unprompted ☀️ @upperthird
and he fidgets with the other's hand, idly. before long, he finds himself measuring his hand against yoriichi's.
"--you're hands are gargantuan," his hands paled in comparison, "--i guess that's to be expected."
For so long, he shied away from touch--and perhaps in that he weren't too unlike sibling, the wariness warranted in being strongest meant a necessary need for remaining guarded, for he remembered too clearly when ones thought friends turned against him, the feeling of hands that gripped shoulder as he could bring himself to do nothing but accept and hope they let go quickly.
Touched felt dangerous, so often.
And he knows, sitting next to upper third as he fidgets with his hand, that touch could still prove dangerous--but with him, Yoriichi increasingly realized that he didn't mind it. A reassurance instead that he were safe next to him, and would not be harmed for allowing that guard to settle, just a bit.
Hands were rough in callouses of wielding blade, but talent meant he needn't train so severely, less marks than one may have expected considering his age now.
"--I am quite a bit taller."
Simple observation that wasn't meant to be a tease towards the other's size, but his attention were now upon their hands, a shift as fingers move and curl over the smaller hand to hold it within his own.
A moment of thought, and Yoriichi brings it closer; lips brush to pale skin, curiosity leading him to wonder of how chilled Akaza's skin always seemed to be.
"Your hands are cold; would you like my haori?"