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[Oh, no zap, that's a surprise. So a questionnaire with no stakes? Odd, and odder still that Junpei thinks it's odd, he figures. He's glad Charles wasn't zapped for lying, at least.]

Seriously? Everything else that happened that week, and Extreme 20 Questions really was just... regular 20 Questions?

[Actually, that kind of pisses him off! People died— both of them sitting here died, even, and he could have just been answering stupid questions with strangers instead? Fuck the gnosia, and the town, and the shitty locals who have the gall to act like all the Chosen have done something wrong now—

Whatever. He's fine. Frowning at the blanket, but fine.]

I don't think this place is ever going to make any sense. But, uh, yeah, making shit up sounds like the best option.

Well, it wouldn't let us leave before answering them all, and the questions were shit like who's hurt you the most or would you die for your pair, and at the end you had to decide if the one you'd been paired with was infected or not, so...

[ he just shrugs — he's not entirely sure what the point of it all had been, but he can see the topic is upsetting junpei for one reason or another, so he just tugs him closer with a quiet, ] C'mere, sweetheart, [ and he turns a little so junpei is pressed into his chest instead of his side, and then hums. ]

Well, that's all done now, innit? Nothing to do with the farm, either. [ and he just continues talking, voice light, ] There's this pony there, yeah? Her name's Mary. Reckon you'd like her. She's plenty nice and gentle, so if you wanna let me teach you to ride, then that's on the table.

[It's not very wise or rational of Junpei to think, well, he'd still rather have answered those questions than sat on the floor in a storage room for a week, but— he can let it go. The gnosia is too long gone and wouldn't have cared about his pissy opinions anyway, and Aldrip itself certainly doesn't have sympathy for him. So.

Okay. He sighs and squishes the side of his face into Charles' chest, like if he can hug him hard enough that will let him get over every rage against the machine he could possibly have. He's not going to let his righteous indignation spoil this birthday thing, after all— it's fine. All of them are owed reparations, but it's fine.]

Mary's also a human name, [he mutters, because it is. Which famous Mary is this pony named after...]

As long as she's, y'know, patient and not gonna kick me off or anything, sure. Let's see those teaching skills.

[ quite frankly, charles doesn't really care if junpei is wise or rational at all — what he cares about is that he's okay, that he can help him over one of his moments of anger directed at this place at large; something he understands well enough, even if it's frustrating more than anything else, the way they could spend days being angry at the things that keep happening and it wouldn't change anything anyway.

gently, he tilts his head so he can rest his cheek on top of junpei's head, breathe in and out, try and remember what he smells like. it had been in this very park that they'd hugged when he'd been able to feel it all; that he hadn't committed his scent to memory better is an injustice he wishes he could correct.

but right, they're talking about ponies... ]

It is, yeah, [ he admits with a soft grin. ]

Next time you've a day off and I'm going there, I'm taking you with me. [ and he's not going to say so, but he thinks he's not half bad as a teacher. at least everyone he's ever taught anything to has said so... ]

[Futile anger is all too familiar to Junpei, after everything; at the world, at himself, at people who've let him down time and again—so the way he feels about Aldrip now is just another drop in the bucket, at the end of the day. They reset this whole place and already there's something else wrong with it, another thorn in their collective side— but Charles has always made it better. Junpei has meant it every time he's told him as much, that without him this place would be all but unbearable, and it's as true now as ever.

So it does help, to be pulled close and totally folded into Charles like this. Already he feels lighter, even if that lightness is just kind of putting the frustration on the backburner until some other time. He manages a light laugh, quiet, so - better.

But the laugh is for this pony thing, because,] That sounds like a threat. On my precious and rare day off...?

[What if this pony kicks him or something? Hello? But no, that's for the bit, even if he isn't, hmm, over the moon about learning to ride a pony, Charles seems pretty keen on it and he can't say no to him about, uh, anything. Pony rides it is... hopefully without an audience, just in case.]

What do you feed ponies? Carrots?

We'll make it a date, [ comes his answer, matching the humour — his days off are precious, which is exactly why they should spend those by going on dates. ]

Take Gab with us, get you to pet some sheep, feed cows, that sort of thing. It'll be fun.

