[But you're different. You always have been. You know that, right?
Caught, reeled in and served up like the paccheri al coccio new to Sia la Luce's menu. He's watched Kojiro filleting fish before, slicing and taking them apart with fascinating delicacy for a man of his strength, and that's almost how he feels right now.
Did he know just how deeply that would cut? Kaoru has heard it before, perhaps not in that order or with those specific words but it's burned into his memory nonetheles. There are a hundred different ways he could bite back- some he's used on Ainosuke in the countless imaginary arguments he's had with him over the years- and they're all balanced on the tip of his tongue. Being "special" is just empty praise when it ends in being left behind anyway- and yet.
And yet.
When it's from those lips, he...
Hands balled into tight fists, the calligrapher rises from his seat. Moral high ground, literal high ground, the usual.]
You can't- we can't just- [But they can and it's so tantalisingly close it makes his head hurt. If he were capable, he might hate Kojiro for offering it up to him so easily.] You've thought about this before. How long?
[It's an easy enough question for Kaoru: far too long. Who wouldn't fall for a man as warm and nurturing as the sun on his shoulder? When he'd turned up one day with his fresh ink on display, Kaoru had been merciless in his teasing but it's really the perfect symbol for him. Generous, passionate, bold Kojiro, always there at the end of the darkest of nights.]
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Caught, reeled in and served up like the paccheri al coccio new to Sia la Luce's menu. He's watched Kojiro filleting fish before, slicing and taking them apart with fascinating delicacy for a man of his strength, and that's almost how he feels right now.
Did he know just how deeply that would cut? Kaoru has heard it before, perhaps not in that order or with those specific words but it's burned into his memory nonetheles. There are a hundred different ways he could bite back- some he's used on Ainosuke in the countless imaginary arguments he's had with him over the years- and they're all balanced on the tip of his tongue. Being "special" is just empty praise when it ends in being left behind anyway- and yet.
And yet.
When it's from those lips, he...
Hands balled into tight fists, the calligrapher rises from his seat. Moral high ground, literal high ground, the usual.]
You can't- we can't just- [But they can and it's so tantalisingly close it makes his head hurt. If he were capable, he might hate Kojiro for offering it up to him so easily.] You've thought about this before. How long?
[It's an easy enough question for Kaoru: far too long. Who wouldn't fall for a man as warm and nurturing as the sun on his shoulder? When he'd turned up one day with his fresh ink on display, Kaoru had been merciless in his teasing but it's really the perfect symbol for him. Generous, passionate, bold Kojiro, always there at the end of the darkest of nights.]