agoge | >>@ENTERTHEDRAGON

You're serious? [ It's not a question that's meant to be answered. He can wrap his head around such a concept, it's just not something he was expecting.

Also what the fuck... He isn't being greasy. He's just being friendly. ]

Then you should probably reconsider challenging me. I won't hold back just because I've decided I like you.

[This is definitely culture shock.

Achilles walking up to him, putting his arm around him freely, and then saying that he likes him has a very different effect on him than it would to other Europeans that they're surrounded by.

He side-eyes Achilles for a few moments. What is he trying to do? What signals is he trying to send off? Ryuji honestly can't figure this guy out to save his life.]

Dude, telling me to do something is almost as bad as telling me not to do something.

[And besides...

Ryuji just doesn't... get it. When you've been rejected this many times, it's hard to think that there are a ton of qualities about yourself that are worth liking to begin with. Why did this have to be so goddamn confusing?]

You're uh. You're pretty cool too.

You think so? [ All that air of laughter has left him, his countenance taking a shift as flirtation edges into something more deliberate and fervent. ]

Then, would you rather fight me or fight beside me? [ He leans on Ryuji slightly, matching his eye level by sinking to his lesser height. He's close, having definitely entered his personal bubble, but he's keeping a purposeful distance.

He wants Ryuji to look him in the eye and answer him. ]

[If Achilles thinks he's being slightly flirtatious, it's partially working. The part that isn't... is the part that sticks out to Ryuji the worst. He looks at Rider as he directs that question at him, and suddenly he's thrown back a year in time, remembering the first time he came into his persona. He wanted to do something, anything, to be able to stand up for himself.

To fight alongside someone that wasn't even here with him anymore.

There's an empty hole in Ryuji's heart that's left hollowed out by his friends not being here. Truth be told, once he's learned how to work with others, it's so damning to go back and try it all over from the beginning without them. So Ryuji doesn't look at Achilles like he's entering his personal space, just that... he's there. He doesn't seem like a bad guy.

Is this what Joker thought of him when they first met, and Ryuji had teamed up with him even if he had his hesitations toward it? His answer would've been the same, either way.

He smiles at Achilles.]

Together.

[ That's answer he wanted. As much as he enjoys a good fight, he's more inclined to protect someone he considers a friend than to beat them down and prove his strength. Ryuji is someone he considers to be a good person, and a boy with a pure heart. He's a mage on top of that, making him the perfect candidate for a Master.

Of course he'd love to fight beside him.

Responding to his smile, he mirrors that soft expression and leans forward to kiss him.

You know. For mana.

Ryuji, love yourself. ]

[The second time it happens, it doesn't feel as... unexpected as it does the first time. Ryuji leans a little into it, which surprises him, but he accepts Achilles' lips against his own. Flustered, just like he was the first time, but not so much as a mess as he was before. His mask still on, he's keenly aware of that mana that slowly draws itself out of him and into the other.

Ryuji's the first to pull away, as he brings his hands up to his lips, as if checking they're still there. His heart stirs, and even though this is all one hell of a confusing moment, he scratches the back of his head and looks away.]

Dude.

[And then it hits him- he smirks, looking ever menacing when he's still in his Phantom Thieves mode.]

I can't believe you just stole my first kiss like that.

[Achilles, love yourself.]

[ The kiss is too fleeting to actually be effective. He certainly tries to prolong it, parting his own lips so he can fit their mouths together and indulgently lick a pathway into him. He doesn't get the chance, because Ryuji is pulling away too quickly, only to be caught by the hook of his arm coiled around his shoulders. He's not going anywhere.

He admits his lack of experience and it doesn't earn any surprise from Achilles. ]

I've stolen your second it seems, too. [ He smiles. And pretty much crowds him so that he's forced to step back, until the backs of his knees hit the edge of the bed. ]

How about your third?

[He has to admit, it does look intensely amusing to see Achilles' face as he draws backward, his intent to follow through and make that kiss much less transient written all over the features of his face. But it's not... incredibly long lived as Achilles has gotten him by the neck, proverbially and well, in actuality as well. His step backwards is met with a swaying step forward, and he's caught in this web, at least for now.

This is Paris, the most romantic city in the world, and here he is, above a closed bar in the middle of the revolution, and Achilles is just... taking entire jumps forward when what Ryuji really needed was the baby steps. You can't learn to waltz without knowing the box step.]

Oh, second? Sorry. Gonna have to jog my memory a bit. How the hell did that one go?

[Onto the makeshift bed he goes- it's not anything fancy by any stretch of the word- really just a few crates with some torn up blankets on top of it, but if Achilles doesn't mind, he guesses he doesn't either. Pushed a little bit more, and he dodges under Achilles' grasp of his shoulder, if only to sit down on it, looking up from his seated position to smirk. That rabbit motif might be true after all.]

You ever read those trashy magazines? Pretty sure that by the third kiss you're practically datin'. I don't wanna thrust that responsibility onto anyone.

[ Dating isn't a thing -- rather, it wasn't a thing in the era he was from. You're either married or not, and even then married men often had open affairs with other people.

He a fuck boi.

