April Catch-All

[leatherdaddy]

who: Gladio and a lot of scrawny dudes YOU
what: Two missions, and a whole lot of bad decisions social interactions
when: April catch-all means... all of April!
where: Various
warnings: Warnings will be in subject lines!




Mission: Brownout (closed to Reaper, Sans, McCree, Gladio)

Mission: How to Train Your... (closed to Gladio, Sans, Gooeygetsu, Eichi, Sasuke, McCree)

I Never (closed to mission-goers; tag in with your I, Never and threadjack away!)
 
Training Sessions (OTA who wants to play out survival, weapons training, etc)

Comments

[liquidate]

(looking from eichi to sasuke, holding the stare with a sharp sniff, before jerking into a turn and walking off.

he's quite obviously headed for the lake to get away from these people.)

[eyeforaneye]

[ Sasuke watches quietly as Suigetsu leaves, a result he decides is the best they could've expected. The other... well. That piercing stare goes from Gladio to Eichi, now. ]

"Cutting people off" should have happened a while ago. More importantly...

Are you interested in dying, Tenshouin? You continue to provoke someone you shouldn't be stupid enough to believe won't harm you. Were it not for others here you wouldn't still be alive, and it isn't my responsibility to always watch out for you.

[finethanks]

I won't allow the simple fear of death to stop me from saying what I believe. Only fools rely on others without expecting to give anything in return. I haven't given you anything, so you owe me nothing. That's how it works, isn't it? You've already stood up for me more than I expected.

[He's so serious now, but at least he's not going after Suigetsu!! He's not even looking at Sasuke now, moving to relax more where he's sitting.] Rather than focusing on my "death wish," why don't you address his sensitivity? If he's going to react to every little comment I make, then I wonder if he should really be in public after all~.

[eyeforaneye]

[ The latter words cause his fingers to curl slowly into a fist, kept measuredly at his side as he watches Eichi without further moving a muscle. ]

Suggestions for how to handle him aren't needed; I've spoken with him separately.

If that's your philosophy, however, then you're the one that owes me a few things. Like you said, I've stood up for you. If you're interested in making things even again, you'll start by leaving him alone.

[finethanks]

[Eichi glances up and over at that, and his signature smile isn't there right now. It's because he's thinking, and because he's drunk, both of these things...]

Because you're not interested in being "friends," right? Don't worry, I remember that too. Regardless of what the both of you think, I wasn't targeting Suigetsu. [He looks away again, drawing a circle in the dirt. Hmmmmm.]

But I do feel as though I'm acting out, almost like during my childhood. I wonder why? I'll behave from now on, I promise.

[eyeforaneye]

I don't seek out bonds just for the sake of forging them. [ An unnecessarily complicated way of saying that his opposition to friendship isn't as clear cut as that; he has several people he'd use that word for, now, and he doesn't feel shame over it. ]

I'm telling you that if you're going to do something like that, be careful who you're speaking to. [ Here he looks back at him after a brief glance away. ]

He'll kill you.

[finethanks]

I see. [He's quiet for just a moment, eyes still cast downwards before he adds one more thing.]

I wonder, would it be of any help for him to? [Would it be helpful if Suigetsu killed him, he's just wondering, normally...]

[eyeforaneye]

... [ Well, this is a topic Sasuke knows well. It doesn't cause him undue discomfort, either, to have it brought up, too prone to waxing philosophical over the subject on his own time. ]

For him? You'll be nothing but a number.

For you? If you have the choice to live or to die... choose to live. It's better to just say "I'll die later".

[finethanks]

Fufu, the best path forward isn't always the easiest, is that it? You're right. I'm sorry. It seems things got out of hand and instead of holding my chin high like I should, I stooped to a low level and held onto anger that has nothing to do with anyone here but myself.

My heart is beating so irregularly that it hurts. [He realizes now that he should stop talking, before he just spills all his thoughts about his inner feelings. So he'll just wrap his arms around his knees and rest his head there.]

[eyeforaneye]

Yeah. You did. [ It sounds harsh but it's just an indicator of even a fraction of the strictness with which he treats himself, far too intolerant of his own lapses in control. ]

If you choose to live, you always have the option to change your mind about it later. It isn't the same if you choose to die. If control matters to you, that idea should too.

