recolle | i'm too impatient for the event so play something small with me maybe

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i'm too impatient for the event so play something small with me maybe

WHO: Minato/ota
WHERE: Wiffle-Waffle
WHEN: Friday, 8/3, all day
WHAT: a """stake-out""" aka eating waffles and talking because nothing will happen on the 3rd like it usually does. some info-sharing to get people up to date (or alternatively, non-productive wheel spinning with Minato because he knows NOTHING haha)
WARNINGS: none

i.
[ Shit goes down on the 3rd every month --> we don't know what's going to happen aside from something being wrong with Retrospec --> the waffle house used to be where the Retrospec building is and its mailbox is outside --> stake out the waffle house just in case something happens

That's basically the thought process that went into this, but word might not have gotten around that it's happening. If anything, what draws people's attention, if not by word of mouth, is that whoever's on the way to the waffle house early Friday morning may see Minato on his way there too, struggling to push a wheelbarrow up the street.

It's a covered wheelbarrow. There is definitely a blade or three poking through the cover where he'd tried to tie the fabric down so it wouldn't blow off. But don't mind that; help him push. ]

ii.
[ The Wiffle-Waffle is a respectable business which wouldn't appreciate loitering, so head on inside and let's have a waffle party. You're also paying for your own waffles, because Minato isn't made of money. He tries to keep his head down, mostly, finding a far away corner booth to sit at and waving people down with a credit card in one hand, the other hand held by the side of his face as if it does anything to obscure his identity from the workers there who shoot uneasy looks his direction from time to time. ]

Four waffles. Plain. If you can order that for me...

iii. (chronologically after prompt i.... I so clearly edited this in after the fact without reading)
[ He's just stuffing a mini-armory of axes and swords into the mailbox, don't mind him. ]

iv.
[ Time trudges on with nothing happening— a good thing, really. But Minato fiddles with his phone a lot during the time, pulling up a message he'd sent to Zee, checking and rechecking Wednesday's post from Joanne in hopes that it'd corrected himself.

With people here, it's a good a time as any for some info sharing. If anything, it'd be good for people to catch up on what happened last August that'd gotten so many "veterans" riled up, and Minato's one of those who wasn't there and is interested in learning more about it all. ]

So... Summer in Recollé sucks, huh. [ yeah ] ...I was talking to Zee a little, and he mentioned something about old maps, if you know anything about those. I guess it's of the city? Or Retrospec itself. I'm still a bit lost on it all, actually.

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[ It's unexpected, but not weird; his threshold for weird was always very high, and it gets pushed every time he hangs out with Souji, so for something like this? He takes her hand- the one that'd combed through his hair, and holds it to go through the same motion, pushing his bangs back and then stopping so that they're held there and he can look at her with both eyes. ]

It's alright. Affection's letting the other person do whatever they want without worry about it being weird. I sort of already do that.

[ Taking advantage of kindness and doing whatever the hell he wants... The spoiled youngest son. ]

[ Her eyes lock on their hands together and then they lock onto both his eyes. Pink rises to her cheeks and dusts the top of her ears. She bites her lip.

She clears her throat. ]

I don't... I don't think you quite understand. What I want to do right now... I wouldn't want to do in public.

Edited 2018-08-14 00:08 (UTC)

[ Why would you trust Minato Arisato to take a hint?

Still holding onto Clover's hand, he holds her close to his chest, his other arm held out to the side like they're in the middle of a dance routine. ]

Don't worry, I'll hide you.

[ So go ahead and do it! He'll support you!! aren't you glad ]

[ i don't trust minato but i TRUSTED YOU is this what betrayal is like

Her breath hitches in her throat, and she shifts her weight from foot to foot like she wants to dance like he's positioning them to but is nervous about it. Her eyelashes flutter, and her gaze lowers to his lips. ]

N-No.... I mean, you could hide it for a little while, but... it's... um, a little difficult to hide what I want to. Do. To you.

[ She hardly ever stutters, but even as she stumbles over the words, her free hand cups the side of his face, then slides down to nape of his neck. ]

[ It would be betrayal if I had ever been trustworthy at any time in my life and I sure hope I never came off that way :P It's also words like that that make Minato think he's going to be murdered in cold blood by her someday, but maybe that's more on him. ]

We'll both just have to do our best.

