steelo: (333)

[personal profile] steelo 2021-07-25 05:48 am (UTC)(link)
[ what iris says was - that was what he was hoping for, that maybe people would think denji was being framed. now, people probably think he's the suspicious one, which.. is fine. he's willing to take on the responsibility, because, if they have to do this again next week, he is going to be the suspicious one. (he refuses to take any other option, refuses to let luxanna and dimitri carry the burden.) it just would've been better if it wasn't denji.

lallis name brings to mind kon, his dead eyed misery from thursday that ichiro just barely remembers. there is no winning this game. he knows. he knows losing himself, or one of the other members of their fragile little group of people tasked with the impossible, wouldn't replace it, or make it better. cruel, unfair, infuriating says it, to say the least, and he looks down at her, almost soulful, eyes still wet, face still red and a little puffy.

it doesn't feel like kindness. and like always, he finds himself thinking - i could have done more. ]


...he's one of ours. [ ichiro says, quietly, about denji. ] I never - if it had been me, I never would've...

[ but he had to stay behind. he didn't get a choice. just the guilt, something that threatens to drown him.

he takes a deep breath. inhale, exhale. ]


...I'm tired, Iris. [ quietly. ] I'm so tired.
azuta: (ღ thinking no one could)

[personal profile] azuta 2021-07-25 05:55 am (UTC)(link)
[ . . . . ]

You don't need to tell me things I already know - I think by now, I know the type of person you are.

[she's going to keep it at that. not when ichiro is so tired, and so sad. she'll hold onto his hand and give it a gentle squeeze, lightly interlacing their fingers as if to prove that she is well and truly going nowhere, and bringing up her other hand against to brush her thumb against the curve of his cheekbone.]

... let's go home. [a glance to all the bouquets and arrangements - ] I'll pick those up tomorrow.

[or leave them. who can say. she's going to start guiding him back in the direction of winter.]

Please help me bandage my hands? [if it'll give him something to do, to feel like he could help even one person - even if it's just her] ... it's almost over. Let's stay together, until then.

[she worries - about what will happen if she takes her eyes off of him.

I don't want to lose you, too.]
steelo: and you and i are far less different than they say (115.)

[personal profile] steelo 2021-07-25 06:16 am (UTC)(link)
[ ... he doesn't say anything to that. ichiro has to keep his thoughts quiet, forcefully, lest he say or think something he's not supposed to. the whole world just feels like its on his shoulders, right now, and he lets iris do whatever she wants, lets her take his hand, lets her touch his cheek. he's just - exhausted. numb. too tired and upset to feel anything else.

though.. home gets a spike of extremely unfamiliar anxiety, and he looks at the dorm, sort of distantly. ]
I - [ I can't sleep in that room tonight - I can't.

ichiro's silent, for a second. ]


...yeah. [ it just reminds him of hurting ikebukuro. of working for mozuku, all those years ago.

stay alive, ichiro. don't be selfish, ichiro. i don't want to lose you, ichiro.

it's a lot of pressure. he has to shoulder it, like he always, always has.

he takes a deep breath and tries to push it off of his face, looking down at iris, and then looking at her hand. get it together. ]
...yeah. I can do that. [ help bandage her up, at least. the flowers can stay, for now. i hope these end up on location changes. ]
Edited (ok dw my tag) 2021-07-25 06:16 (UTC)
azuta: (ღ so by keeping her heart protected)

[personal profile] azuta 2021-07-25 06:20 am (UTC)(link)
[ . . . it's been a long day. she doesn't know what else she can give him, and it bothers her. but at the very least - ]

You can hide away in my room, until you're ready to be anywhere else. Or we can take some of the camping materials and stay out - it's warm enough.

[the offer is there, if he doesn't want to be in his usual cuddle spots. she's assuming it's a painful reminder, or it hurts to be around others when he might not be able to watch his emotions.

I don't know what else to give. is her next thought and it leads to her asking - ]


.... is there anything else you might want?