[ The following morning, there's a knock on Gintoki's door. It is, surprisingly, a somewhat reasonable time rather than ass o'clock early. ]
[ There appears to be some sort of a housewife or cleaning lady behind the door (just kidding, Gintoki is probably the one person who has seen too much enough of Katsura's bullshit to instantly recognize him in any of his disguises) and she seems to be holding a... pie? ]
[ Given that it's only the second day, he of course doesn't know exactly how the whole free food system works. For a very brief moment, he thinks maybe that's what this is about, although it seems doubtful that they'd actually have waiters bringing food to them when they could just hand out vouchers or something instead. Vouchers would be more sensible, right? Anyway--
All he needs is one look at the person to see that it's Zura, of course.
And he'd ignore him, of course, if ... that didn't look like pie.
So he opens the door just a smidge, enough to look outside, squinting with suspicion. ]
[ Ho ho ho just as planned. Of course Gintoki is not going to leave the door shut in his face if he brings a sweet offering! ]
It's not Zura, it's Zuree van de Lamp.
[ Guess they're in D*sperate Hous*wives now. ]
On behalf of the HRA*, please accept this token of welcome to our neighborhood.
[ (*Home Renters Association) ]
[ Apparently the very convoluted purpose of this visit is to let Gintoki know they're neighbors?? And also that he can always call on him for whatever reason, not that that's anything new. Speaking of which, Katsura has, in fact, discovered that the Otherworlder phones seem to have all the other Otherworlders' contacts in it automatically, but he'll let Gintoki discover that by himself. ]
[ The pie is actually real! It's got apple jam and everything. It's also not very big and fairly low in sugar, because of course it is, but it's still unmistakeably a dessert. ]
[ It's going to take at most a few minutes after this happens and Katsura receives an update from Sonia before Gintoki's phone is buzzing with a new text. (Zura can hardly contain his excitement to texts, really, but considering that Gintoki is in the middle of a confrontation with the police, it's best to send him something that he can respond to in his own time!) ]
Ha ha ha Gintoki!! [ yes he typed out his obnoxious, smug laughter. texts u can hear truly ] I was not aware that you were back to being a thorn in the side of the rotten system. It brings me great joy to see you in action again.
Please call me when you have the chance. We have much to discuss.
The Jouishishi are thrilled to have you back! XOXO ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧
[ what Jouishishi... ]
[ the message will be followed by a few short calls that get hung up as soon as it connects, just to make sure to get his attention <3 ]
[ The spamming had at first been incredibly annoying, and once he'd picked up his phone and realised who it was, it became incredibly concerning. Zura was nowhere near the scene, or he would have made his presence known by trying to further besmirch Hijikata's reputation or trying to 'rescue' Gintoki.
So he must have found out about it some other way.
Which is absurd. They've only been here a couple of weeks. Who could he possibly have on his side spying on Hijikata? And what's even the point?? What rotten system is he fighting back against???
AND WHAT JOUSHISHI IS GOING TO WELCOME HIM BACK ANYWAY????
So, no, he's not going to call Zura. Instead, when he returns to the apartment building that evening, he's going to march up to Zura's door and knock. ]
[ Once Katsura has finally been wrangled to one of the support stations by a lovely, blood-sucking young lady, he's told that he should call someone he'd like to keep him company while they wait for the missing ingredients, and, well. ]
[ If they don't make it in time and he tragically dies, who else would he entrust the Jouishishi to? ]
[ Now that he's no longer freezing cold, Gintoki's been enjoying the fact that he can fully relax again. He's been lazing around all day, and is about to fall asleep when his phone rings, jerking him out of it with a start.
