tampered | (no subject)

When; Tuesday, late in the evening
Rating; PG-13ish to R, they do tend to cuss some, and the topic is a touchy one
Characters; Setsuna Mudou and Yue Katou
Summary; Trigger Warning: There will be talk of, and insinuations of, self-mutilation. There are knives missing, and Setsuna liked them where they were. Time to find out where they've gone.
Log;
In the beginning, they had a lot of knives. Spoons and forks as well, but the knives were currently Setsuna's focus. He had bought plenty of silverware so he could put off washing dishes as long as possible, not caring much for the domestic duties, even though he preferred things neat enough to find things easily. Part of it was habit, too. His father's house had always been clean and tidy, so Setsuna clung to it, keeping up the apartment as best as he could with his attention span, patience and time.

At first he didn't notice. Then he thought it was just his imagination. However, once they were down to five knives he knew for sure they were vanishing. They weren't in the sink. They weren't out to dry. They weren't just hiding somewhere else in the drawers. They were gone.

He didn't even bother asking Alexiel and Kira, as the knives had only started disappearing after Katou showed up, but that didn't explain why Katou needed them. If he needed a weapon, or something, he could just ask them. Setsuna would get him a real pocket knife, or a sword! Something far better than those crappy knives he bought to cut meat with.

There were a lot of things he didn't get, or consider, before he went looking for Katou, calling out for him.

"Hey, Katou? You here?" Not that he could think of where else Katou might go.

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His own voice is gentle, remorseful, as Setsuna tells him, "I'm sorry," and tries to shift his weight. He doesn't know what's happening under the pullover, but he does know Katou's not in the best shape, enough to realize he might have been rough even though he tried not to be.

At Katou's laughter, Setsuna pouts a bit.

"I'm not trying to make anyone look bad. There just might be a way, that's all," he admits, still ashamed he hasn't given it a shot yet.

Your pouting just encourages him to make fun of you, pinching both your cheeks and pulling them up and down as you talk, grinning all the way. However, once you broach the subject of actually being able to heal him, he freezes. A skeptical look forms on his face to replace his previous amusement and he gazes you straight in the eye for the first time. “What do you mean, there might be a way?” he says, his own turn for getting the whole truth out of you being up. You seem mysterious about it and if you’re planning something for his sake, it’s just a bad sign if you’re keeping the details away from him. He knows what an idiot you can be about these things sometimes.

“Like, you know a guy,” he ventures, eyes hardening, “or is this some fucked up suicide mission y’like t’throw yourself into again ‘cause I’ll fuckin’ kick your ass, Mudou, and y’better believe it’s true.”

He allows all of it, only rolling his eyes slightly, and rubbing the pinched areas once Katou's done. Setsuna doesn't speak at first, letting Katou get everything out, until his warning.

"It's not a suicide mission! I'd be fine," Setsuna insists, rolling his eyes yet again. "You're the one dying!" But he doesn't fully clarify. The risk of being talked out of it is too high, and Katou's life is worth so much more than that.

“I still don’t like it,” he retorts, crossing his arms. “When y’get all secretive like this it ain’t ever good news. Fuck, would it kill ya to talk to me?” Ironically, he can feel a little of the frustration you must have been dealing with just a while ago when you were grilling him about the knives, though he convinces himself that that was a completely different matter. You’re not the sacrifice. You’re not the one that can just be used up and thrown away. He’s long since accepted his role as that and you constantly trying to take that away from him when it was an active choice on his part to give away his life for yours is nothing short of an insult.

He sighs, knowing he won’t get anything out of you anyway. Damn stubborn kid! “You’re not gonna tell me anything, are ya?” He shakes his head, brow furrowing. “Listen, just … don’t do anything stupid, okay? I ain’t worth that.”

"Yeah, well I don't like watching you get worse, either," Setsuna says in return, getting just a bit more serious for a moment. Finally, he pulls away from the hug, and leaves the bed.

Katou gets a wave of dismissal from over Setsuna's shoulder.

"You are worth that. But I'm not gonna do anything stupid. I've been taking too long thinking this over to keep it from going wrong," he insists, as he starts to leave the room once more, feeling this is about as settled as it'll ever be.

So you already have a plan. Suddenly worried, Katou makes a grab for you as you slide off the bed but just misses you by inches and once that chance has passed it seems like there’s nothing more he can do. So he just watches you, paralyzed by words he cannot understand. What are you going to do, Setsuna?

“Setsu …” he tries but he no longer knows how to convince you. “Just … damn it, I’ll put the knives back, just—just don’t—” Don’t what? Damn it, he doesn’t even know that much. So he frowns, muttering almost to himself as you leave the room. “Or I’ll fuckin’ kill you.”