thenearshore | -Overflow- for 015

[If he could right now, Shun would probably be giving some sign of amusement at that reaction, because it's more obvious than he would have expected him to allow. As it is, he notes it in whatever recesses of his mind aren't being made a little fuzzy by the current situation as something to try again in future. The continued brush of fingers against his jaw and neck distracts him with more ease than he would have expected, though, and he lets Ren's lip out of his teeth for the moment to return to something a little more like an actual kiss.

It's probably telling enough that Ren has to be the one to break them off for awareness of their location, and though Shun doesn't protest or resist when Ren pulls away, it seems to take him a moment after Ren says that to remember their situation. The one where they're on a very public bridge which is likely to be very highly used on a night like this one, and he almost curses himself for being that inattentive as another flush starts to creep up on him.]

I should have been paying more attention. [He doesn't particularly want to stop either, but this definitely isn't the ideal place to be doing this.] We could go somewhere else. If you want. [It's a slightly hesitant suggestion, but Shun doubts Ren would have thrown a "maybe" into that caution if he'd wanted to stop that badly.]

[Ren's lips twitch in what could be an aborted laugh, but for once, he doesn't even think about teasing Shun for his inattentiveness or his embarrassment over it, although he does shift his hand slightly to run his thumb over one of Shun's cheeks. Knowing that Shun had let his attention drift that much just because Ren was kissing him...all it makes him want to do is kiss him again and find out just how inattentive he can get.

But this really isn't the place, even he agrees with that. So he spends a moment considering their options and absently worrying at his bottom lip with his own teeth. There isn't really anywhere else at the festival that would be more private than here...

In the end, it's the weight hanging on his arm that makes his decision for him.]

I need to take my fish home before they get jostled around too much, and it's been a long time since you've been there too. [In fact, he's only been there once as far as Ren knows and that was when they met, and don't think he doesn't see the symbolism there as soon as he suggests it.] So we could go there?

[Though he's still a little frustrated with himself for getting distracted that easily, Shun tilts his head just a tiny bit into that movement of Ren's thumb. He's not sure whether it should be strange to him or not that he's finding just these small touches so pleasant when he's spent years with the barest minimum of contact with other people, but it feels like a question he can think about some time that isn't right now.

Given Shun had already been questioning Ren not having taken the fish home, he can hardly argue with that line of logic, and it really has been a while since he went to Ren's temple. Hell, he hasn't even been into his temple beyond the courtyard. So it doesn't take him more than a moment of thought to nod in agreement.]

That's fine. If you still wanted to go back to that stall, we can stop on the way. [He taps a finger on the hand still linked with the one Ren's holding his bag in, to hopefully indicate he means the taiyaki stand they were talking about earlier.]

[At least Shun might be able to take comfort in the idea that he wasn't the only one who had been thoroughly distracted by all that, because the way Ren blinks at that should make it clear that he completely forgot they were going to do that. He's lucky he remembered the fish, really.]

Oh! That's right, we need to do that.

[That means letting go of Shun, though, and he kind of wants to put that off for as long as he can. So he glances back at the way they came first, which is surprisingly dark now, and then at where they were going, and makes a slightly confused face.]

Does it look lighter that way to you? [Maybe they'd ended up almost making it to the end while they were busy staring at each other?]

[On one hand, it's not surprising, on the other, it is still kind of gratifying to know that Ren had obviously gotten distracted by that whole thing as well. Even if he's mostly handling this better than Shun is, it's something to note.

Even as Ren looks back the way they came, Shun does as well - and immediately draws his head back a little in confusion, because he definitely doesn't remember it being that dark when they came up here, even if they weren't really paying much attention to that part of it. So when Ren points out the other direction looks brighter, he follows his line of sight looking just as confused.]

Somehow. I would've at least thought the end would be further away than that. [Though he sounds a little unsure about that, a moment later, he brings his hand up from Ren's hip to attempt a gentle removal of Ren's fingers from his face. Not that he doesn't want it there, but they can't really walk like this.] If we're closer to the other end, we might as well go that way first.

[Well, at least he isn't the only one feeling confused.] Me too. I didn't think we walked that far already...

