ノイズ？

When was it I realized I couldn’t feel pain? I don’t remember.

[tinyfists]

“Noiz-san and Koujaku-san are alive!" Her house had been so quiet lately.

[modokiusagi]

"Yo, kid. It's been awhile."

[stupidsexykoujaku]

"… No problem at all. Noiz.” 

“Mm.. I won’t throw my back out going over there. And I’ll still kick your ass. Brat… Ah.. Hold on. What was it we were talking about..?”

[modokiusagi]

"...Oi."

"My piercings, are you getting that old already? Anyway. Forget it -- it's not like it really matters, I don't have a reason to take them out."

[stupidsexykoujaku]

“Brat —”

"Do I have to keep you quiet myself?"

[modokiusagi]

"Do you have a problem, Kou-ja-ku?"

"I'd like to see you try. Be careful you don't throw out your back before you can get over to me."

[stupidsexykoujaku]

"Oi, oi… No one’s asking you where else you have them.”

[modokiusagi]

"Who says I need to be asked, old man."

[mentalhime]

he☆rt of the cards

Clasping her hands together, Misaki was rather annoyed of where she was placed, in district delta? As much as she pitied (if she was even capable) the people that were stuck in desolation such as that. It was not a place that was suited for someone like her person, as regal as she seemed, it was just all together an eye closing matter. She recalled this place so much, not thinking she would have to see it again, she was better off not here and back home. Nevertheless, the female was situated at a stand within the shopping center of the fifth district. The owner having requested Misaki to watch over it  while they go to their home to do something else, the Esper only agreed so she could rest her legs.

She would practically do anything at this moment to avoid going back to that hellhole, amber optics were rolled in her irritation as she took a deep breath. Out of all people, was this suppose to happen to her? Of course not. But not everyone could have a perfect life like certain people, she knew this for a fact. As the people that walked past the vendor, it was understandable why they would, the prices were too high. If she was back home, she’d be able to afford it but alas, it was nothing that she wanted.

Various clothes which were decent priced but some were rather expensive, all sorts of jewelry and watches set out to be seen. All sorts of small dolls sat around and someone wrapped in plastic that sat in a small basket and all sorts of keychains. This was not a good look on her, not at all, but noticing a deck of cards next to her. The female ripped away the plastic that held the cards together as she began to press the face of the card onto the table, one row of three as she noticed someone walk by.

Acting as if she was blind in which she closed her eyes, "Would you like to play a game?"

The esper placed one hand in her lap where her pocketbook sat, shuffling inside of it until she felt her remote within her grasp. The hand that was visible on top of the table, "See these three cards," She tapped each one with her index finger, ”..if I can guess your card well, you just wasted your time. But, if I guess wrong, you’re able to win anything from this stand.” This being done only to cure her boredom, she was sure that with her abilities that hearing their thoughts within their mind would make things easier for her to always state the right card. "Would you like a small challenge? ★" But she could give them the benefit of the doubt. This wasn’t her stand anyway.

[modokiusagi]

The shopping district was usually a bustling, brimming source of information. Noiz frequented the fifth sector so often that a variety of the shopkeepers were well aware of him which necessarily wasn't branded as a good thing -- they avoided him with good reason but whether they liked to admit or not, he still was a paying customer and they couldn't afford to turn away his consistent business. He made sure they couldn't through the means that Noiz knew best: information. Knowing someone's entire background from their first steps to their (potentially) last was always helpful. It gave him much needed leverage and freedom to operate as he liked though this was child's play in comparison to the work he did prior to Hive City.

-- Speaking of child's play.

"Card games are a waste of time, not to mention guessing games are completely outdated."

He had started to listen but the girl's voice drowned out about halfway through her explanation as soon as he saw what she was peddling. He wasn't particularly interested in anything on the stand even if he should play but games were always something he was drawn to and Noiz always set out to win even if the game was something as ludicrous as this. Tapping fingertips against the table, Noiz looked over the would be opponent opposite of him and sized her up more or less.

