[Day 205] It's the end of the world, get drunk

[bastionpc]

Who: Georges and anyone about
Open: Open
When: 205 sometime in the afternoon
Where: Around the Monument
What: The Cael way of celebrating everyone not dying involves booze, so drink up! (Fun fact: the Cael way of mourning may also involve booze.)
Format: Any
Warnings: Drunken shenanigans, likely. Also feel free to treat this like a mingle thread and not just talking to Georges! (Although he'll try to chat with everyone if he can)


So, just to double check: A cure has been found? Everyone's recovered? No one's dead? It's safe to leave the house now? Excellent.

With this fact well known, one can find Georges starting off his morning not hanging about the bar (as is his custom as the only bartender in the Bastion) but in fact setting up something in front of the Monument. Tables, chairs, some blankets to sit on when those inevitably run out... There's also something of a makeshift bar area, a variety of liquor in fascinating bottles set up along with some glasses.

Everything is all finished up around the afternoon, and Georges goes behind his little makeshift table-bar to cup his hands around his mouth so he can yell-

"DRINKS ON THE HOUSE!"

...What do you mean he technically never makes anyone pay for booze at the end of the world? Just come up and have a drink, Georges will be happy to recommend something. Or maybe bother someone else having a drink?

Comments

[yinyangfox]

Getting decent hardly seemed relevant when they were prone to bathing together. He tried to be reasonably discreet, but there was little point in rushing to find a robe or something when Kaoru was coming with his clothes. He was, at least, in the habit of keeping his waist below the water until he could rise and take any necessary garments.

"You are too good to me, Kaoru...sometimes I wonder if a truly do right by you," Seimei murmured softly, opening a plain white underrobe and pulling it over his shoulders. He tied it loose around his waist so as not to catch his hair and turned habitually for Kaoru to pull the heavy mass of it free of the clothing.

"I think I could eat, yes. I am perhaps less pickled than before. I apologize for that disgraceful display in front of so many, Kaoru. It was never my intention. I had myself convinced that I could let you go - that it was the right thing to do. I suppose I am more selfish than I want to admit."

[individuates]

"I believe in you."

His arms snaked around Seimei from behind, one hand sliding under the robes just for the sake of skin-on-skin contact. He leaned into his onmyoji's back, head coming to rest between his shoulders and just... breathed him in for a moment. Fresh robes and clean skin, and the scent of the bath oils that lingered on both of them.

"...I was scared that I would lose you, yes... But never that it would be of your will." If he had doubted, he would have run long ago. But the time for running was past. The time for doubting was past.

Indeed, he had never doubted.

He straightened after a few long moments, gathering Seimei's hair and twisting it into one length over his shoulder, spinning Seimei to face him with a soft smile.

"...never apologise. I told you already."

[yinyangfox]

Seimei's hands raised slowly to press against the backs of Kaoru's, holding them against his skin for several moments before the boy pulled away to move his hair. Just those little things thrilled the onmyoji past the point of description, strengthening him where he felt his weakest. He turned obediently when pulled, knowing full well the look on his face said a great deal more about his thoughts than anything else. Where normally he was so impossible to read, sometimes there were things that words failed to illustrate where a look could.

He wanted Kaoru in every sense of the word and his love was indescribable. Leave Kaoru? As if he'd ever had a choice. He could feel his own heart breaking into pieces with every word he'd said trying to reason with the boy, to separate themselves. To save him.

So foolish.

"I will always apologize, Kaoru. I will never deserve you," he whispered, reaching up to cup the boy's cheek gently, dark eyes glittering warmly. "But I will happily spend my life doing everything I can to try. I'm bound to be afraid sometimes, but I'll never run again. Even if I cannot comprehend my own feelings, I promise to bring my thoughts to you before choosing to do anything that involves us."

[individuates]

A contented sigh, mirroring the motion and closing the distance between them for a kiss.

"...I love you. And I consider myself so, so lucky to be with you." There were certain points he was probably never going to persuade Seimei on; he knew that. But that didn't mean he was going to just give up. "It doesn't matter whether or not you believe it, too, but it's important to me that you at least know. That you're the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. And that I'm honoured that I can call myself yours. You do deserve me; even if you don't think you do - as far as I'm concerned that is an incontrovertible fact."

He brushed his nose against Seimei's before pulling back with a smile, taking Seimei's hands to lead him upstairs.

