thenearshore | won't you take me

Entry tags:

won't you take me

Who: The Li Tieguai clusterfuck
What: Well, we're out of a shitty haunted forest, who wants dinner?
When: November 16, evening
Where: Li Tieguai's Temple

Usually, when there's some big nonsense in Heaven, Chikusa can be found out cold or "away" in his own head for most of the following couple of days afterwards... but that apparently only counts for event which involve people. Spending an entire day trekking through a possessed forest filled with violent plant-life and cultists is manageable.... somehow.

No matter how exhausted or injured anyone in the temple is, food still has to be made, and Hakka is in no condition to make it. Thus, dinner is being arranged by the other cook in the house, and invitations have been sent out to the relevant people Chikusa thinks care- namely Nanako and Ayumu, along with anyone they seek to bring. That doesn't mean people checking in on the Li Tieguai temple can't just waltz right into the dinner as well....

There's a lot to do in the time leading up to dinner, after all, depending on when people show up (or, you know, realize there's smells coming from the kitchen). Bon, the resident enormous Tibetan Mastiff, demands attention in the form of bodily flinging himself at people. There's a goat in the garden, tied away from all the important medical herbs. At least four different nekomata wander in and out of the temple ground whenever they please, including Pookie, the most permanent resident, and never shut up.... Not to mention that a Kung-Fu movie has been put on the television for people to watch.

There's also a sign on all entrances to the kitchen that says: CHO HAKKAI IS NOT ALLOWED TO COOK. Presumably Chikusa put it up while making direct eye contact with him.

Either way, mess around until dinner, have dinner, crash in the living room where another kung-fu movie has been put on again... Have fun.

Oh, and before it can be forgotten.... The dinner menu for the night is fritto misto, meaty Amatriciana sauce with bucatini noodles, and all the garlic bread in the world apparently. For dessert? Cannoli again. That... might be all he knows how to make on the dessert front.

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[That's understandable, on some level. Things happen. People react. But as he looks over at the hunched curve of Hakkai's spine, Chikusa feels like that's not enough of an excuse. So...]

...Just try.

I can try.

["I can try." After a moment, he reaches for another plate, soaps it, and rinses, silent as he thinks. It doesn't feel like enough of a promise. It feels like a stopgap, something that even if it soothes Chikusa's anger today will make him angrier again, later, when something inevitably happens or Hakkai's pushed too far to be able to reach out.

He knows himself well enough to know that's bound to happen again.]

Then let's talk each day -- about what we might need to tell each other, that day, and not just about dinner.

[If they can feel as though there is honesty between them, then, maybe, it will be easier to bear when something goes wrong.]

[It does feel like only a temporary measure, something that won't last... but he doesn't know what else to do. He's never had to do something like this with someone, he thinks, or at least the experience like his interrogation skills or Italian came with. So even as he knows it might be a temporary gesture.... What else is there?]

[It's not a pleasant feeling, to be felt like he's left dangling in the wind, scrunched in on himself with his head bowed... So it's a relief to hear Hakkai keep talking.]

[A relief to hear a solution, even though he hadn't been expecting it, and Chikusa blinks up at Hakkai's back.]

....Yeah. Okay.

But... if that's the case.... then there's something else I want to ask.

What is it?

[There are dishes left, but Hakkai turns the water off again and turns around anyway, drying his hands as he meets Chikusa's gaze.]

[Straightening up a bit instead of slouching against the fridge, Chikusa meets his gaze squarely as well and takes a quiet breath before asking- ]

How do two guys have sex?

[Well.

That was not on the list of questions that he had expected. It's possible that it should have been, considering the things he's been ignoring from Chikusa and Ken lately, and considering the fact that -- judging from Ayumu's comments -- Chikusa thinks he knows much more about the answer to that question than he does.

Dirty magazines and the occasional fantasy are not, he suspects, the right basis to use to answer this question. He tosses the dish towel back over his shoulder and temporizes.]

That depends on what you like and what you want to do. It's not as if there's a right way.

[Well.... He guesses Hakkai is probably not wrong, but, still. That's not the most satisfactory answer. Chikusa reaches up to adjust his glasses.]

The basic way. We'll... start with that.

[You can help him out here, right, Hakkai-]

[Hakkai very seriously considers, for a few seconds, sending Chikusa to ask Niles.

Then he thinks better of the idea.]

I'd recommend starting with mutual manual stimulation. Oral and anal sex are also options, of course.

[Good plan, Hakkai. Especially since it would backfire on you immediately as Chikusa would snitch without remorse.]

[For right now, however, he's very intently listening to Hakkai, even going so far as to lean forward a little.]

....Are there.. things we shouldn't do?

[Besides, you know, getting frisky at all. You're dealing with it one way or the other, Hakkai. Sorry for being in Hell.]

You should avoid using objects that aren't meant for the bedroom, be very careful if you're using restraints not to cut off anyone's circulation, and take things slow with plenty of communication until you do know what you like.

