Shinjiro "take your meds" Aragaki [荒垣 真次郎] (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hoboagogo) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
nerdsandnoods2017-10-24 07:36 pm
hoboagogo) wrote in nerdsandnoods2017-10-24 07:36 pm
boyfriend is a snake, news at eleven
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Shinjiro had learned to stop asking questions on 'how' or 'why' years ago. He'd learned even then that 1. you usually never got an answer, and 2. the answer rarely actually changed anything that needed doing. He'd also, years ago, gotten pretty maxed out on weirdness- being made aware of a time distortion where monsters fed on peoples minds, that he and a few other teens were able to shoot themselves and pull forth monsters to fight them-- pretty strange. And understanding it didn't change much of anything.
So, yeah. He's taken his boyfriend becoming a snake-man pretty well, all things considered.
It's bizarre, sure. Nothing not weird about that. But by now he's pretty burnt out on being mindfucked, and tends to roll with it as easily as anyone is expected to be. So as surprising and strange as it is, Shinjiro hasn't exactly gotten sidetracked with trying to figure out how or why it's happened- instead focusing on trying to figure out what Akihiko needs now, and what's changed in that respect.
(He did really well for the first few days- not straight up asking if his long-time best friend was gonna eat rats and rabbits live. Not asking him about bodily functions. Trying to just be the constantly dry and abrasive asshole he assumes akihiko has come to love(????) and rely on(even more ???????'s).
But it didn't take too long for his curiosity to get the better of him- especially as it seems more and more that this won't swiftly reverse itself. His first slip up was likely just brusquely asking 'so do you even need all these pants anymore?' while helping make adjustments to Akihiko's room.)
There's been a few minor adjustments, sure- like putting a damned heat lamp into Akihiko's room to help him not become a sluggish mess in ambient room temperature (Shinjiro hates it, hates how sweltering it always is in there now-) and clearing a bit more room for him to get about a bit more easily as someone smarter than him works on figuring out what this is about and how to fix it. But for the most part, he's returned to business as usual as much as possible, if only to help provide some sort of unwavering constant for Akihiko to hold to. Because... really, if it were him? he'd hate it being made a huge deal out of. It's hard enough to deal with shit on your own- having everyone walk on eggshells just adds another layer of awkwardness to it.
...Though that doesn't really explain why he rudely lets himself into the other man's room, carrying a drink, with a casual "Yo, scale-face. You up?" Of course Akihiko can't exactly go to school like this, so it tends to just be the two of them and the dog throughout the day- and Shinji really can't complain about that. But he does lift an eyebrow at a huge piece of... scale-dandruff or something on the floor, crouching just enough to pick up the shed skin between his fingers and wrinkling his nose. Gross.
"Man, this don't come off in one piece?" He stands again, setting the glass onto Akihiko's desk and looking at the huge flake of skin a bit more carefully. It's... kinda cool, he guesses, being able to see the texture of scales on it... but it's still a huge piece of snake dandruff. "That's gotta be a pain in the ass." A shrug, and he just... drops it on the floor again. They can vacuum or something when it's all done. Whatever.
no subject
They can at least inject whatever sort of normalcy they can.
"Yeah, kinda sad I missed it," And thankfully he doesn't pull too deeply into those thoughts- into the idea of him not being around when Akihiko needed him again. "I figure your getting pissed at me laughing woulda been some good motivation. The quicker you could get over here, the quicker you could pop me one." And, really. As baffling as this whole thing is, that would have been pretty funny to see.
But even though it hasn't been too long, he's glad Akihiko seems to have gotten a handle on a lot of it. Sure, he's shedding in weird patches all over, probably itching around the scales, and they don't know how he even works, but he's making it through as decently as anyone could be expected to.
"I'm surprised you ain't ended up in any knots yet. I woulda lost track of the rest've it and gotten tied around something somehow." He shrugs the shoulder that Akihiko isn't resting a hand on, content to just stand here and be a support for the other man.
"The rest'll come in time, I figure. And if you never feel like fucking with it, then just don't. No huge loss."
no subject
He's immeasurably grateful for it, even if the thread of the current conversation had taken a turn that he wasn't expecting — that is to be expected, quite honestly, because the other has only ever been the most adept at throwing him for a loop.
It's good that neither of them linger too long on the thoughts of Shinjiro not being there — because he doesn't hold it against him, can't and won't, because there was no way to know this would happen and it's just a matter of blah blah circumstance and blah blah their lives are full of weird shit and he's acclimating well enough, he thinks. Barring the whole shedding thing, he likes to think he's getting the hang of it well enough.
Even still, he snorts a laugh. "Oh, yeah, great motivator. Wanting to punch you in the nose." He says it fondly, for all he tries to keep a certain level of something in his voice and ultimately falls short, huffing out his next exhale with a roll of his eyes. "I guess it's worked before, makes sense if it works now."
What is he hinting at? Hm.
… Though he does go just a little bit more pale at the mention of getting knotted up, and looks off into the distance at some nondescript point, because like hell he's about to admit that — "The first day was. Something." Look. He isn't saying he got knotted up but he's not not saying he did —
And. Shut up. Just shut up right now.
He chooses instead to pick up on that last little bit of dialogue, now-slitted pupils dilating just the slightest bit as silver brows steadily climb his forehead. "No huge loss?"
no subject
A bit of a strange summary of their friendship, but not entirely wrong.
