jigokulogs | [SEMI-CLOSED] wretched and wild, all glory and trash.

[He should be grateful to Tamamori and Minakami. If not for the favor he'd owed Mina, he might not've been at Kaigo no Bou the moment the parties had emerged from their mission. With the two of them safely reunited, he'd been free to make a beeline for the only other friend he knew was in that tower.

So of course he'd hugged Andy. Why wouldn't he have? She'd been worse for wear, but she was whole, alive. A moment later she'd been swept away to report back, but they'd managed to keep their promise-- to see each other again. And if that embrace had felt much too short, then, well, he's keeping it to himself.

It's funny, though, how quickly the routine reestablishes itself. Days pass, and the curse's damage to the 7/11 is almost entirely repaired by oni teams; in time, his shifts feel like normal once again, watching over the convenience store in the dead of night.

Like always, he feels Andy's presence before he sees her. That exact wavelength of criminal power would be worrying, if he weren't already well aware of the source. He leans an elbow on the counter, offering the familiar face in the doorway a wave.]

Hi, Andy. Good to see you around here again.

[He's already grabbing her usual pack off the wall behind him.]

[ It's comforting — how everything seems more or less back to the way it was before the blood rain started pouring out of the sky. The same headache-inducing lights. The hum of the freezers in the back. And Kamui, waiting behind the counter. She comes up to the cash register to meet him, automatically taking out cash for the pack of cigarettes. Feels like they've done this a hundred times before. ]

Yeah? [ Wryly, with the corner of her mouth just faintly upturned: ] Almost sounds like you fucking missed me.

Maybe a little.

[The money trades hands, the action thoughtless and nearly reflexive on both their parts by now. Just part and parcel of this same routine, really. There's a small smile on his lips too as he slides the pack of cigarettes across the counter towards her:]

At this hour, not even the oni come around much. [And it's one of his shifts that hasn't overlapped with Kim's: it's just the white noise of the convenience store and Andy herself in here.] It was quiet without you.

Some people might think that's a good thing.

[ The quiet, that is. But she's a bit charmed that he humors her anyway. She's aware that she isn't always the easiest person to be around — abrasive as she is, ornery at baseline and crude as a habit. ]

If you were bored, you could've texted me. [ Dryly, as she reaches out for the cigarettes: ] Or are you still a little traumatized after all that shit about the spanking?

Don't remind me. I couldn't look him in the eyes for days.

[SORRY KIM. It's not you, it's him, but honestly, mostly Andy.

Kamui leans up against the counter, casual and relaxed; he'd much rather humor her than some blitzed oni demanding booze at 3 am. She's... well. Not wildly better, but she is better. Keeps the dull parts of this job interesting. Regrettably, none of this will stop him from texting her, though.]

I'm sorry I didn't. It's... [well. she knows better than anyone, doesn't she? Having infiltrated the tower and everything.] Been tough trying to get back to normal. There's actually a leak in my ceiling that's still got blood rain in it.

[ When isn't it Andy. It's incredible that anyone tolerates her long enough to become her friend. But here they are, and here he is, humoring her in the middle of the night from behind the cash register of a gas station convenience store. If that isn't true friendship, then nothing is.

There's a hint of amusement in the shape of her eyes — just the faint crinkle of crow's feet — and it spreads to an upward curve of her lips as he goes on. He would apologize, even though she's the one teasing him for her own entertainment. Shame how that only makes her want to do it more. ]

Are you sorry? [ She leans up against the counter too, idly tapping her fresh pack of cigarettes against the top. Wryly, with that sly smile still playing around her mouth: ] All that talk about wanting to see me again, and you don't even fucking call?

[It's the ingrained politeness that gets him. Well, that and his complete defenselessness to teasing. Abashed, Kamui ducks his head.]

I-I am! I really am sorry, I promise.

[He can't really tell if it's just Andy's personality or if he's just that easy of a target. Perhaps it's both.]

I can make it up to you now, you know. Now that things've calmed down, I'd definitely make the time. Is there anywhere you'd like to go?

[ Maybe in another five hundred years or so, some of those good manners will start to wear off. But, in the meantime, Kamui doesn't disappoint her with his reaction — that little stammer, another apology. It all feeds into some sort of predator instinct with her. That special brand of antagonism that's reserved only for people she likes. ]

Yeah? [ Andy tilts her head at him a little, those dark eyes gleaming with something entirely too much like mischief. ] You want to take me out? Or is this more of a cheap motel kind of thing?

