[ He has been meaning to tell Yusuke since they're living together and they've been growing closer like their living space? But with the party, then hanging out with silver, and all... He couldn't tell him yesterday. They didn't get to spend much time this weekend, actually SO HERE HE IS, trying to engage a normal roommate conversation, whispering softly: ]
Yusuke.
[ He's peeking from the top bunker!! Looking over to his friends little desk area on the side while holding his cat close to him. Morrigan meows before BATTING AKIRA'S FACE (which prompts him to sneeze) because it's bedtime, fool. Grumbling comes afterward. Grumbling ensues. ]
[To be fair, Morrigan is onto something. It is Bed Time, Akira.
But sure enough, after a couple of moments there's some rustling and Yusuke's face appears, leaning out a little awkwardly from his lower bunk level. He looks maybe a little dazed and sleepy, so if you want to feel bad for disturbing him as he was dozing off, then please do.]
[ THEN WHY AREN'T YOU ASLEEP? After a good fight, he conquers his cat and placates him through vigorous petting. Morrigan continues to purr, tugging on his arm to make sure he isn't going anywhere. Anyway, it isn't too late, so he thinks they can stay up talking a bit.
Akira will just hang out over by the ledge so he can see Yusuke. Hmm. ]
I didn't get to tell you this yesterday, but I got a boyfriend... His name is Goro Akechi and I hope you two can get along. Maybe you know him already?
[ FRIENDSHIP would be a bonus, but baby steps. Despite how he knows about. Well. A lot of issues that might arise in the future.
That isn't the only thing he wants to talk about (he kind of wants to talk about random stuff), but it's a start? ]
[Because someone's calling him and waking him up?? He was dozing off, it wouldn't have taken much to ruin that tough, to be fair.
Yusuke shifts himself so he's not got his head just hanging out over the edge of the bed with no neck support - it'd be awkward if he got a headrush and fell out of bed or something.]
Akechi...?
[... Hmm.
Oh. Oh yes, he remembers]
Yes, I've met him before. [Do... do you tell a guy that you met his new boyfriend when he was nude modelling for an art class? Or does that make things awkward?] Congratulations? I wasn't aware the two of you knew each other.
Yeah, he's a regular at the cafe, too... Though you guys don't seem to bump into each other often somehow?
[ Scratching his cheek, he looks kind of confused as to how that seems to happen. Yusuke might not always come, but it's enough times. Same with Goro. He guesses it doesn't matter. While he rests his head on an arm, he dangles the other over the ledge just hanging over his friend's bed. ]
Perhaps we have very different schedules, therefore very different times available to visit the cafe? Who knows.
[It is an odd coincidence though.]
"Became acquainted" might be the better term. I really don't know him well. But he was the model for a life-drawing class I attended a little while back. [He looks thoughtful for a moment, before nodding to himself.] He was an interesting artistic subject - more so than others who we had to draw.
[Oh.]
Ah, and one of my messages via Retrospec misfired to him this afternoon actually. How strange.
[ He might not be an art student, but he knows what that usually entails. With the cafe being a great shotspot for university kids and others alike, they tend to voice out their grievances. One includes being asked if they want full frontal from an elderly man for an art class.
Humming thoughtfully, he tacks that onto the list of things he can harass and embarrass Goro over. ]
Thanks, Yusuke. [ FOR THE DIRT. ] I wonder if this is fate or just all a big coincidence.
You're welcome? [For providing plenty of trolling material for your poor boyfriend, not that he knows that.]
... A good question. Some coincidences feel almost too well planned to be just that.
[But what could cause them otherwise? Yusuke doesn't hold stock in higher powers pulling their strings, but he does admit some things end up going just too perfectly or imperfectly. He can see why people believe there's something guiding the whims of fate.]
[ It's not hard to laugh about dicks, sorry. Akira isn't too sure if he truly believes in threads of fate, but from his memories... There were so many things out of his control—yet his other self... No, the person he used to be was still determined and fighting against it. Moving a bit closer to the edge, he looks down at Yusuke with an inquisitive and searching gaze. ]
Have you received any memories yet, Yusuke?
