OPEN POST

[enteloki]

throw anything at me 

 

NSFW OPEN POST

 

Comments

[placation]

[ COOL! Time to change that password. And several other passwords, probably. ]

I have money set aside elsewhere. Get out of my accounts!

[enteloki]

[Bitch he'll get back in - what's the password going to be doc0204??? Please.]

Of course. I'll remove my access this afternoon. I only wanted to make a point.

[He won't. ♥]

I lived with you for years. This is a way to repay that.

[placation]

And you're welcome back any time. I hope you know that.

[enteloki]

[He knows.

And in this moment, with every door in his apartment wide open, a familiar buzz in the back of his skull, a nauseated stomach from nothing-

He wants to come back, for a little bit. Wants to sit at a table, eat a meal prepared by someone else and hear lively conversation in a tongue he's familiar with. It's not homesickness - if Maruki were here, he wouldn't feel this way at all.

It'll be gone in a few hours, a few days. He brushes it aside.]

That's unnecessary.

Unless I need a place to lay low again, that is.

Have the murders in the Naples area made national news yet?

[placation]

The what

1/2

[enteloki]

The murders.

[enteloki]

Just kidding.

[placation]

ENTHRALLED?

[enteloki]

No.

When will you let that go?

[placation]

Never.

Don't joke about that, you really pulled my leg for a minute... I don't know how you make your money, maybe you're a hitman!

[enteloki]

As if I would resort to being some lowly cleaner or hitman to a piece of shit. Don't make me laugh.

[Except for that one time. Anyway.]

Besides, getting into that line of work isn't as easy as it sounds and the payoff is minimal. There isn't much money in it. The target in question needs to be exceptionally dangerous and powerful to earn the type of living people see in movies. You only get those if you're among those same rich, powerful people.

Needless to say, I don't have that connection in Italy.

[placation]

If there is one thing I never doubt, it's your tenacity and ability to find your footing in an unfamiliar situation. You never know.

Well... I suppose if the tickets aren't purchased with blood money...

[enteloki]

You could visit twice. I have the money. I rarely spend a penny.

The weather this time of year is best suited for tourism. This week, it's supposed to be warmer than usual and clear of storms.

The ocean, the city - all of it would be open to you.

For the future, of course.

[placation]

[ ... ]

Do you want me to come out sooner?

If you do, I will. I can move my work around.

[enteloki]

[Akechi Goro is typing.

And then he isn't.

And then there's a pause. Nothing.

And then he's typing again.]

I'm only giving advice as someone who lives here. It's irrelevant to me when you visit.

[placation]

If it's irrelevant, then you wouldn't have said late winter at first.

[enteloki]

You're the type to get overly sentimental. That date is less of a suggestion and more of a requirement. The other one is random.

I imagine it will be difficult for you.

You don't like to be alone that time of year, after all.

This is the easiest method to placate you.

[placation]

Well, you're not incorrect about any of that. I appreciate that your desire to placate me extends to international travel.

I'll be happy to spend that time with you. Any time, of course.

[enteloki]

I'm visiting a garden later.

The 'Garden of Eden' - I think you would enjoy it, if you're available for a longer call than normal. It may be almost an hour. Perhaps two.

[placation]

Of course I'm available. Call any time. My whole day is open to you.

Eden, huh? It must be spectacular.

[enteloki]

It looks to be, from the images I've seen.

It's small, but the arrangements are well done and there are some flowers in full bloom.

My preference would have been to show you both in person. Since that's impossible, this will have to suffice for now.

[placation]

I think it's a good alternative. I'm looking forward to it, Akechi.

Next year, we can plan ahead to go together, if you'd like. Or to a different garden, if you're elsewhere by then.

[enteloki]

[Of course he would.

Maruki would get on a plane in a heartbeat, do anything around whatever loose formed idea Akechi concocted and go with him. It doesn't matter what country, what place, or what time.

And it doesn't even matter. He can't recall ever visiting a garden with her. Only remembers the barest smile on her face after months of lacking it when he dug up their neighbor's flowerbed and handed off a dirty bouquet.

It's all he managed to remember. It's the only thing he could retain in the wake of her stiff, dead hand. ]

To think, a life remembered with a dead man and a garden. I wonder if it will ever feel like enough.

[She deserved more.]

Human beings are fascinating in the way they're compelled to do pointless displays in honor of those that will never know. A corpse doesn't care about shit like this.

[placation]

It's just as much about who's left behind as who's gone. Rituals and traditions surrounding mourning are inherent to all cultures across all times for a reason. Even some animals honor their dead. We all want to find meaning in the inevitability of life, and we all want connection. It's just a part of existence, I think.

What would feel like enough? Would anything?

[enteloki]

If ruining that man's life didn't manage it, I doubt anything will. She never would have approved of such an act anyway. It was done for her against her wishes. Perhaps this is a punishment.

Wouldn't that be funny?

But I suppose it's as you say - the inevitability of life and death. Until my own time comes, this degree of atonement is minimal compared to the agony she went through after my birth.