There was always an angle to any game and angles meant ways to cheat. He learned that well before coming to this city and was only further confirmed in the fact the longer he spent his days here. Looking over the cards, the deck, and once again towards the girl, Noiz pulled a seat up across from her and continued to tap fingertips in a rhythmic pattern against the tabletop. No sense in keeping either of them waiting, Noiz leans back in his seat and uttered a single indication. 

"Start."

[modokiusagi]

stupidsexykoujaku:

Upon returning to their room, Noiz would notice the older man pondering as he read through a certain book. If that was one thing then the reason for it was close by. A cage large enough for a rabbit was located on a new shelf that seemed like it was placed in the room for this purpose. A small bunny that seemed a little anxious but at least content with it’s surroundings.

"Ah— Noiz. It’s your birthday so I decided… Well, you see it already." 

Motioning to the cage once more, Koujaku smiled before closing the book and waving it in the air. “Taking care of it should be easy.. That’s what they said at the store anyway… I knew you liked rabbits so this was a start for a birthday present… Did I do well?” Offering a teasing grin, Koujaku leaned to peer into the cage a moment before turning his attention to their bed. He seemed to enjoy dressing Noiz up for in one of the boxes was a kimono that was made specifically for the other. It looked rather familiar, didn’t it? 

Along with that sat a fairly large bunny plush (in green)… A gift probably to tease Noiz more than something for the other to appreciate. 

And finally. 

"Here.. I wasn’t sure if I got your size right but.."

Two matching rings were shown next, sitting in a little box.

"… Nn.. You don’t have to wear it, I suppose. I just thought it would be nice. Ah. One’s for me.. They’re the same.. So.."

Well, now he’s a little embarrassed… First, he felt this would be a good idea and now his ears were red and he was at a loss for words.. Well, any other words except—

"Hm.. Happy Birthday, Noiz.."

BONUS GIFT

Noiz had long since been used to giving and receiving — it was just something he had always practiced in his line of work. But there was undoubtedly something different about this time.

He didn’t even realize what Koujaku was doing at first until he was practically covered in gift after gift. Some were ridiculous and some were definitely thoughtful, heartfelt, though no matter the feeling that was put behind the gifts, Noiz still couldn’t figure out what was even going on. — Maybe he was setting Noiz up for something or maybe he just felt nice but if he thought Noiz wasn’t going to return the gesture then he must have already been going senile.

"Old Man, why are you…?"

Oh.

Immediately he thought, When was the last time those words had been said? 

Though he didn’t dwell on it much. Every birthday before this one had been spent alone, had been spent as any other day. There was no real special meaning behind his birth anyway. It wasn’t as depressing as one might have thought, Noiz had always been fine with that, what he wasn’t fine with was this. He almost instinctively told Koujaku that he shouldn’t have bothered, that he should take everything back yet instead, Noiz exhaled a quiet, quick breath and looked particularly over the rings, wordlessly putting his half on just prior to a muttered "Thanks."

There was sitll one thing lingering from the back of his mind however, and Noiz being Noiz didn’t really allow it to linger. Slowly, he hoisted the stuffed plush and then delicately handled the bunny as well before he cast a look towards his boyfriend, extending it towards him then. In his usual monotone he asked a single, simple question.

"Why did you get me things like this?"

[stupidsexykoujaku]

TO: brat FROM: koujaku

... noiz. i think the real here question is

why don't YOU go out at 5am to get cereal?

[modokiusagi]

▸ CONTACT INFORMATION EDITED. . .

TO: weird old man FROM: noiz

no

the real question here is how did you ever have a fan club

[stupidsexykoujaku]

"The sun has returned.. Though, it seems bees and dragons are now an issue."

Whatever, he’s just on his way to get Lucky Charms. 

