desires fulfilled.

eiji pouts at the smirk and the comment, but still laughs slightly as he makes his way through the mirror maze. some of the mirrors seem like the trick ones that make you look different - one makes eiji look very tall, and he looks at it for a while.

“hey ankh! do you think i’d be taller than you if i wore your boots?”

as if to test it, he stands up on his tip-toes. 

“how do you walk like this…?” there’s an attempt to walk backwards and show ankh, but it ends about as predictably as one might think.

with eiji stumbling and falling right into ankh. 

  “ We’re the same height, so no. ”

  A bold-faced lie considering it’s apparent that the heels are why they’re matching heights, but Ankh isn’t about to admit anything. He watches Eiji move about, one eyebrow up as he watches the other man make a one-man circus out of himself.

  It’s entertaining until he falls, at least.

“ um… “

“ it’s a bit overrated, i think. i’m not the… “

“ ... most outgoing. “ as oscar tents his fingers together and contemplates the option of getting up and bolting off, for some reason, the thought of staying persists so strongly that he continues to remain, stopping the fanciful kicking of his legs as he tries to appear a bit more like his age. staying put? perhaps it’s growth on his part, being able to hold his ground against a clearly hostile adult, but, at the same time… maybe he just got comfortable and never wanted to get up. 

still, that brings up the mortifying ordeal of having to hold a conversation, one that oscar isn’t quite sure he’s prepared for given the fact that he doesn’t want to harp about how kids are supposed to act when he hasn’t seen one in quite some time. hm.

“ … there’s a good ice cream shop down at the boardwalk in the golden ward. “ the sight of it almost makes him want to shiver, but he keeps the reaction to himself. “ they custom make popsicles too… but i haven’t been for a few months now. “ for obvious reasons.

  “ Clearly. ”

  An extra look at this kid past the basic impression of his age easily shows that he isn’t exactly talkative. Ankh idly eats his popsicle in the silence between Oscar and himself, keeping his eyes out on the landscape past the cliff’s edge. He’s certain that this would all be better if the temperature was hotter (his own fire keeps him warm enough, but Ankh’s always preferred heat over the cold). He grimaces when he reaches the stick, the remnants of flavor clinging to it fading fast.

  He turns a bit to face Oscar when the topic catches his attention, popsicle stick idly hanging from his fingers. Ankh has taken to only one location since he’s arrived to get the sweet, so to hear of others he hasn’t discovered is enough to interest him. “ Custom... ” he mumbles. 

  Curiosity is a tough feeling to get past when it comes to easy ways to resolve it even at the cost of some pride. Ankh climbs to his feet and looks down towards Oscar, snapping the stick in half and putting it in his pocket.

eiji lets go.

there’s something in ankh’s eyes as he pulls away, and eiji looks lost for just a moment. scared.

“ankh…” and eiji attempts to look at him, but there’s something about seeing that flash of violet that terrifies him. he could handle it just being himself. but ankh shouldn’t have to deal with that.

( but he has. he had to deal with it when eiji lost himself and almost killed him. he had to deal with it before then, when an axe lodged it’s way into ankh’s hand. )

( eiji can’t reach him - could never reach him with those hands, and he can’t reach him now. )

“…talk to me, ankh. you’re going to lose yourself.”

eiji’s so drained now, and every word feels useless. but he has to try to reach out one more time. again and again. until he can’t move his arm anymore.

  “ I won’t, ” Ankh answers, though the fire in the response has mostly been snuffed out this time. He drops his head, burying his face in his hands and dragging them down his face.

  He doesn’t want to talk. The entire time when he let Eiji get his feelings out allowed him to escape from a conversation he never wants to have. Hands stuff themselves into his pockets and he brushes against the OOO driver, the medals--

  ... The medals. Ankh quietly pulls his hand out to stare at what Eiji has in his possession, and...

