Masculine Devil | For Sei

[hateless]

This place was like Platinum Jail on overdrive, Trip thought. Depravity. Hedonism. An entire massive station devoted to the pursuit of pleasure, though for all its variety, it was kind of funny that it was so limited at the same time. Everything all for the purposes of sex....

Trip's getting here had been easy. The mystery was more that it existed at all, that Sei existed here at all. The latter was the only half of that mystery he was really interested in figuring out, though. The last time Trip had seen him, "Sei" hadn't been Sei at all. He might not even be entirely surprised to find out if this entire place was some creation of his long-lost charge, some warped expression of things he'd never gotten to experience in life but might have glimpsed piecemeal all across Rhyme.

He wasn't ignorant to the fact that something about his questioning had caused a stir in the primary chat room, not the least of which being the reveal that Aoba was apparently here too and having memory troubles again by Trip's perception, but it was Sei that he'd come to see initially and it was Sei that had eventually sent him a private message directing him to this particular little cafe.

It seemed innocent enough, just to be sitting inside of it, but anything could be warped if you applied yourself to it. Not that Trip had such intentions. Everything was petite and pastel, overwhelmingly cute. Lacy cloths on the tables, doilies under the plates, delicate china teacups, and sweets of all shapes and sizes. Trip had arrived first and laid claim to a little two-person table by the front windows, looking out on a sculptured "lawn" that gave the illusion of being someplace other than in the bowels of space metropolis.

A massive black form sprawled beside his chair, helping preserve their seats for the only other person welcome to join them. Trip hadn't brought Wärter along out of anything like sentimentality, but Sei had always enjoyed the lion's presence and the whim of bringing him along hadn't been a bother, since it had only been an extra line on his application asking if he had any "pets" to accommodate.

Sei. Alive after all. Trip smiled to himself, taking a tiny iced cupcake from the tray he'd ordered, idly working it free of its wrapper as he watched the street through the glass. His gaze was only marginally less predatory than that of the creature at his feet.

Comments

[c4p71v3pr1nc355]

Sei's smile briefly faltered, replaced with a confused look followed by an embarrassed smile and shrug. He didn't see himself as having visual preferences; he liked people, not whatever shell they were in, and he knew a lot about outward appearances being completely meaningless.

Shifting comfortably and resting both hands on the lion's head to absently massage the beast's ears, Sei's smile flutters back to life again as Kusakabe joins them. He does tilt his head in question when the cup rises, then gets drawn back, not quite sure what to make of it. Meanwhile, he debates whether he should start dressing his own tea or not, being that he's already started catering to the feline and doesn't want to be rude by stopping.

But...he really wants milk and sugar...but...cat...

"Thank you for coming! Kusakabe-san, Trip-san," he offers, introducing them in a simple, polite manner. "Trip-san took care of me when I was sick. We've known each other since we were children."

[hateless]

A moment later, Trip's already on it. While Wärter rumbled as quietly as a beast his size was capable of, watchful blue slits of his eyes never leaving Kusakabe, Trip added milk and sugar to Sei's cup in generous amounts. Never anything less than generous. It was the same way he prepared it for himself and not necessarily how Sei would have done it on his own.

"Yaho, Kusakabe." Right, that had been the name. Trip's greeting was a casual one, syllables drawn out just enough to play with the sounds. He didn't miss that scoot of the chair, the deliberate imbalance of space. It put a spark of laughter in his unnaturally blue eyes.

"Any friend of Sei's is a friend of mine."

[zgok]

He can't say he likes the way the lion is looking at him, but he isn't going to say anything about it. Animals in his mind, weren't beholden to the same rules as the rest of them. Calling them out is meaningless.

The way Trip does Sei's tea makes his eyes narrow subtly. That's not the way he's seen the other do it himself...

"I've heard about you," he replies, watching Trip over the top of his cup, the straw poised at his lips and held in long, calloused fingers. "And Virus, and Platinum Jail."

[c4p71v3pr1nc355]

"Thank you~ Trip-sa~n!" Sei chimes happily, reaching with a briefly freed hand to lift the teacup, sipping delicately. He only flinches slightly at the strong sweetness before just drinking gratefully. He wouldn't say anything unkind about the courtesy, setting the cup down and tilts his head to look over the tea sandwiches and cakes.

When Kusakabe mentions Platinum Jail, Sei's hand stops mid-reach for a treat, though he quickly continues, trying not to pay too much attention to the conversation. While he didn't want to bring up any potentially unhappy topics himself, after being reassured that he wasn't in trouble, he couldn't stop someone else from asking. So he picked up a tea biscuit and nibbled quietly, one hand stroking the lion's fur, his dark eyes wide and flicking back and forth between Trip and Kusakabe.

[hateless]

"Pretty wild story, isn't it?" Trip answers easily, as if assuming every sordid little detail of all those years had already been shared. Maybe it has been, maybe it hasn't. He knew now that Sei was just as capable of keeping secrets as anyone else, but really, what did it matter either way?

He props his chin in his hand as he leans on the table, overall a man of proportions far too large for this delicate little eatery. Throw his weight around a little and he could be the proverbial bull in a china shop, to say nothing of his giant Allmate joining in. His own teacup looks like a child's toy in his fingers as he takes a sip of his own, eyes expectant.

[zgok]

And Kusakabe, while wary of the lion, doesn't seem even the least bit intimidated by Trip's size. He's decked men larger and older than himself before without flinching. You don't scare him.

"Wild," he repeats, rolling the word around in his mouth as if it tastes off to him. "It's wild. Or...it's horrific," he states bluntly, fixing Trip with a dull, sour look.

[c4p71v3pr1nc355]

Chewing his bottom lip, wondering if he ought to break the tense silence, Sei glances between both men and clears his throat.

"I haven't told anyone everything," he says, addressing them both at one time with the comment, trying not to hunch uncomfortably as he does. Glancing at Kusakabe for a moment, then Trip, he sighs and shakes his head.

"We should focus on good things now, right? Like making new friends and having fun, taking advantage of all the neat things here, counting our blessings for our health and the health of our friends..." he trails off, clearing his throat quietly, eyes gradually lowering to gaze down at the lion, wondering if he was being too pushy or annoying, chattering on trying to lighten the mood just a little.

"The sandwiches are good..." he adds a bit lamely, trying to redirect attention to literally anything else the only way he can.

[hateless]

"Horrific, huh?" Trip tests the word, himself, glancing off for a moment. "From the outside looking in, I suppose."

But then his attention returns to Sei when the other speaks, considering the dark-eyed man for a moment more, before chuffing a sound of amusement.

"That's just like you, Sei," he observed, with a pleased little smile and that spark of amusement in his eyes once more. It probably hadn't been since their childhoods that Sei had been so talkative -- the years before he'd been experimented on so thoroughly that he spent most of his time in an unresponsive state -- but it was immediately familiar. Comfortable, even. "Sure, I'll agree with that. Toue's gone and we can do whatever we want now."