He fumbles for the phone for a second and finally manages to get it. Maybe, if he had the time to look at who was calling, he would have first hung up just to be a little shit about it. But he's tired, so he only peeks enough to remember how to even answer this stupid thing, then closes his eyes again as he brings it to his ear. ]
{ after seeing this hot mess she is honestly immediately trying to call gintoki because is this behaviour normal??? should she be worried???
she's at work at the moment since it's the day time, and unfortunately working in two departments means she isn't free to run out as she'd like.
besides... a few ducks would be pretty normal but this was not a few ducks. }
Please pick up. { her eyes go to the clock, then the pile of books in front of herself. she knows gintoki is useless with his phone at this point so it's up in the air whether this will get answered. }
[ Don't worry, he'll pick up. Although he might not actually browse on his phone, he does bring it with him (if he doesn't forget) since that's where his money is (what's wrong with cash anyway). Although, right now, he's just draped on his couch and relaxing after literally going to hell.
And since it's just Sonia, he practically just grunts: ]
[ On rare occasions, Gintoki's tendency to sleep in is actually a good thing. Today is one of such days, because it means Katsura has time to prepare a surprise for him (and also to clean up the kitchen which looks like a bomb went off in there by the time he's done baking. (Maybe it did, but he's got a silencer spell now, so it's all good!)). ]
[ Normally, he probably would have just bought a cake. That tends to be both faster and better, what with his limited cooking abilities. But Gintoki had just invited him to live with him, and he wants to put in the extra effort to show his gratitude. ]
[ He's staring at the result a little suspiciously with just half his face visible over the table. It's not terrible, but it's also a far cry from the picture in the baking book. It's really just cake base, whipped cream, jam and strawberries, how hard could it possibly be? And yet somehow it came out taller on one side, with a batter-bubble-turned-lump at the top, and the visible strawberries are smeared with cream because he rearranged them three times. Still, he thinks, it's a respectable effort, and it probably tastes fine. He hopes. ]
[ (He's even pretty sure he didn't add anything he wasn't supposed to, at least not in quantities that would make a difference for either of them. A miracle!) ]
[ He shoves it in the fridge to settle (and to hide it from the ever-growing amount of furry would-be-eaters sharing their space), and heads back to the spare room which is now "his" to get the presents that he'd hauled from his old apartment earlier in the morning (now he can finally return that key, he supposes). ]
[ Then he's tiptoeing to Gintoki's bedroom and setting two neatly wrapped packages down on the side of the bed with available space. The big one contains the ice cream machine he won at an auction over a month ago for this very purpose, which apparently (slowly) makes icecream out of thin air, and the small one hides a dreamcatcher from Riki's shop that's supposed to ward off (most of) nightmares. ]
[ Then Katsura fluffs Gintoki's hair a little and finally settles at an available spot at the foot of the bed himself, apparently intending to stare his best friend awake. He's got a dumb smile (and possibly a smear of cream and/or flour somewhere) on his face. ]
[ For the time being, Gintoki is perfectly content lazing around most of the time here, which obviously also means sleeping in every day. If he doesn't need to be up at a 'reasonable hour', there's no reason to be that, and this place seems very happy to just let them all set their own pace.
Especially if it comes to his birthday, sleeping in is only reasonable.
This fact would make him more annoyed about waking up. In true Gintoki fashion he has absolutely no idea it's his birthday, though, so when Zura's voice breaks through his sleep, he grumbles and rolls over and buries his face in the pillow.
...
Actually, he'd definitely do that even if he did know it's his birthday. ]
[ Sometime during an expedition during early January, Gintoki receives a forwarded text that laconically contains only an image and a short video. ]
[ It appears to be a selfie by Rumi, though the focus is clearly on whatever is going on behind her -- which seems to be Hijikata getting his ass beat/stomped on and then being telekinetically bent into dogeza pose by Megumi and Jean in midair, apparently to apologize to a big dragon...spirit? (According to exploration discord, they both also show a peace sign to the camera, Jean awkwardly while Megumi grins and says "yo", potentially providing a quick rundown of the situation--) ]
[ Think of something with these and these vibes. ]
[ Look, he wouldn't just put this up to humiliate Hijikata in public (for no reason) but from what he's gathered during the Crystal Mines expedition, Gintoki seems to have a similarly balanced like-loathe relationship to the guy that Levi does, so he figures it'll be used for good reasonable, small scale bullying. ]
[ Oh, what's this? A message from Levi? He actually knows how to use that function?