[ including the whole thing with mary the pony, too — charles isn't saying as much, but a big part of the reason why he's so adamant about this is what the ketsora trip taught him: here, to get from one city to another, riding is pretty much the only way to do it fast. and if there's ever a time they need to leave aldrip and do it quickly... he's not going to risk junpei being unable to ride, then. ]

Carrots, yeah, or apples. We'll take some with us.

[ then, softer, ] C'mon, it'll be fine. I'll make sure you'll be okay. You trust me to do that, yeah?

Huh, yeah, okay.

[Lesson learned: "make it a date" is the sleeper phrase that will get him to agree to basically anything. Maybe not bringing Gab along, that seems like it'll end in Gab wandering off some distant farm corner and going to sleep, and then they'll have to run around and find him, and it'll be a whole thing...

But the rest, yeah, sure. A date with farm animals. And he doesn't at all make the connection to horseback riding as a survival skill, so it strikes him as a little surprising that Charles is so insistent about this pony day thing. Sure, he's already agreed, but hm.]

Hey, I'm not afraid of horses or anything... [Just because they are so large and he is so not, immaterial,] But yeah, of course. You'll be my knight in shining... farm overalls.

[The overalls are symbolic. Implied. He trusts Charles implicitly, with anything, but that's a little intense to say about pony rides.]

[ it's just as well that he doesn't make the connection — if it ever becomes relevant in the future, perhaps then charles will readily admit what it was for... but for now, he's all too happy to just think of it all as a nice date activity for the two of them. and he's determined to make it nice, too! ]

Right, [ he says, a little bit fond, a little bit teasing, ] Just worried they're gonna throw you off their back.

[ he remembers their horse discussion during his ketsora time very vividly... but also, ] Bloody hell, I know you don't mean that literally, but don't even joke. Overalls look fucking terrible.

[ oh, right, speaking of fashion snobbery — ] That reminds me, we need to get you some better clothes, don't we? [ he drops a kiss on junpei's head before he raises his head from where it's been resting against his, and gives him a once-over. ]

Not that you don't look lovely already, but... can that be my birthday wish? Seeing you in a proper button-up?

That's my pathological fear of being thrown off of stuff, not horses.

[Nuance (tm)! Just kidding, it's a bit, again. He snorts about the overalls - maybe he'll get some overalls of his own and see just how far Charles' tolerance of his crummy wardrobe will go. That's a fun date, too, right? Testing Charles' patience with various heavy fabrics...

As for the outfits, as he overtly looks over at the lumpy wrapped thing being used as a blanket weight, ahem,] Uh— yeah, no, we can do that. Later, though? I got you something and carried it all the way out here, sooo...

[Unwrap it before shopping time, for him. Speaking of the present, can he reach it without really sitting up from this embrace... he's trying... he's definitely waving a hand at it, like this will eventually help him grab a corner. He suffers.]

[ sure it is, babe. the bit makes charles chuckle even as he shakes his head — and maybe it's a good thing he has no idea of the consideration that's going to overalls in junpei's head...

and then he's saying later, though like it's a question and charles nods, immediately. ] Yeah, course. Didn't mean right now. [ he squeezes his arm around junpei a little tighter, then, as if to say we're not going anywhere. he's far too comfortable, and anything else they might be doing pales in comparison to simply holding him like this.

the attempts at grabbing the present make him laugh, because that's adorable, actually — ] Let me.

[ he only needs to lean forward a little and reach out to grab the corner of the lump and drag it towards them. the real question is if he can unwrap it with just one hand, though, because he's equally reluctant to move away from junpei even one inch more than he absolutely has to.

luckily, pulling the ribbon open seems to be a good first step, and that he can manage just fine one-handed. whether that's going to make the rest of the lump fall open conveniently or not is another matter... ]

[Oh good, they are simpatico. Junpei doesn't want to go anywhere before he's had his fill of this totally cool birthday picnic-without-food he's set up, even if outfits means dressing rooms means inappropriate conduct in the dressing room—

That can wait. He hums and reaches for the opposite corner once Charles has so generously dragged the lump over. No, this isn't going open conveniently or be a one-handed operation, he— he had to use a lot of tape. He's not a wrapping expert by any means, but it's too big to be in a nice-looking gift bag with some tissue paper, so: this, a lump and a lot of tape.]

Ready to pull? Three, two...

