RP Log: Jackal & Yukimura

[https://users.livejournal.com/-beekeeper/]

Date: Saturday, 21 Jan 2006
Rating: totally G
Summary: Utter fluff. Seiichi and Jackal go on a walk, get some coffee, and have a nice, friendly conversation.


Yukimura Seiichi was excited. He'd never really been on a real date before (romantic or otherwise), since he hadn't really had the opportunity or the interest, more content in his previous school (it seemed like another life!) to keep the company of his friends and his garden. Things had changed, though, with thoughts that had begun in the lab, ignored; thoughts that sparked when he'd been rescued by the tall young man with the strong arms, and that he'd been hoping to ignite after arriving at Ryuhana.

He'd had little success. The first friendly person he'd found was already attached, or at the very least crushing (Seiichi had reason to believe that Akaya was interested in their team instructor, Yamato-sempai, and the way Kirihara blushed when asked about it only cemented the theory), and subsequent attempts to ask out anyone else had been met with polite declines. Joaquin -- Jackal -- was the first to agree, albeit with some confusion.

Seiichi was sure that the confusion would persist, but it was easy enough to overlook, and fun to encourage.

It was midafternoon on Saturday when he arrived at Jackal's door, dressed both smartly and androgynously (women's pants were the only ones that fit him properly, curse his mutated hips) with a touch of light makeup (to add to the confusion, natch), and knocked.

Lucky timing for once. After spending almost the entire night in dog form, curled atop the covers, Jackal had reverted to a human about a half-hour ago – which was just enough time to clean up, shave his head and find something decent to wear.

“You look very… pretty… today, Yukimura… kun…” he said slowly, now at the door. He didn’t stammer and never had – but unfortunately, aloud, one didn’t have the ability to delete their pauses. The air around him darkened a little in lieu of a blush when he spotted the makeup complementing Yukimura’s blue eyes. Very pretty eyes… which made him even less sure about his choice in honorific, even if it could be used for girls.

"Why, thank you, Jackal-kun," Yukimura replied, taking the compliment as an indication of progress, even if it might've been mere propriety speaking. Jackal was such a nice boy, after all, and he'd be fine company this afternoon. "Have you given any thought as to where you'd like to go?" Seiichi asked, as his date stepped into the hallway and locked the door behind him.

“…no,” Jackal said, attempting a carefree smile through the slightly dim light around his person. It didn’t work very well. “I was hoping you would know…” given you were the one who asked me out…

He walked by Yukimura’s side down the hall, sure to match his pace to the other’s as a matter of courtesy.

"Oh, but I don't really know anything to do around here," Yukimura admitted, not really concerned but appearing that way anyway. "Then again," he continued, thinking aloud, "you've been here even less time than I have, haven't you? Well ... I'm sure if we just start walking, we'll find something." And in the meantime, more important than actually finding an inexpensive activity to keep them occupied, there was always conversation. Yukimura loved conversation; he loved just being around interesting people. Jackal-kun certainly qualified, so the day was sure to be a good one.

“Yeah,” Jackal agreed vaguely on all counts, though knew they probably shouldn’t go too far, since Yukimura didn’t handle winter well – even though he looked much better today than he had back in the medlab. “Are you feeling better?” he asked.

"Much better," Yukimura replied, punctuating the assertion with a bright smile. He knew the other boy needed to go shopping -- something he'd mentioned about buying sports equipment over the weekend -- but that was hardly a date in itself. "How's your training coming?" he asked, and nearly regretted asking so banal a question when he should instead be charming and lovely.

“It’s going alright,” Jackal said, noncommittal. It had only been two weeks, so the status of his powers hadn’t changed much, but things were going well as far as teams were concerned. Fuji-kun and Marui-chan were nice, and Horio-kun was… Horio-kun. Echizen-sensei was strange, in manner and method both, but otherwise an alright teacher…

“And yourself?”

Yukimura couldn't help laughing. "As though I can train in this!" he exclaimed, referring of course to the weather, which greeted them with a blast of cold air as they stepped outside and took to the street. Seiichi picked a direction and started walking. "Besides," he added after a moment, "what is there for me to train? My own physiology? That isn't changing. You at least have a goal to work towards, some control to master."

Jackal smiled. “There’s always something.” A goal to reach, things to improve… His head tilted a little. “Tell me more about your power? Apart from your being like a plant, can you maybe talk to them?” It would make sense, right? Jackal himself could loosely communicate with other canines, instinctively, even if they weren’t the same species (because one did not find wild dogs on the streets of Japan).

"Of course I can." That much should have been understood, shouldn't it? One could always communicate with one's own kind -- even if a spoken language wasn't shared, there were other signs that could be used to relay feelings and ideas. "There's a ... understanding," he said, unsure whether he could actually clarify exactly what it was like. "Like we're all tapped into the same source, and it all just ... makes sense." He was aware that he was being vague, and possibly mystical, but he didn't have the scientific words to describe it. The doctors' tests had only been able to determine the physical aspect of his mutation.

