[He looked from the box to Jotaro and back after a moment. Where was this coming from? Had he lost track of time somewhere--no, he was sure it wasn't Christmas just yet. His birthday had been in summer, they'd gone over that. It wasn't Valentine's Day, and no matter how quickly and thoroughly Kakyoin thought he couldn't come up with any reason for this.]
[The answer was very quiet and sincere, Kakyoin finding himself completely at a loss. His confidence came from having control over his situation and over how he reacted to it; but he'd been caught off guard at a critical moment, and that not-yet-a-smile was only pushing him further off balance. When it came to situations like this, he was forced to confront that...sometimes he just didn't know how to react to the friends he had now.]
[Kakyoin tugged nervously on the wide collar of his shirt to make sure it covered the mess of scars on his back; he could at least manage that even if he fumbled for what to do or say in every other possible aspect.]
I'm...a little nervous, honestly. My parents don't really do very much for Christmas and I've never really spent it with-...
[Wait, was that really true? He paused, fingers twisting in the loose collar for a second.]
...Where were we in December, do you know? I'm not sure I can remember--I know it was November when we met and January when we got to Cairo, but I can't put a specific date to anything else past 'it was fifty days'.
That...sounds right, I think. I'm almost sure that D--that the plane crash in the desert was about a month after we left, so that probably lines up correctly.
[...Goddamned dream reaper.]
So I guess this can only be an improvement, unless we accidentally burn the place down.
[With a silent nod, Jotaro just kind of regards Kakyoin for a moment, absorbing the commentary with a distant, thoughtful expression.
And it takes him a minute, but he does eventually move: with deliberate motions, he shifts and reaches across the table toward the still-boxed cake, plucking one of the cherries out of the icing rosettes and bringing it back to his mouth.
It's only once he's sure that Kakyoin is watching him that he pops it in, not particularly enthusiastic about the flavor, but watching for the reaction nevertheless.]
[But. ...A moment later, he offers as an addendum: ]
I don't want to get bogged down in worrying, and miss out on appreciating that I get to have this with you. It's not that I don't think it's important.
...We've...earned the right to be happy, haven't we?
[Where had he heard that before? He'd said it himself, barely a week ago. 'Right now is what matters', he'd insisted to Ishimaru. Kakyoin was so tired of worrying himself to countless sleepless nights over what might happen--if any of them left, if all of them left, if Kakyoin himself disappeared only to die in Cairo. That was no way to live, and he was absolutely alive right now.]
Yeah. Yeah, we have. Worrying endlessly isn't going to accomplish anything, so...
[If this is all we're going to get...we should live it the best that we can. We've more than earned the right to be happy, so we should take that last chance and use it for all that it's worth.]
[Slowly, he stood up--in careful motions with thought but no hesitation behind them Kakyoin walked over and reached up to wrap his arms around Jotaro's neck.]
I love you.
['Right now is what matters.']
[And right now, Kakyoin was going to end that short sentence by kissing him until he damn well risked passing out from lack of air.]
[He really hopes it comes away tasting like cherries.
A little over a month, Kakyoin had remarked, when the plane had crash-landed in the desert. And...it'd been longer than that, now, since the first time they'd kissed, hadn't it? On the day the world stood still for five seconds of time, because a stupid punk of a kid with the powers of a god had been startled into using them by the soft press of lips on his own. November fifth was when he'd returned it — another date he'll never forget, a far more palatable one to remember than January sixteenth. It's been a little more than a month since this became...something.
And it's Christmas, or close enough to it for anyone's purposes, and last year they were together but this year they're together and he might just explode if he has to let go before he's memorized every single iota of sensation, how it feels having Kakyoin right there in his arms.
It's going to be a long journey to a better Jotaro. He knows that, and accepts it.
Being able to say those words — we've earned the right to be happy — and, to some degree, believe them; that's another step forward, and another weight fallen away.]
[He'd nearly said that he'd never spent Christmas with friends before. But that was wrong--they'd been together a year ago by this city's calendar, all of them. Now there were some of their number missing and so, so many more added to it at the same time. More than that there was no threat of immediate death hanging over their heads. Every last one of them could do stupid things like stand around in a kitchen talking about cake, or just waste time doing nothing particularly productive at all...they could just live, and Kakyoin almost wanted to waste every second of his time repeating I love you a thousand times just because he was alive to do it.]
[Breaking it off for the sake of being able to breathe, Kakyoin didn't let go--he didn't even consider it. He couldn't stop time, but he was going to make this last for as long as he could.]
...I love you. [Saying it just once more was enough for now--quieter, almost under his breath.] And I'm not worried. No matter what ends up happening--we'll figure that out if we come to it. Right now, I only want to be concerned with this. Okay?
