March Catch-all

[matadorable]

WHO: Manolo and you!
WHERE: Various
WHEN: Throughout March
WHAT: Like it says on the tin!
WARNINGS: None at the moment, will update if necessary

[Prompts to come eventually, but let me know if you want a starter for your character in the meantime.]

Comments

[matadorable]

More than you may realize, my friend.

[Manolo studies Kaneda for a moment, and he can't help but give a cheeky smile.] ...Why are you asking these things, anyway?

[rassera]

...!!



No reason. Just...you know, curious about how it happens to other people.


Me? I never feel that way.


[Ever. EVER!]

[matadorable]

Really? Never? [The stupid grin on his face says he ain't buyin' it, Kaneda.]

[rassera]

Never.

[Lying like the dead, here.]

You think I'm the type of guy who's...into all that?

[matadorable]

Amigo, whether you're that type of man or not...all it takes is one person to turn your world upside down.

[rassera]

Yeah? I don't know...some of us are tough nuts to crack.

[matadorable]

And some people are tough cookies we just can't resist, no matter what we tell ourselves. There's no shame in it!

[rassera]

Shame? It's definitely not shame.

...


[Pause.]

I mean, cause I don't have that going on in my life.

[matadorable]

[Kaneda, you are a terrible liar. But Manolo has more tact than to call him out outright. Instead, he arches an eyebrow and quietly chuckles.]

Well, if I may say so, you would be a very fine catch.

[rassera]

[The fact that it's coming from Manolo surprises him, and those brows raise up to show that. Sure...he knows for a fact how good looking he is. If there's one thing that didn't need to be inflated, it was his ego. But coming from Manolo, that's...well, it's new.

His hand goes to the back of his neck, smirking.]

Yeah? I think so too--girls can't get enough of me.

[matadorable]

[Something about that response tickles him, maybe because it reminds him a little of Joaquin. Either way, Manolo just laughs.]

I don't doubt that! But...I meant as a long-term boyfriend or maybe even a husband, if you ever decided to marry.

[rassera]

[If Manolo was going for the killing blow, that'd be it. Kaneda stops dead, looking at the man as if he started speaking some alien language, garbled in his ears and eyes widening. It's not necessarily a bad shock---he's not disgusted.

But it's obvious that this is the first time he's...EVER heard that in his life.]



...


[For once, he has nothing to say. He can't...it's all still processing.

Manolo thought that he...KANEDA...could be a long term partner to someone? After so many years of telling yourself you'll never get attached, and everyone saying how much you sleep around, and you can only gleefully confirm it...it's turning his world upside down right at that moment.]

[matadorable]

[Like he said...it only takes one person to turn everything on its head, Kaneda.]

Why do you have that look? [He's not sure what he expected, but that expression, like he'd caused something in the poor man's brain to break, definitely wasn't it.] Come on, is what I said really so strange?

[rassera]

[Coming back to his senses, he shakes it off, trying to at least get back to a normal walk cycle.]

It's just...I've never held a girl longer than a week, you know? Buckling down and settling...it's not a thing guys like me do.

[What he doesn't specify, though...is how he FEELS.]

[matadorable]

It's not settling! It's finding someone you want to start a new story with, so you can see it through together while you face the world. You just didn't feel that way about any of the girls you knew before, that's all.

[rassera]

[That's...a new way to look at it, really. For the longest time, he'd just assumed he wasn't that type of guy to find a girl that was perfect for him. No girl really felt that perfect. Tetsuo had found one...of course Tetsuo had found one. The guy was gentle underneath that tough facade, and any girl would probably fall for him if he showed that a little more.

Kaneda...he'd pretty much given up that ever happening.

So to hear it put like this...it's a bit new.]

So the only reason I couldn't find one I like more than a week was cause none of em were...'right'?

[He sounds curious, like this is a concept he didn't even knew existed.]

[matadorable]

[For Manolo, this is all very natural, and he has to wonder what kind of life Kaneda must have lived for the idea to sound so foreign to him. Still, he's patient and happy to help him talk through it.]

Exactly! Maybe they're right for someone else out there, but not for you.

[rassera]

[That is a deep hole, Manolo, be careful you don't fall in.]

Just kinda assumed I'd be a drifter.

[It's quiet...almost thoughtful.]

[matadorable]

A drifter? [That genuinely surprises him.] You seem really devoted, though.

[rassera]

[Oh, now we're getting into the deeper parts of what Kaneda is on the surface. His hand rubs the back of his neck nervously.]

Depends.

[It's not a smarmy reply, that means he's getting somewhere.]

[matadorable]

[Manolo tilts his head with curiosity.]

Depends?

[He doesn’t want to pry into places where he’s not wanted, but he’s willing to lend an ear if Kaneda wants to talk about it.]

[rassera]

Eto...

[How does he phrase this...He's never talked about something like this, at least not to this extent.]

I'd never leave my friends. Girls are different.


[Guess who's never had a friend who was a romantic interest yet before.]

[matadorable]

If girls are different, it's probably because you've never been friends with any.

[rassera]

I've had friends that were girls...just...


Never ones I dated.


[He sounds confused, like this is turning his whole way of thinking on its head. No wonder the guy never kept a relationship. He wasn't even friends with the girls he dated...]

[matadorable]

[Ah. That would explain a lot.]

It's pretty hard to be a drifter if you're friends with the person you're dating. They're important to you, so you naturally want to stay by their side.