bakerstreet | I have loved you for a thousand years...

I have loved you for a thousand years...

Some say that if a pair of lovers die together in tragedy, they will get another chance when they are reborn. Even if the two of you keep losing each other, you'll get to meet again.

This meme is that meeting. For the first time? For the hundredth time? That much isn't clear. What is clear is that on this, your seeming first meeting -

Everything rushes back to you. Memories, emotion, and all the comes with it...including the memory of how you two died. Overwhelming, isn't it? Some people find it hard to accept, for good reason. What will you do? You can't just bring it up, they'll think you're crazy! Maybe you don't want to bring it up, as you refuse to believe it yourself. And even if you do believe it, that doesn't mean you have to embrace it. You're your own person, after all. You refuse to love someone merely because of who you were in the past.

Or maybe you can't help but let these feelings rise to the surface because they're too strong. No matter what, you can't repress it. In fact, the more you two meet and spend time together, the more you find yourself falling back into the old roles...and making the old mistakes. That isn't good, though; there's one more thing. One of you, when you first met, had a vision about how the two of you would die this time.

You can't let that happen. Not again.

Comment with your character and your preferences.
Feel free to do a modern AU of your character. Assumed CR and AUs are a must here.
Don't feel obligated to stick with first meetings. Play that the characters have known each other for a while, are trying to have a relationship while trying to be their own unique selves, not having a relationship because THE PAST DOESN'T DEFINE ME, or even trying to avoid death in an adventurous fashion!
Reply to others.

...I'll love you for a thousand more.

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[Haru moves around, grabbing an apron and sliding it would his neck. Smoothly, in an action he's done countless times, he reaches back behind him to secure it. With the same ease, he begins gathering the ingredients.]

No, it's mackerel. [Haru's logic may be weak, but even he knows they can guess what he'll be having. Maybe he could branch out one day, but then that would take away the pleasure of the familiarity. Mackerel was also delicious, so he didn't understand why anybody would want to eat anything else, even while other things were available.] But I'm making rice, too. [Good for you, Rin!

He looks down at the fish he's cleaning, thinking that this wasn't their first home cooked meal together in a long time, though it is. There's some kind of familiarity in this, too, the two of them at home, alone, dinner being prepared. It's a warm feeling, almost like jumping into something akin to water.

Not one to speak lightly, he nonetheless finds himself so lost in those feelings, those thoughts, that he mumbles, his frown hidden by his position in the kitchen.]

...done this before.

[Well, Rin should have expected that. And he could say something about how Haru needs to eat a more varied diet, but for now, he's just grateful for the dinner. There is something about it that feels like they've done it many times before, despite how rarely Rin has actually come over to visit. It doesn't make any sense... but he does wish he really could be over here more.

While waiting, Rin finds himself staring at the knot in the apron that Haru tied. His eyes wander a little lower-- no, he mustn't, he instead tries focusing on the knot again. Until he hears Haru's quiet voice...]

What was that?

[Instead of just waiting, he opts to get back to his feet and join Haru in the kitchen.]

Er, you need help with anything?

[Fish was healthy, rice was healthy. So, that was good enough, wasn't it?

He nearly jumps when Rin speaks, as lost as he was in thoughts of another Rin, another Haru, another place. He still doesn't realize he's spoken, his hands still working automatically, as it was something he had done so often before. The voice makes him turn around to see Rin approaching.]

You can make the rice.

[It's not something he really needs help with, but it hardly took a lot to make such a simple meal. Even saying something other than 'not really' meant more than Rin might have known. Why he gives a different answer, he's not sure. Rather, he knows it's because he wants the other swimmer near, but as someone who valued his solitude, that was too unlike him to understand.

He couldn't really say that was new. Rin had always had a way to make him act like someone else. Rin had always been able to excite him, to make him miss him when he was gone, to be on his mind when everything else should have been forgotten. While these new memories that couldn't be memories were new, that draw wasn't. It had always been Rin that Haru had wanted in his life.]

It's in the fridge.

