[semi-closed]

[dehallow]

Who ⬤ Barok van Zieks and associates!
What ⬤ Event things and the immediate event aftermath!
When ⬤ During Tanabata and in the following week.
Where ⬤ Underground, Kaigo no Bou, places.
Content Warnings ⬤ Alcohol, internalized homophobia. More to be added if needed.

[ This is a place to dump closed starters - but if you want a thread you are very free to hit me up on my plotting comment! ]

Comments

[dehallow]

[ The topic change is very successful. Barok makes a face as though he'd bitten into something sour. It's not embarrassment - not exactly. He's not doing anything salacious and he knows it, so there is nothing wrong about being seen in this establishment.

At the same time, he'd just also like not to talk about it. ]

Work forces me to attend the festivities, so even I strive to make the most out of it. [ This sounds wrong, let's get more specific. ] ... bothersome as it is, the Tamamo-run businesses are the best sources of fine wine in this city.

[ He turns the bottle on the table so Kazuma can see the label - it sounds very fancy. ]

[karumic]

[Kazuma leans in to read the label, keeping his face carefully blank to hide that it means absolutely nothing to him. It's not even an amnesia thing; Kazuma just isn't a wine guy.

Whereas van Zieks is, it seems. That in itself isn't entirely surprising to learn, truth be told, but Kazuma still finds himself intrigued that someone who comes off like he's made of stone does have real human interests.]

Everything here does seem to be on the extravagant side.

[That's an acceptably neutral thing to say.]

I could barely afford my one drink. They must pay you well over at Enma.

[It's teasing, rather than snide. Kazuma can't really fault a guy for indulging where he can afford to; he wouldn't have a drink of his own otherwise, after all.

Don't worry, Barok. Kazuma would never assume you were here for the other indulgences.]

[dehallow]

[ Barok glances to the side for a moment. His salary has gotten considerably better since he started out, but to say he's being paid gratuitously would be a vast overstatement. (Then again, he's aware that he will probably never again rise to the level of wealth that had been self-explanatory to him in London.) ]

It's a special occasion.

[ He says, eventually, to avoid lying about his financial situation while also avoiding admitting to just how much of a hit to his savings this was...

A special occasion, sure. Just not one he personally cares about. ]

Can I treat you to a glass?

[karumic]

[Kazuma blinks at him in surprise. He hadn't been baiting that kind of question, but at the same time he sees no reason to turn down what is probably a very nice drink, or at least one he wouldn't be able to afford to try otherwise. He doesn't love owing people, but friendly favors are a different story.

Maybe it's forward of van Zieks to offer, and forward of him to accept, but this seems to be the night to have fun.]

I suppose it is. Well, why not, then? As long as you're offering...

[Except the only glass he has is the one he's currently drinking from, but he finds there's little enough left in it that he shrugs and downs the rest in one gulp. There, now they have a glass. He can feel it go right to his head, but that's a problem he can worry about later.]

[dehallow]

[ No, it is not a night for common sense. Barok is a seasoned veteran of drinking on the job, but he finds that there is a difference between his carefully pre-calculated amount of wine in trial and the unmitigated social drinking of festivities. It's been too long since Barok actually got drunk in company - parties hadn't been for him in almost a decade.

And still, he watches Kazuma unwisely down his drink at once and decides to not remark on it at all. Instead, he fills Kazuma's glass. ]

Consider it a celebration of your getting properly situated in Hell - as miserable as a toast that makes for.

[ This town is a shithole and his disdain for it is palpable. ]

[karumic]

[Kazuma smiles and raises his glass to that.]

Such as it is, I'll take it. Thank you.

[As he takes a sip, he finds it is very good wine, as far as he can tell (still not being a wine guy). Worth the price, he can't say, but it's robust on his tongue and a pleasant warmth spreads through his body as soon as he swallows it down.

And, well. If he has a second drink to nurse, he's clearly going to be here for a bit longer. Not to mention it would be quite rude of him to ditch van Zieks now after partaking of his very expensive alcohol. And Kazuma admits he finds the man surprisingly pleasant to talk to.]

So, then. What does a man like you do for fun, if it isn't indulging in... this kind of thing?

[Kazuma leans forward and rests his chin on his fist as he says it, an easy, teasing grin spreading over his face. If it comes off a little flirty, sue him; recklessness is the order of the night, after all, and maybe the atmosphere is getting to him. There's no harm in testing the waters.]

[dehallow]

[ There is something dangerous about the atmosphere that is settling between them here and in the back of his mind, Barok is well aware of it. He is obligated to keep lying to Kazuma Asogi - having a strong drink with him over casual conversation seems like the worst possible way to uphold that agreement.

That smile, however, is the most dangerous of all. Kazuma Asogi looks good - both because he resembles his father and in spite of that very fact. Barok would have to be blind not to see it - even when the young man was constantly masked up around him, he'd been distinctly aware.

But he's never been more aware than right now, as Kazuma inquired about his indulgences while they are seated in the low light of a luxury brothel. Kazuma is treated to the sight of Barok grimacing slightly, an involuntary sign of embarrassment and shame. He feels like he's been caught doing something forbidden, something he's tried all his life to hide. That is nonsense, of course. ]

These days, I hardly get a moment to breathe, let alone time for leisure activities.

[ He's lowered his voice some without noticing, matching the more intimate atmosphere set by Kazuma's body language. ]

Though there are acquaintances who seek to grant me some respite, I can't say I have found much pleasure in what passes for recreation in this new era. Have you?

[karumic]

Mm.