[modokiusagi]

TO: old man FROM: noiz

koujaku

what the hell

why do you always go out at 5am to get cereal

[stupidsexykoujaku]

He was awful at this kind of thing, wasn’t he? Still.. It was both surprising and almost pleasant how long the two had been together. It gave him some peace of mine, at least.. To know that he wasn’t hopelessly lost. It was true, the other was hardly like anyone else he’d been with.. Maybe that was good for him then. For both of them?

Perhaps. 

Still, that was hardly the issue at hand. Koujaku’s expression remained rather mischievous.. Challenging, perhaps. Another short laugh emitted from him as Noiz scooted closer and he shook his head in response to his words. “No, no… Nothing like that. It doesn’t have to be gentle to be good, you know.” Tucking a strand of hair behind his ear, Koujaku sighed. 

"Are you thinking I’ll disappoint you? How cruel. My heart is rather soft, you know. You may end up hurting my feelings."

Despite his words, Koujaku still couldn’t help but smile in response to the younger’s current attitude. He wouldn’t be Noiz if he didn’t react like this, so he wasn’t so angry. More amused than anything, to be completely honest. More so, when he was given some form of permission to proceed with his actions. 

And yet…

"Hm.."

He did sit up a bit more, if only to lean closer to his lover. One or two quick kisses were offered before he just smiled against the other’s lips, sitting back again to gaze at Noiz a moment before extending a hand to trace the other’s lower lip. 

"Ahh~ Maybe later, brat. You’re cute like this. So let me admire you." 

[modokiusagi]

Perhaps the only thing that Noiz would ever audibly admit about his fondness for Koujaku was his unwillingness to back down when it came to facing Noiz. Though that went easily for both of them -- as even now in direct spite of Koujaku's actions and words, Noiz leaned into and against the bracing fingertip against his lower lip. Shifting ever closer - Noiz essentially moved straight into the other man's lap and sat there quite comfortably with the occasional parting of his lips and nips and nibbles to Koujaku's thumb. After several silent moments passed between the two like this, the room only filled with the slightest sounds of their movements (mostly from Noiz who had terrible longtime habits of consistently moving, fidgeting --) Noiz shifted once more to lean up and almost close the distance between them.

"You think I'm cute, Kou~ja~ku?"

Even if he had intended for it to be a sarcastic tease, Noiz's voice was always so flatly apathetic in tone that the overall tease was lost in translation. Regardless, Noiz proceeded with his ploy and leaned closer and closer until their noses bumped against each other. Not that he could tel when that necessarily was  but he was close enough and that's what drove the point home. There was nowhere else to look but each other's eyes. If it had been anyone else, if it had been any other couple, any other two people in the whole entirety of Hive City, perhaps this could have been romantic.

Unfortunately --

"I think I'm going to have to kill you."

That wasn't the case.

Noiz bit the tip of Koujaku's nose before shoving him onto his back but it went no further than that. The younger man just sat on Koujaku's stomach afterwards. He made no intention to move any time soon though he made no real effort to pin his boyfriend down either. All he did do was drum fingertips against either side of Koujaku's head before he suddenly pinched the other man's cheeks, roughly and with a pull.

"Even if our eight month anniversary is coming up you know, pulling shit like that is asking for me to do worse, Old Man. Don't you know better than anyone what I'm capable of?"

[navleu]

When it comes to people, I’m always looking for something in return. That’s why I care about people, so I can feel good about myself. There are no reasons other than that. •Noiz•

[modokiusagi]

Koujaku's a hecking nerd.

[modokiusagi]

▸ＳＵＧＡＲ ＰＩＬＬ

[stupidsexykoujaku]

"Shut up.. Shitty brat."

It was easy to say that Koujaku had picked up on little things Noiz did… Little things about him. His actions. Quirks.. Changes in how he spoke. And while Koujaku spoke harshly, he smirked and even laughed in a teasing manner in response to the younger. 

