jikan_rpg | [closed] A second, better kiss

Thankfully it was mostly empty, since Heine didn't like many people observing his body, including himself very closely. It's his body though, so he's forced to look at it every day.

He trails behind Genbu, towel around his hips, looking at the marks of lingering bruises he's left on the other man. He doesn't really say much, since Heine doesn't talk too much in general, preferring to listen mostly, but he acknowledges the request with a grunt.

"Fine, I know how." He's leant a helping hand to his brother as kids, another gentle giant like Genbu. He rubs a hand over his neck, still tightly wrapped. The steam was already making it a bit damp.

Heine didn't need to feel too bad. The fresh cuts and bruises seemed rather miniscule compared to the other older scars that peppered Genbu's body, including a whole bunch of them on his back.

Especially the large, overbearing scar on the left side of his torso.

"Great!" Genbu exclaims in response. Finding a stall closer to the tubs, Genbu seats himself on the painfully small stools meant for midlanders, anticipating Heine's hands.

"Oh uh, don't worry about temperature, I'm used to all kinds!"

Genbu's big enough he thinks he can do this standing. The albino puts a hand on his shoulder, using it to steady himself as he leans past him to pick up the shower head. As he pulls back, he turns his head to look intensely at Genbu's face, debating in his head on if he's going to spray him with freezing water.

He looks away after a moment, the intensity gone, then starts to fiddle with the controls and tests it on his hand until he finds a pleasant temperature. Heine's just as quiet as he always is as he directs the water to Genbu's back, his thoughts somewhere else, in another shower, years ago.

Heine rouses himself out of a memory as his fingers brush over one of Genbu's many scars. "You must have been in a lot of fights."

Yes, Genbu, he is inviting you to talk about yourself.

Hope Heine didn't mind seeing a goofy grinning face when he looked at Genbu.

The horned giant doesn't even flinch when the water hits his skin. So used to the hot waters of the baths and cold waters of nature was he that unless the water was scalding, he didn't mind. He did flinch a bit, however, when Heine's fingers touch of of Genbu's many large back scars.

"Hm? Oh uh...well it's par for the course of an adventurer! Especially one that's used as a meat shield most of the time! Hah!" Genbu spoke so cheerfully, it's almost as if he didn't seem to mind. "I got dense bones and tough skin, ya see. Hard to kill or injure to the point of immobilization. I'm mainly relied on to attract the enemy towards me so the weaker guys can get a good strike on 'em from behind! But when you're attractin' the baddies all the time, ya tend to get a lot of damage! And when ya have the urge to keep everyone safe, you're gonna run and cover them up the best ya can... makin' yer back wide open."

Heine makes a grunt of acknowledgment, letting Genbu know he'd been listening, but he doesn't say much through the answer or even much after it. He busies himself with soaping his companion's back, but compared to his near indifference when actually laying the blows, Heine's gentle as he touches what's left of the new bruises.

The desire to keep everyone safe. He knows this desire, but he can't keep anyone safe. He's nothing but misfortune.

"You'll die if you keep doing that," he finally says, being the realist about the situation. One of these scars is eventually going to be a death blow. Heine's maybe a bit envious.

"Don't tell me you run off and meat shield any random people. That'd be stupid of you. You have to think about yourself."

Edited 2021-05-03 04:55 (UTC)

Genbu bites on his lip and softly inhales as Heine runs his hands over his back scrapes. Quietly, to not scare him or cause him guilt.

"Ugh. Yeah yeah, if only I had a gil for everytime I was given that lecture." Genbu spoke with a rather exhausted tone. "And those that are cautious and think of themselves stay as unnamed adventurers their whole life. It's those that take risks and take the first steps into the unknown that die a hero or live to inspire others. I risk my life protectin' those around me so they don't have to risk their lives simply tryin' to live day by day."

Genbu sulks, forming a frown on his face. "I don't exactly come from a bright, perfect world, ya know? If we all only thought of ourselves...so many innocents would die."

It's fine, Heine acknowledges that he'd hurt Genbu, and the guilt he'd felt about it upon the bigger man's initial collapse to his knees has faded some over time. It's fairly clear that he's going to live, just maybe be a bit sore, and he's not one to baby or fret.