"Come. Our futon is waiting for us."

[yinyangfox]

"You are the only one who can say who deserves you, and I remain ever in awe at how blessed I am by your words," the onmyoji whispered, hands curling around Kaoru's gently before he inclined his head and moved to leave the bath behind. Flattery always pleased him, but somehow, coming from Kaoru, it all meant a great deal more. As though the boy's words were the only truths ever spoken to him.

They crossed out into the main hall, dark eyes drifting about the house with little interest. He was pleased by the structure, but whenever he thought about it without Kaoru it seemed more like a barn or storage shed than a home. The people he lived with, they had made it a home; no longer was the place he resided merely a monument of his solitude.

By the time they got to his room Seimei was caught in a fit of rare emotion and when he had the doors closed behind them he turned and wrapped his arms around the redhead from behind to simply hold him. Face nuzzling neck and cheek gently, he stood there, unwilling to let go for several long moments. With the doors closed and no one to witness it, he allowed himself the moment of weakness. It bothered him to think of himself as clingy or needy in any way, but after the crises they had been suffering one after the other, he felt entitled to the moment. In he pressed a few slow kisses against Kaoru's throat, it was only to remind himself the boy was real.

Perhaps to taste his skin.

Perhaps to accompany the motion of slender hands trailing feather-light down lean arms.

Mercy but all he wanted to do was drown himself in Kaoru.

[individuates]

"I'm yours," Softly whispered, head rolling to one side to bare more of his neck for Seimei's kisses as a pleasant shiver coursed through him, "and you are mine."

One of his hands slid into Seimei's hair, resting there a moment before slipping down to tilt his chin up so he could catch those lips with his own. A sway of the hips as he shifted around, his free hand coming to rest on Seimei's shoulder while the other slipped into his hair again.

He had missed this. He had missed the moments of just the two of them; of touching, kissing, tasting and not caring. He had missed the closeness to the point of aching - had it really been only ten days? - but with Seimei's touches parts of him that hurt to be without were gradually easing.

Seimei certainly made himself difficult to separate from at times like this. It was hard to step away when all Kaoru wanted was to melt into him more, but he managed a couple of steps back, taking the onmyoji by each hand and pulling him to the pool of flickering candlelight around their bed.

"Come…"

[yinyangfox]

It was so hard not to just stand there and continue, blood thundering in Seimei's ears as his hands took their liberties in ways that, not long ago, would have appalled him. He touched and tugged and returned the kiss with a fervor the onmyoji rarely displayed. Maybe it was the alcohol ridding him of pesky inhibition or maybe it was just time, but he very nearly bit the boy, his kisses and nips had grown so insistent. It was a good thing when Kaoru pulled away and took his hands, bringing his attention back to the present and his senses.

He could feel the partially tangled weight of his damp hair again, good feel the slight chill of the room while he wore little more than a basic robe. The fire coursing through him cooled a fraction and he followed with the heat of shame flaming in his face and ears. He always felt so guilty with such things, ever wondering if he hadn't courted right or enough, ever fearing he was somehow disgracing himself or dishonoring the boy.

Yet every time he felt the need to pull away and drift back for the sake of courtesy and respect, Kaoru pulled him right back. He always felt guilty but he never regretted it, and he followed where led with absolute obedience. Sometimes he wondered if Kaoru couldn't order him off a cliff. even then he mused about the idea with a wry smirk, dark eyes drifting to the painting of them on the interior of his doors.

[individuates]

He settled on the futon, kneeling to pull Seimei down. More. He needed to see more, feel more, show more, uncover more, and that impatience was making his head spin, was turning his already breathless kisses into greedy ones pressed into against Seimei's throat and the hollow between his collarbones.

How, how had he managed to find someone that felt so right?

Leaning their foreheads together for a moment, he tried to gather himself, his thumbs rubbing against Seimei's hands before setting them back where he wanted them - one at the curve of his waist where Seimei's tugging had exposed skin, and the other on his own cheek, leaning into it. His own hands mirrored as much as he could, one hand sliding under Seimei's robes and the other grazing his cheek before settling at the back of his neck.

A small grin formed against Seimei's mouth when Kaoru glanced sideways to see where he was looking, and his hand trailed upwards in an effort to coax Seimei's attention back.

"Why are you looking there when you have the real thing right here, hmm?"