...That's what I want, too. Right now, just for this, and nothing else.
[He could've said "just for you" or more accurately, "just for us". But it doesn't matter, he thinks, because Kakyoin will know it no matter what he says, because Kakyoin knows him better than anyone else.
Kakyoin understands with or without words. When or where could he ever hope to find someone like that?]
I brought you a Christmas cake. That means you're never allowed to forget how special you are to me. Right?
[Of course he knew it. They were a matching set which complemented each other flawlessly, and barely needed to speak to have their meaning understood. When he said 'just for this', he meant everything this was--the two of them together despite everything that made it impossible. Despite Egypt and all they had suffered through, despite the scars that said Kakyoin shouldn't have been standing there at all.]
[None of it mattered. Just the two of them, this moment, and the fact that they deserved to have it--that was all they needed to focus on.]
I won't forget, Jojo. But that means you have to do the same. I won't accept it if you forget how important you are to me, understand?
[Excuse him just carefully reaching around Kakyoin to snag another cherry off the top of the cake, bringing it back with little dabs of frosting sticking to his fingers to regard it with a touch of curiosity.]
It's your turn to have one, isn't it? Or would you rather it be mine again?
[Jotaro had fish, Kakyoin apparently had cherries. But he caught up to the situation quickly, starting to turn about as red as that cherry and opening his mouth for lack of any other way to react.]
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2015-12-23 06:51 am (UTC)[He looked from the box to Jotaro and back after a moment. Where was this coming from? Had he lost track of time somewhere--no, he was sure it wasn't Christmas just yet. His birthday had been in summer, they'd gone over that. It wasn't Valentine's Day, and no matter how quickly and thoroughly Kakyoin thought he couldn't come up with any reason for this.]
[Hesitantly, he reached out and opened the box.]
no subject
Date: 2015-12-23 07:16 am (UTC)...It's.
[...]
In case we get too busy tomorrow, and don't have time. Or can't get away from the family shit. I thought...a day early wouldn't be so bad.
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Date: 2015-12-23 07:24 am (UTC)You were out at midnight getting us a Christmas cake.
[Or maybe the gesture was so genuinely touching that it left him stating the obvious just to catch up.]
A cherry Christmas cake.
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Date: 2015-12-23 07:35 am (UTC)[And yet, in a slight divergence from his usual awkward stiff delivery, he's coming close to smiling faintly as he elaborates.]
I figured you wouldn't mind too much.
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Date: 2015-12-23 07:53 am (UTC)[The answer was very quiet and sincere, Kakyoin finding himself completely at a loss. His confidence came from having control over his situation and over how he reacted to it; but he'd been caught off guard at a critical moment, and that not-yet-a-smile was only pushing him further off balance. When it came to situations like this, he was forced to confront that...sometimes he just didn't know how to react to the friends he had now.]
[Kakyoin tugged nervously on the wide collar of his shirt to make sure it covered the mess of scars on his back; he could at least manage that even if he fumbled for what to do or say in every other possible aspect.]
I'm...a little nervous, honestly. My parents don't really do very much for Christmas and I've never really spent it with-...
[Wait, was that really true? He paused, fingers twisting in the loose collar for a second.]
...Where were we in December, do you know? I'm not sure I can remember--I know it was November when we met and January when we got to Cairo, but I can't put a specific date to anything else past 'it was fifty days'.
no subject
Date: 2015-12-23 08:02 am (UTC)[He falls silent, watching Kakyoin fiddle with his collar.]
It must've been sometime around there, I guess.
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Date: 2015-12-23 08:10 am (UTC)[...Goddamned dream reaper.]
So I guess this can only be an improvement, unless we accidentally burn the place down.
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Date: 2015-12-23 08:14 am (UTC)And it takes him a minute, but he does eventually move: with deliberate motions, he shifts and reaches across the table toward the still-boxed cake, plucking one of the cherries out of the icing rosettes and bringing it back to his mouth.
It's only once he's sure that Kakyoin is watching him that he pops it in, not particularly enthusiastic about the flavor, but watching for the reaction nevertheless.]
I think it's an improvement already.
no subject
Date: 2015-12-23 08:17 am (UTC)[If the goal was to get him to stop worrying about his shirt, Egypt, the fucking nightmare clown, or all of the above--it worked flawlessly.]
...yeah. It's definitely one hell of an improvement.
no subject
Date: 2015-12-23 08:23 am (UTC)[But. ...A moment later, he offers as an addendum: ]
I don't want to get bogged down in worrying, and miss out on appreciating that I get to have this with you. It's not that I don't think it's important.
...We've...earned the right to be happy, haven't we?
no subject
Date: 2015-12-23 08:37 am (UTC)Yeah. Yeah, we have. Worrying endlessly isn't going to accomplish anything, so...
