idealism | Fuda # 1 | [video/action] AU

Fuda # 1 | [video/action] AU

[Unaware that his communicator is on, Tsuzuki talks to himself. He's bored and sleepy enough not to mind. On top of his night terrors, the work at the clinic is tiring. Tsuzuki's ever so grateful he's not a surgeon, because being a nurse is exhausting enough.]

Heads, I finish the regular work without a nap. Tails, I borrow the nearest bed for an hour.

.... [He flips the coin and catches it.]

Damn.

[Humming quietly, he does the bed and fluffs the pillow. The communicator was lying on the comforter, so Tsuzuki picks it up.]

Hey, Kazutaka? Could you prescribe me some sleeping pills? I've had a lot of nightmares, and they keep me up.

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[It's another sleepless night in his dark apartment. He sits on the couch with his journal open and a bottle of red wine that he was mostly neglecting on the table. It was a fair substitute for cigarettes, which he didn't smoke around his family. He needs a distraction.

Muraki sees Tsuzuki's face and hesitates for a moment, remembering his own (unsettling) dreams. But his judgment caves and he picks up his journal again.]

Where are you?

Edited 2011-04-30 09:29 (UTC)

[He shifts his communicator a bit, and once his face shows up on the video again, Tsuzuki is smiling.]

I'm at the clinic. It got too quiet at home.

[Besides, he doesn't want to wake anyone.]

[He takes another brief moment of pause, eyes flicking off the pages of his journal to the hallway leading to his bedroom, almost like he's having second thoughts about going to sleep. Or considering the people who are sound asleep.]

...I'll be there in no less than twenty minutes. Can you manage until then?

[Twenty minutes means that he has time enough to see if Muraki's keeping any chocolates in his office.]

Yes. But you don't have to get out of bed for my sake.

[He sees that look, after all. Tsuzuki is very conscious of Muraki's obligation to his family. Just because he's single and kind of lonely doesn't mean that Muraki is.]

[But he already committed to the idea. Even if he was previously capable of going back to bed within the next hour or so, he couldn't abandon his friend. Saying no to Tsuzuki had always been next to impossible for him. Still he manages a slight chuckle.]

That would only be an issue if I was in bed. I'll see you shortly.

[And then he closes his journal and gets up to grab his coat.]

Edited 2011-05-02 06:16 (UTC)

[He closes his own journal, relieved. When all is said and done, he doesn't want to be alone with his thoughts tonight. Tsuzuki feels guilty about being needy, although he knows it's irrational. What he did in his dreams never happened, but it was violent enough to disturb him.]

[He shakes his head, walking the short way to Muraki's office. Chocolates would be good right now.]

[On any other day, Muraki may have been able to keep his word. He descends upon the street and starts his migration towards the clinic, just the same as he did every day, though it was dark and as still as a funeral home. The fact that nobody else was outside made the slithering shape in the shadows even more evident, and he stops in front of the bridge as it emerges.

After the initial burst in his nerves, he settles into awareness. He already heard about the beasts through the grape vine--more than that, something inside him was almost...accustomed to the sight of monsters. Even when it came close to him, its eyes flashing like empty blue disks in the dark, Muraki stares back. He squares his shoulders and doesn’t blink—not caring that from the outside, it might seem like he was challenging the beast.

Maybe he was, unconsciously, testing the limits of his arrogance.

But nothing happens. The beast just bristles (or seems to despite its hairlessness) and snarls before turning and loping off the road. So it takes him almost a half hour to reach the clinic. By then he realizes that he never designated a meeting point with Tsuzuki, so he heads to his office to put his coat down.

If you check the top left drawer of his desk, beneath his copy of the Physician’s Desk Reference, you might find the box of chocolates he set aside.]

Edited 2011-05-06 07:01 (UTC)

[Bloodhounds can track people over long distances. Tsuzuki would say that he'd find chocolates in much the same way. How hard could it be, after all?]

[But even so, once he comes to the office, the first place he looks is the medicine cabinet. No luck. Looking around, he ends up sitting down in Muraki's chair, because it's so wonderfully comfy and besides, it spins! Tsuzuki checks the drawers more out of boredom than anything else, and that's where he finds the hidden treats.]

[It's too bad Muraki isn't there to see it, because he light up at the sight.]

I knew it!

[There was a small note on the box, but he doesn't read it before he puts a chocolate in his mouth. It might be fun to read it later, or save it for his friend: for all he knows, it's a note to his wife.]