[yinyangfox]

Snorting soft and moving to slide his arms around the redhead entirely, Seimei grazed Kaoru's lips, pulling him in closer still. If the boy were so content in the onmyoji's embrace there was certainly no good reason to deny him what he wanted.

"Simply wondering about the stories that would have been told about us...the paintings and the poems. The fool mortal and the halfbreed sorcerer, stars never quite perfectly aligned but overlapping every so often, bringing them back together every time they thought they'd drift apart. I imagine I would look quite fashionable in the plays," he murmured, shaking his head to toss his hair out of his face, black strands swaying in his vision.

He wanted nothing else to distract him in that moment, holding the boy to him where so often all they could manage were glances and touching hands when out of sight.

[individuates]

"So vain, my love…" A soft, still breathless chuckle as he fidgeted with his Seimei's hair, practically settled in his lap now through their efforts to get closer to one another. "But, yes, if it were directed with any sense they would have to make certain the person portraying you was quite dashing. For realism's sake, naturally. And the audience's hearts would rise and sink with every development in the story as they silently cheered us on from their seats toward our happy ending…"

"Which… of course, we get our happy ending, right?" He added, tucking a strand of hair back from Seimei's face with a smile, "The music swells… and the audience, simply unable to take it anymore leap to their feet…"

[yinyangfox]

"I can't really be sure. Playwrights always surprise you. They could make the whole thing a very somber affair without any festive clothing or music, and just focus on all of the drama instead of the romance and passion," he answered with a soft chuckle, pleased by the subtle flattery either way.

"We do get a happy ending, if that's what the Prince wants," he added quietly, reaching up and threading his fingers through Kaoru's hair gently, tracing perfectly-tended nails over the boy's scalp.

"How the play ends and what sort of stage its presented on has yet to be decided, but royalty always gets its way. The script is yours, my sweet prince. What you want to happen next will determine the turn of the story...is it a simple diction of events, or a rousing tale of fantasy?"

[individuates]

"The prince does want." Without hesitation, nuzzling into Seimei's neck and pressing a few kisses there, "So these hypothetical playwrights better not screw things up."

He lay still and enjoyed the hands through his hair, still fiddling with the lock of Seimei's in his hand with a slight pout.

"But right now the back of the prince's mind is filled with mundane matters. He want to dry his sorcerer's hair, give him enough food and rest, make sure his head doesn't hurt…

…and then he also wants to just tangle the two of them together and kiss him all over."

[yinyangfox]

Dark eyes searched Kaoru's face with a gentle smile and nod, loosening his grip a fraction to lean back and allow the redhead his freedom. He couldn't help his reactions and really, he didn't want to let go. Even so he released the boy in favor of a little pampering because if there was anything the onmoyji was a sucker for, it was being spoiled.

"I will eat while you tend to my hair," Seimei murmured softly, gaze drifting to one of the lanterns thoughtfully. After a moment he gestured vaguely two a few of the lights around the room and arched a brow.

"Why not put a few more out? The ones at the corners of the room are quite enough and I find myself fancying the intimacy of the moment enough to suggest such frivolous things."

Really he assumed what was always the case: they would indulge in one another for a time and eventually go to sleep, no matter how much they craved one another. Their continued abstinence was nothing that troubled him terribly but he didn't want to torment himself more than necessary and the reactions of his own body were beginning to get tedious. Turning the lights down and settling in for food and grooming would - he hoped - draw his body down to the bedding in a timely fashion.

[individuates]

A soft smile of his own before he leaned back in for a kiss (and another. And another…), before leaning his forehead against Seimei's temple.

"We will."

He moved from his lover's side just as reluctantly, rising to potter about - snuffing candles, gathering a couple more towels, and slipping into Seimei's room to retrieve his combs, leaving them on the futon, and going to retrieve the tray of food that had been left outside by the door. God knew he wanted his heart, his body, to overrule his head on this one, but the facts were the facts. True enough, they had been given a clean bill of health and had just been released from hospital, but at the same time... they had just been released from hospital. That made him rather more inclined towards niggling worries about Seimei's health than usual. And his common sense was telling him they should wait for a while, Just in case. A few days, to be on the safe side.

…or to at least get a good night's sleep in their own bed before they gave in to each other.

He set the tray down, pouring a cup of tea and pressing it into Seimei's hand before he shifted behind him, setting out the towels and combing through the length of the onmyoji's hair.