(ic inbox)

[despirit]

nikkari aoe

the actual nikkari, not an alt account

VOICE | TEXT | VIDEO | ACTION

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9/1 | text | KICKS THE DOOR DOWN AND MAKES THIS MY HOME

[crudest]

[to be honest, Baren's been MIA

he might've ditched Nikkari for most of last month simply because he was busy trying to put the city back together. aside from making sure that Nika was alive and not eaten by monsters, Baren didn't do much to stay in touch. and maybe Baren disappearing for weeks at a time isn't all that odd.

a whole month gets kinda weird though.

maybe it's that thought that kicks him into finally sending Nikkari a text when he feels alive enough - and has healed up enough - to see him.]

drinks
something fruity and brightly colored and practically spilling over with regrets
one of those nights nika ♥
i'll pick you up at 9

[the gameplan: steal a giant pitcher of alcoholic flavored bad ideas and see where they go from there]

[despirit]

[Baren's been off for a while now, but Nikkari knows better than when to pry. he knows how far he can go, and that sometimes Baren just needed time. more than usual, but hey, if something happened, he thinks he'll know sooner or later.

doesn't stop him worrying, though, and when he gets the text, he's quick to respond.]

you're on
i'll make sure to dress extra embarrassing before you show up

[which he will not. but it was fun to say.]

post-retrospec | action | this is my home now

[crudest]

[Baren checks the Retrospec list everyday.

It's not hard when the list of names he's looking out for is so short. He notices when his cousin gets added to the app, shakes his head when it's another day without Okuni, but then there's something else. There's someone else and whatever he's focusing on is immediately abandoned. He runs right out of a scheduled photoshoot claiming an emergency, luckily just short of having changed into whatever costume was asked of him. There's no time for photos and fashion, none.

There are times when he's grateful for his newfound skill in crossing difficult terrains, the balance and agility giving him yet another advantage over most people. As he zips across the city skyline as quickly as he can, this is one of them. It's not the effort or the movement that manages to make his breathing labored, but rather the gasps of excitement as he immediately heads straight for Nikkari's apartment.

Because Nikkari's here.

In every way that counts, Nikkari is here.

They'd just been together so recently, but Baren has no interest in waiting - now that Nikkari remembers, he decides immediately that he has no interest in being apart from him until he's caught up with everything. Everything.

He doesn't have to hold back anymore.

It's that thought that manages to inspire a truly happy smile on his face as he opens the window to Nikkari's room without hesitation, seeing it as his own personal entrance as always. Then there's the gasp for breath, exhilarated and he throws himself at Nikkari completely and totally without any other warning than - ]

Horses, motherfucker!!

[despirit]

[this is all weird, this is really strange, this app is making the world be different and Nikkari's trying to make sense of it all. colors he hadn't even remembered as gone are, a day in the past thrown into weird relief - his eye has gone gray and strange. it's concerning, and he's making a mental list of changes.

but glancing over the names that he sees furiously quick and responding, asking questions he has, he's soothed in how not alone he is in at least acclimating to this, it's something that's baffling to many. and he recognizes some of these names, and it's shocking to see an entire secret world he didn't know of around him.

Baren's name is there, and suddenly, things begin to make more sense. strange words and actions he'd brushed off as Baren being himself are explained in this instant. he knew, and he couldn't have said. and that's why...

it's at that moment his window opens, and the very person he was thinking of is coming through. Nikkari can already tell that he's going to hit the floor, accepts his fate with arms wide open and a huge, true smile.]

Horses! I remember them now!

[how could he have forgotten? how could he have forgotten blue, and green, and the way the sky was supposed to be?]

9/4

[mercurio]

samples were centrifuged at whatever rpms joey "the beast" mcripped could achieve on his saucy days

[despirit]

the beast, huh
sounds like someone you can trust with your samples

9/7; misfire

[embraves]

vroooooMMMMM
click click... sputter wheeze die

[With context this makes more sense. Probably.]

[despirit]

ghost car?

8/3

[stopbleeding]

do you think it'd be weird to kiss a mermaid?

[despirit]

no
she has a human face, right? so it'd be like kissing any other person

9/11 late at night

[stopbleeding]

[crashes into ur inbox again]

i'm outside your door holding onto a copy of rudolph the red nosed reindeer. you going to let me in or no?

[despirit]

yes but you have to be quiet
auntie's asleep

10/2

[crudest]

[maybe nikkari wasn't working the night before when baren barged into club sunshine with bundles and bundles of roses that he insisted on donating, but he's around today and that's what's important.

as baren requests him - he doesn't mind paying for nika's time every now and then - and when nikkari approaches the table

he will find that it's fucking covered in roses

baren stares him down. he is not allowed to leave him with this. don't stand him up now of all times, nika. his gaze is dead. exhausted. he is a tired, defeated man.]

These are yours now.

[despirit]

[he comes, being requested, and holy shit, that's a lot of roses. that's Baren, at the table covered in roses. what the hell is going on?

because it's Baren, he stares for a minute, baffled, before he sits down with him.]

I'm flattered! I really am! But...aren't gestures like this something you should save for your boyfriend?

[the boyfriend you neglected to tell him about, loser?]

sometime early october!

