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 Posted: Wed Sep 15, 2021 9:06 pm
Eion wasn't sure if it was more polite to eat the food given to him, or to gently decline to save the host the effort. Etiquette was one of the myriad reasons he preferred youma to people — youma didn't care about etiquette, or faux pas, and if they did, he could dust them and no one objected. The damned things reformed in a few days, and either they learned to let him carry on with his rude behaviors, or they would avoid him. But people? Couldn't teach a person anything. Especially himself (for as much as he was technically a person).
So he looked at the muffin, considered the muffin, scrutinized the muffin. He knew it would be delicious because it wouldn't taste burnt. But was eating it really the right decision? Yuuri was eating one. Should eat the muffin, then.
He reached for it, but his hand paused halfway when he saw Yuuri moving. Wondered, then, if he picked the wrong choice — but Yuuri hadn't come over to ground him from the offering. Felt a hand touch him, snake around him, and he looked up into his friend's face. Felt an impulse he hadn't recognized before, one that stole his breath, but he weathered it with a set jaw. Returned his friend's embrace with arms about his waist, turned his sharp features into the crook of Yuuri's narrow neck. Breathed a sign he didn't know he needed.
Eion wondered if his youma was responsible for this untoward wants. That thought was noted, then quietly dismissed for a time when he had audience with Axinite.
"You mean a lot to me," he muttered. He didn't want to let go. Wouldn't, he decided, unless he had to.
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Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2021 5:45 pm
From behind the counter, Misha stared.
He stared in earnest, eyes wide and bright, a bit owlish, and practically gleaming.
Yuuri was a very guarded person. He didn’t smile often, didn’t speak a lot, barely revealed anything about himself even when Misha would ask. Being his friend wasn’t difficult at all, but getting to know him was a supreme effort — one Misha was only too happy to make; it wasn’t like he had any other friends either.
Well, Yuuri had other friends. And that was good. It was fine. He should have friends, because he was kind and helpful and very sweet, and he deserved every good thing in the world.
Which was why it rubbed Misha the wrong way when someone Yuuri clearly cared about didn’t always treat him kindly.
But the hug was… it was a step in a more positive direction. Yuuri wanted it, and Eion reciprocated, maybe even wanted it, too, and Misha stared, because he didn’t want to miss anything.
Even so, straining his ears to hear didn’t allow him to decipher the muttering.
Damn. He should have waited to bring the muffins over.
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Posted: Sun Sep 19, 2021 7:18 am
Yuuri was aware that Misha was still very present in the room, although he was a little further away. Misha was a good person and a good friend, but he hadn’t gone through the things he and Eion had gone through. Hadn’t experienced the same loss, hadn’t shared past traumas.
When Eion hugged him back, Yuuri squeezed him tightly. He had to fight back the tears that threatened to fill his eyes, because he knew how difficult it was for Eion to express himself. So Yuuri just pet at his hair and hugged him and said, “I know. You mean a lot to me, too.”
What happened in the Rift tore at both of them. What happened when the Princess killed Squiddy had been horrible and painful, both physically and emotionally. Yuuri didn’t blame Eion for either of those times, even though he knew Misha probably disagreed with how easily it was for Yuuri to forgive his friend.
“Thank you for coming,” he said as he nuzzled his cheek against Eion’s hair, and turned his face just enough to press a kiss against his temple, because Eion seemed like he needed the affection. And Yuuri needed it, too.
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Posted: Sun Sep 19, 2021 3:43 pm
Eion hadn't known Misha. Couldn't tell who he was through the fog of glamour, didn't care terribly to know him either. He lived with Yuuri, was protective of Yuuri. Didn't care for Eion. Spiteful, mouthy thing. Maybe that was why.
