ＴＨＥ ＳＨＯＰＫＥＥＰＥＲ (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
keepingshop) wrote2030-04-01 06:26 pm
keepingshop) wrote2030-04-01 06:26 pm
Ｉ Ｎ Ｅ Ｖ Ｉ Ｔ Ａ Ｂ Ｌ Ｅ
MAKE A WISH.
( IF YOU CAN PAY THE PRICE ... )
MAKE A WISH.
( IF YOU CAN PAY THE PRICE ... )
MAKE A WISH.
( IF YOU CAN PAY THE PRICE ... )
no subject
So yeah. Kimihiro's surprise wasn't something to tease, and Doumeki nodded instead, accepting it as he had done with the hand extended to him moments before.]
The beach is traditional for it.
There aren't any umbrellas here. Or water guns. No need to worry about getting a sunburn, but I brought sun screen.
[Now, this was what he'd focus on: fond references to Kimihiro's complaints about the summer humidity. The way he lounged in fewer layers, skin and legs exposed where his garments parted, a sight that tempted kisses and other forms of adoration. While Doumeki wasn't crass enough to actually apply sunscreen at a hotspring, of all places, he wouldn't turn down an excuse to touch his lover in public.
Or, you know. "Public." In the sense that there would be the wide expanse of nature around them and no other humans apart from those manning the main reception area and other workers, but the lack of people didn't necessarily mean the lack of supernatural presences.
After taking care of the necessary arrangements at the reception area, they were led to the changing area. The bag Doumeki brought, carrying a change of clothes and other things, would be stored in a locker area once they were done.]
no subject
The changing area is spacious, not that it matters as it's only the two of them still. Almost, Kimihiro entertains the idea of having rented out the whole place though he knows neither of them frequents exorbitancy in that way; it's just that it's both odd and nice to be in public yet still private. Even the sense he's had of spirits is softer here, as if they might be there but at a distance, kind of making gentle elliptical shapes about the property. Kimihiro didn't sense any active wards, but perhaps it's more about a certain degree of mutual respect between the rather old family that runs this place and the significantly older spirits that certainly dwelled here and hereabouts before.
Once their things are stored he sort of hovers near Shizuka's side. It's still just them, but he's grown accustomed to waiting for Shizuka to do whatever things a Seen person should be doing, and following that lead. In a way, it's reassuring that Shizuka doesn't seem to mind, doesn't find it a burden after all this time even if to this day Kimihiro himself views it as a rather heavy burden he's forced upon him in some respects. Himawari once very seriously told him on the phone: "But Watanuki-kun, we love you." He was never more grateful perhaps that Shizuka was teaching his classes, and Maru and Moro were napping and Mokona was with them, than that moment. He doesn't want anyone to see him cry. It wouldn't do. But he'd been staggered by her words as well as her existence, the fact that the Shop had granted him that leniency of Shizuka, of Himawari, of Kohane. And while he knows Shizuka and perhaps neither Himawari nor Kohane will agree, Kimihiro views himself as a very fortunate man.
A barely there 'ah' escapes him, lost in thought, but this not from any spirits at work.
It's just his heart really. ]
no subject
Mm-hmm.
[Yes, they had all the time in the remainder of the afternoon to soak up the sensation of being on break. To that end, they could even take their time to dawdle through the path between the locker area and one of the enclosures, smelling the salt water coming from one side and feeling the heat of the hot spring from the other.
He'd guide Kimihiro to one of the pools at a distance, first checking the temperature and how slippery the rocks were, before deciding it was passable. The immersion of his legs and shoulders in the warm water was a little surprising in that the knots and strain of his muscles made themselves known - he hadn't quite paid attention to how wound up they've become.]
Huh.
[He glanced down at the water for a moment before turning to check how Kimihiro was adjusting. The small wooden tub he'd used to carry sake was also useful if Kimihiro was inclined to take his glasses off.]
no subject
He makes use of the wooden tub, reaching to gently place them folded. It's not like he needs them much here anyway.
Only then does he look up and over again -- not too far presumably -- at Shizuka. He tilts his head, something gently playful there. ]
I think you needed this more than I did.
[ Between the two of them, it's an agree-to-disagree kind of thing probably, but it endears Kimihiro to get to see Shizuka like this. Smile still there, he sighs and settles back against the nearest side, sinking further just so that it brushes his collarbone, head tilted in a way that affords him the sky. He's already high with flushed color, but that's Kimihiro and any kind of heat really; it can't be helped. ]
no subject
We both did.
[An insistence that came with his way of prioritizing Kimihiro's wellbeing and happiness. Although -
He'd rotate his left shoulder, testing the stretch of his muscles. The initial invigoration he felt when he dipped into the water had steeped into a gradual sort of relaxation, like a rock tumbling down a gentle slope, and the steam seemed to slowly leech away the fatigue that had crept up on him from daily wear and tear.]