In turn, Koujaku frowned a touch. After Noiz turned off his coil, that is.. “Oi..?” Curiously, he watched as Noiz moved about. Beni, who was in sleep mode, was removed from his perch and bumped against him. The man smiled once more, comfortable with the contact.. He even leaned against Noiz in response, watching curiously as he handled Beni. Before, he might have snapped at him but now.. Well. There was a certain trust between the two. A trust that meant 'yes, you can touch my things and I won't kill you'. 

"Nn— Ow?! Oi!”

Rubbing at his cheek a moment, Koujaku grumbled to himself a moment before he got up as well to locate and bring back what was requested of him. “Hm.. Will it take long..?” Setting his coil onto the bed next to Beni. “I’m not worried. I know you’ll take care of him.” Meaning his allmate, of course. He’d put his faith in the younger regarding the safety of his allmate before so really, there was no problem. 

But.. There was something else that was bothering him. 

Moving closer to the younger man once more, he slipped his arms around Noiz’s waist and rested his head against his shoulder.

"Nn… And what about you? Are you going to wait..?"

"Or… Is it that you’d rather not remember…? You can be honest with me, you know." 

[modokiusagi]

The further that Noiz went through Koujaku's allmate then his coil -- digging deep into the archives to bring out anything familiar - the more the scathing realization of just who Koujaku was hit him like a hot iron branding his back. Absorbed in the videos, the call logs, the pictures, he didn't even notice when Koujaku affectionately held onto and then leaned together with him. When he glanced over to the older man he thought, it didn't feel weird or anything but it must have looked weird. Noiz was never someone who cared about what others thought and in fact cared even less about what people he disliked thought if at all but looking over all this evidence of Koujaku being well, a womanizer to put it bluntly (maybe harshly), and how he had all these attachments of Aoba -- it made him feel bitter.

Or at least that's what he thought he felt - it was always hard to tell. Regardless, he could realize that he didn't like it and wanted it to stop. He wanted to erase everything about who Koujaku was before, or at least stop himself from seeing it. Much in the same vein that he wanted to make no effort to remember who he was before all of this. There was something he realized quickly upon the snippets he could glean from his coil and several allmates. And that was simple put, he hadn't ever been happy. Digging through his past in an effort to remember something he felt was luckier forgotten didn't make sense.

"I'd rather not."

"From what I already saw in my allmate and coil -- there isn't anything to remember anyway."

Pulling up Usagi Modoki, Noiz easily worked his way to the hidden files, the locked files, the files he didn't know why he kept but were there regardless. Maybe to serve as a reminder. Still, he shifted the screen over to Koujaku with a moderate lean towards him as well -- raising his hand next and clicking on a file that was buried the deepest labeled simply as ＦＡＭＩＬＹ.ＥＸＥ. After the file opened, there were several documents depicting just how Noiz was treated by his parents that he had only glimpsed at before discarding the idea completely. 

"You can look if you want but there's a reason this file was buried the furthest."

[dramaticalbooty]

If replying to Noiz could be modified, it would be “yes” or “yes,” never a no option. Not even a maybe or just hold on a sec, the latter of which Aoba had attempted to get out before he felt a very strong grip around his wrist. For someone who couldn`t feel, he sure exherted quite a bit of pressure. But perhaps that`s exactly why he did things so brashly, since he couldn`t tell the difference. Leave it to Aoba`s mind to play therapist even when he was being dragged across the concrete. When they arrived at the specific destination, hazel eyes bulged slightly at how…strange it was. Observing the room, he honestly had nothing to say (and that was quite a feat for Aoba Seragaki.)

"And…you choose me?" Who was he supposed to be, Pikachu? "You could have just picked your boyfriend. Also, why are we here in the middle of nowhere?"

[modokiusagi]

"Yeah, I could have."

He could have done a lot of things.

Shifting his attention from Aoba to what had been set up, Noiz gave the most possibly vague explanation he could have on what he wanted to be done which admittedly, was difficult for Noiz to do given how he spoke bluntly or almost not at all. Motioning over to it - he gave a shrug and explained in a more direct manner that he just needed Aoba to get up onto the ledge of the roof first and he'd explain everything else in detail.