Which Gintoki probably would have asked, to be a little shit, if the picture and the video didn't thoroughly distract him. Is that Hijikata getting thoroughly beaten into submission in a manner he'd expect from fellow Gintama characters? It sure is!
He laughs gleefully for a good half a minute, replays the video several times, and finally responds to Levi: ]
[ Probably the night after this and this happens-- ]
[ Meaning, Katsura should probably be asleep, but he's not. It's 4AM. He keeps rotating everything Sonia said in his head like a leftover soup bowl in the microwave. It probably should have been obvious from the start, but somehow, through combined powers of obliviousness and denial, he had managed to get through his life until this point without ever seriously acknowledging that he might, in fact, love Gintoki. ]
[ Not just as his best friend or brother. ]
[ (Apparently, it's un-brother-like to make your labuwus kiss, and maybe he'd argue if everything else didn't fall into place, not to mention that he has to admit he has no idea what is supposed to be brother-like considering he's never had any siblings until he'd found himself some at Shouka Sonjuku.) ]
[ He has fantasized, on occasion, about being in a relationship with him. During the war, even. (Likely even before that, though his idea of "relationship" back then was probably a lot more innocent than after he'd killed his first opponent.) He'd brushed it off as his natural need for romance and the rejection of the idea of handsies in the woods as something casual and meaningless, but the signs really were all there, weren't they. ]
[ But what does that mean? ]
[ Does this cheapen everything they've been through and shared so far, or does it enhance it? He hates to think of himself as somehow not being a proper friend, someone who might have been spurred by ulterior motives rather than something pure. But was he really? No matter from which angle he examines it, he's always been willing to die for the man sleeping next to him, he's always wanted to see him happy, even if it came at the price of his own joy. Surely nobody would go that far were they only interested in worming their way into someone's fundoshi. Which means it's real. ]
[ But that comes with its own heap of implications. How long? And how much has it transformed over the years? If it truly had been all the way back when he'd been stealing glances at the weird boy with fluffy hair through the school's fence, pretending he wasn't looking when he got caught, but his heart did a little flip, and he'd thought maybe the rice he'd eaten earlier had gone off, then it could not have been more than a child's crush then. They'd only started getting to know each other. But with each revelation, each joy and tragedy that made them grow closer year after year, the feeling didn't dissipate. It only grew. Strengthened. Deepened. By the time they had parted ways, it had grown bigger than himself. ]
[ Maybe that's why it was so easy to fall into the void in his absence. ]
[ He'd been sleeping in Gintoki's room for a while now, and after today's revelations, he's forced to look at that differently too. Yes, he was seeking out a familiar comfort, a warmth, a reassurance. But was there more? Was he maybe using it as an excuse to steal some physical contact that he knew didn't belong to him? Gintoki liked girls, didn't he, even if he didn't seem to mind... but that's because he thought Zura was his weird, emotional best friend and not someone who wanted his ****, no doubt. Would this be poisoned now? Can he still look him in the face? Okay, he's established that regardless of any recent additions, their bond is much more than that, but what if it followed the rule of tar and honey? What if now everything else didn't count? What if Gintoki will hate him, or not trust him the way he has so far? ]
[ No, that couldn't possibly be the case, right? One more thing on the pile of things does not invalidate the rest of the pile, surely. ]
[ Gintoki loves him, for certain, even if it might not be the exact way he wishes. ]
[ But he's worrying all the same. ]
[ He hadn't wanted to make a huge scene of dragging his futon back to his room earlier, so here he is, stewing in his thoughts barely a meter away from Gintoki. Today, however, he hadn't treacherously scooted to the very edge of his futon to be as close to Gintoki as possible and maybe end up hugging over the night; no, he'd laid down dead center, tense as a plank, and didn't move until he heard his friend's breaths even out. ]
[ He's on his side now, staring at that painfully familiar patch of white in the dark while thinking all of this, and the agonizing is probably not helping him be less tense. It might be coming off of him in waves at this point, but he stubbornly braves the room anyway because goddammit he will not let this change anything between them and ruin things. ]
[ Something had been off about Zura ever since Gintoki and Sadaharu came back from their walk and Sonia had left. A mostly casual 'are you okay' hadn't given him much, and while he'd considered pushing it if only because Zura's rarely secretive about what he's feeling and if he is it can't be good, but decides to give it a bit of time and see if it'll pass or Zura will tell him.
