[Log] [Complete]

[rubyred-sight.livejournal.com]

When; November 18, shortly after midnight.
Rating; PG-13
Characters; Dark [senzaluce] & Kantarou [rubyred_sight]
Summary; Kan-chan invites Dark-chan for a simple night of drinking at the rooftops, with, naturally, unexpected results.
Log;

The sky was clear tonight, with stars shining brightly and a gentle breeze blowing once in a while. It was also cold. Kantarou, who wore more layers underneath his outer clothes and an extra coat, greeted the phantom thief by raising the bottle of sake in his left hand and calling out to him cheerfully.

”Dark-chan! I hope you didn’t have to wait too long?”

Dark had dressed appropriately for the weather. He wore a knee-length coat and a long white scarf, his hair down (as usual) and wisping in all directions with the wind. He had a hand tucked in one pocket, the other resting lazily at his side. He hadn't been standing there long, or perhaps he didn't notice since he was staring at the sky. When Kantarou's voice ringed in, he turned to the side and grinned widely and lifted his hand to wave.

"Hey! Nah, you didn't. Nice evening, huh?"

Kantarou walked closer, eyes busy taking in the view before them. Except for the other buildings, the sky was amazingly clear, very much like the countryside’s. He began getting curious about how high they were from the ground – probably very very high. More than a hundred stories high!

”The sky is so clear… where I come from, the sky rarely gets this clear… I think it’s because of the pollution,” he began and then removed his geta before sitting over the edge. He placed the sake bottle beside him and produced his cup from his coat. “Dark-chan, you brought your cup? Sit beside me! Let’s have a toast!”

"Of course" he chimed, obliging the folklorist. He swung his scarf's tail over his shoulder and pushed it below his chin as he took out his simple wooden sake cup.

Seated, he took another glance up, commenting, "There are no cars or factories here. It's like being out in the wilderness but still within civilization. It's a little but pleasantly odd."

Kantarou laughed softly, amused at Dark-chan’s choice of cup. It was wooden, much like Haruka’s. The cup he had chosen to bring was simple, white and ceramic. “Are you sure you’re not really a tengu, Dark-chan?” he asked playfully as he poured sake for them both.

The phantom chuckled, staring into the clear liquid swelling easily into the cup. A content smile curled his face as he simultaneously glanced at the drink then at its pourer. "Pretty sure, but I'll be one if you want me to?"

Kantarou grinned at the phantom thief and gave his companion a slight nod before taking a sip from his cup. “If you make offers like that, you better be ready if I accept, Dark-chan,” he said slyly, hand still holding up the cup to hide his lips. “I’m an opportunist, you know?”

"I've been told that I'm daring--" he raised his cup in a cheer. "--they're right." As if he's done it countless times before (which he has), Dark drank his rice wine like a professional taster. He savored the drink, eyes shut. Half of it was gone when the cup left his lips, and he sighed contently. "Mm may I know where you procured this sake, friend?"

“Must be a trait you need for your job, ne, Dark-chan?” He began dangling his feet and even dared to sneak a peek off the ledge. For a fleeting moment, he felt misplaced, suddenly afraid of falling and falling, but he quickly regained his composure and beamed disarmingly at Dark. “I found it in the apartment. The city likes me, I think, I find the stuff I need pretty easily around.”

Dark felt uneasy when Kantarou swung his legs over the edge. He nearly lunged an arm forward to brace him, but it seemed that the boy (or man; looks deceive) had things under control after an instant. He chuckled the apprehension temporarily, commenting before taking another sip of his sake, "If only my luck was that good back at my place."

“Maybe that’s part of the city’s allure. I don’t think any of us could really say we had a wonderful life back at our place.” Kantarou sipped thoughtfully from his cup and idly stared upwards. “It’s fun here, you know., Dark-chan? I find it so very easy to have fun here, for some reason! And it’s so good it’s kinda scary…” He pouted and frowned slightly. “I’m really a mature young man!” he declared playfully, but doubted he himself could believe that.

It was true. The city had somehow provided him a place where he didn’t mind being different so badly. Everyone… everyone was different, special. Their eyes didn’t linger on him five seconds more or wondered too much about his eyes. Sure, it was kind of tiring to have everyone ask about his age and often guess it bad, but it was still different from the atmosphere from his world. There, he had always felt the need to manipulate every single thing, to wear masks and pretend with niceties. Here… the silliness came naturally and wonderfully and it was like being a child again, only, the other children weren’t so reluctant to play with him.

