5isms

[5isms]

“….” Crea was never one to waste food, yet the candied apple unconsciously slipped from his hands and fell on the ground as he slowly pulled the other into a gentle, but tight hug. There was a lot to say, yet nothing to say at the same time — not when words were never enough. But, at the very least…

“It must’ve all been so hard, Shi-tan,” he told him, “I’m sorry I wasn’t there with you, even though I promised you that we’ll grow older together. And… thank you.” The words were never enough. “I’m only alive now because you tried so hard, Shi-tan. You stayed strong for so long.”

Because of intrusive thoughts about his father, he stopped paying attention to his candied apple.

"Dad was a pathetic man. He always was" was all he could say. Rquímedes was also very intelligent, but he couldn't praise him for that. Ross couldn't say anything good about him because of his conflicting feelings. And although he said Rchimedes was pathetic, there was no intense contempt in that statement.

"But I owe him my life, in a way. It's because I'm alive that I got to meet the hero, Ruki. You. And that's what matters to me." This time, it was he who sought out Crea's hands. Touching him made him feel like all of this was real. The nightmare was over.

[5isms]

Finally reaching the apple part, Crea took a bite from it, glancing at the other. He hummed to himself in thought, before looking up at the sky. “…You know, Shi-tan,” he started, quietly, then fell silent for a moment. His free hand reached out to hold the other’s as he turned to him with a small smile. “Back then, I could feel uncle’s emotions, sometimes.”

He never really talked about that period, but there was something… he wanted the other to know. “Uncle hated himself,” he told him, before closing his eyes. “I think you already knew that, Shi-tan, but… just before he left my body, I think there was also… relief.” Letting go of the other’s hand, he offered the other a bigger smile, yet there was a tender look in his eyes. “…I just thought you should know that.”

"I'll take you to see the tree. We can go in a week or two. If we finish the hideout first." Ross, having a structured way of thinking, believed that they should finish one activity before embarking on a new one.

Soon, the mention of his father made him abruptly fall silent and lose himself in thoughts he didn't want to say out loud.

"Yeah, I think Dad would have liked it." Crea had a very kind heart; he held no grudge against Rchimedes, even though he had every right to hate him to bits. Ross appreciated that too, that they prioritized the good times, even if they were few. "When we go to see the tree… we can have a picnic" in honor of the old memories and the new future that awaited them.

[5isms]

“Wow, that sounds awesome! We should eat some apples from it too, Shi-tan! We took care of it together, after all. You should feel proud too!” Ah, it was a nice memory. It felt surreal to think of that small sapling he watched over eagerly as a big tree with fruits, now. He took another lick of the candied apple with a small smile. “Everything is so nice. I wish uncle was here to see it, too.” What a thing to say about the person that took over your body for thousands of years.

"The whole outer layer tastes like sugar," because that's what it was. "The apple flavor will come later, when you can bite into it," when the caramel layer loosened . "Did you expect it to have a different flavor?" He asked while he was doing his thing, he really liked sweets so he was like a king at a feast.

"That tree… many have eaten its apples. They even sell them too. They appreciate it a lot, you can feel proud."

[5isms]

⭒⭒⭑⭒ -- 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘁𝘀: FIRST TIMES (sfw), part 1

remember you can send 'reverse' to switch the roles ! other parts will be posted here.

ANGRY receiver is angry at sender for the first time BED receiver and sender share a bed for the first time CAR receiver shares a ride with sender for the first time COOKING receiver cooks for sender for the first time CRYING receiver sees sender crying for the first time DATE receiver asks sender out on a date for the first time DRUNK receiver drunk calls/texts sender for the first time FLOWERS receiver gives sender flowers for the first time HAND receiver touches sender’s hand for the first time HEARTFELT receiver sends sender a heartfelt text/audio for the first time HUG receiver hugs sender for the first time HURT receiver sees sender hurt for the first time HOME receiver goes to sender’s home for the first time MESS receiver sees sender in a messy state for the first time JOURNAL receiver writes about sender in their journal for the first time SAFE receiver feels safe around sender for the first time SEEN receiver sees sender for the first time SICK receiver sees sender sick for the first time SNOOZE receiver falls asleep on sender for the first time SUN receiver and sender watch the sunrise together for the first time TEXT receiver texts sender first after a long silence for the first time UPSET receiver sends sender an upset text/audio for the first time

[5isms]

Unfortunately (?) for Ross, once they did get the candied apple, Crea quickly figured out how to eat them. Well, not quite, but he didn’t start biting them, at least.