Before Aoba moved (whether in denial or acceptance of Noiz's request) - Noiz did first, handing the older man a can of whipped cream. If it wasn't becoming more clear on what Noiz was setting up by the second then he'd have to believe Aoba was a complete idiot. Well - he probably thought that on some level already due to...certain things. But that was neither here nor there Noiz thought as he gave the Seragaki a long look in expectancy. 

"So are you doing this or what?" 

[stupidsexykoujaku]

No one ever said Koujaku was the best at picking the right moment to say these things. Mood killer or not.. Well, truth be told, Koujaku didn’t actually think before speaking. Still, he couldn’t help but chuckle a little. Noiz didn’t seem all too impressed with his interruption.. Perhaps that’s what had him grinning a bit as he leaned back. He reached over again, toying with a strand of the other’s hair as he listened.

"Hm? It’s cute, that’s why.. And I don’t mind that..” 

A short laugh emitted from him in response to the exaggerated sigh and he looked around for the pack of cigarettes he’d purchased earlier in the day. Really, he didn’t mind.. As he said, it was almost cute if it was possible for such a shitty brat to be cute.. 

It was entirely possible. He should have realized that by now.

"You know.. I could teach you. To kiss, I mean." 

[modokiusagi]

From the months since they started to date -- Noiz knew better than anyone just how bad Koujaku was in an actual long term relationship. No doubt he was used to soft, delicate girls that would fawn and swoon all over him but Noiz was by far the furthest thing from anything he might have been used to. Even if he had said it was cute - it only irritated him worse than before. A short annoyed sigh exhaled and Noiz moved over to bump Koujaku's knees with his own.

"Teach me what? I don't want any gentle, soft kissing shit."

Repeatedly knocking their knees together, Noiz mostly distracted himself with this. By no means was he offended -- hardly, he couldn't really get that way but the sheer notion of Koujaku teaching him how to kiss better was...well, to put it simple, Noiz didn't like it. He'd give it a shot if he really thought on it but otherwise...it seemed stupid. He ceased the knee knocks for only a second, gaze lulling over to Koujaku and trying to take in just what expression he had must have meant. 

"Tch. Do what you want then." 

That's about as close as Koujaku would get for a definite answer.

[modokiusagi]

( it's not like your selfies look good or anything b-baka )

[modokiusagi]

Ah, Noiz. I have a question. Nn.. Selfies. Care to explain the concept?

"Since when did something like that interest you? Doesn't seem like your style to keep up with the times, Old Man. -- But fine. It's just you taking a picture of yourself. Simply anyway. Why do you want to know?"

[stupidsexykoujaku]

They kissed often. Sometimes just a peck on the cheek.. Other times? Well.. It was during those other times that Koujaku would notice. Whenever Noiz took the initiative, Koujaku would wonder about this curiously… Ponder while he returned the favor.

Until today.

Breaking the kiss suddenly, Koujaku backed off a bit and gave the younger a look.. One more curious than anything as he reached over to pass a finger over Noiz’s lower lip.

"You know…"

"You’re a bad kisser." 

[modokiusagi]

Of all the opportunities the older man had to tell Noiz and maybe even rectify this in the many, many, MANY months they had been dating already -- he chose now to tell him. Not only was it terrible timing and a complete mood killer, Noiz sitting back with his regular slouch and restless fingertips tapping on his knees, but it was absolutely annoying him. Half pretending to pay attention, Noiz shifted at least three times where he sat before Koujaku made his comment in full.

"That so?" 

The capacity that he cared about being good or bad at kissing was an absolute zero. Maybe even in the negatives. It's not like he ever had to care about being good at things like this -- he was only ever used before so it never really mattered. Shifting for the fourth time, knocking knees into Koujaku's own legs, Noiz exhaled with a looong sigh. Purposefully exaggerated.

"Does that really matter? You never complained about it until now. What? You don't like the biting anymore?"