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[mrblueeyes]

ACTION ✗ TEXT ✗ VIDEO ✗ AUDIO ✗ HOLOGRAM ✗ DATAVERSE

@

infinity

✖

CHARACTER NAME

Gojo Satoru

CIVILIAN NAME

Yuichi Nakamura

TEAM

Everlight

HOUSING NUMBER

003

❤

Comments

@kon, text.

[shadowban]

sensei. open the door.

[ look, he's not going to be sweet and gentle about this. be glad he's not hammering the door. ]

[mrblueeyes]

[ Perplexed and sleepy, but here he is! Gojo opens the door and leans in the doorframe, lifting a brow at Megumi. He hasn't bothered to put on his blindfold, so his sleepy amusement is very visible in his glittering eyes. ]

[shadowban]

[ have one (1) fushiguro megumi barging right in, smashing his face squarely into gojo satoru's shirt-covered chest and hugging him. ]

You asshole.

i still owe tags but i wanna be annoying

[shadowban]

do you like horses?

[mrblueeyes]

why does this feel like a trap

they're fine i guess?
sentiment middling to slightly negative

[shadowban]

because it is, conversationally.

i had thought so too, that horses are just okay and nothing special, but apparently they're "the shit".

do you have a favorite animal?

delivery.

[gorb]

( It is without fanfare that the curses start popping up. At least a couple of times a week from here on out Geto's creatures will come with Tupperware and refuse to leave until their burden is lifted. Often the meals inside will be fairly simple, but hearty. Anyone from his world ( with the exception of Fushiguro Toji 🖕🏻) and, surprisingly, Raidou and Shoto will receive them. The very first time there's a note, it simply says 'give the boxes back the next time' with a terribly squiggly drawing of rainbow dragon scowling in warning. Any others it is just the food.

Also he won't talk about it. Don't acknowledge it. Sincerity makes him itchy. )

[mrblueeyes]

[ Satoru has some questions. Why the food delivery, why didn't Suguru bring it himself, why aren't they eating together? What's this 'next time' to return the food?

So he just accepts the food and then immediately goes in search of his boyfriend. Eating out of the container, he finds Suguru fairly promptly, engaged in cleanup of this whole cooking project. ] Wait, how much did you cook? What is this, remote dinner party?

[gorb]

( The noise he makes is barely more than a grunt, turning with his hands deep in soapy water to give Satoru a grumpy little look. )

What part of Curse Delivery Service did you think meant come and ask me questions? ( It's fine, he's fine. There are leftovers cooling at the side but the kitchens are blissfully empty. ) Enough to feed seven teenage boys, one curse, and you?

( He blows a breath, tries to get his hair out of his face. )

Someone has to. I'm concerned you all have scurvy.

( Says the guy who mostly eats ramen cups in his bedroom but that's different. He has crippling depression. )

@kon, text | dec. 6th

[shadowban]

sensei. do you have plans tomorrow?

[mrblueeyes]

yes, hiding

[shadowban]

too bad, i don't care. you're coming with me, yuta-senpai, and yuji. geto-san can come if you'd like him to.

delivery.

[gorb]

( Listen, it goes without saying that he'll see Satoru sooner rather than later, they spend enough time together. But much like the food delivery, having his curses drop things off gives him a little space between the big swelling emotions and having to feel it. He also has some complicated thoughts about birthdays these days, but his friend does not remember the last one, and so it would not be fair to mention it.

He can still feel the panic beneath his ribs, knowing that Gojo Satoru had died.

... Would die, now.

So, the gift is dropped off in the wee hours. It's wrapped prettily, clearly some effort went into it. It is a bag with tissue paper, light blue to match a certain someone's eyes, because he is obvious in these things. Inside there is a box of fancy mochi as well as a bag of different sweets in a riot of colour. There is also a sweater, soft and in heather grey, because while he used to struggle with knowing what to buy the man now he is here without the luxury of the Gojo fortune and there is room to manoeuvre. He thinks it's something Satoru would wear, and the season is turning cooler. There are a scarf and gloves too. Pale blue. There's also a palm sized cinnamoroll plushie. It looks like him, and there is still something of a trinket boy living inside of the adult version of Suguru now. He likes these things, likes giving them too.