“Hmm, they don’t taste like apples.” No shit, since he was still on the outer layer. “Oh, I wonder how that apple tree we planted when we were younger is doing! It must’ve grown pretty big. I wonder if it had kids, too.”

Apple on a stick?

"Candied apple, you mean?" He asked, but then added, "They're not soft, they're hard. They have a caramel coating on the outside. I want one too, and while I'm at it, I'll see you lose a couple of teeth."

Yes, he thought the idea was great.

"Let's go get those candied apples."

[5isms]

His face visibly brightened when the other said he wanted to keep the dandelion. Being called a ‘friend’ seemed to make him extremely happy, too, chuckling at the food offer.

“It’s okay! I washed the roots. I heard you can eat them too!” He proudly took the dandelion roots out of his pocket to show Kamui, and then he just… stuffed them in his mouth to chew them, before promptly spitting them out.

“B-bitter!” No shit. “I guess I need to be grown up so I can eat it… It’s like coffee beans, but I liked coffee beans better because they were crunchy.” Seems like the texture of the roots didn’t help, either. He quickly got over it, though, laughing at himself while he wiped his mouth with his coat. “I didn’t think it would taste like that! Do you like bitter food, Ka-mui?”

[5isms]

@malaeartes / CONTINUATION.

“Haha, you two are really good friends!” Probably not the thing to say to someone who just compared the idea of matching bracelets to collaring a dog, but he knew that was just Shion’s type of affection. It was endearing, in a way.

Looking over at the things on display with a smile, he hummed in contemplation. “I don’t know. I already have everything I want. A shovel, a net, a bag…” he counted them off on his fingers, before his stomach growled, making him realize that he was, in fact, very hungry. “Ah, food! Do you want to eat something, Shi-tan? I saw a strange apple-thing on a stick earlier.”

[5isms]

“It’s okay! His arm wasn’t really hurt, and he was laughing when he told me! He looks like a strong man.” Standing up, he tugged on the other’s hand, in high spirits now that the other would be spending time with him. “Is there anything you want to buy, Shi-tan? Since we’re going to the market, we can buy other things too! I have some money because I helped some aunties before I found the carpenter.” He really seemed to like going around and talking to people, it seems.

"That's horrible. And now you're telling me all that?" Crea could have started there. One of the few times Ross didn't laugh at other people's misfortune.

"Well, as you know, I won't continue with these calculations for now. We can go to the market." but the safety gear had to be purchased, which meant that he would have to pay out of his own pocket, in exchange for the material.

[5isms]

“I found the carpenter before I came here! He said he’ll give me stuff if I help him find new safety gear because he almost cut his arm off while working.” Makes sense why he remembered the time the other lost his arm and leg and immediately sought him, then. His hand automatically took the other’s again, his shoulders relaxing in contentment at the touch. “I was going to go look around in the markets, so I wanted to invite you with me if you weren’t busy.”

"The X might get erased. Or someone might notice it and start snooping around…" though, well, he then dismissed any bad omens. “No one would take a few rocks anyway” that thought he ended up saying out loud was reassuring.

"We need to finish that hideout… Do you want to go out tomorrow to find the carpenter?" he asked, extending his hand again.

[5isms]

“So it’s still okay to hold hands?” He sat up happily, like a dog that was told it was time to go for a walk. With how much he liked digging holes and catching beetles, he might as well be a dog. The loyalty part was there, too.

“I’ll remember where I buried them! There’s a pretty red flower behind it, and I drew an X on the dirt like it’s a treasure box mark.” Kind of goes against the whole ‘hiding it somewhere to keep it safe’ idea that he buried them for in the first place, but he didn’t seem to realize that. Then again, no one was going to steal some rocks anyway.

"I mean, yes we can. But not as much as we used to" how the hell did he explain that. Now, he felt completely heartless because Crea was like a big kid, he had missed out on a lot of things in life and now Ross was taking a couple of them away from him right now.

"You know what? Forget what I said, just keep being yourself and doing the same old things." now it was he who was giving ground. "Eh? Did you bury them? Will you remember where you buried them? You won't make me look for them everywhere when the time comes…"

[5isms]

“A couple’s thing? …Does that mean we can’t hold hands anymore?” he asked, something hollow echoing in his chest at the thought. Was holding hands bad for their age? What about hugging and napping beside each other? He still… hadn’t had enough of nice things like that.