Otherwise, things seem to be just about normal, after all.
Until it isn't. Until Zura spends the whole night just not moving, until he's drilling holes into the back of Gintoki's head with his stare, and Gintoki's between the phases of deep sleep the weird waves coming off his childhood friend seep into the blissful dark of sleep.
Out of nowhere, he's mysteriously awake, and after a few moments of squeezing his eyes shut and pressing his face into the pillow, he realises that something is off. After another few moments, he realises what is off. He can't feel the heat of another body next to him, and there's no sound of deep breathing.
It takes another few moments for him to decide it's enough of a bother to not try to ignore it and go back to sleep.
He grunts with annoyance, and rolls over to face in Zura's direction, squinting tiredly into the dark. ]
[ It hadn't been the first or most important thing on his mind considering... everything else, but now that his initial hurricane of emotions has been wrangled somewhat, he's managed to process the rest of that eventful day. ]
[ And it's leaving him unsure, too. ]
[ It's not like he particularly likes Hijikata, he definitely doesn't think he's a good cop, but during the weeks spent catfishing him he did, in fact, find out that he wasn't some sort of an evil or genuinely terrible person. And maybe Sonia was right, maybe he did "lead him on" more than he strictly needed to for information that he didn't have much of in the first place. It had been fun, and he'd wanted to see how much he could push it, and he really thought he'd have figured it out in a month or two. ]
[ But no. Apparently, Katsura has still underestimated the sheer denseness of the Shinsengumi, which shouldn't be a shock considering they haven't managed to catch him despite it being basically their only job, but somehow still is. No, instead the guy is infatuated with Zurako. Which would maybe make him feel a little bad, but ultimately be harmless. Unfortunately, there's also a very tangible consequence. ]
[ Hijikata got fired. And he's apparently been giving his all to this job for years, worked hard to get it, and being the workaholic that he was it was probably his whole life here, too. He was being investigated during all the while Katsura did his community service, and of course it ended with the obvious. ]
[ So maybe it was a little fun to string him along. Maybe it was nice to find out that Gintoki's hunch at least wasn't entirely wrong about these guys. Maybe Katsura actually... had fun hanging out with him, at least until the mayonnaise came out. ]
[ Making him lose it all wasn't really part of the plan, though. ]
[ And so, here he is again. Getting eaten at by a new helping of guilt and doubt. Hello 4AM, his old friend. And just as it seems to be becoming a pattern, he stares at Gintoki, trying to will him awake. ]
[ Why is it always 4 AM? That's like the worst hour of the night to wake up! It's almost too late to go back to sleep, depending on how much the problem you need to attend you wakes you up. Pick a better time for your crises, Zura!
Maybe eventually Gintoki will be more used to waking up and finding himself face to face with those eyes, but that is not this day. His brain signals that something is off, he frowns and sighs and gives a quiet grunt of protest, and then opens his eyes--
And immediately jerks back, raising a hand to put something between himself and a potential threat, before he registers who it is the next moment. And he lets his hand flop back down with a groan, then turns to bury his face in the pillow. ]
[ It's not-so-early morning, or perhaps later in the day, depending how long Gintoki stays in bed and whether he has anywhere to be today. Katsura appears scarce during that part, but as soon as Gintoki is up and/or heads for the kitchen, he'll be greeted by Zurako in one of her nicer, purple patterned kimonos. ]
[ Her hair is styled the usual way, falling in the opposite direction than Katsura usually wears his, her makeup is impeccable, and so are her nails, matching the tone of her eyeshadow and lipstic that seem to have a little glitter in it. She's sitting at the table with her back very straight, hands clasped together in a way that almost seems a little anxious, though her usual blank expression betrays no turmoil. ]
[ It is not-so-early morning. There's no real reason for him to be up, since he doesn't have anywhere to be today, but he never has anywhere to be nowadays and ever since moving in together with Zura he often just goes to bed whenever Zura does.
