tabularasa_rp | (open) where have you been? been searching all along 𝅘𝅥𝅮

We hacked the TV station as a Calling Card.

(He snorts a little - he remembers how Futaba was excited about the prospectives and just how amused she was at being much better than the police, fighting with much ease at all attempts to take their video down.

The fact that his compliment was met with a 'so I've heard' doesn't quite surprise him. Akechi is, after all, a celebrity. Of course he heard people bringing up his good looks often.)

Oh?

[Now that is interesting. Akechi wraps his towel around his waist and heads toward the showers, snagging his products as he goes.]

Are you certain that showing your face was a wise move? While crimes in the Metaverse cannot be proven easily, hijacking a television broadcast is a very tangible crime.

[Still, it is satisfying, knowing that the Thieves' Calling Card was done in such a grandiose fashion. Imagining Shido and the men around them panicking at the prospect... oh, how he wishes he could have seen that, and it's that feeling that feeds his satisfied smirk.]

Metaverse silhouettes. All they saw at most were my eyes behind the mask.

(Because having gray eyes is just super common, but sure. Fine.

He wishes Akechi had seen it. It was glorious, powerful to challenge the most relevant, rotten politician to the entire country to see. The memory brings that smug smirk to his lips, but it was soon washed away by Akechi's reappearance.

Eh-... Ren blinks a few times. It's not the first time they've bathed together, but he surely does not remember noticing the definition in the muscles or the overall good-lookingness the other holds.

Time to avert gaze and pretend he's much busy doing anything else! This shampoo bottle is surely interesting, isn't it? Wonder what the product smells like.)

Edited 2020-08-23 03:32 (UTC)

How very dramatic. "The Show's Over," is it?

[He can't help but snort a laugh at that, shaking his head as he moves into the shower and sets his towel aside to turn the water on. Shido would rage, as is his wont when things don't go according to his plan. His researchers would panic, the other politicians connected to him would panic... oh, what a sight. What chaos. Loki practically purrs in his blood.]

It isn't what I would have done, but it sounds like quite the spectacle, Joker.

[He tosses the codename almost playfully as he works the shampoo into a lather in his hair, raising his voice to be heard over the running water.]

It was epic. He probably had a heart attack.

(He just has to admit it, another snicker leaves his lips alongside it. The battle itself that followed it was equally as thrilling, having taken Shido's Shadow by himself at some point. He had revenge for the both of them.

He smirked at the codename when it reaches his ears, finding a shower and... Proceeding to apply way too much shampoo to his hair. Way too much. It's now a mountain of white on his head.)

I can almost guarantee he smashed several extremely expensive things, and potentially people.

[There's an unbecoming amount of pleasure in the thought of other people being abused, but what does he care? Every single person in Shido's inner circle deserved it, from his cohorts to his secretaries. Fuck that man, and everyone associated with him.

He glances sideways to see if Ren's smirk matches his own, and almost immediately scowls.]

You've never washed your hair properly in your life, have you? Your hair isn't that long, you look absurd.

Edited 2020-08-23 04:01 (UTC)

I smashed him one-on-one at some point, so I guess we win three times.

(One for making him this nervous, two for getting them personal revenge, and three for the success of the mission. God, he's beaming at this, the smile even hurting his cheeks.

So much that it doesn't leave when Akechi laughs at him.)

I have a lot of hair.

Edited 2020-08-23 04:43 (UTC)

Fighting his Shadow isn't the same as utterly destroying the real man in the real world, but I'll give you that.

[Akechi's grudge was far older and more personal, after all. And while he'd very much considered fighting his father in his own Palace, he'd determined it too much a risk. Yet another thing to be jealous of Ren for, for achieving that kind of closure.

It doesn't help his scowl as he shakes his head.]

Not that much. You're wasting it.

(Ren makes that note for the future, if he continues to use the shampoo, that is. It smells nice, at least. The effort that will take to get all the product is epic, but eventually, he manages, combing his hair back with his fingers and out of his face just so he can actually see without the curls adjusting the size of his bangs.)