Like Kantarou, Dark had all eyes on him back in his world. Although there were condemning eyes (outnumbered by the admiring eyes, mind you), he didn't have to hide. In fact, he exposed himself as much as possible. He was quite the free spirit, in a sense. He enjoyed the thrill, and he believed that you shouldn't hold back. You've got to live when you can, right?

"No one said you weren't," he said softly with a smile. "It wasn't difficult to have fun back where I'm from. It might've been unconventional, but I always found--or made, depends-- a way to enjoy myself." He brushed stray lock into their place when cool wind gusted over the roof. His scarf strayed behind him, and he allowed his eyes to wander up and down. He tilted his head curiously, mumbling a thought. "To think this is another dimension, heh."

Kantarou pouted. “Eh, now I’m envious!” The red-eyed young man propped his chin up with a hand and puffed childishly. “Being an adult is no fun. You have to worry about this, about that, work, and then you have a bunch of people who thought you were a phony… Ah well, it does get fun sometimes!”

He downed his cup and filled it up some more. “Dark-chan, ever thought about staying here? I mean, I know we’re going to try and save our worlds… but, just, have you thought to yourself, ‘Hey, wouldn’t it be nice to stay here like this for a long time?’”

"Phony? Don't tell me people dissed you back in your world." One last gulp and he finished his shot of wine; then raised a brow candidly. "I mean, you're teasing material, but I wouldn't underestimate you." He leaned a little closer to Kantarou, smirking and pointing an accussing finger with the cup-holding hand. "Looks do deceive after all!"

Then Kantarou asked him a thought-provoking question. He hadn't thought about staying here, honestly. Dark was...ambivalent up to now; just living and doing what he could or wanted to. 'Going back' wasn't a priority. He held his empty cup in between his fingers, laying it on his lap, and a leg to his body. Testing his chin on his knee, he looked down at the cup, tilting it up and down as he pondered.

"Hmm... I don't know. I never really thought about it. There's someone I know here; I live with him. He's really the only important person from my world that's present. I..can admit that it's a little dull despite all the crazy events that go on here. I still don't understand it." The thief's eyes darkened as he grew more serious. His mind drifted to Krad and the paintings, the neverending battle lasting from generation to generation. It was strange not having the enemy to grapple, but on another side it was a relief. He guess that walking on or in between that line would suffice for the time being. Now, what he did miss were the twins. Daisuke had said that Riku was here, but she was gone. Absentmindedly, he chuckled as he remembered Risa yelling his name in a high-pitched voice.

Noticing his friend’s cup was empty, Kantarou held the bottle of sake out to the phantom thief and silently offered to refill. “Ah, they did, you know? Not everyone can see youkai, and not many believe in them, naturally. It can’t be helped though since swindlers have been known to take advantage of the fact that people can’t really see youkai.”

He paused then, thinking about how to respond to Dark’s answer. An important person. He had that too, but now he wondered if, when he came back, he would still have them. “I’ve been gone for almost two months now… and I was thinking, they – Haruka and Youko – might have gone back to the forests now….I guess, knowing that, I don’t mind staying here. The fact that I didn’t break the name contract before leaving is a bit unsettling, but they would have to settle with that—“ he grinned mischievously in an attempt to break the suddenly heavy atmosphere – “I did give them good names!”

He took a tiny sip from his cup and shook his head. “Why am I thinking this? Thinking so pessimistically is useless, isn’t it, Dark-chan?”

"...haha!" He broke out laughing. "You're so strange, Kan-chan." Of course, strange in a lovable way. He had a crooked smile from still laughing as he held his cup out for the refill.

"If they go back to this forest, it means you can't find them again? Pishposh. I think you can find anything if you try. I think you're that kind of person," he honestly told.

“Well….” He smiled enigmatically and gave the phantom thief a slightly amused look. “If they don’t want to be found—“ He glanced down, wondering suddenly how tall the buildings were and how close he was to the edge. One careless move and he would fall down. It was a bit frightening and amazing at the same time. “I won’t find them.”

