stealhearted | are you hurting the one you love?

[He follows Akira's line of sight to the menu, expression pinching a bit just thinking about drinking an entire smoothie. He leans into Akira's shoulder, squinting.] It would lessen my chances of disappointing Takamaki by hardly eating any crepes. [And he can't deny that the idea is... sort of charming??]

What kind do you want? We could do one of the two-flavor ones. [ There's a lot of options on the menu board, after all, packed together on a small white board in different colored markers. ]

Strawberry something, maybe.

[He skims the list, shrugging gently.] Strawberry is fine, I'm not especially picky with fruit flavors.

[ So Akira steps forward to order one of the strawberry ones -- and pays, because, as he said, it's a date and he's going to treat Goro -- and then gets a couple of their cute little cookies to go along with it, on impulse. They're practically bite-size, so Akira figures they're a safe bet, even for Goro.

Once he has obtained the forbidden snack, Akira uses his third eye for the most transparently homosexual thing he's ever used it for in his life: finding a nice, discreet place to sit down where he can let their knees knock against each other without risking any catcalls. ]

C'mon. This way.

[He agreed to allow Akira to spoil him, but he still reaches for his pocket until he's beaten to it, trying to not look pressed (he mostly fails). The cookies earn a quirked eyebrow, but he follows along after him anyway, idly wishing he hadn't dressed the way he had-- the vest is bright, especially in contrast of his hair and khakis, and it's something he used to wear a lot. He's gotten a few glances with an unnerving curiosity, and if he wasn't thinking of changing before going to see Ann for crepes, he certainly was now.]

[When they sit he crowds right up to Akira's side upon realizing the secluded nature of their spot.] Truly, I love attention, but right now it is the absolute last thing I want.

You're pretty striking, even when you're not famous. [ Because Goro's fame hasn't actually declined -- if he's looked into it, his "disappearance" was less of a mystery and more of the world washing over it like it wasn't suspicious at all, Futaba having since started dropping rumors that he was alive but on a case or considering retiring or something via the message boards of the world -- and so he's fallen out of public consciousness.

It's probably for the best.

But Goro is attractive, with his hair and his eyes and his honeyed voice. Akira thinks he falls into the background easier, when it's all of the Phantom Thieves, but when it's just the two of them? ]

I don't think anyone can see us here. [ At least, that's what he figures based on the information he's getting from cheating. ]

You are biased, [He reminds, gently, but he doesn't mind Akira's attention. Or he's just resigned himself to having to tolerate it whether he wants it or not, some combination of both.] I shouldn't have dressed like this to go out, it's my own fault.

[Shifting the subject, he looks at the cookies with a frown.] What else did you get?

I think you look great. [ Which is probably what matters. And yes, biased, but -- he's pretty sure Goro only dressed up because this was a date, and they were boyfriends, and that's what you do, apparently.

It's still all a little weird. ]

They're little sugar cookies. I thought they were cute. [ They're iced like little sakura flowers -- probably leftover from when hanami season was in full swing. ]

...thank you. [He's just going to not look at him for a long time now, thanks,]

[But then he laughs softly, reaching over to pick one up and inspect it.] I didn't figure you the type to like cute things.

I like you, don't I? [ Yes, he will always call you cute, Goro. Sorry. ]

I know you didn't do the food blog thing because you actually cared about the food, but... I thought you might like them. [ Akira sounds almost bashful about it, but still strangely genuine -- he still can't stop getting things that Goro might like, even if he likes it too.

He supposes it is pretty funny that two grown boys are eating a variety of pink themed things on a date together. ]

[It takes him a few seconds of suspicious squinting to fully understand that Akira is calling him cute, and his ears turn about the same color as the icing on the cookie held between his thumb and forefinger.] I'm still working out the "why" on that one, and questioning your sanity all the same.

[He focuses on the cookie a moment, smiling faintly at it.] I've never been a big eater, but I did go for things that were visually appealing more often than not. They're a good choice. [It's fine, boys can like pink.]

