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You weren't going to use the shower?
[ When he's out. Nishikiyama hadn't heard or noticed Mine shuffling about over the sound of the water running, and only now notices that Mine is up and tidy. Hm. Maybe he'd used the sink?
Wine is more interesting than an answer, and despite a lesser state of dress, with his hair still dry (he'd avoided the commitment of washing it) and a towel wrapped about his hips, he moves closer to the table that'd been prepared for him. He doesn't care to put his own clothes back on just yet. ]
Food is whatever. We'll eat eventually.
[ He reaches for the first glass that Mine pours out. ]
[ When he's out. Nishikiyama hadn't heard or noticed Mine shuffling about over the sound of the water running, and only now notices that Mine is up and tidy. Hm. Maybe he'd used the sink?
Wine is more interesting than an answer, and despite a lesser state of dress, with his hair still dry (he'd avoided the commitment of washing it) and a towel wrapped about his hips, he moves closer to the table that'd been prepared for him. He doesn't care to put his own clothes back on just yet. ]
Food is whatever. We'll eat eventually.
[ He reaches for the first glass that Mine pours out. ]
No, not here.
[ Not together... Nishikiyama gets an answer even though he doesn't much care for one. Mine leaves the implication that he'll still freshen up.
That he looks down, then back up Nishikiyama's washed body isn't something he may conceal. In comparison Mine certainly looks and feels overdressed right now. Like he'd hurried.
Pouring a second glass, Mine considers that he still has to drive. Nishikiyama has only just placed the dinner celebration back on his mind and mention of it doesn't leave room for him to want to try the lunch set for them. Mine seeks balance between what he'd just said about their time in this room and his position in the yakuza– ]
Of course. I look forward to it.
[ He ought to say it too, Mine figures, but he'd enjoyed one thing more. ]
[ Not together... Nishikiyama gets an answer even though he doesn't much care for one. Mine leaves the implication that he'll still freshen up.
That he looks down, then back up Nishikiyama's washed body isn't something he may conceal. In comparison Mine certainly looks and feels overdressed right now. Like he'd hurried.
Pouring a second glass, Mine considers that he still has to drive. Nishikiyama has only just placed the dinner celebration back on his mind and mention of it doesn't leave room for him to want to try the lunch set for them. Mine seeks balance between what he'd just said about their time in this room and his position in the yakuza– ]
Of course. I look forward to it.
[ He ought to say it too, Mine figures, but he'd enjoyed one thing more. ]
[ Nishikiyama doesn't say anything.
He lowers into the nearest chair with the wine glass in hand and takes a drink of it. There's a reflection of his half-naked self reflected in the silver plate dome when he pulls it off the dish with his free hand. Beneath it is the meal that'd been prepared for them: expensive-looking fish that's been meticulously garnished. Maybe it's French cooking? It looks European enough— not that Nishikiyama had known specifics deeply enough to distinguish one from another. He'd known the basics like that paella is from Spain and tomato pastas are from Italy, but fish is just fish at the end of the day. The cuisine before him is simply too ambiguous.
He curiously takes a bite of it. ]
It's good cold.
[ Palate unrefined, Nishikiyama might even argue that it's enjoyed better at this temperature. ]
He lowers into the nearest chair with the wine glass in hand and takes a drink of it. There's a reflection of his half-naked self reflected in the silver plate dome when he pulls it off the dish with his free hand. Beneath it is the meal that'd been prepared for them: expensive-looking fish that's been meticulously garnished. Maybe it's French cooking? It looks European enough— not that Nishikiyama had known specifics deeply enough to distinguish one from another. He'd known the basics like that paella is from Spain and tomato pastas are from Italy, but fish is just fish at the end of the day. The cuisine before him is simply too ambiguous.
He curiously takes a bite of it. ]
It's good cold.
[ Palate unrefined, Nishikiyama might even argue that it's enjoyed better at this temperature. ]
[ Mine looks on, kept unsure until Nishikiyama takes a forkful and tries the fish. Certainly what he'd implied was that it wouldn't be as nice to have cold, thinking as far as that they'd only come here to eat. ]
Ah. [ He'd gotten stuck on that idea. Mine sits down, too, opposite of Nishikiyama. He's left quietly satisfied, that Nishikiyama'd still seemed to like every meal he'd invited him to. ] Then, please enjoy it.