"You think they'll come back by themselves?" He asked sipping his drink. It really was good, but he would watch how much he drank. They weren't in the safest of places to get drunk after all. Dark eyed Kantarou and his movements carefully, lowering his leg and crossing it over the other. He shifted his weight to one arm behind him, leaning on it. He thought that a little warning might not hurt, even though Dark would catch Kantarou without fail. "Maybe we should sit back a little more; you look nervous sitting that close to the edge."

“I think that if they don’t want to come back, it’s perfectly fine with me. I do respect their freedom,” Kantarou clarified in the scholarly tone he rarely used. When Dark issued his warning, Kantarou found himself laughing. “It’s okay, I’m a grown man, I won’t fall I’m not afraid! A little height isn’t going to scare me!”

He sipped from his cup again and shivered slightly when a gust of wind blew, ruffling his hair and chilling his face. Inside though, the alcohol was doing a great job warming him and so, after the initial chill, Kantarou didn’t feel too cold anymore.

"The scholar tone, I see All right, I get that." Dark raised a brow in the following comment. That audacious attitude worried him a little, although he didn't doubt the red-eyed man's competence. He simply nodded, choosing not to dispute over such things. If he fell, he'd learn the lesson.

Dark took a deep breath and contemplate the city's lights. There were no cars or trains or any mode of transportation, in fact, but the city was speckled with lights, like fireflies in a dark meadow. A smile crept on his face; it was like looking at the sea back home at dusk, waves rippling and playing with the sunlight.

He was thinking so much about home now; he had to make some sort of comment. "Being here on the roof overlooking the city makes me nostalgic even though I frankly don't miss home." He glanced at Kantarou, long bangs tapping his face. "Anything here remind you of home, Kan-chan?"

“Hmm…” Kantarou pressed his fingers against his lips in seeming thought and then he grinned. “Well, nothing really…. “ he trailed away and then gave Dark a positively beaming grin. “Of course, you remind me of Haruka very, very much, and that’s kind of like home.”

Dark grinned. So he was it, eh? This amused him, but then again, memories can also be painful. His smile tugged to one side and his eyes gleamed. "That much? He must be a handsome man--but of course, no one can 'out-handsome' me, you know!"

About time he inflated his ego!

Kantarou hmm’phed and, after placing his cup on the pavement beside him, folded his arms and gave Dark a playfully defiant grin. “I don’t know about that, Dark-chan! I could almost swear there’s this gunshot sound whenever he puts the moves on the ladies… and he did have quite the following with female youkai….”

"Well, I'll have him run for his money! Or whatever valuable posession he owns. I'll have you know that my entire city melted at the sight of me. Can you imagine what happened when they heard my voice?" He couldn't stop grinning. It was true! And without a doubt, there would always be one brave girl that stopped him somehow for a chat, albeit short. Being the flirt he is, he gifted all the girls with a sweet peck on the cheek. It was also a good immobilizing technique.

Kantarou laughed; now he wouldn’t mind seeing Dark and Haruka enganging on a little flirting match! “Make him bet his rice bowl and he’ll give it his all! I wonder…” he picked his cup up again and sipped from it. “… can you possibly take that Dark-chan? He can be a real smooth lady killer.”

"If he has gunshots, I have lightning bolts." Again, he raised his cup as to commend the bet. "I totally accept that challenge--but he isn't here, isn't he? We'll just have to wait. But for now, Dark Mousy is the top casanova here!" A hearty laugh, and he enjoyed his second shot of sake.

The red-eyed scholar lifted his cup in response to Dark. “We’ll wait of course! But until then, Dark-chan, Haruka gets top seat in my list” He toasted his cup with Dark and grinned before finishing the remaining sake in it.

"Very well I will win you over at the springs; you'll see."

The following conversation consisted of random things. Although Dark made note to watch his drink, he vaccuumed several full cups in the following hour. He held his liquor well, but Dark's cheeks were already turning red and he laughed more than usual. He had also tossed his scarf aside and unbuttoned his coat a little ways down.

If Dark-chan’s cheeks were turning red, Kantarou was beginning to sway slightly. Laughing as he finished another cup, he vaguely wondered how much he’d had. He rarely ever got drunk, really. He didn’t like being at the mercy of other people and only ever did it on occasions like, say, Hasumi one-upping him with a career opportunity, but the city removed his inhibitions, maybe made him a tad too lonely to bother with the liquors’ effects too. He filled himself another cup and then carefully stood up, balancing himself precariously over the ledge.