[Rin takes the container of rice in the fridge to reheat. Steaming it in a pan again sounds like the best way to go, so Rin noses around the kitchen to find said pan to warm the rice up with.

This really feels all too familiar... like the strongest case of deja vu. It's not even in the water, like the other visions, but this new sight strikes him hard--

-- Haru, distinctly wearing the clothes that look like they're right out of a traditional Japanese museum exhibit. The less formal kind, since he's in the kitchen preparing some fish, and Rin hears himself ask something in an old dialect he can barely understand.

-- "Need help?"--

Reaching out for anything, Rin's hand finds purchase on the counter. He's at least managed to save the rice from falling. But... that one was more vivid and complete than ever before. It's such a simple vision of a simple scene, but this was no idle thought.]

[From the corner of his eye, he sees Rin reaching out for purchase, turns as if he can catch him, but he relaxes just as quickly when he sees he had managed to right himself. Haru kept his home clean, which meant there shouldn't have been anything to have tripped him. Tired from swimming? No, they normally swam much longer, and Rin was in much better physical condition than that.

Very nice physical condition.]

Rin? [He steps forward, but hesitates on the second step, unsure if he should keep going. Something had happened, and he's worried, but he's also unsure of what to do to help. The fish, the rice, all of it was forgotten as his heart begins to beat more rapidly. Was this why Haru had been so worried about losing Rin?

He couldn't lose him.]

[Rin sets the rice on the counter and runs his hand through his hair, taking a deep inhale as he tries to get a hold of himself. He hears Haru, and how worried he sounds, so he turns to him to give the best reassuring grin he can manage.]

So hungry I'm feeling faint!

[A weak excuse, since Rin always made sure to eat throughout the day to keep energized, even after a swim. But it was all he could think of without telling Haru the whole story. Not just yet.]

Sorry... but I should sit down.

[He feels pretty helpless for not even being able to warm up the rice, but his mind raced with too many thoughts to focus on even the simplest of tasks. Going back to the kotatsu, he sat back down... hunched over the table, head resting on his arms, still in thought. Rin has had vivid dreams before - vivid nightmares in fact - and he knew that that was different. It wasn't a simple figment of his imagination... he felt like he was really there.]

[Blue eyes followed him back to the table where he would ultimately rest, staying there even after he knew Rin was no longer paying attention. Something bad was happening to him, and he didn't know what. Before he can stop himself, he finds his foot going out as if to go to him. He needed to go to him. Rin was precious and his existence here fragile and how many times had he lost him now?

...What was he saying? That wasn't like him at all. Reeling himself in, he turns back and begins to prepare the meat. As it fries, as the rice manages to cook elsewhere, he actually takes out some seldomly used vegetables. It was only a few minutes of silence later that his footsteps can be heard on the floor. Rin was also likely to hear a cucumber and tomato salad be sat down in front of him.]

It's no good if you pass out before dinner. You should eat this until it's done.

[Would that help strengthen his presence? Would that make that feeling any less foreboding?]

[Fingers buried in his own hair, Rin looks up to notice the salad. He murmurs a little thanks before picking up the chopsticks and picking up a cucumber slice.

Rin munched away at the salad, back to watching Haru through the corner of his eye. Despite his carnivorous-looking teeth and his preference for red meat, he ate a good balanced diet and was glad to see Haru doing to same... well, at least to see he had some vegetables in his kitchen. And not just mackerel, rice, and seasoning. He would want to help Haru out here, but apparently he's too busy having weird visions here.]

I don't know what's gotten into me today. It's like I'm seeing things...

[Maybe as long as Rin acknowledges it himself as sounding crazy, Haru won't be too weirded out.]

This is my brain's way of telling me to study old Japanese books more, isn't it?

[Rin's never been especially interested in the ancient past and his least favorite subject in school is Japanese literature, so he doesn't know what that would be plaguing his brain. He still studies it anyway and tries for a good grade in it!]

[Haru stops. Old Japanese books? Is it a coincidence? The visions he had been seeing had put them back in old Japan, with clothing that would only fit in that era or in a museum: the two of them, dressed casually at home, eating dinner at the table; the two of them working in a garden that they had to keep in order to supplement the food they bought from the market; the two of them, welcoming one another home after a hard day's work. It was largely fond memories, but it's what he didn't remember that scared him.]

