no looky for real this time

[preordain]

Comments

[tearduct]

Oka--

[HE CHOKES. DON'T LOOK. Noooooooooo. His hands are full of everything as he follows Ryo, but he still looks so SHOCKED when Ryo calls him out in front of Satan and everyone.

His face kind of gets redder in that the color is seeping into his neck.]

Wh...? I--uh, no. No, I'm... good?

[Why the FCK did his inhibitions decide to go buck wild the moment he steps foot in hell with Ryo? WHY IS IT SO EMBARRASSING FOR RYO TO SO CASUALLY BE LIKE, "YOU MAY GO FUCK"?]

[preordain]

Let me know if you change your mind.

[ ryo like, "you may get your dick wet as a tweat, i will allow it'

but he will just make his way to this island's dock. ]

You just seem flustered.

[tearduct]

[He's not sure whether or not he would ever let Ryo know or not until the time arises, so he chooses to say nothing. Imagine going up to the dude who you are aware probably still loves you obsessively and saying you're running down to the RED LIGHT DISTRICT TO GRAB SOME PUSS.

He shakes his head, trailing on Ryo's heels to the dock for the ferry.]

I... just didn't know you liked... whipped cream. But you did like the vanilla ice cream that one time, so... I guess it does make sense.

[THIS EXPLAINS NOTHING ABOUT WHY HE'S EMBARRASSED but it's fine.]

[preordain]

[ ?????? THIS EXPLAINS NOTHING ryo just glances behind him at that, his expression one of clear confusion because he is not making the horny connection with the whipped cream. he looks back ahead. ]

I see. [ he doesn't. ] You can have whipped cream.

[ if it's that intriguing to him................ ]

[tearduct]

[HELP. Ryo thinks he is interested in the whipped cream!! HE'S WITHERING AWAY ON THE INSIDE. Now Ryo thinks he's a WEIRDO, and he's not sure how to rectify this exactly without giving away his brain being naughty.]

No, it's okay... It's yours. I don't want it. I can... feed you some or something if you want?

[Wait.

THIS ISN'T WHAT HE MEANT. Very quickly, he snaps his head in the opposite direction. WOW.]

[preordain]

[ WHAT IS HAPPENING how do you feed someone whipped cream. is akira going to pour it into ryo's mouth or something... he is trying to imagine this... ]

Sure...? You can.

[ if that's what akira wants... unfortunately now ryo's thoughts are going to horny, except he's wondering if akira now has some kind of feeder kink which is way worse than what it actually is. ]

[tearduct]

[NOOOO. No, this is going so badly so fast. He refuses to look at Ryo, even when Ryo gives him permission. STOP, HE DOESN'T HAVE A FEEDING KINK!!!

He also doesn't have much in terms of free hands, but he reaches out to snag Ryo by the arm and drag him onto the ferry so maybe they can both pretend like there wasn't ANY talk about whipped cream at all.]

You can fly back if you don't want to wait. I'll ride the ferry there with the stuff.

[preordain]

[ he shakes his head. ]

No, I'll stay with you.

[ partly to make sure akira goes to the right place, but also he just wants to spend more time with him. ]

Wouldn't want anything dropped into the lava.

[tearduct]

[He makes an exasperated face of offense, but playful.]

I’m not that clumsy… [WAIT!!!] I carried you all the way here, and you were fine?

[He didn’t drop Ryo into the lava.]

[preordain]

I did hang onto you. The food doesn't have arms.

[ he glances at what akira is holding like he is

double checking its not going to suddenly sprout some. hell is weird. ]

[tearduct]

[Hmmmgg.

He also follows Ryo’s eyes to glance down at the stuff, but he isn’t thinking about the fact they might just sprout arms and cling.

Would Ryo be jealous if they did??]

I’d take care of it. And if I did, I’d go back to get more for us.

[preordain]

[ HE WOULD NOT BE JEALOUS OF FOOD SHUT UP!!!! he is even ok if akira goes and bangs someone it's fine, there would be problems if akira suddenly announced he has feelings for whoever he randomly banged however. ]

You'll go by yourself if that happened.

[ ryo has been so social today......... he's been in two whole stores ]

[tearduct]

[hehe

We are assigning Ryo jealous of food with the arms they kept missing every trial.]

I meant I would go back myself, yeah.

[Ryo has been so social… two whole stores. But no, it’s less that and more he’d have been the one who dropped it. So it’s fair if he goes back on his own.]

Someone has to put everything else away at home.

[preordain]

[ he opens his mouth to respond, realizes that akira had called it home, and he closes his mouth. there's a pause and ryo shuffles over to press his face against akira's shoulder.

this is so domestic. ryo had always been someone with grand plans, even before he learned about demons, so the idea of living this peacefully never really crossed his mind. but the suggestion that akira would have to go and get replacement groceries while ryo puts the rest away just made his brain snap but in a pleasant way for once. confusing but pleasant. ]

What do you want to eat today? We bought a lot.

[tearduct]

[????

He had just been calling it like it is… His hands and arms are full, so the most he can do is rest his head against Ryo’s own. Not even gently. With weight, like it belongs there.

He is really out here playing the domestication of Satan game. Light novel title: How I, a Human, Domesticated the Fallen Archangel Satan.]

I could make some curry if you have the spices. Or I can come back and get some. [The spices.] Or… I dunno. I’ll have to think about it.

[He is thinking meals like a normal person, and Ryo might be thinking whether or not he can just feed him slabs of meat.]

