heavenlydecree | (no subject)

(no subject)

[If there was one thing Takatora was sure he should have learned by now, it would be how to keep his life in perfect running order. He had been the head of Yggdrasill's Research and Development branch from the moment he'd left high school and even before that, his father had kept him on a tight and strict schedule, never a second unaccounted for or left out of place. Unfortunately, with all of Takatora's scheduling and trying to squeeze an extra hour into every day, he still felt as though he never had time for anything, let alone everything. Even his weekends left little time for himself, though Takatora was also painfully aware of his obsession with triple-checking everything under his command and bringing such weight onto himself. He couldn't allow for errors.

His morning routine started a bit later on the weekends, if only because Takatora knew he had to catch up on sleep at some point to make up for running himself ragged. Getting sick was something he couldn't risk. The usual morning routine went by quickly: dragging himself out of bed (he'd never become a morning person, as much as he wanted to), showering, getting dressed, checking for any news or alerts while he had been sleeping. Thankfully, nothing important had happened during the night. Takatora always lived with the fear of something awful happening while he was asleep that he would be unprepared for, but every morning brought the same temporary relief. For now.

Takatora headed out of his room after an hour or so, still checking his phone as he made his way down the hall and towards the stairs. Ryouma already wanted to talk to him about something, which was mildly surprising as Ryouma rarely (never) got out of bed so early, which meant he'd been up all night again. Stepping past one of the maids, Takatora spoke a return greeting to her as he continued on, paying more attention to typing out messages than his surroundings.]

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[Takatora had left home, made his way to work, been in his office for an hour, and his hands still hadn't stopped shaking from the incident at the house. He'd been close, dangerously close to crossing a line with Mitsuzane he would be unable to return from. He couldn't allow himself that kind of mistake again, but even trying to push Mitsuzane away at times seemed to have the effect of Mitsuzane coming right back.

He had no idea what to do.

For now, Takatora sat with his elbows on his desk, his hands folded and his head resting against them, simply trying to calm down.]

[Of course he knew what had happened. The moment he'd seen that kind of reaction from Takatora he'd gone back and reviewed the tape from the Kureshima kitchen for the morning. ... Ah. Of course.]

[To strike now or strike later? If he kept this information hidden for longer, he could make a bigger impact... but to strike now would utterly eliminate any sort of trust between the brothers. Perhaps he'd see how Takatora was feeling.]

[Which is why Ryouma pushes through Takatora's door, documents in his hand.]

Ah~. How did it feel, to sleep in your own bed again? Good, I hope? But I have some last forms for you to sign before I can start production of the next phase...

[Takatora looks up after a few moments, not even bothering to put on a professional and uncaring front. This is Ryouma, after all. While he still needs to pretend to be a different person around his brother, Ryouma is the one who gets to see him at his truest personality, simply from having known him so long.]

It was fine.

Edited 2014-10-01 13:09 (UTC)

[He pauses after a few steps, making sure the door is closed behind him. No need to have someone snooping around. He places the forms on Takatora's desk and drapes himself over the chair next to it.]

I saw what happened. It's unfortunate that he doesn't understand, isn't it?

[Usually, Takatora would do everything in his power, fighting tooth and nail to avoid this topic, even though he knows how much Ryouma knows. It's not that Takatora has ever said anything regarding it, but the way Ryouma has always treated the topic... He also knew he should have expected the other observing him. In a way, it's more comforting than anything, knowing Ryouma was so concerned as to worry about him.]

... understand what, exactly?

[He already knows, but he won't admit it so easily.]

How much what he does hurts you. I mean... between what he says and the people he associates with...

[He does his best to rein in his glee. This is the perfect time. He's not likely to get a better chance.]

And what he's been doing over the past few days... ah -

[He makes a fist and presses the thumb of it to his lips.]

... Well. I'm still processing that data.

Mitsuzane is still young. He doesn't understand what he's doing.

[But... oh, no. Takatora's heart sinks at those words.]

... Ryouma.

[There's a familiar tone, where Takatora's worry clearly seeps through and he's hinting that he doesn't want to know. He wants to know, he always does... but...]

[Gently... gently...]

... As you said. He's still young, and doesn't understand what he's doing. He's still experimenting.

[And push.]

I can come back for those forms later, though I need them by the end of the day~.

[No, Ryouma, you are definitely not allowed to leave yet. There are times for playing, but this...]

Now isn't the time for teasing, Ryouma. Tell me.

[Excellent. He frowns a bit and shakes his head.]

He's gotten rather... intimate with Kazuraba Kouta in the past few days.

[He doesn't know all the details since he didn't have a visual feed but... well. He's somewhat all right with that. Just hearing them is enough for blackmail. Perhaps even better, since it sounds worse than it probably was.]

[Somehow, Takatora doesn't seem to react much at all, at least visibly. Fortunately for Ryouma, who knows him so well, the subtle signs are obvious: Takatora setting his jaw, the way his fingers clench and the too-straight posture he uses when he sits back up, along with the far too serious tone to his voice.]

... and you don't know all of the details yet?

... I have ideas, certainly, but I don't have a visual. The Drivers were in their bags.

[An oversight, maybe. But he doesn't really have any desire to watch teenagers - or close enough to them - having sloppy sex.]

I have other data related to the Drivers to process for the past few days. I have to focus on those who were in Helheim first.

[Which is good, because there are specific steps Takatora has taken to avoid having any unnecessary surveillance done on his brother. The idea of Ryouma (or anyone) doing that sort of thing... was unpleasant. The audio was bad enough.

Takatora shifts in his chair, turning his head away and tightly gripping the edge of his desk to try to ground himself.]

Don't adjust your priorities.

I wasn't planning on it.

[Hmm...]

I can bring up one of my laptops. The data should be on there by now, and I can work from here.

No. It's not important.

[He's squirming a bit more now, tapping his fingers on the desk.]

... drop it entirely. There's no need to do anything more with that information.

Done. But I do have other data I need to work on.

[So the offer still stands.]

[It takes him a moment to realize what Ryouma's hinting at.]

If you'd like...

[Unfortunately, it's a little too difficult for Takatora to speak right now, so his response is short.]

I'll be back in an hour.

[He stands and heads towards the door, just barely resisting the urge to twirl.]

[Takatora takes a deep breath, fighting the urge to just ask the other to stay.]

Don't keep me waiting very long.

I'll make it half an hour.

[As he expected. Oh well. Running down to the lab and grabbing a laptop won't take long. He can even tell one of his assistants to get it ready for him.]

[It's not long after Ryouma leaves that Takatora has folded his arms on the surface of the desk and has his head down, resting on them. It's absolute murder on his shoulder, but even the pain isn't enough to make him care.]

[When Ryouma comes back in, he nudges Takatora gently, enough to get him to sit up.]

You'll lose an arm that way.

[. . .

He sits up, reluctantly, rolling his shoulder a little to try and get the feeling back.]

The new model will have an improved shoulder piece, by the way.

[That's enough to cause Takatora to reach out carefully with his right hand, grasping at the sleeve of Ryouma's jacket to pull him closer.]

I find it hard to believe I deserve someone who treats me as well as you do.