[ He's teasing, but it isn't often that Clover cracks, especially in public, and he's a terrible excuse for a protagonist who never feels like saving anybody. Whether it makes anything better or worse, he leans forward and sets his forehead against hers. ]

If not now, then I'll be free tonight. Don't plan to leave my bed for the next three days and nights anyways.

[ i still love you even if you don't want to be trusted

Clover's skill to keep up a facade is high. Her face is as placid as she can manage it. It won't be obvious from a distance, but Minato can feel it: she's trembling, suppressing herself from doing something she judges others for. She's always been a hypocrite, but she doesn't want to be this kind of hypocrite. Not yet. She has room to crack more.

She sucks in another breath, and her fingers curl into his hair. She closes her eyes and keeps her voice low. ]

Is that a promise? Or a challenge? I could see... how long you could hide it now. [ She doesn't want him to take the challenge, but his teasing gets a rise out of her. If he isn't going to save her, she'll try to bring them to destruction whether or not she'll come to regret it later. ] Tonight... if you're going to be too tired to do anything, what good will that do me?

[ He hums in answer, both a promise and a challenge being things he rarely breaks or backs away from. A hammering heart and burning ears are things he can keep neatly hidden away, even so close, masking it by the way he laughs and places a kiss on the tip of her nose since she can't see it coming with her eyes closed. ]

I'm sure you can get me excited.

[ If he's dying inside, he doesn't show it. Shameless. ]

[ She chokes on a laugh, her chuckles too broken to be giggles. She can't believe this is happening. She can't believe she's letting it happen. She can't believe for a brief second she considered pushing Minato up against a wall and—

She presses her forehead against his shoulder. ]

You're going to be the death of me.

[ There are too many chances for people to come up and see them, and she knows it could be exciting, but she still holds too much stock and value in her image, in looking like a model citizen even if her boyfriend is someone like Minato Arisato, who publicly declared being in jail twice even if the second time was fake.

She doesn't need to see how shameless he's trying to be. A part of her is better off not seeing it. She doesn't need his enabling.

Her eyes fly open, a decision made. Standing on her tip toes, she places a kiss against his jawline and then with her mouth next to his ear, she says softly, so, so softly: ]

I won't let you go until all you can think of is me.

[ She sneaks a hand down his chest to hook her fingers around his waistband. ]

[ He needs to kill her before she kills him, but it's hard to tell which one of them is winning now, because as shameless as he can be, he's largely a private person as well, comfortable enough not caring about what happens when it's just him and another lost in their own world, but there's that rational part of him that says it's the waffle house they're in front of, a place he'd called people to, and I like to pretend that in order to consolidate overlapping timelines, everybody else who tagged into this post just sort of side-eyed the two of them as they made their way into the restaurant and pretended they didn't see anything.

With her mouth next to his ear, it's easy for him to tilt his head and kiss the side of her neck- two, and then the clavicle- his hand finding hers and covering it. ]

Pazaak. I don't want you to let me go.

[ She can't win here. She's not going to win. It's clear when a surprised, "Oh" escapes her lips. It's too much. Her head is getting hazy, and she can't have that now.

She breaks away from him, takes the necessary steps back until the only parts of them touching are their hands, and she slips away from that, too, after a beat. She can't give into the temptation, not when they're both private people.

Her face is flushed. There's no hiding it even as she tries to rearrange her hair to cover most of it. ]

Later. [ Her mouth is dry, and she swallows. ] Just... later. I need to... get a glass of water.

[ She walks straight for the waffle house even though if she were more clear-headed, she'd probably walk in the opposite direction of there so she wouldn't run into anyone who probably saw them. ]

[ Later, aka she's going to kill him later when she calms down and reflects on all of this and then kills him. He can't let her go with her last thought being that, but at least it's the waffle house she heads towards, where he was planning to camp out in too, so he makes sure his wheelbarrow's been emptied of everything he brought before heading inside too.

Where is she, so he can continue being a terror, but less of a terror because they're indoors. ]

[ She is still more dumb than usual, so she's seated at the back of the restaurant. Really, she should've not chosen to go into this restaurant because seeing him again is dangerous. To everyone.

She got that glass of water that she said she needed and is holding onto it tightly. ]

Edited 2018-08-14 06:29 (UTC)

[ She's going to break that glass of water at this rate, and Minato doesn't make it any better in that he strides up to her table like nothing's wrong, and slides into the seat next to her instead of across; no escape now, without upending the entire table. ]

What do you recommend from here?