[ –And even the invitation to linger. While he won't eat, Mine sips his wine, not too shy to let his gaze flicker into contact. ]
Ah. [ He'd gotten stuck on that idea. Mine sits down, too, opposite of Nishikiyama. He's left quietly satisfied, that Nishikiyama'd still seemed to like every meal he'd invited him to. ] Then, please enjoy it.
[ –And even the invitation to linger. While he won't eat, Mine sips his wine, not too shy to let his gaze flicker into contact. ]
[ Nishikiyama's comment causes Mine a pang and his brows lower. ]
We work hard to eat good meals– [ Mine readily extends his own ethic, not breaking eye contact. ] Why compromise?
[ In the end he doesn't do so well to hide that Nishikiyama has hit a nerve, though. Something obstinate slips into his expression, quietly defensive. ]
We work hard to eat good meals– [ Mine readily extends his own ethic, not breaking eye contact. ] Why compromise?
[ In the end he doesn't do so well to hide that Nishikiyama has hit a nerve, though. Something obstinate slips into his expression, quietly defensive. ]
... [ What'd he said–? ] That isn't what I meant.
[ Nishikiyama probes in a way that makes Mine feel anxious for no good reason, unanticipated in a moment he'd indulged in. He flounders in a way and tenses in his brow against his imbalance. The wine glass remains on the table, even though he surely wants to take a drink. ]
–If you enjoy it, I'm glad.
[ Nishikiyama probes in a way that makes Mine feel anxious for no good reason, unanticipated in a moment he'd indulged in. He flounders in a way and tenses in his brow against his imbalance. The wine glass remains on the table, even though he surely wants to take a drink. ]
–If you enjoy it, I'm glad.
Maybe not, but there's still no way you can get yourself out of that corner you've talked yourself into.
[ Nishikiyama relaxes in a way that shows he'd been toying with Mine. With his eyes falling back to his food, a dish now unworthy of Mine's tastebuds by a only some amount of time, he helps himself to the remainder of the dish without worrying about how it comes off. He huffs and rolls his eyes. ]
Give me yours. I can't stand seeing it sit there like that.
[ Nishikiyama relaxes in a way that shows he'd been toying with Mine. With his eyes falling back to his food, a dish now unworthy of Mine's tastebuds by a only some amount of time, he helps himself to the remainder of the dish without worrying about how it comes off. He huffs and rolls his eyes. ]
Give me yours. I can't stand seeing it sit there like that.
[ The notion passes by in flight, that this might overshadow the rest of their lunch. Mine shakes the thought, but it takes him a moment from then on, visibly, to realize that Nishikiyama only plays around. His expression doesn't quite relax, well possibly he can't. ]
If it matters to you that much–
[ Mine cedes what he hadn't wanted in the first place, though, pushing the plate. ]
If it matters to you that much–
[ Mine cedes what he hadn't wanted in the first place, though, pushing the plate. ]
[ Nishikiyama accepts Mine's plate, pulling it enough of a way close to pick off of. It'll be a while before he gets to the other portion, but he's intent enough now to have it. ]
Looks like you'll just have to starve.
[ No, Mine won't. Both of them know he won't, but Nishikiyama teases him anyway. ]
Looks like you'll just have to starve.
[ No, Mine won't. Both of them know he won't, but Nishikiyama teases him anyway. ]
You're going to have a lot of fun fighting off the rest of them if you keep it civil. Don't be the one who grills the meat if you actually want to eat any— that's the trick.
[ As for Nishikiyama? Of course he won't be grilling any yakiniku tonight. ]
Want me to just tell Kanda to do it?
[ As for Nishikiyama? Of course he won't be grilling any yakiniku tonight. ]
Want me to just tell Kanda to do it?
[ Kanda keeps promoting himself as his oath brother, while Mine has him down as a crude idiot. Part of him wants to say yes, have Nishikiyama tell Kanda off. It makes that scoff of a laugh reappear, even without enough alcohol to induce it. ]
Hmh–
[ Now Mine's business dinners look more like a state banquet, but in the beginning he'd ended evenings plastered in the smell of grease and smoke too. There's just a nod. ]
I'll take the diplomatic route.
