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[fujimaru]

Ritsuka Fujimaru | 藤丸 立香
19(?) / F / Who knows!!

This is Ritsuka! Leave a message and I'll get back to you.

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[impostorsyndrome]

Barely a human? Are you kidding me?

[He's sarcastic and blunt as usual, but also genuinely surprised, and not just a little. Kadoc's eyes go a little wider as he looks over at her. Seriously? Does she really think of herself that way?!]

[fujimaru]

Yes and no?

[ There's a lopsided little smile on her face, a bit rueful. ]

After all this time... sometimes I wonder if I'm holding onto it at all. I think I am? I hope I am. But sometimes I don't know.

[impostorsyndrome]

. . . That's the only time you've even halfway sounded like a mage.

[It hurts a little, seeing her look like that. And it hurts in a different way to feel like he understands exactly what she means, keenly, in a way he didn't realize until now he hoped she'd never have to experience. Truly, Kadoc would not wish the path of a mage on his (former) worst enemy.]

[fujimaru]

I guess after all this time, it's rubbed off on me a little.

[ But as she says this, she squeezes his hand, tilting to lean into him a bit even as they walk. ]

But I don't want to let go of what makes me human, either. Even if it's a struggle, I don't want to let it go.

[impostorsyndrome]

I always thought for someone like you, it'd be the opposite. That you'd never have it in you to cast away your humanity. That's what it takes to be a mage . . . you've probably figured that out by now after everything you've seen. That you'd be struggling to hang onto it instead . . .

[He trails off. What is there to say about it? It's bad. He hates it. That's what it is, and he knows she can hear that already in his voice.]

[fujimaru]

It's not that I want to. I'm not trying. It's just... the past few years have been a lot.

[ Ain't that an understatement. She stops, squeezing his hands harder, trying to catch his eye. ]

But things like this help, you know? Just--having someone who likes me in a normal way. Someone who doesn't have me as "Master" first, whether it's a Servant or someone from the staff. Having people who want to know me and spend time with me just because I'm Ritsuka, and not anything else... that helps a lot.

[impostorsyndrome]

[He does look over, looking slightly flushed, a little vulnerable even though he's not the one spilling about his loneliness and trauma here. But it's the fact that she's choosing to tell him, and that she says he's a force of good against it. Actually helping her. It does make him feel open and exposed for how tender that thought makes him feel.]

. . . The you that's just you deserves everything in the world.

[fujimaru]

[ She goes still for a moment wide-eyed and wide open for a moment. Oh. Has anyone ever told her that? Even the most loyal and dedicated of her Servants have never said anything like that to her before.

After that moment she takes a deep shaky breath, turning fully towards him and leaning in close. ]

That... That means more than you know. Thank you.

[impostorsyndrome]

. . . I mean it. Ritsuka . . .

[He wants to ask if he can kiss her, but the words can't make it out just yet. His throat is dry and his heart is pounding, and it feels like all of his body's capabilities are going into that hard pulse in his chest. But he sways forward, just a little. Not close in enough, but enough that he's almost there.]

[fujimaru]

[ This is a Moment, isn't it? She knows, even if this is entirely brand-new to her. Her own heart begins to beat faster as well, especially as he leans in, and she can't help but shift closer as well. It feels more like instinct than deliberate choice to tilt her head up, feeling his breath on her lips. ]

I know. I trust you, Kadoc.

[impostorsyndrome]

That's . . .

[But he doesn't know what to say. It's a lot of things: stupid, maybe. Strange. Not the point. Touching enough to feel like a crushing weight in his chest, aching with tenderness. It's all of that.

So rather than pick one, he finally presses his lips to hers, firmly but carefully.]

[fujimaru]

[ Her eyes flutter shut as he leans in, and she tilts up, lifting just a little on her toes to meet him partway. She's actually holding her breath at the first touch, shivering at the contact. Ah. It does feel good, just this simple gentle moment of contact. This feels more like a first kiss than the forced one at the party, and she likes it so much more as a result. ]

[impostorsyndrome]

[The kiss at the party may as well not exist in this moment. This is the one he had wanted, and been unable to own up to—the one he hadn't even wanted to admit to himself he'd been hoping for that night. She hadn't deserved how shitty he'd been then, but now he can make up for it. Now he can give her the kiss she deserves, gentle and sweet, his hand coming up to curl carefully at the nape of her neck to hold her there. They don't have to rush. Maybe he can even kiss her for as long as he wants, though Kadoc can already tell that might take hours.]

[fujimaru]

[ She hums quietly, a tiny pleased noise caught in the back of her throat. As much as she had still turned the memory of that party kiss over and over in her head, obsessively trying to figure it out from every angle, this absolutely blows that away. She doesn't quite melt into him, but when his hand settles at the back of her neck, she shivers, leaning to let him take just a little more of her weight.

Maybe metaphorically, as well as literally. This feels like a lot to trust him with, and also safe to do so. It feels just as good as the kiss, to allow herself permission to share with someone else. ]

[impostorsyndrome]

[His heart trips heavily in his chest, unable to decide whether he's soothed or excited by this—it's some of both, and it's a complicated feeling. It could be addictive. Kadoc wants to sink into this moment forever, like they're living the climactic scene of some stupid Hallmark romcom where the couple finally shares their first kiss and the music swells around him. And some other part of him wants to drag her back to his place, all the way back to his bedroom, like the climactic scene of . . . some other kind of film. But he can feel the weight of the moment, and of her body settling against him, and it feels important to do this right. He's tentative in touching the seam of her lips with the tip of his tongue—but even that careful contact gets a breathy little sigh from his nose.]

