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#btw theyre pronounced exactly how they look
arillusionist · 8 months
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shadow and bone s2e1 reaction - i said i would watch this episode on sunday but i lied. haha
they should've put 6 crows in the sky are they dumb
kaz gave them papers?? when?? he probably did it offscreen i swear i didnt forget the last episode that quickly
ok oh my god by the way. they better have fixed malina in this season too because i'm halfway through siege and storm and i literally want to kill mal hes so fucking annoying and literally SO toxic. i miss the soc relationships they were all so well written
fuck this after i finish the s&b triology im rereading soc
ooh nice map
YAYY WE'RE IN KETTERDAM i hope they have more episodes here this season. aka more than 2
i have a feeling this is where they meet wylan... or nina maybe
"are you saying we have no home" ?? what about the slat
KAZ'S BACKSTORY??
thats how you pronounce inej's last name?? my whole life is a lie wtf
"she does that" aw he sounds so proud
stop this is like that one scene from soc except if he faints inej's voice wont be there to ground him when he wakes up ☹️
omg thats nikolai/sturmhond right
PLEASE KAZ'S SIDE EYE WHEN HE LOOKS AT JESPER
take your damn shoes off
ok they better tell him where shes going because while theyre on the verge of going to prison shes just making out with her boyfriend
i love alina but am i supposed to feel bad for her?? bc i dont
yayy he told him but good thing inej isnt here
Kaz side eye 2.0
theyre revealing the jesper grisha thing already...? interesting
omg novyi zem looks exactly like how i imagined it "these fugitives are wanted for crimes against our country" this isnt your country dawg
i can already tell theyre toyla and tamar
is this ketterdam again is that inej
so they kill heleen ofscreen. and inej has literally no reaction to it.
I am so confused rn didnt kaz buy inej's indenture??
WAIT NO I GET IT STOP IM SO DUMB
"im not leaving you. not now" ☹️☹️☹️☹️
HEARTRENDER NINA PLEASEEEEE 🙏🙏🙏
tf is he waffling about
talking about pekka btw
if theyre doing the whole pekka plot now what did they leave for the spinoff?? ik its probably not happening but they thought it was gonna happen and they wrote the scripts but what even are in those scripts
then again i think they only wrote the scripts for the first book
but what were they planning on putting in it for the second book if they got it 💀
WYLANNNNNN!!!!!
so he already had wylan employed (??) or whatever interesting
NINAAAAAAAA!!!!!!
"funny guns and angry hat" speaking of hats can kaz please stop wearing one it looks so fucking ugly
aww nina talking to inej in suli
MATTHIAS!!!
all the crows in one episode this is crazy
and they've been onscreen for 9 whole minutes?? even crazier
i spoke too soon 💀💀
is this a cult
GENYA!!!!!
i need to stop doing that everytime a character i like shows up
but seriously i just need zoya now and i'll be so happy
is he a fucking cannibal
IS GENYA A CANNIBAL TOO
WESPER MEETING!!!! i wasnt excepting it this episode but yay
ALL THE CROWS IN ONE PLACEE except matthias but ik thats not happening this season
"in truth hes the love of my life" kaz im sure you know so much about that
"he does this" "does he" lmfaooo
omg its the iconic scene i've seen in way too many edits
Inej in the middle i knew she was the main main character 😍😍
ughhhh i thought the episode would end with the crows but ofc not
ok now it ended
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dam-those-words · 5 years
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15 Questions Tag Game!
I was (kinda) tagged by @georgiacambrielwritblr!
Rules: Pick a character (or two in my case) from your WIP and have them answer these 15 questions, then tag 15 people!
(Also, I already had this post done but when I tried to post it Tumblr went Thud appearently and deleted it instead, so I had to start over. Sorry for the long wait Georgia lol)
1. What is your full name?
" I'm Aniol Kaminski," The dirty-blonde male on the interviewer's right ruffles his red and gold wings. It takes most of the interviewer's willpower to not stare at them while shaking his hand; of course they've seen wings before, but never like these.
