August Bonding

[sleight_of_hand]

WHO: Tohru Adachi (with some open prompts)
WHERE: Largely Heropa this month
WHEN: Through the month of August
WHAT: The last two months were hell on wheels for Adachi, and he's determined to focus on work getting his schedule back on track.
WARNINGS: None yet.

[ Early Morning | Heropa Streets | Viktor ]
[ Though he had promised he wouldn't be running away from Viktor that... didn't end up being the case. Once the rains had abated and allowed for him to go back home and recover from his cold, the horror of what he did finally set in. He had kissed a drunk man. If said drunk man hadn't been sober enough to push him away... well, he wouldn't have gone that far, but he certainly would have done a little more than just a kiss. How he felt about Viktor was getting way out of hand, and was definitely probably the reason for 90% of his problems. ]

[ Dammit, why did he have to be engaged? Or why did he have to be so free with his affections? This wouldn't be as much of a problem if either of those weren't a thing. Though as soon as such a though occurred to him, he had to smack himself. He wouldn't want to wish Yuuri into non-existence! Nor did he want Viktor to change the kind of person he was; that was part of what made him so damn likable! Why the hell was this so complicated?! ]

[ He knew he couldn't avoid Viktor forever, but he didn't want the chance of running into the others when he did either. So, Adachi opted for meeting him at the early morning workouts he had been missing out on for various reasons over the last couple months; seriously, if he managed to get through this month without any kind of serious injury, he'd be impressed. ]

[ Adachi stood there awkwardly once he approached, not sure what to even say after over a week of avoiding him. He rubbed at the back of his neck, before sheepishly raising his hand in greeting. ]

Y-yo!

[ Nailed it. ]

[ Night | Heropa Ice Rink | Open ]
Why are you still paying for this?

[ Adachi looked up from where he was writing out a check, raising an eyebrow at the ice rink owner. He was "awake" for once, staring up at him from around his "I rather be fishing" hat. ]

Your friends aren't coming around, you know.

[ A sour look came to Adachi's face at that, and he ripped out the check, slapping it down. ]

Just take my money, and let me get my skates.

[ He was out on the ice before long, blades cutting along the surface as he started on his circles, but he wasn't really focused on it. He really didn't need the reminder that the others weren't around that much, that him trying to learn this was probably going to be for nothing. But, dammit, he wanted to do this; there was so much he wanted to say and didn't have a lot of time to say it, or the words to say it. He had to do this now. ]

[ Adachi went drifting from circles to some attempt at a program, not that it was very much of anything. There was still a lot he didn't understand, especially how things were supposed flow together. Anyone that came in would be able to see he made an attempt at trying to understand, though. A small notebook was sticking out from his dufflebag where he dropped it, with the names of moves and positions along with scribbled stick figure drawings giving an idea of what they were supposed to look like. There were a lot of notes on the margins as well, mostly consisting of, "Hands go where!??!?!" ]

[ He's trying at it! A little harder than he tries at anything else at least. ]

[ Private Communication to Persona Users ]
So uh...

I know there's like.

A lot.

That we need to talk about with each other and all that? But uh... we've all got the same power, and we're all more or less on the same side. It's probably best if we at least prepare ourselves to fight like a team if we need to.

So uh

I'm totally up for training with any one of you guys. I need to find a new place to do it now that my old one's been compromised, but we should try to get to know each other's skills better.

[ He really hoped that sounded sincere, because he was definitely trying to be. ]

[ Wild Card ]
[ When Adachi isn't busy with others, he'll be all around the porter cities working various cases for his native clients. He's up for being stopped for just about anything. ]

Comments

private;

[lempereur]

I know a few places that might work.

Would you really feel comfortable training with me?

private;

[sleight_of_hand]

Sure, after I kick you around for a few hours. ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ

[ He's kidding. Mostly. ]

Where did you have in mind?

private;

[lempereur]

[ Ha ha, and also, rude. Just because he's leaving the house and going on dates doesn't mean he's not still...dealing with things. ]

You are not a funny person.

