video, un: birdinthehand

[chichichi]

I'm looking for my -- [ "leaf," wait -- no one but her and Lewin has any inkling what the hell that means, so, and smoothly for all that she sounds more than less on the urgent side ] -- Lightning. Iris... really gets away with him.

[ As though that explains everything. She glances at the camera. Her hair is utterly windswept, some of the feathers in it dancing as she walks the streets, her steps brisk, purposeful. Her nose? Red. She's been out for a while now, the black feathers of her collar tugged snug against her neck. Straight to the chase. ]

If you're from Earth, you may recognize him as American. Mm, he's about [ please hold, she's crunching this in her head ] one hundred and seventy-seven centimeters. [ She's certain. ] He's --

[ Here, that's what her hand says as she grinds to a halt and tugs the camera back so her audience can see. She makes an even cut through the air above and beside her, like she knows exactly where, how he fits with her. Like that helps anyone figure out anything other than the fact that she's short if they're attentive to her height against background details. ]

-- this tall, but he's not bulky or too slight. [ And she's stepping again, talking as she turns an ear in listening and scans the area with keen eyes. Holding little things back. ]

You might not be able to tell because he dresses like a hobo. I'm not exaggerating. There's holes and stains in his clothes and he doesn't care about fashion at all. Tee shirts, capris, boots -- you can find him in layers sometimes and his shoes won't be clean. If they are, it's not him.

He has... so much black hair and it's always so messy. [ But it doesn't sound like she minds? ] It's always in front of his eyes, so you can't see them most of the time. [ A glance. Look. ] I cannot emphasize how messy it is. It looks like he hasn't brushed it in a week, maybe ever. [ She's gesturing with her free hand, outlining a shape at her head now. ] Iris gives him these... bat ears. They're huge, about as big as his head put together, and they stick out a bit, like this. They're really furry! [ Who's excited? Fond?? Sobering a little. ] He's usually got this big smile or a grin on his face that'll show off a mouth full of pointy teeth now. His voice is a lot like his expression. It's big, real cheerful with a thick accent, Texan if that means anything to you. That twang is distinct from anything around here. [ She's fond. Oh! ] And he's got stubble. His face is unshaven, but there's no substantial mustache or beard. [ Yet. ]

Has anyone seen him? [ She gives the camera her full attention now, exhales a small cloud of white. Please, if you've seen her idiot hobo... ]

Comments

[sweetsleuth]

[Ah yes, only an ability could figure this out... or maybe, Ranpo's just figured out that Lewin is on the same wavelength as Dazai, which means he's smarter than he pretends to be, and miserably incompetent when it comes to personal relationships. Such a shame these traits so often go hand in hand...]

[Ranpo's expression stays neutral, but in reality, he's carefully observing every little hitch in her throat and unintentional shift, reading her reaction like a book. There's no doubt in his mind that he was right, and she's taking care to conceal her true reaction right now.]

...just "not bad"? And here I thought that'd be worthy of something a little more impressed!

[chichichi]

Don't misunderstand me. I am very impressed. That really is some ability you have, but we both know that isn't the lightest subject material and Lightning-kun is how many handfuls?

[ She needs to stay properly focused or she'll be chasing him down all over again in short order, not that she minds the chase itself. She'd chase her leaf anywhere, any day. She... pauses very briefly with that, casually shoving her heart for her own words, and smiles small and easy. ]

But I'll tell you what. You can pick one [ one (1), she is lifting a finger ] sweet of your choice and I'll make it for you from scratch another day when we're not so pressed by the moons and we can talk more, then. How's that sound?

1/2

[sweetsleuth]

Well-- if you can make me a bowl of zenzai, you've got yourself a deal!

[Just gonna gloss over the fact that he somehow knows she must be from Japan and would know what that is.]

But you're right about him being a handful-- you can go collect him now, if you want? He might've woken up by now.

[sweetsleuth]

...I, uh... cleaned up already, so you don't have to worry about that.

[He can be a little embarrassed that she's basically coming to pick up his booty call after a sex marathon.]

[chichichi]

[ Embarrassed? Cute, even with those ears. She hasn't forgotten his ears, but there's other things she can grasp, focus on. Zenzai, hm? How did he -- well, she'd assume it's her name and Prismatica sees an awful lot of Japanese abductees from what she's been able to gather, but she can't be entirely sure that's it and that makes her want to lean forward and ask, pick his brain a little. There'll be time later, though. Right now, she's got a certain favorite leaf she's been chasing, that she's still somewhat worried about because she's sure he hasn't been eating, that she's... really, really excited to see -- stop that, calm down -- and she's waited too long already if the energy winding in her feet is any indication. ]

I think I can manage a bowl of zenzai.