"Mattea Sarai," Says the platinum blonde on the interviewer's left. She completely disregards the interviewers outstretched hand and instead sits back in her wooden chair and crosses her arms.
2. What does it mean?
"Mine means something like, 'Stone Angel,' in Polish, so that's pretty cool." Aniol's voice is a growly-type deep, and paired with his thick accent, it takes the interviewer a second the realize what he said.
"You're so lucky. [Throwback to when his name was actually Lucky lmao] My name means some bullshit like, 'Princess,' or 'God's Gift,' or something. Makes me wanna barf just thinking about it." Mattea says, making a puking gesture.
"Woah there, young lady. Who taught you to cuss?" Aniol grins at her, but the way he flashes it makes it seem more like baring his teeth.
Mattea raises an eyebrow. "What do you mean, 'Who taught you to cuss?' Have you heard yourself?" She leans forward in her wooden chair, putting her elbows on her knees.
Aniol leans forward, copying Mattea. He whispers-- well more like growls-- something too quiet for the interviewer to hear, but makes the rage in Mattea's eyes simmer.
The tension in the room makes the interviewer realize that the wooden table in between them would do nothing if the got into a fight as bad as they'd been rumored to. The interviewer clears their throat and asks the next question.
3. Do you two have any nicknames or other names?
"I don't really have any, but this little devil does call me Bird Boy more often than she calls me Aniol," Aniol nodded towards the girl across the wooden table.
Mattea had snatched a peanut butter cookie from the gold-lined plate in the middle of the table, and now had a mouthful of cookie. She somehow still managed to say, "Are you forgetting about Jexi calling you Ann? Like, Ann of Green Gables?"
Aniol simply rolls his eyes, replying, "I'm not forgetting, I'm just ignoring the fact that you've appearently eavesdropped. And don't talk while eating,"
"Its not like I try to listen to everything that happens in your guys' rooms, especially at night when you guys--"
"Anyway, why don't you tell them what your nickname is?" His cheeks are a bright red as he talks.
Mattea smiles, relaxing a little and shrugging. "I don't really have any, either. Oh, well, Mayson calls me Matt sometimes. But other than that, none."
4. What's your gender?
"Male, obviously," Aniol says, the pink already fading.
"Female," Mattea answers.
"God, we're so boring. I wish we had Dani so they could spice it up," There's a tinge of sadness in his voice. He frowns down at his hands where he holds a small paperclip he had been figiting with, his short and jagged hair falling into his eyes.
Mattea's eyebrows scrunch for a split second before a mask of arrogance passes over he features, and she says, "Speak for yourself, amigo. I'm the most interesting out of the entire Assassin's."
Aniol's returning look is so full of an emotion that the interviewer can't place, but still makes them look away and clear their throat yet again.
5. What is your sexuality?
"I'm pansexual," Aniol says quickly, sitting back in his chair and grabbing a cookie.
The confusion must have shown on the interviewer's face, since Aniol adds on, in a matter-of-fact tone, "It means that I can like anyone, regardless of their gender."
The interviewer nods and turns towards Mattea for an answer.
She had become a completely different person than she was about five seconds ago: she had somehow scrunched in on herself, grabbing her arms as if she were cold. Her lips were pursed.
"I--uh, I don't... I think--" Mattea is interrupted again by Aniol, but this time her expression changes to relief instead of amusement.
"We've talked about it before, and Mattea would like to not answer that question. If we could move on, that'd be great." He says in the same matter-of-fact tone as earlier.
6. Where are you from?
"Poland, though you can probably tell," Aniol says, his accent somehow becoming thicker than before.
Mattea clears her throat, the tension slowly leaving her body. "I'm from here. Akida."
7. How old are you?
"I'm 25. I was born on October 2nd, 2005." Aniol says.