He's not really sure what to say to Genbu about his response at first; in agitation he scrubs maybe a little too hard until he catches himself. It's difficult to think in the other man's way, even if he's heard similar words before. This positive outlook of accomplishments is starkly different than his own dark thoughts of failure.

("I'm the same as them. Nothing but a beast that kills and consumes."

"But you tried to protect us. You made your stand out there to protect us all. Am I wrong?")

"You ever mess up, make the situation worse or whatever?"

"Ow, easy! I like to keep my skin, thanks!" Genbu laughs weakly.

...

"...Perhaps more times than I can count on my hands. I started out way too reckless and ambitious. But it's better to make mistakes and learn from 'em than to never learn anythin' at all. At least I think so, anyroad."

Genbu sighs, sulking down a bit and looking to the floor.

"I may have a few regrets here and there...wish I did somethin' different. But dwellin' on what could or couldn't be ain't no way to live. All ya can do is look forward."

A moment of silence.

"Hey, I think my back's clean enough. Yer turn now."

That perhaps was maybe not the best topic to chat about, Heine realizes belatedly. He's not exactly superb at his social skills, so sometimes he finds himself stumbling into these situations and it leaves him awkwardly bringing down the mood.

He's more than happy to move the topic along to something else when Genbu does.

"Yeah, I've done what I can," he says, then uses a foot to drag another stool over. He makes a gesture with his thumb to indicate to the giant to change places with him, and he'll take a seat once Genbu allows him to.

....Is he not going to rinse Genbu off? Wow, rude. But Genbu didn't mind, he was going to be washing the rest of himself here soon anyroad, so he simply follows Heine's gesture and stands up, waiting for Heine to sit down. The goofy grin on his face indicated that Genbu didn't quite mind Heine's serious questions.

After all, it's how you learn about each other, right?

No, he's a jerk. Genbu seems rinsed off enough to him, especially when they were likely going to do more soaking for the moment. This was just some preliminary stuff.

He nudges his seat in front of the stall, and he holds his towel a little tighter as he sits down, if just to make sure it doesn't slip off. Just like the rest of his body, his back is free of any marks - not even a freckle - save for the long pink scar that follows his spine.

The albino seems sort of nervous, as he glances over his shoulder at Genbu after a moment, anxiously shifting.

"Don't touch my neck," he says. Not that it'd be easy anyway, he still has it wrapped up.

Genbu sits down behind Heine, making himself comfortable and getting awfully close to the other. As he does.

He looks to Heine with a smile, preparing to ather him up, but he freezes, his expression dropped. Considering how smooth and undamaged Heine appeared, Genbu is taken aback when he sees that large scar staring back at him. Was that always there? Did he see it during their fight?

"What in the name of..." Genbu murmurs to himself, before snapping out of it. "Oh uh...w-well I can't just not touch yer neck, that needs to be cleaned, too! Are ya talkin' about the collar I saw back in the sakura viewin'? I promise I'll be reaaaally gentle!"

This is part of why he has such trouble letting people touch him. Heine feels extra exposed with Genbu at his back, even if his bulk was helping shield him from the rest of the room, empty as it is. He looks over his shoulder, making a few sounds of irritation as he tries coming up with a good excuse.

"Would you like having your hand broken?" he asks, pressing a hand over the slight lump beneath the bandaging at the back of his neck. "I'm warning you. It has a lot of bad memories attached."

He realizes he's maybe being needlessly harsh to Genbu, so after a moment his eyes flicker with uncertainty, and he looks away.

"The rest is fine. Just not the collar."

Edited 2021-05-05 08:04 (UTC)

"Alright, fine..." Genbu sighs, turning on the handle and testing out the temperature.

After a moment passes, Genbu runs the water over Heine's back, doing his best not to get his bandage wet.

"Aren't ya worried about it getting gross or moldy, though? Can't imagine it'd be so pleasant."

He knows Genbu just wants to help, which is why Heine knows he has to be persistent, maybe a little mean. Well intended people are some of the most notorious for stumbling into trouble, he's found.

"I just don't like people looking at it either, so I change them out with new ones in private. They can get kinda bloody anyway-- a bandage isn't comfortable when it's dried crunchy. You don't have to worry about it being wet."

Heine folds his arms across his knees, almost proper. Even he can enjoy a warm shower and bath, if just to loosen up his muscles. He sighs, letting himself relax just a little.