”To tonight!” he giggled, lifting his cup before downing it in one gulp.

Mister Mousy was giggling; the sake made him happy and a little lightheaded--but that did not deteriorate his alertness. His eyes widened and his body tensed as Kantarou raised himself to his feet. He was going to fall, he just knew it. So before he had a chance, Dark lunged forward and pulled the boy by the wrist towards him.

Unfortunately, the catch didn't go as smoothly as Dark would have wanted it to. He didn't stand right, and he was a little more than slightly drunk--so he fell backwards with his face right beneath the pale-skinned writer's.

The phantom thief’s action had surprised Kan-chan and before he could react, he found himself on top of the taller man and in a rather compromising position. He had somehow, also, ended up face to face with Dark, lips pressed against the other. It took some time before their position could register in his alcohol-hazed mind and he jumped up, almost falling backwards and out towards the edge in the process.

Dark still held his grip on Kantarou's arm despite being kissed unexpectedly. He pushed himself off the floor, frowning worriedly. "I told you that you were going to fall."

i Laterhe'll tease.

Kantarou pouted, momentarily forgetting the kiss at the prospect of being mistaken. “I didn’t fall! You just dragged me downwaaaards, Dark-chan!”

One eye squinted and the other narrowed as his brows arced opposingly. His lips thinned into a displeased grimace. He should've known that he wouldn't admit it. "You were going to if I didn't do that." Dark was on all fours.. or three, not counting the grasping arm. He crawled closer to Kan-chan and swiped his cup from him. "No more drinks tonight."

The folklorist pouted some more and gave Dark his best puppy-eyed look. “But we still have some—“ he grabbed the bottle and overturned in, expecting to see more of the alcohol pouring down but it was already empty. “Eh, no more?”

"..."

Dark didn't expect that. He blinked, then burst out laughing, releasing Kantarou and using that hand to brace his head. He flopped back to a sitting position, Indian style, still laughing. "We finished it all," he grinned, face flushed with alcohol and amusement.

“But it’s a whole bottle! We caaaan’t haaave fiiiniished it all!” Kantarou frowned. “I don’t drink muuuuuuuucch!”

"Who knows; we could be too drunk to tell," he scoffed, raising a brow. Now was the perfect time. "But not drunk enough to remember a kiss."

A wide smirk.

“You didn’t like it, Dark-chan?” Kantarou drawled innocently. “Maybe that’s why I can’t get girls like Haruka! Or you”

"I'm not a girl." He went serious, a curious frown. He didn't understand the context to be referring to him as an example and not a direct object, but all the more amusement.

Kantarou tilted his head sideways, bemused by the expression on the phantom thief’s face. “Of course you’re not, Dark-chan! But I was saying I kiiiiisssss baaaaaaaaad!”

Dark pursed his lips, musing. "Well, that wasn't really a kiss, to be honest." Again, he smirked, but it was devious this time. "What was your longest relationship, Kan-chan?"

Kantarou giggled and raised his hand upwards. “MY WORK!” he declared happily and began skipping happily towards the fire exit they had entered the roof with. “My woooorrkk is my looongeeesst relationship, Dark-chan!”

"Hmm, so it's safe to say that you have no experience at all," he concluded dryly. Standing, Dark dusted his pants, retrieved his scarf and cup, and followed after Kantarou. "Tell you what: you need practice. Get an orange, carve a hole in it, and play pretend. It should work for you--just try not to over do it otherwise the acid will crack your lips."

"I did have some relationshippps, Dark-chan long agoit was fuuuun lotsa fun But but, my work is longest!" Kantarou argued persistently and when it came to Dark's advice, he snorted. "I'm not that incompetent!" He swayed some more and almost fell down flat.

"Haruka-chan! You better come at my wedding!" he yelled and then turned to Dark. "You too! You still have a competition with Haruka!"

Dark only sighed and laughed. What could he say to him? He obviously didn't want to detail his affairs, so he'd leave it at that...for now. He'll pry about it later, he vowed. Find out more about Kan-chan's lovelife; it should be fun, no?

The thief, once again, caught Kantarou whenever he threatened to fall over. He'd have carried him if he wasn't as wobbly either, but the managed to reach the elevator without a bruise. Punching the down button, Dark crossed his arms and smiled down at the red-and-white scholar. "You don't see me backing out."