The conditioner, the same?

(He squeezes the bottle, product on the palm of his hand and he shows Akechi for Amount Control.)

[Akechi's already moved onto the conditioner stage by the time Ren's done getting the absurd amount of shampoo out of his hair, his head leaned forward a little to keep it out of the water as he lets the conditioner (he hopes) sink into the hair itself. He glances toward Ren at the question, and there's a moment where he could swear his heart skips a beat at the sight of his bare forehead.

It shouldn't matter that much. It's just the top of his face. But it's all too easy to imagine the silencer of a stolen pistol pressed against that criminally smooth skin.

His eyes flick down quickly to the offered hand, and he nods.]

Yes, that should do. It's better to overdo it on conditioner than shampoo, as the conditioner needs time to set into the hair.

[Don't mind him just washing himself as he lets the conditioner soak, very intently not thinking about the way Ren looks with his hair slicked back.

I wonder how my hair will look like.

(Visually? Not very different. Texture? Unfairly smooth. Goddamn it, Protagonists.

While Akechi has that existential crisis that Ren is not aware of, he happily slams the conditioner on the hair, combing the locks and when he releases them, they make their little curls and twirls at the tips. Should look nice, he thinks... Maybe the other is right. While the conditioner sets, he proceeds to wash himself, eyes falling to where his previous injury was - seemed to be healing well.

Conditioner... Is a pain... He feels his hair slippery for way too long in attempts to remove it.)

I commend your patience.

(With a huff.)

Who knows?

[Perhaps Akechi's unlocked a whole new hairstyle for him... just kidding. He'll look the same, but hopefully it'll help ward off split ends.

Ren just gets a bit of an odd look and a shake of his head.]

It's just part of a normal routine, though I have to wonder if it means anything, here. Considering we only started to require food recently... have you noticed your hair even growing at all?

Edited 2020-08-23 05:15 (UTC)

The curls make it difficult to tell.

(But Akechi's straight locks seem to be the same length he has always had. Ren is done with the showering, and he finally stands up to move to the... Bath... With the fish.

But a bath nonetheless. Stripping of the towel, in he goes. The temperature was nice, so he just tries to shoo the fish first and now he can sit.)

[Akechi is a little longer in the shower, because of course he is, but he does watch Ren leave. He really does seem so remarkably carefree, even in a situation such as this. It's too easy to think about the time they spent together before all hell broke loose, when they went to the bathhouse together on Sojiro's recommendation and Akechi spilled his sad excuse for a backstory while they soaked.

He closes his eyes and exhales through his nose as he finally washes the conditioner out. Well. At least he's already done that once and won't have to suffer through it again.

Finally satisfied, he enters the bath after Ren, neatly folding his towel as he gets in across from him. In spite of himself, he can feel his muscles relaxing in the warm water, memories of his childhood mingling with the pleasant time he'd spent with Ren in the past.

Then a fish brushes against his calf, and he yelps, reflexively kicking at it.]

Gah, these fucking fish!

(By the time Akechi joins, Ren was already soaking in the calmness, almost immune to the fish moving up and down and sometimes booping his ribs. He might even take a very quick shower again before leaving... It almost makes him feel like a person after months of not feeling like one! Sleep would definitely be the next big thing for him to feel less emotionally exhausted, but it would be a lie to say this isn't helping.

Akechi's reflexes break him from the trance, though! He jumps a little, eyes snapping open.)

Did they bite you?!

Of course not.

[He's very still for a moment, then lunges into the water where he thought he saw a shadow. Unfortunately, he doesn't catch a fish with his bare hands, and he hisses another curse through his teeth.]

Perhaps later we should remove them to the river? Or cook them and eat them for their intrusion.

Things don't die. I am not eating something alive.

(Also, what's this 'we' should cook it... Are you lending a hand...

Ren shakes his head, trying not to let his laugh show.)