I have an unused warehouse in Nonah, and a space cleared in the woods outside De Chima.

private;

[sleight_of_hand]

Aw, c'mon; I'm hilarious~

We should avoid De Chima. Pretty sure that's where you know who lives.

Private;

[codeoracle]

I wouldn't be the best to train against, but I could record training data and give feedback based on the numerical outputs.

Private;

[sleight_of_hand]

Oh right, you're a navigator aren't you? Like Kujikawa.

Private;

[codeoracle]

Nav and support. So...Battle simulations are not my go to strength. We could see how things work out with specific buffing patterns...

Private;

[sleight_of_hand]

Considering you're flying around in a tentacle monster, having you hovering over the field and observing us is probably the best option anyway.

[fourlevels]

Tohru~ Good morning!

[ Viktor calls out as he jogs up to where they usually meet, in his normal v-neck and sweatpants despite the morning Florida heat. ]

I haven't seen you for a while. All better from being sick, I hope?

[sleight_of_hand]

[ To his credit, Adachi dressed to actually workout, so at least he looks the part. He paused as Viktor approached, suddenly hit with a massive case of the nerves. C'mon, Adachi; focus! ]

Y-yeah, all better...

[ He couldn't even look at his face. His eyes kept flicking down to his lips and just. Dammit. ]

U-uhm... Viktor, I...

[ Oh just spit it out! ]

[ Adachi suddenly pitched forward in an overly formal bow. ]

I'm very sorry!

[fourlevels]

[ Viktor stops short, blinking down at him suddenly bowing. ]

Ah ... what for?

[sleight_of_hand]

[ Oh boy; was Viktor blowing it off as not a big deal? Well, he wasn't going to let him, dammit. ]

I-I'm sorry! For... f-for being forceful with you while you were drunk. I was out of line.

[crimeboy]

Oh wow you're super indecisive even in text, huh?

I'm kinda more of a shot caller than brute strength but it's probably good if we know what each other can do.

... Maybe in some way other than hitting each other.

[sleight_of_hand]

[ Rude, Akira. He's just going to ignore that first part. ]

Aren't you the leader? You didn't end up with multiple Personas?

[ Weird. Dojima's brat could do it? ]

What do you suggest?

[crimeboy]

Oh yeah back home, I could convince Shadows to join me, but I guess that got lost in the Porter... or maybe I just lost the Personas, but can't get any new ones since there aren't any Shadows here.

[He has no idea and isn't really thinking of the logistics behind it right now. It's not as important as figuring out how to work with what he has right now.]

We could use a dummy or something. Or if we did get together as a team, we could use Yusuke as a damage sponge and have Futaba buff and heal him.

I mean I'm not sure he'd like that idea but we're not going to be going all-out.

[sleight_of_hand]

Wait, the Shadows would join you?!

[ Those freaky things?! That... that was different?! ]

I can be the damage sponge; I have enhanced endurance, and Izanagi-no-Yomi is pretty strong against physical assaults on top of it.

private

[urbanwhizkid]

Ill think about it.

private

[sleight_of_hand]

[ ...well that was more of a response than he expected. ]

Thanks.

private

[urbanwhizkid]

[he really thought about not responding at all. thought about it a lot. there's a reason he didn't respond immediately.]

I'm only thinking about it because of Doujima-san.

[wonts]

[ He feels lost.

Yuuri can't even begin to comprehend just how much he might be struggling with all of this, and the amount of running he's been doing hasn't been enough to counterbalance the stress, which is why he eventually wanders his way to the ice rink. He misses skating so much, the movements and the genuine peace that comes from being alone with no one and nothing but his thoughts and the music in his ears. It all disappears in the end, desperate for that routine sort of fulfillment, and he ducks away once he has a pair of skates in-hand, wanting to avoid any possible confrontation before he gets on the ice.

