post palace takeout! [week 5]

[beathollow]

( at some point a bedraggled lot in yukatas manage to make their way to the dorm, shower and patch themselves up. and then mafuyu makes a very earnest request that they all go out for dinner, and, well, apparently many struggle to refuse her.

this is how they find themselves in something akin to a denny's or an ihop at like, midnight.




as one does. )

Comments

[vogelfrei]

[ This is... in all honesty, this is really funny. McGillis may not show it beyond a faint smile, but he's deeply entertained.

To Celeste, while the fight is being broken up: ] They both still have a lot to learn, don't they?

[cirquedesang]

[Sometimes a faint smile is all that's needed. Those who can See will See.]

They do. [Though if they (Izou especially) haven't yet... hm.] If they are able to, that is.

[And if they're not, then he'll get several more weeks of all this, so really he is the winner here.]

[vogelfrei]

It shouldn't be too late, as long that they're willing to do some hands-on studying.

[ Is he saying it like this just to be a shit in case they overhear him? Yes, maybe. But you'll never be able to prove it. ]

[fullmoonmutt]

[ AAAA SHOVE IT, MCTITS! ]

[vogelfrei]

[ looking at his chest, are we ]

[fullmoonmutt]

[ there isn't anywhere else to look?!?!?! they're the biggest part of him?!?!? ]

[cirquedesang]

[And Eli is right at eye level with them..............]

[cirquedesang]

[Shaking hands in the Dennihop...!]

Indeed... But if you should find yourself wishing to study for the advanced courses, I am not so difficult to find.

[Since McGillis has gotten himself involved, he also gets flirted with a little bit, too. As a treat. Whether it goes over the heads of the barking dogs is anyone's guess.]

1/2 cw: mildly implied sexual violence

[vogelfrei]

I think I passed that class a long time ago.

[ Based on the wording it should be bragging but it really does not sound like bragging. ]

[vogelfrei]

[ The shadow passes very quickly though, and the next line is accompanied by a suggestive smile once more. ]

Which is not to say I believe you'd be anything less than a formidable study partner, of course.

cw: mildly implied sexual violence............

[cirquedesang]

[Ah. That darkness is... familiar. It passes quickly, to be sure, but it's just present enough that his own response isn't nearly as playful as it ought to be.]

With honors, I'm sure.

[As if there was any other option.

But soon enough the flirtatious tone returns, like it never left.]

Perhaps we'll have to take a day off sometime to find out.

[Workaholics...]

[vogelfrei]

[ There's too many shades of recognizing the self in the other at this Dennihop tonight. McGillis might be mistaken about the way Celeste's look seemed knowing but... knowing what he knows now about his past, he might also not be. Maybe at some later point, not in front of so many people, he'll ask. ]

A day off? I can barely recall the last time I had such luxury.

[ Isn't every day in Sunset City a day off???? No. ]

[cirquedesang]

[And with how many similarities have already been alluded to in the Dennihop tonight, he'll even answer - especially considering McGillis's discretion to not ask outright in front of the rest.

Besides, asking in itself would all but confirm his own suspicions about the other man. Maybe Braphine knew what she was doing, pulling some of them together.]

Come now, you must indulge once a decade or so.

[...Is that teasing or is that some more shades of truth, here? Hmm.]

[vogelfrei]

A bit more often, actually. If only because my wife insists.

[ He is aware that mentioning 'his wife' is basically like pouring ice water on this entire conversation, but it is the honest truth. He takes time off to go see Almiria so she doesn't get sad - it's literally the only reason he has ever taken a vacation.

But honestly, McGillis does also think the ice water bucket is pretty funnily timed.

(Thinking about Almiria is a dull ache, nevertheless. Poor Almiria. Poor little widow. He wanted to make her happy for real.) ]

[cirquedesang]

Small miracles there is someone who can insist.

[Perhaps surprisingly, he's not nearly as rebuffed by the mention as one might expect, and the comment is teasing rather than cold.

Yes, a wife complicates matters... but the suspected nature of arrival simplifies things all the same.

And in truth, it's refreshing to hear 'my wife' spoken of with fondness and respect, and it is that which makes him relent until(/unless) McGillis wishes to reinitiate.]

[vogelfrei]

[ The complete lack of surprise is... almost disappointing, but appreciated at the same time. Their conversations have quickly become extremely comfortable. ]

I was fortunate to have met her. I do hope she won't be getting too lonely in the future.

[ And that is ENOUGH painful thoughts, because imagining Almiria's reaction to this death is genuinely going to tear him apart. Time to shift focus.]

No such person in your life?

[cirquedesang]

[While he'd surely be sorry to disappoint... there's still an uncanny commonality between them that means conversation does come easily and, at least on his part, any departures from common ground can be met with grace and good humor.

And while it is obvious that McGillis is quickly trying to shift focus, Celeste does have one last fleeting comment in regards to this wife in question.]

If she so deftly thawed you, she will have no trouble finding whatever sort of companions she wishes for.

[Barring any extenuating circumstances that are not worth dwelling on or calling to mind, of course.]

Me? [A pause. He certainly has no one so succinctly encompassed with a word like 'spouse', but... He thinks to his Troupe. To his Coterie. His Sire and Childe. And he laughs, quietly, for a moment.] Any such person in my life truly only adds to my responsibilities, rather than forcing me to sit and abstain from them. Though I'm sure you understand I don't really mind.

[The man has three full-time forms of gainful employment please someone make him take a vacation.]