[Then again, it is a magic bridge for a pair of lovers who only get to see each other once a year if they're lucky, so maybe the trip across it is magically shorter than it would seem.

Ren pouts a little when Shun reaches up to move his hand, but lets him do it without any other form of protest. And then he flips his hand around so he can interlace their fingers, and tugs his other hand free instead. That arrangement was good enough while they got this far, so it's good enough for the rest of the trip.]

Well, that was why we came up here in the first place, right?

I don't think either of us was really paying attention to how far we walked. [That's put extremely bluntly, because Shun would be a lot more embarrassed about that being the case if it was just him, but it definitely hadn't been.

The bridge issue does still seem a bit weird to him, but he supposes they're going to find out soon enough whether it's weird or not anyway. In any case, he lets his fingers curl into Ren's when he interlaces them, and lets the other hand go so they can keep walking...which he starts doing immediately, whether or not that means he's tugging Ren along with him.]

Then let's finish it. [Before one or both of them gets distracted again.]

[Ren wouldn't be embarrassed about it anyway, but it is pretty nice to hear Shun admit that he hadn't been paying attention. Because he'd been paying so much attention to Ren instead. It's probably good that he's wearing geta right now, or he'd be bouncing quite a lot as they start moving.

Unfortunately, there's not a lot that can keep him from being distracted for long, and this is no different. It isn't long before that distraction has him reaching up with his free-ish hand to touch his lip where Shun had been biting it, just to marvel at it. And that reminds him...]

By the way--and I'm not saying I didn't like it--but you don't have to use your teeth so much.

[Given it's Ren he's dealing with here, Shun's surprised it took that long for him to get distracted again. It's...there's a word for it, he knows, but it's been so long since he used it that he takes a while to settle on what it is.

"Endearing" is the one he comes to in the end. It sounds right, at least.

The subject of the distraction breaks his focus a bit, though. On one hand, he doesn't look embarrassed about it, but on the other he looks kind of lost again.]

If you liked it anyway, does it matter that much? [It kind of seems like details and minutiae to him. Maybe he'll figure it out with practice.]

[Ren glances over as he's talking--he doesn't seem embarrassed to talk about it, so that's good, but Ren is definitely going to miss that lost look he keep getting about this whole subject once he's gotten more comfortable with.

Shun does have a point about that, and Ren isn't sure he should go with his first reasoning for it, which was "well it's important if you ever want to kiss someone else." Considering he's pretty sure Shun didn't even consider kissing him until they were in the middle of doing it, the idea of kissing someone else will probably go over like a lead balloon. He'd rather Shun stuck to just kissing him for now anyway.

So, on to the second reason which is...he doesn't really have a good second reason to bring that up.]

I guess not. I just thought you might want to know. And it might get uncomfortable it you do that too much but...we definitely weren't to that point yet.

[So it's mostly a problem for if they do it longer. It makes sense enough to Shun, so he just shrugs a little.]

If it's a problem, you can just show me how to do it properly. [Said in...all apparent seriousness, though it'd be difficult to say he doesn't very much know what he's suggesting at this point. They were both enjoying themselves, so he doesn't really see the point in avoiding the subject.

As it is, they've moved further towards the brighter section of the bridge, and the lights are starting to come into view properly again. Out of habit, Shun starts picking out the most identifiable structures out of what they can see from here - and then narrows his eyes a bit, because he's pretty sure he's seen these noteworthy locations before.]

...This is the same side of the bridge we came up.

I'll do my best!

[Not that he actually knows all that much more than Shun--"You don't have to bit so much" was pretty much the extent of his wisdom on this front. But he'll be more than happy to help Shun practice anyway, especially if Shun's the one already suggesting it.

Ren blinks a little at the observation and starts looking around himself. He definitely doesn't have Shun's experience in identifying structures, especially ones he might have only seen once or twice and from ground level, but even he can't miss the lights and commotion of the festival at the base of the bridge.]

...Well, I guess it is a magic bridge... [Turning them around without them ever noticing is some pretty weird magic, though.]

