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

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.

From:

captaincatblock

These guys know the worst of it, love. [But he agreeably sits down with Tsukki, pulling the blond to lean on him with an affectionate kiss on the cheek.]

[It's actually Terran wine that was shipped to Mars and ended up back in this side of the universe. Kuroo points out the label on it with a chuckle.]

From:

hellacene

[automatically pushing his hands on his mouth to make him shut up.

he leans against kuroo, enjoying their time on the couch while the stars were right outside the window. everything looks so lovely and he's done so much for him. it's really overwhelming.]

What happened to you, after they took you back?

From:

captaincatblock

[takes a sip of the wine from Tsukki's glass, because he's lazy to go retrieve his own.]

Hmmm. I had to help round up the other Orbital Knights, inspect the landing castles who no longer had their masters, and see to their turn over to the Empress. [His hand wanders lazily over Tsukki's stomach.] Since I was mostly a neutral party, it was convenient for her to send me as a messenger that was not likely to get shot for asking for their surrender.

There were some duels, you know. But not on a Kat.

From:

hellacene

[so a count gets to be a lot busier than he thought. he lets kuroo drink from his glass, leaning his head on his shoulder, his fingers moving through the folds of his tailcoat.]

Sounds dangerous. But you managed to come back even then.

[he takes a drink from his glass, and then tells him part of the thing that he couldn't say earlier:] You're really impressive, Kuroo.

From:

captaincatblock

[He smiles, and traces Tsukki's lower lip gently with his thumb, as if to catch some wine there.] I'm glad you think so. It's not always that I manage to impress you.

Besides, of course I would come back. I said I'd show you the stars if I could manage it.

From:

hellacene

I didn't think you would. As far as I know, you disappeared.

[he presses a small kiss on his thumb.] And I didn't know what to make of that.

From:

captaincatblock

They didn't tell you what they did to me? I mean, you were the one managing me...

[sighs, and noses at Tsukki.] I'm sorry, Kei, I should have contacted you sooner.

From:

hellacene

They told me you had to go back because it was orders. There's not much I can do after that since we got busy with rebuilding the city afterwards.

[so, it's not like he wasn't told, it's more like he got angry and had decided to focus on something else.]

Nevermind. You're here now.

From:

captaincatblock

You're here now. [strokes his hair tenderly.]

I have to say, though, red looks good on you.

From:

hellacene

You're biased.

I like the black jackets some of your men were wearing. Those look good, too.

[he finishes the rest of his wine, toeing his boots off his feet so he can gather them under his red coat. he likes it, but the black one will probably make his skin look even paler.]

From:

captaincatblock

You can wear those if you want, but people might mistake you as part of my staff. If that's all right with you, then go ahead. [Kuroo obviously doesn't care. He adjusts them a bit, also removing his boots, so that he's stretched along the couch with Tsukki's back to his chest. With a view of the window, of course.]

You know, I came back here and I couldn't stop thinking that you should have been able to come with me.

From:

hellacene

That might be useful for me from time to time. [although people are certainly going to notice that there's this blond terran walking around unlisted later on .....

he pulls the coat closer towards him.] That's why I said it's a good thing you're not king.

[and it's a good thing he doesn't have any ambitions beyond maintaining his position as a count.]

From:

captaincatblock

Even though you sometimes forget I'm a Count? [He's wheedling about the earlier topic, gives Tsukki more wine.]

It's pretty useless for me to be an Emperor, though. It's too many limitations, not enough benefits.

From:

hellacene

Other people won't forget you're a Count, even if I do.

[you're getting him drunk for this, don't think he doesn't see it.] I don't think I'd like you to be an Emperor, either.

From:

captaincatblock

No, I don't think you would. [kisses Tsukki by the ear, and runs his hands up Tsukki's chest.] I wouldn't be able to pilot my Kat then, wouldn't I?

From:

hellacene

I can't really drink if you're feeling me up.

[he's not complaining, though, just sets the glass on the table on the side. he gets back on lying on top of him, leaning his head against his palm while he props his arm on his chest.] I can't wait to meet everyone.

[all of the people kuroo talks about, including the owls he likes. before, they were just stories, and now he has something more.]