Hmh–
[ Now Mine's business dinners look more like a state banquet, but in the beginning he'd ended evenings plastered in the smell of grease and smoke too. There's just a nod. ]
I'll take the diplomatic route.
[ Yakiniku with the Nishikiyama Family. With Mine's patriarch now having deposited him near the front half of the dining space, there's a shift in atmosphere that's strong enough to make what intimacy had happened between them before feel as if it hadn't at all. The most human thing about Nishikiyama in front of the others is that he takes off his shoes alongside the rest of them. His men don't speak to him unless they're spoken to first. Things had eventually turned out that way after the incident with Matsushige— not that anyone has the nerve to take an issue with it. ]
Well, well, well, Mine!
[ By the time they've settled for the grills and Mine has taken his seat near the end of the table, he's no second left short until Kanda swings his hand to clap the man's shoulder. ]
You sneak off somewhere after the assembly? Why didn't you stick with us?
[ Kanda is gawking, obnoxious, and somewhat offended by the slight. Mine should stay with the group. He'd been fine enough before the assembly, in the right place at the right time, but something's off now. ]
You go get your baby from the daycare or something?
Well, well, well, Mine!
[ By the time they've settled for the grills and Mine has taken his seat near the end of the table, he's no second left short until Kanda swings his hand to clap the man's shoulder. ]
You sneak off somewhere after the assembly? Why didn't you stick with us?
[ Kanda is gawking, obnoxious, and somewhat offended by the slight. Mine should stay with the group. He'd been fine enough before the assembly, in the right place at the right time, but something's off now. ]
You go get your baby from the daycare or something?
[ Mine'd asked the question directly, but been left with an answer vague enough to let him spend time until now thinking over how they'd go on– Until the minute Nishikiyama sat down and he elsewhere, in fact. The clarity of his act and the rest of his men surrounding is a relief on its own; what does their intimacy mean after all, though? Mine doesn't have time to ponder. He quite literally flinches away from the thought when Kanda slaps his shoulder and has to turn to him at the same time. The man's a fucking brute. ]
My apologies.
[ But he's easily placated, Mine figures, dips his head. While his eyes are cast down they search for what made Kanda complete his assumption, though. His eyebrows pinch together, his lifestyle doesn't spell fatherhood and he can't imagine it'd make a difference to say this or that– No, Kanda should be happy with any kind of explanation. ]
I received a call from our– [ His white-collar company, not the Nishikiyama Family. ] –European creditors, making an offer on stock in San Francisco. The time difference makes negotiations challenging and the scheduling critical...
[ Mine lies without getting red in the face and talks as if he can keep going, but expects the other man doesn't care to hear the details. ]
My apologies.
[ But he's easily placated, Mine figures, dips his head. While his eyes are cast down they search for what made Kanda complete his assumption, though. His eyebrows pinch together, his lifestyle doesn't spell fatherhood and he can't imagine it'd make a difference to say this or that– No, Kanda should be happy with any kind of explanation. ]
I received a call from our– [ His white-collar company, not the Nishikiyama Family. ] –European creditors, making an offer on stock in San Francisco. The time difference makes negotiations challenging and the scheduling critical...
[ Mine lies without getting red in the face and talks as if he can keep going, but expects the other man doesn't care to hear the details. ]
[ Kanda, as expected, gets stuck on the mention of Europe. He being him, he can hardly think past what goes on within the family, let alone consider what might be going on outside of the country. Shaken off by Mine's lie, his mouth twists like he's still trying to understand what the other means. ]
We got Europeans helping us make cash? I thought San Francisco was a country in America.
[ Kanda looks around the table, but the other men are about as confused as he is. Only someone without a name to Mine corrects Kanda to let him know it's a city in California. ]
Ha—, why Europe then?
[ This conversation isn't worth having. Kanda will certainly not follow any stock market talk, and avoiding it is advised. Trying his best to participate and be interested in Mine's life, he scratches just above his ear with his fingernails. His face has scrunched like a wad of someone's unwanted draft, and his brain has smattered into muck at the thought of other countries simply existing in a continuum. ]
We got Europeans helping us make cash? I thought San Francisco was a country in America.
