[Without the tippy-tapping, her hands feel quite nice resting over his insignia. But, no! He can't get all dopey and smiley over this. She just got the one up in him!]
Yeah well, this one doesn't count as a win cause I wasn't given time to try to escape.
[It doesn't count? That tempers her smile. Youko leans more bodily against him, trading the hold on Bandou for the edge of the sink, her hands bracketing him in while her voice drops into that lower register. Provocation, a challenge in each round syllable.]
[It's official. Bandou Saburouta liking dominant women has been confirmed. If there weren't in the back of the bar right now, he may have already given up on his potential, but very unlikely, win and let Youko do as she wishes with her prisoner.
But, no! He has to focus on showing her up! Or, at the very least, impress her with his own skills. And he has to think of how to do so fast, cause apparently there's a time limit he's mentally set for himself.
Right now there's two options he can see. One: Slip down and duck under her arms. But, it might prove difficult due to their height difference and he'd most likely end up blurting out another comment on her short stature, worsening the predicament he got himself into. Two: Quickly hoist himself up onto the edge of the sink and jump over her. The better of the two options, but it also exponentially increases the potential for glass breakage.
Damn it. He's already lost, he thinks before a third option pops into mind. What if he used the very same thing that got this whole ordeal started? Smirking to himself, he decides to go for it. A scare tactic! The moment Bandou gently places the glass into the sink's basin, he allows his Aura to spark up around the areas she isn't in contact with him. If he's successful in getting her to back up in shock, he'll have his moment to run!]
[For the briefest of moments, she wonders if he's going to give up the ghost and accept defeat. Then the glass clinks against the sink and his Aura flares to life, suffusing their close quarters with heat and the threat of flames. She can feel the shirei sleeping in her skin reacting to the display, Jouyuu clawing into her muscles, flooding her irises in red and bidding her limbs to move, a compulsion to get to safety.
If it were anything else, anyone else, she'd allow it to take hold of her, submit to the protection, regroup. That it is Bandou keeps her still despite the urgent feeling nagging at her, and makes her close her eyes tight, severing the shirei's control with blindness.
If there is one thing she has total confidence in, it is this simple truth:]
[Confusion hits him first. He'd expected her to jolt back, releasing him before scolding him as he sprinted out the back entrance of the bar. But the press of her body against his back is unflinching. And her gentle words have him heaving a sigh as the bright, firey Aura fizzles out. If there's anyone he can suck up his pettiness for, it's her. She's caught him fully, both his body and his heart.]
You're right.
[He does his best to turn in her arms so she can see that any bitterness that may have been there before has extinguished along with the flames.]
[It is probably for the best that her competitiveness doesn't come coupled with a need for victory laps or gloating. His concession — and the lack of a sour look coloring his face when she reopens her eyes — is more than enough to satisfy her and bring her smile back up to full strength.
She starts to relax her hold on the sink to give him more freedom, removing one proverbial bar on the cage she made around him, before thinking better of it and resting her hand on his hip. It might not be in her gloat, but having him compromised and at the mercy of her teasing isn't unappealing.]
[The stack of glasses get a nervous glance, as if he already forgot they were there and the mere mention of them might cause them to topple.]
Yeah, maybe we should step away from the sink.
[Though, being the trapped prisoner he is, he doesn't make any moves to back Youko away. He doesn't want her to think he's planning another escape when he's already submitted.]
[The anxious look he shoots the precariously balanced glasses gets a soft laugh out of her. She can perfectly see the horrible tragedy the wrong jostle or nudge would spell out for Bandou, and accordingly takes a measured step back towards the opposite counter.]
I suppose we don't want your hard work going to waste.
I don't see why we can't just shove them all in a dish washer.
[He shouldn't complain. Kusanagi could 100% make him do them without paying him. Though the potential of that meager paycheck turning into stifling debt is a pretty high risk gamble. So he is absolutely following her as she moves them along. Plus, with her back to the counter now, he could possibly have a little advantage to go in for a kiss!]
[Once the counter is against her back, Youko glances towards the door, checking for impending foot traffic as if she were actually up to something illicit, and then carefully hoists herself up to perch on the edge. Far away from any precious breakables, but much closer to eye level with Bandou.]
I could probably be persuaded to dry if you're going to be Kusanagi's hostage for a while yet?
[With that classic nerdy grin of his on, he closes any distance left between them. Considering Kamamoto was in here only a few minutes earlier, any of the guys could walk in on the potential makeout session he's very keen on initiating right now. But that's fine. He'd wanted to put 'semi-public' on the TSAL at one point, didn't he?]
You might have to go up against HOMRA's second in command to claim ownership of me~
[It's his turn to settle his hands on either side of Youko as he leans in to capture that first kiss.]
I didn't exactly think up any plans for taking on the HOMRA second-in-command...
