dreamland: private conversation; day 0; peko pekoyama

[impheired]

[Once everyone else has left and Kuzuryuu has closed the door behind them, he begins pacing around his room. Peko mentioned needing to talk to him later, and he can only assume that means "right about now". Clearly she just left with the rest of their classmates to keep up appearances. He's not sure what she needs to talk to him about, but given the circumstances and the fact that she couldn't say it in front of the others...he's assuming the worst.]

Comments

[impheired]

It's not almost like a weakness, it definitely is. It's complete bullshit... more fun, my ass. [He grits his teeth, his hand clenching into a trembling fist and twisting the bedsheets in the process.]

[perfectstrike]

Young master...

[Don't. Don't twist up your sheets. You're going to have to sleep on those. Stop that.

But she doesn't stop him herself. If that's how he wants to express his anger, it's... better than him yelling and alerting everyone else around? God damn.]

We will just need to discover the VIPs before anything can happen. It will be alright.

[Now would definitely be the time for one of those comforting smiles. Look at her go-- no, she's just paling a little. That's. That's the opposite of comforting, Peko. Jfc.]

[impheired]

[lbr this is already a spectacularly shitty bed, twisting the sheets isn't going to matter much.]

Yeah...

[He doesn't sound wholly convinced, but he does at least loosen his grip on the sheets a little.]

[perfectstrike]

I will find a way to escape with you. Please believe me.

[Alright, he's not squeezing the sheets so tightly now, so she reaches to carefully rest one hand atop his and use the other to try to pull the sheets out from beneath his hand and smooth them out. Relax, bocchan. Your blood pressure is so high already. Stop it.]

[impheired]

[CAN'T RELAX. Not when he is really the only suitable replacement for shsl cat herder/babysitter since Hinata isn't here.]

I do believe you. I'm just... [Scared.] ...worried about you.

[He can't admit he's scared, pretend you're surprised.]

[perfectstrike]

Young master...

[SHE CAN HELP HERD THE CATS. Well. She can herd Ibuki. You're on your own with the others.

She ducks her head and can't answer for a moment, pulling her hand away from his to curl her fingers in the hem of her skirt. If only she could smile and tell him everything would be okay...

But he'd hugged her earlier, hadn't he? So if she does that, it should help, at least a little. It's a bit awkward for her as she shifts closer on the bed, then hesitantly touches his shoulder. Another moment, then she pulls her feet up on the bed to curl them beneath her to try pulling him into an embrace.]

[impheired]

[Please help with Ibuki, she is the one he's having the most trouble with. He can handle Gundam if you handle Ibuki, sound good? And then Koizumi can just...be Koizumi. She can be a joint effort or something assuming they even need to reign her in at all.]

[This is a hella awkward hug though, Peko, just for the record. Not that he doesn't appreciate it but...you are most definitely pulling him in sideways and more than likely getting his head in your boobs. As a result, his initial reaction is to stiffen somewhat. But after a few moments, he relaxes into it, in spite of how awkward and mildly uncomfortable it is. And after a few more moments pass by, he shifts a little bit so that he can bring a hand to her back, holding onto the back of her shirt.]

[This is...okay, no he really should just move so that he can actually turn to face her and do this hug properly but no. Apparently we can't do that for some reason.]

[perfectstrike]

[Is it uncomfortable...? Considering she's the one doing the actual holding, it's really not that bad for her. It's probably hella more comforting for her than it is for him, especially when he finally holds the back of her shirt.

She closes her eyes and exhales a quiet sigh through her nose, letting her fingers wrap more tightly around his arm.

She's not moving, beyond shifting a little to sit more comfortably on her feet. She's not even going to say anything?? This is enough for her.]

[impheired]

[Peko might not have anything to say, but after a few minutes, Kuzuryuu apparently does. Though it would be more accurate to say that it's mumbled, as opposed to said.]

Y'know...you could've said something sooner if you needed something like this so bad.

[CHILD, PLEASE. YOU ARE NOT FOOLING ANYBODY. Also, you can say the word "hug," you will probably not burst into flames or anything.]

[perfectstrike]

[There's a soft huff of air through her nose, something that could almost be mistaken for a laugh, and her fingers tighten just a moment around him.]

Of course, young master. [YEAH NOT EVEN PEKO IS FOOLED. But like hell is she going to say so.] In the future... I will ask.

[This means she can hug him more?? She obviously did a good thing here, with the comforting thing, or else he'd have squirmed free by now, she's certain. And he's not entirely wrong; holding him like this, feeling him warm and close against her, is something indescribably important.

And then she loosens her grip to let him retreat if he wants to. She still has questions about their classmates, about the island, about what happened amongst them all after her execution, but they can wait. She doesn't need those answers today.]

[impheired]

[Okay look, some things are never going to change, no matter how much development Kuzuryuu goes through. And maybe, in this case, that's not such a bad thing. Maybe it's okay if he stays a tsundere little shit forever.]

[When she loosens her grip, he responds by tightening his on the back of her shirt. Apparently he doesn't want to move away. Which is obviously because Peko needs this and he doesn't want to be a jackass and just leave her alone when she's obviously upset. Yup. That is what is happening here, definitely. He's just being nice, it's not like he's enjoying this or needs it or anything!!]

W-well it's...I mean it's not like you have to actually...ask. It's not like I'm gonna say no when it's you who needs this sort of thing... I'm not that mean.

[Fucking incredible. He just doesn't stop.]

[perfectstrike]

[This tsundere little shit. Peko just hums quietly, the smallest note of amusement before tightening her grip again. Don't look at her right now, bocchan, her face is doing something weird.

He's still not fooling her, but she'd rather die (again) than point it out to him.]

Thank you, young master. [And she almost continues, to let him know that he's very kind for doing this for her, but thinks better of it. She's pretty sure calling him kind right now would probably backfire.

It's really just kind of surreal for her, to have gone from thinking he despised her to... this. Another exhale, and she presses her nose to the top of his head.] Thank you...

[impheired]

[It's okay, his face is probably weirder. It's kind of surprising Peko can't feel the heat radiating off of it at this point. So it's probably a good thing that neither of them can look each other in the eye from this position.]

's nothing...

[It's an even quieter mumble than his previous mumbling. Who knew Kuzuryuu's volume could even go this low?]

...don't mention it.

[This is...nice. Even though he knows they really probably should head back out soon and go mingle with everybody else so they don't look suspicious, part of him kind of just wants to say "fuck that" and stay here like this for the rest of the evening.]

[perfectstrike]

[It really is. They're being god damn embarrassments for being members of Japan's largest organized crime syndicate.

She turns her head to rest her cheek against his hair. She'd be more than content to stay here for the rest of the afternoon, in normal circumstances. Hell, even if they could have rewound time on the island, she'd have been more comfortable staying with him for longer. But here, with so many more unknown variables...

Peko exhales against the top of his head and loosens her grip again, realizing that this time, she's going to have to be the one to step back first. So he can continue to think that she thinks he's doing this just for her sake.]

Young master... forgive me, I should go. Before others wonder where I am. [Another hesitant breath, then she adds,] If you'll permit... should there be an opening... I would like to come back later this evening.

[impheired]

[His fist clenches ever so slightly tighter around the back of her shirt. But only just and only for the briefest moment. She may not have even noticed it.]

M-mm...yeah. Right.

[He pulls back, sitting up properly but avoiding meeting Peko's eyes for the moment. His face is still pretty pink, that probably has something to do with it...]

If...you get the chance then yeah...that'd be...

[Nice? A thing that he definitely wants? Fanfuckingtastic?]

...okay.

[#nailedit]