[ He's curious!! And kind of wants to see if it'll let him remember anything about fox friend. ]
[Pro-tip, Akira. Don't laugh when you see Goro naked for the first time, it will probably go poorly for you.
Yusuke's head cranes back a little more to keep Akira fully in view, and ends up having to shift his shoulders around again.]
... [Memories. Yes, he'd heard about them and... experienced them now, he supposes. Or, one at least.]
I've had one. [I see how it is. Using him for memories.] I was drawing in some strange dark place - it looked a little like a supernatural underground station? Whatever I was drawing, I was incredibly focused on it. Luckily there was somebody with me, keeping an eye on me. Perhaps it was somewhere better visited in a group...
[ No one asked for your opinion, Kitagawa?? But what cute roommates they are... Speaking to each other on their bunk beds like this is a sleepover. Even though Yusuke can't see it, he can probably hear Akira kicking his legs up and down as he ponders a little more. He kind of remembers a place that... Looks like a distorted subway, too. ]
Hm. [ It doesn't sound unlike Yusuke at all! ] That's fairly normal, if I think about it? Aside from the supernatural underground station.
[ Now squinting. ]
You did just stop and sketch out monsters in August, after all. I wouldn't put it past you.
[He's only trying to make sure you don't immediately cockblock yourself?? ah. Does Akira have his chin in his hands and his hair in pigtails too? That's cute.]
True, but... [He frowns, just a little.] I drew those monsters because I wanted to be able to remember them, in case I assumed I had experienced a strange fever dream.
This was more... abstract? Like I was seeking a concept, rather than committing something to paper for the sake of memory. My art was not focused on a single being and more on the ambience of the place itself.
[ He can look however you want him to look?? He does kind of reach out with his dangling hand. Let's recreate the ]
Forever in Yusuke's memory, Monster #12.
[ Into an NPC like every other Recolle Citizen. Akira is quiet over it, thinking about Elliot who recently lost his brother to this phenomenon. Is it better to be blind to the truth?
Akira has heard some strange things from people, but this may be one of the tamest only because it's from Yusuke. Anything weird Yusuke says, he would probably find normal. ]
Basically conceptualizing scenery... Of a supernatural area. I wish I could see what you were working on. [ ... ] Were you wearing a strange outfit, too?
[ You just look sleepy to him? An attempt was definitely made. Oh, so Yusuke is the one dressed up as a fox. The ends of his lips quirk as he thinks it over... It really fits him. It's Pretentious as Hell. ]
It suits you, I think. Kind of traditional?
[ Akira very well knows, but he decides he should keep it to himself for a little longer. There's a time for everything. ]
They're also tricky creatures, too. You are pretty clever in your own right, however.
[ Mischievous, one that would lure humans for fun. While he can't see Yusuke like that, he does think there's something tricky about him. For... Obvious reasons. ]
What was theirs?
[ There are... so many masks. To be honest, they're a group of weirdos out of context, but he's assuming that maybe the person accompanying Yusuke was Haru? ]
Hmm. I am not so sure. I like to think I am knowledgeable able artwork and art forms though.
[Well, unbeknown to him he was a Phantom Thief so there must've been something tricky there.]
It was a simple mask. [He's thinking back to it...] Almost like a masquerade mask - one that predominantly covers just the eyes as opposed to the whole face? White with an angular black design around the eyes.
[Simple, yet elegant. Now he thought about it, it had been a nice mask.]
[ It takes him a moment because the memory just hit him like a truck. In front of him is Yusuke in that outfit... Sketchbook out, immersed in the strange, distorted underground subway. The tracks are rusty, the walls are blood red, and it's all unsettling. Despite that, they came there...
Because Yusuke has an artist block? He wanted to capture man's deepest, darkest thoughts and desires? Akira is quiet as the whole memory plays from the beginning to the end, hand still limply dangling instead of reaching out to hope that Yusuke will humor him with a handhold. ]
How interesting. Maybe you should sketch your memories out just for fun. [ In a way, Akira wishes he could do that? He's not sure why, but he's smiling. ] Oh yeah, I actually have some memories of you.
