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What's Up?

Mafuyu and Aerith have hatched a plan to give Braphine's Chosen some time to relax and have fun together! And just in the nick of time...

Date and Location

Afternoon of Monday, October tth into October 8th
The Aquarium within the Office District

The sway of water

It's a normal morning for anyone who's managing to sleep a standard schedule- up until a mass text goes out, that is. Everyone will find the same thing from either Mafuyu or Aerith's username:

... Simple enough. And should you choose to attend, both your hostesses will be pleased to see you once it's time to head over.

As they said, the aquarium is largely empty save for the group, and it's definitely worth it. A serene song plays overhead while attendants give tours or explanations as needed. The variety of aquatic life is surprisingly vast as well, and spacious halls give way to plenty of opportunity to explore.

Come nightfall, certain rooms dim the lights but the tanks stay lit- or black lit as darker enclosures like the jellyfish hall and the octopus tanks remain- and only a few staff remain to keep an eye on things- so... stay on your best behavior. The two restaurants stay open- a regular fast food joint with kitschy island cabana theming, and a much more upscale lounge where Aerith plans on corralling the adults for fun this evening.

Once it's time for the age groups to split, Aerith will lead the adults to a pleasant lounge with more tanks, large couches or more private tables, and a view overlooking one of the main rooms of the aquarium- wave to the kids if they're there! Or don't. Bouquets of flowers are placed around the room, and it looks like Aerith has a few ideas already, though she won't stop anyone from going out to review the different sections again.

Contrasting Mafuyu, who is content to let the fellow teens do whatever- though if they do congregate, she's not really the social sort and will simply be content to enjoy the vibes. Even if you just want to take a nap somewhere, there's plenty of dark secluded areas to do so.

Out of character!

This log is for an ic sleepover hosted at the aquarium! All characters are invited but attendance is not mandatory. That said, there are still staff members ready to boot any troublemakers out. We wanted to keep the types of displays vague to give everyone creative freedom, and characters are welcome to flit about between groups as they desire, be it to check in or to to snoop or whatever. As discussed with the mods, this does count as an open event and can be used for rewards. Thank you all for your interest!

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Miraculously, McGillis is here. Has he actually learned something from the Celeste palace escapade? Not really, but he will at least give off the appearance of being sociable. He wants to stay on the pulse of what is going on with the group too.

Plus, it means not sleeping. He's still doing the whole 'not sleeping' thing, and the dark shadows under his eyes are getting uhhhh worrisome. But don't worry about it!

You can find McGillis around the aquarium sitting in front of the various tanks with a big book on aquatic life in his lap. Yes, he's using this trip to be a dumb-ass nerd and learn a ton of animal facts. Sue him.

Later, he'll hang out with the adults and he is drinking - but sparingly. The drinking games get largely symbolic tiny sips of a glass of wine from him, but McGillis is not aiming to get drunk. Once the kids split off to do their own thing, McGillis is going to go back to his book. Yeah, he's just ignoring you all to read and he'll keep doing this all night if not stopped.

He has absolutely not intention of getting changed or going to sleep, even if he did bring a bag with pajamas to show goodwill. ]

[Arven's kind of kept his distance from McGillis for a long time, what with the whole debacle with Izou and such, but recent palace experiences have made him want to at least try properly connecting with the man.

He approaches with Mabosstiff in tow, taking note of the big aquatic life book.]

Is all of this super new to you, too?

[ McGillis certainly has not minded people keeping their distance - he knows that he unpacked some pretty horrifying truth about himself, and he expects to be treated with the according mistrust. It's the weight of his own mistake.

But he does feel positively surprised when Arven approaches - despite everything, McGillis does care for Mafuyu, so he has had half an eye on her boyfriend as well. ]

Not new, no. But my interest had been limited to avian creatures so far, so I thought it'd be a nice chance to brush up.

[ He glances at Mabosstiff who still just kind of looks like a Really big dog to him. ]

Your world has... different creatures, right?