[Please enjoy this super-abbreviated safe sex lecture, Chikusa. Hakkai's not going to bother explaining condoms, as he thinks Ayumu was probably right that shinki don't have to worry about anything they might help with, but he doesn't want to have to help with any embarrassing medical emergencies.

Also, entirely for his own sake, he adds:]

And you're washing your own sheets.

[Hey, it follows up with the safe sex info he got on the internet from a complete strangers, so Chikusa figures it all match up. Still, a correction- ]

We're not at that point yet... I just... told him... a couple of weeks ago...

[Well, more like he took Ken on a date that he didn't realize was a date until they'd finished a movie, fumbled with trying to figure out if Ken liked boys at all, and then got called out and licked, but, listen.]

I'm glad you're doing your research first, in that case.

[Ah yes, the date. Hakkai absolutely refuses to consider the question of whether Chikusa and Ken being on a date has anything to do with his own willingness to not tell Ayumu no and send her home that evening.

(Refuses, that is, in the sense that he has thought about it and then decided not to think about it any longer.)

He turns back to the sink.]

If you have specific questions, there are reliable resources online.

Someone on the internet gave me a lot of detail.

[Surely what the father of a pair of teenage boys wants to hear- wait.]

[Chikusa doesn't protest him turning back to the sink, just watches silently. Hakkai hasn't keeled over yet, so.... There's something else he wants to ask as well, but he'll wait long enough to see if Hakkai will do anything else with the.... the sink is empty, right?]

[Goddammit, Hakkai.]

[Better some random person on the internet than Hakkai himself. Chikusa's a smart kid and can double-check questionable information all on his own.

The sink does in fact have dishes left in it, and Hakkai's returning to washing them now that the more serious conversation seems to be over.]

Well, that's good.

[How about both Hakkai and some random person on the internet? Chikusa is a smart kid who checks multiple sources, whether those sources like it or not.]

[Things his sources might not like: the next topic Chikusa is going to bring up. It doesn't come immediately, however. Instead, he waits it out as well, leaning back against the fridge in a more relaxed pose, and waits until it seems like Hakkai isn't holding anything breakable.]

....Is it fine if I invited Ayumu?

[She's been rather quiet, and there hasn't been any tension yet, but.... Still...]

[The spatula in Hakkai's hands isn't breakable, but he doesn't flinch at the question regardless. He does rinse it, and set it on the counter, before answering.

It takes some time to think about the question. He doesn't mind, as such. Ayumu likely needs the distraction from her goddess's disappearance. He may still be upset about what she'd said to him when he returned her scarf, but she'd said it because she cared about Gojyo, after all. It's hard to be angry that her concern for Gojyo leads her to recommend something different than Hakkai's own, no matter how difficult it had been to hear.]

It's fine. She's welcome here.

Alright.

[It's hard to tell, with Hakkai and Ayumu sometimes. He can't tell if they care for each other, or if Ayumu wants to finish off the job that is Hakkai's nose and ribcage. It's especially difficult when...]

You left her scarf around for a while. [Which him and Ken moved to Hakkai's room, when it became clear that Gojyo would be staying.]

Yes. I noticed you moved it to my room....

I was giving her a little space, but it seemed that wasn't necessary in the end. [Or, if it was, she'd covered for it well when he did return the scarf.]

Mm. Yeah.

[Another awkward pause as Chikusa shifts his spot against the fridge.]

Is that going to happen again?

No. It was just...

[He trails off, feeling suddenly awkward at the idea of defining exactly what it had been. Somewhat more, he has to admit, than the "just one night" agreement that they'd made; he'd agreed out of loneliness, but he wonders, knowing that Ayumu had had someone, if she'd offered entirely from the same motives.]

... it doesn't change anything between us. It was just the once.

That's.... probably for the best.

[There's a lot of reasons that could be said. Perhaps it's because they're both too volatile. Or the complications of other people in their lives. Or that it's simply not the right time, with them being as they are.]

[Chikusa's reason is practical.]

We heard you when you came back, so...

From Sanzang's temple? [Hakkai's expression is blank. Had he made any particular noise? It had been midday, and he'd been in a foul mood, but he'd thought he'd kept it quiet enough.]

Ah, no.... I mean, I guess.... Just flat out when you 'came' at all.

[Now is not the time for jokes. And yet, that sure was said, in pefect deadpan.]

[It's lucky that Hakkai hadn't picked anything else back up before Chikusa had said that. The silence stretches for a few awkward seconds.]

I admit, I'd hoped you had been out a little later than that.

[He also wishes Ayumu weren't quite so loud.]

We didn't know you'd have her over.

....Or do that.

[If that had been the case, after all, Chikusa knows that he would have made sure to keep Ken all to himself for a good while longer. There's plenty of ways to distract a dog.... especially when the dog is now your boyfriend.]

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cw for The Talk (welcome to hell, hakka)

well, he knew he was going there eventually

is it anything like he imagined

worse

it's what he deserves

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when you blank and make a typo lmao

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