  Ankh jumps to his feet fast, holding his three cores close to chest. Hawk, Peacock, Condor... he can use these, in a situation that besides the obvious distaste with it, can be made better. He looks back at Eiji, edge of his lips quirking into an almost smile before he moves for the front door.

@aviancored​

From a fair distance away, Waka stared and stared at the man before him. He wasn’t sure what about him was so…interesting. Perhaps it was the strange clothes he wore - he wondered what he would look like in garments like those. Perhaps it was the hairstyle - would Waka look good with his hair cut like that? He didn’t know, he could certainly try it…his hair grew fast enough that he wouldn’t regret it if he did cut it.

Perhaps he was just interested about these cultures and traditions of the ‘modern’ people of this city. He could tell they were far more advanced that his Feudal Nippon had been - was. He was curious, so sue him. He stares and stares…unaware, or perhaps uncaring, that a person could very easily be bothered by this.

  Ankh is, in fact, incredibly bothered by the stare he feels leveled at him. He clenches this phone a bit tighter from his spot, ice cream hanging idly in his hand as he spares Waka a short look. What’s he supposed to do about this guy? The staring is strange, especially since Ankh is certain he hasn’t done anything to provoke it.

  A roll of the eyes and he kicks a leg over the side of the bench, idly tossing the stick of his ice cream into the nearest garbage can. He makes his approach, looking down his nose towards Waka before stopping a few feet from him.

eiji shakes his head, even at ankh’s hiss, even at seeing his face frown in a way he’s absolutely not okay with. he just presses tighter, the talons beginning to dig into ankh’s cheeks.

or his. it’s worrying him how quickly he’s getting detached from his own body.

“it is a big deal!” eiji almost hisses the words out, and he has to pause for a second to choke any extra anger back. take a deep breath.

it’s not the same anger that he’s used to. it doesn’t feel like his own.

eiji shakes his head, before continuing.

“the medals, ankh.” now that the anger’s under control, it gives way to fear. “you could - you’ll go out of control.”

it’s not an if. it’s a when.

  Ankh catches that and gives the best scowl he can manage in this body. The talons jabbing his skin isn’t a pleasant feeling and all it does is light a more aggressive fire in his chest.

  He squeezes Eiji’s wrist harder and puts more force into pushing back.

  “ Like hell I will! ” he answers, other hand reaching out to grab onto Eiji’s (his, it’s his face, dammit) cheeks and press his nails in.

  Ankh takes note of the purple encroaching his vision, that familiar feeling of senses ebbing away and he thinks--

  ( Why the hell won’t you believe in me?! )

  There’s an audible gasp and he pulls back, head bowed so his hair at least somewhat covers his face. Ankh blinks, sight back to normal and hands gripping hard to his pants.

  He doesn’t need anyone to believe in him; that’s not validation he cares for because if anyone knows him it’s himself, and...

  And...

“h-hopefully.”

he actually stumbles at that. his - ankh’s voice catches, and it sounds so wrong that eiji almost doesn’t want to speak again.

he wants to fall asleep, but if ankh would leave…

eiji shakes his head instead, cracking his eyes open.

“i’m just…tired,” he says instead, grabbing at his shirt. “it’s weird, like all the stress just…left for a moment -”

wait.

wait.

eiji’s eyes snap open, and he jolts back upright. his hand is wrenched out of ankh’s, and without even thinking about it, he’s grabbing ankh’s face.

it’d be funny if it wasn’t for the panic in his voice.

“are you alright?”

  He feels himself grimace when Eiji talks, the tonal dissonance between his own appearance and the way Eiji speaks like an itch in the back of his throat.

  Whatever. It’s the least bothersome part of all this, really.

  Ankh’s ready to speak up when a hand grips his face, a familiar gesture that he does not much appreciate being on the opposite end of. He scowls at Eiji, grabbing onto his arm and trying to force it from his cheeks.

  “ I’m fine, ” he answers in a hiss. “ It’s not the first time that I’ve... ”

  He quiets, remembering those spite-filled moments when Maki’s mansion was raided and huffs. 

the feeling of a hand in his helps eiji calm down a little, even if it’s the feeling of eiji’s hand in ankh’s. 