I didn't think being in a classroom could be this tiring.
[They were long past needing to pretend to each other, and he might have sounded a little put out - Kimihiro was right, he did need this. Doumeki, so assured at his own steadfastness and stamina, sometimes only realized his own exhaustion when he found himself in moments when he could actually unwind.]
no subject
Alright. We. You don't always have to include me you know.
[ Even if it makes Kimihiro feel ...well he's not sure of the word actually. Special doesn't sound right. Neither does loved. Though these are both inherently true of Shizuka's way towards him. He wants a different word, a more correct word. It makes him feel...oh. Well: real. Closing both eyes again, he sighs. ]
You're responsible for people who aren't children and aren't really adults yet either. That sounds more tiring than most things I can think of.
[ Yet his tone is inescapably fond. Kimihiro loves people and it's one of his more favored pastimes to try to 'know' all of Shizuka's students through the papers he grades and the anecdotes he tells however few they might be or however weedling Kimihiro might stoop to being in order to hear them from him. Then again, it's not as if Shizuka isn't forthcoming when Kimihiro wants something from him; maybe it's better to say, even if Kimihiro needs to start the conversation rolling (never a problem), it's enjoyable. And it's warm. More than anything Kimihiro loves those who haven't stopped being formed by their own hands. Maybe it's a bit of yearning he won't let become envy since his status is his own making. Maybe it's also protectiveness, that they hold onto that agency as long as they can.
With Shizuka, he knows he's bound him in some ways that are very limiting and sometimes it weighs on him.
For the moment though, he just feels a deep, almost embarrassingly ardent kind of love. He keeps his eyes firmly shut. ]
no subject
[The look he gave Kimihiro was one well-worn. Fond. Patient. As a private individual, it wasn't as if Doumeki didn't know how to manage his boundaries, but more to the point - there were plenty of things he'd willingly include Kimihiro in, partly in an effort to get Kimihiro to experience a little more of the world, and mostly because he loved him.
Being reminded of how old his students were was, well. Doumeki pinched the bridge of his nose and rested the back of his head on the ledge, closing his eyes. It wasn't as if he didn't care about them in his own way - something Kimihiro likely had long picked up on in between plenty of anecdotes told and retold, of his students visiting his office sometimes a year or two after they graduated - but.]
Ultimately, they'll have to figure it out for themselves.
[Not every student was as open, and not everyone liked him - in the way they would've probably gotten along with Kimihiro, at least. Not everyone took one of his classes - an introductory course - out of genuine interest, either. All these didn't bother him, though he had to always balance his lesson plans and assignments around such things.
If he glanced up again, would he still catch Kimihiro's expression? Because that was the kind of face that would compel him to lean forward for a kiss.]
no subject
I guess that's okay.
[ Obviously talking about inclusion of himself, though it's also okay that his students must find their own paths because that's just the nature of things isn't it. This is also the nature of things: the way their noses bump, the sort of trickling laugh that tickles its way up through Kimihiro because it's always surprising him how light he feels sometimes with Shizuka, how bright and almost alarmingly good. In his worse hours, he berates himself; they could have had this sooner perhaps if he'd not been the way Watanuki Kimihiro almost patently was years ago, like if he wasn't that way then he'd fall apart entirely. His eyes smile and his mouth smiles and when he leans in to kiss him a second time, it makes him dizzier because of the heat but they've reached a point in their life together where it feels too much like tempting fate to pretend he could kiss him later. Granted, Kimihiro can't always implement that logic; when he's feeling especially weighed upon by a wish that opens up his guilt for other things, he'll sort of linger within the Shop until Shizuka brings him home and he knows those nights Shizuka deserves better. And Kimihiro is too selfish to turn him away.
But Himawari once told him in that sunflower voice of hers, that lightness that didn't lie but carefully shrouded her weights and burdens so as not to trouble others, "When you're selfish, Watanuki-kun, it makes me a little happy. I don't think you realize how much we love you." And unspoken he'd heard it too anyway: how much we want to, if you'd let us.
Always his heart squeezes, his chest hurts when he thinks of Himawari but it's a hurt he's grateful for. Better to have her in his life some than not at all. And...
Shizuka.
He ends up having to lean his forehead to Shizuka's shoulder, blinking rapidly. But it's not unpleasant, the cloudiness of the heat and their almost too fortuitous privacy. ]
no subject
Good.
['I guess,' a limited kind of certainty in the trappings of indecisiveness. The difference was more than just the splitting of hairs, shades of gray between extremities. Doumeki learned and continued to learn the growing nuances of Kimihiro's speech: these were invisible rules they dwelt with, annoying on occasion, yet intriguing for the most part. Admittedly, of course, he'd rather that these puzzles had the same enjoyment of unraveling Kimihiro's obi on evenings, instead of the very real weight that necessitated their use.