"I'm only two years younger than him, and yet he somehow thinks that he's sooo--" Mattea does jazz hands as she speaks. "--much smarter and wiser than me, even though I obviously am the smarter one."
Aniol rolls his eyes, throwing the last bit of his cookie at her. He hits her directly in the forehead. His eyes go wide.
There's a moment of silence before they both burst out laughing. It fills the small room, and the interviewer can't help but join them.
8. Any special talents?
"Not really. I mean, I'm pretty good at baseball, but my wings get in the way for any sport." Aniol ruffles his wings again in emphasis. The interviewer silently thanks themselves again for remembering to get a special chair to accommodate his wings.
"I'm good at using most weapons, besides those stupid miscellaneous ones. I'm also good at braiding my own hair, which is something even Jexi can't do." Mattea figits with her hair tie, throwing Aniol an arrogant grin.
"Hey, you should put all that on your future resumes. I'm great at weapons, also known as murder, I can tie my hair back like any normal human, and I can be incredibly stupid! I'm the whole package!" Aniol mocks, making his deep voice extremely high.
The interviewer tenses, but is pleasantly surprised when all Mattea does is laugh and look expectantly for the next question.
9. Any kids?
Mattea bark-laughs again, shaking her head vigorously.
Aniol only shrugs his shoulders and says, "In the future, if my partner wants them. But none right now,"
10. What's your aesthetic?
Mattea interrupts Aniol before he has a chance to open his mouth, ticking the subjects off on her fingers as she talks, "Water fountains, pale roses, lip balm, pastel colors, stationary--"
It's Aniol's turn to cut her off, asking what an aesthetic is.
"It's like... your vibes. Like, for you it would be something like... maybe lots of grey and orange things." Mattea explains.
"That sounds stupid, but whatever. I guess mine is cobblestone, rain... uh, bright orange feathers and pumpkins. I don't know what it means, don't laugh at me!" He adds when Mattea tries to cover her laugh up with a cough.
11. Who's your best friend?
"Jexi,"
"Are you sure it's only best friend? Nothing else?" Mattea prods at Aniol's answer.
"Oh shut up. What about you and Mayson, huh?" He snaps back. Her cheeks turn as red as Aniol's cheeks earlier.
"That's not important,"
"Mhm," Though their words suggest tension, their eyes are full of amusement.
12. Would you ever get piercings or tattoos?
"I already have a tattoo," Aniol says, pulling up his grey sleeve to show a black and white tattoo of an arrow on his bicep.
"Wait, when did you get that?" Mattea asks, leaning forward to see it better.
"Jexi gave it to me when we were nineteen,"
Mattea's eyebrows rise. "Jexi did? And you still refuse to acknowledge the fact that she's--"
"Did I not make myself clear, Matt?" Aniol snarls, letting his sleeve fall down.
Mattea snarls right back.
The interviewer hastily asks the next question, hoping to change their focus onto them.
13. When are you happiest?
Aniol throws Mattea one last death glare before ruffling his wings yet again. "When I'm flying,"
"With a certain someone," Mattea tries to whisper but the interviewer hears her anyway, smirking.
"Do you have a death wish or what, Matt?"
"Name a time when I didn't,"
Aniol starts to respond but is cut off by the interviewer, still desperately hoping to get through this interview without a fight. The interviewer asks Mattea the question again.
"If I'm honest, I really like sketching. And archery. And I do like to banter with this idiot," She smiles again, but it's (thankfully) filled with much less venom than before.
That quickly, the tension leaves the room. The interviewer was amazed at their ability to start and end an argument in less than a minute. No wonder these two were always in trouble.
14. What's your biggest secret?
"Oooh, that's a good one. Why don't you go first, Aniol?" Mattea claps her hands, threading them together and putting them on her now crossed legs.
"Oh, uh. I guess... I'm terrified of spiders. Like, I hate then with my whole being,"
Mattea seemingly can't help but laugh at that, trying again and failing at turning it into a cough.