[ Kanda looks around the table, but the other men are about as confused as he is. Only someone without a name to Mine corrects Kanda to let him know it's a city in California. ]
Ha—, why Europe then?
[ This conversation isn't worth having. Kanda will certainly not follow any stock market talk, and avoiding it is advised. Trying his best to participate and be interested in Mine's life, he scratches just above his ear with his fingernails. His face has scrunched like a wad of someone's unwanted draft, and his brain has smattered into muck at the thought of other countries simply existing in a continuum. ]
[ It’s easy to feel smart next to Kanda and that’s why Mine is satisfied, convinced that he’s put him off the scent of his absence when he fumbles. Mine slips a glance to the man offering some clarification. He'll consolidate his story. In simple words. ]
We‘re reselling stock from America, the Europeans want to buy it.
[ He sits in a spot far away from Nishikiyama, next to men that wouldn't take kindly to having their lack of competence underlined, Mine understands. He can see the ambivalence on Kanda's face having even asked, he must've expected something else. Mine lets him off. ]
–Maybe it's a topic you'd like to discuss at another time? This is my oversight, talking shop when we're here to celebrate.
[ On the fast track to aligning himself with the order set at the tables, Mine finds that at the moment the yakuza is hardly any different from civil society and business get-togethers. ]
We‘re reselling stock from America, the Europeans want to buy it.
[ He sits in a spot far away from Nishikiyama, next to men that wouldn't take kindly to having their lack of competence underlined, Mine understands. He can see the ambivalence on Kanda's face having even asked, he must've expected something else. Mine lets him off. ]
–Maybe it's a topic you'd like to discuss at another time? This is my oversight, talking shop when we're here to celebrate.
[ On the fast track to aligning himself with the order set at the tables, Mine finds that at the moment the yakuza is hardly any different from civil society and business get-togethers. ]
Well I'm good, I believe ya! We all got things we're good at, yeah? I don't think I got to know all the specific stuff going on. If the patriarch's happy with it, some am I!
[ Kanda feels as if he's wiggled out of the topic he doesn't understand, thanks to how Mine's phrased it. Unscathed and unoffended, Mine has successfully put what people skills he'd learned in business to motion. Kanda hasn't even noticed.
No— rather than that, his attention is elsewhere. He hurries at the opening Mine has created and suddenly throws his fists on the table hard enough to rattle the grill and chopsticks. ]
Speakin' of which! ——This family's come a real long way in a real short time with Nishikiyama at the head of it! Who here's ready for the meat?! We deserve it after these last few months, haaaa?! Headquarters and shit are finally noticing all of our patriarch's hard work! We got the best guy here leadin' us!
[ A rally. Kanda shouts it loud enough to silence all other conversations, and Nishikiyama looks down the strip of faces. It's brash and obnoxious, but he doesn't seem displeased by what Kanda is saying. He's finally getting his deserved respect. ]
[ Kanda feels as if he's wiggled out of the topic he doesn't understand, thanks to how Mine's phrased it. Unscathed and unoffended, Mine has successfully put what people skills he'd learned in business to motion. Kanda hasn't even noticed.
No— rather than that, his attention is elsewhere. He hurries at the opening Mine has created and suddenly throws his fists on the table hard enough to rattle the grill and chopsticks. ]
Speakin' of which! ——This family's come a real long way in a real short time with Nishikiyama at the head of it! Who here's ready for the meat?! We deserve it after these last few months, haaaa?! Headquarters and shit are finally noticing all of our patriarch's hard work! We got the best guy here leadin' us!
[ A rally. Kanda shouts it loud enough to silence all other conversations, and Nishikiyama looks down the strip of faces. It's brash and obnoxious, but he doesn't seem displeased by what Kanda is saying. He's finally getting his deserved respect. ]
[ The corner of Mine's mouth twitches upward. Not that it's truly anything meaningful but he's pleased by Kanda's response, or more so what's to his apparently negligible credit. Again though, Kanda's excessive and physical reaction makes him behave reflexively.
Meanwhile some of the others readily decide to elbow their way in on Kanda's mode, noticing their patriarch has reacted well. ] Hell yeah! Our patriarch's been kickin' ass. [ And– ] About time we enjoy the spoils!
