captaincatblock | Get into the van, kiddo.

[Peace is a funny thing. It's been teased and denied for so long that now that it's happening, it's almost weird. He'd missed most of the drama with the princess and her traitorous Terran Knight -- not that he's fully convinced of it, but if it gains them this peace, then he won't question it -- but he had been returned to his kin as Earth's first peace offering.]

[Kuroo hadn't been too happy about that, hadn't even had the time to say good bye to Tsukki after being whisked away by a couple of generals and then thrown into political chaos. But he had endured it, because he knew that eventually, the princess would get to the small issue of Kuroo's kataphrakt and how he intends to spend his time on Earth. He could be a diplomat, he'd offered, or teach his fellow Versians about Terrans, since he's learned a lot. Anything, he had added meaningfully, if he allowed him to keep his landing castle close to Earth if not entirely on its soil.]

[He'd gotten some leeway in the end, after weeks of endless talks, so here he is now striding into the hanger where they kept his mech, in full Count regalia. Oddly enough, he only has Terran escorts with him, and they back away well enough when he reaches his destination.

Tsukki? Oiii, I'm looking for your mechanic, Tsukishima Kei. [first he calls out, and then just outright asks someone to find Tsukki for him]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

hellacene

He's quite dependable, then, this Count Bokuto.

[no. he's not dancing. there are people watching, kuroo.] Who is your vassal?

From:

captaincatblock

He's loyal to people, and transparent as hell. It'd be worrisome, but very few people can beat him in a duel, so...

[settles for just a hug then.]

I have two. Nobuyuki and Kenma. Nobuyuki handles the day to day operations of the landing castle and all things I don't really like to deal with, and Kenma leads the other pilots. He liked the video game thingy that you lent me so much, he's bought all kinds of them all from Earth. [So maybe Kuroo accidentally took off with some of the things you've lent him.]

From:

hellacene

For a person like that, someone must be taking care of them as well.

[he lets him hug him. he'll even hold his hand while hugging.]

Oh. Is that where my game went? I thought I'd lost it in my room somehow.

[accidentally, huh.]

From:

captaincatblock

Of course. [he snickers] You'd think his vassal can rain divine wrath on him, with the way he can make Bokuto sit down and behave.

[Totally an accident. Kuroo kept the player you gave him on that first day, too. But that one, he didn't lend out. No, you can't have it back.] I can give it back to you later, once I convince Kenma to let it go.

[He tugs Tsukki away from the garden now. The floor above them has a hole in the middle that overlooks the garden, sort of like an indoor balcony. There doesn't seem to be anything there but metal walls, but that's where Kuroo wants to take him.

From:

hellacene

[he shakes his head.] It's alright, my brother got me a new one. He can keep it if he wants.

[the perks of being the youngest. he follows kuroo as he takes him up the floors, thinking about the idea of vassals. would he be a good vassal? probably not, he hates taking care of people who can't be bothered to take care of themselves. he thinks about the terran vassal kuroo told him about, and wonders where he is now .....

but then he realizes there's all just metal walls going up, and he asks,] How come there's nothing here?

From:

captaincatblock

[That vassal's kind of been declared the instigator of the war, Tsukki... Kuroo's in disbelief as well, but he's practical: he'll take the peace anyway he can get it.]

[Kuroo checks a pocket watch -- one of those archaic snooty kinds -- and looks up the ceiling with a little frown. There's another big jerk of the landing castle, so he automatically pulls Tsukki to himself, and then shrugs.]

Let's stay here a little until we clear your planet's atmospheric influence.

From:

hellacene

[ah, yes ....

he laughs at kuroo's watch, though.] You're so ridiculous. Nobody uses that back home anymore. There are better watches, you know.

[but he guesses it fits the image and all.]

From:

captaincatblock

Are there? [grins, because he's the king of ridiculous] I noticed a lot of people had watches around their wrists. This one's a family heirloom, though. My grandfather was the one who came from Earth to Mars and established our line there. I bet I have some distant Terran cousins somewhere.

[He looks down at it again, then up at the walls, before shrugging and just leaning down to give Tsukki a deep kiss. Distraction techniques!]

From:

hellacene

[so you're saying you're the weasley of counts ....

and yes, he's distracted enough for that kiss. distracted enough that he doesn't see the stars around them as they come up, only realizing what he's seeing when he lets kuroo press him against one of the walls and he sees it from the corner of his eye. and for a moment, breaking his kiss from him, he doesn't really say anything, just stands there and watches it in amazement.]

From:

captaincatblock

[Thankfully, Kuroo's an only child! But... yes.]

[He grins as Tsukki finally realizes that the metal shielding the glass has finally gone up, and that the landing castle is now peacefully floating in space.]

Surprise. [He's tempted to hug Tsukki from behind again, but he figures he had better give the blond space to wander about and look.] Welcome to the observation deck.

From:

hellacene

[it's so nice out here. the entirety of space laid out right before his eyes, and it's so overwhelming he actually gets a bit teary-eyed because he's that much of a nerd.

it's different from collecting dinosaurs and being so fascinated with them and ... actually really seeing the real deal up close. home is probably the farthest thing in his mind as he watches everything from the windows.]

Kuroo - [his voice wavers, but just barely.] I want to stay here.

From:

captaincatblock

[Kuroo is pleased that Tsukki likes it. For all the things that Tsukki taught and gave him during his stay on Earth, this is really the only thing Kuroo could think to give back. He gives in to the urge to put an arm around Tsukki's waist and nuzzles his neck. Tsukki looks pretty good in his coat, if Kuroo says so.]