"Hey, you're scared of them, too! Don't you remember when you made Noah switch sleeping bags with you because you thought there was a spider in yours?" Aniol hastily defends himself.
"Yeah, but," Mattea is laughing so hard she can barely talk.
It takes longer than the interviewer would have liked for Mattea to finally calm down, and to ask the question again.
"I think my biggest secret is how I got this necklace and why." Mattea answers, holding out a silver chain with a half-cresent moon dangling on it.
When she doesn't continue, the interviewer decides to move on and get this interview over with.
15. Last question: What's the first thing you notice about people?
"Hmm. I think I notice how they move firstly. That alone tells you a lot about them," Mattea answers, nodding at her own answer.
A grin creeps onto Aniol's face at her, but he only says, "I notice their eye or lips first. I don't really know why, and I honestly should notice their movement first, but," He shrugs.
-
Oh jeez, I'm sorry for the long post lmao!
And idk about 15 people, since tumblr might decide to not actually tag them, but I'll try as many as I can think of!
@supersockosis @toboldlywrite @quillwritten @quilloftheclouds @fruzsiwrites @reeseweston @writeness @bartlebyboys @pens-swords-stuff @msmeaghanrey
As always, you dont have to do this is you dont want to (or already did it), and if I didnt tag you feel free to do it anyway and say I tagged you!
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akechicrimes · 4 years
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7 or 71 for either shuake or yukamitsu [big eye emojis]
7. “I told you that I’d never leave you; I’m not going anywhere.”
On Goro’s thirty-fourth birthday at ten-thirty in the morning, Akira calls him at work and says, “Happy birthday, dear. I just got hit by a car, and I need to know what color bike you want.”
*
On Goro’s thirty-fourth birthday at ten-thirty in the morning, Akira calls him at work (which Goro dubiously eyeballs for a whole four seconds before picking up) and says, “Happy birthday, dear. I just got hit by a car, and I need to know what color bike you want.”
Well, neither Goro nor Akira own a car for Akira to drive, so that means Akira got hit on foot. Goro is very calm, and has no immediate panic response to that, because he’s a rational and responsible adult. “Are you dead?” Goro asks.
“Probably not.”
“And is there a reason you’re calling me instead of the ambulance?”
“Oh, I’m fine. I think I have a bruise on one of my legs, if that counts. But I was riding your bike when it happened, so the bike got totaled, so, you know. They’ve got the same model you had, but there’s tons of new colors, if you want pictures.”
Goro takes a very long, very deep breath. Goro is very, extremely calm. “Anything is fine,” he says. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah, hundred percent. I even landed on my feet; you should’ve seen it.”
“You should go to the ER anyway,” says Goro, in a voice that is truly the epitome of calm.
“I mean, I guess I could, but that seems like a waste of time. And I don’t want to just leave your bike in the middle of the road.”
“Throw it away if it’s wrecked, then.”
“But it deserves a proper send-off.”
“You’re doing this to me on my birthday, Kurusu.”
“I’ll go to the ER if you go with me,” says Akira hopefully, who is a perennially bad influence who is of the opinion that Goro should have just said he’d be ‘working from home’ and spent the day with him.
Goro takes a look at his calendar, tallies up how many meeting he’d have to reschedule, and waits a whole five seconds before he lets himself say, “Fine,” because Akira just said that he’s fine and Goro isn’t upset and everything is so calm that Goro can wait five seconds before agreeing to leave work. “I’ll see you at Leblanc.”
“Wait, wait, which color for the bike? They’ve got green, blue, a red, a kind of fun rose-gold thing, which is a bit excessive considering it’s a bike, and teal, and a kind of blue and orange Naruto-y thing…”
“Anything is fine.” Goro stops. “Except the last one.”
“Red it is! See you in a bit.”
