we're gonna afterparty and you're GOING TO FUCKING LIKE IT

[presomnia]

[Tiki wanders into the great hall expecting company, expecting a full room just like before to abate her loneliness and what she finds instead is...Mahiro, chillin'.

And no one else.

Okay. Cool. Fine. She'll throw a goddamn party herself IF THAT'S WHAT'S HAPPENING, TRY HER.

So she drags one (1) rude teen into the kitchen despite protests that he can't cook, finds Eizen actively in the middle of cooking, and takes full advantage of the situation and also her own cute charm until curry for two turns into curry for twenty four.

Everyone will find notes slipped under their door, courtesy of Tiki's new gopher since he refuses to cook, the first part written in loose, loopy handwriting like an elementary schooler who hasn't quite gotten the hang of the cursive they've been taught:]

Let's meet in the Great Hall together in about an hour and have dinner again this time, so nobody has to be alone.

[aaand under that in a completely different set of handwriting:]

I don't know why we're doing this after someone died from getting poisoned through food but at least there won't be any fucking cake. Don't come if you don't want to.

[hm. well.

in the Great Hall, Tiki's hard at work setting up Eizen's mabo curry for the taking (and she's bullied him into making exactly one plate of non-spicy curry because she loves Hanyuu), and also hard at work into bullying Mahiro into helping her set up silverware and plates and beverages. It's not much, but it's here.]

Comments

[maddogs]

Mm.

[ he doesn't really care what the others think - it's something else that's eating on him. when he speaks again it seems to be another change in topic, but maybe they're really all related in that jumpy, overly active way that majima's mind usually works. ]

I'm worried about the Teishu. [beat] Should jus' wanna fuck 'em both an' go home.

[buddyoldpal]

[ Nishitani's just along for the ride, he'll follow Majima's train of thought wherever it goes.

He pauses, listening to Majima and letting him know that he really is paying attention. It's true that Nishitani wants to fuck 'em both and go home, but he likes the Teishu quite a great deal, too. ]

Teishu-kun's alright. Kinda reminds me of some o' the guys back home.

[maddogs]

He wanted ta talk to us during the trial.

[ not to "us", though. to majima in specific. and it means he feels that much guiltier about it. ]

[buddyoldpal]

[ Nishitani nods. He noticed that too, obviously. ]

He's sure as fuck more interested in the truth than our pal Sage-chan is.

[ Might there be trouble in paradise...? ]

[maddogs]

But other than stoppin' him from talkin', the Sage really hadn't interfered.

[buddyoldpal]

Maybe he really was pissed at Sen-chan fer the food thing. Mighta been he woulda helped her get away with it if she hadn't ended up poisonin' him.

[ Which lets them know that the Sage can be poisoned in the first place. Isn't that interesting! ]

[maddogs]

If he was mad, he could've told us about the cup all along.

[buddyoldpal]

Who the fuck knows? Sure, he can fuckin' rewrite the rules, but 'e seems ta wanna come off as if he's gotta follow 'em like everybody else. Got real pissy at me when I suggested he didn't hafta do that shit.

[maddogs]

Maybe the best we can do is just take 'em at face value.

[buddyoldpal]

Might be.

[ Nishitani shrugs. ]

Ain't much we can do if they lie ta us. They're the ones holdin' all the damn cards.

[maddogs]

Yeah.

[ he's quiet for another moment. ]

Ya remember what I told ya about my oath brother?

[buddyoldpal]

[ Nishitani nods. ]

Saejima-kun, yeah? What about 'im?

[maddogs]

His sister Yasuko-chan was shot not long before I got here. She got all wrapped up in this insane scheme that went all the way back to fuckin' '85.

[ back to the hit, in other words. majima finally takes a drink from the glass of sake nishitani brought him. it burns going down but he's glad for it. ]

Turned out the whole thing had been a goddamn set up. They'd always intended for Saejima ta take the fall. I knew...I knew there was somethin' wrong, even back then. Never wanted ta believe it.