[Mafuyu's high opinion of McGillis is certainly one of the reasons why Arven is here right now. He wants to get to know him better!]

Avian... Ahhh, okay, so you're usually a bird guy.

[McGillis the Flying-type specialist...? Anyway,]

Yeah, it does. They're called Pokemon. There are plenty of Pokemon that you could easily compare to the animals of this world though, like Mabosstiff.

[He glances beyond McGillis to look at the fish in the tank that he's seated by.]

It's kinda the same here, with all the fish and sharks and stuff. They just have a really different vibe, so it's like seeing something completely new.

You're really experiencing it with a special kind of clarity, but in a way that alienation really applies to all of us and our experiences, doesn't it? Most of it may know 'Earth' but the Earth we know is vastly different.

Every time we talk to each other, we run risk of uncovering that something we thought to be common sense and universal truth is actually totally unheard of in another version of the world.

[ It's... honestly been a pretty interesting experience, even if unsettling. Animals that are alike to animals, but not really animals... Maybe they're all not even the same kind of 'person', strictly speaking. ]

...Yeah.

[Arven's response is clumsy, like he's actually still processing everything McGillis said. There was so much he hadn't even considered about world differences.

He repeats himself, more assured this time.]

Yeah. Man, and it's gotta be even wilder for all of you guys from Earth. Aren't some of the Japans totally different Japans from each other?

Indeed. In fact, my 'Japan' is not actually called that anymore - it has long been integrated into a larger Economic Bloc.

This places me in a hypothetical 'far future' from most people here, but I assume very few -or even none- of their worldlines actually lead to the reality I live in.

[ ISN'T IT BEAUTIFULLY FUCKED UP, ARVEN? ]

[Later in the evening, when party games are over and the adults have been ushered into the lounge away from the teens. It makes the atmosphere more subdued, the crowd thinner and thus a little better for private conversation. Especially since McGillis is assuredly in the quietest corner of the room.

Izou, drink in hand, is trotting over, and will perch next to McGillis, unless he's in an armchair, at which point Izou is poised on the arm of it, as if threatening at any moment to slip into the larger man's lap.]

Oi, I gotta talk to you.

[It's clear that he doesn't really want to have a serious conversation. But he is attempting to do so anyway.]

[ It's an armchair now, because that image is funniest and also it means that McGillis is comfortable enough that he'd been visibly straining to stay awake before Izou arrived. Let's give it up for a week and a half of sleep deprivation!

Izou appearing makes him immediately feel alert though - even if he doesn't really feel like he wants to see him right now, when he feels like an exposed nerve and barely knows what to do with himself thanks to that. ]

Do you?

[ He'll close his book and put it to the side though - despite the slightly frosty reception, he will not refuse the conversation. ]

[A frosty reception barely means anything with McGillis, he's so often in a sullen mood as far as Izou's concerned. That said, because he isn't brave enough to just jump to the "what are we" question, he's going to put his foot in his mouth instead.]

Are you just your regular amount of sullen right now or are you all wound up about me getting cosy with Eli and Celeste?

[ His regular amount of sullen... Is that really how he comes across these days?

Hard to keep thinking about it when Izou instantly ramps up from 0 to 100 with that question. ]

You can get close to whomever you like, it's not like you owe me anything.

[ This does not answer what was actually asked. ]

[Yeah it sure doesn't.]

I know that I can do whatever the hell I want. If you tried to tell me otherwise I'd kick your ass.

[THAT SAID]

But that ain't what I asked. I asked if it's botherin' you.

And if it was?

[ A question that is as good as an admission, just more annoying about it. It adds the layer of separation McGillis feels like he needs, because he's struggling enough just admitting outright to himself that he wants Izou's full attention. Saying it to the man himself is... Well, he might have gotten there in time, but the time had not been granted. ]

[Izou had suspected it already, so yeah, this is as good an admission as far as confirming it. But acting on it? Nah.]