“Don’t ride that bike back to Leblanc,” says Goro, as if lightning might strike twice on the same day on the same man riding the same model bike of the same color, but Akira’s already hung up. Goro speed-drafts a rescheduling email, copy-pastes it to four different people, and then sprints out the office door without even a goodbye to his coworkers.
*
Friday, 11:16 AM
FUTABA: hey
FUTABA: hey goro
FUTABA: hey gorororororororororo
FUTABA: HEY MR AKECHI KURUSU
GORO: If it’s about the traffic accident, I heard about it.
GORO: I’m going back to Leblanc now.
FUTABA: no it’s smthg else
FUTABA: well it is about the accident but i got smthg else for u
FUTABA sent MOV19.mp4
FUTABA: ripped this from the traffic cam
GORO: Is this footage of the accident?
FUTABA: yeehaw
GORO: …Thank you for the offer, but I don’t know if I want to see this.
FUTABA: ok i hear u but i promise it’s hilarious
FUTABA: and also u might feel better if u see it
FUTABA: like idk what he told u on the phone but like
FUTABA: look the car even slowed down at the intersection
FUTABA: the dude was obeying traffic laws and everything he was doing something like ten under the speed limit
FUTABA: the car ENTIRELY missed akira
FUTABA: got the bike full on
FUTABA: and then he just rolls up across the hood and up the windshield like a looney toon
FUTABA: rip ur bike tho it just goes cronch
FUTABA: instant pretzel
FUTABA: ty bichael for ur sacrifice
FUTABA: also idk i figured you
FUTABA: might wanna see for urself that he’s okay
FUTABA: like u can see him stand up at the end and he’s not even confused or anything he’s super duper ok
FUTABA: he’s not bullshitting u over the phone and pretending he’s ok when he’s not ok
FUTABA: u know how he does lmao
GORO: …Huh.
GORO: He really did land on his feet for a whole second there, didn’t he?
FUTABA: yeah like a cat
FUTABA: it’s nuts tbh
FUTABA: and then he remembers he’s a human and falls on his ass LMAO
FUTABA: show it to morgana i want his professional kitty cat opinion on the matter
FUTABA: rate akira’s near death experience
FUTABA: also the driver was v nice and v apologetic and he gave akira his insurance
FUTABA: but i have his home address and work address and phone number and the name of his dog if you want it
GORO: Just the insurance will be fine.
FUTABA: kk
GORO: …And thanks for sending the video.
GORO: Even though I already knew he was fine.
FUTABA: you know those like
FUTABA: itty bitty teeny weeny micro dogs
FUTABA: that are like four and a half pounds
FUTABA: but they think they can take any mfer on the block out of sheer will alone
FUTABA: and theyve always got their eyeballs bulging out and they pick fights with 70 pound dogs
FUTABA: and they have only two emotions which are rage and anxiety and they shake constantly because theyre only four pounds and they have So Much Emotion and nowhere to put it so they vibrate at the speed of sound
GORO: Is this a metaphor about me.
FUTABA: it’s a metaphor about you
FUTABA: because i can hear your shaky angry anxious four pound vibrating all the way from the other side of tokyo
GORO: You are the smallest, angriest, most anxious person I know, who regularly picks fights with international hacking organizations and billion-dollar companies.
GORO: And I, somehow, am the angry shaky dog.
FUTABA: your husband got hit by a car on ur birthday
GORO: I know that.
GORO: I do not need to be reminded.
FUTABA: ah yeah
FUTABA: sorry
GORO: He’s fine.
GORO: He said he’s fine.
GORO: And from this footage, he’s more than fine.
FUTABA: he is super double extra fine with a side of fine
GORO: Unless this footage was in any way edited.
GORO: And unless he was faking his call, somehow.
GORO: In which case, I’m going to walk into Leblanc and find out that he was just pretending to be okay so he could hear my voice one last time and Leblanc will be swarming with police officers to break the news the newly bereaved.
GORO: But that’s not going to happen.