[Pull with him!! It's a record player once exposed, and the lumpiness is from Junpei's attempt to arrange its included speakers on top but also not break any moving parts. He tried. On the side stands a small collection of records, several of which are Aldrip-brand knockoffs, but maybe three or four are actually proper 80s records.]

So, uh, [compulsively explaining his gift, here goes,] Some of these just kinda turned up one day? In the house? I asked around about the record player, and... yeah. Happy birthday.

One, [ says charles and does, in fact, pull — it takes a bit of maneuvering, but eventually they manage to win the fight against all of the tape involved, and charles' eyes widen as he takes in the contents.

the record player itself would already have been enough, but the records, too? he reaches for one by the clash, turns it in his hand like he can't quite believe what he's looking at. ]

I had a cassette of this, [ he says, and if his hand shakes just a little, no it doesn't. he sets it down so that he can wrap his other arm around junpei, too, pulling him into a tight hug — and maybe a birthday present shouldn't make him emotional, but it's the first birthday present he's got in decades, not to mention his birthdays back when he was alive weren't particularly great either, and the fact junpei went to the trouble of finding something he'd actually want to have... well. ]

Thank you. [ he pulls back just enough to be able to lean down and give junpei a gentle, reverent kiss. ]

You're the best.

A cassette? Alright, old man. [Records are retro, cassettes are for old people, the logic holds— but this is just a bit while Charles squeezes him in close, and Junpei slides his arms around him to squeeze back just as tightly. If Charles starts getting teary on him it's going to immediately make him get teary, too, so— well, he's not saying anything about anybody's maybe-possibly shaky hands, but he's not not paying attention.

The kiss is a good sign, and Junpei reaches up to tug Charles' jacket collar and bring him back down for a second one. He's happy if Charles is happy, and if he's the best at anything it's being head over heels for him, so-]

Hmm, maybe. Only 'cause of you. [As always, Charles makes everything better; Charles makes him want to be better, to wallow less, to believe in people more... So he deserves a dang record player on his replacement birthday, at the very least. Junpei hums and leans back to flop down onto the blanket, gesturing at the record player and pile of records from down there.]

Can't play any of those out here, [oops, great planning by Junpei,] but... pick one and come down here and tell me about it?

[ the quip earns him a laugh as charles draws him into the hug — it's a tad shaky, just a little, but junpei's arms around him pull him back from the edge of "overwhelmed", straight into the middle of "adoring". he lingers after the second kiss, pressing their lips together once, twice more, softly, as he cups the side of his face briefly, brushing his thumb against his cheek.

he smiles as junpei leans back onto the blanket, looking at him like he's something infinitely precious — until the gesturing makes him glance at the records again, and he picks the one he'd just set down and lies down right next to junpei. ]

I'm not gonna spoil the music for you, I'm making you listen to this once we get home. [ said with some amusement. but hm, ]

I had a poster of them, too, you know? Bought it after their gig was over. Not that I had the money to go there, I just snuck in after it was over and asked the lady at the counter to sell one of the posters they'd used to advertise, yeah? Did that with a couple other bands, too.

[As soon as Charles is settled Junpei shifts in to stick to his side, draping an arm over his chest and settling his head on Charles' shoulder. This is the birthday PDA they deserve and he's not going to keep a polite distance for more than a couple seconds at a time. He huffs, amused,]

"Spoil the music"...?

[This dork— Junpei can't promise he'll be incredibly into 80s punk music, but he'll like it well enough simply because Charles likes it. Easy!

The posters are a fun bit of Charles lore; now he knows what to get for Charles' next birthday, fake or otherwise—]

If it works, it works. Were you, like, a wall-to-wall posters guy? I could see that.

[ oh, that's nice — more than nice, in fact, the unmistakable sense of rightness that he feels whenever junpei is close to him. charles relaxes a tad as he wraps his arm around junpei and lets his outer coat disappear; he can't get cold, after all, and his bomber jacket is much softer for junpei to lay his head on, as opposed to the many pins on his coat. ]

Well, yeah!

[ there's totally such a thing as spoiling the music, don't at him... the posters, though? ] Sort of. Didn't have too much wall space, my room wasn't too big and the sports trophies took up quite a bit, but I tried my best.