[sharplydressed]

you're the ghost expert right
how do you perform an exorcism or something
or whatever you do to boot things out of your room

[Because a friendly new spectral resident has decided to come chill in his and HE'S TIRED. Since Nikkari is 1) well-versed in ghost shit (even moreso than himself, An Actual Spirit) and 2) stuck in Retrospec hell, there's going to be no end to the stupid calls for help.]

[despirit]

why are you asking me this
what happened
what did you do

backdated 10/2 → action;

[loudmouths]

[ keigo had thought baren was joking when he said he had piles of roses to get rid of, but after the proof had been presented, he concluded that the man was just an idiot. who accidentally ordered that many roses?! wouldn't the bill have been the tip-off?! well, whatever. keigo had gotten a good deal of them from baren and after some appropriate hazing, had them in his dorm for the remainder of the day.

give em to nika or something

the suggestion had been an embarrassing one, to say the least. keigo didn't know nikkari well enough to just dump a bunch of roses at him, right?! what kind of guy did that, especially when they hadn't actually gone on a date? well, fact of the matter remained that keigo had no other use for them. he certainly didn't want to keep them in his dorm... that would just be weird.

so he arrived at sunshine, awkwardly, and requested nikkari yet again, but not for a session. just to talk for a minute. because there was no way that keigo was going to be able to live through more than sixty seconds of the humiliation he was about to subject himself to, and pay for it on top of that.

whenever nikkari showed up, keigo awkwardly looked to one side, face as red as the roses he presented. gruffly, he greeted him: ]

Oi.

[ ...that was kinda rude, wasn't it? a brief pause later, he continued: ]

So, I got these from someone and I ain't really gotta use for 'em... so... I thought maybe you'd like 'em.

[ fidgeting, he shook his head. ]

N-not that someone confessed to me and I'm just regifting them!! That's not how I am!! Just... someone I know apparently ordered a bunch and needed to get rid of them so I didn't want them to go to waste, rottin' in my dorm.

[ another pause, and he cautiously glanced over at nikkari. ]

If you don't want 'em, it's fine. I can... get rid of 'em. I just thought since... you were so nice to me before that you deserve somethin'.

[despirit]

[to say he's surprised is an understatement. seeing Keigo back was one thing, seeing him back with flowers was quite another. and they were...for him? truth be told Nika didn't get flowers much if ever, and he's for once left without a clever remark. actually, if someone was looking, it'd be clear that he's a little flustered - roses, usually, meant only one thing. though it was just a kind gesture, right?

(later, he'll get the news, and laugh, and understand in full.)

but he takes them after that second of being off guard, trying to recover.]

I'm....thank you.

[they're pretty, and he's sure his aunt won't mind flowers in the house.

is saying thanks enough in this situation?]

It's really sweet of you, Keigo.

[playdolls]

I probably owe you a coffee.

[despirit]

[the response to this comes at some stupid hour of night. he was sleeping...]

you don't owe me, but if you just want to see me, then i'm open to that

text; sometime... after the nightmare shenanigans??

[loudmouths]

[ so, nikkari... you said you were up all the time, right? well, hopefully you were being truthful, otherwise a random text at 4 in the morning might wake you up... ]

ah, nikkari? It's keigo. i'm sorry to message you this late but uh.

if it's at all possible i'd like to talk to you about what happened... that night.

[ it should be obvious what he meant by "that night." ]

[despirit]

[nope, he's definitely up, putting the final touches on a paper that needs to be in by 6 that night - he knows he'll be sleeping or working by then. the text buzzes in his pocket, and when he reads it, his response comes swiftly.]

of course, keigo. i'm here.
what part of it do you wanna talk about?

11/26?? 27?? fuck i don't remember anyway surprise

[stopbleeding]

remember that list i gave you? descriptions of my crew or whatever?
found the blonde one.
he's a dick.

figured you should know.

[well. maybe not the "he's a dick" part but. whatever. still necessary information.]

[despirit]

name and where he hangs out so i can steer clearer of him
congratulations

[playdolls]

[ Pitou eyes the mistletoe bat above Nikkari's head with a languid kind of intrigue. Maybe they're having a cat moment, thinking about chasing down that squeaky little thing and ripping its wings off. Maybe they're thinking about the long hair of a severed head. It's a vicious look beneath the facade of calm. Their tail flicks. Back and forth and back and forth. ]

Nikkari.

[ Calling for his attention in the street. ]

[despirit]

[he's not really paying attention to the bat, firing off a text when he hears his name from somewhere. looking up, he sees Pitou, and raises a hand in greeting before he shoves his phone in his pocket.]

Pitou! It's been a while.

christmas;

[sotenbori]

[ for christmas, majima gets nikkari a book of japanese ghost stories and a nice set of make-up with all your basic needs. a gateway drug into makeup hell. pretty soon nikkari is going to be plurking all the latest makeup trends and ordering from colourpop im sure. ]

slides this here... backdated to christmas??? (text to start)

[loudmouths]

oiiii nikkari! merry christmas!!

are you busy? i'd like to meet up sometime today, if possible!

[ desperately trying not to sound Weird because of all the other shenanigans they've been through recently. ]

slowly emerges from grave

[despirit]

merry christmas ヾ(＾-＾)ノ

i'm not busy, it's just me and my aunt. but what's on your mind? aren't you busy?

1/17

[stopbleeding]

[late night thoughts strike again]

do you think a person can be a sword?

[despirit]

whered this come from