GORO: Because Akira is fine, and I’m perfectly fine.
FUTABA: im rly glad to hear my man
GORO: This footage isn’t edited, is it.
FUTABA: no
GORO: Are you very sure?
GORO: Videos are easily modified.
GORO: Would you even know if it was edited?
FUTABA: yes im a literal wizard of course i would know
FUTABA: where are u even getting this idea from
GORO: The entire series of events is unrealistic, isn’t it?
GORO: You said yourself that it was almost like something out of a cartoon.
GORO: The likelihood that someone gets hit by a car and comes out of it entirely no worse for wear is practically ridiculous.
FUTABA: i ripped that film straight from the cam it is entirely unedited
GORO: But how can you be sure? Did you see him in live camera?
FUTABA: i mean no but he texted me
GORO: What if that was his dying text.
FUTABA: i rly dont know if his dying text would have been the “i lived bitch” meme with the cat filter
FUTABA: he’s fine dude
FUTABA: that’s why i sent you the video
GORO: I KNOW he’s fine.
GORO: I’m asking if there’s any solid evidence.
FUTABA: THE VIDEO
GORO: I’m going to call him. Brb
FUTABA: so what he can tell you he’s fine AGAIN and you’ll be like
FUTABA: “oh but what if it was secretly a pod person who stole his body after he died tragically after calling me one last time to hear my voice”
FUTABA: he is FINE
FUTABA: like go ahead and call him if u want but
FUTABA: the only person who was gonna edit that footage was me
FUTABA: and if he were dead i would not be functioning enough to be doing any kinda photoshop like that
FUTABA: let alone LIE to you jesus christ!!!!!
FUTABA: god
FUTABA: i pronounce you King Shaky Dog
FUTABA: the tiniest and angriest and shakiest and most anxious four pound goblin
FUTABA: i will reclaim my title tomorrow
FUTABA: for now it’s my birthday gift to you
FUTABA: the title of Shaky Dog allows you to go absolutely apeshit and nobody will judge you
GORO: You know I hate birthday presents.
FUTABA: did you call akira
GORO: I hate birthday presents so much that I will be refusing my title as King Shaky Dog and will henceforth not be going ape shit.
FUTABA: ok so
FUTABA: i didnt mean to
FUTABA: get snippy with you or anything
GORO: It’s fine.
GORO: I wasn’t… exactly polite, myself.
GORO: So.
FUTABA: um
FUTABA: you really can call him if you want
FUTABA: there’s nothing wrong with that
FUTABA: between u and me……………………. i definitely did that more than once for a lot lesser reasons than someone getting hit by a car
GORO: My stop is in less than thirty seconds.
GORO: I will probably live.
FUTABA: lmao ok well
FUTABA: if u change ur mind about losing ur shit then please know i gave u that footage in the first place because i think if something like that happened to MY partner i would mcfreakin lose it
FUTABA: speaking of her
FUTABA: sumi says happy birth btw
FUTABA: but cuter because u know how she is
FUTABA: “happy birthday crow-senpai~~~~~~~~” in her shy voice that makes u wanna die
FUTABA: ofoogofhghhfoghfhhghfh g gh SUMI ur so cute ilysm
GORO: Tell her I said thanks.
GORO: And stop telling me how much you love her and use the ring you made me go ring shopping with you for.
FUTABA: HHHHH
FUTABA: im being cyberbullied for being a cowardly lesbian
GORO: I’m at my stop, by the way, so I’m going offline.
FUTABA: which tbh i probably deserve
FUTABA: oh kk see u
FUTABA: watch the video again mr shaky dog
FUTABA: akira is fine
FUTABA: everyone is alive
FUTABA: you are one year older
FUTABA: happy birthday goro
*
The bike is totaled.
