thirteenth dazzle | July 29, after dark | video

[tauborn]

[Takuto doesn't look sad for this appearance on the network, but he doesn't look characteristically happy, either. He just looks... tired. Maybe it's just that the only light is the glow from the communicator's screen itself, but he looks far more tired than a seventeen year old boy obsessed with singing out his youth and being a source of metaphorical radiance has a right to look.

He sighs, turning the video feed away from himself, into what appears to be total blackness.]

...Some of them are missing. [The darkness of the image focuses in and out of a blurry gray before slowly resolving into tiny pinpricks of light. Stars. There's the sound of a heavy sigh once again.]

I know it's not a thing that's particular to this city or this world or the situation we're all in. People can leave for reasons much worse than a magical device's whim. But all this leaving is exhausting me. People coming and going and coming and going.

[He pauses, recollecting his thoughts as the images blurs, refocuses. The stars twinkle, distantly, silently.]

I think life is a string of people coming and going no matter who or where you are, but… but here, this… I’m getting tired of it.

BREW sent Yuugi away.


[text | private to Yako]

I'm on my roof and I would like some company.

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[itaidakimasu]

{Yako knows numbness, knows it intimately, knows the feeling of going through the motions, blank-eyed and hollow, like a doll. She will never let it take root in somebody she loves.}

I'll stay with you for as long as I can, Takuto. I promise.

{She presses a kiss to his neck, mostly because she can't move enough to do it anywhere else.}

I've seen...I've seen a lot of death. A lot of suffering. A lot of...loneliness. There is nothing in this world that lasts forever, but that shouldn't rob anyone of happiness. I'm better for meeting you, and knowing you, and loving you; and even when the day comes that one of us does go home, that won't change.

[tauborn]

[He shifts onto his side, finally done with watching the stars. Because he doesn't need to bother with stars when there's another sort of light shining very brightly beside him.]

That won't change.

[He echoes her words with something a little bit more peaceful in his tone and expression, lifting a hand to brush lightly at her cheek.]

You're beautiful, you know that? And radiant.

[itaidakimasu]

Wh—

{She falters and blushes, a bit caught off-guard by the way he shifts gears. Mind, this is definitely a step up from the edge he was wavering over just a moment ago and far from the first time he's gone about singing her praises, but she just isn't certain what triggered it this time.}

I don't know about radiant…but thank you. It's sweet of you to say so.

[tauborn]

[The trigger is that she's able to make him feel better, with just a few words and her presence. He will be alright without Sugata, without Kaworu, and without Yuugi. And he is better for having met them.]

I wouldn't say it if I didn't believe it. [And for him, there is definitely something magical about the way she looks under the starlight. He curls towards her, placing a kiss on her lips.

It's meant to be chaste, sweet, but it really... isn't.]

[itaidakimasu]

{If this were any other relationship, Yako might push her partner away—gently, and just until she was sure he wasn't trying to cover up the real issues. But this is Takuto, and he has been very…tactile…about his feelings from the get-go.

She leans up into him, sliding her fingers into his hair andcradling his head close.}

[tauborn]

[Maybe he's still just delaying the inevitable breakdown, but for now, her presence is gluing the cracks back together and smoothing over the sharp, raw edges.

His lips start to wander from her mouth, to her cheek, her jaw, the soft spot beneath her ear, her throat...]

[itaidakimasu]

W-Wait.

{Her breath hitches, her voice is a little breathy, but despite her very recent musings she knows she just can't let things continue as they are without a quick disclaimer.}

…clothes stay on, okay?

{Her cheeks, already a little pink, manage to color further.}

I-It's…chilly up here.

[tauborn]

[He pulls back just enough to get a glimpse of her flushed expression. And he's actually grinning--because she's cute and this is kind of funny and despite everything, this is normal and it is kind of chilly and he can still think of a million replies that could make the both of them blush even more. He lets one hand slide along the collar of her shirt, fiddling with it idly.]

I can keep you warm, you know.

[And he pulls her close again, whispering into her ear with a breathless laugh.] But the Moon's rising soon and I don't feel like giving him a show.

[itaidakimasu]

Oh shush. That's not what I mean and you know it.

{And then she headbutts him. Well, sort of. It's a bit too gentle to be a proper strike, but just a beat to swift to be a simple, tender way of pressing her forehead to his own.}

And if we ever did that, the Sun would hear about it and would leer at us for days, I hope you realize.

[tauborn]

[He laughs again, wincing just a little at the headbutt.]

I've had enough of this heat wave already to chance it.

[Though the cooler nights were very comfortable. Especially with someone else so close... or with clothes on. But because the Moon hasn't cleared the horizon yet, he can sneak another kiss--this time a quick press of his smiling lips to hers.]

[itaidakimasu]

…better?

{Her eyes, her voice, her whole deameanor is soft and gentle.}

[tauborn]

Yes. [He sighs a little, still smiling at her softly.] For now. I mean, I'm sure I'm still in for some ups and downs, but you've made right now a lot better.