IC Inbox - Ryslig

[blap_blap]

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[justbeingknife]

[ He snorted at the sight of the man. ]

That's the dorkiest hat I've ever seen. Looks good on ya.

[ Because strangely enough, those bovine ears and the ribbon kind of complemented each other? Majima tilted his head in the direction of the ferry, the thumb of one hand hooking loosely into the waistband of Tim's shorts to tug him forward. ]

Ready. Let's get a good spot, huh? Been forever since I was on a ferry.

[ A few other people were slowly filing on: younger locals, chatting cheerily. For the most part, however, it seemed that the real summer crush hadn't yet begun. ]

[blap_blap]

Hey, it's practical! It won't be dorky when your whole face is sunburned.

[Okay, so the ribbon had no practical purpose, but the rest of the hat did! It kept the sun off of his face, and it was cute. But it's fine, he's only faux-offended anyway; the hat was big and floppy and made of straw and possibly supposed to be a woman's hat? Whatever, he didn't care.]

[Tim followed along when Majima tugged him, up onto the deck of the ferry. There was a nice breeze coming off of the lake, crisp and cool and smelling a little bit like fish. Which was... kinda gross. It was fine, he'd smelled worse things in his life.]

Yeah, sure. [He was all for getting a good spot, whatever that would be on a boat. He was relying on you for this one, Majima, boats, like swimming, were out of Tim's general experience range.] How long's this trip take, anyway? I mean, it didn't seem that far to get up to the islands?

[It was more that Tim doesn't really know how fast boats go.]

[justbeingknife]

A couple hours -- we're takin' the scenic route. The course takes us up the river and around to Tunn.

[ Shouting, and the sounds of preparations as the boat made ready to leave. Majima made his way over toward the prow. He slipped his sunglasses on as they reached the front and leaned up against the metal railing. ]

This is your first time on a boat, right? Wait, ya don't have a problem with motion sickness, do ya? They do kind of rock back and forth.

[ Gosh, he kept forgetting Tim was a space alien. But surely if he was good with space travel, he'd be fine on the water? ]

[blap_blap]

[Tim leaned against the railing, watching as much as he could of the castaway procedure. It was different from what people would do to prepare for docking or sending off a ship in a hangar bay; there was a lot more, like, rope involved. Presumably an anchor?]

I think I'll be okay. [This couldn't be worse than space, right?] I was fine in low gravity, for the most part. The movement part wasn't the problem, I mean, it was more the, uh, height? I'm not good with heights.

[More like he was fucking terrified of heights, but that's fine. They were on a boat, not a plane or something.]

I guess we're gonna find out, anyway. God, I sure hope I don't get motion sickness, or else it's gonna be a shitty few hours.

[blap_blap]

I told you, I wouldn't know good rope if you slapped me with it. I'm kinda relying on you, here.

[So if this was the kind of rope that Majima used, than that was fine by him. It certainly had worked well enough the last time Majima had tied him to the bed posts. Tim's expectations weren't super high, he just wanted something that would look good and get the job done, preferably without leaving him with a ton of rope burns.]

[Tim did follow to the register, even if he was a little uncomfortable with piling up their merchandise on the counter in front of somebody. Sure, people clearly came into this shop and purchased this kind of stuff all the time, this probably wasn't the weirdest collection of items that this cashier had seen, but still. It was just kind of the idea of some random person knowing way too much about their future bedroom activities.]

[Til he heard the bit about the point card, anyway. Look, a deal was a deal, okay.]

You guys have a reward system?

[justbeingknife]

[ "Yep, see, once you purchase thiiiis much at our store, you get a gift certificate. It also makes things a little easier when you want to custom order something..." ]

Don't have a card now, but I'd like one. Ya got a form I need to fill out?

[ Good news for this clerk, apparently, as she beamed at Majima and Tim and produced a small paper sign-up form. "Of course! Here you go."

So don't mind Majima, filling it out...

"Oh, and were you able to find everything you needed?" ]

[justbeingknife]

[ There was one guy on deck yelling at the sailors. Something about sea dogs? He had a captain's uniform; maybe he was really into roleplay. ]

Really? How the hell'd you manage it when ya had to take off and land?

