✧ — passionfruit green tea.

[boba]

Comments

[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. ]

[transmit]

Never in a million years. This is my bounty and I'm keeping it.

[ nevermind that it was literally handed over to him, but whatever.

and while he nods half-heartedly in agreement to what thorns says next, elysium's hand picks up his and gives it a gentle swing. ]

You really don't want them to see us doing this?

[oversea]

[ he looks at their hands... would this give the other them a crisis? maybe. ]

Are you trying to brag in front of yourself?

[transmit]

[ okay, but thorns was a wh*re first and has held more hands than ely… this is nothing to him… even baby him, probably. ]

Couldn't you have gone with the other option? That I just wanted to hold onto you for however long I could?




But maybe. You caught me.

[oversea]

[ idiot...

he brings elysium's hand to his mouth to kiss it. ]

... Okay. Let's go.

[ it still makes him a bit nervous, even if he's not sure what the nerves are for. ]

[transmit]

[ don't tickle him like that… he looks away shyly.

funny, how the first thought they both had was their other selves going to cause trouble. and yet, when they step outside, they seem to be more preoccupied with… themselves?

at least, the other elysium's leaning over to the other thorns and seems to be embroiled in telling him a story. thorns looks part amused, part exasperated, and seeing this—

elysium can't help the laughter that follows. ]

Makes it feel even more like everything's going to be alright, doesn't it?

[oversea]

... So it seems.

[ it makes him think of the two of them watching themselves on the ship, an intimate moment that felt like spying even if it was an illusion of things that never came to be. yet, it feels a lot more possible than it ever had before. ]

You're probably saying something dumb.

[transmit]

[ sometimes you see a premonition… ]

You enjoy it when I do, though? Look.

[ there it is… thorns' pixel smile… their other selves have probably had the awareness that they've been running around for them, if nothing else. or at least, elysium's thorns does from the very yaoi activity check replies i've been getting. either way, they are the type of people to take things in stride and probably not freak out about other thems. ]

… It's a whole different story approaching, huh.

[oversea]

[ he watches them, and then lowers his voice, even though they're not close enough to be overheard, ]

Is that what we look like to other people?

[transmit]

[ lowers his voice back: ]

What does it look like to you?

[ they are two very good

friends ]

[oversea]

[ he looks at them

and then at elysium

and back at them. ]

They like to hang out.

[transmit]

[ he just keeps his eyes on thorns (purgatory)… ]

That's not what you really wanted to say, was it?

[oversea]

[ he nudges him. ]

You know, Hak actually asked me if we were dating. He said we looked too close not to be.

[ except they weren't at the time so thorns said no... they were just good friends... ]

[transmit]

[ this is so funny. ]

No one asked me that. [ he does not need to sound mildly offended over this, but he does. ] What do you think now? Is there anyone else you could be like that with?

[oversea]

You are really overestimating how close other people want to get to me.

[ he does not sound like he minds, especially since that has worked to his advantage. he needs to adjust how he approaches things now that he's in charge of people's lives though... ]

[transmit]

[ this really is a matter of how long it'll take for the other two to notice how long they're here for. for thorns, he's just about to set off on his journey—but for elysium, he wonders how long it's been since he'd last seen his friend. no wonder he's so clingy.

he briefly considers the logistics of just shoving them both in their own world and solving all their problems. does it work like that? it'd be nice if it did. ]

It's more like you're underestimating how many people have tried. [ he grips thorns a little more tightly. ] What made you decide you wanted this, anyway? Even after my explanation, it seemed like you had no interest in it.

[oversea]

Is that the impression I gave?

[ he sounds a little amused by the thought, since he figured that the fact that he was even asking so many questions about it made it obvious he was curious. this is what happens when you barely emote. ]

No, I was just... figuring it out. Since something you said just sounded like us.

[transmit]

You didn't mention it ever again, yeah. And a bunch of people were acting weird that day, so I figured that was it.

[ well. people are always acting weird. it's a matter of they act weird consistently that you start getting kind of concerned. ]

Was it the part about comfort?

[ … ]

You're comfortable around the Doctor.

[oversea]

Like I said, I was... trying to figure things out. And then people started acting strangely so it didn't seem like the time. [ ... ] Most people are comfortable around the Doctor.

[ they make that very easy, which is a good trait considering their job. ]

Do you think I could fall in love with them?

[transmit]

[ he looks to the side… ]

You'd have a lot of competition. [ yes. ] But you could probably win them over.

[oversea]

[ ...

he forgets about being self-conscious of their other selves and leans in to kiss elysium's cheek. ]

I only want you.

[transmit]

[ imagine this is where they look over… this would make the vibe of the other thread so different.

…

maybe they should? elysium, at least, wouldn't notice from how much the kiss distracts him. ]

You probably could've, though. You're only saying that now because we're together.