But waking up is still a long process and he's still sort of half asleep and blinking blearily into space when he steps into the kitchen.
And stops in the doorway, staring at what looks to be a very beautiful lady sitting right in his kitchen. There's no reason a beautiful lady should be sitting in his kitchen. Were this back home, he'd assume it was a client, but he hasn't started up his business here (yet). So what the hell is happening, exactly?
Then, she speaks, and the way she says his name is awfully familiar, along with that very blank expression on his face and-- ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
owo who's this (the day after their arrival/meeting)
[ There appears to be some sort of a housewife or cleaning lady behind the door (just kidding, Gintoki is probably the one person who has seen
too muchenough of Katsura's bullshit to instantly recognize him in any of his disguises) and she seems to be holding a... pie? ]oh no
All he needs is one look at the person to see that it's Zura, of course.
And he'd ignore him, of course, if ... that didn't look like pie.
So he opens the door just a smidge, enough to look outside, squinting with suspicion. ]
Whaddya want, Zura?
(◕‿◕✿)
It's not Zura, it's Zuree van de Lamp.
[ Guess they're in D*sperate Hous*wives now. ]
On behalf of the HRA*, please accept this token of welcome to our neighborhood.
[ (*Home Renters Association) ]
[ Apparently the very convoluted purpose of this visit is to let Gintoki know they're neighbors?? And also that he can always call on him for whatever reason, not that that's anything new. Speaking of which, Katsura has, in fact, discovered that the Otherworlder phones seem to have all the other Otherworlders' contacts in it automatically, but he'll let Gintoki discover that by himself. ]
[ The pie is actually real! It's got apple jam and everything. It's also not very big and fairly low in sugar, because of course it is, but it's still unmistakeably a dessert. ]
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
1/2
2/2
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
1/3
2/3
3/3
(no subject)
fin i guess,,
text; un: little.radish
“If that's how they are, all the hot furries here don't want them anyway and they can die horny.”
un: parfaitsamurai
what you do??
no subject
And I might have mentioned that you made it sound like an insult. I'm sorry.
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
[text] un: midnightrose | after their first meeting when they go into their apartments
Let me know if you ever need anything! I'll do my best (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧
You're seriously cute when you blush, by the way.
[text] un: parfaitsamurai
go die
(no subject)
(no subject)
text; un: fruitpunchsamurai
Ha ha ha Gintoki!! [ yes he typed out his obnoxious, smug laughter. texts u can hear truly ] I was not aware that you were back to being a thorn in the side of the rotten system. It brings me great joy to see you in action again.
Please call me when you have the chance. We have much to discuss.
The Jouishishi are thrilled to have you back! XOXO ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧
[ what Jouishishi... ]
[ the message will be followed by a few short calls that get hung up as soon as it connects, just to make sure to get his attention <3 ]
[Surprise action]
So he must have found out about it some other way.
Which is absurd. They've only been here a couple of weeks. Who could he possibly have on his side spying on Hijikata? And what's even the point?? What rotten system is he fighting back against???
AND WHAT JOUSHISHI IS GOING TO WELCOME HIM BACK ANYWAY????
So, no, he's not going to call Zura. Instead, when he returns to the apartment building that evening, he's going to march up to Zura's door and knock. ]
owo who could this be
your doom
scream
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
1/2
2/2
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
1/2
2/2
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
call; sometime during Frozen Hearts event
[ If they don't make it in time and he tragically dies, who else would he entrust the Jouishishi to? ]
[ ring ring ring ]
no subject
He fumbles for the phone for a second and finally manages to get it. Maybe, if he had the time to look at who was calling, he would have first hung up just to be a little shit about it. But he's tired, so he only peeks enough to remember how to even answer this stupid thing, then closes his eyes again as he brings it to his ear. ]
Yeah?