Old Japanese clothing? [It's not intentionally vague, it's just what comes from his mouth first.] Do you remember being in it?

[It sounds like a crazy questions, and even he knows that. It helped knowing that Rin had seemed to be hinting at it, not wanting to bring it up himself. If Haru didn't speak now, neither of them would ever be able to get rid of these memories. At least, that was how it felt to Haru.]

[Rather than Haru brush him off, Rin is surprised to see that Haru is prying for details. And it's going to be way too crazy if they're seeing the same thing...

Rin opens his mouth to answer quickly, a bit of salad in his mouth-- he swallows that. No need to rush and make it weirder.]

Y-Yeah! And in a house to match. Why, you been exhausted by some lit test coming up too?

[He's still playing it safe and pretending that this is all about literature, despite Rin having no test for it coming up at all. Any reference to Haru being there too is completely off the table until he starts hinting at seeing Rin there too. In Rin's experience, there's rarely been any big coincidences-- always, it's been a part of someone's plan. If they're really both there... then it can't just be that.

But for now, he still clings to trying to not weirding Haru out. Even though that doesn't look like the case...]

[His eyes are still wide when he approaches the table, though now it's with intensity rather than surprise. Haru's logic has always been a little off, but he sees a connection that is too strong to ignore now. They were both having these insane visions and ignoring them hadn't work. Ignoring things was Haru's favorite problem-solving skills, so it was taking time to adjust.

Now he could be honest. That was probably his least favorite. Things had to be adapted, even if the swimmer was probably the worst ever at adapting. He was also bad at having memories he could do nothing about.]

No. [He could handle homework that wasn't English, but this wasn't stress, this wasn't fake. Either these were really happening, or Haru is in a lot of trouble.] You're in the clothes. [He takes a seat at the table, the bending of his knees coming easily, gracefully.] We both are, and it's a long time ago.

[We live together. Happily. He wasn't quite as good at admitting that.]

W-what...?

[Now that was-- no, that's impossible. How could Haru be hallucinating the same thing? Or maybe Haru is playing along as a joke. Though Haru wasn't the kind to do something like that. Still, that at least makes more logical sense than them seeing this same, strange thing. Seeing each other in their visions?]

Haru, you're not pulling my leg or anything... are you?

[Rin's fingers in his hair pull tight, really confused about all this. This kind of thing just didn't... happen, did it? It's weird enough that he has it, but was Haru experiencing the exact thing? M-Maybe it is all some big coincidence.]

That's... the same thing as I'm seeing. H-How?

I don't know.

[He doesn't know but now, he has actual confirmation that it was true. They were both seeing themselves in the past, as something else. Could that be why he had never been able to stop thinking of Rin, why he had felt that instant draw no matter how much he had try to fight it? And what was the 'it' that was happening? He was a level-headed man, Makoto was the one afraid of ghosts, so none of this fit in what he believed.]

I don't know what it is. [He repeats his opening line again.] But I don't like it. Something bad happened. [He doesn't know when, or how, or...anything about it, but he knows something bad happened with the two of them in that clothing.]

[Rin figures himself to be a rational guy himself, so this is all taking a moment to sink in. He's got so many questions... he doesn't know what to ask first. And perhaps it's because of that cool-headed image that Rin has always had of Haru, but even then, he still cant't understand...]

How... are you handling this so well? How long has this been going on for you? Something bad?

[Because it might be that he's only just started seeing this. And Haru knew what he meant right away.]

This is too weird.

[He's not handling it well. He's confused, he can't always sleep, and sometimes, he can't outrun it, even in the water. What had started out as just flashes had grown into something more, had started to last longer. Feelings he had always held for the other swimmer had been amplified until he was always on his mind. 'What was Rin doing? Who was he with? Haru bet they were having fun. Would Rin have fun with him?' It was amazing how often such simple thoughts had hit him.