Akira isn’t the sort of person to dump a piece of trash right in front of Leblanc, but it’s hard to miss sticking out of the nearby public trash bin. The back wheel has exploded into serrated wheel-spokes and limb rubber bits that Akira’s shoved into the trash as best as he could. The body of the bike is crushed in on itself, exposing its sharp hollow innards; the handlebars resemble a badly-tied knot. The front wheel is left to stick up and out, creaking gently, spinning overhead from half a hinge like a head not quite fully severed.
The cafe is empty except for its usual barista who, of course, is a very normal and mild-mannered barista, who has nothing to do with the several hundred millions worth of dollars of repatriated art hiding in the attic en route back to South Korea. That would be illegal, of course, and Akira Kurusu-Akechi has never once in his life done anything illegal in the name of what’s morally right. “Welcome back, dear,” says Akira, and hangs up a coffee mug to dry, and it’s so normal that Goro is convinced that either he’s experiencing yesterday, or maybe he’s re-experiencing the year 2016 all over again, or maybe Akira really is dead and this is just his ghost.
Goro sits in his usual spot at the bar. Same chair, sixteen years later. Unbelievable. Maybe Goro’s giving him a little bit of a dumbfounded look, because Akira tilts his head, leans across the bar, and pecks Goro on the cheek.
“Where’s Sakura?” Goro asks.
“Having his midday old man nap. So,” says Akira, looking pleased with himself, “either we can close Leblanc for an hour and raid the kitchen and make lunch, or we can close Leblanc and go out and have a fancy lunch. Your choice because I already made dinner reservations and we’re doing those no matter what.”
Goro really means to give him an answer, because Akira really does love Goro’s birthday every year and never fails to pick someplace nice for the day, but instead what comes out of his mouth is: “Did you ride the new bike back home?”
“Yeah, I did. Figured I might as well take it for a test drive. It’s a good bike.”
“Why didn’t you take the subway?” Goro says sharply.
“Didn’t have my card.”
“You just rode the bike all the way across Tokyo?”
“It wasn’t all the way across Tokyo, just a bit away and back… Goro?”
Ah, Goro’s going to become one of those people who has a meltdown any time their loved one gets on a plane or a train or ksomething else associated with heebie-jeebie nonsense magical thinking. Great. Fantastic. God dammit.
“Do you really want me to go to the ER?” Akira asks eventually.
Goro really wants Akira to have never gotten hit in the first place, but people don’t get what they want and sometimes the universe decides to send one bad fucking driver through a red light and take away Akira’s entire life in a split second—one mistake, a coincidence at the wrong place and time, and the boy who fought God and won is a smear of bones on the pavement.
This would be different if it were sixteen years ago, and Goro had the power to bend people’s minds in half until they broke, or dive into the deepest, bloodiest parts of the collective psyche and pummel the worst of them to a pulp—but what’s he going to do here? Lambast a guy who was going ten miles under the speed limit and just wasn’t looking the right way? Is he going to summon a new Persona from his soul and undo time itself?
Can he do anything if the universe decides, one day, that Akira’s time on this earth is up? He spent all those years desperate for power, and then abusing that power, and then desperately guilty for having abused that power, and then desperately trying to get up that power, and now here he is with the power to do jack shit when his husband almost gets run over and if the Metaverse were still around he swears he would have carved Loki from his own soul out of sheer fury alone—
“No,” says Goro sharply, and stands up. “It’s nothing. I’m not hungry, and I’m going for a walk. Please don’t text me unless it’s an emergency.”
“What—hey! Goro, wait, wait—”
“I’m getting some fresh air!”
Akira’s scrambling to get out from behind the bar. “Didn’t you just get here—?”
Goro spins around and points a finger at Akira like it’s his fault: “You were the one,” he snarls, “who promised, when we got married, that we’d always be together. And now you get hit on a bike, and then stand up like it’s nothing and—and get on another bike and go cycling around the exact same streets where you got hit—? Aren’t you scared? Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
Akira falls silent. “I didn’t go back to the same intersection,” he says at last.
Goro can’t take this. “I’m taking a walk.”