But if it wasn’t okay with his friend anymore, then he didn’t want to cause him trouble. It still made him happy that he can spend time with him like this, perking up at the other’s interest in their pet rocks. “Ah, I dug a hole and buried the rocks in it to keep them safe. I’ll dig them out when we finish the hero hideout!”

"You said it. When we were kids." He felt he owed him an explanation, so that's what he did next. "We're not kids anymore, and at our age, it's more of a couple's thing than a friend's thing," he explained. They were old enough to drink now, not counting those extra thousand years to add to their ages.

"No, maybe I'll go for a walk. What did you do with the pet rocks? We have to put their names on a piece of paper and also draw their faces...."

[5isms]

“But we used to hold hands a lot when we were younger...” he trailed off in confusion, but then quietened down. His hand didn’t let go of the other’s immediately, lingering for a bit, before he slowly retracted his hand. Usually, he wouldn’t take the other’s awkwardness with affection too seriously; he knew it was just embarrassment, yet…

Maybe it was because of the memory that flashed in his mind earlier that he felt a little emotional. Holding the other’s hand had felt reassuring to him. “Are you going to get back to work?”

"Colder?" What was Crea talking about? His gaze immediately shifted to his hand and Ross realized they were holding hands—well, sort of.

To avoid a violent reaction, he looked away, but his face flushed an aggressive red. "Would you let go of my hand? This is embarrassing."

It wasn't something friends should do.

[5isms]

“You think so? He’s a nice guy, so he helps me out. I wonder if I can be reliable like that, too. It would be nice if I could help him back!” He glanced down at the other’s hand in thought, a small smile on his lips. Something else seemed to capture his attention though, and he tilted his head curiously. “Do your hands get cold easily, Shi-tan? Your hand feels a little colder than mine.”

"His specialty is dealing with kids and you are like a big, very tall kiddo" There he went, roasting him with affection.

"I'm glad you're spending time together, that guy needs a friend." any friend but Alba, the hero could not be touched in his eyes. Ross had a serious possessive affection issue with the hero. Because he was talking about this, he lost perspective of what was going on with their hands.

[5isms]

“Can I give the ta-xe-s people half of the money? It would be easier than counting.” Yeah no, he had zero idea how this works.

@5isms

"It's that time of the year" the time to fill out the form and file the tax return.

[5isms]

“That’s true, nothing can stop us! Even the things that are con-vutlt-ed… con-vol-ed… convo-lu-ted,” he nodded solemnly, trying to copy the other’s vocabulary. The fact that he struggled through the word twice before pronouncing it didn’t seem to faze him. He gave the other’s hand some small squeezes back, but in his case it was more like he was playing with a squeaky toy. “Foy-foy helped me a lot! Like with convo-lu-ted things. He’s a very good teacher.”

"I feel like people like to overcomplicate their lives these days" Gosh, he had spoken like an old man. Hearing himself made him a little angry and he squeezed Crea's hand a little out of reflex.

“I still don't understand a lot of things for the same reason, they're more convoluted than they should be. But, it's good to have someone who does understand and lean on them for support. FoyFoy is very competent at it” he acknowledged the blond's skills - maybe he was never much of a hero but he did have good household and financial management skills.

"But I think we'll be able to get used to everything. Nothing has ever stopped us. Not before, and it won't stop us now."

[5isms]

“Yeah! Sometimes people give me money when I help them too. Ta-xe-s are confusing though.” He still had no idea how to do them, so he always asked for someone’s help — like that yellow-haired teacher. “There’s a lot of new different things now,” he mused, holding onto the other’s hand and slowly swaying it around. “Was it hard for you to get used to it, Shi-tan? Whenever things changed.”

"Well, I like being helpful just like you. We just do it in different ways" didn't invalidate Crea's efforts to help even though they had different ways of achieving the same goal.

His hand also moved, playing with Crea's, without thinking too much, an innocent back and forth.

[5isms]

@malaeartes / CONTINUATION.

Without a moment of hesitation, Crea readily hugged him back — a warm, but tight hug. The coat over his shoulders almost drooped around the other as well, offering a shelter of its own. “Of course, Shi-tan,” he gently murmured to the other, closing his eyes, one hand rubbing the younger’s back in comfort. “I’ll always be here for you.” A promise that, unbeknownst to him, he’ll have to break. Yet, for the moment, he said it with all his heart, “I’m here.”