[The telegraph of him coming in for a kiss is crystal clear, and while it's tempting to lean into it and hang the risk of an audience joining them, Youko isn't ready to give in just yet. Instead, she opts to cup his face and tilt just out of range, eyes rolling towards the door again with a thoughtful hum. Like she was taking the opportunity to formulate a real plan on the spot.]
He'd probably give up if an ally of mine with big teeth and claws threatened the bar, right?
[Not that she'd order Hyouki to do something as unkind as that, especially when she just said 'hello' to the man in question minutes ago, but...]
[His puckered lips look more like a pouting duck face now that his cheeks are squished in her hand. It pairs well with the disappointed sound he makes at not being able to get that kiss.]
That or he wouldn't hold back. I kicked a barstool once and he grabbed and lifted me up by my face so we could have a talk about my 'status in the bar'. He's terrifying when you put this place on the line.
[He sounds really convincing trying to speak with squished cheeks, too.
[It takes a not insignificant amount of restraint on her part to keep from laughing once she looks back to Bandou and comes face-to-face with his duck face. Even if the anecdote he's offering is — as it usually is with these boys and their treatment of each other — appalling, the pout is just a little too cute for her to not allow herself to be distracted and take some pity on him. Giving his face one gentle squish, she leans forward into his strike radius, repositioning her hands onto his shoulders. Primed to play nice if he wanted to make a second pass.]
Is this warning because you're counting me out of that fight? Because you just told me he's apparently hurt something a lot more important to me than furniture...
[She relaxes into the kisses with a soft, contented noise, hands coaxing him back to catch him in a fourth, and knees splaying enough for him get closer. It, and the sigh she lets out when they break apart, takes any building bite out her voice.]
I know you don't. For what it's worth, I don't really want to either.
['Whose side,' indeed. If a fight did break out, it would put him in an awful position, one of questioned loyalties and conflicted feelings. No matter how badly as she may want his clan-mates to straighten up and act better towards him, creating a new source of pain is definitely something she doesn't want.]
... sort of wish I had it in me to tell you to root for me, though.
[While she may not be causing a new sense of pain for him, there's still something off. She's urged him closer with her legs, given her permission for more kisses by reciprocating, yet he hesitates in continuing. The crease forming in his brow, the almost guilty look in his eyes as he gazes off at nothing particular behind her... There's something there that wasn't showing itself moments before.]
[The hesitation and the look on his face, the guilt and distance coloring it, bring her to a halt. Pulling back a little, the curious look she shoots him slowly turns into one of concern as the pause stretches further out.]
[She follows the cagey dart of his eyes, giving each spot a second glance before turning back to him, head tilting. Given there is nothing to obscure them or muffle their voices back here, maybe that wariness is warranted? Not that Youko has the faintest idea what thought he's put the brakes on. Her nose wrinkles slightly as she parrots that line back to him.]
You probably shouldn't say it here?
[That isn't concerning to hear sitting in the heart of HOMRA's territory.]
Because it's something... serious? Something private?
[If actually pursuing that line of thinking wouldn't just knock the lid off Pandora's box and set loose anxious thoughts currently held at bay, she might be seizing on the knee-jerk impulse to ask why he didn't mention this the last time they were alone. Given the look on his face, that would be as unhelpful to him as it would be to her.]
It is something you want to talk about, though? Just not here?
[There's a heavy, defeated sort of sigh, as if this secret is a school assignment he's procrastinated to the point of having no option but to hunker down.]
But, maybe we could make out a little longer first?
[Doesn't mean he won't try to prolong it, regardless of bringing up the topic, himself.]
[Drawing things out, delaying some inevitable crossroads up ahead of them with kisses is a tactic she has used herself, so she can't begrudge him the suggestion. Despite the unknown Sword of Damocles dampening her smile some, he gets an affectionate huff from her and a kiss to his cheek — the spirit of the thing, if not the thing exactly.]
[Defeated by temporarily placated, Bandou steps back so Youko may hop back down to the floor. The dishes are complete (for now) so they should be able to run off and seek a better place to talk without Kusanagi scolding him for anything later.]
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Yeah well, this one doesn't count as a win cause I wasn't given time to try to escape.
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Then put the glass down. You can try now.
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But, no! He has to focus on showing her up! Or, at the very least, impress her with his own skills. And he has to think of how to do so fast, cause apparently there's a time limit he's mentally set for himself.
Right now there's two options he can see. One: Slip down and duck under her arms. But, it might prove difficult due to their height difference and he'd most likely end up blurting out another comment on her short stature, worsening the predicament he got himself into. Two: Quickly hoist himself up onto the edge of the sink and jump over her. The better of the two options, but it also exponentially increases the potential for glass breakage.
Damn it. He's already lost, he thinks before a third option pops into mind. What if he used the very same thing that got this whole ordeal started? Smirking to himself, he decides to go for it. A scare tactic! The moment Bandou gently places the glass into the sink's basin, he allows his Aura to spark up around the areas she isn't in contact with him. If he's successful in getting her to back up in shock, he'll have his moment to run!]