[finethanks]

I wonder why it is that your words sound so trustworthy right now.

[Subtly trying to say he has a feeling Sasuke is speaking from experience. Not-so-subtly.] Thank you. I don't want to die until I've reached my goal, so I won't let this illness or anything else get in my way. That's what I've always said.

[eyeforaneye]

[ The meaning isn't lost on him at all, but this is one he doesn't care to address. Talking about death is one thing, talking about his own possible desire for it... that's another. ]

In that case, stop prodding sleeping dragons. You won't have to worry about your illness if you get sliced first.

[finethanks]

Even if it would have been interesting to see more of that real side of his, I've already said I'm done, so I'm done.

[He lifts one arm enough to flick his fingers, indicating it's done. He's listening! He's purposefully responding to that as if it's specifically meaning leaving Suigetsu along and not his habits in general, though.]

later that night...

[eyeforaneye]

[ Beer bottles are avoided as Sasuke navigates through the camp, quiet as expected and resisting an urge to tidy up the garbage on his way. It can wait. Especially since his vision is still duller than he'd like, his steps a little less sure.

Nonetheless he makes his way to the lake in the early hours of the morning, knowing his old teammate well enough to sniff him out. ]

... Suigetsu. [ Pausing when he reaches the bank, waiting. ]

[liquidate]

(he's nowhere to be seen, but that doesn't mean he's not there. and he hears sasuke's voice above the surface of the water quite clearly, that and the shift of pebbles under his feet that ripple at the shoreline.

it's no surprise sasuke's awake, but to come find him... maybe he's still drunk.)

I don't need a lecture. (a lagging reply, after moments of a night that's filled with frog chirps and the occasional splash of a bug-eating fish.)

[eyeforaneye]

[ He casts his gaze over the particularly inhospitable-looking spit of land next to the water, disinterested in sitting down on any part of it even if the drinks in him make him want to rest. ]

You're assuming I'll give you one.

[liquidate]

(the voice that's coming from the lake finally receives a body to connect it to. his head tilt out of the water with a measured breath, hair dripping into its standard style... albeit fused with the bridge of his nose and the sides of his face.

the look, however, is something unimpressed.)

What else would you be here for?

[eyeforaneye]

[ There's no visible reaction from him as his former teammate forms right from the water itself, the look he gives him measured. ]

To check on you. [ Simply enough. ] I didn't expect you to leave so abruptly.

[liquidate]

(sasuke's comment is unlike sasuke's comments those couple years ago. they really haven't seen much of one another, have they.)

It was either that, or try to kill him anyway. What would you've preferred?

[eyeforaneye]

I said it wasn't what I expected, not that it wasn't what was likely best. Don't twist my words.

Besides, he's the one I used up my lecture on.

[liquidate]

(squinting at him over rippling water.)

What am I supposed to say to that? Am I supposed to be satisfied with it, or something? (fingers lifting from the water to claw at the surface and slowly emerge, taking a knee.) What do you want from me, other than to completely obey you and just ignore that guys' mockeries?

[eyeforaneye]

You're saying that like I planned for us to be here together. [ What does he want from him? Little, nowadays; he's not in any position to keep demanding things from Suigetsu and they both know that. ]

It's better if this trip ends without any deaths amongst us. That doesn't mean I have to think he didn't say too much.

[liquidate]

What about after the trip?

(his eyes find his own reflection in the water, noticing the stars before noticing himself. where the hell are they?)

That guy's been up my ass since I first met him. You think you're above all that— you think I'm above all that? I'm not; I never needed a reason to cut him and he's giving me plenty.

[eyeforaneye]

[ Sasuke's gaze follows Suigetsu's, examining the mirrored and distorted image before he suddenly takes a step forward. One foot on the surface of the water and then the other, crossing distance between them. ]

I know what your urges are. But for now, save them for someone else... We still don't know what kind of person we're dealing with. It could also be that he ends up being useful.

[liquidate]

Useful.

(that guy. right. unlikely and irritating. despite his urges and his best efforts to seem normal, there's always one in a flock that'll bring the worst out of him and he doesn't want to face that if sasuke's passing judgement on him.)

Whatever you say, Sasuke. (falsely chipper.)