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▶ WHO: Keito Hasumi and Eichi Tenshouin
▶ WHAT: Cherry blossoms
▶ WHEN: Sanguis Moon
▶ WHERE: Eichi's apartment
▶ WARNINGS: None yet.

[ After approximately half a year of living here, Keito feels like he's gotten used to the various changes wrought upon him by the moon phases, and letting his guard down is his first mistake.

His enemy today is cherry blossom branches. The tradition isn't as widely appreciated here as it was back home, but he'd still been able to find a few sakura groves. More relevant to this moment, one of those groves had been selling cherry blossom branches, magically preserved to allow them to stay in full bloom longer than usual. In a fit of homesickness, Keito had bought a small bundle for he and Eichi's apartment.

It had been a lovely decoration while it lasted, but the magic is going to run out tomorrow and Keito wants it out of the house before it has a chance to shed petals everywhere. He picks up the vase and moves it into the kitchen to start disassembling the display, but when he sets the vase down the branch doesn't come with it.

It only takes him a moment to realize what's wrong: the branches are stuck on his horns. It's a simple thing to fix, he thinks at first. Then he tugs on the branch and nothing happens. Then he reaches up to try to unwind them from his horns and nothing happens. And then he gives his head an irritated shake and nothing happens - except that a riot of petals is sent cascading to the floor.

He really should call for help, but despite the calming influence of the dragon trait he's really not in the mood to invite embarrassment onto himself this quickly. So he heaves a sigh and keeps tugging instead, and hopes Eichi miraculously decides to stay in the bedroom for the next ten minutes. ]

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Fufu... What an adorable look for you, Keito.

[When was the last time Keito ever got what he hoped for with Eichi involved. Of course he hears stirring, the shuffling of something more than simple cleaning happening, and of course he comes to investigate. Honestly, Eichi is glad to be able to see something like this...

So glad that he'd like to commit it to memory. He intends to help, but first he's going to pull out his device for a quick picture. Say cheese, dragon Keito!]

You're scattering petals all over.

[ No--! Ugh, things never go his way when it comes to Eichi. Keito absolutely does not smile, but he does at least hold still long enough that Eichi should be able to get a decent picture. Trying to stop him would just make this take even longer. ]

If you have time to take pictures, come over here and help me.

[ Honestly! As for the mess he's making, Keito huffs out another sigh. ]

I know. I needed to clean up before taking them out anyway, so I'll sweep once I'm done.

[ And once Eichi is done with his photoshoot. ]

Fufu... So I'm not the only one who creates messes in this apartment after all. Your scolding was incorrect, you see.

[Says Eichi, who one day flooded the bathroom and covered it in ink without cleaning it up OR explaining it. Among various other messes. He absolutely creates more messes and specifically leaves them for Keito.

But anyway, yay! This is going straight on prismagram. For now, though, he pockets his phone and moves closer, reaching up to delicately touch at the branch. Well, as delicately as he can manage... It yanks a little too roughly at first, scattering more petals.]

Are these new, or have you had them before? [He feels a bit bad asking that, considering they live together... But he's been very busy. Very very busy.]

Do you want to start keeping score? I'm sure I'll come out on top.

[ He certainly hasn't forgotten the flooding and ink incident, or the time Eichi tried to figure out the dishwasher, or all the times he's found feathers that he knows tagged along with Eichi from Wataru's place.

And Eichi definitely does yank too hard at first, drawing a startled-but-not-pained his out of Keito before he pulls his head back. ]

Don't yank like that. And they're new.

[ And rather annoying, judging by his aggrieved tone. ]

Or... they're different from usual. Usually they're straighter.

[In response to the score comment, he decides to let it slide without reply... Because he knows he'd lose to that. Hmph. Instead, he focuses on the accusation of yanking, which has him furrowing his eyebrows and trying to move a little more gently. Slower, perhaps?]

It was accidental. If I wanted to yank, it would be much harder.

[So there!!]

I do seem to remember something like that, though... [A pause, and a hum, as he glances at some of the fallen petals in his palm. He nudges Keito back and to the side a little so he can get more counterspace for all of these scattered petals.]

Is there anything else that's new?

[ The fact that Eichi is even thinking about how much harder he might yank is... par for the course for Eichi, actually, so Keito elects to not comment on it further. ]

My hearing is sharper. Not by much, but enough to notice.