You're too tense. Relax.

(A tentatively hand on his shoulder. Either Akechi hisses or he allows it and they never speak about it again.)

[He is willing to sit and watch you cook, Ren! If they're alive, all the better.

His eyes widen, but he manages not to flinch when Ren's hand touches his shoulder. But unlike Ren's request, if anything, he simply tenses further. How could he not, when it's an abrupt reminder that they are naked together? He glowers at Ren's hand, but behind the reflexive distaste at being unexpectedly touched, there's panic that kicks his heart into overdrive. It's affection that he so desperately craves, and yet can't allow himself. Can't allow Ren this close.

He scoffs and dips his shoulder to dislodge his grip, moving a few feet away.]

If anything, you aren't tense enough. If you get bitten, don't come crying to me.

(He respects the cue to retreat, so he does, the arm moving to rest on the edge of the bath, fingers gently playing with the water.

The realization that they ARE INDEED in a bath hit him when Akechi basically swims away. He goes back to eyes closed and head tilted back, he's refusing to watch Akechi and have a repeat of his struck face.)

These ones don't have killer fins.

(Should be fine.)

That we've seen.

[Has anyone been feeding the koi in the bath? Well, if they leave them be for long enough, presumably they'll eat themselves and-- well. They won't die. His lip curls in distaste at what that might do to the bath, even as he leans against his own side of the bath, arms outstretched to either side. Normally he'd be much more polite about being in a bath, staying drawn in to himself, but it's not like there's anyone else here to complain about taking up space.]

I think we should remove them as soon as possible, though. If things get hungry but can't die, well. It will become a quite literal bloodbath.

[He gestures. Imagine the water! How disgusting. Definitely a better thing to think about than his rival, naked, across from him.]

I'll see if I can make a net.

(Shouldn't be too hard with all the things laying aorund at the beach. Keeping his hands occupied have been one of the best things he had going on in the void, be it arranging flowers, making coffee or curry, or even making tools for when it's needed.

He agrees though that the bathhouse should be taken care of, though. It might be challenging to transport them, assuming no more will just appear.)

We should wash our clothes as well.

Good.

[If no one else will take care of it, perhaps they (Ren) should. It's a pleasant place to spend time, if nothing else.

He opens one eye when Ren mentions about their clothes, though, almost thoughtfully. It's not a bad idea; though the washing machines don't work, they could certainly use water from the showers and make a fire to dry them, and he's fairly certain he'd seen detergent by the machines themselves.]

That isn't a bad idea at all.

[-And without waiting, he pushes himself out of the bath entirely, grabbing his towel to wrap around himself. He doesn't have a second set of clothes, after all, so it only makes sense to start washing them now and soak while they dry by a fire.]

(Ren is so whipped and we all know it... (:

He wasn't expecting the commotion, so he opens one eye - did a fish bite him or touch him again? ... And then he sees a very naked Akechi?? They have been like this for a while now, but it's different when suddenly he just ups and leaves...??? And Ren had no time to think of anything else to gaze?? Him being the first thing in his view point???

Good thing Akechi is leaving and can't see the blush. Begone.)

[Luckily for Ren, Akechi isn't looking at him. He's busy scrounging around for a bucket and the aforementioned detergent so he can start washing his clothes.

...Oh, and rocks. With a frown of distaste, he looks over his clothes, sighs, and pulls his loafers back on to venture outside and grab two rocks, hurrying back inside before anyone can see him in his towel. It's just highly inappropriate!]

I'll get the fire going to dry them, [he calls from the adjacent room, finally providing an explanation as to what he's doing.]

(Riding out the heart attack, Ren just watches with a tilted head and the biggest frown known to mankind. Where... What?

Sorry, he tuned out and only returned to Earth when Akechi spoke again. He blinks, kind of trying to pull himself back and now it's his turn to leave, careful steps out as he gathers his clothes. Having two outfits is a priviledge, but also, twice the work.)

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