[ And if Tim was afraid of heights, was he also afraid of the depths? Hmm. Probably not, probably it was fine. The boat cast off from shore, cutting its way through the waves. The breeze off the lake was cool -- a nice change from the heat of approaching summer as it blew at the ends of the loose ponytail in which Majima had tied his hair.

Some of the passengers were sitting down, heading inside the glass-fronted cabin for snacks or drinks, but he seemed satisfied to stay outside and check out the gulls for now. They were screeching as they floated lazily above the water. ]

[blap_blap]

Poorly.

[Tim was really not very good with heights, which really made the jump pads on Elpis a trial in and of themselves. He just... he had a really hard time, okay.]

[He was okay with being out on the deck of the boat, at least. It wasn't too high up off of the water, and he had his feet on a solid deck. It was manageable, especially if he looked at the horizon or the birds instead of straight down. It was never good to look straight down.]

I just tried not to look out the windows or bother anybody with my panic attacks, it was fine.

[It was not fine.]

[justbeingknife]

[ Wow, Tim, that was actually

concerning.........

Majima reached over and touched the back of Tim's head. If The Hat hadn't been on there, he might have ruffled Tim's hair. As it was, he just sort of ruffled the goofy ribbon. ]

If it gets bad, lemme know, alright? Don't think we're due for any cliffs today, but I'll keep it in mind.

[ "Arrrr!" said the ship captain, in the distance. "If ye be thirsty, there's hot chocolate in the cabin!" ]

[blap_blap]

[Look, Majima, there was very little about Tim or his coping habits that were healthy. He was just USDA-grade A prime beef marinaded lightly in continual anxiety, it was fine. Builds character or whatever.]

Yeah, I will. [He smiled, in that kind of rueful, self-conscious way.] You'd probably be able to tell, anyway. It's not like my panic attacks are super subtle.

[Technically, he'd managed to overcome his crippling fear of heights enough to rocket his dumb ass a couple stories into the air on Elpis, so he ought to be able to manage a cliff? But still, it wouldn't be his idea of a good time.]

I wonder if it's going to be crowded? You aren't the only person I've heard of who was thinking about taking a trip to the beach.

[justbeingknife]

Yeah? I know at least two monsters who were talkin' about taking it.

[ One who had thought it was a great opportunity for nude sunbathing, even, but maybe he wouldn't mention that just now. What were the chances they'd end up going at the same time?

A seabird -- an osprey, maybe? -- dove towards the water, hauling up with it a wriggling fish. Majima had never seen the like before, though of course he knew about sea hawks. There just weren't a lot of them in Tokyo.

He leaned his hands on the rail and craned forward to get a better look. ]

We're still on the off-season, so hopefully not. I ain't exactly supposed to flash my ink in front of random civilians.

[ Sure, no one was around to call him on it out here, but that didn't change the underlying principle. ]

[blap_blap]

[Tim turned his head to follow where Majima was looking, and he'd never really seen a bird submerge itself so much and still manage to haul its ass out of the water again, along with the added weight of a whole fish. Kind of impressive? He'd been a little worried that it wouldn't make it, but well. It knew what it was doing.]

That's kind of a shame? I mean, it's really beautiful.

[You go through hours upon hours of probably a lot of pain to get some really beautiful artwork on you, and then have to keep it under a shirt all the time.]

Did you bring sunscreen, at least? I've heard that sun exposure can be really bad for tattoos. Makes 'em fade or something.

[Tim didn't have to worry about that too much-- or, well, technically he should, he has the stupid blue cuff thing that Jack had gotten on his wrist, but he doesn't even like it. Let it fade, it was ugly anyway.]

[justbeingknife]

[ Majima dug a bottle out of his bag, and showed Tim the label. Eyyy. ]

Ya heard right. I got the colors just how I want 'em, too. It's why I'm still dressed.

[ A pause. ]

You know what I mean.

[ He gave Tim a smile, briefly turning from the water to look at the man. ]

Anyway, thanks.

[ And then he turned back to watching the hawk ascend with its catch. ]

I don't think it's a shame, though. It's a message and a reminder, all in one. Wouldn't be much point in either if I showed it off every chance I got.

[blap_blap]

Really? That's the only reason?

[He couldn't just let that one slide by, Majima set himself up for it.]