If it was... Then...

[He's thought about it a lot, and is still turning it over in his head. But.]

Well I'd wanna know why. If it was a good reason, I wouldn't go doin' things like that you didn't like.

[Glancing at McGillis, trusting a smart guy like him to know what this means. An invitation, claim him if you really want.]

[ That is... honestly more than McGillis expected from Izou, and he's not sure what to make of it. That Izou would let himself be tied to McGillis at all comes as a mild surprise, though it maybe shouldn't - after all, the man craves validation and belonging more than anything in the world. So if McGillis was offering that...

Well. It'd be easy to think up the correct words to bind Izou to himself here. It's too bad, thus, that simply binding Izou is not what McGillis actually wants.

What does he want? He himself has to wonder. He's been pushing this as far as he could this whole time in search of something, and even now he doesn't know what that something he sought is. An end, maybe - what end?

He's too tired to have this conversation and Izou is probably too drunk to have this conversation, but they're still having it. It always winds up inconvenient like that. ]

I'm not in love with you. [ That's a bad start, but it's also an honest start. Something he knows with some amount of certainty. ] If that is the 'good reason' you want, then I can't provide.

[ Okay, that out of the way it gets muddier. McGillis turns to face Izou best as he can in the armchair and armchair-armrest positioning they are in. His voice is quiet, because being overheard saying all of this would be a nightmare. ]

I'm just being selfish. I want your eyes on me, because I feel it's the least you can do after pushing through so many of my boundaries. I'm not in love with you - I just want you to be mine.

[It should sting, Izou knows this. It should offend him, anger him, especially with the way McGillis doubles down on it, as if the very idea that he would be in love with Izou is offensive and ridiculous. It should. But it doesn't. Or well, the second time is a little annoying, but it doesn't truly upset him because frankly if McGillis had confessed his undying love Izou wouldn't know what to do with that. For starters he wouldn't have believed it.

No, it doesn't bother him because for better or for worse... Probably worse? The sentiments McGillis shares, what he does feel; a selfish possessiveness, it feels more precious in how distinct it is. It's far more concrete of a feeling. Izou isn't sure he knows what it feels like to be loved in the way McGillis is discussing, but he understands this emotion. And he likes it.

So he slides off of the arm he's perched on, onto McGillis's lap.]

S'fine. I don't love you either. But when I look at you... I get this feeling like I wanna tear into you like a wild animal. It's different from how I feel about anyone else and I dunno really want to call it.

[He finishes off the rest of the drink in his glass because McGillis is wrong, he's not drunk ENOUGH to have this conversation.]

[ And just like that, it ceases to matter that McGillis was trying to have this talk in hushed voices as to not draw anybody's attention - Izou is very publicly on top of him now, just like was very publicly drawing him into a kiss just two weeks ago. Maybe this time everyone is actually too distracted and/or asleep to notice them. Maybe. McGillis knows better than to count on it.

And even so, he makes no move to toss Izou off his lap. He just takes the now-empty glass from his hands, puts it on the side table, and then settles his arms around the other man's waist, a comfortable loose hold. ]

Tear into me? Or tear me apart?

[ These seem like adjacent but not entirely exchangeable emotions, so he feels like he ought to clarify. The threat of murder still looms between them, never called off for certain. ]

[Izou settles snugly into the hold, somehow with an air of almost smug pride as if it's a throne and only he's good enough to sit upon it. His Little Dog Energy.]

I dunno, S'first time I've tried to put it into words.

[He considers it for another long moment.]

Well you know, it's like how you can feel attached ta people in different ways? S'like you feel it in different parts of your body. With Mafuyu an' Yi Sang an' Sunrise it's in my head, my brain, I like 'em. Celeste and Eli too, but then with those two it's also, y'know, down there.
[He's... He's trying to describe platonic and sexual affection. Which leaves... The secret third thing;]

But you it's like... I feel weird all over. Like I'm gonna go crazy and that's what makes me wanna bite you.