“sorry,” he mumbles, even if he doesn’t entirely mean it. eiji doesn’t like having a greeed hand like this. why won’t it change back?!

“are we just stuck like this?” he holds ankh’s - his - hand a little tighter. if he pretends like that’s his own hand, it makes eiji feel just a little less sick.

eiji lays back against the couch, closing his eyes. all at once, he feels exhausted.

  “ ... Dunno. Hopefully it’s temporary, ” Ankh mumbles in response, glancing down towards their joined hands. His attention turns to look at his own face, a flare of anger in his chest at the sight.

  ( He hates this. Ankh takes a breath. )

  “ If you’re going to fall asleep, I’m leaving, ” he comments. It’s nothing against Eiji (not entirely), but the situation is so strange that he can’t stay without a distraction. Ankh’s foot is already tapping against the floor, a steady pace as to not alert Eiji to the underlying stress in the situation.

eiji’s eyes snap to his body’s, and he feels a wave of relief. ankh’s okay. that’s ankh in his body.

( a memory crashes over him, seeing ankh pretend to be him. but without his arm, it isn’t right, and the memory leaves a sour aftertaste. )

“yeah. eiji. we got…switched, i guess…”

eiji takes a step back, then another, before he’s sitting on the couch. alright. alright.

he runs a hand through his hair, but it’s still the wrong hand, because he can’t get it to switch back. and ankh’s hair isn’t the same, either, and the talons get curls tangled in them until eiji just sharply pulls his hand out.

“what the hell…?”

  He can’t find another comment to say, so he silently follows Eiji back into the townhouse. Ankh perches on the arm, not facing Eiji and idly staring at the ground. His hands itch for something to hang on to, to ensure this is something that’s happening and they can figure out.

  Ankh slides down onto the couch and sets his hand on Eiji’s. How strange, to feel the texture of his own arm and it’s not his own. 

  “ Oi... don’t rip out my hair, ” he grumbles, several seconds late to point it out. His hand wraps around some of Eiji’s fingers in particular, not tight enough to hurt but enough to give some sort of feeling, perhaps.

  Silence. He pulls one ankle to sit on his knee.

eiji’s silent, staring at his own face. there’s a lot he could pay attention to, here, but this whole scenario feels like something out of a strange dream. everything feels too fast, and eiji can’t quite catch up.

he’s silent, until he watches his body move. slowly, carefully, eiji looks at his own right arm.

( change back change back change back change back not again change back )

the fear of seeing a greeed arm cuts through the haze, and eiji bites his own - his new body’s lip.

but it’s not eiji’s arm, so the fear dies down, even if it’s still simmering. eiji feels more sick being able to move the arm.

“ankh…?”

  Ankh sees his own arm on an impostor’s body and he can feel himself begin to seethe. This person isn’t him; they’re wearing his face, stole his hand-- it’s like all those days a year ago when fear was palpable in his chest.

  ( Never again. He won’t be afraid of that.

  A tint of purple comes over his vision before he snaps from it at the sound of his name. )

  His heart calms, Ankh blinking and pulling himself back into proper standing position. He makes eye contact with the other, shoving his hands deep into his pockets and brushing his fingers against the OOO driver.

huh. that’s his voice.

that’s a little weird.

“i’m coming, i’m coming. give me…just a second…”

it takes a little more than a second for eiji to stand up from where he’s currently collapsed on the floor. huh. he hadn’t noticed that he was on the floor.

the whole situation is…taking its time to get to him. his voice isn’t right, his vision isn’t right, everything is almost right but yet isn’t at all. eiji’s just a little shaky, stumbling in his walk even though it’s a short distance.

but slowly, he pulls open the door, and is face-to-face with…

himself.

“oh.”

  This result shouldn’t surprise him, yet his words turn to ash on his tongue anyways.