“Wait wait wait, Goro, just—” Akira grabs Goro’s hand and Goro has the sudden urge to yank his arm away, but Akira’s hand is also incredibly real, just like it felt this morning and yesterday and the day before that and all the days Goro ever took Akira’s living, breathing body for granted. “I didn’t think it was a big deal. He was going, I dunno, twenty miles per hour at most. It was an intersection. He’d slowed down beforehand and everything, and I didn’t even get hurt on the fall.”
Right, because Goro’s the one who’s just freaking out for no reason. Right. Okay. Because that’s how he is, isn’t he, always being dramatic over little things. Right. Of course. This is fine.
When Goro doesn’t turn around, Akira moves around to the front to look him in the eye. “Sorry if I made you worry,” says Akira. “But it was really nothing at all.”
“Maybe it was nothing this time,” says Goro forcefully. “But what about the next time—the next car—the next time you borrow my bike? What about tomorrow? Or the day after that? Literally any one of the hundreds and hundreds of days coming up where you could easily die just as easily as you died today.”
“Then I’ll escape death hundreds and hundreds of times,” says Akira.
Goro scoffs.
“I mean it. I was a Phantom Thief, wasn’t I? I escaped death more than once. Did it again today. I’ll do it as many times as it takes until we’re both old and grey.” Akira takes Goro’s hand, but it’s Goro who laces their fingers together.
“Sometimes it doesn’t work that way,” says Goro, like a bad echo of his ten-year-old self, trying to figure out what kind of world would let his mother die.
“I’m just keeping my promise,” says Akira. “I told you that I’d never leave you. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Sometimes that’s not your decision to make.”
“It is and I’ve decided I’m immortal until you die.”
Goro scoffs. “Don’t be arrogant.”
“Is it being arrogant? I didn’t let death steal you away from me. I’m not letting it steal me away from you, either.”
“Sometimes…” Goro begins.
“'Sometimes’ what?”
'Sometimes’ what?
Sometimes things get worse. People die early, and unfulfilled; they streak through the sky in a blaze and then wink out, without even a burst of fire to show for it. Sometimes nobody gets a say in what happens, and plans don’t pan out, and wishes aren’t granted, and everything happens for no good reason and no good end.
Today, Goro Akechi-Kurusu is thirty-four years old, about sixteen years older than he ever figured he was going to be. He has a career in a non-profit for maladjusted youth getting reacclimated to school systems and preparing for college, instead of the career in law he figured he’d have if he actually lived that long. He doesn’t just have one friend, but multiple friends. He has, unbelievably, a husband, which honestly still floors him to this day, considering that he was and maybe still is convinced that marriage is a scam devised by asshole men like his father to manipulate young women into a false sense of security. The other day, Akira mentioned that he wanted to get a cat to keep Morgana company, maybe in a few years when they moved into a pet-friendly apartment, and in Goro’s head, it made sense that they would both be alive and together entire years in the future for them to get a cat.
Today is already an impossible day, isn’t it?
“Sometimes,” says Goro flatly, “you say ridiculous things, and I think that you could actually pull it off.”
Akira grins. Akira leans in for their regular greeting kiss when one of them comes home, but this time, Goro closes his eyes, leans into it, really tries to memorize the feel of Akira’s lips on his. Every line and scar on his hands, the odd ends of his fingernails, that familiar way he waits for four beats, then takes a breath through his nose and kisses Goro again, and never can quite seem to avoid kissing him more on the bottom lip than the top. “I don’t make promises I can’t keep,” he says plainly not three inches from Goro’s face. “It’s bad form to leave a calling card and never show up.”
Goro smiles. “Then I won’t let you break your word.”
When Akira pulls away, he kisses the back of Goro’s hand, like a proper gentleman thief of old. “Happy birthday, dear,” he says, and surprisingly, despite the way this awful day started off, Goro thinks that Akira might be able to pull that promise off, too.
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