"Twelve have mercy...I promise I won't bother ya about it again if ya don't say "dried crunchy" anymore, deal??" Genbu shudders visibly.

He stops the water running (sorry, Hana-chan!) and puts the handle down so he can get to lathering up a cloth and scrubbing down Heine's back. His movements are quicker and more confident, almost as if he's done his so so many times. Occasionally he'd press his palms against the other's back in certain ways, as if massaging him.

Also a skill he picked up.

"Any itchy spots?" He grins. Gosh what a goof.

As if to add to the mystery that's Heine's body, it doesn't take much pressure from Genbu's hands for his spine to make a few satisfying pops. It sounds loud and somewhat alarming, but the noise that Heine makes is far from pained. He drops his head and flexes his shoulders, a little amazed at the relief. He's never had someone give him any sort of massage before.

"Itchy spots?" he echos back, after a moment of trying to decipher what he's asking for. "Like a spot... on my back that's itchy?"

He knows he sounds like an absolute alien, but he doesn't really care. He isn't someone who has ever had many friends in normal situations, so he's never really had much opportunity to have these experiences before.

Genbu's absolutely fine hearing all these popping sounds! Fine! This is fine! Not screaming internally and shouting "what the hell" over and over, of course not!!!

But...Heine seems to enjoy it? He certainly didn't sound like he was in pain.

"Well...yeah! I can focus on those spots while I work on ya!" The way Heine sounded like an alien that never went outside...it was really too cute. Genbu did his best trying not to laugh.

Yeah, well, he's an alien that never goes outside.

"Oh." That's what he thought, but he wasn't sure if he was maybe missing some sort of social cue or whatever. "I guess the mid point of my shoulders where it's harder to reach, maybe right in the middle."

"Oh I know what ya mean! Yeah it's definitely a tough one to reach, hah!" Genbu moves the cloth over to that area and proceeds to press his nails through the washcloth into the skin where Heine directed him. It was, however, right on the thick part of Heine's back scar, causing Genbu to hesitate just a bit.

"I-it doesn't hurt that I'm pressin' onto yer scar, does it?" Genbu asks, beginning to scratch at the spot through the cloth, but staying gentle.

Compared to the rest of the confidence that Genbu had shown for scrubbing his back, when he starts to hesitate, Heine notices. He looks over his shoulder again, glancing a few times so he's not staring at him, and the discomfort is obvious now when he asks the question.

"No, that's fine. It only ever feels...itchy." He feels a little bad that the horned man has to be so cautious with him, so he tries lightening the mood with a small smile. "Don't worry, you can be a little rough with me, I'm not going to bite."

Itchy? Well Genbu feels a little better about what he's doing, so he proceeds with focusing on Heine's scar, scratching it through the cloth as he resumes scrubbing Heine's back.

The smaller man may have intended to lighten the mood, but hearing him say Genbu can be rough followed by that small smile...only made Genbu feel something else.

He turns bright red and swallows.

Easy, boy! Easy! Now's not the time to be thinkin' with Junior!

"Heh, if ya say so! I'll give it my all, then!"

If only Heine knew his unconscious sex appeal. No, it’s for the best. He’d rib Genbu for having a perverted mind.

He looks at his bony hand idly and rubs his fingers around where he usually wears rings, content to just settle into silence again, but soap and water and the light brush of the corner of a cloth against a hip suddenly tickles him, and he squirms in his seat.

“Ahh,” he says, bumping back against Genbu. Now it’s his turn to flush a little red, looking away from the other man's face. "It tickled, I'm fine."

"Ti...tickled?" Genbu looks down at the grunting man before him, bewildered.

The way Genbu responds was perhaps a sign that Heine made a mistake saying what he did.

Maybe it's a concussion causing poor choice of action or something, but Genbu can't keep himself from reaching towards the spot he touched that caused such a reaction. This time, tanned fingers slowly stroke a few ilms up Heine's hip.

"Are ya...ticklish?"

That was an odd way of responding to him and it made the alarm sirens go off in Heine's brain immediately. Unfortunately, he's too late to do anything to stop Genbu.

The reaction is immediate. Heine's muscles tense and he half launches himself off the stool. He has little direction to go to avoid the tickle besides throwing his back against the au ra's chest, but then on instinct then jerks himself to the side, as if trying to autocorrect the direction.

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now just imagine this icon, but a naked twig

Just a small twig fluttering in the wind

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