[ Just like each one of the men there, looking first at Kanda and then, when his noise and loud words have diffused in the room, Mine's eyes lift to Nishikiyama sat at the very other end. Peering down that way, it's not the same, intent look that'd met him at the assembly and nowhere near letting Mine assume all that'd followed it. He still anticipates Nishikiyama's transient glance. Mine forgets to cheer loudly with the rest of them. ]
Meanwhile some of the others readily decide to elbow their way in on Kanda's mode, noticing their patriarch has reacted well. ] Hell yeah! Our patriarch's been kickin' ass. [ And– ] About time we enjoy the spoils!
[ Just like each one of the men there, looking first at Kanda and then, when his noise and loud words have diffused in the room, Mine's eyes lift to Nishikiyama sat at the very other end. Peering down that way, it's not the same, intent look that'd met him at the assembly and nowhere near letting Mine assume all that'd followed it. He still anticipates Nishikiyama's transient glance. Mine forgets to cheer loudly with the rest of them. ]
Edited 2024-01-03 07:49 (UTC)
[ There's a moment where, briefly, Nishikiyama's eyes pass to Mine's. Perhaps predictably, there's a necessary distance that's been built back up in them due to the circumstances around him. Nishikiyama is a patriarch, here; his bias is now masked from the time spent in private before. Still and though he attempts to erase it, a flicker of knowing is there. Knowing what they'd done— that things had now been different. The look dissipates as quickly as it'd come.
Later, the men slam drink after drink. Glass mugs clank together, the bases hitting the table when glugged to a finish. The room is filled with the potent smell of grilled meat, their cuts varying. Everything's there: shoulder, tongue, rib. There doesn't seem to be a limit.
Eventually everyone, even subordinates with the strongest of tolerances, is red in the face. The next round of high balls that Nishikiyama has ordered are put in front of Kanda's end of the table, passed before each sitting party. Even Nishikiyama himself is hardly sitting up straight at the head of the table, and the voices around Mine are several times louder than they'd been upon entry. ]
Hhshyaaaa! This?! This is nothing, bring 'em on!
[ Kanda swipes his new highball while swaying. His voice practically rattles the walls now, and his breath is thick with whisky. ]
Oi, Mine! Drink that one up too! Toast me!
[ He shoves the man beside him with his arm extended straight. Other men are laughing dizzily and slumping over their newly received drinks, trapped and unable to refuse. It's only when shitfaced like everyone else that Nishikiyama's interest seems to bleed through, and he watches Mine, presumably also wasted, to see if he can actually keep up with the others. He's pushing his men on purpose and it's clear. ]
Later, the men slam drink after drink. Glass mugs clank together, the bases hitting the table when glugged to a finish. The room is filled with the potent smell of grilled meat, their cuts varying. Everything's there: shoulder, tongue, rib. There doesn't seem to be a limit.
Eventually everyone, even subordinates with the strongest of tolerances, is red in the face. The next round of high balls that Nishikiyama has ordered are put in front of Kanda's end of the table, passed before each sitting party. Even Nishikiyama himself is hardly sitting up straight at the head of the table, and the voices around Mine are several times louder than they'd been upon entry. ]
Hhshyaaaa! This?! This is nothing, bring 'em on!
[ Kanda swipes his new highball while swaying. His voice practically rattles the walls now, and his breath is thick with whisky. ]
Oi, Mine! Drink that one up too! Toast me!
[ He shoves the man beside him with his arm extended straight. Other men are laughing dizzily and slumping over their newly received drinks, trapped and unable to refuse. It's only when shitfaced like everyone else that Nishikiyama's interest seems to bleed through, and he watches Mine, presumably also wasted, to see if he can actually keep up with the others. He's pushing his men on purpose and it's clear. ]
[ Drink after drink, at first Mine'd counted as if at some specified total he'd stop cold. Aiming to take a diplomatic approach, he'd had to see that those subtleties didn't work as well on Kanda when it came to getting his belly filled as it had when allowing the man distance from a subject he didn't care for. Mine'd found himself grilling more meat than he ate; tongue, shoulder or rib, he only got a few bites in.