Which he proves as he plants a knee on the bed, half-straddling Ryuji so he can shove him down. ]

This is how you can give me mana.

[This is definitely not what he's bargained for, and again, just like the first time, Achilles goes farther than he's expecting to. Ryuji feels that pang of nervousness rise up straight inside him, as he moves backward on the bed a little bit- half in accommodation of the other, and half out of fear that he's going to be power housed into allowing Achilles onto his lap. An arm steadies his body to bolster him upward.]

D-dude! You're so freakin' forward.

[ Huh? He pauses, looking at him with a slight look of concern.

He's waiting for your next move, Ryuji. Are you accepting him or not? ]

What? Would you rather I court you like you were a woman? [ He pulls back like he's considering this option, because he hadn't thought of it before. He's so used to people falling over their feet for him with just a smile. ]

Hell no!

[It's said so fast and immediate, barely after Achilles even has time to say the word "woman"- and god, maybe he should have a taste of his own medicine for all the girls he put through hell trying to ask them out in the past.

Ryuji sighs, and pats the bed space next to him. Come. Over. Here.]

I dunno what time you came from, man, but where I'm from, it ain't usual for two guys to be doin' this sorta stuff. I mean, it's not. It ain't wrong or anything, I'm just not... uh... shit... I ain't used to people tryin' to charm my pants off, y'know?

[ Charm his pants off? He lets out a breathless laugh, ignoring the pat on the bed as he continues to half-straddle Ryuji. He still has his knee resting against the bed on the side of his thigh, not quite settling in yet. ]

What do you care, if it's not usual?

I know you find me attractive. [ Begone thot. ]

Why shouldn't you lay with me? [ Reaching for his hand so he can pull it up to his groin and have the back of his knuckles brush against.... his diq. Through his clothes. ]

[Achilles has a point. It's pretty arbitrary to think that guys have to be with girls and girls have to be with guys. It's just... a learned mechanism, a lens to see the world with which he grew up with. But for Ryuji, it's not just a challenge to his sexuality, but his own understanding of how relationships are supposed to work, in general. He feels a pit in his stomach growing again, when he states the obvious.

Yeah, he does find him attractive. Yeah, who in the world has to care about that, anyway? They're time traveling cops, sent out to fix the problems of the past. There's literally no one left to judge him.

And then, just as he's working this out in his head- the other goes and does that. Ryuji instinctively pulls his hand back, withdrawing. He felt it. He knows its general shape. And Acilles wants to lay with him.]

Dude... [Puppy dog eyes and frustration, all mixed into one. He feels beside himself, this is so fucking embarrassing.] C'mon, man, I know you're attractive as all hell, but I... uh.

I ain't a guy who wants to just lay with someone just because. [This isn't what Achilles is looking for, and he knows it. Which makes it even more self-hating of Ryuji to try and spell this out for him.]

If we're gonna go there, I wanna get to know you first. Are you just plannin' on using me for mana? I don't wanna be a battery, I wanna mean something to you if this is what you wanna do with me.

[ Oh no...

Well, at least the rejection is paired with a reasonable explanation. His incredulity is short-lived.

He smiles despite himself. For all the boy's posturing, he is incredibly sensitive and sentimental. Though it's odd that he wouldn't be jumping at the chance to... jump Achilles' bones, there's something endearing about it. He's at least trying to compromise, inferring he wants something more serious than just a one time tumble in the sheets and he can't begrudge him for it. ]

I don't usually get rejected. [ Now he's withdrawing his leg and standing fully, removing himself from that personal bubble of Ryuji's and letting him have that bed to himself. ] What good is stealing a heart if it's broken?

[ He reaches out to ruffle his hair playfully. ] Alright... Keep your mana. You'll need your strength anyway.

[Without Achilles advancing on him like prey, Ryuji's comfort level rises back to its normal pace. He's laid his cards out on the table- he's told him that he finds him attractive, and he's defensively taken the stance that if he wants mana from him, it's going to have to be in the confines of something more than just a power transfer. Not much more ground he can stand on to defend himself, because.

At 17, it's really hard to turn someone down that wants to have sex with you. Nonetheless, he smiles back at the other warmly, inviting, earnest and simple. Very much Ryuji.]

It's your ego that's bruised, not your heart. Trust me, man. I'm like. An expert at this shit. And if it were busted up, I'll take care of that too. [Oh god, he's glowing red at that. But it was nice, at least, to flirt like this for a little while. He's getting his hair tussled back and forth and Achilles looks like he's about to bolt now that he's been stood up for a good meal.]

Leavin'?

[ Sweet, earnest boy... ]

I should, just so I don't get tempted any further. [ He's turning to make the march for the window, now.

You missed this boat, Ryuji. ]

Tch, not even a kiss goodbye.

[Finally takes his mask off, placing it on the bed next to him. Maybe it's for the best, anyway. And after all this, he would've thought that his confusion towards Achilles would at least die down a bit, but- here is here, legs crossed, sitting on the bed, and yet again, Ryuji Sakamoto is finding out that he don't know shit about life.

But man. He hates to see him go, but he loves to watch him leave.]

>>@ENTERTHEDRAGON | @ALL

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ha80ZaecGkQ