[ Is she joking? Hard to say — but if she's not, it wouldn't be the first time. ]

[He takes it for even more teasing, of course-- knowing it's enough for him to shrug off... most of the embarrassment, anyway. He shakes his head, feeling very much like an insect batted about by a housecat.]

Uh, neither, I think.

[Apart from that bowling thing they're actually all stuck to, he hasn't got any real plans with Andy outside of these ~~cursed~~ hours; might be nice to change that now that they're only in normal amounts of peril.]

Like, a restaurant, or an arcade or something. We're friends, so we should do something together. Right?

[Though, on second thought, this counts a little bit for taking her out, doesn't it...]

Some people might call that taking a girl out. [ She says aloud what he's already thinking, apparently not above going for the easy target. ] Should I feel a little fucking rejected right now?

[ Look at that glint in her eye though. The faint amusement lingering at the corner of her lips as she finally taps a cigarette out to press between them. Is this a woman who feels rejected? Because it seems like she's having entirely too much fun. ]

[All right, all right. So she's playing with him. He can mess around too.

There's a sardonic curl to his smile as Kamui replies:]

Sure. Just help me pick something to do once you're finished being heartbroken.

[ So he will fight back a little. Good. She likes that. ]

Oh, I can be heartbroken for centuries. [ It's a languid sort of dryness, the syllables just a little drawn out. ] I'm a fucking romantic that way.

[ She lifts her lighter to her cigarette, letting the small flame kiss the tip until it glows. Smoke curls from her mouth, wisping up into the air between them when she goes on mildly: ]

Aren't I your type, Kamui?

[Centuries, huh? Maybe, he thinks idly to himself, he'll make it to the end of that one day. Kamui scoffs, amused, and rests his chin in his palm as he watches Andy light up. She's not supposed to inside the store, technically-- nobody else is here, though, and half the oni dragging themselves in don't follow the rules either, so it isn't like it matters in the end.

And Andy's still just pushing her luck for fun, probably. A bored cat swatting him around to see how far he'll fly this time. But this time, there's the slightest inkling of tension in his shoulders, a break in the rhythm of their banter. The heel of Kamui's palm is over his lips while his eyes are on hers through that dissipating curtain of smoke. It is already a second too late to lie.

Really caught him this time, didn't she?

Kamui shrugs:] Are you expecting my honest answer?

[ But answering like that is a kind of honesty, isn’t it? Her steady gaze holds his in that tangible half-beat, expectant at first - then, when he finally speaks, there’s a hint of muted surprise before something subtle shifts in the shape of her eyes, lashes easing to half-mast as she watches him knowingly.

She takes another drag off her cigarette. Her wryness feels a little different when she replies this time - like it’s less teasing than it was just a minute ago. ]

When do you get off?

[Abruptly, he realizes that today, of all days, is his shorter shift. Can't even take the time to think this over-- isn't that a predicament?]

...Thirty minutes.

[He frowns. Suddenly her manner's a little more sober, and he can't really tell what that means.]

If you'd rather forget I said anything, it's okay.

[ She watches as his expression shifts — entirely too honest, the way he frowns, and so completely opposite to the unreadable look on her own face. His uncertainty about her intentions is obvious, and she can't help how it endears him to her just a little more. Maybe she's been a bit meaner to him than he deserves.

With a half-amused huff of breath, she leans in across the counter, carefully holding her cigarette off to the side as she nudges his chin up with her other hand, tipping his face towards herself so that it's easy to close the last few inches between his mouth and hers. She probably tastes like smoke and cloves when she presses her lips to that frown, her kiss just like everything about her — impulsive and hard, but somehow warm too. It lasts just a few seconds before she's pulling away again, straightening from the counter and nodding her head in the direction of the door. ]

Okay. Thirty minutes. I'll be waiting outside.

[Oh.

Okay.

As before, Kamui doesn't resist her touch; this time, however, he knows exactly what's coming. No matter how far out of the realm of possibility it still feels like it should be. All too quickly, Andy's lips meet his own. It's like he's taken a drag from that cigarette too, the taste of it still bitter in her mouth and on her tongue as Kamui kisses her back. And yeah, she's a little rough on him, but isn't the kiss all the more real for it?

Kamui breathes out a soft sigh as they separate. Still a bit stunned, he just licks his lips, presses them together, and mutters some useless word of agreement before she's out the door again.