[I mean. When you go silent all of a sudden and lie there with your hand just flopped down it could cause a man to worry. Which is why Akira'll probably find Yusuke poking at his hand - trying to see if Akira has passed out or is just in his own little world.
Once he speaks up, however, Yusuke flops back into his mattress again.]
... Maybe. Sketching a memory would be a truly timeless way to honour it. But perhaps it would become tainted with those things that creep on us without realising - nostalgia, or bitterness, for example.
[ The poke prompts a quick swat!! But of course he misses Yusuke's hand. He's here. Don't worry. He peeks over the ledge again to look at Yusuke.
Yes, it's time: ]
Yeah... Apparently you didn't want to room at the dorms, so we had to figure out where you were going to live. Actually, you assumed that you would be staying with Ann? You even spent most of your money on buying a housewarming gift for the occasion, but she turned you down. [ Snrrrk. ] You stayed at my place for a bit, but decided you're going to expand your horizons and try out dormitories.
[ That's a normal one— ]
Then there's this other memory... We were doing this weird pose in a church while saying our farewells. [ Squinting. ] I think we were mimicking the pose of Christ on the cross?
[ That gets a thoughtful look from Akira, to be honest. Why were they posing like that?? ]
Akira just gets a blank look, and then... well. Yusuke almost does the same thing Akira just did. The memory just... almost swoops in out of nowhere and hits him like a punch he never saw coming. Like he's stood watching snippets of a life both his and not his. He can see a sparse and simple room in an attic - dust filtering through air and sunlight, and faces both familiar and not familiar stood with him. He can smell coffee, but isn't sure why, and feel something lost and confused begin to settle within him as he makes a decision to at least try something he'd been so unwilling to even consider only a day before.
Gratitude, and loss and belonging all in one and he can't pick apart the pieces to completely make sense of them on their own.
And then Akira keeps talking and he can remember summer heat, and the high, airy ceilings of a church. Determination and discussions of desire, and anguish and how to spark both or either in a way that he could transfer onto paper. And as the wave of the memory eases, and fades, he finds himself clearing his throat. ]
A-Anguish. [ wow. ] I wanted inspiration to portray anguish.
[ Akira can't see Yusuke's expression that well in the darkness, but he's imagining fox friend is only contemplating. The man has always been meticulous, so it isn't uncommon to find him pensive as he articulates everything in his thoughts first.
He doesn't even consider that Yusuke may have remembered anything from their past. ]
Is that what the picture of Christ on the cross portrays? I didn't know you tried to do the same thing in Recolle—or something similar.
9/18 ACTION IN THEIR ROOM AT NIGHT
Yusuke.
[ He's peeking from the top bunker!! Looking over to his friends little desk area on the side while holding his cat close to him. Morrigan meows before BATTING AKIRA'S FACE (which prompts him to sneeze) because it's bedtime, fool. Grumbling comes afterward. Grumbling ensues. ]
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But sure enough, after a couple of moments there's some rustling and Yusuke's face appears, leaning out a little awkwardly from his lower bunk level. He looks maybe a little dazed and sleepy, so if you want to feel bad for disturbing him as he was dozing off, then please do.]
Akira.
[Off to an excellent start, please continue.]
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Akira will just hang out over by the ledge so he can see Yusuke. Hmm. ]
I didn't get to tell you this yesterday, but I got a boyfriend... His name is Goro Akechi and I hope you two can get along. Maybe you know him already?
[ FRIENDSHIP would be a bonus, but baby steps. Despite how he knows about. Well. A lot of issues that might arise in the future.
That isn't the only thing he wants to talk about (he kind of wants to talk about random stuff), but it's a start? ]
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Yusuke shifts himself so he's not got his head just hanging out over the edge of the bed with no neck support - it'd be awkward if he got a headrush and fell out of bed or something.]
