✧ — passionfruit green tea.

[boba]

Comments

[oversea]

Well, it's you or no one.

[ au life aside, thorns has not been interested in other people... so he has no reason to believe that will change. ]

But you can see other people. If you want.

[transmit]

[ he will just stare at thorns… then kiss him.

really? ]

[oversea]

[ OKAY.

he kisses him back. ]

I'm just saying... it doesn't have to be, uh. Romantic. You have... needs...

[transmit]

So if it's for stress relief, it's fine?

[ why is thorns so funny. ]

… Do you have the mazekeeper's necklace on you?

[oversea]

[ it's actually not fine at all but thorns is trying to be thoughtful. ]

Do you want it?

[transmit]

[ he will fwb your other self and it will go perfectly fine

he holds out his hand. ]

I think it's pretty clear it won't work for me. But even if it did, no. Can I borrow it for a sec?

[oversea]

[ he will dig through his pockets... and pull it out to hand it over. ]

[transmit]

You haven't been wearing it?

[ maybe thorns isn't always wearing a shirt with a v as deep as his groin, idk, i'm not the boss of you

he makes a gesture for thorns to turn around. ]

Give me a minute.

[oversea]

I have it on me...

[ he can wear non-slutty clothes too... he goes from the extremes of his tits are out and very baggy clothings...

but he will turn. ]

[transmit]

[ thorns will hear the faint clinks of metal, a whispered curse under elysium's breath as his fingers fumble through missed hoops. then, soon enough, he'll feel the necklace settle around his neck, followed by the soft brush of something against his collarbone. elysium clicks it on for him.

joining the tiger's eye is—a feather. ]

Your reminder. That you found happiness once and will find it again, no matter what happens.

[oversea]

[ he glances down, surprise filling his face, before a hand moves to gently touch it like he's confirming that it's there. ]

Are you sure?

[ he turns back around so that he can see elysium. ]

[transmit]

[ elysium is pointedly looking away…… ]

No. I'm going to ask for it back right after I just gave it to you.

[ … ]

What do you think? Idiot.

[oversea]

[ hmm. he steps forward to capture elysium's mouth with his, his hands finding their way to elysium's shirt to grip onto it tightly. ]

I'm the idiot? As if there's other happiness than this.

[transmit]

[ …

he smiles into the kiss, his hand moving instinctively to thorns' lower back to keep him still. ]

If that's how you feel, then it should have no problem leading you back to me. Right?

[ is this what he wanted to get at this entire time? maybe… ]

[oversea]

You should stop pretending to be considerate. I don't want you to be okay with me settling with someone else.

[ he kisses him again, his hand still on the feather. ]

... Thanks.

[transmit]

If that's what the captain orders, who am I to refuse?

[ he tilts his head, watching the way the feather sits against him. he smiles, just a little wistful. ]

… There will never be another you. Now you can't forget about me for real.

[oversea]

[ that would already be impossible, even if they took romance out of the equation.

but it feels strange to leave elysium with nothing. ]

Hold on.

[transmit]

[ okay well there is an elysium wherever thorns is going so it quite literally is. was what he did here that memorable?

but they're not having this conversation so he just tilts his head. ]

Hm? What's up?

[oversea]

[ elysium should know better than anyone the chances of him making a move.

he pulls a ring off his finger and goes to slide it onto one of elysium's. ]

[transmit]

[ he would like to be normal about this

but

is there such thing as being normal when a ring is slid onto your finger? talk is easy, like their promises to find each other again. everything else—much harder. his eyes flick to the ring, then return to thorns, his expression blank. his mouth opens, then shuts again. in the end, all he can do is pull thorns close, holding him so tightly it feels as though he never intends to let go. ]

[oversea]

[ there is a moment, as he waits for elysium to have some sort of reaction, where he wonders if he made a grave mistake.

but it's difficult to find a way to properly promise your heart to someone, especially when your path ahead is uncertain. in the end, it would be easier to let elysium go so that he won't be locked into something that may be impossible once they leave.

despite that, all thorns wants to do is make this work. so he hugs elysium back. it's all he can do. ]

[transmit]

[ 'all he can do,' thorns thinks, when it is everything to elysium to finally arrive at this understanding. to know what it feels like to have a place he can call home, after spending more than the majority of his life circling an answer to that ambiguous question, what is another however long now that he knows what he's working toward?

he holds thorns like this for a long while, just feeling the way their hearts fall into tandem before finally pulling back just enough to look him in the eyes. ]

I love you. As Thorns, as Isidro, as my amigo and compañero de armas. However long it takes us to find each other again, I always will.

[oversea]

[ ...

he manages to keep eye contact for like ten seconds before he has to bury his face into elysium's neck. give him another ten seconds.

how does one go from not caring if he ever heard words like that, to being swept away by them like he's trapped in a storm? is this why they say love hits you like a train? sudden and destructive even when you try to slow it down. ]

I'll always come back to you, mi amor. The path may be winding but it does stop.

[transmit]

[ it'd be nice if they could give each other however long they needed. ten seconds, twenty, thirty. all in the realm of realistic even as it stretches into minutes. while they've been given no exact time limit, there's that inexplicable sense that they're reaching the upper limit of their stay. so, eventually, even though elysium finds as much comfort in thorns' proximity and intimacy—

all things have to come to an end. his heart twists again, his throat swallows. ]

… Mm. Don't think I'll be sitting around waiting for you to find me, either. I'll do my best, too. [ one final kiss before he presses his forehead against thorns, desperately trying to hide how his voice wants to waver. he is unlikely to be successful in the face of his friend who's known him for years—but he tries. ] If we go on our way now, we'll find each other that much quicker.

Or maybe you're right and we'll have worried about nothing at all.

[oversea]

Mm. Just remember that you are holding my heart in your hand. Don't let go of it.

[ he can only hope that will be the case.

but they've been trained to handle worst case scenarios and to lower expectations, even if those were all for more practical situations than something like this. but it really was always the risk. ]

... Should we head out?

[ if anything, they should check on their other selves to make sure they haven't gotten into some sort of mess while they took their eyes off them. ]