stealhearted | are you hurting the one you love?

...It was mostly the guinea pigs. [ Akira admits, a little embarrassed, but he knows that no one except maybe Ryuji would judge him in the slightest for liking cute furry animals, and Ryuji would be objectively wrong. ]

Was there somewhere else you wanted to go?

[He hums, shaking his head.] ...back to the cafe, maybe. I'd-- [He stops, reproached, and draws back enough to frown at Akira's collarbone.] ...I'd like to kiss you, but I'm not exactly comfortable doing so excessively in public.

[ It's excessively silly, Akira thinks, to blush at that, when they've made out several times and also fucked against the wall in Mementos -- but it's also nice, to hear Goro say it. It makes Akira feel warm like sitting right next to the space heater, except from the inside out. ]

Yeah. I'd like that. [ Not that there was any doubt that Akira is ready to kiss Goro at a moment's notice, but Akira thinks there is frequently doubt in Goro's mind. So. ]

Now I'll be looking forward to it the whole way back.

[There is frequently doubt in Goro's mind about a lot of things. More things than there aren't doubt about, really. Carefully, he shifts to take hold of just one of Akira's fingers, fidgeting with it and keeping his eyes fixed on it.]

...don't think too loudly or I'll chicken out of it.

[ Akira just grins, and then steps out to tug Goro with him to head back out of the zoo. He definitely thinks it was yen well spent to stop by, in part because he will now forever have an extremely cute picture of Goro covered in little creatures. ]

I won't let you chicken out of it.

[Akechi would agree-- he enjoyed their time. He has such a short social rope that he doesn't want to overextend when they're meant to spend time with Ann and Ryuji, though. Ann doesn't exhaust him the way many of the others do, but he knows at least some amount of their day will be spent with Ryuji as well, if only at the start and end of the time.]

[He squeezes Akira's hand.] Is that a threat or a promise?

A challenge. [ Akira offers, throwing back to the previous conversation. He doesn't think Goro would chicken out, not really, and even if Goro did start to get cold feet Akira would never want to push him.

But still. The challenge has been issued; he knows they'll both rise to the occasion. ]

[He can't help the small quirk of his lips, and he picks up his head to let it linger, looking at him.] I see what you've done, with that. Well played.

Gotta keep you on your toes, right? [ And keep Akira on his, too. He's glad that they're both pretty even-minded about the entire thing, even if Akira thinks they'll both have to deal with 'but what if he gets bored' for a long, long time until they're both able to fully relax.

Akira has to believe they will, one day, though. ]

You probably want to pay your fare home, right?

[He glosses over the way Akira calls the cafe home, nodding.] It isn't part of the date, specifically, so if you'll allow it, yes, I would.

It's kind of part of the date, but I don't mind. [ He separates a little more willingly, this time, when they go through the turnstiles to get onto the train home; he doesn't try to do the quasi-connected dance through the crowd.

He does, however, still stay very close to Goro, almost -- protectively shielding him from the crowd. ]

[It's appreciated. He's not too bad off to where he needs it, but having a figurative shield from the perception of most passersby is still something he won't turn down. Once they're on the train, he stands close enough that he can brace himself between a seat divider and Akira, eyes closed and hands clasped loosely in front of him.]

[ Akira waits until they're back in Yongen-Jaya to hold Goro's hand again, lacing their fingers together idly. The sun is high and it's warmer, now -- they're going to lose the excuse of sleeping together for heat, soon, but Akira thinks they might be in a place where they don't need that excuse.

He predicts that by July Goro will be back on the couch, but only because the attic is not air conditioned. ]

You know, it's habit to always make you coffee, but maybe I should make more decaf blends before we both suffer heart failure.

[Akechi might start sleeping sprawled out on the floor like a starfish by July, honestly. He wilts in the heat like a flower, and hates little more than being sweaty unless it's due to physical activity he chose to take part in.]

[Luckily for Akira, it's not so warm yet that he would recoil from hand-holding, and he trails along beside him with their fingers interwoven and closes his eyes over, just letting himself be lead along. It's an odd thing to realize that he trusts Akira enough for that, but he also knows the path they walk from the station to Leblanc well enough by now that he nearly doesn't need to watch where he's going to get there. Returning to the cafe is always one of his favorite things-- the smell of coffee and turmeric and old wood is nostalgic in a way he never thought he'd become so fond of.]