Mine feels warm, sweat and grease stick to his skin. He'd rolled his sleeves up and his polished appearance'd crumpled some when he stuffed his tie into his shirt. He's flushed. Drunk. It's happened quickly on an empty stomach. The first of his inhibitions to go'd been refusing another drink, not that he could in this climate anyway.
So Mine'd watched the scenery around him blur some at the edges until only a single face in the center of his view remained in sharp definition. Kanda's loud call makes it bounce from Nishikiyama's in the distance to the other man's, literally in his face. Mine feels himself swaying by Kanda's shove and clumsy when he takes the full glass. He's not above playing the game Nishikiyama's set up, or beyond getting wasted. ]
Cheers– [ Even Kanda must've noticed that Mine's mood changed from something stiff, keeping him at arm's length from the group, to tenacious. The glasses clink together. ] –!
[ His eyes lift back up to Nishikiyama when he takes a swig, another gulp. The look that'd met him, briefly, swam away; Mine crawls against the current. His want for the patriarch's attention is unrefined compared to his sober efforts. But he puts the drink back down, not even half empty.
Kanda bulges back into his vision. ] Ngh-gh...
Mine feels warm, sweat and grease stick to his skin. He'd rolled his sleeves up and his polished appearance'd crumpled some when he stuffed his tie into his shirt. He's flushed. Drunk. It's happened quickly on an empty stomach. The first of his inhibitions to go'd been refusing another drink, not that he could in this climate anyway.
So Mine'd watched the scenery around him blur some at the edges until only a single face in the center of his view remained in sharp definition. Kanda's loud call makes it bounce from Nishikiyama's in the distance to the other man's, literally in his face. Mine feels himself swaying by Kanda's shove and clumsy when he takes the full glass. He's not above playing the game Nishikiyama's set up, or beyond getting wasted. ]
Cheers– [ Even Kanda must've noticed that Mine's mood changed from something stiff, keeping him at arm's length from the group, to tenacious. The glasses clink together. ] –!
[ His eyes lift back up to Nishikiyama when he takes a swig, another gulp. The look that'd met him, briefly, swam away; Mine crawls against the current. His want for the patriarch's attention is unrefined compared to his sober efforts. But he puts the drink back down, not even half empty.
Kanda bulges back into his vision. ] Ngh-gh...
[ Down the way, Shindo tells Nishikiyama a dirty joke that makes him laugh. There’s a tidal wave of echoed laughter that follows the patriarch across the men to Mine and Kanda’s own table. All the which makes Kanda grumble into his drink after realizing Shindo had wound up sitting down that way when someone had (apparently?) left for the bathroom. ]
The fuck? When’d he get over there…
[ His emotions clumsily sort themselves, and deciding he’s offended that his perceived competition for captain is gone from this table to that, he squints past the rim of his mug. ]
He thinks I’m an idiot and don’t know what he’s doing…
[ Unhappy Kanda. He looks at Mine who, while drunk, is much more receptive to his company. Eyes out of focus, and posture beginning to wobble. ]
He’s a rat! I’m gonna beat his ass next time we’re alone for this. Watch me, Mine!
[ Terribly timed, Nishikiyama makes a joke and pats Shindo’s shoulder. As his rival can be seen blossoming proudly before his peers, Kanda bristles like a blowfish. ]
Tch. Look at him, gettin’ too big for his pants! That motherfucker. I’m gonna wring his skinny neck.
The fuck? When’d he get over there…
[ His emotions clumsily sort themselves, and deciding he’s offended that his perceived competition for captain is gone from this table to that, he squints past the rim of his mug. ]
He thinks I’m an idiot and don’t know what he’s doing…
[ Unhappy Kanda. He looks at Mine who, while drunk, is much more receptive to his company. Eyes out of focus, and posture beginning to wobble. ]
He’s a rat! I’m gonna beat his ass next time we’re alone for this. Watch me, Mine!
[ Terribly timed, Nishikiyama makes a joke and pats Shindo’s shoulder. As his rival can be seen blossoming proudly before his peers, Kanda bristles like a blowfish. ]
Tch. Look at him, gettin’ too big for his pants! That motherfucker. I’m gonna wring his skinny neck.
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