[ the response is vague on purpose — it hadn't been once or twice that his dad had ripped all of the posters off the walls and they'd been unsalvageable and he'd had to start over, but that's not something he wants to talk about, not now, quite possibly not at all. before, he'd have simply said it as an aside, not assigned much meaning to it at all — it'd just been the way it had been! but he knows it'd upset junpei and that is so far from what he wants to do, here, so... a vague answer it is. complete with changing the topic, though he's genuinely curious, ]

Did you collect anything as a kid? Like, coins, or plastic dinosaurs, or something? You know, before starting on your sneakers collection.

[Oh, cozy— Junpei squeezes in closer indulgently, appreciative of the softer Charles experience (tm). He still scoffs, because spoiling the music isn't a real thing, dork— but it's the fondest scoff anyone has ever managed to scoff all the same.

He's trying to picture Charles' room, not too big and full of sports trophies, of course, this jock; and more than that trying to picture Charles in it with his cassette tapes and a poster or two. If he imagines hard enough he can manifest it, right, make true by hoping hard enough that more of Charles' time at home was at least tolerable, if not pleasant. He'll think it really loudly, just in case.

So,] If you get any posters here, just put 'em up wherever you want at home. I'm definitely not a posters guy...

[Punk rock-ify their cottagecore domestic life, please. He shifts slightly to look up at Charles with a raised eyebrow, like, come on? Plastic dinos? Surely he's way cooler than that.]

I told you about my telescope already, soooo... I dunno, I was kind of into model kits for a while? Sucked at painting them, though.

[it's just a different plastic toy oh shit he's a nerd]

[ so it turns out that their "lying down on the blanket" has evolved into "cuddling on the blanket" in record time — not that charles has any complaints about that. in fact, it's the opposite; he lifts and turns his head a little, to press a kiss onto junpei's forehead, and then another just for good measure. ]

Sure, [ he agrees, easy and bright like his grin — this just makes him think of how empty the walls in their house are, so maybe they would benefit from some posters... or maybe some framed pictures of gab. those might be nice.

and hey, plastic dinos sound plenty cool in his opinion! he does his best impression of a shrug while, you know, lying down, before junpei starts to talk about model kits and charles suddenly beams. ] Oh, hey, I used to build those wooden plane model things! Not the same, I know, and I didn't paint them at all... but the building process was fun. I've always liked things that you do with your hands, yeah? DIY stuff. I built some shelves for the agency, too, made the board we use for organising our cases...

[There's a minuscule part of Junpei that, at some point in the past, would have considered not allowing this—all this cuddling, this very public affection, this whole display of how warm and fuzzy and saccharine and safe (etc, etc) Charles makes him feel. Were this a few months ago, were he more cynical, he would pull away from being this open about how much he loves Charles; but it's Charles who's pulled this out of him, so it's only fitting enough that Junpei presses himself close with a content hum, heedless of how public this is.

Charles can have whatever posters he wants, Charles can have whatever he wants in general— Junpei tilts his head up to press a kiss to Charles' neck, then his jaw, fond. Then he chuckles, and god, but it's lucky Charles thinks his sense of humor is charming, because he's unable to resist,]

If we're talking stuff you can do with your hands, I've got a couple good suggestions...

[But anyway, the cute DIY thing, ahem,] Never really built anything bigger than a model, so I dunno if I could hack it, but if you ever want to, like, put a cabinet together or something, I'll help.

[A stand for the record player to sit on? Possibilities!]

[ in truth, charles would be content with anything — if junpei had decided that he'd rather keep their displays of affection private, he'd have agreed to it without hesitation. and yet, he can't deny that this makes him almost overflowing with how happy he is; why should he not want to show junpei all the love and affection he has for him, always, regardless of where they are? besides, the locals hate them anyway, some pda is hardly going to make it worse.

and yeah, the quip makes a laugh rumble inside his chest, one that lingers in his voice as he responds, ] That so? Well, you know me, I'm always open to suggestions.

[ anyway! back to your irregularly scheduled diy talk, ] Wait, really? I mean, that sounds aces. And you can be as involved as you want. Just handing me tools is plenty, but if you wanna learn, I can show you how to do it.