And he knows better than to press when Akihiko's face drains to an even paler shade, something almost ghostly at whatever memory is flooding up behind those steely eyes. Instead he's just quiet for a moment, letting the silence speak for itself. (And trying not to scoff out an amused noise at the idea of Akihiko ended up tied around a chair leg or something. Or closing his tail in a door. Or-- actually, all of these things are really sad now that he actually thinks about it.
Shit. Now he feels kind of bad. At least he's not the type to overtly express it.)
"Hm?" His head tilts, drawing back out of his thoughts as Akihiko speaks again. "I mean... yeah? Ain't like it's all that important." it being his friends missing dick, of course, but he's going to be nice and not say it outright outloud. As tactless as he is, he knows better than to push too far. "Or is it something you're hung up on?"
no subject
He's never been good with words — neither of them have — and he supposes that might have been why they settled into friendship as well as they had, not needing words so much as an outlet for the ones they couldn't find.
He nods, but doesn't say anything, casting his smile down just the slightest bit, letting it slide into something a bit softer.
Because Shinjiro is always going to be able to read him like a well-loved book, creases in the spine and dog-ears on the pages, marking favored or memorable passages that he never would have claimed for himself, because he'd thought them inadmissible.
( And fucking listen, you heathen, it wasn't a chair.
It was a whole-ass sofa down in the commonroom, a sofa that Mitsuru had helped extricate him from without a word because she is both a queen and a lady and even still, he doesn't want to think about it because it's just one of those things that he wouldn't mind forgetting. )
Shinji might not press too far, at least not within his own boundaries but the implication alone is enough to bring another flush of color to Akihiko's cheeks, the highest points of them, and he tries to dart his gaze off, again, to some nondescript point in the middle-ground but that question brings him back around again, holds him rapt, because it is something he's been thinking about as of late.
Just. Because. His missing dick, it seems, is of no real consequence when it comes down to it.
He shrugs, folding both arms over his chest in a way that makes it look like he's being defensive, but it's not. Not really. "Not. Really." He pauses. Stalls in a way that might make it seem like it's more of a loss than he's conveying.
But it really isn't. Don't read too much into it.
no subject
Just like that aforementioned well-loved book, pouring over the pages and reading deeper than the text on the page, there's so much more in everything Akihiko isn't saying. Or what he's barely saying. The stiffness of his posture, the 'not really', rather than an outright denial, the way he doesn't turn it into some sort of stupid banter between them.
"That ain't a no."
And this is not the conversation he expected to have today, but this is where they are. An off-hand comment earned a quiet confession, and like a dog who managed to get a hold of that well-loved book, he's going to sink his teeth in and worry it until all the hidden pages fall out and can be put back together.
But he lets that pause sit for a moment, allows it to stretch out and let the tension bleed the slightest bit, before he brings up a hand to rest at Akihiko's shoulder, just giving a line of unspoken contact and comfort there. It's another unspoken bit between them-- that line of support, always present, never truly pointed out.
"C'mon Aki, cut the strongman act. This whole thing sucks. You can vent if you want."
no subject
"It's not a yes, either." Well. Of course he's gone and shown that it might be a bigger deal than he's making it out to be by not outright settling into their normal back-and-forth, the snark that has a tendency to make up more of their conversations than it doesn't; it's not that his heart isn't in it, because the other always has the whole of their attention when they're together, but maybe he's still trying to wrap his head around this whole situation, trying to get used to how things are going to be for the foreseeable future.
Because neither of them know if he's going to be like this forever, for a couple of months, if he's going to wake up and find his bottom half back the way it should be. He's just a bit distracted from their version of normal, which is to say that this whole thing is getting to him more than he's letting on, because usually? Their normal is the kind of distraction he defaults to when he needs one.
The point of contact sees him relaxing again by degrees, angling himself toward that touch, expression cracking around the edges and he gives over a sigh. His brows are pinched, mouth pulled to the side and it looks for a handful of seconds like he's at war with himself on whether or not he wants to be more truthful than he has up to this point. Another handful of seconds and he's exhaling a breath he hadn't been aware of holding in, and his lungs ache with it, and when he looks up at the other again that expression has a few more cracks in it.
"It's frustrating," is what he ends up saying, ducking his head just a bit, the point of his chin briefly resting against the back of Shinjiro's hand. "I guess, if i had to say anything about it. That's the easiest way to put it."
no subject
"I mean-- I'd be fucking out of my mind, not knowing my own damn body anymore. No one could blame you if you were fed up with it." Sure, at least the rest of him is still human. He can still talk and gesture and punch and eat food normally (probably). But the rest? Getting around? Staying warm enough to do anything? Knowing what your own anatomy looks like or what to expect from it?
He can't blame Akihiko for putting up a strong front, and wearing himself down on the inside.
He's not an emotionally-hugging kind of guy, so he doesn't move to initiate more contact. But he allows that contact with the back of his hand, gives Akihiko's shoulder a bit of a squeeze, and most tellingly, doesn't retreat, even when things are getting a bit more real.
"Weird as it sounds, you ain't in this alone, alright? Just.... lemme know if you need anything."
A pause, and slowly he lets a bit of a wry smirk spread, hopefully helping nudge Akihiko from the slump.
"If you really need, I'll be your hunter for you."
yep. sure did just offer to help find his snake dick.
#bros4life.