[ he asks, picking up the four menus stacked at one end of the table and starts setting them up around them like a barricade. ]

[ Yeah, she is. She's frazzled, and he's setting her nerves on edge. Her first thought when he slides into the seat next to her is, This asshole. Her second is, I love him. But it's naive to think that she'd need to upend the table to get out when all she has to do is shove him.

Her control is weak as it is, and when her fingers curl around the glass from his proximity, a small crack forms. It's not enough to break, but she quickly lets it go. She covers her face with her hands and grumbles. ]

I hate you right now.

[ There's no heat in that. ]

I know.

[ He reaches for the glass, sliding it over in front of it; if it breaks the rest of the way, he can take the fall and his reputation in this establishment won't even change. Also, free water, of which he helps himself to.

"I'm sorry" is probably what Clover's waiting for, but is he sorry... He isn't sorry, taking advantage of her covering her face to lean his shoulder against hers before he gets batted away. ]

I'll make it up to you.

[ She doesn't want an apology. She took part in it. She wanted it. That's what she hates. She hates how much she wanted that to happen, how much she enjoyed it, how much Minato excited her...

He's too shameless, but she doesn't mind as much as she should, and that's a problem. She sighs. ]

I'm afraid of that.

Inspiring fear into people's hearts is all I've ever wanted.

[ It's not a problem. He's not the person to go to for help in correcting one's behavior, not when his own is so off the tracks at times. Please have somebody in your life that gives better advice, Clover. I hear Ren is good at that. ]

Despite everything that you are, you inspire something else to my heart.

[ She gives up hiding. She leans her head against his shoulder and waves a hand at one of the menus he propped up. ]

Order whatever you want. I'll pay.

[ Not fear, but...? Deep, deep exhaustion, probably.

Minato doesn't spare the menus a single glance, as he'd come here with what he wanted to order already in mind: ]

Six dozen plain waffles.

[ That is one of the many feelings he makes her feel, yes.

It's an accurately timed order since the waiter walks up at that moment. Clover heaves a sigh so resigned as if she expected something that ridiculous. ]

You heard him. [ She waits until they're left alone again to ask: ] How long is that going to last you?

I have twelve more hours to go.

[ A waffle every ten minutes or something; he believes he'll be able to sustain himself like that, snacking throughout the day so that he'll never get hungry. ]

Less if you want any. You aren't going to have just water?

Maybe later. I'm not hungry now.

[ She'll have to figure out what the healthiest option is at a waffle house or break and get a Belgian waffle. ]

I came in here to cool down more than anything else.

[ Which he should know because he was part of the problem? ]

[ That's a foreign concept to him, who rarely gets riled up enough to necessitate a cool-down session, but he helpfully slides her glass a water back over, after he'd already helped himself to some. ]

What if something happens today? It might not be too bad to be a little on edge.

[ He busies himself with the menus, stacking them like one would build a tower of cards. ]

...I was talking with Souji's mother earlier last month. 'bout how I was feeling anxious about things lately. How I wished something would just happen, for the sake of happening and shaking things up a little. Isn't that terrible?

You'll protect me, won't you? You'd rescue me if I needed it? Like a damsel in distress.

[ She's kidding, a little. Her smile is a little too sharp. She's too powerful to be taken so easily, and she'd rather be capable than helpless. She knows all too well how Four would rather be protected, but she can't be just like that.

Clover watches him play with the menus for a little while, mulling over her answer. ]

Not always. I think... for you to want some kind of excitement is a good thing. We're usually in a constant swing of something happening and then resolving eventually. Sometimes, it's better to know what will happen or what's wrong because the waiting game can be what's terrible.

[ Clover doesn't quite want what Minato wants because she misses the days when her biggest worry was whether or not she'd be the top of her class. ]

It's not like you want the world to end.

[ She hopes he doesn't, at least. ]

[ He sees that smile and gives her a soft one in return. ]

I was hoping we'd protect each other.

[ It's more often than not that he's the one being helped out, anyways, capable of handling things himself and preferring to do things on his own, but accepting of help when it's insisted upon, especially when it's a fight. ]

It's what you say, though: the waiting game gets old. I've been waiting for almost two years now, for everything to be fixed.

[ So he can fly away? that was the original goal, but now, he'd just like everything to be fixed so he can stop revolving his life around a calendar and having to steel himself for the start of each month. That's no way to live, dictated by whatever catastrophe awaits them, but last year... Last year, a catastrophe happened, but some real progress had come out of that, and it's what he wishes for again. ]

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