#tormented-double

♥ - What does ‘love’ mean to them?

It's another emotion, Tom thinks. Another part of the human experience.

That is, until, he realizes that animals can express adoration, affection, possibly even something as complex as love for another animal, a human, a friend. 'Love' is a big word, however - Tom doesn't think he will get a chance to use it. Couples these days don't get married for something like love or because they think they're soulmates. They get married because their parents expect them to obtain a spouse, have kids, and care for them somewhere down the line. It's part of the 'perfect Japanese' imagery that started sometime in the 1890s and extended into the 1940s.

Something like fifty-percent of married couples don't even sleep in the same bed anymore.

Tom doesn't want that. He'd rather stay single. Sure, love is out there somewhere - but he leaves it to people like Shizuo and Vorona to find, for Kishitani-sensei to grasp and hang out to, and for weirdos like Orihara-san to twist and manipulate.

✕ - How do they handle rejection?

Tom's hasn't experienced rejection in the way that most people would experience it, such as confessing to someone and being shot down. He's never declared love for a girl, and the only people he's given Valentine/White Day chocolates to are his coworkers (how could he resist? Watching Shizuo open up a bag of sweets is like watching a kid on Christmas morning). He's been denied jobs before, of course, but he wouldn't really call that rejection - he just wasn't qualified enough for the position, and that's okay. There was someone better for the spot and he feels better knowing that they're working it and not him. He would've screwed up somehow.

And now that he's an adult, Tom knows how to get what he wants, and he's rarely turned down. He wanted a bodyguard? He got himself a bodyguard. He wanted a stable job for a friend? He got his friend a stable job. He wants six scoops of ice cream with caramel and sprinkles, well...

He knows how to get that too.

The point is, the only time where Tom has experienced true rejection was when he was really young, and that kind of stuff doesn't count anymore when you're twenty-six. 

✖ - Who is someone they just cannot stand?

Shizuo and Vorona are people of simple morals, simple values, and simple thoughts. They see their world in black and white with very little gray - people are divided into good and bad, tolerable and annoying. It's easy to tell who to trust and who needs a good kick in the head. 

Tom's learned to appreciate this kind of thought process more so than he ever thought he could. He guesses it's a good thing; after all, these are the people he works with. But on the other hand, he's learned to dislike people like himself that can't see the world like that.

He can't stand people that push at Shizuo and Vorona's simple worlds, who insist on bringing drama and chaos into their lives. He's always disliked people that made Shizuo think he has to resort to violence - people like Orihara-san - and he can't really stand being around them.

     Shizuo ran a hand through his hair as he looked over the park, forearms resting on the cool metal railing that blocked off the greenery from the concrete jungle of Ikebukuro. His fingers ran over the silver band on his left hand, twisting it around again and again.

     "He, uh--he officially asked me to be his boyfriend," Shizuo said, glancing out of the corner of his eye towards one of his best friends in this city.

     Celty tapped quickly on her phone and then turned it around for Shizuo to see.

     Is that ring on your finger from him, too?

     Shizuo's gaze flickered to the ring and then back to Celty and he nodded slowly, though he didn't say anything. He was almost afraid of what she would say. Was she going to get angry? Tell him he was stupid for thinking this might actually work out?

     I'm glad Roppi had sense enough to choose you.

     Those words were definitely unexpected. Shizuo had to read them over a couple times before he finally looked up to stare into the visor of her helmet. Before he could say anything in response, Celty went back to her lightning speed typing and then turned the PDA around once more.

     He makes you happy so I'm not going to tell you to break it off or anything. All I'm going to say is... Be careful. And I have your back, okay?

     Shizuo nodded slowly, an embarassed smile pulling at his lips.

     "I know this might very well end up with me losing him--whether to the flea or something else..." Shizuo glanced down at his hands and slowly clenched them into fists. Even thinking about the flea pissed him off, but... With a sigh, he let his hands relax once more. "--But I'm gonna try my damn hardest to make sure Roppi is happy. He deserves to be happy--no matter who he ends up with."

     As if on cue, Shizuo's phone vibrated from within the pocket of his slacks and Shizuo pulled it out to see a new text from none other than his new boyfriend.

     A tap on his shoulder had Shizuo glancing away from his phone and towards Celty. Watching the way her shoulders shook, Shizuo realized she was laughing at him.

     "What?" Shizuo muttered, quickly flipping his phone shut.

     You looked like a school girl just now--I wish I could have taken a picture of your face!

     "Ah, shut up," Shizuo grumbled, though an embarassed smile pulled at his lips as he adjusted his sunglasses.

[Ah my gosh, can we? My Roppi is very jealous of your muse causethewholeRopcrushinonShizuso—]

Send ϡ for a sleep headcanon.

Tom has pajamas, and he will use them when the fall and winter months set in. Especially when it starts to snow, and Tokyo becomes this strange, surreal place, since snow is foreign and rare in the city. But before he has to turn on fans, turn on the air conditioner, or even buy ice cream to keep himself cool, Tom would rather strip down to his boxers and sleep without any covers, just lay on the top of the futon he pulls out of the closet every night.

To tormented-double

     Shizuo said nothing as the kid talked—he simply kept a tight hold on his cigarette, inhaling slowly as he listened. However, when Roppi had the audacity to say those three words that had once meant so much to Shizuo, the cigarette snapped in his grip and loose tobacco fluttered to the floor. But still he remained silent, clenching his jaw and keeping his eyes locked on a small scrape that marred the paint of Shizuo’s apartment wall. It was only when Roppi finally finished speaking and moved to leave that Shizuo let his gaze linger on the back of Roppi’s head.

     He wasn’t angry—not in his normal sense, anyway. Even with what he had just learned, he couldn’t ever be furious with the kid. However, there was an underlying current of anger that flickered through his body when Roppi called himself such horrible things and then preached about love in the very next breath.

     Shizuo knew it was his own fault for letting the news take him by surprise—he should have known. Should have seen it coming. 

     ”What do I mean to you?” Shizuo asked, his voice cold—so cold that it might have burned Roppi’s skin if words had such power. His golden gaze was devoid of emotion as he stared at Roppi—the person whom Shizuo had made the mistake of falling in love with. Their relationship had always been a bit fuzzy to the blonde—not quite friendship, not quite dating. However, it had fallen just enough on the borderline for Shizuo to let his heart get swept up in the emotion. And it was for that reason that Shizuo could hardly look at Roppi now.

     Because love—love was not what Roppi felt for Shizuo. It couldn’t be. To Shizuo, love was something powerful enough to overcome anything… And it also meant fidelity. You didn’t cheat on love.