やばい!

Marlin laughed again, brighter than he had around Ibuki in quite some time. He felt so keen on relaxing here now - like there was no pressure to be tough around his employees or understated around anyone else. The only question was how Ibuki turned Marlin’s flirtations around to be something very un-flirtatious.

Did it displease him? Had he changed his mind?

“It’s fantastic. You should be proud. At this rate I’ll be coming over every night for dinner.” He took another bite, taking his time to chew as he watched Ibuki. Perhaps he’d ask later, then, and let them be as they were right now - relaxed, with no expectations.

“How is your farm doing? Are you nearly ready for summer, do you think?”

He hadn’t changed his mind, it seemed, though it really only showed through his lingering glances and rosy smiles. Even when interested in someone, Ibuki’s eternally the kind of person to poke fun.

...Partially because he’s pretty shitty at flirting.

“I mean, I won’t stop you. It’s not like I have people comin’ over here anyways, you know? I’ll just have less leftovers if you do.”

Ibuki seems to eat with impressive speed, chattering happily between chews. His manners are pretty atrocious despite his family’s status, and there’s a grain of rice stuck to his cheek as he swallows, perking up noticeably at the mention of his farm.

Hearing that the other male didn’t work at the hot springs he became embarrassed. “Oh, sorry. I just thought, please excuse my error.”

That was a mess, to be frank. Then again their whole meeting was a mess. Shouting and misunderstandings was the main issue of their interaction. Even though the shouting wasn’t meant for the other. What could they say to save the situation? It seemed as though their wish had been heard, since the other male started speaking. Intrigued he turned to face them, indicating that they were paying attention. “I suppose that can be true, but can I ask you something? You don’t have to answer, if you don’t want to. What is a onsen? I never heard of it before.” Onsen was the only thing he didn’t understand, and could only assume it was a building of some sort. Chuckling at their comment of muscle pains he added, “I can see why many people come here.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s honestly no big deal.”

Ibuki doesn’t look really fazed by the following question, or even the awkward nature of their meeting. Instead he just pushes a lock of blonde hair from his eyes and thinks things over for a moment before speaking. Even these days he has difficulty wording things sometimes.

The other male seemed really embarrassed and it calmed Kiel down in the sense that the other male wasn’t angry at him or anything. The apology further proved that the other male didn’t mean him specifically. Ah, he was complaining. I just walked in the wrong moment. “No worries, I understand.”

Making his way towards the other male he entered the hot water near them. Not too close, since it would be an evasion of privacy. There was also the fact that they didn’t know each other. Relaxing the whole experience was, and he sighed in happiness. No wonder why so many people came here. Remembering about the other male, he glanced towards them. “You know this is my first time here. I didn’t know why so many people came here, but now I understand why. Do you usually stop by here?”

“Well...I don’t, actually. I don’t even work here...”

Still stacking things and putting them away, though, it looks like...Ibuki’s a bit of an odd duck, but he can mostly blame this particular incident on his upbringing.

“I grew up in an onsen my family ran...So I kinda start going on autopilot to clean, I guess. I thought it would be different since I moved really far away and have a new job, but I guess...you can take the man out of the hot spring, but you can’t take the hot spring out of the man, right?”

Laughing awkwardly, the blonde finished stacking things to his satisfaction at the level of neatness, Ibuki finally decided to get in. Might as well, at this rate.

Well, he couldn’t not flip the switch, then. Marlin did as requested, then sat down, setting the wine out for both of them.

“It’s because of me,” he drawled in response to the hotness comment. He looked at the fork, glanced up, held Ibuki’s eyes for a long moment, as if asking who do you think I am, and then picked up the chopsticks. They fit naturally in his hands.

Still, he hadn’t gotten the original comment off his mind, and he breathed a quiet laugh, surprisingly at ease and relaxed, even as he plucked up one of the morsels waiting for him. “Is that all it takes? I ask you to take your shirt off, and off it goes? Somehow I thought there were a few more hoops I’d have to jump through.” He glanced up with a small smirk, a warmth in his gaze, as he took a bite, and then he looked back down in surprise. “Oh, that’s sinful. Too good for someone like me.”

Apparently not, since he immediately went for more.

“Oh, how could I have forgotten? The room gets about ten degrees warmer in here when you’re over because I’m closer to hell.”

Sticking his tongue out, and laughing a little at his reaction to the fork, Ibuki leisurely started nursing his cup. His blue eyes were bright with mirth today, but there was no mischievous intent like usual.

“Well, depends. I mean, I can take my shirt off and have it not be sexy shirt off, you know? Just normal shirt off, like when it’s hot out.”

What a stupid man he was. “I can’t even get your shirt off around me, but you’ll die half-naked surrounded by cows? Shit.” Marlin teased and shook his head as he continued his way through the cabinets. “Lucky, lucky cows.”

He shot him a smirk at the coffee mugs comment. And, just for that statement, Marlin pulled down two coffee mugs that he found, setting them on the counter just hard enough for them to clink and tell Ibuki what he was up to. He opened the wine and splashed the two mugs full, then carried them to the kotatsu.

“Are we eating here?”

“To be fair, you haven’t asked me to take it off. And I think the cows would be sad, actually.”

Arranging the now finished katsudon over the rice, Ibuki gave him a small nod.

“If you flip the switch, it’ll be nice and warm. Dinner’s done, by the way! I used to make this for my brothers sometimes.”

Setting the bowls down, Ibuki was all smiles. He really did enjoy getting to cook for other people, since he had so few people to talk to since his big move. Making one last trip to grab some chopsticks (and a courtesy fork for Marlin along with his pair, since he wasn’t sure if he used them), Ibuki finally set down with a soft thump on a pillow.

Agate: Do you prefer a stable relationship, or multiple flings?

Amber: Do you plan on having children some day?

Bloodstone: Who is someone you would risk your life for?

Diamond: Out of the people you know personally, who would you be most willing to marry? If you’re already married, who else would you marry?

Emerald: Out of the people you know personally, who do you hate the most?

Garnet: What do you rate your self-worth, out of 100?

Jade: What are you running away from?

Lapis Lazuli: What is something about your life that you’ve been lying about?

Malachite: Has someone ever been poisonous/toxic to your life?

Moonstone: Do you consider yourself a patient person when it comes to love and life?

Pearl: What are you trying to heal from right now?

Quartz: Who is someone you support, no matter what?

Ruby: If you had the courage to tell the person you love that you have feelings for them, would you?

Sapphire: Where do you see yourself in five years?

Topaz: What is something that you want to do before you die?

The kid was anthropomorphizing the animals too much, Marlin thought, but…he had a good heart in his chest. Even if he was stupid sometimes.

“Well. Next time just think about how fucking pissed off people would be if something happened to you. If you got hit by a tree or something. If your own cow stomped you to death - how embarrassing would that be?”

Maybe it would’ve been kinder just to say I care, but Marlin didn’t know how.

“Good. I’m starved.” He started going through cabinets. “You have wine glasses, right? Are we going to be drinking wine out of sake cups?”

“I’m so flattered, I might cry. You think I’d have enough dignity to go out by something that boring? I’m gonna die like I lived. Drunk and loud and probably half naked.”

He laughs a little, popping open the ancient looking rice cooker on the counter to spoon out some into two mismatched bowls.

“No, coffee mugs. This is a high class restaurant, Marlin.”

He only keeps the serious expression for a moment, though, and points at a cabinet to Marlin’s left. Everything in this house seems to be collected from thrift shops of some unknown origin, and nothing really matches properly...but it has a warm feel regardless.