[There are probably several remarks Shun could make about that declaration, most of them involving whether Ren means his actual best, given how he generally acts when that's the case. But he keeps them to himself for the moment, partially because he's still trying to figure out how the hell they got turned back on themselves. They were distracted, but this is ridiculous...

Out of curiosity, he glances back - the place they're walking away from is only getting darker, as if nothing had been there in the first place.]

It doesn't look like we'll be finding out how far it actually goes tonight, anyway. [He has his doubts that the bridge would work like that on, say, the actual day the lovers are supposed to meet.] But it was still productive.

[There's a very, very faint hint of deadpan humour in that last remark.]

[Shun, please, how could you ever think he wouldn't take this 100% seriously...

Ren lifts a hand to his mouth to laugh behind it. That it ends up being the hand Shun is holding is just a coincidence.]

That's one way of putting it. [He drops their hands again before he can breathe on them to much and smiles over at Shun.] Maybe we should come back in a couple days and see what it does then.

[It's kind of a weird feeling, having his hand laughed on, but Shun doesn't seem to have a problem with the motion having happened to involve him as well. Actually, he seems a little happy to have made Ren laugh at all, judging by the way his expression softens at the sight of it.]

Maybe. I doubt we'll have more than the one chance to do it before it's gone for the year. [At least, that's what he'd have to figure given the tradition behind it. Right now, though, they're starting to come down the arc of the bridge, and the festival is coming back into more impressive view.]

I suppose they did well setting all this up in time for the festival.

No, it'll probably gone gone after Thursday...or not long after. I guess if they got it up early, they could wait to take it down too.

[Still, they don't have a lot of time if they want to explore it again...

Ren suddenly stops. Something about thinking there isn't much time coupled with nearing the end of the bridge has made him realize that it won't be long before the night is over, and once the night is over, Shun's going to go back to his normal clothes and they might not see the bridge again. And this has been a really important night; he wants to be able to remember it forever.]

Wait, we should take a picture.

[And he very carefully sets his bag down so he can dig for his phone before Shun can protest.]

And if it's because of the tradition, they wouldn't want to leave the way open for Orihime after her chance passes. [His memory of the tradition is somewhat fragmentary, feeling like some kind of distant childhood memory rather than something he would have known full well two years ago. But he knows enough to guess at the more unpleasant reasons for a hasty deconstruction of the bridge.

Ren's sudden stop distracts him, though, and he has to stop as well while Ren starts to go through his bag. He doesn't actually protest, for once, though he does watch Ren's rummaging with a mild look of bemusement for a few moment before voicing the matter that's actually on his mind now.]

...Should I do that as well? [He can't tell if this is some kind of romantic etiquette thing he should know about, or just Ren wanting to take a picture.]

[Ah-ha, success! Ren straightens back up again with his phone and starts navigating through it with his thumb.]

If you want to, or I could just send you a copy of one of mine.

[One of because there's definitely going to be more than one. He'd really like to get one of just Shun (although that can wait until they're home too), and getting the perfect one here might take a few tries.

For the first try, Ren doesn't even warn him first; he just reaches his arm out and hits the button. It's more to see if that's going to be the right spot than anything, and he eyes the picture critically once he pulls his arm back.]

It seems like there's something missing...

[Well, since Ren already has his phone out now and is clearly planning to take more than one picture, Shun doesn't really figure it's necessary to get his own out too. Though it is making him consider the potential appeal of having a picture of Ren, because he feels like he can understand the motivation there a bit more now.]

I might take something later. It'll be easier to get a good one here if it's just you trying.

[Ren not warning him at least results in one noteworthy thing about the first picture, that being the soft look of surprise on Shun's face at the sudden fronting with the camera. It's another one of those things he still hasn't really gotten used to again, since he doesn't take pictures of himself unless he needs one for whatever reason.

He leans over a bit to inspect the picture himself at Ren's comment.] What?

[Well, it isn't missing all that much. The cute, soft look to shun's face is complimented by a somewhat surprised but delighted one on Ren's, at the idea that Shun legitimately wants to have a picture of him. He also managed to get his hand far enough away to get a good idea of their outfits and their clasped hands. It's definitely not a bad picture for one that was taken with zero warning.

But he still feels like there's something missing that he'd really like to have a picture of, and after a moment of staring at it, he smiles over at Shun again.]