Ah, but there was one other thing. "Now that you mention it," he went on, "I did ask Sakuno-chan's mistletoe about standing up to the weather. I got a few ideas." And his smile turned demure, as if trying very hard not to be too proud of that.

It was the kind of expression Jackal was sure had no right being so cute on someone who, until recently, he had thought positively male. But he smiled in return, trying to hide his slight discomfort over the thought – and focused instead on the way Yukimura-kun took talking to plants to a whole new level of practicality. Which sounded pretty interesting. “What kind of ideas?” he asked.

"It's a hardier plant," he explained, "though you wouldn't think it just to take a look at one. Most people think of evergreens as trees with needles, when really the term applies to anything that keeps foliage year 'round. Plants that might ordinarily be deciduous in a colder climate -- like this one -- thrive even in the winter in the tropics. But, ah --" and he could feel his face growing a little warm; he was getting carried away, "I don't mean to go on. What I mean is, she's taught me how to keep going, and in the spring I'm sure I won't need it anymore."

“That’s good to hear,” Jackal smiled at Yukimura’s enthusiasm, genuine. The sun was distantly warm, even if the air around was crisp as frozen origami paper. “We’re halfway through winter, so if you’re able to walk around outside like this, then it must be an improvement.” There was a moment’s pause in consideration. “You can pick which elements to borrow from plants, then?” It sounded like it, but Jackal didn’t want to assume.

"I think so -- well, yes," Yukimura amended. It had worked so far, at least. "Maybe I'll bring it up at training next week..." The truth was that it hadn't ever occurred to him; that ability was just something that was, like the rest of his mutation.

Seiichi watched as the houses gave way to taller buildings, the sounds of traffic ahead promising some possible excitement for a couple out on a Saturday afternoon. He didn't spot anything yet, but he'd keep an eye open. "Let me know if there's anything you see that you want to do," he requested.

Jackal paused a moment in thought. “…maybe someplace without too many people?” he suggested. Fact this was Tokyo aside, Jackal would probably never wholly be rid of his minor discomfort around large crowds. It wasn’t a big deal – just something he’d rather avoid.

Fewer people meant time alone, or at least the illusion of such, and Yukimura decided that he liked that, so he nodded in agreement. Looking around, though, it seemed like it would be difficult to find a place like that, especially one that was indoors -- but he could put that qualification aside for the moment, and they could always duck into the nearest available cafe or shop if they needed.

But now, now, there was a bright spot of green amidst the harsher greys of the city, and Seiichi took Jackal's hand almost unthinkingly and dragged him towards the gates of the park. The grass was dull due to the season, and the trees were bare, like black claws scraping against the pale sky, but it wasn't cement and steel, and that was all that mattered. There weren't many people about, and Yukimura looked to his date with a hopeful expression. "Well?"

Jackal was smiling. “If you’re sure this is okay..?” he said, fingers squeezing Yukimura’s lightly, almost as careless, but a little more careful. He led them through the gates. They made a strange looking pair, he thought absently – his dark skin beside Yukimura’s greenish complexion. And they were both fairly tall – close to eye-level, but not quite, standing in a dead, deserted park. “Are you cold?”

"Not yet. I'll ... let you know?" It was probably dangerous, Seiichi thought, but tried very hard not to let the worry show on his face. Jackal hadn't yet let go of his hand, and that was a good sign -- it meant that he wasn't as uncomfortable with this arrangement as he'd previously let on.

Nonetheless, he stood close to Jackal as they walked, as though the heat of his body was all Yukimura needed to keep warm in this weather. It didn't quite combat the cold in his toes, though he was glad that the pathways were at least kept clear of the slushy remnants of snow that piled around tree trunks and lamp posts.

Comfortable silence held for a few dozen meters, before Jackal began to talk. He didn’t want to ask more about Yukimura-kun, just in case things got uncomfortable, so… “I grew up in Brazil,” he said, speaking softly but matter-of-fact. “Dad was on a long-term business trip and met mom. We lived pretty far out on the edge of São Paulo, which is in the south… it’s a pretty big city, like Tokyo. About the same size, give or take a couple million people…”

Odd ... Yukimura had been about to ask Jackal about his home, but he'd beaten him to it. Idly, he wondered if he had any latent telepathic ability that might've gone overlooked during his testing. He didn't mention it. "How long have you been here?" he asked instead, genuinely interested.