The chill is a familiar one, taking his time to lace the skates and adjust to the imperfect way they fit his feet. They're not the same as his own, but he hadn't wanted to return home to see if his were somewhere in the house, adjusting to the feel of it before he moves onto the rink. It takes him a while to notice that he's not the only person there, though he'd never been very conscientious of that when he was focused on something so intently, and it's only after he pushes forward a few steps does he take a moment to look up -- wanting to memorize the size of the rink and exactly where he is -- and notices Adachi. Immediately, his mind sort of blanks, and he slowly glides to a stop, the furious race of his heart a telltale sign that he probably should leave before the other man sees him.

But... he pauses, watching his posture and body language, and... had he known he skated? Admittedly, a lot of information has probably by-passed him in the last week, and Yuuri follows his movements a second longer before moving towards him. He really shouldn't interrupt, but he's been running from everything for too long to just back down because he didn't know what to do. Yuuri's expression is an odd mix of frazzled smiling, keeping his distance so as not to get in the way. ]

What are you working on?

[sleight_of_hand]

[ Yuuri may have been trying to keep his distance and be discreet, but Adachi had been so into what he was doing, that he didn't realize he had company until that moment. He had just been about to try gliding around in an arc on one foot -- shoot, he forgot the name of that move -- when Yuuri spoke up, and he treated the skater to an undignified squeak, falling face first to the ice. ]

[ He lifted his head almost immediately, shaking ice from his face and hair, before looking up at him. ]

Yu-- Katsuki-kun?

[ It was probably more appropriate to call him by his last name at this point, considering they were back to square one. More importantly... why was he here now? Did he know that he had tried to push himself away from Viktor before? ]

A-ah... nothing important. Sorry, are you here to practice? I can clear off.

[wonts]

I'm... [ wow ] I'm sorry! Are you okay?

[ Would it even be wanted if he offered a hand? It's probably too late to be thinking about that now since he does anyway, bracing his weight so he can help Adachi up if he chooses to take it, and there's a quick shake of his head in response to his question, feeling a brush of embarrassment surfacing in his face along with the redness that naturally comes from being on the ice. ] You don't have to go. You were here first.

[ If anything, he should be the one to leave, but he sort of shuffles awkwardly rather than move away, gaze moving from Adachi's face to the stretch of rink behind him to... anywhere that's not him directly. Something about the air between them feels different than it did before, and Yuuri immediately blames himself for it, rubbing at the back of his neck with a hand. ] I'll skate on the opposite side so I don't bother you. [ Because he feels that's all he really is to people these days. ]

ice rink at night

[bypasser]

[Otabek skated less and less as the days went by. He'd come, when he felt that deep urge to fly, but as his mind focused on other things, he simply chose not to go. His personal life had taken a forefront, something that hadn't happened back home. He'd had a career, a dream, but instead of thinking that he'd lost his path and happiness, he decided to think of it as choosing something else.

He would find another job, maybe his music or maybe even skating, but he wanted to put his whole heart into his private life - that made him happy.

Tonight was one of those nights where he missed the chill of the rink and the cut of ice beneath his blades. He went to the rink, changed, put on his skates, and then chose to watch the only other person on the ice - Adachi. Otabek doesn't join him, he rests his chin in his hand and lets himself feel what it is that the man is trying to convey through his movements. It was as if he was trying to say something, tell someone else something important, and Otabek was drawn in.

He'll stay there, content to spectate until Adachi notices.]

[sleight_of_hand]

[ Adachi really had a lot he wanted to say: about how he changed so much, about how much certain people meant to him... yes, even the ungrateful little brat, though less so compared to others. He wasn't even sure if he was getting it across though; he didn't understand the movement well enough, and felt a little silly putting himself out on display, even when he (thought he) was alone. ]

[ When he realized he had an audience, though? He let out a startled noise, trying to come to a full on stop, only to fall over, tumbling head over heels a moment, before flopping like a fish on the ice. ]

[ Hi, Otabek. Thanks for coming. ]

[bypasser]

[Otabek immediately stands, rushing down the two steps and out the small door that leads him to the ice. The forethought of putting on his skates helps now, as he slides over and comes to his knees beside the man.]

Are you alright? Where are you hurt?

[He shouldn't have sat there, made his presence known long before it could have startled Adachi.]

I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking.

[His hands are outstretched, ready to examine him as soon as he's given permission.]