And Yuuri seldom expressed anything besides anxiety and different shades of misery. They'd been around each other for years; even at Lauri's, even with the pair living together and Yuuri getting some guidance from the capable, if incorrigible Finn, Yuuri only oscillated between miserable, anxious, and sometimes okay. For him to reach for someone was rare; Eion could not recall a time when his friend ever petted his hair (and it reminded him: he hadn't showered in this form for weeks, and while he didn't smell or feel greasy, he hadn't thought about having to shower in glamour before, and now that he thought about it, he wondered if he should've, or if his hair was soft enough, or if he should use some kind of product in it, and he had to remind himself that there were better things to think about). To feel Yuuri hug him as he did — maybe that was why.
Felt a familiar insistence roust him when Yuuri said Eion meant a lot to him. It was strange to hear, and he kneejerk thought it undeserved, but he couldn't quell his nervous excitement for hearing it. Maybe that was why.
Felt the kiss against his forehead, and that was enough. Before he could risk thinking about it, Eion found Yuuri's slim chin with his fingers and tilted it downwards. Leaned up and pressed a soundless word to Yuuri's lips, a small trust, a pearl of how much he meant. Felt the thrum of it against his birdbone cage for kissing his friend, however chaste and fleeting.
Misha could come slap him for that. Have his spicy little side dish of vengeance.
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Posted: Wed Sep 22, 2021 7:39 am
Misha’s eyes widened comically, almost gawking, eyebrows disappearing beneath his growing bangs.
Yuuri was an adult. Yuuri was more adult than Misha, actually — at least where age was concerned. Maybe he’d been kissed before. Maybe he hadn’t. Misha didn’t know; Yuuri didn’t really talk about those things, even when Misha left an opening.
But it didn’t matter, because Yuuri was an adult and he could make his own decisions about who he wanted to kiss.
Did he want to kiss Eion? Misha stared harder, because the answer to that was important. Turbulent as things could often be between them, at least from Misha’s minimal observations, it was still Yuuri’s choice in the end.
The water was almost done boiling. Misha turned to shush the kettle when it began to make noise (a harshly whispered “shhhh,” followed by a bit of cursing in Russian, rounded out by a, “you have crappy timing”), still staring over his shoulder like the world’s most intense busybody.
This would make fantastic gossip.
But Yuuri was his friend, and Misha respected his friends enough not to spread gossip about them — just not enough to keep from watching if Yuuri and Eion started making out.
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Posted: Thu Sep 23, 2021 7:18 pm
There was no resistance when Eion took hold of his chin and tilted his head down enough so he could kiss him. For a moment, Eion was allowing him to see a much more fragile side than the fire and metal everyone was used to. He was opening himself up to be hurt, to be pushed away and rejected.
For what? A kiss? But Yuuri didn’t pull away. Instead he tried to relay all of his feelings back to Eion. He wanted him to know that he trusted him, despite his flaws, that he wanted Eion to be honest with him. That it was okay for him to be honest. That Yuuri wouldn’t reject him for that. They’d already been through so much together--
Yuuri didn’t exactly jump when the kettle went off, but he did gently end the kiss so he could pull away. He was aware that Misha was there, and it was probably very rude for them to be kissing while Misha was being a good host. Yuuri could feel the heat in his cheeks, but he didn’t look away from Eion. He wanted him to know that he wasn’t ashamed of him. Eion was his friend -- a friend that kissed him, and one that he kissed back. He wasn’t sure what it meant, but he’d promised himself a long time ago to be careful with his heart, which fell easily, and shattered just as quickly.
“Don’t leave,” he requested as he pushed himself back up, if only because it was uncomfortable to lean over like he was for so long. He didn’t want Eion to take the opportunity to flee.
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Posted: Sat Sep 25, 2021 2:25 pm
As a tactician, he found it important to anticipate enemy movements and come up with contingency plans. Fallback ideas if they lost someone, modes of retreat, and modes of advancement each made their way seamlessly into battle prep. But human life was no place for that.With Yuuri, there was no place for that, but he was terribly accustomed to divining how best to leave.