[ he's well aware he's all over the place tonight. there's a way these all connect but he doesn't know how to make the connections out loud, only knows these are the things weighing on him this evening. that's enough for him, he doesn't really question it and nishitani is following him on it which is more than a lot of people would do. ]

I just...[ he trails off, sighs. ] Seems like the people holdin' the cards are always playin' by their own rules.

[buddyoldpal]

Damn.

[ A hit going all the way back from '85 to 25 years later? That sounded like hell. And losing his oath brother's sister... well, Nishitani figured Majima had seen some shit in his day but it sounds like this is just a small part of it.

Nishitani leans a bit towards Majima. He can't say much to that -- he, too, was a victim to some asshole holding all the cards. There isn't much to say. ]

Power lets ya do whatever the fuck ya want, till somebody takes it from ya.

[ There's always someone more powerful, isn't there? ]

[maddogs]

Guess I'd jus' like ta fuckin' understand the rules every once and awhile.

[ he finishes off the rest of the glass and then, since nishitani was getting closer anyway, just crawls into his lap. hope you didnt need your personal space ]

[buddyoldpal]

Sure would be nice, eh? I'd sleep a lot easier if that "The Sage can change the rules whenever he fuckin' feels like it" rule wasn't around.

[ Personal space is for suckers. Nishitani is more than happy to have Majima in his lap, in fact he runs a hand down Majima's back, soothing him in the best way he knows. With touch. ]

Guess I can see why Teishu-kun's got such a boner for the damn rules. When ya believe in 'em like he does, ya think they can't do no wrong.

[maddogs]

[ majima laughs hollowly. he'd believed in rules, in structure back when he'd met nishitani before. action and consequence. he had to. if actions didn't have consequence, if things weren't straightforward, then what had those three years of hell been for?

only now, after what happened, he knows the truth he'd always suspected. it had been for nothing. they'd been set up and played like goddamn fiddles. ]

's hard ta deal with the idea the world makes no damn sense. I don't really blame him.

[ maybe that's why they both wanted to believe the sage was fucking with everything - maybe in a twisted #yakuzalogic way, the idea that one of them was hung up on the rules while one of them was just fucking with everyone made more sense. ]

[buddyoldpal]

[ Nishitani nods. He'd figured the world didn't make much sense either, what mattered was enjoying it while it lasted and squeezing out every last drop of enjoyment out of it as you can.

But it made sense to Nishitani, too. Good cop, bad cop. Rules guy, no-rules guy. It's not so strange an assumption. ]

Yeah, plentya guys join our way of life cause they think everythin'll make sense once they do. Takes a tough fucker ta see it don't and keep stickin' with it.

[ Not saying Teishu's gonna snap, but it wouldn't surprise Nishitani if he did. ]

Who knows what kinda guys Teishu-kun and Sage-chan are.

[maddogs]

Can we even really compare? They're supposed ta be thousands of years old or someshit.

[buddyoldpal]

[ Nishitani shrugs. ]

No fuckin' clue, pal. Can't even imagine livin' that long. What'd be the damn point?

[maddogs]

Fuuuuck. It's too long.

[ he honestly never expected to make it to forty, though. ]

[buddyoldpal]

Seriously, it's gotta be shit. How'd ya even enjoy anythin' after that long?

[ Nishitani was definitely getting on in the years, he's happier having died saving Majima than he would've been growing old... ]

[maddogs]

I guess ya'd have to ask them.

[ he doesn't really seem to be enjoying this line of talk, though.

[buddyoldpal]

Ehhh, yeah, ain't gonna be much point to that shit, anyway.

[ He waves a hand, dismissing the thought. ]

Maybe we can ask 'em when we meet 'em fer drinks! Figure we'll hafta make smalltalk, yeah?

[maddogs]

[ since majima's sitting in nishitani's lap now, he might miss the way majima frowns a little at the suggestion ]

Yeah, we can do that if ya want. Pretty sure they don't fuckin' drink, though.