noctium: ic contact

[anbu]

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un: "uchiha, itachi" hungryeyes

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[anbu]

[That effectively slams his mind still in its track.]

A date.

[mensrea]

A date.

[ Helpful. ]

With me.

[anbu]

[Of course, he's not oblivious to what a date is, however out of touch he may be with normal society. More than once he'd been teased in relation to any time spent one-on-one with Izumi, back during bleak childhood. Yet the comparison of memory stands so pale against this offer.]

Yes, I assumed. I'm just surprised.

What did you have in mind?

[mensrea]

Why surprised? I was serious about what I wanted when I asked you to commit to a relationship with me. I want to take you out, do something fun, just spend time together.

We could see a movie and get dinner. Or go shopping. Oooooor check out what kind of activities they have in the city. You can watch me embarrass myself ice skating. If you’d rather do something lowkey, we could grab a pack of playing cards and spend the night in. I’ve been learning how to cook better, so I can always make dinner.

[ He’s nervous, Stiles realizes. He wants so desperately for this to go well, for Itachi to enjoy the experience. ]

[anbu]

[For as long as it lasts, Itachi is not certain he'll ever fully grasp what Stiles sees in him enough to warrant the desire for a relationship. But it's clear now the consideration he's put into this request.]

I know. I admit that I have little experience with what is involved in such a commitment.

[Except for the sex, which may as well have been his gateway drug.]

I'm amenable to whatever you would most like to do, but spending the night in is... somewhat appealing. To start, perhaps. I could help you cook.

[mensrea]

That's fine. I've only dated two person before this. It's not like I'm an expert on it either.

[ The idea of Itachi helping him cook is...appealing. Stiles is determined to see it through. ]

A night in it is then. Wanna try to make onigiri?

[anbu]

Malia and Jonas?

You may wish to bring additional food, as onigiri isn’t usually considered a full meal.

[Plenty enough for his own bird-picky appetite, but he doubts the same is true for a healthy teenager.]

[mensrea]

You got it.

What, so you told me your favorite meal is a SNACK?

We can go grocery shopping beforehand and pick out what we need. When do you want to do this?

[anbu]

It is filling for me.

I don't have a preference. I assume you are trying to find employment, so likely your schedule is more constrained than my own. You can choose.

[mensrea]

Yeah, but you're also in the best shape of like anyone on the planet.

Alright, I'll get back to you on that then. But are you saying you're not looking for a job too?

[anbu]

I doubt that.

[Wait until you see him puking. Also, Stiles, have you not noticed he's been permanently unemployed? Though in fairness, jobs weren't expected in Hell.]

It isn't a priority for me at the moment, no.

[mensrea]

Why not? Are you really that comfortable just relying on the government's stipend?

[anbu]

The stipend is generated strictly based on our Manna output, which we have little control over physiologically. As far as I understand I would not be capable of refusing the currents even if I did not want them. I currently have a surplus for my needs; there's no reason to pursue other work.

Additionally, my skills lie outside this world's employment standards, and I have little interest adapting to yet another environment.

[mensrea]

This is what I’ve been working on with the network devices – creating a modified version of the phone so that the government can’t track our Manna generation. And you can definitely opt out of the stipend if you want to. I asked at the Embassy. But it’s convenient, so I get not wanting to.

Maybe I’ll hire you as a bouncer. I’m thinking of buying a business license instead of working for some putz.

[anbu]

I see. That’s useful information to know.

I also assume the network device is how you were able to find my apartment. [Caught, bitch.] It tracks physical location as well, doesn’t it?

What is a ‘bouncer’?

[mensrea]

[ Goddammit. ]

It does. Just the general area, though. It's not super accurate.

A bouncer is someone who works security at a business and deals with troublemakers, either by preventing them from entering the business or removing them from the premises. They're common at clubs.

[anbu]

... Are you planning to purchase a club?

[mensrea]

Nope.

[ This is where he should volunteer more information.

He doesn't. ]

[anbu]

[Why does he have a sinking feeling.]

Stiles. What, then?

[mensrea]

Worse Dragon 2, to be known as Worst Dragon.

[ Then, before Itachi can interject with a comment, he continues. ]

I know you weren't ever interested in the original store, but it was important to me. One of the owners taught me everything I needed to know about my transformation. I had no one else to help me through it, since I was the only Mirrorbound Arachne. I owe Mila a lot.

Not to mention, I learned a lot about sexuality while working there. I kinda want to carry on that legacy. It means a lot to me.

[anbu]

I wasn't going to criticize the decision, though I suppose I had not realized the extent to which Worse Dragon had impacted you.

[Not shocking, considering how few their interactions in Aefenglom, by his own design.]

I recall that the book you forced me to purchase, [yeah that's what happened] in the end, was very enlightening despite its obscenity. At the time I was not in a place to appreciate it. [Oh, ye old prude days.]

Do you have plans for other employees? You seem set on this. What if our stay does not last here?

[mensrea]

"Forced" you. Yeah, okay, whatever helps you sleep at night.

If we're whisked away yet again to some other dimension, what's it matter? The business will pass on to someone else, I guess. But I can't just sit here with my thumb up my ass doing nothing. It's already been over a year since I was home. I'm turning nineteen in a few weeks. Life continues, even if it's not where I belong.

I need to do SOMETHING with myself. You know?

[anbu]

[He doesn't know — it seems as though, over the course of dimensional experience, they've traveled in different directions. The more this recurs, the less willing and interested Itachi is in permanency; as though the intensity he'd dug himself into Aefenglom's problems had evaporated the moment Sasuke, Stiles, and Jonas had left and he was alone. Hell seemed even more pointless, except that it punished him rightly.

Yet similar is not something he would have ever called him and Stiles, so it doesn't alarm him. If Stiles weren't with him in Noctium now, would he even attempt to engage? Admitting that the boy is like an anchor toward whatever parts of humanity still exist within himself, and any real desire to be alive, feels unfair. A heavy burden. He determines never to say it.]

You will return home eventually. Your birthday, it's the 8th next month, correct?

[mensrea]

Eventually. I'm not going to stop living until then.

You remembered. Yeah, it's the 8th of April. Or Diamil, in this world. At least it won't be a full moon this time.

[anbu]

It was a difficult night to forget. Do you have plans?