[If this is all we're going to get...we should live it the best that we can. We've more than earned the right to be happy, so we should take that last chance and use it for all that it's worth.]
[Slowly, he stood up--in careful motions with thought but no hesitation behind them Kakyoin walked over and reached up to wrap his arms around Jotaro's neck.]
I love you.
['Right now is what matters.']
[And right now, Kakyoin was going to end that short sentence by kissing him until he damn well risked passing out from lack of air.]
no subject
Date: 2015-12-23 08:48 am (UTC)A little over a month, Kakyoin had remarked, when the plane had crash-landed in the desert. And...it'd been longer than that, now, since the first time they'd kissed, hadn't it? On the day the world stood still for five seconds of time, because a stupid punk of a kid with the powers of a god had been startled into using them by the soft press of lips on his own. November fifth was when he'd returned it — another date he'll never forget, a far more palatable one to remember than January sixteenth. It's been a little more than a month since this became...something.
And it's Christmas, or close enough to it for anyone's purposes, and last year they were together but this year they're together and he might just explode if he has to let go before he's memorized every single iota of sensation, how it feels having Kakyoin right there in his arms.
It's going to be a long journey to a better Jotaro. He knows that, and accepts it.
Being able to say those words — we've earned the right to be happy — and, to some degree, believe them; that's another step forward, and another weight fallen away.]
no subject
Date: 2015-12-23 09:05 am (UTC)[Breaking it off for the sake of being able to breathe, Kakyoin didn't let go--he didn't even consider it. He couldn't stop time, but he was going to make this last for as long as he could.]
...I love you. [Saying it just once more was enough for now--quieter, almost under his breath.] And I'm not worried. No matter what ends up happening--we'll figure that out if we come to it. Right now, I only want to be concerned with this. Okay?
no subject
Date: 2015-12-23 07:02 pm (UTC)[He could've said "just for you" or more accurately, "just for us". But it doesn't matter, he thinks, because Kakyoin will know it no matter what he says, because Kakyoin knows him better than anyone else.
Kakyoin understands with or without words. When or where could he ever hope to find someone like that?]
I brought you a Christmas cake. That means you're never allowed to forget how special you are to me. Right?
no subject
Date: 2015-12-23 07:44 pm (UTC)[Of course he knew it. They were a matching set which complemented each other flawlessly, and barely needed to speak to have their meaning understood. When he said 'just for this', he meant everything this was--the two of them together despite everything that made it impossible. Despite Egypt and all they had suffered through, despite the scars that said Kakyoin shouldn't have been standing there at all.]
[None of it mattered. Just the two of them, this moment, and the fact that they deserved to have it--that was all they needed to focus on.]
I won't forget, Jojo. But that means you have to do the same. I won't accept it if you forget how important you are to me, understand?
no subject
Date: 2015-12-23 08:36 pm (UTC)[Excuse him just carefully reaching around Kakyoin to snag another cherry off the top of the cake, bringing it back with little dabs of frosting sticking to his fingers to regard it with a touch of curiosity.]
It's your turn to have one, isn't it? Or would you rather it be mine again?
no subject
Date: 2015-12-23 08:44 pm (UTC)I can get a knife to cut it if you want me to.
no subject
Date: 2015-12-23 09:13 pm (UTC)[APPARENTLY PUSHING THAT CHERRY RIGHT UP AGAINST KAKYOIN'S MOUTH IS WHAT HE IS DOING]
no subject
Date: 2015-12-23 09:26 pm (UTC)[Jotaro had fish, Kakyoin apparently had cherries. But he caught up to the situation quickly, starting to turn about as red as that cherry and opening his mouth for lack of any other way to react.]
no subject
Date: 2015-12-23 09:55 pm (UTC)It's cherry vanilla. The cake.
[...]
If you do that tongue thing you do, I'm going to bite you.
no subject
Date: 2015-12-23 10:00 pm (UTC)[mmmm cherry]
What's wrong with it? [he legitimately doesn't know.]
no subject
Date: 2015-12-23 10:14 pm (UTC)[HE SAYS, WITH THE UTMOST AFFECTION AND ADORATION, TO HIS BOYFRIEND, WHOM HE LOVES, IRRESPECTIVE OF HIS HELLA CREEPY TONGUE HABITS.]
no subject
Date: 2015-12-23 10:16 pm (UTC)[:c REROS SADLY]
Sorry. I never even realized it was weird.
no subject
Date: 2015-12-23 10:19 pm (UTC)[...]
Just remember that I gave my word to bite you if you do it. It's your decision whether you think you can handle that.
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Date: 2015-12-23 10:20 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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