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
done-
voice / un: princess
she's at work at the moment since it's the day time, and unfortunately working in two departments means she isn't free to run out as she'd like.
besides... a few ducks would be pretty normal but this was not a few ducks. }
Please pick up. { her eyes go to the clock, then the pile of books in front of herself. she knows gintoki is useless with his phone at this point so it's up in the air whether this will get answered. }
no subject
And since it's just Sonia, he practically just grunts: ]
Yeah?
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
action 10/10
[ Normally, he probably would have just bought a cake. That tends to be both faster and better, what with his limited cooking abilities. But Gintoki had just invited him to live with him, and he wants to put in the extra effort to show his gratitude. ]
[ He's staring at the result a little suspiciously with just half his face visible over the table. It's not terrible, but it's also a far cry from the picture in the baking book. It's really just cake base, whipped cream, jam and strawberries, how hard could it possibly be? And yet somehow it came out taller on one side, with a batter-bubble-turned-lump at the top, and the visible strawberries are smeared with cream because he rearranged them three times. Still, he thinks, it's a respectable effort, and it probably tastes fine. He hopes. ]
[ (He's even pretty sure he didn't add anything he wasn't supposed to, at least not in quantities that would make a difference for either of them. A miracle!) ]
[ He shoves it in the fridge to settle (and to hide it from the ever-growing amount of furry would-be-eaters sharing their space), and heads back to the spare room which is now "his" to get the presents that he'd hauled from his old apartment earlier in the morning (now he can finally return that key, he supposes). ]
[ Then he's tiptoeing to Gintoki's bedroom and setting two neatly wrapped packages down on the side of the bed with available space. The big one contains the ice cream machine he won at an auction over a month ago for this very purpose, which apparently (slowly) makes icecream out of thin air, and the small one hides a dreamcatcher from Riki's shop that's supposed to ward off (most of) nightmares. ]
[ Then Katsura fluffs Gintoki's hair a little and finally settles at an available spot at the foot of the bed himself, apparently intending to stare his best friend awake. He's got a dumb smile (and possibly a smear of cream and/or flour somewhere) on his face. ]
...
[ Okay, this is taking too long. ]
Gintoki.
no subject
Especially if it comes to his birthday, sleeping in is only reasonable.
This fact would make him more annoyed about waking up. In true Gintoki fashion he has absolutely no idea it's his birthday, though, so when Zura's voice breaks through his sleep, he grumbles and rolls over and buries his face in the pillow.
...
Actually, he'd definitely do that even if he did know it's his birthday. ]
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
text; un: Levi
[ It appears to be a selfie by Rumi, though the focus is clearly on whatever is going on behind her -- which seems to be Hijikata getting his ass beat/stomped on and then being telekinetically bent into dogeza pose by Megumi and Jean in midair, apparently to apologize to a big dragon...spirit?
(According to exploration discord, they both also show a peace sign to the camera, Jean awkwardly while Megumi grins and says "yo", potentially providing a quick rundown of the situation--)][ Think of something with these and these vibes. ]
[ Look, he wouldn't just put this up to humiliate Hijikata in public (for no reason) but from what he's gathered during the Crystal Mines expedition, Gintoki seems to have a similarly balanced like-loathe relationship to the guy that Levi does, so he figures it'll be used for
goodreasonable, small scale bullying. ]text; un: parfaitsamurai
Which Gintoki probably would have asked, to be a little shit, if the picture and the video didn't thoroughly distract him. Is that Hijikata getting thoroughly beaten into submission in a manner he'd expect from fellow Gintama characters? It sure is!