“We visited dad’s parents pretty often,” Jackal said. “But he got transferred back for good about… six years ago? I started junior high here.” The company had cut back a fair bit on its international operations then, thanks to Japan’s ongoing bear market. The following year, his dad had lost his job altogether – but Yukimura didn’t need to know that. Jackal chuckled a little. “Japan’s a lot more restrained.” Speaking on the whole, of course.

That wasn't news; Yukimura had heard that assessment of his country on more than one occasion, when compared to others. And while he knew, roundabout, of life in other places, he'd never heard a firsthand account. Jackal was turning out to be much more interesting than he appeared on the surface; Seiichi liked listening to him speak. "So what's Brazil like?"

“It’s… a lot more diverse,” Jackal said. “There’s a lot of mixed kids like me – because the population’s mostly Portuguese, and that’s the national language, but there’s also Germans and Italians, other Europeans… Russians…” He hummed a little in thought, remembering his old friends and their different lineages. “Asian Brazilians, too – especially where we were in São Paulo. And almost everyone was Roman Catholic,” he added the almost-non sequitur.

Their feet crunched softly on the path in time as they walked.

“It’s a lot warmer, too.” Jackal continued presently with a soft laugh. “More like Kyuushu all year round. We used to go horse-riding along the beach a lot, mom dad and I.”

Those had been his favourite days – when his mom would wake the house up early, and bundle them all into the car with a picnic. Joaquin would always ask where they were going, even if he could always guess since his dad always took the same roads.

A lot of Japanese boys knew how to shoot arrows from horseback, but there was a huge difference between riding for martial arts and just wanting the wind in your face.

“…I think you’d like it.”

It sounded like he would. Seiichi liked places like that, warm and full of life, contrasting sharply with the cold he felt here. He hadn't even been out for very long and already he could feel it soaking through his skin. "You'll have to tell me more about it," he said, smiling, "and show me any pictures, if you have them." He knew he didn't have much to tell about his own childhood -- he'd never lived anywhere but here, never had any fabulous adventures (well, besides the onset of mutancy, which wasn't anything unusual to Jackal, he was sure).

Yukimura tugged on Jackal's hand again, leading him away from the park and back to the street. "Come on," he urged, "let's get some coffee."

They wound up in some little café on a corner not so far away. It was still relatively quiet for Tokyo, and Jackal considered that a good thing. It wasn’t that he was uncomfortable with appearances – Yukimura-kun’s skin colour didn’t really faze him anyway, but the fact that they were odd was pretty hard to miss, and Jackal didn’t want any trouble.

"So," Seiichi began, once they were seated at a table and had their hot drinks in hand, "would you like to do this again sometime?" He was sorry they couldn't come up with anything more exciting, but the point of this date in particular was to get to know Jackal better, not to sit clinging to him in a darkened movie theatre (that could come later).

Jackal blinked. “…sure,” he said, smiling a little. They hadn’t done much, but he couldn’t really imagine saying no. He sipped at his coffee. It was good, if maybe not so strong as usual.

All things considered, this was possibly the most normal thing he’d done since having to drop out of high school, and his smile broadened even at the thought. “I like your company, Yukimura-kun. You’re nice to be around.”

And that was certainly a step in the right direction. "You're nice to be around, too," Yukimura echoed, feeling almost entirely too calm about the situation.

Time seemed to slow around Jackal, like the darkness that seeped in around the edges of his body like a colour-inverted halo. Seiichi couldn't tell how long they'd been out already, and didn't care if they spent the rest of the day together, or any number of days afterwards. He let his hand settle above Jackal's, giving it an affectionate squeeze before declaring, "I like you."

It didn't mean anything more than that: just a simple statement of a kind emotion, not a promise of undying love.

Jackal didn’t take it as such. He took love very seriously in general, and knew better. It didn’t stop a little blush at the forwardness of it all though – but he kept mindful of the fact that Yukimura didn’t like the dark. The atmosphere didn’t dim too much. “Thanks,” he said simply, still smiling.

Yukimura didn't hesitate in bringing Jackal's hand to his lips and pressing a soft kiss there. "If you like," he said, "we can start heading back. It's warm enough in here, but once night falls, it won't be ..." He hated that there were such restrictions imposed on him, even with the recent experiments he'd done with his mutation. "Maybe we can watch a movie or something," he suggested, liking the thought of curling up on the couch in the den with someone warm.

“We could,” Jackal agreed – even if a little startled by the kiss on his hand. Girls didn’t… do that… But he shook off the thought – it didn’t matter. The issue right now was to make sure his date was comfortable.

As they stood, he shrugged out of his jacket and draped it lightly over Yukimura’s shoulders, smiling. “Sounds good to me.”

Jackal was so nice. Yukimura couldn't possibly take advantage of him now. He shoved all of his earlier plans out of the way, but still was too happy to take the other's hand on the way back to Ryuhana.

The sky was starting to dim, but they'd get back before night fell completely.