"La vita va avanti."

[sharktrash]

Who: Squalo and: Xanxus, Genos, Koumei, YOU!
What: Catch-all for January Shenanigans.
When: Jan 1st-15th ish
Where: MANTICORE penthouse, Pride HQ, possibly elsewhere
Warnings: language, violence, dicks out, the usual. will detail for each toplevel

(( Prompts in toplevels below! Feel free to tag into the ones marked as OPEN. I am still waiting on details for some of them, hence "placeholders" since I wanted to put the threads up in chronological order. They'll be there soon enough! Also, feel free to PM this account or hit me up on Plurk if you want a thread, too! ))

Comments

[sharktrash]

Shampoo. Conditioner. Oils.

[ He'll point them and more out, and grab a shampoo bottle first, grinning. ]

Now then. This is a real trust exercise, you know.

[dishevelment]

[Koumei chuckled.]

We're sitting naked together in a bathtub-- if that's not trust, then I don't know what is.

[sharktrash]

Not quite on the level as not getting product into your eyes, though.

[ He nudges Koumei to move forward a bit so he gets decent access to all that hair, then starts squeezing shampoo onto the thickness of it and the top of the other's head, and then some more into his hands so he can slowly massage it in from the sides as well. ]

[dishevelment]

You've got good hands-- and you're careful.

I believe in you.

[And he closed his eyes, humming in enjoyment as the other man started massaging his scalp and working his hands through the mess of hair.]

[sharktrash]

And you've got a way with words. [ He makes an amused sound as he makes sure there's shampoo in all of that hair, then starts scratching at the other's scalp. ] Maybe you're also a reincarnated diplomat.

[dishevelment]

Or maybe I just carried the lives of a hundred-thousand men in my hands.

[He shrugged, almost nonchalant. The maps he had observed in his dreams were far too expansive for anything as small scale as Diplomacy.]

....Just to double check, have you ever heard of cities called Rakushou or Balbadd?

[sharktrash]

No pressure.

[ The scratching goes a bit more intense. He takes a moment to think. He does recall a city that sounds a bit like that, though he's not sure from where. ]

Don't think so, no. I know Baghdad, though. Could be a similar region.

[dishevelment]

Hm...the names are similar.

[Although the ring of 'Baghdad' felt strange to him-- as if the alternate reading shouldn't even exist.]

Who is to say? My name can be read as 'Kongming Lian' depending on who is doing the translating.

because superbae being used icly wasn't enough

[sharktrash]

Fair enough. And my name can be read as 'Super Bi'.

[ He definitely thinks he's being hilarious. His hands move lower, rubbing the shampoo into the mass of hair itself now. ]

looollllll

[dishevelment]

[Koumei laughed at those words.]

Well, you can't say it's inaccurate!

[sharktrash]

Guess not. Especially the "super" part.

[ He grins smugly, gathers up the rest of Koumei's hair and wrings it out a bit before continuing to shampoo it up. ]

[dishevelment]

In more ways than one.

[He glanced over to watch Squalo's progress.]

You really know what you're doing.

[sharktrash]

Got plenty of practice.

[ Once he's pretty sure he's rubbed through all of the Mop, he'll give Mei a light bonk on the head as a signal to get it in the water again. ]

[dishevelment]

Yes...I'm sure you do.

[And, chuckling, Koumei obediently soaked his hair in the water once again.]

How do you manage to keep your's so neat? It's an awful lot of hair to keep in such tidy condition all the time.

[sharktrash]

[ He rinses it, quite thoroughly, careful not to pull too hard, then nudges him up again. ]

...not sure, actually. I don't really use a lot of product or anything. [ He shrugs a bit, then grins. ] Maybe it's magic.

[dishevelment]

[He sat up on cue, his hair a mess from the water and the shampooing.]

It must be pretty potent magic, if you can maintain that shine without any fly aways or split ends.

[sharktrash]

[ That's gonna be a challenge to brush out. But he took on this mantle and he's gonna carry it. ]

Absolutely. Some of it's called "trimming".

[ He laughs, and takes a conditioner bottle. ]

We're not done yet.

[ Hope you don't mind more stuff getting carefully massaged into your hair, Mei. ]

[dishevelment]

Oh, no. Not that 'trimming' thing that Page likes to drop hints about!

[Making a face like a whining child, he made no complaints as Squalo continued to work his hair. This man did have magical hands, and he wanted to see how this would turn out.]

[sharktrash]

Oh? When's the last time you've done it?

[ HE'S GONNA TRIM YOU MEI. JUST YOU WAIT. ]

[dishevelment]

....

I honestly don't remember.

[He so needs a trim...]

[sharktrash]

Riiight. [ drawls, still rubbing the conditioner in. ] Guess you'll get one later.

[ Once he's done, he'll try to hold that mess of hair up in something between a bun and a nest, secured with pins. It's ought to stay in for fifteen minutes or so. A chance for more drinks? You'd bet. ]

'Kay, you can relax for a while now.

[dishevelment]

Thanks.

[Careful not to disturb the pile of hair on his head, Koumei leaned back against the porcelain basin again and relaxed his shoulders, content to just breathe in the scents and the steam of their bath.]

So...we're letting it soak in to work it's magic, right? Deep conditioning?

[See? He knew some of his stuff!]

[sharktrash]

That's right.

[ He leans back himself and sinks in deeper, until his head's rested against the edge. ]

Why do you keep it so long?

[dishevelment]

[Silence was the immediate reply, as Koumei sunk deeper into the water and tried to find the answer to that question.]

I...

[...he didn't know anymore. The usual story of his mother telling him not to alter his hair didn't feel like it was correct anymore. Instead, he saw something else in his mind's eye-- piles of papers rolled up into scrolls, an earnest young boy training with a sword, a stern man with kind eyes and a grave demeanor.

Nothing made sense anymore.]

Who can say? [He asked, suddenly very tired.] It's been so long that I don't know the reason anymore.

[sharktrash]

...

[ Ah. Feeling lost. Isn't that basically the norm nowadays? He does his best not to give in, but sometimes it gets difficult to tell what's real anymore. ]

[ At least this situation helps. Drinks, a hot bath, a hot body next to him. All affecting very primal senses, it gives a certainty to the here and now. It's really happening, and this moment is really his. That's always nice. ]

That's funny. [ He mentions lightly enough, raising his glass again. ] I'm not entirely sure, either. It's... important, though.