He's outside in fifteen, because he's feeling kind of reckless today. God knows why.]

[ She's waiting, just like she promised, standing out there with one or two cigarette stubs littered on the ground near her boots, a third still hanging from the corner of her lips when Kamui appears. It sways just a little when the corner of her mouth quirks up with faint amusement at the sight of him. ]

You're early. [ It's a wry accusation, and one she only makes because she likes teasing him. As if she actually minds. ] Didn't think you were the type to skip out on work, Kamui.

[And there Andy goes again, teasing him like she hadn’t just waltzed up to the counter and kissed him…]

I’m not. I just thought it would be worse to make you wait.

[Or worse for him to have to wait, really. There’s a faint smile on his face as he replies.]

You don’t really need an answer anymore, I guess. So… where do we go from here?

[ Maybe she won't be so casual about this afterward. She has a bad habit of acting recklessly, then overthinking it once she's already done something irreversible. But there's plenty of time to agonize over whether this is a mistake or not later — right now, in this moment, Kamui is asking her where they go from here, and the answer seems obvious enough.

Andy shrugs a little. ]

Your place?

[Maybe this is a bad idea; maybe Andy's recklessness is rubbing off on him. He really should be the voice of reason here, put a stop to it all before one of them regrets it or gets hurt. But Kamui simply can't find the will to say anything either.

So he does want her after all. Where the hell did this come from?]

Yeah. That's fine.

[He inclines his head slightly, towards the direction they should be heading, and moves to lead the way. The night's quiet and still as they walk over, and although he can't really find the words to say, for some reason, the silence of Andy coming home with him still feels comfortable.

The walk's less than 15 minutes, all in all. He's digging his keys out of his pocket when he remembers at last that, apparently, he's still capable of speech.]

I... think you might be the first person I've had over.

[ Her cigarette is gone by the time they make it to his front door, which leaves her hands idle in her jacket pockets as she stands just a bit behind him and she waits for him to let her in. Some part of her is a bit absently curious - what does the inside look like? How does Kamui Uehara live? And maybe it wouldn’t be a thing worth talking about if it were someone else, but when he says that to her - when he tells her she’s the first - it somehow feels as if he’s being vulnerable with her by letting her be here with him.

Probably better not to dwell on that too long right now.

Instead, after a moment, she moves in closer, pushing him up against his door with insistent hands. Rather than answering him, Andy kisses him, still tasting like her cigarettes as her mouth presses against his, giving him a hint of teeth. It’ll be a task to get his keys into the lock like this - but fuck it, he’ll manage. ]

Andy--

[Oh, there's the voice of reason, trying to at least get them inside the apartment, but Kamui's back collides with his front door with a dull thump, keys dangling loosely off the fingers of his right hand as Andy kisses him again. His head's gone all light and airy. He should, again, probably say something, but her teeth graze his lower lip now, and he can already tell that her body fits up so neatly against his own. His fingers wind in the tangle of her dark hair as his lips part for hers, and-- oh, fucking hell, the keys. The door.

It's a feat, putting the key in the lock backwards and one-handed. But he does manage it, eventually. Kamui even somehow succeeds in pulling away long enough to get them inside and to shut and lock the door once more.

He'll get the lights in a second. Right now, he's just eager to kiss Andy again.]

[ She’s not so concerned with the lights - she can kiss him just as well in the dark. And she seems perfectly able to multitask while she does it, toeing off her boots and shrugging off her jacket to abandon it on the floor somewhere. She only gives him a moment to breathe so she can grab two handfuls of her shirt and tug it over her head to be tossed aside with the rest. If there was any lingering doubt about her intentions, it probably dies right then and there.

Only takes a heartbeat for her to press back in close again. If he’s not careful, they might never make it out of the entryway. ]

[At some point his head distantly reminds him to at least take his shoes off, so he kicks them off and shrugs out of his own coat-- both get left unceremoniously behind on the ground, near Andy's clothes.

And when Andy pulls away to strip off her shirt, his eyes are half-lidded, the left gleaming its faint silver in the low light. Suddenly, he has completely forgotten about the lights. His hands roam her body eagerly: hard lines of muscle, the remains of wounds he's always wondered about, the soft curve of her breasts. This is happening. All too quickly, but it's happening.]

Andy, [he breathes, somewhere around a hungry kiss pressed to her neck,] bed?

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