But Yuuri asked him not to leave. Yuuri, who was receptive enough to indulge him.
He hadn't kissed out of affection in years, and the rise it gave always felt like part of the same mountain range as a starseed, even if it wasn't the same peak. He supposed that was part of why he'd put it off for so long. And the other part — as he watched Yuuri return to his part of the seating, as Eion realized he didn't know how to ask (or if it was appropriate to ask) Yuuri to sit with him on the lone chair — he supposed he did irrevocably change their friendship, but it wasn't so cruelly different as he thought. Yuuri was cut of a different cloth than most, and he supposed that was why they were friends.
By the shrill of the kettle, Eion knew Misha had to steep the tea. What kind of tea was it? Lavender? Took ten minutes to steep if Misha wanted to open the flowers completely. Eion guessed he'd set a timer and join them.
So there wasn't time for Eion to make even more of a fool of himself. He slipped Yuuri an apologetic look.
He could kill for a starseed, he decided. Wouldn't do to kill Misha, he supposed, so he sat in his own discomfort while his leg bobbed restlessly and absent rhythm. Took up examination of the chair arms, picking at the fibers, tracing the grooves in the wood. He knew Schörl would be telling him how he'd gone and ******** it all up like last time, and what happened to the other one? Oh right, he probably walked himself into the hall of shadows. Eion's jaw tightened.
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Posted: Tue Sep 28, 2021 12:48 pm
Misha continued to mutter at the kettle, telling it how very rude it was to interrupt Yuuri when he was getting some action. Mostly, Misha was disappointed that he didn’t have longer to observe, to figure out as much as he could about the things that existed between Yuuri and Eion. There was a part of him that felt guilty, too. How many opportunities did Yuuri allow himself to be close to someone? What if he went back into his shell now?
Water poured, tea steeping, Misha had nothing to do but fiddle around behind the counter, keep himself distracted by wiping things down or setting stray utensils in the sink, but that seemed like a useless effort when Yuuri sat back down.
Misha huffed strong enough to flutter his bangs.
“Tea’s steeping,” he said unnecessarily, running a dish towel through his hands. “Can I get either of you anything else? More muffins? Some water? Privacy? Because I can do that. Hide out in my room or something. Or if you want… I mean… I don’t care if you guys use my bed. I can just change the sheets after.”
Was he serious? Was he joking around, teasing them? Even Misha had no idea.
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Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2021 4:36 pm
Yuuri continued to watch Eion, as though expecting him to jump up and run. They still had tea to drink, and Yuuri didn’t feel uncomfortable about how things played out. Maybe it was for the best that Misha was still there, though. He didn’t want Eion to feel like he was leading him on, since he really did appreciate the attention, but wondered just what Eion thought about them. And if he wanted things to change between them.
They would likely have to talk about it at some point, but for now Yuuri was trying not to be embarrassed by Misha’s meddling.
“Thank you for your generosity,” Yuuri stared a bit exasperated at his friend, his cheeks already red from kissing his other friend. “Tea would be fine once it’s done, thank you.” Even though he knew he and Eion should talk about things, he didn’t want to give more reason for Misha to gossip. Yuuri was quite private with his personal life, and wanted to keep it that way.
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Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2021 2:09 am
The sound that left Eion was that of a soul leaving its body, and he pressed the heel of his hand into the space between his eyes as he rested his face on his palm. Free fingers tightened their grip on the chair arm, as if gearing up for a siege. He began to wonder if stay was an abbreviation for stay and endure some torture. He would've left by now if Yuuri hadn't asked him to stay; the words leaving his blonde friend were every confirmation he needed.
"Right. Thanks." Wondered if he could disappear into the couch, or learn to teleport in his civilian form, or spontaneously become full youma by virtue of wanting it badly enough.
He glanced at his free hand. Still regrettably human. ******** durable, these glamours.