[Tim made sort of a thoughtful noise at the tattoo comment-- there was a lot about Majima's tattoos that he probably didn't get, a lot of, like cultural significance? So if it was important to him to not show them off, well, than that was his prerogative. And it wasn't like Tim was going to go over and rip off his shirt to show the world his sick ink, either.]

[He could probably be persuaded to rip off his shirt for other reasons, though.]

Well, if you do decide to take your shirt off, I'll sunscreen your back for you. So you don't miss a spot.

[Not at all so that he could get his hands on his hot boyfriend in a way that wasn't weird in public. Just two guys being dudes.]

And you should really know that I could've totally made a hot dog pun, but I'm not going to because I'm a good person.

[Well. That was debatable, but still.]

[justbeingknife]

[ That smile turned into a grin real quick. ]

[ Come all this way to just sit on the shore under some goofy umbrella? Nope. He'd promised swimsuit, and Tim was going to get swimsuit.

And he could rip off any shirts he wanted, as far as Majima was concerned. For now, though, he was content to lean in and kiss Tim, careful of the horns now that they were on a rocking ship instead on solid ground. Afterwards, he'd move past to speak a few choice words in the man's ear. ]

Trust me, you're gonna get your chance.

[ It was clear skies as they came out of Lake Dala and into the northern island area, past the expansive Lager Woods. There was Brasa in the distance, with its single volcano, Fura with its forests. And at the very end of their trip was Tunn, of course, with blue-green waters and white sand beaches. ]

Did I tell ya I've been explorin' out past Bavan? Not a whole lot, but I was kinda curious.

[blap_blap]

[Oh, good, Majima was getting the reward card thing, and like. Technically, just getting the card didn't mean that he'd be coming back to get more things that, ostensibly, he'd be putting to good use with Tim, but it sure did indicate an intention.]

Oh, uh. [Standard customer service questions, you could handle answering this, Tim.] Yeah. I think we're, um, set.

[For now, anyway. Or at least until the next time that Majima didn't feel like untying the knots in the rope and ruined it all by cutting Tim free.]

Could I maybe. Get one of those too?

[Don't judge him. Maybe he'd want to custom order something one day! Like a pair of classy heels in whatever size Majima was, just as an example that was entirely unrelated to anything.]

[justbeingknife]

[ "Of course!" said the clerk, sounding rather pleased. She probably had a quota or something, RIP customer service life -- but she was happy to dig out another form for Tim.

Who would, by the way, have an appraising glance cast his way as Majima finished with his form and got his card. ]

You get the rope, I'll buy the rest. Okay with you?

[ Like... Majima was going to keep this stuff at his place anyway, right? He'd pick up the tab, then -- spend some time thinking about how he'd like to use his ill-gotten gains. ]

[blap_blap]

[Tim had to push the brim of his hat out of the way so that it wouldn't poke Majima when he kissed him, and be a little more careful because he wasn't as stable on hooves on a rocking deck as he would've been with real feet. Wet ship decks were not made with ungulates in mind.]

[The trip up to the islands was actually pretty beautiful; it was kind of a slower way of traveling than he was used to, but there were definitely cases to be made for taking the scenic route. And having Majima around to talk to was enough of a distraction that he didn't think about the height of the boat off of the water. The rocking motion, at least, was only annoying for making him have to shift his weight to keep balanced, because of that aforementioned hoof problem and the additional complication of being so goddamn top-heavy. Motion sickness thankfully didn't rear its ugly head, probably because his inner ear had been through low- and zero-gravity, so it would take some serious bouncing around to throw him.]

[And, hey, good time to talk about Majima's adventures.]

No, you haven't. Were you going out as, y'know, a wolf? It seems like it'd be faster that way.

[And also more distracting? Majima seemed to get very distracted by belly rubs and thrown objects when he was wolfy, which was... adorable, to be honest. The cutest apex predator.]

[justbeingknife]

Yeah. I even got a backpack that fits when I'm furry.

[ Imagine wolf Majima with little saddlebags. Imagine it. ]

There's a kelpie named Fran who likes to wander around the peninsula, so sometimes I'll go with 'em. Last place we went to was Castle Lager. Y'know, out past Lager Woods? I thought it was gonna be abandoned, but it turns out a bunch of dogs live there.

Little nervous around strangers, but they didn't give us any trouble.

[ Well... what chance would a dog have against a werewolf, really, but they'd been friendly enough when Majima had invited them to play. ]

[blap_blap]

You do realize that sounds super cute, right?