[ Think? Oh, she knows and it draws a grin. Still, she pauses a second as she's turning to head for the door he'd mentioned earlier and that pause will buy her a second to both be sure she's finished putting herself in order concerning Lewin and -- well, she could let it go, but. ]

That thorough, hm? Ranpo-san is gifted, indeed. How lucky!

[sweetsleuth]

--th-that's doesn't have anything to do with being gifted!

[MORE EMBARRASSED GOD especially when you consider yes, he cleaned up Lightning too, probably while he was half-asleep.]

[But he'll just loiter around the kitchen for a snack while giving them privacy.]

[lightningruins]

[Don't worry, Setsura, Lewin hasn't like, jumped out the window yet. Is he still just.... lying in Ranpo's bed? sprawled there being extremely lazy? yes absolutely he is. He's also on his phone and you bet he's looking at Setsura's post.

She enters, and he looks up with a massive grin.]

You could'a just told me you like my ears that much.

[chichichi]

[ The smile lingering on her face behind her hand due to Ranpo's reaction doesn't drop when she crosses the threshold. That excitement in her step doesn't either, but then her searching eyes find him sprawled lazy in Ranpo's bed and he looks up at her with that grin and it's like an oni took his club and drove it into her chest from below so that her still beating heart was propelled into her throat. She just barely manages to catch it in swallowing, and inaudibly, but her cheeks are another matter entirely. They manage to tinge in that split second before she can forcefully recover from the impact and try to get a grip on things. Really, it's a wonder she manages to keep her feet steady in stepping near the bed because this is... this is just too much at just the sight of him, too much feeling entirely with how it swells, and she's got to pull it together, think properly, keep her wits, and not... not focus too much on those ears or his hands or, ugh, his anything with him laying like that.

Come on, Setsura. She's lived through something like this before. Put gods and demons, spirits and humans to bed, too, and they're far more monstrous opponents, she tells herself, even as her heart threatens to leave a hole in her. She can and will absolutely handle this properly and with the appropriate composure and it doesn't matter that he's looking at her broadcast. She didn't say any thing she's ashamed to admit, right? Right.

So, uh. Words, and smoothly, like there isn't a riot in her chest and throat painting her cheeks a little bit. ]

It never seemed like there was a good time. You're quick to run off once you get them, you know. [ Confidently nailed it. ]

[lightningruins]

Well, I'm here right now. [He says, watching her from under those shaggy bangs. He's smart, but right now that intelligence and attention is just focused entirely on her face and her reactions.]

Come here.

[chichichi]

[ And just like that, her heart swells in her throat. It's five words, then two, but oh, it's dangerous. She realizes it in the same instant her breath hitches and her cheeks dare to turn a slightly deeper shade of red and she has to figure some way to bite the shiver threatening to run down her spine before it can travel, give any visible signs.

Because, really, she'd like nothing better than to close the distance between them right now. Get her hands on those ears and her teeth at his neck and his hands against her bare skin because she really l... oves his hands and -- and isn't this what happens every damned time? It seems worse now. No, it's definitely worse now and she's got to keep a handle on it, but there's nothing small about this feeling, nothing tame about her heart.

She gives her head a toss, tucking a few strands behind her ear as she steps forward, gripping that bag of burgers and fries as she steps closer to the bed as though there isn't at all a problem afoot. Her eyes? Turned from him for a moment in searching for his clothes, but she's mindful of him, his every little movement, looking back at him from the bedside. ]

I doubt Ranpo-san would mind if you ate a burger or two here, but you're not eating in his bed. Where are your clothes? [ She should probably ask Ranpo that, actually. Lewin's mind won't have been on his clothes past getting them off. ] We need to get home.

[ And there's a quietly guarded question lingering there, of course. Why? ]

[lightningruins]

[He shifts position, stretches and watches her reaction. That flush is new, as her attention flutters around the room like a little bird.]

You could call him in here and we can ask what he wants me to do in his bed. You, probably.

[chichichi]

[ If she were the type to call on gods to preserve her soul or whatever mortals ask of 'higher powers,' she might be considering that now. It was bad enough that he shifted, stretched. Her eyesight is much too keen, her imagination strong, and she is an aural creature with several fondnesses for his voice. She turns her whole head toward the door now as though that could keep that deepening flush from being so obvious that close. ]

Or [ -- has her throat always been this dry? She clears it -- ] I could find your clothes on my own and you could put them on and we can go without inconveniencing Ranpo-san. He's been very helpful, you know.

