[Had you almost forgotten you ever sent this, Kazama?
What a shame.
After far too long catching up on lost sleep (and not really being able to move, given Souji's tendency to turn into a heavy heat-seeking lump in bed, Saitou finally tumbles out of bed (very literally, thanks again to Souji's sleeping habits), and after a few minutes to haul himself upright and try to wake up mentally, he finally retrieves his watch and takes a seat at the end of his bed again to check and see if anyone's been trying to get ahold of him.
And freezes when he sees that name in his contact list, because the mere thought of Kazama is enough to make his blood run cold.
There's no way he could be here, could he?
It's a few more minutes before he finally stops staring and slowly, with his one good hand, types out a reply.]
[ souji doesn't move much once he's stumbled out of bed, dragged saitou with him, and settled in the blanket pile right there. it's only when he can feel the other man shift next to him and move away that he finally stirs from his slumber, green eyes flickering open.
he feels like shit, let's be real, sleeping that long is bound to have that consequence, but at the same time—his mind is a bit clearer, like the haze that settled within it has finally gone away. it takes him a while longer to sit upright though, but as soon as he does, his eyes fall on saitou's face.
did he wake up to something awful? ]
—hmm? [ so much for a good morning. ] What are you doing?
Saitou doesn't move in response, and his voice, when he responds, carries the kind of flat, distracted monotone that suggests that all of his attention and self-control is busy processing whatever he's just seen.]
But rather than decide between answering the question of what history he has with Kazama versus what Kazama is looking for this time (because one is a difficult subject to talk about and the other he has no idea how to answer), Saitou simply passes his watch silently over to Souji, to let him see what the current conversation looks like.]
[ at first, souji doesn't get it. it's obvious from how his eyes widen up that he had no idea about kazama's presence here, either. how long is long enough? that doesn't make any sense to him. surely something this big would have been brought to their attention already.
he keeps the watch in his hands, tears his eyes away from it to look over at saitou. well. it doesn't matter how he'll put it, because any way he does and it will end up sounding more presumptuous than he means it to be.
so he'll wait for saitou to say anything, if he even does. ]
[It's tempting not to say anything, because this is the last subject he wants to think about, the last moment in his life he'd ever want to revisit. But there's not much he hides from Souji (Souji's good at figuring most of it out anyway), and especially when Souji's been upfront with Saitou about his current health...]
He was the one who gave me the ochimizu.
[And the one who made damned sure that he was going to need it.]
souji doesn't need to know the details, nor does he even feel like asking, to know that this is as much as a sore spot to saitou as the whole tuberculosis thing is to him. it's a matter of wounded prides, and he knows how to dance his way around that.
but it's funny how familiar that sounds, to have a demon be the cause of losing your own humanity. he knows that all too well. ]
So what are you going to do?
[ it's bad enough neither of them knew kazama was here, but with that little tidbit on top of it? if it were souji, he would have been furious, and he imagines saitou feels the equivalent of that. ]
[His gaze drops to the floor, and his good hand moves to clutch at his bad arm. What are you going to do would be such an easier question to answer, if not for that. But in this state...
...in this state, he'd just be asking for another death.]
[ his eyes flicker over to where saitou's good hand holds the bad one, and he sighs right after. that was the wrong question to ask, obviously. he isn't going to press it. ]
... [ he's no good at finding the right words to comfort someone, even though saitou would always know what he's trying to say. ] What a bad thing to wake up to.
[ as if on cue, souji's own pocketwatch pings and he reaches for it in his coat. ... which is not where he left it, what the hell. did saitou get up at some point and put it away? he sighs at the effort it takes to retrieve it, eyes glossing over at the message he's received before sighing yet again. ]
—It looks like I have somewhere to be, too. I'll be back.
[ he makes himself presentable and leaves out the door without another word. time to see what ivan wants from him.
and come back for more sleep later, because he's going to need it. ]
[ the pocket watch suffered a cruel and quite sudden death. It will be resurrected on Day 1, week 16. And sport bandages because it was brutally cut in half with a sword for making very loud, sudden noises on day thanks to getting his first real text message.
But, Saitou's in luck. Kazama has enough restraint to not kill harmless pocket watches. Especially when they are tucked away on one's persons. He does, however, suffer from a near heart attack and takes a full ten minutes of staring blankly at his screen before he can manage to type up a response. ]
have you grown so bored that you wish to speak to me?
[ because yes, he has forgotten that earlier text message. he as sure he had deleted it, not sent it off. ]
[It's funny how easy it is to mentally assign tone to a text message that carries none of it. Saitou doesn't read confusion or surprise into that; all he can hear in it is that same cruel arrogance that was all over their fight back home.]
you sent me a message two days ago.
[Like hell does he want to speak to Kazama about anything.]
[It's so easy to be a smartass through text, even though his heart is going at a hundred beats a minute and something in him is still struggling to believe that this is even happening.]
[Petty threats are for people with poor priorities in life.]
how long have you been here
[...priorities like asking questions whose answers will either make him feel worse about himself for not realizing it, make him feel worse about his relationship with Hijikata for not having been told about it, or both.
[ and more than that, Kazama has no intention of stating. It ill pleases him to know it's been a month and counting already. Now, if only he could turn off this foul thing he'd have no more need for pretty words. He would simply ignore Saitou altogether. ]
[That's all Saitou really wants to know, so Kazama won't have to worry much about that. Once he sees that reply he passes his watch off to Souji, to let him see what's happening...and as much as telling anyone what his problem is right now isn't terribly appealing, talking to Souji is infinitely preferable to trying to pry anything else out of Kazama.]