[And there Tsuzuki was, as if by some form of convenient magic, sitting in his office chair. He couldn't stand the cliché of saying his heart skipped a beat: it seemed to turn inwards trying to decide how he felt seeing Tsuzuki in person that evening. And it was far more annoying to stand in the face of his own weakness than it was to stew in his dreams.

But Muraki was a good liar. He had years to perfect it.

He stands in the doorway with his coat draped in the crook of his arm and just watches him for a moment because he could, leaning slightly against the frame.] I see you found what you were looking for.

[AUGH HIDE THE CHOCOLATES too late. Tsuzuki coughs, hoping that a stray piece didn't end up in one of his lungs, thanks to the surprised inhale.

Talk about feeling like being caught with the hand in the proverbial cookie jar. He laughs nervously, getting up from the chair.]

You nearly gave me a heart attack.

[Once the brief chuckle dies, Tsuzuki begins to look guilty. His latest dream involved finding Muraki dead on a bed of roses, after spending a lot of time frantically knocking on his door, trying to get in. It had shaken him up badly, but he had thought he had done well not to react to it by crying.]

Sorry about sitting there.

[Muraki feels a chuckle swell in his throat like a small bubble as he watches him react like a child caught in the act of trying to find their birthday presents too early. But there's no chance of that amusement reaching his features when Tsuzuki swears his heart almost stopped. And his mind chimes in tastelessly with, "That would be a feat. You're already dead."

He blinks, stamps this thought into the ground and narrows his focus on reality.]

My apologies. Next time I will knock before entering my office. [There is a shard of warmth embedded in his voice before he enters the room. In order to drape his coat over his chair, he has to pass Tsuzuki. Conflicting dreams or no, he doesn't avoid him--it's not his nature to shrink--so he grazes against him with the blade of his hip. Their hands may have even brushed.]

It's not important--or anything to apologize over. [Setting his coat aside, he turns and notes the opened box of chocolates on the table.] ...Were they to your liking?

[It occurs to him why he's so bothered by the dream. He already felt shut out of his life after Muraki got a family. Maybe it was just a very symbolic nightmare about loss of a dear friend despite trying to be in his life.]

Yes, they were really good. Thank you, Kazutaka.

[The proximity doesn't bother him. Why should it? Nevertheless, he takes a polite step backwards once their hands comes in contact.]

I hope they weren't for Nill. -- I can get you a replacement box.

Of course.

[He keeps his gaze vaguely locked on the box of chocolates for a few moments, as though he never saw it before and was trying to gather how it ended up inside his desk. He smiles a bit and turns his face.]

There's no need for that--you can have the rest even if you'd like. [Since he only started leaving chocolates in his desk when he discovered that Tsuzuki had a tendency to snoop through his things--you should've read the card, dude.] ...Though I should warn you that chocolates contain a small amount of caffeine, and might be counter-productive if you're trying to sleep.

They do?

[He stares at the sweet he's holding, wondering how something so beloved could betray him so badly. At least it's just caffeine, not something worse.]

....I still want them, though. If you were serious about letting me have them.

[The note is still in his pocket. Tsuzuki only now remembers that it's there. Eyes widening, he pulls it out to look at it.]

[He smiles as he drapes his folded jacket over the back of his chair.] Why would I tease you with such a thing? [Considering the size of Tsuzuki's sweet tooth, that might be a little something like showing a baby candy, giving it to them for a couple seconds and then taking it away again.

It would be easier to just tell him who the chocolates were for and end the discussion, but Muraki decides to let Tsuzuki figure that out for himself as he starts to walk out of the office, expecting him to follow him.]

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Fuda # 1 | [video/action] AU

[Voice] /Kicks self for how late this tag is 8(

[Voice] /it's not that late :*

[Voice] /Sad Tsuzuki should not have to wait. : X

[Voice] /he needs to learn to be patient. <3

[Voice] /Muraki doesn't like to keep his beloved waiting. 8 | /shot

[Voice->action!] /hahaha. XD oh, Muraki.

[Action] That's my story and I'm sticking to it. XD

Action] pfff. XD Also, sorry I've been scarce.

[Action] That's perfectly all right. <3 I still need to make our hospital post @.@

[Action] <33 and I need to make our log post. ..Damn, I see I failed to close a tag in last comment

[Action] <3333333 I can't wait to see that log. X3

[Action] I'm writing it right now!

[Action] \O/

[Action] \O/

[Action]