[ In fact, he's pretty sure he can pick up on each individual petal rustling against the others if he listens hard enough. Not that there are too many left by the time Eichi nudges him out of the way, but that should just make it easier for Eichi to see the exact part of the branches that's curled around Keito's horns and managed to cause the miss in the first place. ]

It's better than most moons... aside from this.

[ At least it's not ink, right? ]

[There it is. Eichi sees the problem spot and sets a few more petals he's caught aside before reaching to gently wrap his fingers around one of the horns. The other hand works to unwind the branch from around it, his eyes focused on it as he works suspiciously quietly.

Well, he knows he has to speak before too long, at least.]

I see... Ah, but I've just about freed you.

[A pause.] You're not exactly suited for Sanguis, are you?

[ What an odd thing to say. Keito is already quiet while Eichi works, but the comment makes him go still. It's not like he disagrees with it, exactly, but... ]

I wouldn't say I'm particularly suited to any of the moons - nor that most people are.

[ No matter how much he might think that Eichi takes too well to Iris at times, he's not sure he'd really say it 'suits' him. ]

I'm not sure I'd prefer any of the other options, though.

It's not a matter of preferring, is it? I'd argue that you're quite suited for Iris. That kind heart of yours... Though, it seems as though the deeper affects of the moon wouldn't suit you at all, so you may be right.

[It's just that arguing with Keito makes it 100% easier to talk, even when he's thinking about 5 million things at once.]

For a very brief time, I obtained Cordis moonblessings during Iris moon. Thinking back on it, they fell into place the most naturally... So I found it interesting that I ended up here, I suppose.

Wataru's designation is different this time around. Have you noticed?

[ Iris? Keito looks skeptical, though that expression fades slightly as Eichi mentions feeling that he took naturally to Cordis. ]

Mischievous with the capacity of hypnotic dance... that does sound like it suits you.

[ He doesn't sound like he means it as an insult, though. Wataru, though... ]

I have. He was Cordis before, wasn't he? Now he and I are both Sanguis.

That's right. He has these cute pale horns that arch backwards, now, it seems... I had to touch them immediately. Ah, but he doesn't recall a time before that at all, you know? Similar to yourself.

[Speaking of horns, he frees the last bit of branch from Keito's horns now, smiling as he pulls it down in front of him. Ta-dah!]

Oh, I managed to separate the last of it.

[Brushing past everything else he'd just said, he sets the branch aside with all the petals, then reaches up to properly touch Keito's horns, now. He wants to feel the difference properly!!]

They're so solid compared to ears, so I wonder what it must be like...

[ He doesn't remember, huh...? Keito is glad for Wataru's sake - that other city sounds horrible - but he feels for Eichi's dilemma. It's odd enough for him for Wataru to not remember his time in Prismatica, so he can only imagine the sort of stress it puts Eichi under.

Keito breaths out a thanks when Eichi finally frees his horns, and he's feeling grateful enough that he even tips his head slightly so that Eichi has an easier time petting his horns. ]

Ears don't risk chipping the tile if you lean back too far in the bath. I prefer them to these.

[ What a shock there, right? But that's not really what Keito wants to talk about. ]

Are you going to tell him?

...I've told him that I've been here for some time, and indirectly, I believe he understands that he was here once before. But I'm not sure that I should tell him about the details of what I've been through...

[His fingers trail down from the horns to Keito's head, resting in his hair, unmoving now.]

Something has been bothering me, as well. Wataru was here before... but most of the details of him are faded at the edges of my mind. I can hardly remember anything detailed...

[It troubles him a lot, if the slight shake in his voice before he stabilizes himself says anything. His hands drop away, finally.]

It's not the first thing I've been unable to recall, and I wonder how many more have vanished from my mind completely, just like your own knowledge of the past.

[ So even recent memories will fade...? And selectively too, it seems. Even without considering Keito's natural inclination towards worrying, that information sparks more than a little concern in him. Suddenly, he's not thinking about Wataru at all.

He's also not thinking about his actions, which has him tipping his head slightly into Eichi's touch as he contemplates the situation. ]

I wonder... Do you remember Aoba being here before?

[ It's not a happy subject, but it's the closest comparison Keito can come up with. ]

[With Keito dropping his head into him like that, he can't just stop. So he strokes his fingers through his hair, around his horns, quietly contemplating that question.]

I do. He was here before you were, and there was that trip into the woods... He also didn't recall that other planet.

[He gets quiet for a few moments.]

Do you remember him?

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