>>@MAXIMUMTIGER | @ALL

[handtowels]

While the trial leaves us waiting I have a small request for anyone who's willing.

I've never seen a city quite like Paris. I'm curious about its architecture. The unrest has made a close study of what it boasts difficult in person so I want to take advantage of our BCEs.

If you come across an interesting building or element of construction before we leave, please consider sending me a picture. Obviously I'm not asking anyone to go out of their way, especially not into danger.

That's all.

Comments

[hakanai]

Why not both?

[Yoshitsugu closes his own and just looks at Takatora for a moment, smiling a little suspiciously before grabbing something nearby and shifting over to join his companion. Isn't the sunshine nice?]

[There's a somewhat battered book in his hands.]

I don't have pictures, but I might have something else for you.

[Still smiling.]

[handtowels]

Do you?

[If anything, the suspicious character of Yoshitsugu's smile only makes Takatora more curious — he'll never learn and he knows it. He's like a moth to the flame where Yoshitsugu is concerned. It's almost masochistic, the way he eagerly says:]

Let's see it, then.

[hakanai]

[That smile might be less suspicious than it seems... this time. Yoshitsugu sits cross-legged and offers over the book; it's called 'On the Art of Building.' The tome is not in the best condition but perfectly legible and very thick.]

I had some spare gold.

[He shrugs. Where and from who he bought the book is anyone's guess, considering...]

Read it while you can. It might not be something you can bring back.

[handtowels]

Y-Yoshitsugu...

[Takatora is stunned as he takes the book. After reading the cover, he opens it up, taking a cursory glance at the contents.]

If you were looking for a way to keep me distracted so you can slip out unguarded, this will definitely work.

[Touched by such a thoughtful gift, his gaze lingers on the book for a moment. He smiles softly.]

I don't deserve this. [He meets Yoshitsugu's eyes, then leans in.] Thank you.

[He shows his appreciation with a heartfelt kiss.]

[hakanai]

[There's been plenty of those in the last few weeks; each kiss a stolen moment in a time they don't belong to. The surfacing of this side of their bond itself is something that they never would have had otherwise. War and duty and dreams had ensured that, hadn't it? Yoshitsugu doesn't have regrets there but it's still nice to think he and his loved ones might get a life in a peaceful era one day, if the flow allows it.]

[Nagamasa and Oichi were made for such a time. Mitsunari as well, where he could work with numbers and worry every time Yoshitsugu coughed and get put to bed by Sakon. Then there was Takatora, who could get a chance to devote himself entirely to his real passions: handtowels, mochi and being cute about buildings.]

Don't be an idiot. [Yoshitsugu says afterwards, offering a secondary peck on the tip of Takatora's nose.] It's not like we have anything else to do right now.

[Anything important, anyway, and besides...]

So we should use the time we have spare well, like we discussed before. You can help me do that by lending me your lap.

[He is very, very tired. Not in the immediate sense, but in a very worn-down sense. Yoshitsugu's stamina is dangerously low and necessitates plenty of dozing, napping and occasional cuddles.]

[handtowels]

[That suggestion explains the patch of sunlight.]

It's yours.

[Takatora says easily, before he sets his new book down to the side.]

Make yourself comfortable.

[He's content to be Yoshitsugu's pillow, especially when he has reading material to occupy the foreseeable future.]

[hakanai]

[Yoshitsugu almost just falls onto Takatora's lap, ending up on his side with his head on that comfortable pillow and hair spilling across it. He doesn't close his eyes yet though, blinking up at the light and staring through the window in thoughtful quietness.]

...changing history by influencing Takatora's design choices.

[Yoshitsugu huffs a laugh, mouth twisting into a smirk.]

You'll build the most unique castles in Japan. I am certain Kiyomasa will have a lot to say about that, hmm?

[handtowels]

[Takatora's blue eyes follow Yoshitsugu, and his gaze lingers as he runs one hand over the spill of Yoshitsugu's long black hair, basking in the weight on his thighs. After a long moment, he takes up the book with his free hand, opening it on the first page.

The way Takatora frowns when Yoshitsugu speaks indicates just how much he doesn't like Kiyomasa, regardless of the latter's place as a fellow Tokugawa retainer.]

Kiyomasa can say what he likes. His ideas of what a castle should be defies the point of building a castle in the first place.

[Not biased at all, there.]

It would be a waste not to use this opportunity to improve my mastery.

[hakanai]

Some might argue that they both fulfil their purpose.

[Yoshitsugu's voice remains calm and even but anyone who knows him well, as Takatora does, would be able to tell he's being playful right now. Not quite to the level of teasing but enough to draw out interesting reactions.]

Or that they reflect their builder's personalities a little too well?

[He closes his eyes, still smiling to himself. It's not sleeping but it's nice to rest like this, drifting in the flow of their pleasant moment.]

I suspect Kiyomasa doesn't use handtowels when he measures out distance.