Overall, he felt pretty betrayed; he couldn't summon from subspace in his civilian form, which he found was his own stupid oversight, then he couldn't keep his useless feelings to himself and ruined his friendship with Yuuri forever (because he knew they risked their lives daily, the Rift wasn't a special case, nothing should've happened between them, a kiss was the death of all friendships, and he could grill himself for all of it and a dozen more reasons). He wanted to cry, but knew he shouldn't.
So he set his jaw and asked himself what Albite would do. That dumb ******** was better around people than him; he was the only role model Eion had for something like this.
And he would probably: go sit with Yuuri on the couch, manspread, and say something to piss off and/or challenge Misha.
Which wasn't any good either. He was stuck in a tailspin borne of his own stupidity.
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Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2021 9:29 am
Misha huffed and blew his bangs off of his forehead again. At this rate, they were going to be a ruffled mess.
Now he felt like the third wheel. Which was fine. He didn’t mind that so much as the fact that neither Yuuri nor Eion gave him much direction. If they wanted him to leave, he would leave, but if they wanted him to stay…
Well, Yuuri would probably be fine with him staying, at least as far as Misha could tell. But Eion? Misha had no idea about Eion. Eion clearly wasn’t the most communicative person. Which was also fine. Misha could talk as much as he had to on his own, fill any awkward silences with pointless rambling, but he got the impression that Eion wouldn’t like him to do that. Which, again, fine. Misha just needed to know what he should do instead.
He contented himself with the tea, carrying a few mugs over to Yuuri and Eion once it was done steeping. Seeing as none of the mugs they owned were part of a matching set, the three he carried were a bit peculiar. One was pink with a gold handle, a gold cat nose along the face of it, and gold cat ears along the rim. Another was white with the words “Girl Boss” written in black script along the side. The third was fashioned like a styrofoam cup of instant ramen, with “Send Noods” in the place of the usual logo.
Misha kept the third for himself and left it up to Yuuri and Eion to decide which of the remaining two they wanted.
“I left it plain, but I can get whatever you want to put in them,” he offered. “Sugar, honey, lemon, jam. I don’t think I’d use milk or cream in lavender tea, but I don’t judge, so…”
Misha looked between the two of them, but didn’t sit down to join them.
“Or maybe you’d like something stronger? Look, I know I can be annoying, but I’m trying here, okay? We can all be friends. Or me and Yuuri can be friends, and you guys can be friends, but we don’t have to mingle. I don’t know, you’re not giving me much to go on. Which isn’t a complaint, I’m just saying… If you’re going to keep quiet, I’m going to keep talking, unless you tell me you want companionable silence.”
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Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2021 7:17 pm
Yuuri felt guilty for how uncomfortable Eion looked, and he sighed when Misha didn’t sit back down to join them. It wasn’t as though Yuuri had expected to be kissed like that. Yes, he’d kissed Eion on the cheek, but that was nothing to make a big deal about right? He cared about Eion, and he wished he knew the right answer.
Did he let Eion run away and risk not seeing him for… however long it took him to get over being embarrassed? Or did he insist that Eion stay and risk him embarrassing himself or have Misha embarrass him.
“You’re not annoying,” Yuuri said quietly as he looked up at Misha, taking the plain white mug -- or he thought it was plain white until he turned it around. Not that it was more than just a mug. He just hoped he wasn’t offending Eion by leaving him the cat cup. If anything, it was kind of cute and Eion deserved cute things.
“Thank you, Misha. You’re very kind and considerate,” he insisted, even though Misha knew that he didn’t mind the silence. It didn’t bother him or make him uncomfortable. He lifted the mug to his lips to blow on and then gingerly sip, although he couldn’t help but keep glancing over to make sure Eion was okay. He probably wasn’t but…
“You both mean a lot to me,” he said after a moment, looking from one to the other. “I don’t feel as anxious around either of you. I would like for us to all be friends, if that’s possible.” If not, well… he would just continue being friends with each of them, separately.