[preordain]

[ yea that's exactly how he's thinking about it actually

he might have the spices simply because ryo is the type of person who likes to be prepared for things, so anything that doesn't have to be quickly replaced are more likely to be in his possession.

he stays in this position though. ]

We'll see. I guess you can feed me whipped cream after.

[tearduct]

[NO. He freezes momentarily again, and his face gets hot under the skin. GOD. Grant him the strength.

Can’t believe whipped cream is going to get him in trouble in the future.]

I’ll feed you some after…

[Dessert… he guesses.

He pauses for a second, then carefully lowers the stuff down on the ferry by their feet. Then he twines his arms around Ryo’s shoulders, hugging, threading the fingers of one hand into the back of Ryo’s hair.]

I missed you, [he whispers.] I’m glad you were here. I’m glad I could see you again, Ryo.

After every stupid thing I did, you really are always there, huh?

[preordain]

[ he leans into the hug, pressing as closely against akira as he possibly can.

ryo isn't dumb enough to think that everything has been perfectly resolved; they're likely going to end up fighting at some point, especially when they finally start talking in more detail about what happened to them. if they ever open up about the decisions they made when they were both in hell the last time. but it's still nice, for now, to enjoy this moment for what it is-- two people who need each other, even if all the reasons for that aren't good, finally together again. ]

I won't leave you. I'd always be waiting for you, Akira.

[ after all, he did promise that he wouldn't die. ]

[tearduct]

I know. [Ryo gets a small squeezing.] I’m here now, and I won’t leave you again. Okay?

I promise.

[They may fight again. They probably will. But he has had a long life since learning ways to navigate those kinds of things, making it so everyone is the least hurt.

Hopefully, it will come in handy this time, and they will for once have an argument instead of the fights they always had before.]

[preordain]

[ he knows part of it is because there's really no one else left. granted, if they look around enough, they'll probably find others who are still around out there-- but it'll still be a small enough number.

there's a pause, and he presses a small kiss to akira's shoulder. it's subtle enough it can probably be confused as just an accidental brushing against him. ]

We can do whatever you want.

[ even your weird feeding kink...... ryo really is just going to continue believing this forever until proven otherwise. ]

[tearduct]

[He stands there and quietly holds Ryo to himself. There is actually a lot he wants to say, to just blurt out. He wants to get it all out of the way so they can move on without walking on weird eggshells by each other.

He wonders if it’s too soon to just say everything he wants to say. He also wonders if it will simply cause the fight they are both probably dreading will happen.

But not talking had always been their problem before (one of them anyway). And even without anyone else, it’ll still be an issue if it’s left to dodge.

So he whispers,] I left, but I still loved you. [He thought maybe if he used his brain to make choices for himself, it’d be less painful than his heart. But it never worked out that way. He doesn’t know how Ryo always did it.]

Everyone wanted me to make the choices I wanted, but it wasn’t something I could just get over. For a long time, it felt like a piece of me was missing, but then I made myself not think about it. Seeing you again… reminded me.

If it’s not okay, you have to tell me. You have to be honest with me. I’ll figure out what to do, but not unless you tell me how you really feel, Ryo.

[preordain]

I just wish we had more time.

[ he wishes he knew that there was a clock running that he wasn't aware of, besides the deadline to the party. ryo can't say for sure that he would have actually used that time wisely, or if anything would have ended up differently than it did. it's impossible to know that now. but he knows that he would have made a few different choices, at the very least, even if they still amounted to nothing in the end.

ryo pulls away though. now far enough to leave akira's grasp, but so that he can look at his face. ]

I love you, Akira. I never stopped, and I never will. It might not be the same kind of love as yours, but... I'll always want you next to me.

[tearduct]

[He still doesn’t think their own world should have been only him and Ryo and the demons, but he doesn’t say that because it doesn’t matter anymore. None of that matters.

His eyes look over Ryo’s face, and he reaches up to brush some of the blonde hair to the side gently.]

We have a lot of time now. The rest of time. It’ll just be you and me.

[And, like, hell. But that’s a given.]

Did you go home?

[preordain]

[ ah.

he had wanted to avoid this one, for a little bit, but he figured it would come up at some point. ]

I did. After I left Teyvat. The cat died-- nothing bad, just naturally, so I decided I might as well go and see. I tried things differently. Didn't instigate the demons to hunt down the humans. Didn't reveal your identity. I attempted every suggestion so it wouldn't lead in the same direction that it did for you.

[ his gaze shifts over to to look at the lava. ]

There was a faction of demons that did not care for me. Apparently my insistence on not going into an outright war, like they all thought I would, made it worse. They ended up attacking the humans anyway, and it still more or less ended the same way. I couldn't convince you that the demons that supported me weren't the ones going after humans. And then God came, like a bullet from the sky.

[ he shuts his eyes, trying to reimagine it. ]

I came back here. Where else would I go?

[ and jd was here, like some sort of consolation prize for another failure. ryo decided to just settle down, and got a house, and has been here since. ]

[tearduct]

[A frown slowly eases onto his face as he listens. He doesn’t like it just solidifies what both of them argued about so often before, what both of them ultimately came to understand at separate times: nothing they could ever do would change their fate in that world.

It was always going to end terribly for them, huh? One way or another.

He brushes the backs of his fingers over Ryo’s cheek.]

I’m sorry, Ryo. That nothing changed.

[That Ryo maybe wasted time trying.]

I’m here now. We’re here together.