tampered | (no subject)

When; Night.
Rating; PG-13 ~~To be safe!~~
Characters; Agatsuma Soubi [

lying_obedience], Hitachiin Kaoru [

ourdenouement]
Summary; ~~An innocent affair.~~ Searching for one's brother =/= a date. Does it? ♥
Log;

Only perverts would call it stalking.

Soubi, on the other hand, much preferred the more simplistic version: observing. He was an artist, after all, and the use of such a tactic helped to guide his hands, the brush against canvas. And glancing around, it was rather soothing to dig through his pockets to find a cigarette and light it

The smoke seemed to drift lazily, wind making use of the color and swirling it through the air. Black and gray, lit beautifully by City.

He’d been here before – the carousel. For many different occasions, the reasons almost always the same. This was no different. Soubi hummed, sucking at nicotine in a rather careless fashion as he gazed for that face he had come to meet. Come to help.

A rather impulsive decision. Briefly, he wondered what Ritsuka would think: of his friend, of his careless whim to leave the apartment when he felt the need to breathe. To seek company other than his Sacrifice…

Those were secrets best left for another time.

Slender hand brushing at the length of blond tumbling over his shoulder, he grinned around the filter. Calling softly,
“Kaoru-chan…?”

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Sobriety had yet to relieve him of his current condition, and Kaoru could only stumble forward - where was his grace? the elegance of his upbringing? - towards a vaguely familiar man of whom he was fairly certain was not one of those crazy psychotic things living in the City. He coughed slightly, not used to the scratchy smoke of cigarettes and not used to that nickname from those lips.

"Ah, Soubi-san," he muttered, elongating his vowels more than was necessary. For a brief moment, he wondered why he agreed to come here. Then he remembered - how silly of him to forget in the first place. "Soubi... Soubi-san."

The City seemed to wave back and forth - was this another curse? Ah, wait, no-

Kaoru really didn't know much else with the exception of his lessening headache.

"You're here."

It was a disheartening thing to watch, how the boy seemed to slur and stumble over himself.

A Fighter must always have control.

Yes, of course. But now wasn’t the time for such recollections – blurred as they were – and Soubi shook his head, rippling the loose hair around his face in such a manner it caressed his cheeks. He pushed at his glasses, leaning forward only slightly.

“Just Soubi,” he reminded softly, discarding the half-smoked cigarette onto the ground and crushing it under the heel of his shoe before approaching the other. Still a child…

A touch to his shoulder, balancing him, fingertips lingering enough to feel the warmth radiating there. Then, hands to himself. For the moment, at least.

“Mm.” A quick nod. “Are you…well?”

It wouldn’t do to be traipsing around the City with someone so neglectful of themselves. However, Soubi idly thought to himself, it was really was just a matter of time. And patience.

Of which he had plenty.

For several, blurry seconds, Kaoru stared blankly ahead - he thought idly how pretty Soubi's hair looked. This City housed lots of men and women with pretty hair, it seemed. Odd.

He blinked. Oh- ah- "I'm... okay. I think. Soubi."

How persistent this condition of his was. How annoying. Kaoru simply wished to find his brother - with this man he barely knew but appeared reliable enough - and sleep and sleep and, ah, perhaps hope he woke up without further complications.

"I was advised to drink... water. So I did." It seemed important enough to say at the time.

“…water.”

A soft chuckle, and Soubi tilted his head to look more closely at the other. The shape of his eyes, the fall of his hair. Even the color of partially flushed cheeks seemed to ignite his curiosity. This boy, who he knew little about.

--who seemed to enjoy teasing Ritsuka relentlessly.

Either way, it always came down to the finer details. And though Soubi had no idea what he was to help the boy do, much less knew who it was they were to be searching for, he found the evening air cool. Refreshing. The taste of nicotine mingling with the flavor of the City was far lovelier than the mixture of drying paints and thinners.

“You’re so cute,” he murmured shortly after, reaching forward once again to slide a hand lightly across that distinguishably different hair. He liked that color... If the Fighter were home, would there be ears too…? “Kaoru-chan.”

And then, a tiny smile.

Even in his intoxicated state, Kaoru knew that this man was being weird. Weird and interesting and, therefore, fun. Even as he slurred his words and stumbled, he still managed to blush appropriately, turning his face away just so. He was a professional, after all.

"In such a... public area, Sou~bi~~" A grin slowly bloomed from his pouting lips as he peered up at the taller man. "Good... one. Shall we proceed?"

He took a step forward - could he make it by himself?

"I'm never drinking ever again," he muttered under his breath, sighing in frustration. He felt rather ashamed, and the blush on his cheeks had nothing to do Soubi's good looks.