Such was the way of those things.
The hand he placed on Kimihiro's temple as he drew his partner close was protective and welcoming, and he rested his cheek on that damp head of hair, content.]
no subject
shizuka with his cheek against his head is almost achingly affectionate. it almost feels like a secret.
he doesn't know why.
maybe because his own life is a secret? or maybe because it sometimes still feels perilous to acknowledge they have what they have at all, for fear that it will be thieved out from under them like a good dream that is still only a dream.
when he raises his head finally he does it so he doesn't collide awkwardly with shizuka, and angles up just slightly to press a kiss to the corner of his jaw, thinking those rare, rare words.
i love you.
he really does. ]
no subject
There were times when their love for each other needed to be said: rare instances, yes, but needed reminders after long, harrowing days or intensely joyful moments and, especially these days, neither of them were accustomed to loud, bold declarations.
But that was merely for the spoken word.
Actions, too, could be bold, and an illusion of privacy didn't make the hot spring they were in actually private. That didn't stop Doumeki from taking his time in studying Kimihiro's expression, from the wideness of his eyes to the parting of lips, the angular stroke of his cheeks from the swell of bone.
I love you, too, said within the kiss he left on Kimihiro's mouth and the safety he could give by holding Kimihiro. He didn't see Kimihiro as a secret, for all that he barely spoke about his private life to his colleagues, but the fear that, one day, they might be unwillingly parted - that was definitely real, and one that Doumeki defied with every kiss and night and morning spent with Kimihiro.
They were home like this with each other, for as long as they both willed, while their circumstances held.]
no subject
the way that kimihiro kisses shizuka back is also fondness, is love, is like, is trust. he leans up into it the way shizuka always invites him, allowing himself to not be subdued by the fact of the public space, at least for a few moments. these moments are long enough that when they part, he's breathless, but it's a pleasant sort of gasping dizziness that rather than making him feel off-kilter, makes him feel alive.
not just existing. well and truly alive.
his head to shizuka's shoulder, his nose touches the line of his neck and he sighs. ]
I've gotten disrespectful in my old age.
[ a joke, in a sense. they're older not old. and it's not per se disrespectful in that they haven't done anything to warrant such a strong word, yet. but the wihmsy of it appealed to kimihiro when he said it, the trace edges of his shop facade mixing with his reality, the coyness of it that's ten times more affectionate in this frame than it would be any other. ]
no subject
You've gotten more shameless, you mean.
[There were hints of humor and approval in his tone. Dry hair splitting, a fond reference to all the ways Kimihiro worried about propriety - perhaps too much in the past, like string wound up too much. All things must be in equal measure, and Doumeki appreciated Kimihiro's present fastidiousness: the attention to detail was still there, but not to the point of being, well. Unnecessarily loud.
Beyond the pool if either cared of them to look was the wide expanse of ocean, the rolling waves as tranquil as it could be above the currents of the deep.
Doumeki exhaled and looked at the spring's water in consideration. Sharing hot pot with Kimihiro seemed like a good way to cap the day - later, if not tomorrow.]
Who do you think will take offense?
no subject
[So Kimihiro sniffs as he raises his head and lifts his chin slightly, that stuffiness from high school not wholly gotten out of him though some of it is just the habit of familiarity. He ruins it anyway by smiling again before turning his head to peer out at the sea and how the light plays its tones across its movements. He can almost feel them, the wherewithal of nature something wholly different than that of humans because of course it is; this ancient ever living thing that tides itself as it and the moon please. With a pang, it reminds him a little of Yuuko but that's just how it is with old and sort of lonely things for Kimihiro.
Everyone sees something different in the poignant powerful existences in the world, and for him, it's almost always the true shopkeeper.
Gently threading that thought not gone but tucked neatly away for now, slipping slightly apart from Shizuka to fully give his attention to the ocean and the shoreline so mesmerizing for how it made things disappear. This place was a good choice, and though Kimihiro thrums beneath his skin now more noticeably with the reverberation of certain old energies of the location, it's not unpleasant and it's not like the thing he encountered on the way -- also not unpleasant but certainly more complex. This just feels like a truth the way the sun is true and then with nightfall the moon. It just is.
With his back to Shizuka, it might be the most obvious weirdly, the sharp lines of his back and shoulders tense the way one wouldn't expect in the hot spring, locked in with an attention that's slightly singleminded.
He has not considered, weirdly for him, dinner, but hotpot isn't something he'll say no to at a place like this where it seems appropriate and comforting. For the moment however, he just stares out.
What was the sea before it was a sea? Are there any spirits old enough to know? And how much does it hurt?
Even at such a relaxing, generous getaway as Shizuka has painstakingly provided, Kimihiro feels sort of guilty because he cannot help but wonder these things. He used to even before his role, and now more and more. Not quite a bad habit but rather, an inevitability.
A part of him now.]