He laughs gleefully for a good half a minute, replays the video several times, and finally responds to Levi: ]
thank you for this gift
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
action; backdated to november
[ Meaning, Katsura should probably be asleep, but he's not. It's 4AM. He keeps rotating everything Sonia said in his head like a leftover soup bowl in the microwave. It probably should have been obvious from the start, but somehow, through combined powers of obliviousness and denial, he had managed to get through his life until this point without ever seriously acknowledging that he might, in fact, love Gintoki. ]
[ Not just as his best friend or brother. ]
[ (Apparently, it's un-brother-like to make your labuwus kiss, and maybe he'd argue if everything else didn't fall into place, not to mention that he has to admit he has no idea what is supposed to be brother-like considering he's never had any siblings until he'd found himself some at Shouka Sonjuku.) ]
[ He has fantasized, on occasion, about being in a relationship with him. During the war, even. (Likely even before that, though his idea of "relationship" back then was probably a lot more innocent than after he'd killed his first opponent.) He'd brushed it off as his natural need for romance and the rejection of the idea of handsies in the woods as something casual and meaningless, but the signs really were all there, weren't they. ]
[ But what does that mean? ]
[ Does this cheapen everything they've been through and shared so far, or does it enhance it? He hates to think of himself as somehow not being a proper friend, someone who might have been spurred by ulterior motives rather than something pure. But was he really? No matter from which angle he examines it, he's always been willing to die for the man sleeping next to him, he's always wanted to see him happy, even if it came at the price of his own joy. Surely nobody would go that far were they only interested in worming their way into someone's fundoshi. Which means it's real. ]
[ But that comes with its own heap of implications. How long? And how much has it transformed over the years? If it truly had been all the way back when he'd been stealing glances at the weird boy with fluffy hair through the school's fence, pretending he wasn't looking when he got caught, but his heart did a little flip, and he'd thought maybe the rice he'd eaten earlier had gone off, then it could not have been more than a child's crush then. They'd only started getting to know each other. But with each revelation, each joy and tragedy that made them grow closer year after year, the feeling didn't dissipate. It only grew. Strengthened. Deepened. By the time they had parted ways, it had grown bigger than himself. ]
[ Maybe that's why it was so easy to fall into the void in his absence. ]
[ He'd been sleeping in Gintoki's room for a while now, and after today's revelations, he's forced to look at that differently too. Yes, he was seeking out a familiar comfort, a warmth, a reassurance. But was there more? Was he maybe using it as an excuse to steal some physical contact that he knew didn't belong to him? Gintoki liked girls, didn't he, even if he didn't seem to mind... but that's because he thought Zura was his weird, emotional best friend and not someone who wanted his ****, no doubt. Would this be poisoned now? Can he still look him in the face? Okay, he's established that regardless of any recent additions, their bond is much more than that, but what if it followed the rule of tar and honey? What if now everything else didn't count? What if Gintoki will hate him, or not trust him the way he has so far? ]
[ No, that couldn't possibly be the case, right? One more thing on the pile of things does not invalidate the rest of the pile, surely. ]
[ Gintoki loves him, for certain, even if it might not be the exact way he wishes. ]
[ But he's worrying all the same. ]
[ He hadn't wanted to make a huge scene of dragging his futon back to his room earlier, so here he is, stewing in his thoughts barely a meter away from Gintoki. Today, however, he hadn't treacherously scooted to the very edge of his futon to be as close to Gintoki as possible and maybe end up hugging over the night; no, he'd laid down dead center, tense as a plank, and didn't move until he heard his friend's breaths even out. ]
[ He's on his side now, staring at that painfully familiar patch of white in the dark while thinking all of this, and the agonizing is probably not helping him be less tense. It might be coming off of him in waves at this point, but he stubbornly braves the room anyway because goddammit he will not let this change anything between them and ruin things. ]
[ It's fine. He's fine. ]
no subject
Otherwise, things seem to be just about normal, after all.
Until it isn't. Until Zura spends the whole night just not moving, until he's drilling holes into the back of Gintoki's head with his stare, and Gintoki's between the phases of deep sleep the weird waves coming off his childhood friend seep into the blissful dark of sleep.