Akechi...?
[... Hmm.
Oh. Oh yes, he remembers]
Yes, I've met him before. [Do... do you tell a guy that you met his new boyfriend when he was nude modelling for an art class? Or does that make things awkward?] Congratulations? I wasn't aware the two of you knew each other.
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[ Scratching his cheek, he looks kind of confused as to how that seems to happen. Yusuke might not always come, but it's enough times. Same with Goro. He guesses it doesn't matter. While he rests his head on an arm, he dangles the other over the ledge just hanging over his friend's bed. ]
How do you guys know each other?
[ JUST TELL HIM THE TRUTH. ]
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[It is an odd coincidence though.]
"Became acquainted" might be the better term. I really don't know him well. But he was the model for a life-drawing class I attended a little while back. [He looks thoughtful for a moment, before nodding to himself.] He was an interesting artistic subject - more so than others who we had to draw.
[Oh.]
Ah, and one of my messages via Retrospec misfired to him this afternoon actually. How strange.
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Life-drawing class...
[ He might not be an art student, but he knows what that usually entails. With the cafe being a great shotspot for university kids and others alike, they tend to voice out their grievances. One includes being asked if they want full frontal from an elderly man for an art class.
Humming thoughtfully, he tacks that onto the list of things he can harass and embarrass Goro over. ]
Thanks, Yusuke. [ FOR THE DIRT. ] I wonder if this is fate or just all a big coincidence.
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You're welcome? [For providing plenty of trolling material for your poor boyfriend, not that he knows that.]
... A good question. Some coincidences feel almost too well planned to be just that.
[But what could cause them otherwise? Yusuke doesn't hold stock in higher powers pulling their strings, but he does admit some things end up going just too perfectly or imperfectly. He can see why people believe there's something guiding the whims of fate.]
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[ It's not hard to laugh about dicks, sorry. Akira isn't too sure if he truly believes in threads of fate, but from his memories... There were so many things out of his control—yet his other self... No, the person he used to be was still determined and fighting against it. Moving a bit closer to the edge, he looks down at Yusuke with an inquisitive and searching gaze. ]
Have you received any memories yet, Yusuke?
[ He's curious!! And kind of wants to see if it'll let him remember anything about fox friend. ]
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Yusuke's head cranes back a little more to keep Akira fully in view, and ends up having to shift his shoulders around again.]
... [Memories. Yes, he'd heard about them and... experienced them now, he supposes. Or, one at least.]
I've had one. [I see how it is. Using him for memories.] I was drawing in some strange dark place - it looked a little like a supernatural underground station? Whatever I was drawing, I was incredibly focused on it. Luckily there was somebody with me, keeping an eye on me. Perhaps it was somewhere better visited in a group...
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Hm. [ It doesn't sound unlike Yusuke at all! ] That's fairly normal, if I think about it? Aside from the supernatural underground station.
[ Now squinting. ]
You did just stop and sketch out monsters in August, after all. I wouldn't put it past you.
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True, but... [He frowns, just a little.] I drew those monsters because I wanted to be able to remember them, in case I assumed I had experienced a strange fever dream.
This was more... abstract? Like I was seeking a concept, rather than committing something to paper for the sake of memory. My art was not focused on a single being and more on the ambience of the place itself.
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Forever in Yusuke's memory, Monster #12.
[ Into an NPC like every other Recolle Citizen. Akira is quiet over it, thinking about Elliot who recently lost his brother to this phenomenon. Is it better to be blind to the truth?
Akira has heard some strange things from people, but this may be one of the tamest only because it's from Yusuke. Anything weird Yusuke says, he would probably find normal. ]
Basically conceptualizing scenery... Of a supernatural area. I wish I could see what you were working on. [ ... ] Were you wearing a strange outfit, too?
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I was more concerned I would think the entire event was a dream.
[And he did... until Yukiko reminded him. So his plan obviously worked with no hitches at all.]
... [Come to think of it.] Yes, actually. [What did it look like...?] I had a mask on. Like a fox mask, I think? Styled like a kitsune mask.