I feel like sanity's optional these days. [ Like, he's a phantom thief and all... at what point does he need to admit his life choices are questionable?

But he's never questioned Goro.

He eats one of the cookies, almost contemplatively. ]

They taste ... pink. [ They literally do not have a flavor that is not sugar and pink, but it isn't bad. ]

You would say that. [He waves his free hand dismissively. Akira's lack of questioning him was the biggest lapse in sanity in the scheme of them, by far.]

[He watches him pop the entire cookie in his mouth at once and then assess its flavor, and laughs quietly before starting to take a bite of his own. He stops short, thinking of something, and uses his free hand to dig out his phone.]

[Indulge him, Akira, You'll probably like this, anyway. He leans closer, tapping his phone to the camera function and turning the forward-facing lens on them, returning the cookie to his mouth and snapping a photo as he delicately bites off one petal.]

[A moment later he relaxes and pops the rest of the cookie into his mouth, flicking the photo open to survey it.] Figured this was an occasion worth documenting, since you're sentimental like that. [The photo is liable to be framed and on their fridge as soon as they have an apartment.]

...it really does taste pink.

[ When Goro takes the photo, Akira just leans in and offers a smile. He doesn't take enough photos, but it seems like everyone else always does -- he'll be happy to have the memento, this time. He has them of all the other major outings he's had with friends, and --

Vaguely, Akira thinks about Goro at the firework festival, about Goro in a yukata, and has to take a sip of the drink to stop himself from combusting. ]

I'm going to get one of those little photo printers so I can keep everything.

[He nods, licking the ends of his fingers to clear them of any sugar or frosting, and frowns contemplatively at his phone for a while. Has it been long enough that he could send this to the group without combusting similar to Akira envisioning him in a yukata? He decides against it, because surely that wasn't the dramatic sort of "so I finally agreed we're dating" reveal he wants, and it would lead to both their phones blowing up for the rest of the time they had together.]

[He does send it to Akira, however.] Have you tried the smoothie yet?

Yeah. It tastes much better. [ It has a flavor, and not just the color pink. He offers it over to Goro. He realizes, idly, that they only had one straw, but... well, they're kind of past that.

It's weird how little things can seem like bigger things than the big things when you do a relationship out of order. ]

It's like bright pink.

[He snorts, taking the smoothie and seeming to care very little about sharing the straw, deciphering the flavor and how it's "bright pink". Ultimately agreeing, he takes another sip and shrugs.] I never realized tasting colors was a latent skill of the leader of the phantom thieves.

I've got tons of skills you don't know about yet. [ Okay, Goro has gotten to see most of them, at this point -- living with someone 24/7 will do that -- but there's probably some more, Akira's pretty sure.

Akira's inability to tie a tie borders on a superpower, for example. ]

Guess we'll be using them all again soon, too. [ Ahh, he's excited to be in the MetaVerse again, but he also... isn't, at the same time, when it's so soon, in the middle of everything else they're doing. ]

Some part of me feels as though that's a euphemism, [He breezes, offering him back the smoothie. He'll absolutely try to help Akira learn to tie a tie-- he's lucky his uniform didn't require one, if he's that atrocious at it. Akechi himself has probably known how to tie a perfect Windsor knot since he was eight, because even if there had been anyone to help him tie the one he wore to his mother's funeral, it's not like he'd have let them.]

[He sort of stopped letting people help him do anything around then. It's fine.]

[He hums in thought, mulling over the idea of the Metaverse again-- he's not excited in the same way Akira is, but it's nice in its own way, to be entering the odd other plane of existence not only for entirely different reasons than he had the first time, but with a group. He may never admit to it, but traversing it on its own had been just about as lonely as it had been dangerous. He's lucky most damage taken there didn't follow him home, and also that there wasn't anyone around him to question bruises or lacerations under his clothes.]