[fujimaru]

[ A shiver goes through her at the brush of his tongue. She knows what this is, intellectually--she's seen and read enough to know what the natural progression of a kiss is. And she does want to know what it's like to feel this, to have more, even if this isn't at all how she expected to end this night.

So it only takes her a second to part her lips for him, shifting to press her body even closer to him. It just feels good to touch someone--someone that she knows, she likes, and has wanted to be closer to for some time now. She's so happy to lean into this. ]

[impostorsyndrome]

[His arms tighten around her as she shifts closer, encouraging—he only lets himself get away with it because he's trying not to overthink this. It would be so easy to spiral into that and find himself feeling morally obliged to pull away, and to not even enjoy it in the meantime. Fighting that feeling takes active effort, but he wants to. He wants to have this for himself. And so does she, god knows why. Whyever that may be, he doesn't want to take it away from her.

Instead, he focuses on her: the fine shiver of her body, the lean of her weight just slightly against him. This . . . might also be a mistake. Those things are so much more exciting than it feels like they really should be. It's just a kiss! It's a first kiss! Neither of them is very good at it! So why does his body already feel like it's lighting up with little electric shocks here and there and everywhere? Kadoc comes out with an even more heated sigh when their tongues touch, shifting closer himself, unable to completely restrain his body's natural eagerness to lean in.]

[fujimaru]

[ Neither of them are very good at this, but it's still so good. Another shiver goes through her at the weight of his body against hers, and she leans into her own instinctive greed for more, and closer, for the moment uncaring about anything else. This isn't the best place for a makeout, especially one that feels dangerously close to escalating, but she can hardly make herself pull away. She's so touch-starved, and she's starting to realize that he might be as well. And in that case, how can she resist?

(She could. She could and maybe she should, at least until they're inside somewhere--but she's also just curious and eager. They've been stumbling towards this for a while, and now that they've actually reached this point, she just doesn't want to stop. It's nice to feel wanted in reciprocation for her own desires. Surely it's fine if they kiss a little longer, a little more eagerly, before they pull back and go--somewhere else. Whether it's together or separately, this can go on a little longer, right?) ]

[impostorsyndrome]

[It's just a kiss, definitely. Just a kiss, not making out, not full-on necking . . . definitely. But Kadoc can feel the part of him with enough control to keep it that way beginning to wear down already. He catches her lips this time a little too eagerly, making a breathless sound that's a little too hungry to be suitable for public. He's sure he's going to go too far and chase her off, but at every turn she's only responding eagerly, and what is he supposed to do, if it's like that? What if, just maybe, she actually does want this as much as he does? He trusts so few people to touch him, and he's outright starving for it.]

[fujimaru]

[ He's not the only one touch-starved. As surrounded as Ritsuka has been by care and protection, it's not really the sort of thing she's ever felt comfortable asking for. Anything to help in the Grand Order, certainly--anything that might be beneficial for the world at large. But for Ritsuka herself? That's so much harder to ask for.

But right now... right now, there doesn't seem to be a limit to what she can ask from him. The fact that he seems just as eager only encourages her further. Maybe it's okay? Maybe it's fine to want this, and to ask, and to give back what he seems to want from her in turn. ]

[impostorsyndrome]

[It could go on forever, he thinks in one moment, and then in the next—ah, no, I have to stop this. He can feel the way he's right on the edge of losing just a little too much control for public. He has to break the kiss, pulling back with a gasp, and the sound of that too is not entirely appropriate, but he can't help it. He's flushed and panting and swallowing hard, feeling like a dumb horny teenager who can't keep it in his pants, just from a kiss with her!]

—Sorry, I—we should probably . . . uh.

[fujimaru]

Y--yeah.

[ Her voice is also rough, huskier than she's ever heard herself sound. Her tongue darts out to wet her lips, automatic and instinctive, as she stares back at him. That happened? That really happened, and honestly, she's shocked herself a little. Even with the kiss broken, and even with her agreement, she does not pull away from him. ]

M... maybe we should--uh. My place or yours?

[impostorsyndrome]

You're—uh. If you're serious . . . your place okay?

[A thousand protests rise up from the part of him that believes this must be some mistake still. That part of him isn't going to die anytime soon, no matter how much progress he's made on it, and with her help, too. Kadoc can trust her entirely, does trust her entirely, and yet his own mind turns that on him instead, deciding that instead it must be itself that can't be trusted. He's misunderstood, somehow, or is dreaming, surely. Some outcome that makes him the fool here.

He has to work to quash those, but he does, meeting her eyes directly.]

[fujimaru]

Yeah.

[ If she knew his uncertainty, she would sympathize. It's not like she doesn't feel the same, in some way--considering where they started from, all the way back in the Russian Lostbelt... it's almost unbelievable, isn't it?

But she trusts her own heart, at least. She knows what she wants, and what she has wanted. Even if she hadn't allowed herself to imagine they could reach a point like this, she's always, always wanted to be closer to him.

Ritsuka lifts a hand to touch his cheek gently. It's an anchoring point of connection: you're here, and so am I. ]

I'd like it.

[impostorsyndrome]

. . . Yeah. Whatever "it" is, as long as it's hanging out with you . . . that's what I want.

[Not that it seems all that likely that they're going to go back to her place and start up a merry game of Yahtzee, but you know. If she sprang that on him? He honestly wouldn't complain. His head tilts just slightly into the warmth of her fingers, as light and soft as the little smile that settles onto his face.]

You lead the way?