhh. 」

[He pets Morgana a while longer before he makes his way back downstairs, trying to not look awkward about the fact that he absolutely spent fifteen minutes trying to decide what to wear, and slips into the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth and things.] Do you want to go ahead and change?

[stealhearted]

[ Akira looks up, and then offers Akechi another grin. It's not that he doesn't notice that Akechi took suspiciously long to decide on one of his normal outfits, but he decides not to acknowledge it. He also decides not to say that it doesn't matter because Akechi always looks cute to him, but.

Well, that's a lie: he's not cute as Loki, he's a bunch of other positive compliments that are sexually charged. ]

Yeah. No one'll be in this early, but you can watch over it for me. [ And then Akira goes upstairs, taking the stairs two at a time in his excitement. He, of course, just wears his normal clothing, and he feels out his hair entirely on habit to make sure it's more or less behaving usually -- which it is.

He looks at Morgana before he goes back down. ]

You wanna come, or go hang out on Futaba's server tower?

[forfeited]

[Akechi nods, self-conscious from that grin but combing out his hair like the teenage girl he is currently emulating disastrously. He comes out to stand behind the bar and watch over things while Akira takes the stairs two at a time, hands on his hips.]

[Morgana cackles.]

「 And make you two too nervous to make out in public? Wouldn't dream of it. I've got a date myself-- with the cat bed Boss put in the sunniest spot in his house. 」

[He does hop onto the table by the stairs and then to Akira's shoulder for a moment, though, pawing his hair and then butting his head against the back of his.]

「 Have fun, okay? You owe me a full report, later. I'm proud of you guys. 」[Morgana is just actually Akira's cat dad. Cat brother? Either works.]