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It suits you, I think. Kind of traditional?
[ Akira very well knows, but he decides he should keep it to himself for a little longer. There's a time for everything. ]
That's really cool, though.
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And probably a little sleepy, yeah.]Perhaps. Kitsune masks are quite beautiful. If I was associated with one at some point, then that is an association I quite like.
[Keeping secrets from your team, huh?]
Mm. I wonder if masks are a theme. The other person with me had one as well.
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[ Mischievous, one that would lure humans for fun. While he can't see Yusuke like that, he does think there's something tricky about him. For... Obvious reasons. ]
What was theirs?
[ There are... so many masks. To be honest, they're a group of weirdos out of context, but he's assuming that maybe the person accompanying Yusuke was Haru? ]
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[Well, unbeknown to him he was a Phantom Thief so there must've been something tricky there.]
It was a simple mask. [He's thinking back to it...] Almost like a masquerade mask - one that predominantly covers just the eyes as opposed to the whole face? White with an angular black design around the eyes.
[Simple, yet elegant. Now he thought about it, it had been a nice mask.]
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Because Yusuke has an artist block? He wanted to capture man's deepest, darkest thoughts and desires? Akira is quiet as the whole memory plays from the beginning to the end, hand still limply dangling instead of reaching out to hope that Yusuke will humor him with a handhold. ]
How interesting. Maybe you should sketch your memories out just for fun. [ In a way, Akira wishes he could do that? He's not sure why, but he's smiling. ] Oh yeah, I actually have some memories of you.
[ Are you ready for some tame ones? ]
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Once he speaks up, however, Yusuke flops back into his mattress again.]
... Maybe. Sketching a memory would be a truly timeless way to honour it. But perhaps it would become tainted with those things that creep on us without realising - nostalgia, or bitterness, for example.
[Oh?]
You do?
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Yes, it's time: ]
Yeah... Apparently you didn't want to room at the dorms, so we had to figure out where you were going to live. Actually, you assumed that you would be staying with Ann? You even spent most of your money on buying a housewarming gift for the occasion, but she turned you down. [ Snrrrk. ] You stayed at my place for a bit, but decided you're going to expand your horizons and try out dormitories.
[ That's a normal one— ]
Then there's this other memory... We were doing this weird pose in a church while saying our farewells. [ Squinting. ] I think we were mimicking the pose of Christ on the cross?
[ That gets a thoughtful look from Akira, to be honest. Why were they posing like that?? ]
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Akira just gets a blank look, and then... well. Yusuke almost does the same thing Akira just did. The memory just... almost swoops in out of nowhere and hits him like a punch he never saw coming. Like he's stood watching snippets of a life both his and not his. He can see a sparse and simple room in an attic - dust filtering through air and sunlight, and faces both familiar and not familiar stood with him. He can smell coffee, but isn't sure why, and feel something lost and confused begin to settle within him as he makes a decision to at least try something he'd been so unwilling to even consider only a day before.
Gratitude, and loss and belonging all in one and he can't pick apart the pieces to completely make sense of them on their own.
And then Akira keeps talking and he can remember summer heat, and the high, airy ceilings of a church. Determination and discussions of desire, and anguish and how to spark both or either in a way that he could transfer onto paper. And as the wave of the memory eases, and fades, he finds himself clearing his throat. ]
A-Anguish. [ wow. ] I wanted inspiration to portray anguish.
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He doesn't even consider that Yusuke may have remembered anything from their past. ]
Is that what the picture of Christ on the cross portrays? I didn't know you tried to do the same thing in Recolle—or something similar.
[ How uncanny. ]
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[He rubs a hand over his face, like he's scraping the last few remnants of the memory away.]
Back there, wherever or whenever that was. I've never tried to recreate anguish through religious metaphors here.
[HE REMEMBERED, AKIRA....]
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OH. Oh. Oh. ]
I... knew what you meant.
[ Clears his throat. ]
It was a strange memory, right? It seemed like you were suffering from artist's block.
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