[open] because i can only be me

[simulatio]

Who: Goro Akechi and YOU
What: catch-all for august
Where: heavenly blanc, wall market; others tbd
When: yes
Content Warnings: threads with p5r spoilers will be tagged as such! please toss a comment on my spoiler opt-out post if you'd like me to avoid mentioning any p5/p5r spoilers in tags with your character.

Comments

[simulatio]

[No, Blue! No!]

It seems as thought you have quite a lot of faith in him. You must be very close.

[It sounds like how the other Phantom Thieves talk about Ren, after all; even if Akechi doesn't worship the very ground Ren walks on, he can see where their seemingly boundless faith comes from.

At the observation that it could be a game, Akechi frowns, looking over the pattern and shaking the red paint off his hand.]

Well, go right ahead, then.

[He's too old for childish games!]

[halloflamer]

Pssht, I don't have a choice! [Blue sighs dramatically, hands on his hips.] Even if I didn't, he would do it anyway...... Once thing I learned when we were kids is that it don't matter how impossible or dangerous something is, Red's gonna do it.

Reckless bastard. But, it always seems to work out, when it's him, so there's no point worrying. [Incredibly lucky, or just incredibly talented? Maybe it was a bit of both, but Blue had come to learn that his panicking over Red was usually a waste of energy- because he wouldn't be able to budge him, anyway.]

[Blue motions towards the Smoogles, like he's trying to communicate with them about their game, pointing to the different lines.] Will you show me? [Eevee hops down too, and makes a leap from circle to painted square, demonstrating until the Smoogles understand, and begin a strange little hopping and skipping dance around them.]

[Motioning to Akechi, he grins brightly.] Come on, they want us to play, too. You never hopscotched? Or 'the floor is lava'?

[simulatio]

No, thank you, [he says more firmly, continuing to wipe the remains of paint off his hand onto the wall. He's bristling, just a little, because like, look at how uptight he is. He isn't going to play hopscotch. He's not a child.]

Red sounds an awful lot like Ren, [he says, in an attempt to return to the other conversation and leave Blue to playing with the animals.] I suppose it's no wonder the two of you get along so well.

[halloflamer]

You’re gonna hurt their feelings... [Blue says in a warning tone, as if something bad was going to happen if he didn’t...? (That bad thing is that the Smoogles will be sad.)]

[He shrugs, ultimately, starting to give little leaps from circle to spot.]

Hah? Is that so... Sounds like a pain, [He laughs, shooting Akechi a playful, completely innocent grin.] What’s wrong? Don’t make a face like that- I’m not gonna steal your boyfriend.

[simulatio]

[Maybe with the darkness, Blue can be forgiven for not seeing Akechi's eyeroll and disdainful glare at the thought that oh no, he might hurt their feelings. They're nice enough, and it's easy to be nice to them, but he draws the line at acting like a complete child.

And then immediately acts like a child with a reflexive,] He's not my boyfriend. We're-

[Partners? Friends? None of those seem right, and he clicks his tongue with annoyance. Ren always called them rivals, but that sounds equally as childish.]

Working together out of convenience.

[halloflamer]

Pfft-- hahaha, okay.

[Blue patronizingly grins, hopping to another of the Smeargle patterns and miming with them in order to figure out their game, attention half split between them and casually teasing Akechi.]

[Kids in denial of their crushes was so endearing!! ...Blue thinks, as if he isn't literally that kid. He also 100% doesn't believe they aren't actively into each other, but hey.] 'Working together', is that what the kids call it these days...?

Okay. Working on what?

[He asks, apparently honestly believing Akechi will actually give him some kind of real answer. Bless him.]

[simulatio]

[Oh, it is so hard to act the pleasant boy around Blue. He has a special talent for getting under his skin. He's not unlike Ryuji in that respect, so perhaps it's no wonder that Ren seems to like him so much.

What an irritating person.]

Figuring out how, exactly, we're going to return home. We have unfinished business there, and before you ask, no, it's not any of your concern.

[He waves a hand and scowls, even as one of the paint creatures runs up to him and tries to reach for his hand, wanting to tug him to join their game. He bites back a sigh and instead crouches down to pet it, face formed into an apologetic mask.]

[halloflamer]

[Although it's perhaps a little hard to tell when and if Blue is doing it on purpose.... At least, he doesn't seem to be forward about being antagonistic, so if Akechi would like to believe he's as foolish as he seems, it's unlikely he'd be able to hide it so well, right?]

[...Judging from some of the events at the party (with one Seto Kaiba), perhaps he isn't the type to bother hiding it when he's feeling antagonistic, anyway.]

Hmmm... Do think there's anything we can actually do to get home? This place seems so lifeless, [Blue comments, watching the Smeargle tag after Akechi with an adoring grin. Don't make them sad.] I mean, aside from the Pokémon here. What I mean is.... if it is a Legendary Pokémon that's behind all this, I feel like they woulda shown up by now. But it doesn't feel like anything that happens here is on purpose, you know?

Um, kinda like... It's just random.

[simulatio]

[For now, Akechi just pets the one who's run up to him, a surprisingly gentle hand with how annoyed his voice sounds. At least he doesn't seem like the type to take out his frustrations on the things around him; at least, not where anyone can see.]

It's possible the god, overseer, whomever controlling this place is a particularly stupid or careless one, [he agrees, rubbing one of the creature's ears between his thumb and forefinger. If it could purr, it certainly seems like it would.]

No matter how small the chance, I will not rest until I've determined a way for us to leave this cursed place. [And then his lips quirk up in a wry smile.] Not that "rest" is something afforded to us, in any case.

[halloflamer]

[Blue is pleased to see how fond Akechi seems to be with the Smeargle...... He's a good actor, if nothing else! Oh well, if he won't play with them, this is good enough!]

Haha, careless maybe, I dunno if I ever heard about a stupid legendary...

[Watching Akechi with the Smeargle, Blue continues to play with the other ones, following their lead as they walk him through their painted little 'obstacle course'.]

[No matter how small the chance, huh...? Blue couldn't be bothered with stuff like this. If there weren't even any hints as to what was going on, he was content to simply coast along, staying safe and keeping his spirits up as best he could.]

[Stuff like that... That was for maniacs, like Red. Like Ren.]

Haha... The both of you are just regular super heroes, aren't you?

........Well, heroes with knives, or whatever, I guess. [Blue dryly laughs, somewhere between a teasing grin and a grimace.]