But he's not emotional, not really. Surprise manages to catch him off guard well enough, but he had had enough time in private to adjust to this. As nice and happy as whatever that was seemed, he wanted it gone. He wanted to go back to the Rin and Haru they were now. The only Rin and Haru they had ever been. What was the alternative?]

I'm confused. [He'll admit as much.] I don't like having waking dreams.

[Those eyes stay on him.] What happens in yours?

[Rin gets to his feet, starting to pace around the dining room. His appetite is all but forgotten like this. Maybe Haru doesn't handle it well, but the more Rin thinks about it, the less composed he gets. He doesn't know if he should be glad that he isn't the only one losing his mind, or... or whatever else this is supposed to mean.]

I just-- this just happened today... I don't know why! I just started feeling weird this morning. Then when we met up at the pool, it started happening for real, but just in bits and pieces. And just now, it looked like a movie with us in some kitchen, but I felt it-- like a memory! But how?

[Neither of them ever put on some traditional wear and decided to act out some play or anything. But he could hear one voice, clearly, in that strange old accent.]

B-But one thing stuck out the most. I said something...

[Unable to sit while Rin stands, he follows suit. The grill had been turned off when he had come back inside, leaving the fish to chill, not completely cooked. Like his friend, Haru's mind wasn't on food, not when they were talking about something so impossibly strange. If he could figure out how, he would have thought this was Makoto's way of making Haru take him more seriously when he talked about ghosts.

Even Haru's mixed up logic can't explain this.]

Something? What did you say? [He was desperate for any answer, any way to explain how and why this was happening. Nothing he had done or experienced before could come close. They did, at least, have the house to themselves. The silence stretched on outside and into the other rooms, leaving only the two of them to speak. If anyone heard them, would they be written off as crazy?]

[Pacing around, Rin can recall something he said in the pool. At the time, he didn't think about it much. It was too strange to be deliberated on. But now, as he's grasping the situation, he finds himself... really conflicted about sharing exactly what he heard.]

Well, I said--

[Er. He fidgets a little.]

I said...

[He brushes his hair back.]

Agh! Well, it can't have been me saying that. Well, it felt like it was me saying that, but...!

[Rin finds himself growing more and more red by the second. Even in such a situation, when they're apparently sharing the same, weird, vivid memories... Rin can still find it in himself to be self-conscious. What an embarrassing thing to remember.]

[It's not that he intentionally makes it hard, but Haru himself really doesn't know what he means. His memories are good, except for one that continues to elude him. He enjoys remembering the way they lived together, remembering the way they worked together to have a home. He didn't get lonely living here alone, but the Haru he remembers being was happy with it.

So, he doesn't understand what more could be embarrassing.]

Rin? [He doesn't approach him, not too closely, but he's still directly behind him.] What is it? What do you remember?

[What could be crazier than this?]

[Rin has to have a long internal debate about saying it. Yes, he was happy in these old memories with Haru, but... well, is it really him? Them in the past? Ancestors that look far too much like them? Or what could this be? Whatever it is, the nature of the relationship there was obvious.

It just brings up a lot of questions and not a lot of answers. Or, well, there are answers. Readily available ones. But this isn't how he thought he'd end up saying it.]

"M-My love..."

[Saying the words makes him wince. It just sounds so... old-fashioned. Like they would say in old fairy tales or the cheesier romance stories he reads. But more than that, Rin knows that whoever said this was a lot braver than he is.]

"I will always..."

[... there's more to say, but he doesn't dare to finish the rest. He peers over his shoulder back at Haru, looking through the strands of his hair. Most certainly not trying to hide his blushing face.]

Ahh, geez! W-What does it mean?

[Though Rin isn't that dense. He can figure out what it means well enough, at least in the past. But what does it mean now? What does Haru feel about it? Rin almost expects Haru to find it weird that they could be together in any time, which Rin... does not want to hear.

Because they seemed really happy.]

[He doesn't want to think of them as ancestors. That would be a much more logical explanation, of course, but it feels off, wrong. He doesn't feel like he's looking at someone who came before them, he feels like he's looking at them, in a different time. Which was crazy, he knew, but that didn't stop the feeling from being so prominent.]