[ McGillis had not actually expected Izou to try and deal with this matter to honestly and earnestly. There's real communication here, however awkward. And the sentiments described... ]

Good.

[ It's exactly how McGillis wants Izou to feel about him. He doesn't have a word for it either, other than... well, isn't that love in its own perverted forms? It feels romantic. It feels like they should just burn up together and see what remains at the end of it. A destructive, passionate sentiment McGillis would not have allowed himself to revel in before dying. ]

After all I want to devour you, too.

[ Completely eat him up, take him apart limb from limb and then put him back together properly - Izou is built up of so many parts McGillis would be unashamed to want, but they fit together wrong and the unfitting edges probe into McGillis' soul - uncomfortable, raw, vulnerable.

He's not in love with Izou. To be in love is more gentle, more safe and secure, it comes with time and familiarity. Maybe he could be in love with Izou, one day. He doesn't know if he'd even want that. ]

So... yes, it bothered me to see you flirt your way through everyone else.

[Can't believe McGillis is still set on giving Izou the My Fair Lady treatment /s

Izou's thoughts are far less openly destructive and pessimistic, but it's clear they're somewhat aligned in the way McGillis's violent imagery just seems to make him almost tremble the way the phrase excites him. It's the raw, feral intensity that they both share that make this whole situation so stimulating. What brought interest and seeking understanding to something more bordering on... The romance neither of them is willing to call by that name.

That said, he sighs, half contented and the admission and half annoyed.]

Well see that's what I'm sayin'! It ain't the same thing! Like... Ta me, I don't see why if you find yer friends attractive you can't fool around with 'em a bit.

[To Izou, sex is just a Bonding Activity sometimes! One he likes a lot.]

But like... [And he actually takes care to lower his voice here.] I wouldn't call... The other night. That wasn't just foolin' around. S'different somehow. I dunno if that makes sense.

[ When it's about sex, the two of them really come from completely different places and mindsets. McGillis would not fool around with friends for fun, and even all the fooling around he's done when he was younger he wouldn't necessarily consider 'fun'.

But well. There's one thing he agrees on and that is that last point. ]

It does. All my past encounters were either matters of force or quick affairs with the end goal of brief relief. I get up, I shower and I leave. It's so distant now, I barely recall the names of men I've been with.

But I'll remember you. [ Regardless of where this goes, regardless of how badly they fuck it up, he'll remember. ]

[Matters of force... What a way to put it. While the manner of the more consensual encounters is technically new information, it doesn't really come as a surprise. That sounds like a way the more buttoned up McGillis shown to most people would go about it.

The note about him... Is a little flustering but mostly he's like. But of course. He is desireable and good at sex!! You better remember him!!!]

Obviously. Ya don't go puttin' all your effort into makin' someone lose their damn mind from yer dick on a passin' fancy. You've been bewitched by sword genius Okada Izou!!

[IZOU CAN YOU STOP BRAGGING AND FOCUS.]

... I tell you it's the only sex that ever actually meant something to me, and this is how you respond?

[ DISGUSTINGLY UNROMANTIC. BLOCKED. ]

[WELL GOSH WHEN YOU SAY IT LIKE THAT!!!]

I thought you didn't wanna get all... Emotional about it!
[YOU'RE RUINING OUR PLAUSIBLE DENIABILITY OF NOT BEING IN LOVE, MCGILLIS.]

But... me too I guess. S'the only time it felt like more than just... Like it was like my brain got off too insteada just my body.

[Elegant. Is this what you wanted, McGillis.]

[ This... makes an unfortunate amount of sense to McGillis. It's barely above gibberish but it actually manages to describe the precise feeling of relief that came with doing it with each other.

So McGillis reaches up to run a hand along Izou's cheek, briefly playing with his hair between his fingers as he goes. ]

Just because it's not love doesn't mean there's no emotion worth mentioning here.

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