[Boy is it lucky they've already got this unspoken agreement to be as affectionate as possible in public, because Junpei's immediate blush in response to that laugh and that comment is itself practically obscene. It's nothing, really, but with how close they are and how easily Junpei will blush about anything even mildly suggestive, well! He's red to the ears, thinking about all those suggestions. Ahem...]

Uh, well, you know, I'll think about it. It's your birthday, so... feel free.

[To make requests, or whatever, you know, it's cool. Ahem x2.]

But I can definitely handle handing you tools. I can probably hammer a nail or something. If the directions have pictures, noooo problem.

[ you're the one that started this, charles thinks with not a small amount of amusement — but really, junpei blushing bright red at what was a relatively tame comment is incredibly endearing, actually, and what else is he to do except lift the hand that's let go of the record already some time ago and use it to tilt junpei's head up, lift his own so he can pull him into a proper kiss.

once he finally breaks away, it is to look at junpei with a look that's both serious and sweet and say, ] You could suggest anything and I'd say yes, you know that, right? So once you're done thinking about it, well...

[ he smiles — and is he saying what it sounds like he's saying? the way he tilts his head to press close again, drawing junpei into another kiss (slow and tender this time) like it's a punctuation mark to his statement seems to point to yes... sure, flirting is all fun and good, but being earnest and sincere beats that any day.

and then he pulls back, rests his head on the blanket again, and goes back to, you guessed it, talking about making furniture. ]

Pictures, huh? So, like IKEA stuff? Sure, I mean, I could probably draw you some instructions.

[Such is Junpei's curse, to blush at the drop of a hat about nearly nothing at all. Does it help that Charles pulls him into a kiss like that? Well, yes, Charles kisses are always welcome— but it only makes his face burn hotter, which is a kind of helpful in its own way, maybe, technically.

So he's even more pleasantly flustered by that, and by Charles' words, and he laughs a breathy little laugh that betrays how his imagination is still running away with itself. Oh boy, anything he says, wow...]

I'm— I'll think about it. I mean, I've been thinking about it. I'll finish thinking about it.

[Many Thoughts will occur.

But until then, the utter romance of tenderly kissing on this blanket could undo him and he would say thank you, all things considered. When they break apart he settles back down on Charles' shoulder, still red, extremely content. Charles could ask him to build a full bedroom furniture set with his eyes closed in the dark right now and he would say yes out of pure bliss...

Ahem. IKEA. Yes.]

Wait, does furniture here not come with instructions...? Do we have to go out and chop wood to make a shelf?

[Where is the Aldrip IKEA!!!]

[ he leaves his palm pressed against the side of junpei's face for a moment, cupping his cheek and brushing his thumb over his cheekbone, imagining that he can feel the way his skin would be warm to the touch. ]

You do that, [ he says softly, and very carefully does not let his own imagination run anywhere at all — the sweet, tender kiss is partly to distract himself from everything that he could be thinking about and doesn't allow... but the bigger part of it is simply because it is what he wants, to pour all of his love and adoration into the kiss, to make junpei feel treasured.

as junpei settles down against him, he adjusts the arm that's around him, then moves his other hand from his cheek to his hair, running his hand through the strands, presses his fingertips against his scalp and moves them in a downward line, in steady circles, before dragging his hand right back to the top of his head to start the process all over again. yes, it's impromptu head massage time while he talks more about ikea — ]

Love, you know that DIY's not assembling furniture, it's building it yourself out of like, parts you got separately?

[ he breathes a laugh. ] Don't got to chop wood, but I'd buy a ready-made piece of wood, and some angle brackets, and bolt it together myself.

[He could fall asleep like this, honestly‐ comfortable and content, with Charles' fingers in his hair, who could blame him? But he won't, or at least he will try very hard not to doze off, and...

Hold on,] Wait, what? It's do it yourself, not do it yourself but only if you buy all the stuff separately and don't use directions. Come on. Why wouldn't something from the store be DIY?

[He's absolutely convinced of this, it makes perfect sense to him. If he wasn't slowly melting under Charles' hand he would sit up to debate this, so, pros and cons.]

Like, if I'm putting together a shitty nightstand made of that crappy pressed wood chip stuff that I bought for six dollars and that's gonna sit in my apartment forever because getting new furniture is pricey bullshit, I should at least get to call it done-by-myself.

[Example that's too specific to be made up #846.]

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