[ he waited a full fifteen minutes, staring at the watch and daring it to make that awful ringing tone yet again. When it didn't, he slowly shifted to put it away, tucking it into the breast pocket of his jacket. Once out of sight, he breathed a sigh of relief because, in truth, that could have gone much, much worse.
And then he made a vow, to never again use this thrice-blasted thing until Hijikata texts him and then it's on ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
day 7
What a shame.
After far too long catching up on lost sleep (and not really being able to move, given Souji's tendency to turn into a heavy heat-seeking lump in bed, Saitou finally tumbles out of bed (very literally, thanks again to Souji's sleeping habits), and after a few minutes to haul himself upright and try to wake up mentally, he finally retrieves his watch and takes a seat at the end of his bed again to check and see if anyone's been trying to get ahold of him.
And freezes when he sees that name in his contact list, because the mere thought of Kazama is enough to make his blood run cold.
There's no way he could be here, could he?
It's a few more minutes before he finally stops staring and slowly, with his one good hand, types out a reply.]
what do you want
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he feels like shit, let's be real, sleeping that long is bound to have that consequence, but at the same time—his mind is a bit clearer, like the haze that settled within it has finally gone away. it takes him a while longer to sit upright though, but as soon as he does, his eyes fall on saitou's face.
did he wake up to something awful? ]
—hmm? [ so much for a good morning. ] What are you doing?
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Saitou doesn't move in response, and his voice, when he responds, carries the kind of flat, distracted monotone that suggests that all of his attention and self-control is busy processing whatever he's just seen.]
I received a message.
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From who?
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Kazama.
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What business does he have with you?
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But rather than decide between answering the question of what history he has with Kazama versus what Kazama is looking for this time (because one is a difficult subject to talk about and the other he has no idea how to answer), Saitou simply passes his watch silently over to Souji, to let him see what the current conversation looks like.]
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he keeps the watch in his hands, tears his eyes away from it to look over at saitou. well. it doesn't matter how he'll put it, because any way he does and it will end up sounding more presumptuous than he means it to be.
so he'll wait for saitou to say anything, if he even does. ]
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He was the one who gave me the ochimizu.
[And the one who made damned sure that he was going to need it.]
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souji doesn't need to know the details, nor does he even feel like asking, to know that this is as much as a sore spot to saitou as the whole tuberculosis thing is to him. it's a matter of wounded prides, and he knows how to dance his way around that.
but it's funny how familiar that sounds, to have a demon be the cause of losing your own humanity. he knows that all too well. ]
So what are you going to do?
[ it's bad enough neither of them knew kazama was here, but with that little tidbit on top of it? if it were souji, he would have been furious, and he imagines saitou feels the equivalent of that. ]
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[His gaze drops to the floor, and his good hand moves to clutch at his bad arm. What are you going to do would be such an easier question to answer, if not for that. But in this state...
...in this state, he'd just be asking for another death.]
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... [ he's no good at finding the right words to comfort someone, even though saitou would always know what he's trying to say. ] What a bad thing to wake up to.
[ translation: should we go back to sleep? ]
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A moment.
I have something to take care of.
[Namely: texting Hijikata and getting his head bitten off.]
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[ as if on cue, souji's own pocketwatch pings and he reaches for it in his coat. ... which is not where he left it, what the hell. did saitou get up at some point and put it away? he sighs at the effort it takes to retrieve it, eyes glossing over at the message he's received before sighing yet again. ]
—It looks like I have somewhere to be, too. I'll be back.
[ he makes himself presentable and leaves out the door without another word. time to see what ivan wants from him.
and come back for more sleep later, because he's going to need it. ]
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But, Saitou's in luck. Kazama has enough restraint to not kill harmless pocket watches. Especially when they are tucked away on one's persons. He does, however, suffer from a near heart attack and takes a full ten minutes of staring blankly at his screen before he can manage to type up a response. ]
have you grown so bored that you wish to speak to me?
[ because yes, he has forgotten that earlier text message. he as sure he had deleted it, not sent it off. ]
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you sent me a message two days ago.
[Like hell does he want to speak to Kazama about anything.]
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and did this message require a response? i think not
[ can't saitou take a hint? back off, because Kazama has no intention of admitting he'd made a mistake in sending that message at all. ]
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[LERN 2 TYPING, gawd.]
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perhaps you just lack the ability to compreh&emdash;[ spoke too soon. But it's hardly worth correcting the tiny mistake and so he leaves it be.
The watch, after all, cannot sense his ire. ]
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[It's so easy to be a smartass through text, even though his heart is going at a hundred beats a minute and something in him is still struggling to believe that this is even happening.]
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seek me out in person and you will have all the words that matter
[ which is none. The shinsengumi had always spoken better with their actions rather than their words. ]
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how long have you been here
[...priorities like asking questions whose answers will either make him feel worse about himself for not realizing it, make him feel worse about his relationship with Hijikata for not having been told about it, or both.
These are great priorities.]
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[ and more than that, Kazama has no intention of stating. It ill pleases him to know it's been a month and counting already. Now, if only he could turn off this foul thing he'd have no more need for pretty words. He would simply ignore Saitou altogether. ]
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And then he made a vow, to never again use this thrice-blasted thing
until Hijikata texts him and then it's on]