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If it were anything else, anyone else, she'd allow it to take hold of her, submit to the protection, regroup. That it is Bandou keeps her still despite the urgent feeling nagging at her, and makes her close her eyes tight, severing the shirei's control with blindness.
If there is one thing she has total confidence in, it is this simple truth:]
You won't hurt me.
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You're right.
[He does his best to turn in her arms so she can see that any bitterness that may have been there before has extinguished along with the flames.]
I guess losing this one time isn't so bad.
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She starts to relax her hold on the sink to give him more freedom, removing one proverbial bar on the cage she made around him, before thinking better of it and resting her hand on his hip. It might not be in her gloat, but having him compromised and at the mercy of her teasing isn't unappealing.]
Not least of all because the glasses survived?
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Yeah, maybe we should step away from the sink.
[Though, being the trapped prisoner he is, he doesn't make any moves to back Youko away. He doesn't want her to think he's planning another escape when he's already submitted.]
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I suppose we don't want your hard work going to waste.
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[He shouldn't complain. Kusanagi could 100% make him do them without paying him. Though the potential of that meager paycheck turning into stifling debt is a pretty high risk gamble. So he is absolutely following her as she moves them along. Plus, with her back to the counter now, he could possibly have a little advantage to go in for a kiss!]
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[Once the counter is against her back, Youko glances towards the door, checking for impending foot traffic as if she were actually up to something illicit, and then carefully hoists herself up to perch on the edge. Far away from any precious breakables, but much closer to eye level with Bandou.]
I could probably be persuaded to dry if you're going to be Kusanagi's hostage for a while yet?
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[With that classic nerdy grin of his on, he closes any distance left between them. Considering Kamamoto was in here only a few minutes earlier, any of the guys could walk in on the potential makeout session he's very keen on initiating right now. But that's fine. He'd wanted to put 'semi-public' on the TSAL at one point, didn't he?]
You might have to go up against HOMRA's second in command to claim ownership of me~
[It's his turn to settle his hands on either side of Youko as he leans in to capture that first kiss.]
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[The telegraph of him coming in for a kiss is crystal clear, and while it's tempting to lean into it and hang the risk of an audience joining them, Youko isn't ready to give in just yet. Instead, she opts to cup his face and tilt just out of range, eyes rolling towards the door again with a thoughtful hum. Like she was taking the opportunity to formulate a real plan on the spot.]
He'd probably give up if an ally of mine with big teeth and claws threatened the bar, right?
[Not that she'd order Hyouki to do something as unkind as that, especially when she just said 'hello' to the man in question minutes ago, but...]
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That or he wouldn't hold back. I kicked a barstool once and he grabbed and lifted me up by my face so we could have a talk about my 'status in the bar'. He's terrifying when you put this place on the line.
[He sounds really convincing trying to speak with squished cheeks, too.
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Is this warning because you're counting me out of that fight? Because you just told me he's apparently hurt something a lot more important to me than furniture...
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[He'll take this open opportunity to finally get that kiss! Okay, maybe two. Or three, slinking his arms around her waist as he does.]
Whose side am I supposed to root for?
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I know you don't. For what it's worth, I don't really want to either.
['Whose side,' indeed. If a fight did break out, it would put him in an awful position, one of questioned loyalties and conflicted feelings. No matter how badly as she may want his clan-mates to straighten up and act better towards him, creating a new source of pain is definitely something she doesn't want.]
... sort of wish I had it in me to tell you to root for me, though.
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Saburouta?
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[The simple utterance of his name gets him to snap out of the daze he seemed to place himself in.]
Ah...there's just something I've been thinking about lately and—
[He cuts himself short, glancing around the backroom to make sure no one else snuck in without him noticing.]
Actually, I probably shouldn't say it here.
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You probably shouldn't say it here?
[That isn't concerning to hear sitting in the heart of HOMRA's territory.]
Because it's something... serious? Something private?
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[He looks like he's thinking way too hard on it.]
Controversial might be the best way to describe it.
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[If actually pursuing that line of thinking wouldn't just knock the lid off Pandora's box and set loose anxious thoughts currently held at bay, she might be seizing on the knee-jerk impulse to ask why he didn't mention this the last time they were alone. Given the look on his face, that would be as unhelpful to him as it would be to her.]
It is something you want to talk about, though? Just not here?
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[There's a heavy, defeated sort of sigh, as if this secret is a school assignment he's procrastinated to the point of having no option but to hunker down.]
But, maybe we could make out a little longer first?
[Doesn't mean he won't try to prolong it, regardless of bringing up the topic, himself.]
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Tell me what you've been thinking about? Please.
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[Defeated by temporarily placated, Bandou steps back so Youko may hop back down to the floor. The dishes are complete (for now) so they should be able to run off and seek a better place to talk without Kusanagi scolding him for anything later.]
Wanna hit up a coffee shop?
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