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Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2021 7:01 pm
At least they collected weird cups, he told himself. He assumed Girl Boss belonged to Misha, because Yuuri lacked that specific brand of sassiness to have come up with that cup. Or, maybe it was a gag gift to Yuuri from Misha. No way to tell.
It was still a mug of tea, so Eion took it up, and was instantly grateful for the heat to warm his hands. Never cared much for human once he'd gotten used to being a General, and likewise discovered that he didn't enjoy burning his tongue on hot tea again. While he blew on his tea, it was mostly for show; he needed something to do with his mouth while he thought of what he was supposed to say.
This was all infinitely easier with youma. Youma didn't give a s**t about anything but starseeds and sometimes pissing contests. Starseeds wouldn't get Misha to like him, and a pissing contest wouldn't get Misha to leave him alone, probably.
Ran out of time to come up with something. Opened his mouth to say the first thing to come to mind. "Bad idea. Turn into a slut when I'm drunk." Immediately directed his attention to his tea afterward.
He would try, since Yuuri asked. Sighed through his nose, then added, "Became a youma when I was fifteen. Bad at people. Didn't learn their social cues and nuances; don't need them in the Rift."
He hated talking about himself, however, where Misha seemed quite comfortable with it. At the end, he added, "How do you know each other?"
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Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2021 10:36 am
Misha smiled and snickered over the idea of Eion turning into a slut.
“You and me both,” he said, and plopped down onto the nearest chair.
He thought he’d like to see that someday. Maybe he’d find a way to orchestrate it. There were plenty of reasons to drink, not least of which was to unwind. The little matter of a higher drinking age in the States was easy enough to overcome.
But it might be rude, wouldn’t it? Sort of like he was taking advantage of information Eion might not have wanted to let slip. Misha sighed and sipped his tea. Making friends was far from easy, even for someone as friendly as he tried to be. He’d do it for Yuuri, though, because it was what Yuuri wanted, and Eion wasn’t so bad anyway. Well, Misha was certain he could be, but… at the moment, Eion was trying as much as he knew how.
“We met when I was looking for a video editor,” Misha explained, glancing between Yuuri and Eion. Of course Yuuri wouldn’t have talked about it already. Yuuri didn’t volunteer information about himself so easily, even information as simple as that. “I’m a Youtuber. I can edit videos myself, but it’s not my favorite thing in the world, so. Yuuri helps out. He moved in after I told him he could, since he was living on his own after his team disappeared on him.”
Misha paused to sip his tea, casting another glance at Yuuri to take in his expression, hoping he wasn’t saying too much.
“He came with me when I had Jet corrupt me… uhh… recruit me?” He was never sure what the better word choice was there, but he knew Yuuri didn’t like to think of it as something dark and evil. “You know what I mean. Not that Jet could do it. We had to go to Axinite for that, but…” Misha shrugged. “All’s well that end’s well. I’m Cymophane, by the way. I feel like that’s obvious, but the magic’s kind of weird, yeah?”
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Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2021 4:44 pm
Yuuri kept his head down as first Eion and then Misha spoke. He instead just stared at his tea, not because he felt embarrassed but because he was trying to think of ways to keep Eion from running the moment he had a chance. Oh, probably by engaging him in conversation. That was probably one way to get him to stay put. Maybe.
He didn’t look up when Misha explained how they met, nor when he mentioned that he’d moved in with him after he’d been living on his own.
“I took Kisa,” he mumbled, maybe a bit guiltily. He couldn’t remember if he mentioned taking it before, but it felt wrong to leave the motorized vacuum alone there. Not when it had been his only company outside of the Negaverse for a couple years. And even in the Negaverse he kept his head down, filled quotas, and went about his business.
Which was nothing. He’d been desperate for any job when he convinced himself to talk to Misha about the help he was asking for. Yuuri had no idea that they would have ended up being friends.
He remained decidedly silent on the topic of behavior when getting drunk.
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