Oh, I got it. You were really cute earlier when you were blushing. That's what's missing here. Not that you aren't cute right now, too.

[He would maybe not be quite so direct, except that he's hoping it will get Shun to blush again before he can stop himself or wonder how he's supposed to make himself do that.]

[It might have a softer face than Shun is used to seeing on himself these days, but it's also not a picture that gives him the immediate urge to steal the phone and delete it, so that's always a bonus. He's definitely having trouble figuring out what Ren says is missing, though - the only thing that really comes to mind is perhaps it being a little more prepared, but that doesn't seem like something that would be taking so long for him to figure out.

Considering that, the directness of Ren's statement definitely serves the intended purpose. Shun initially merely glances over when Ren says he's figured it out, but as soon as he decides to describe him as "cute" when Shun still hasn't really remembered what constitutes that except that people use it for things like flowers and kittens, he feels the heat rush to his cheeks before he can even consider the notion of restraining his reaction.]

I'm not-- [He breaks off his indignant protest with a frustrated hiss as he presses a curled fist to one of his cheeks, like he's trying to hide or scrub out the bright flush across it.] Damn it...

[He knows Ren probably intended exactly this reaction, and he can't help but be a little peeved with himself for providing it so easily. He can, however, try to look away from the camera.]

[Bingo. And this is even more cute than he expected, so he quickly snaps a picture of just Shun before Shun can turn away too much. Just one, so Shun doesn't feel too embarrassed about it, but like hell is he squandering this opportunity completely.

Then he smiles a little less teasingly and leans over to kiss one of Shun's cheeks.]

Sorry, I've been thinking things like that for weeks, and I'm really happy I can say them now. And I'm really happy you think I'm cute too.

[Shun scowls rather strongly at the photo being taken, but at the very least, Ren gets to keep his phone, whereas if anyone else had tried doing that Shun probably would have punched it out of their hand. Though he's still got the fist resting against one cheek, when Ren leans in, he lets out a breath and tilts his head to make kissing the other one a bit easier.

There's a momentary blink of apparent confusion at the concept of him thinking Ren is cute, since he hasn't really used the word to consider anything in a very long time, but it makes something click into place a bit belatedly from much earlier in this encounter.]

...That's the word I was trying to find. [He doesn't have an issue with knowing words, but knowing what to put them to has definitely been a recent issue when it comes to being exposed to concepts he didn't see much of in the last two years.] You pay more attention to that sort of thing than I do. It fits better to say it about you.

[...He's basically just found another way to word his earlier puzzlement over looking good even though he wasn't trying to.]

[Oh, he hadn't been positive that was the word Shun might have been trying to find earlier--liking to look at him could have been for other reasons too, like it is for Ren--but it's nice to know his guess was right. Now he'll just have to see if he can get Shun to think he's attractive in other ways too...some time later. He's fine with being just cute for right now.

Especially since his cuteness is letting him get away with taking slightly embarrassing pictures. Ren stretches his arm out again to take another sneaky picture before Shun completely loses that confused look, and then smiles over at Shun again.]

Well, I don't think I'd say it about you all the time and it probably fits me better, but I do think it fits you sometimes. This is the last picture, okay?

[And by that he means the one he's about to take and not the other one he just took.]

[That at least makes more sense to Shun, and his immediate thought for times it fits him is the occasion with the kitten on his head the other week. He supposes that was "cute" as he understands it these days, much as he'd denied it at the time.

The sneaky pictures aren't really all that sneaky, but since Ren's being quick about taking them when Shun's been thrown off by something, he hasn't really had the chance to even try to intercede. With the warning about the last one, though, he nods slightly and leans in a little, his expression returned to the (much) softer side of neutral.]

Then take it before you give me another excuse to want to steal your phone. [Okay, so maybe he wouldn't go out of his way to delete the more embarrassing pictures...but he probably would if the chance presented itself.]

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shadowrevenger - 2017-06-11 10:31 (UTC) - Expand

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revolutionfalcon - 2017-06-11 11:24 (UTC) - Expand

-Overflow- for 015 | Sky Full Of Stars

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