Like I said, princess, you can stay for as long as you want.

From:

hellacene

Don't call me that either. [shut up he's not feeling emotional.] Tsukki was okay, even if that's not actually my name.

[he lets kuroo hold him, and then asks him a very important question - ] Does my room have a view like this?

From:

captaincatblock

Kei. [Because Kuroo is an opportunist, above all else. But the question of the room makes him blink.]

I just thought you could stay in my room with me. [points at the ceiling to indicate the general direction of his room] But if you want your own, that can be fixed easily. Knights have their rooms on the same level as mine and my office, and the glass is like this for all of them.

From:

hellacene

[he makes a face at that, but doesn't really say anything. after all, he's shared more than his bed a few times already. and speaking of beds - ]

I thought I should ask.

[it's been a while, after all! kuroo might not be thinking of sharing a bed with him, but oh, it's his castle and he's sharing a bed with this count, that's a lot of things on his plate, isn't it.]

From:

captaincatblock

[It's a whirlwind romance!] Do you not want to?

[The zero gravity does funny things as it kicks in. Kuroo grabs Tsukki by the wrist so they don't float apart, and then he hooks his foot under the balcony rail to keep them from moving everywhere.] Sorry about that, they haven't set the gravity controls yet.

[It gets to be about 20% heavier, so you can still sort of remain on your feet and not hitting your head on the ceilings.]

From:

hellacene

It'll take a while for me to get used to this.

[it's fun, though, testing how much you can do with gravity. he remains close to kuroo as they move, the castle jerking in places here and there.] I - don't mind staying in your room.

From:

captaincatblock

[If you'll notice, there's railing along the middle of the walls along all the corridors. Kuroo points them out.] You can just hold on to these, if you decide to wander alone.

I'll take you there now, so you can see where it is.

From:

hellacene

Alright.

[he'll try to get used to those railings now, but it's a lot more fun to just imagine letting loose and bouncing off the walls for this ....

while they're walking there, though, tsukki tells him,] I keep forgetting you're a Count.

[or rather, he keeps tripping on the idea that he's actually with A Count, in general. even if it's been a year or so and kuroo has basically told his staff to make him feel welcome, it's the fact that things are so real that make it difficult for him to understand what's going on.

kuroo's always been fond of brute forcing himself into his life either way.]

From:

captaincatblock

[chuckles] When I got assigned to you, I had nothing on my but the clothes on my back and a kataphrakt that I'd just turned into junk. It's not surprising.

[His room is really just a floor above, although this corridor looks like it has very high ceilings.]

Well, here we are.

[Kuroo's room itself at first glance is extremely Spartan and dimly lit -- a bed, a desk, a set of couches, and a chair, all bolted to the ground, and cold metal walls. There's a loft over the bed where the desk and chair are, probably Kuroo's personal office. Upon closer inspection, Tsukki will see vague outlines and touch pads on the walls, where the wardrobe, drawers, shelves, and other such things are sunken and hidden. Even the bed looks like it can be raised and hidden into the ceiling/loft floor above it. It's not a particularly big room, but it's spacious given where it is. The entire wall facing the outside is a single, unbroken sheet of glass, though, gently convex to follow the shape of the landing castle.]

I, uh, realize there's not much in it, but I can send for things you like.

[He pulls out a drawer and shows Tsukki where his headphones are.] Also, uh. I took it with me.

From:

hellacene

That's not it.

[but of course tsukki is awkward in trying to tell him what he meant.

it goes without saying that everything in the castle is just so impressive to him, including kuroo's room, no matter how simple he passes it off. he lives in the more normal part of the town with regular bunkers and the like, the only time he's had a room to himself was when he was assigned to kuroo. most of his missions with the kats are on ground, not in space.

everything is just super futuristic in this castle. and if he stays - once he stays - all of this can be his, too.

he figures he can worry about what that means in legal terms later on. kuroo will handle that. right now, he takes the headphones he took from him - now a bit dated since he has even newer ones.]

You took care of it. Is my player here with you too?

[and of course, off in the distance, the giant sheet of glass.]

I suppose the nice thing about space is that no-one can really see you through here.

From:

captaincatblock

[Tilts his head, even as he produces the player and hands it over.] What is it, then?

[He glances at the glass, and his nose wrinkles.] You'd be surprised. The blind's there for a reason. People crawl outside the landing castle all the time, and carriers and other kats pass by. It's less traffic and noise than on Earth, though.

[He once woke up to Lev stuck to his window outside like a lunatic, pounding at his window for help.]

From:

hellacene

Nothing. It's nothing.

[he takes the player with him. it looks like it's been used all the time, and that makes him smile.

tsukki goes to the window to look at the view, glancing at the bits of the landing castle he can see from there. he can see some of the carriers around, so maybe it's not so private after all.

still - everything's so nice.]

From:

captaincatblock

If you don't tell me, I'll call you all sorts of horrible nicknames. [In front of the staff.]

[He opens another box, which looks to be a mini fridge, and produces a glass and a bottle of wine. Just a bit of something to celebrate.]

From:

hellacene

[tsukki rolls his eyes.] I'm sure most of them will be more interested in the embarrassing stories I have of you.

[he never really got any better at drinking, so he takes the glass hesitantly from kuroo as he sits on his couch.] Maybe if I get drunk enough, I'll tell you.