[lightningruins]

Yeah, he has. [Lewin's attention is scattered, but he certainly remembers exactly how helpful Ranpo's already been.] He could be more helpful.

[chichichi]

[ Setsura will be promptly throwing Lewin's shirt at his face because she has found his clothes and it seems like the best course of action to assist her in not considering the matter of Ranpo being 'helpful' in excessive detail, but especially considering exactly where the are. Her face feels entirely too hot already as she gathers the rest of his clothes up. ]

You're incorrigible.

[ Not that that's news, it absolutely isn't, especially with Iris afoot. Clothes held in one arm against her chest, she's moving back to the bed to deposit them beside him as she works to direct her focus on things other than his ears and his hands and Ranpo being 'helpful' and the recent history of this room and -- and she was doing so well until she looked at him again. Pink deepens into red across her cheeks again. Dammit. ]

Come on. Get up, get dressed.

[lightningruins]

Ugh, fine. [He pulls his shirt on. Look, that's mostly dressed.]

[chichichi]

We both know that's not the part of you the Moon Knights are going to care about.

[ If she has to pull the covers off him, so help her... ]

[lightningruins]

The Moon Knights can suck my dick.

[chichichi]

I'm sure there's some among their ranks who wouldn't mind that, but I'm not not about to offer up prayers that we'll run into them this time.

[ She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. ]

And anyway, it's cold outside. Do you want your dick to freeze? You don't.

[lightningruins]

Ugh, [he says, and grabs at his boxers and then his shorts to drag them on.] fine.

But as soon as we're home I'm going to fuck you through a wall.

[chichichi]

We'll see.

[ It's even, measured, said far more easily than her previous statements because it's a little easier to turn her thoughts with clothes on him despite that state of his. She'll take that little bit of ease and drive it despite that lingering tinge about her cheeks, where certain parts of her would like to wonder, wander because she hasn't forgotten her objective, that she needs to keep it together, get them home. ]

You've got some burgers to put away before we get there, though, and I brought you a couple of cokes.

[lightningruins]

Look, I'm not hungry. [Food? Even food he really likes? Not doing it for him right now. He's just caught up in Iris, too focused on the heat to have any kind of appetite.]

[chichichi]

[ It isn't a surprise by this point so much as it is something she wants to find an effective work-around about because -- well, they've had this conversation before. Human bodies aren't built to run like this and she's concerned about the effects it'll have on his physical health long-term. Iris isn't, of course, and if that doesn't irk her, but then, she didn't expect that to change. ]

If we ever meet Iris personified, I'm kicking it in the dick if it's got one.

[ She sighs softly as she settles a hand atop a hip. ]

Although I suppose it would find that kinky, too, hm?

[ As insatiably horny as that demon seems to be when it incarnates. In any case, she'll figure something out. Protein shakes maybe? A dry mouth from so much fucking might be harder to ignore, easier to appease even with that heat driving him. Hm. ]

[lightningruins]

Yeah, probably. [Talking? Whatever. Eating? Yeah not right now. Getting dressed? He's dressed and he hates it.]

Okay, if we're not going to fuck a catboy, let's get out of here.

[chichichi]

[ She pauses a brief second, then nods, drops the hand at her hip, and turns for the door only to pause a second. He's dressed and ready to go and she's got to keep her leaf focused no matter how much she wants to tug him down so she can get her hands on those ears of his. Getting too close right now -- and ugh, the thought alone sees that tinge of color trying to light her cheeks up again -- it's a dangerous idea, but the thing is, that's exactly where she wants to be with him and she turns and steps and reaches for that hand of his. It was maybe just supposed to be that, but if her other arm wraps around him and she buries her face in his shirt for a just a brief moment, that's fine, isn't it?

But not too long because Iris makes him frisky and sometimes incredibly sensitive to touch and she shouldn't dwell on that or tempt him either. That she's been, perhaps, a little worried has everything to do it. She's not going to let that hand of his go, though. In spite of everything else, she's really happy she's found him. ]

You don't have to tell me twice. I am going to thank Ranpo again, though.

[ He's been a big help, after all. Given her something to think about, too, and she will after the moons. Despite what that master detective said, the timing just isn't right right now. ]

[lightningruins]

[He wants her, wants her hands on him, wants his hands on her, but more than that he just....

she buries her face in his shirt and he tightens his grip on her hand and he wonders if she actually understands how much he just wants her, wants to claim her and keep her right there, because he's always been dangerous and possessive.]

Don't take too much time thanking him.