Out of nowhere, he's mysteriously awake, and after a few moments of squeezing his eyes shut and pressing his face into the pillow, he realises that something is off. After another few moments, he realises what is off. He can't feel the heat of another body next to him, and there's no sound of deep breathing.
It takes another few moments for him to decide it's enough of a bother to not try to ignore it and go back to sleep.
He grunts with annoyance, and rolls over to face in Zura's direction, squinting tiredly into the dark. ]
What's going on with you?
1/2
2/2
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
action; backdated to december
[ It hadn't been the first or most important thing on his mind considering... everything else, but now that his initial hurricane of emotions has been wrangled somewhat, he's managed to process the rest of that eventful day. ]
[ And it's leaving him unsure, too. ]
[ It's not like he particularly likes Hijikata, he definitely doesn't think he's a good cop, but during the weeks spent catfishing him he did, in fact, find out that he wasn't some sort of an evil or genuinely terrible person. And maybe Sonia was right, maybe he did "lead him on" more than he strictly needed to for information that he didn't have much of in the first place. It had been fun, and he'd wanted to see how much he could push it, and he really thought he'd have figured it out in a month or two. ]
[ But no. Apparently, Katsura has still underestimated the sheer denseness of the Shinsengumi, which shouldn't be a shock considering they haven't managed to catch him despite it being basically their only job, but somehow still is. No, instead the guy is infatuated with Zurako. Which would maybe make him feel a little bad, but ultimately be harmless. Unfortunately, there's also a very tangible consequence. ]
[ Hijikata got fired. And he's apparently been giving his all to this job for years, worked hard to get it, and being the workaholic that he was it was probably his whole life here, too. He was being investigated during all the while Katsura did his community service, and of course it ended with the obvious. ]
[ So maybe it was a little fun to string him along. Maybe it was nice to find out that Gintoki's hunch at least wasn't entirely wrong about these guys. Maybe Katsura actually... had fun hanging out with him, at least until the mayonnaise came out. ]
[ Making him lose it all wasn't really part of the plan, though. ]
[ And so, here he is again. Getting eaten at by a new helping of guilt and doubt. Hello 4AM, his old friend. And just as it seems to be becoming a pattern, he stares at Gintoki, trying to will him awake. ]
no subject
Maybe eventually Gintoki will be more used to waking up and finding himself face to face with those eyes, but that is not this day. His brain signals that something is off, he frowns and sighs and gives a quiet grunt of protest, and then opens his eyes--
And immediately jerks back, raising a hand to put something between himself and a potential threat, before he registers who it is the next moment. And he lets his hand flop back down with a groan, then turns to bury his face in the pillow. ]
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
1/2
2/2
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
wrap?
yeee
action; 02-14
[ Her hair is styled the usual way, falling in the opposite direction than Katsura usually wears his, her makeup is impeccable, and so are her nails, matching the tone of her eyeshadow and lipstic that seem to have a little glitter in it. She's sitting at the table with her back very straight, hands clasped together in a way that almost seems a little anxious, though her usual blank expression betrays no turmoil. ]
Gintoki.
action; 1/2
But waking up is still a long process and he's still sort of half asleep and blinking blearily into space when he steps into the kitchen.
And stops in the doorway, staring at what looks to be a very beautiful lady sitting right in his kitchen. There's no reason a beautiful lady should be sitting in his kitchen. Were this back home, he'd assume it was a client, but he hasn't started up his business here (yet). So what the hell is happening, exactly?
Then, she speaks, and the way she says his name is awfully familiar, along with that very blank expression on his face and-- ]
action; 2/2
Oh. Zura.
[ Aaand he heads immediately for the fridge. ]
What're you all dolled up for? Are you going on another date with Hijikata after all?
(no subject)
(no subject)
1/2
2/2
1/3
2/3
3/3
(no subject)
1/2
2/2
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
1/3
2/3
3/3
1/3
2/3
3/3
(no subject)
(no subject)
1/2
2/2
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)