#int ft. kui

[erenozturk]

setting: blush boutique

featuring: eren öztürk & kui james @thelatekuijames

Eren muttered a curse under his breath, a single faux leather clad fingertip slipping beneath the hole on his palm and rubbing slowly at the skin beneath. This was why he should have kept a larger collection of gloves handy. Sometimes in the middle of hard work, it was easy for the fabric to snag on something and tear. If he hadn’t heard that rip… he shuddered to think of any accidental brushing of skin against his own, tugging at the sleeve of his overcoat to cover the vulnerable hand in question. Down to his last pair, he knew it was time to get another — or maybe a handful, pun intended. It was what drew him to the boutique, shoving his torn glove laced hand into his pocket as he pushed open the door with his other.

This wasn’t normally his scene by any means, ever since swapping from a flip phone to one of those smart phones, the banshee had become an avid fan of online shopping. There was an incredible lack of interaction that came with ordering things online, and practically everything was at his finger tips. Never mind that touch screens didn’t always work well with his preferred handwear, Eren figured out his way around things just to keep his human interaction to an absolute minimum. They did have those smart phone friendly gloves, after all. He wondered if maybe he could find something similar here.

Glancing about at the wares — and incredibly wary of any other bodies idling by — Eren found instead that his gaze landed upon a familiar face. Kui James had been one of those interviewed by the council, when they requested his services. While his skin crawled at the memory of constant contact, a part of his mind whirled with the memory of secrets and visions unfurling before his very eyes. Memories of death were always a complicated affair, one he dealt with on a professional basis. As he looked at them, he wondered if he had done his best to lessen the blow of reliving such a thing, or the awkwardness of sharing it with so many others. Attempting a semblance of a smile — something small, cordial, polite in an efficient way — Eren approached Kui with a slightly bowed head. “Hello there,” he greeted, tone dry but not particularly rude or unwelcoming. “It’s… Kui, right? It’s good to see you again. I hope you’re doing well,” and they could be sure it was earnest, as a fae could not lie. “Perhaps you can help me, you see,” he paused to pull his hand out of his pocket and show the torn glove, “It looks like I’m due for a replacement… or five. You don’t happen to carry high quality gloves? Or maybe even the ones with the touch pad friendly finger tips?”

[erenozturk]

When he saw Kui, Eren approached slowly, making sure to be in their line of vision, and stopping a couple feet away while waving a hand to get their attention. The headphones were always a sign to him to be respectful as he drew closer, reminding him of his own reservations when others approached him. It was only when they spoke up that he drew a bit closer. He still kept what was a comfortable distance for him as he motioned to the grass below. “No, I’m sorry. I saw you sitting here and thought I would come say hi. I wanted to thank you, for these—” The banshee held up his hands, and the gorgeous gloves which he wore, commissioned from Kui. “—They were better than I could have imagined.” He smiled, small and thoughtful, at the flower crowns between them. “I don’t have a preference, at least not while I’m wearing a pink jean jacket.” An oddity — the plum suit at the fae ball was already a step out of his comfort zone, now this? If Aiyla had not been a great friend, he wouldn’t have agreed to wearing this. “May I?” He asked after a moment, motioning to a spot to sit and waiting on confirmation. He wouldn’t be like those that ask and just sit down. If they wanted to be alone, then he would leave them alone. “How do you make them stay together?” He nodded curiously to the flower crowns. “I feel like any time I’ve tried, the flowers just break up in my hands.” Was he too rough? Did he not know a gentle touch because he hadn’t had one in a long while? He tried not to think on that, it felt too pathetic. “It sucks they won’t give us points for these — making them seems like a more difficult activity than these other things.” Except some of them required comfort zones to be breached, and maybe that was more difficult than physical ability. “I think you’d win us a lot of points,” he laughed, an airy, barely there sound.

open starter (probably capping at 4-5 responses!) when: sunday, day 1 of field days where: a clearing in echo acres or some private corner of a field/the town green, whatever works best!

≽·≼

Team building was all well and good, in an abstract sort of way, but Kui swiftly realized if they were going to be any use to their Court whatsoever during these challenges, it would be necessary to temper their involvement, back out sometimes just for the sake of remaining functional. They wished this realization had come a little bit softer, a little less intrusively, prior to spacing out at the archery range. Residual prickles of shame still raced up and down their spine, wrecking havoc on their breathing. It was more restful away from the chaos, and they set to weaving flower crowns to soothe their rattled nerves. Some unknowable stretch of time later, Kui started out of their reverie as another citizen joined them. "Oh, sorry," they apologized, removing their headphones. "Did you want...?" They held out a wreath of multilayered daisies and dandelions. "You know, for the, ah... team spirit? I've got a bunch, if you want a different color."