The card is simple. Inside it simply says I hope this one is kind to you. Come find me later. He thinks about writing more, but leaving it out in the open stops him. )

@kon, text; dec. 7th

[shadowban]

[ december 7th, 6.00am to the very second, and megumi's texting gojo-sensei with an ominous message; ]

let's meet up for lunch after the cleanup mission in tokyo later. don't skip. ୧(๑•̀ᗝ•́)૭

forward dated ( 23rd. )

[gorb]

( He texts Satoru sometime in the afternoon, a location, a room number. It's a simple enough request, his company. Suguru imagines he might understand the need for it. Because they've both been quieter the last few days and while a part of him wants to hide away entirely he's aware it would not be fair. The other man will be hurting. And he's done a lot of cruel things to Satoru in the past, but he's not about to let that continue.

So the room. A suite really. Low-key, not all that fancy. A little traditional though, nice enough. A half-empty motel and a kitchen he's stocked himself. He's making tea when he feels Satoru appear at the other side of the door, calling out loud enough he's heard. ) It's open. Lock it after you.

( A pot, two mugs, steady hands. He carries them to the kotatsu, finally looking up. )

Hi. ( Nerves hit him, he pauses, straightens. ) It's not much, but I thought maybe we could both get off base for a little while. How does oyakodon sound for dinner?

[mrblueeyes]

[ Satoru's been getting quieter over the past few days. His usual mask of high-energy cheer is thin and strained during Megumi's birthday, but he makes sure to be there and to keep his attention fully on Megumi and his ward's needs, mostly avoiding Suguru unless he needs a few moments of grounding. If he lets himself go to Suguru, he's going to struggle to focus on anything else, so he keeps his distance and tries to make his not-quite-son happy.

When Satoru can't find his boyfriend on the 23rd, he almost panics. There's a traumatized part of his brain that is always reliving those last few moments of that Christmas Eve. Previously it had been that moment on the sidewalk in Shinjuku that his brain would play on repeat, but that's receded in the past year. There's something worse in its place, now.

(Occasionally he thinks about what he's been told, that his enemies exploited his weakness by puppeting Suguru's body. He's grateful to not have those images in his mind, whatever they might be.)

He knows from the location trackers in their implants that Suguru's somewhere off-base, outside of Tokyo. It's the only thing that keeps Satoru from stalking him down. If Suguru was self-destructive he'd be likely to pursue options within Tokyo. Being outside of the city suggests a project or a mission. Satoru's willing to leave him to it. Suguru's always been secretive, and even though he tolerated Satoru within his defenses and snooping into every angle of his life, he was still intensely private and reserved. It was an odd balance that they had, in that. Satoru had never needed Suguru's secrets. He'd constantly invited himself into Suguru's space and would poke his head into whatever Suguru was doing, but he never felt that he needed to know the things that Suguru kept locked in his heart, or the things that Suguru would do when they were apart.

If Suguru's off doing Something Else, Satoru's only interest in it is to know whether he can come along or when Suguru will be back.

He paces. He fidgets. He sends stupid text messages.

suguru
are you busy
suguru
when will you be free

He sends a series of photos documenting the progress of a snail in the greenhouse making its way along a leaf, evidence of how he's coping with his own worry and stress by hyperfixating on this bit of nature.

When he gets Suguru's text, it's not what he expects. An invitation. He goes at once, delayed by having to rely upon more ordinary transportation options because the location is nowhere he's been before.

He's guarded as he enters--not against Suguru, but with the careful withdrawing that Satoru does when he's hurting. Face concealed by his blindfold, expression blank, posture casual in the way he uses as a facade.

The scene before him is unexpected. It takes Satoru a moment to process what this is, what Suguru's done for him. He's paused on the threshold, one hand still on the doorknob, lips parted as he watches Suguru set down the tea and gush out a nervous string of words.