[Similarly to the boy that keeps him here.] The acidity in decaf will still cause trouble, if we don't balance our intake with other things.

So what you're saying is that I need to cook for you more often, right? [ The smile that he offers Goro shows that he's teasing a little -- he doesn't really worry about Goro's food intake, because he's pretty sure Goro knows to eat enough to keep his body going, but...

But he still worries, in part because he doesn't think Goro has had anyone worry about him for a long time. He doesn't let go of his hand, this time, in Leblanc, though he relaxes his grip enough that Goro could remove his hand if he wanted. ]

[He rolls his eyes fondly, shaking his head.] I meant drinking water, but you'll take any excuse to try and feed me, I believe. [He doesn't reclaim his hand.]

I will. But I'll make sure we have water more often. [ Coffee has water in it, doesn't that count...?

No. No it does not.

He tugs Goro upstairs and then he finally rounds on him, stepping too close to be accidental without fully taking away the entirety of Goro's personal space. ]

Anyway.

[It's just putting the water through the go-go juice machine before drinking it. Absolutely. Akechi supports this idea.]

[But he follows upstairs without protest and doesn't even recoil when Akira invades his space without encroaching, going as far as to grin.] ...anyway, indeed. [He was the one who made the suggestion, so he takes responsibility in that he reaches both his arms upward and loops them around Akira's shoulders to pull him in and pepper absent little kisses across his mouth.]

[ Akira is quick to wrap an arm around Goro, to pull him close until they're less of two people and more of one connected entity. His other hand goes into Goro's hair like it's automatic, habitual -- his fingers slide through the silky strands and he lets his nails scrape across the Goro's scalp as he moves.

The little kisses are nice, but Akira is quick to take something a little stronger: he angles in, kisses Goro deeper. It isn't the same desperate, frenzied kiss of their Metaverse expedition -- it has the same roiling desires underneath, but it's just slow and cautious, like Akira's happy to take his time this time around. ]

[He finds he likes it better when Akira controls the pace until Akechi can't handle his pace anymore-- it gives him less of a chance to overthink and second-guess himself. So Akira going for gold doesn't surprise him, but he grins into the kiss. As though to answer Akira's hands in his hair and around him, Akechi threads one of his own hands into Akira's hair and bites his lower lip, gently, leaning away to grin cattishly at him.]

When are we meeting Takamaki and Sakamoto...? [Is that a suggestive inquiry? Maybe.]

[ Akira hums a little when Goro's hand finds its way into his hair, leaning into the contact easily. Akira didn't realize until this specific relationship how much he enjoyed playing with hair and having his hair played with. ]

We've still got a couple hours. [ On account of how early they wound up, which -- Akira might have been a little sour about originally, but he's certainly not complaining anymore. ]

[He thinks it over, considers it, bumps their noses together and kisses him again, lingering. Pulling back, he keeps their foreheads together.] ...indulge me a moment, then. [His hands shift, slowly skimming down Akira's sides and settling on the hem of his shirt, uncertain.]

I'll always indulge you. [ Akira says it, and it's true, for all intents and purposes -- there's not much he thinks Goro would ask for, at this point in their relationship, that he isn't willing to give him, and there's not much that Akira isn't willing to give him even if he doesn't ask for it.

So. He lets his hand linger, pressing underneath the back of Goro's vest and shirt until his fingertips meet skin, like permission for it to be reciprocal. ]

[He's dizzy with an unidentifiable emotion, suddenly, but his hands slide up under Akira's shirt and he hikes it upward, pushing until he's exposed most of his skin with the shirt bunched up at his armpits. He thinks he might be shaking, but he ducks forward to pepper kisses across him anyway, leaning into him in hopes of convincing him to walk backward.]

[ Akira embarks on a surprisingly dexterous maneuver as he simultaneously steps backwards and also lets his hand fall from Goro's hair just long enough to reach back to pull his own shirt off by the collar in the epitome of teenage boy. He slides it off entirely and then immediately resumes the light fingertip touch on Goro's lower back, thumb dragging across the side of Goro's neck.

Akira enjoys this -- seeing the way Goro can take things into his own hands a little, even in the real world. That he wants things like this. It never fails to send a thrill through Akira that it's real, that they're dating, that they both like each other despite all the things fate tried to subject them to in order to make them hate each other. ]

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