My...love...[The two words repeat in surprise. They should sound foreign on his tongue, as he wasn't one to talk about love, even as he had begun to talk about friends. It should have felt just as foreign to his ears, as love wasn't something people often talk to him about.

It doesn't. Somehow, he remembers it said with more ease, said as easily as 'good morning' and 'welcome home'. He remembers it because he had once been Rin's love and Rin his.

Probably. Wasn't that what all of this meant? If not, then what? He was tired of being so confused. He wanted this to just make sense, to just click in place and let him know.]

We were. I remember, too. [He looks down.] When we lived together, but I...remember being older.

[Indeed, Rin could feel that he wasn't talking to some astonishingly similar ancestor to Haru, but to Haru. It's trying to make sense of what's nonsensical, but if he were to lean towards what it could be...]

Well, I guess I had some weird feeling that something bad was going to happen. But... I saw that, too.

[Maybe that's why they sounded so dramatic, in the pieces he could catch before. He didn't see anything, he only heard the words. This all feels like they're uncovering some weird mystery.

Rin turns around, so fast he just about spins, to face Haru. He crosses his arms, looks at Haru, then averts his eyes. This is all so unsettling.]

So. Haru.

Looks like we... well, sorta "we"... were together. Either in the past or some fantasy that we're both apparently experiencing.

[But if anything, Rin is far too much of a coward to admit his own feelings. He can readily admit that. Especially when he thinks of how Haru would react, with his cool and even gaze. It's a rare occasion where he can be certain of what Haru feels... so, he might as well try to find out. So, as nonchalant has he can sound:]

... What do you think about that?

[What does he think about it? It was all so confusing, so complicated that it's hard to think any single thing. It was crazy to think that there had been some other kinds of lives. He was Nanase Haruka. swimmer. He had met Rin in school when they had swam together and done something amazing. He remembers his entire life until now, clear as could be.

But he liked the idea. He liked thinking he came home to Rin every day, though he would have liked to know what else had happened. What had they done together? How had it happened? Had they always known? What let them know? Who had spoken up first?

They'd found each other again. Even to Haru, wasn't that kind of amazing? Through another life, through Australia and fights and crazy life, they had ended up in his living room, discovering that they had used to be a couple. He liked it. It was --

And then it clicked. That horrible feeling about letting Rin out of his sight. That had been a past life and now, they were in this one. His eyes grew rounder, more afraid, downright fearful. Just as quickly the blood ran from his face, and his throat constricted.]

Rin... You died. [Technically, so did he since he was here, but that wasn't what he had been feeling.] You...

[Rin's expression fades from that of embarrassment into that of... shock? He wants to berate Haru for changing the subject and not answering, leaving him hanging about where he stood now. But this sounds like an important detail to whatever these strange visions were.

Of course, whatever or whenever they are, they both must have died at some point-- that looks like an era before even their great-grandparents' time. But with the look in Haru's eyes like that, and the sinking feeling in Rin's stomach, it probably wasn't from natural causes.]

What did you see?

[His tone turns more serious, watching Haru closely. Even if this isn't really him, Rin can't help but be curious. In some very morbid way.]

[It wasn't intentional. He had planned to answer, planned to give an actual rather than 'it doesn't matter' or 'do what you want', but he can't ignore that last detail. Nothing as ever hit him so hard before, so deep. Rin had died. Something had killed Rin. He stood before Haru now, so strong and so healthy, but at one point something had taken the other swimmer from him.

Shaken, it takes him a second to realize Rin had asked a question and even then, it takes him some time to answer. This was why he hadn't wanted to part with him. When they were in one another's sites, they knew the other was okay.

Finally, his head shakes.] Nothing. [Nothing of his death, anyway.] I just remember...being afraid. When you're not here, it's strong. It's because you died.

same with Haru! it's okay to make it natural. sorry if the pace is slow =(

aww it's okay! it feels like something that is good to build to

it's been a fun build up, at least

wah i'm glad you think so, i do too

<3

(*σﾉ､σ)

:3

u3u

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