[The idea of Majima with little doggie saddlebags was absolutely adorable and something that Tim needed to see at some point. What did he keep in there? Did he have a little packed lunch? Did he collect things while he was wandering around?]

I guess it's not that surprising that they're nervous. It took ages for the strays around Bavan to stop running away from me.

[Tim felt kind of bad for the poor dogs, since they didn't have anybody to look after them-- the same kind of way that he felt bad for the stray cats and left food out.]

I wonder if they know the difference between you and, y'know, a wolf-wolf? Or if they'd recognize you when you're not on four legs.

[Did werewolves smell different or something from wolf-wolves? Maybe another were would know, Tim didn't get any exceptional smelling abilities from the cowboy package.]

[justbeingknife]

[ Normally, this might be where Majima would protest -- insist he wasn't cute, for starters. Only Tim loved cute things, and maybe it wasn't... entirely terrible, having that starry-eyed look directed at him.

It was pretty nice, actually. ]

Maybe you ought to come with me sometime and see for yourself.

[ He absolutely had a little packed lunch. Sometimes he'd pick up odds and ends, like a smooth rock or something, shh. ]

They'd probably pick up on it pretty fast, if I stuck around. A pup might not know what a werewolf is, but he's still got his eyes and nose.

[ Majima leaned up against the rail, into the wind. ]

That's one of the only things I missed when we were in Felfri. At first, it was pretty strange, but now it feels like I'm missin' something when I can't smell.

You're an animal-type monster, too, right? Ya got any extra senses?

[ It occurred to Majima that he really didn't know all that much about minotaurs. They hung out in mazes, and they were really unhappy with trespassers...? ]

[blap_blap]

I got a few things. I can see in the dark better now, which is really useful? And I can hear a lot better, but loud noises are a lot more annoying, too. Especially the high-pitched stuff?

[God, it was like jabbing a knitting needle in his ear. Sometimes, Jack would be working in his garage lab and he'd do something that would make an awful screeching sound, something with the metal that he'd be working with, and the sound of it would make Tim want to crawl out of his own skin.]

I don't know if it really counts as a sense, but I don't get lost anymore, either? Even in confusing places like Djävulenstad. It's just kind of like... I dunno.

[It was hard to explain because it was more of a feeling than a thing. Being a monster was weird.]

I just always know where things are and where I am. In cities and towns and stuff, anyway, I'm not sure if it works as well if I'm in the middle of nowhere.

[justbeingknife]

Ya still have trouble walkin' on hooves?

[ Majima reached out and took Tim's hand, exploring the thickened nails. He'd been fortunate in that his own feet weren't much changed in structure, at least not in 'human' form, but Tim seemed to be managing fine? Maybe the practice fighting sessions helped with that a little; he'd like to think it challenged the man's balance. ]

I guess if we ever get lost, you'll have to lead the way.

I pretty much got wolf senses; that came part of the package. It's also kinda nice to get the extra jump height, but... it's kinda strange. Sometimes I'll just get the urge to tear-ass around for a while. It's really hard not to.

[blap_blap]

I'm mostly used to it, I think. It still kind of sucks if I have to walk on anything really slick, though.

[Hooves weren't super great for traction on, like, ice, or even something more mundane like the inside of a porcelain tub. Showers, man. Always use a bath mat, the bruises sucked.]

[And if Majima had thought that Tim looked starry-eyed when he'd talked about his saddlebags, that was nothing compared to the look he got when he talked about his brief bursts of energy.]

You get zoomies?

[That was the fucking cutest thing that Tim had ever heard and it was written all over his face.]

Do you just, like, have to go out for a walk? Or a run? Do you take yourself to the park?

[justbeingknife]

Wh... huh? What the hell're zoomies?

[ Majima had sort of just assumed it was a werewolf-specific thing; in the evenings was when he had the most energy, and it wasn't like he was immune to bursts of activity when human.

Was this a Thing, though? From Tim's excitement, it seemed like a Thing.

It was kind of embarrassing, though... ]

Hey, I can control myself, okay? Usually I head outdoors and make a dash for it and roll around in the grass, and so on.

[ And stole tennis balls. And knocked things over. And sometimes, rolled on his back and swam around like an idiot with his paws. ]

You don't... have anythin' like that?