[erenozturk]

Their briefly startled reaction caused Eren to flash an apologetic smile, voice softening as he bowed his head and replied, “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to startle you, or anything.” He guessed he had been too quiet, too blatantly invisible. It was as he always wanted to be, part of his job. An ability to blend in and be unnoticed. It was how he did his stake outs, how he worked in the shadows. It was also just how he conducted himself publicly, wanting to never be so perceived, to be left alone wherever he was. And while nobody was inside, it did appear their work was busy. He wondered if he should have made himself more known before approaching, but it didn’t serve much to dwell on that now.

The knowledge that they could fix his glove was met with a deeply appreciative smile, slightly bigger than he would normally spare, and with slightly shaking hands he released the broken glove from his hand. His bare hand shook in the cool air, Eren slipping it safely into his jacket’s pocket as he placed the torn glove on the counter. He kept his other slightly worn glove on. He followed them to a display of gloves and looked over each of them, running his gloved hand over likewise finely made gloves in shades of black, brown, tan and gray, always favoring a neutral — though the tan ones were a bit too light for him. A pair of navy suede ones also caught his hazel eyes. He could add another pop of color to his wardrobe — his secretary had said he looked so nice in that plum suit he wore to the ill-fated masquerade.

He blinked once at the question about touch-friendly gloves, a smile quirking on his lips. And he thought he was somewhat behind on the trends, having recently traded a flip phone for a smart phone and taken on a thing called an ‘iPad’ which amounted to just a very large smartphone as he understood it. Except he could play more games on it, which was his favorite part of the new tech he’d taken on at the agency. “Some of these newer cellular devices and the like have touch screens,” he clarified evenly, not as condescending as he sometimes accidentally came off, but instead sounding equally confused by the concept. “They don’t work well with my gloves. I was told they made gloves these days where some of the fingertips were made to be able to be used with these touch screens, though I’m not sure how true that is. I’m guessing you’ve never seen these?” This was their expertise, and he would trust Kui’s word.

Eren smiled politely but shook his head, “I’m not very particular beyond color. My wardrobe and taste veers predominantly towards the monochromatic and exclusively in the black and grays. But more than anything, I just need something comfortable and high quality so it’ll last longer than these.” He waved the glove he still wore, with the palm looking thinner and on its way to getting its own tear from all the use. Lowering his hand, he stared briefly at the glove, his safety net and one thing that made him feel safe and ordinary outside of his apartment and office. How naked he felt with his bare hand stuffed anxiously into his pocket. He tried to shake the thought. “But if you are able to craft something that works with a touch screen, if that’s even possible, or something that’s a bit thinner than these clunky ones I usually wear that won’t tear quickly… I’d be interested in commissioning you. The warmer months are so tough since it’s easy to sweat in these thicker gloves, which makes it uncomfortable, but… They’re rather a big necessity for me.” He felt weird and vulnerable admitting that, but shrugged it off.

≽·≼

A small startled noise, barely audible, emerged from the back of Kui's throat when the greeting came. It wasn't uncommon for them to become lost in thought, and today the shop floor was sleepy enough that they let their feet take them about their tasks without distraction. Today that meant sorting through the racks and pulling out the occasional coat or sweater that they didn't want front-and-center as the weather outside began to warm into spring.

They hadn’t expected to see much of Eren, given that before their encounter at the Council meeting, they had barely been aware of each other beyond the assumed connection of the Court. Still, what they knew of him, they respected, and had even sent a very professional note his way, which was more contact than Kui usually initiated with anyone.

“That’s right, Kui James. I'm doing pretty good, all things considered. Thanks for asking," they confirmed for him with a nod, setting aside their current task and giving him their full attention instead. "How can I help you, Mr. Öztürk?” When he presented the torn glove, they nodded with immediate understanding. “I can definitely fix that, if you want to leave it there for me." They indicated the counter nearby. "But we do have some decent pairs kicking around that might serve in the meantime..." They turned, tracing a familiar path to a displays of accessories—hats, scarves, earmuffs and the like, and of course, gloves. “There’s a few pairs to choose from, and I can offer you a discount given it's almost the end of the season, although—” Kui paused and tried to parse the meaning of the last phrase he’d used. Coming up empty, they tilted their head to him. “What do you mean by… 'touch pad friendly'? I’m not familiar.” Fashion and technology had moved in leaps and bounds, and they'd picked up much in the last year, but not this phrase. What did it mean for a glove to be friendly? “Of course, if you're very particular, I do offer designs on commission? I’d be happy to work on some specific to you, maybe even a couple variations for spring and summer, so you always have replacements ready?” Normally such an investment might be a bit much, but he was fae. Putting in some extra effort and planning now could only pay off for him in the long run, given both of their potentially extended lifetimes.