Then he shuts the door and slips off his shoes. He tugs his blindfold down to drape around his neck, and crosses the room in two strides. Cupping Suguru's face in his hands, Satoru answers him with a kiss. ]

[gorb]

( He makes a noise when he is kissed, a singular relieved exhale that gets muffled between their lips. His hands come up of their own accord, flatten against a spine, holding the other man close for a moment before his fingers bunch in the fabric of his jacket, far more desperate than he'd been a second ago. It ripples through him, a strange kind of panic he can't quash. Maybe Satoru feels it too.

Maybe Suguru should have told him. )

Sorry. ( Eyes closed, forehead to forehead, the words a half whisper. ) I wasn't sure if this was the right choice, so I didn't tell you in advance. ( He is the kind of wounded animal that likes to slink off and tend to his hurt out of sight, he hadn't been quite certain he'd be brave enough to send the message. But he's here. They're both here. Suguru opens his eyes, starts peeling off the other man's jacket. ) Give that to me. Sit down. Drink your tea. It doesn't matter which one, I haven't spiked mine.

( Yet.

His sobriety might not last, but they're grown ups. He's brought everything he thinks they might need, and that includes something to drown his sorrows later. The walls have been inched down, they haven't vanished completely. He's still taking Satoru's coat. )

I packed some of your clothes. Do you want to change?

gift exchange (25th)

[mrblueeyes]

[ Since he hadn't realized what he was being summoned to here, Satoru hadn't brought along the Christmas presents he had for Suguru. Plus, he has other Christmas gifts to deliver. So he kisses Suguru in the morning and explains that he's going to teleport back and do some quick gift deliveries. Everything's all ready in his room, something he actually planned in advance in this case, even though he didn't realize he'd be away. He promises that it'll be no more than fifteen or twenty minutes, and asks for hot cocoa when he returns (partly because he wants to give Suguru to focus on other than being alone and waiting, and partly because hot cocoa sounds great).

As he pops back into the room, Satoru sets a huge and obnoxiously festive gift bag on the kotatsu.

Though he skipped most of the travel opportunities offered up to the Outsiders, Satoru was interested in the fight rings of Vegas. While he was there, he took the opportunity to collect a variety of all the most bizarre American snacks he could find. There's a jar of red pepper jam (Satoru thinks this sounds like a horrible crime against jam, so he's pretty sure Suguru will like it), cactus chips ('cool ranch' flavored), pork 'rinds' (made from pork skin? bizarre), dried mango covered in hot pepper powder (what did the mango do to deserve this??), two bags of salt water taffy labeled Chew-bal-ca (balsalmic-berry-chocolate) and Suspicious Licorices (black licorice) (every little gift shop seemed to have their own taffy and Satoru doesn't know why. his intent was to give Suguru the worst flavor he could find, but the flavor decisions of American small gift shop taffy-makers are truly a mystery: the worst flavor he could find was Dill Pickle. he gave a bag to Toji.), chocolate covered coffee beans (these actually seem relatively civilized, though still inedible by Satoru's standards), elk jerky (he thought elk were endangered, maybe??), and rattlesnake jerky (Satoru still isn't sure whether this is real or just a joke played on tourists, but he refuses to try it).

Amidst the riot of snacks is a carved wooden coyote with a little cloth handkerchief tied around its neck, and a keychain of a rabbit with antlers.

At the very bottom is a black velvet box a little wider than Suguru's palm. It's the one thing Satoru didn't get in Vegas. Inside is a beautifully carved hair stick of real jade. He'd been looking for a hair ornament, but he'd intended to get a nice quality plastic false jade. Instead, he'd found this beauty, and spent nearly every remaining credit he had on it. ]

delivery. christmas.

