semi-closed 🔪 not pulling the knife out

[pitfight]

Who ⬤ this feral fucking dog and various bedside wellwishers
What ⬤ nishitani got real stabbed and now is in his recovery bed phase (spoiler: he's bad at it)
When ⬤ late may
Where ⬤ emily's clinic and andy's apartment
Content Warnings ⬤ Nishitani CW as always. Most likely discussions of intense, violent sadomasochism and the chance of practicing it too

if you would like to tag into this/want a starter, hmu at bussy!

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[pitfight]

[ Nishitani pops open the box that Childe points at, looking at the-- dumplings? They don't look bad, but Nishitani doesn't trust like that, especially not that easily. ]

Well? What do you want to be called? [ Nishitani breaks one of the pirozhki open, sniffing it. ]

[narbrawl]

[It actually smells pretty good. Enjoy your freshly baked Snezhnayan comfort food!!]

Huh. I've never really thought about it- people don't usually ask.

[In truth, he's not overly attached to either. Tartaglia is more title than name, a signifier of his position and the power he wields, an announcement that Her Majesty's favourite weapon of war has been drawn. Childe is an alias, nothing more. The last of his names- the very first, technically- has already been through so much that sometimes it doesn't fit right anymore anyway but he still tries to squeeze himself into it for the right people. Nishitani is not one of them.

In the end, he settles on a shrug.]

Childe is shorter, I guess.

[pitfight]

Then you're talking to the wrong people. [ Nishitani takes a large bite of the pirozhki, finding it to his liking and setting about finishing up this bit of food like a man starved. ]

But Childe is a dumb fucking name to pick. In my opinion.

[narbrawl]

Maybe I'm just trying to get you to dote on me.

[Sorry, he's stealing that one from you, Paimon, it was pretty funny. Laughing, Childe helps himself to another grape, this time tossing it into the air so he can catch it in his mouth. You know, like an asshole would do.]

[pitfight]

Trying to get a nickname? [ Nishitani laughs as well, not particularly caring that Childe tucks into the food he himself brought. Nishitani has no vested interest in it, so he's free to be an asshole with a couple of grapes. ]

[narbrawl]

I doubt any you'd come up with for me would be flattering.

[Not that he'd take any offence. By this point, it's clear that they have an uneasy... well, not quite friendship but understanding. A companionable grumble of a relationship.

Speaking of which, there's something else he was curious about.]

Forgive my prying but you know Izō Okada, don't you?

[pitfight]

[ Nishitani doesn't stop eating, doesn't give anything away that Childe bringing up Izo makes him pause and readdress the other. Now what the fuck would Childe want from Iichan? ] If you're running down a debt, you're barking up the wrong tree, kid.

[narbrawl]

No, no, nothing like that! We're all Shuten comrades, why would I be after him? [what kind of rogue do u take him for] We're friends.

[Well, by a certain definition of the word "friend". Childe gets the impression that, in much the way he does with most people, he's managed to get into the assassin's good graces by obstinacy and a little genuine charm alone. He likes this angry little bird man, okay.]

Just curious, really.

[pitfight]

Mm. [ Nishitani bites into the next pirozhki, considering and giving a noise that is either confirmation or refusal. ] Someone will take your nose clean off if you keep running around on curiosity.

[narbrawl]

You sound just like my mother: "curious boys get their noses snatched at the market".

[Curious boys fall into holes. Curious boys get broken apart and, if their will is strong enough, put back together as something far more powerful and frightening. They realise that the greatest curiosity of all is how long they can go before there's nothing left to rebuild.]

Don't you worry. [He chuckles and bites into another grape. Juice runs down his thumb and, teeth sharp and tongue pink and pointed, he licks it clean.] Mine isn't going anywhere for now.