[He got very good at first aid.]

It... will be nice, I think. To actually help you all honestly.

I'm actually really looking forward to it. [ He always wanted Goro to be part of the team, after all. They all did. Goro is -- despite his protests and actions to the contrary -- actually a good guy, when he's not getting overly involved in a suicidal revenge plot gone wrong. He's a good fighter and a good navigator and Akira thinks he'll be a great asset to the team, all things considered. ]

You're really good at looking out for people in a fight. [ Because he doesn't quite think Goro realizes how well he did, when it was just the two of them; when they had Sumire there, underexperienced and overconfident. ]

[He fidgets, his expression getting a bit distant as he presses his thumb into his opposite thumbnail, rubbing hard enough that it makes a quiet squeaking sound. He opens his mouth a few separate times, closes it, worries at his lower lip, and finally turns to give Akira an uncertain frown.] ...I find that hard to believe, but you aren't the type to lie to save feelings.

[He overcompensated, with Sumire. He still can't specifically articulate what about her made him so fiercely overprotective, even if he'd never admit to having been as such, but maybe it was that she'd already been so disastrously manipulated by Maruki. Maybe because he saw a lot of what he could have become, had he been more naive, had he not run full-tilt at the chance to destroy what ruined him. He didn't want her to follow his lead-- and maybe his overcompensation was his way of ensuring she never could. It didn't help that Akira just took his absolute unhinged rage in stride, because that in itself had almost made him feel justified in acting how he had.]

[Almost.]

You'd have to be good at it, to fake it when you were masquerading with Robin Hood. [ Akira offers Goro a vague smile, because it's an honest truth: it's harder to lie than to tell the truth; it's harder still to lie about reactions like helping people. The amount of mental gymnastics necessary for Goro to keep up a false front for the entire casino must have been incredibly involved. ]

But you helped us really well then, and you helped me later on. And you-- [ Akira cuts off a little, because he wants to say that Goro has taken hits for him but he really just hears the sound of the watertight door slamming down, of two gunshots reverberating through a cold metal ship. ]

--you noticed whenever anything was affecting me in Maruki's palace. [ It's not what he intended to say, but it... will work. ]

Masquerading is a good word for it, [He agrees simply, because it just... wasn't really something that required much more thought to be spared for it. Mental gymnastics was also a good way of putting it, given the constant acrobatics he was up to for absolutely nothing, since they'd already long-since figured him out.]

[He supposed at the end of the day he never really was that convincing, to people who actually cared enough to look.]

[He notices the stagger to Akira's words-- he isn't especially wordy, but he's usually very precise in how he says things, so it's hard not to notice when he stumbles. He turns his head slowly and shrugs, taking to tapping his fingertips together again in alternating motions.] I took great pride in getting to tell you you could be doing better.

[ Akira laughs a little. ] I didn't want to disappoint you. [ Because Akira always worried about keeping Goro's attention -- about being good enough, smart enough. He doesn't worry as much about it now; he has it, and it's not as hard to keep Goro's attention and affection, especially when they're literally stuck together, but --

He still thinks he shows off a little, sometimes. Especially in the MetaVerse. ]

Futaba's still the main navigator, but it'll be useful if we can split up into teams more often. Makoto's a really good leader. [ He's thinking about everyone else again -- about making sure they can all grow as people, work on their weak points and push themselves forward. It makes sense, if Makoto can lead another group, given how much of a mess the parts of the faux-MetaVerse that Akira and Goro saw were. ]

[He reaches out to take the smoothie from him again, taking a curious sip and drawing idle patterns in the condensation on the outside of the cup.] She was student council president, of course she is. You, however, just walked into the Leadership role like you owned it, with no prior experience.

...I don't think it's smart to think about splitting up, just yet, not until we have a better idea of what we're dealing with. Navi has a much stronger ability to understand spaces we've never been, and spaces that change, besides, given we aren't sure if this place functions like Mementos.

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