♦♦♦ Shine On ♦♦♦

Excuse me... What did you say about my hair?!

[afterlifesecondbase-blog]

[The heat of the summer was unbearable and he still had to go and join a friendly game of baseball that his friends arranged with another local school but as he was going to the field, he stopped shortly to look for a cap to protect his head from the sun among his backback when someone suddenly leaned on him. He didn’t know what was going on but as soon as he noticed it was another guy, his reaction was almost immediate.]

Hey… are you gay?…

[brandnamesocks]

A voice? It sounded quite close. Josuke's eyes open, pulling him from dreams of soft-served vanilla and swirling cold chocolate chip mint. What replaces these delicious visions is the stone-cold face of a teenage boy. Oh... Whoops. A bit jolted, he steps back quickly with his features twisted with confusion of how he got there. It's not until several seconds later does Josuke actually realize what he's been asked, and his expression goes from confused, to blank, to a wry kind of grin as he scratches the back of his neck. 

"Hey, uh, well... I know I'm good-looking, like I'm flattered and all - but... I'm more of a ladies' man, myself. Ha, ha."

"I just wasn't looking where I was going, so... sorry about that!" 

[idyllictendencies-deactivated20]

In which Touya is the closest object.

And also has a cone of triple-scoop ice cream on hand, because sure enough, the sun is set on burning this town into a surrogate hell.

So when this questionable pompadour guy, which (for future investigation records) Touya does not see, perhaps experiencing bizarre hallucinations and heart palpitations, leans against Touya — It’s not only the pavement sizzling, the sun embodying Satan, or the catastrophic impact; it’s his ice cream tilting and gravity defying and the sfx of BAM! KABOOM! SPLAT!

It’s the assassination of an innocent ice cream cone. 

He stares down. Blue and pink and brown splotches mark the pavement.

Touya does not acknowledge the guy, can only scrape his eyes against the casualty, where ants are beginning to gather. The weather is putrid, his brow is drenched, his heart has an ache. A typical May afternoon.

[brandnamesocks]

Heat haze makes a man do strange things. Such as lean on a much smaller boy for support, thinking they're a wall... when obviously they're not. Josuke doesn't seem to notice until several seconds later, snapping away with his fingers fanned out.

"Woah -- !"

"Sorry, man, didn't see you there..." How awkward. Readjusting his uniform some, he notices the other boy is just kind of... glazed over. Staring. The heat must be hitting hard, he hasn't even noticed his ice cream fell over!

"...Hey. You know... You dropped your ice cream." A hand reaches to wave in front of the other's face. Is he still even alive?

It quite doesn't register he was the cause of said fallen ice cream.

[brandnamesocks]

"Damn, I'm sweating..." 

A wipe of the brow proves fruitless, and Josuke sighs. Who told the sun it was allowed to be this hot?

There was something... Something his tongue ached for, something cold like --

"...Ice cream." Muttering to himself, apparently, he leans against the closest object, whatever it may be.

[miyakoyoshika]

Such an unbecoming hat Nadeko dons.

Whether one could reason that she wears it to shade her eyes from the sun, or from strangers, or perhaps even shading strangers from herself, in the end it serves similar purpose: as a kind of protection, a security from a threat.

It’s not implausible, then, that such protection can also serve as a hazard. As she courses absentmindedly and in a harried manner through the city, a small but full bag in her right hand, she doesn’t take notice to the person in her path; as a result, her hat cascades to the ground from the force of the ensuing collision. Tilting her head slowly upward, she accidentally catches a glimpse of the person toward whom she commits this offense and simply freezes for an eternal moment. Her eyes widen, her mouth hangs slightly ajar, and all she can do is stand silently and stare.

Nevermind that the most significant barrier she has between her and the surrounding world has fallen to the ground some several feet from her; that unbecoming hat no longer rests on her head, no longer protects her from the threat looming in front of her.

Her heart now pounds furiously in her chest, her real thoughts of ‘oh my god Nadeko’s done it again, Nadeko’s done for’ concealed behind a face that becomes redder by the second. Surely if she doesn’t say something, the person with whom she so forcefully encountered might get angry with her.

That’s the last thing the girl wanted, anyway.

She snaps herself back to reality, at least for the moment, and, while suddenly bowing, squeaks an apology in the most becoming manner she could muster.

—"S-S-S-S-S-Sorry! Nadeko is so sorry!"

[brandnamesocks]

Just minding his own business walking down the street. Maybe he just wasn't paying attention. It's entirely plausible. There are so many things to think about, after all; hair, what's dinner going to be for tonight, does his hair look alright -- of course it does. All these things distract the young boy enough that he doesn't see someone come the opposite way until after their brief collision. 

He's hardly taken aback, if at all. Josuke's much taller and more grounded than the young woman who walked into him, the very same young woman who increasingly looked as if she she'd just watched her dog get run over. In contrast to her stammering apologies and frightful reaction, Josuke stands casually with one hand rubbing the back of his neck. Her bowing just made him feel kind of awkward... Just a simple 'excuse me' would have sufficed and both of them could have been on their ways. But she had to make such a spectacle.

"Uh... H-Hey, it's cool. There's no need to totally freak out or anything."

She's seemed to have apologized enough for the both of them, so repeating it seemed to fall flat. Instead, Josuke catches a glimpse of something orange just a few feet away. Walking over and plucking it from the ground, he turns to the girl. 

"Uhh.." He doesn't want to freak her out any more than she's already freaked. With a shrug, he holds it toward her. "This yours?" 

[glamourmancy]

Happy Birthday  5/21