  How strange, to look at himself and not have it be in front of a mirror or the surface of the water. Ankh catches his breath and nearly falls into the door when he moves forward, the phoenix fire that drove him to Eiji draining with most of his thoughts.

  “ What the fuck? ”

  A click of the tongue, not looking at Eiji as he shakes his right arm. 

  Nothing. There’s nothing that happens and his arm slowly falls back to his side.

  “ OI, EIJI! OPEN THE DOOR! ”

  Ankh nearly chokes on the fact his voice is, in fact, not his own. He feels entirely too strange, what with the bagginess of the clothing he’s used to seeing hang off Eiji’s frame, the way he grips it and tugs like it’ll help.

  ( Seriously, what the hell...? )

  After a few seconds of silence, Ankh’s next plan comes to the forefront: slamming the bottom of his foot against the door as hard as he can.

“oi, ankh…!!”

he’s scrambling to get up after collapsing, but eiji pouts. it’s not like he can stay mad, especially when he’s more embarrassed than anything, but there’s still an attempt made.

“you would have done the same thing, i bet!” now that’s just speculation, but eiji sticks his tongue out anyway. take that.

a lot more slowly this time, eiji makes his way into the mirror maze. will they get lost? it’s more likely than not, but eiji’s optimistic.

“don’t break anything, ankh! breaking mirrors is supposed to be bad luck!”

mostly optimistic.

  “ HahI I doubt it, ” he says curtly, only tossing a brief look to Eiji with a smirk curving his lips. Ankh lets Eiji pass him at first, following behind him and keeping one hand on the walls to help keep his balance.

  He catches his reflection every now and then when he pays enough mind to it, pausing to stare before continuing on. It’s strange that he has no choice in his appearance this time. Would Hina commit on the fact he still has her brother’s face?

  ( Guess he’ll have to see if she comes here for that answer. )

too late.

eiji’s already got a grin on his face as he watches ankh, and he’s barely able to stifle a laugh.

“i’m not, i’m not…!” the denial is absolutely useless, but eiji still tries to turn away from ankh.  “besides, you laughed at me already, so i’m allowed…!!”

eiji gives up trying, and laughs as he starts running towards the mirror maze. he’s absolutely going to slip, only using a hand against the wall to steady himself.

“it’s fun, though!”

that is, until he slams into the first wall of the mirror maze. looks like it wasn’t too far of a run.

  Ankh’s face scrunches up at the clear inability for Eiji to even fake like he didn’t find it all hilarious. If not for the man leaving on his own, Ankh may have shoved him and sent him sprawling across the ice.

  Doesn’t much look like he needs help looking like a mess, however. Eiji smacks the wall and Ankh is so in awe of the feat of dumbassery that a laugh works its way out of his throat. It shouldn’t be as funny as it is, but here he is, arm crossed over his stomach and only half-muffled laughs escaping.

“you only say that because it’s the first food you had!” one day. one day eiji will find something that ankh likes as much as ice cream.

maybe. probably?

but even with his protests against the not-ice cream, eiji can tell ankh’s interested. it’s a success already!

the ice palace is….huge, actually. eiji’s awed from the moment they step in, and it takes every bit of self control he has not to run all over.

somehow, the floor isn’t too slippery. eiji’s grateful for that.

“mirror maze it is, then!”

eiji walks over to one of the doorways from the entrance - and only slides on the ice a little bit, thank you.

  “ Quit complaining! Do you want me to eat something that’s more expensive?! ” he answers, though the anger only has a bit of bite to it. Ankh’s heard the complaint enough at this point, so it’s only worth a snappy response every now and then.

  He watches Eiji move about, staring at the floor briefly and clicking his tongue. The type of shoe he’s been fond of since borrowing Shingo’s body likely isn’t the greatest for keeping steady footing in this palace.

  Ankh does nothing to repress the laugh when Eiji slides, waiting until the door is open to actively make his move. When he does, it’s... less than graceful in the way he nearly falls on his face at least twice before he makes it to the doorway and grabs it.