[Kazuma takes another sip of wine as he considers Barok's question. He's aware the man seems to be growing a little tense with the turn of the conversation, but something about that makes him want to pry further, rather than back off. Despite himself, Kazuma is finding this Lord Barok van Zieks one of the more interesting individuals he's encountered in this place.]

Much of it is not to my tastes, no.

[And that could be the end of the topic... but the alcohol and what Kazuma can only assume is the general atmosphere seems to have stripped him of whatever little filter he'd had to begin with.]

But forgive me for saying so--you do come across as a little...

[He gestures vaguely, trying to find a "polite" way to put it.]

...Tightly wound. It might do you some good to pursue some, ah, recreation. If I may be so bold.

[He's sure someone like van Zieks would have plenty of takers, if he was ever interested.]

this is illegally late, please send me to jail

[dehallow]

[ Whatever he expected Kazuma to say next, it was nothing like this. Barok's eyes widen, subtly but notably. Whether or not Kazuma may be so bold is an irrelevant question now that he has dared it either way.

If he were sober, maybe Barok would have risen from his chair then and there and declared the conversation over. There is nobody, absolutely nobody, in this world who has the privilege of being so casual about his... his... his... tensions.

Unfortunately, he is drunk and as such can't even be 100% certain that a dramatic movement of standing up would have quite the effect he desires.

So Barok van Zieks remains in his seat, leaned in close over a table in a brothel talking to his protegee, and feels like the floor just dropped out from under his feet. After an awkwardly long pause, he clears his throat. ]

I can pardon that the location has lead your train of thought into a rather private area, but such matters are not polite to discuss with those not directly involved.

So unless you intended for this to be a proposition...

[ He means for the word 'proposition' to drip with scandalized contempt, but with the intimate atmosphere it comes out all wrong. Almost like a challenge, like a desire. ]

no worries i am a snail forever

[karumic]

[In other circumstances, Kazuma might be ashamed of having overstepped so badly. In other circumstances, he wouldn't have made the insinuation in the first place. In these, Kazuma can't help but laugh--something about Barok's consternation strikes him as funny. Maybe it's the simple awkwardness of it, the contrast of it in the middle of a place like this, as the man has so dutifully pointed out.

Kazuma stifles the rest of his laugh behind a fist as he struggles to return his face to neutrality. He doesn't mean to make fun of Barok--he really never meant any offense.]

No, you're right. That was--incredibly improper of me. I apologise.

[But--something about the mood is different, now. Maybe it's just Barok having spoken the possibility into existence, but as Kazuma's own expression sobers as he considers the Lord van Zieks from a new angle. There's something very sad, isn't there, about being as repressed as Barok van Zieks seems to be--and he doesn't seem to be a bad man, truly. Kazuma may not know him particularly well, but his impression of Barok is that he's forthright, principled, and dedicated--perhaps a bit self-important, but Kazuma would be a hypocrite to judge someone for that. Certainly, he's not someone who deserves to be shut off from an entire category of feeling. And he's really quite handsome--so Kazuma can only imagine the celibacy is self-imposed. How miserable must that be?

He'd thought there was a note of that misery in Barok's voice, when he'd called it a proposition. An undertone of something the man would never want to admit was interest--not in Kazuma specifically, of course, but in the experience. Is it wrong to feel some sympathy to that? He isn't even sure why he does. Perhaps it's yet another thing lost to the fog of his amnesia, that he relates to that feeling of wanting something badly and not feeling like you deserve it. It doesn't matter why, really--sympathize Kazuma does.

The gentlemanly thing to do, after his earlier faux pas, would be to move back out of Barok's space and let him re-establish healthy boundaries, and let the moment pass. But it's a nice night. The atmosphere is warm, and happy, and fun. Kazuma feels reckless, and sees no reason not to let that feeling take its course. So instead of pulling back, Kazuma leans ever so slightly closer. His face is perfectly blank, free of any expectation. He lets his hand rest next to Barok's where it lays on the table, not close enough to touch, but close enough to be deliberate. An invitation.

The moment stretches. Despite appearances, his heart is pounding and his breath is in his throat. This could quickly and easily go very wrong. After all, van Zieks has already rebuffed this topic of conversation once, and here Kazuma is immediately about to test that line again. But Kazuma keeps his eyes on Barok's, the tone of his voice somber--an unspoken pledge of his sincerity.]

Would you want it to be one?

[dehallow]

[ Barok doesn't think he remembers what it's like to breathe as the seconds tick by and Kazuma's presence pulls at him like the moon pulls the tides. They're alone in this crowded place, one secluded table facing away from the whole world.

Kazuma is a handsome man - he's thought so, shamefully, even when he was hidden under a mask. He'd discovered nothing but horror when the reveal of his identity had given context to that attraction. Once he'd looked at Kazuma's father with that same desire, only more naive and forward...

Genshin looks back at him from Kazuma's eyes. Genshin would never have said this to him. He was a married man, upright, decidedly heterosexual. Barok would have hidden his shame from him until the very end, content to simply glance at him from afar.

But Kazuma... Kazuma is here, insinuating. Kazuma isn't Genshin. The resemblance is purely physical - in personality, in drive and internal ugliness, Kazuma Asogi is much more reminiscent of Barok himself. Kazuma is no incorruptible image of purity, he is no idol on the altar. He is a man, tortured and wrong, and attractive and offering.

Barok's head is swimming. He stares down at their hands, not yet touching. His finger inches just a little closer, but he stops himself yet again.

He wants. ]

... please don't be cruel.

[ Oh, don't tempt him so, when he wants. ]