[eyescar]

[ Yuji might still be reeling from the whiplash of zero to one hundred with Gojo, but his joy and excitement at having his teacher back with him is obvious with the gifts he leaves on his doorstep. When opening the box, Gojo will find the following presents:

› Candy and chocolates. So much of it. For anyone else, it would be a sickening amount.
› One fancy, expensive scarf, which he might realise a little later matches someone else's...
› A gift card to the onsen just outside of Neo Tokyo, where the feral cat colony lives, and one of Yuji's favourite places to go.
› Lots and lots of photos of Gojo with various people in Neo Tokyo - things he won't remember, but... With Kugisaki, Maki, Yuta, Megumi, Choso, and Yuji himself, of course.
› A super cool leather jacket.

With it comes a note: Thank you for everything, sensei. ]

[mrblueeyes]

[ It's all lavishly generous. Their circumstances are different here, where Gojo's no longer wealthy, but it's still four times the gift that he'd ever expect to receive from a student. Gojo's sense of how much anything costs remains a little bit blurry, but he can certainly identify leather jacket = expensive. Quality scarf = expensive. Gift card to onsen = probably expensive.

He feels like he's missing something with Yuji. He understands that Yuji had been iced out by the previous Gojo here, understands too (from everyone's reactions) that he's almost certainly dead back home. Gojo's provided assurances and hugs. He knows that there's a certain amount of Yuji's tension that will only start to ease with time, with the faith that Gojo is here to stay and that his heart will remain open to his students.

But he still feels like there's an element of it that he's missing, or something Yuji needs which Gojo hasn't provided. He's aware that not all problems can be fixed and trauma like Yuji's will take decades to even begin to heal. But he still wants to find a way to be there for his student in a way that soothes a little more of that hurt in Yuji. With Megumi, it's been easy to understand what he needs. With Yuta, he doesn't feel like there's that same hungry need. With Yuji, he's missing something.

Gojo and Geto get back midday on the 26th, but Gojo remains somewhat antisocial, putting up just a minimum of interactions with regards to gift exchanges. He sends Yuji a text: shopping? saturday?

On the 27th, around 11, he turns up at Yuji's door, tapping his knuckles against it and leaning on the frame. He's wearing the jacket, and the scarf, and his usual blindfold is back. He looks very cool and fashionable, and a little more comfortably himself in that jacket. ] What do you think, shopping, lunch, shopping, movie? In no particular order. You're choosing the locations. And the movie.

delivery on 25 Dec

[tokakujuho]

[ Left at Gojo's door: a small bag containing a tamagotchi that closely resembles the ones they all used to own in school. ]

[mrblueeyes]

[ Gojo and Geto are off in their own private grief bubble over the holiday itself, so it's late on the 26th when Gojo turns up at Nanami's door, leaning against the frame and idly spinning the little tamagotchi around his finger. He's just wearing his glasses, not the blindfold, so he tips them down to look at Nanami over the rims. ]

So does this mean we're back on speaking terms?

delivery ( the 25th )

[photosympathies]

( Christmas is all about a jolly man in a red coat, right? So catch this one prancing past on his way to deliver gifts. Each person Vash knows and cares about gets a gift bag delivered to their door sometime Christmas day. Included in it is a three pack of festive donuts, because obviously, and as much candy as he can fit inside.

Gojo gets several second hand romance books as well as a carved wooden bookmark that seems to be decorated with a cherry blossom branch. )

Gojo,

Merry Christmas. I hope these are the kind you like.

From, Vash

christmas delivery

[copy]

[ Whenever Geto and Gojo return from their trip, Yuta's little black phoebe bird drone comes to Gojo's doorstep to drop off a bundle of gifts, all of them neatly wrapped. Unwrapping them will reveal:

— An old-fashioned (for the time they're in now) polaroid camera in light blue
— A photo album, blank save for one already inserted photo
— A topped up gift pass for the VR Arcade at LILICO Game Centre
— A box of beautiful winter-themed wagashi confectionery

There's a signed note saying 'Merry Christmas! I hope you get to make many more new good memories here.' with a little wonky doodle of Panda giving a thumbs up. ]

text; un: infinity

[mrblueeyes]

you wanna join me at this arcade? show me how it's done?