a kiss in the rain for chase and gou? thank you so much for all your hard work <3
Thank you, I'm glad you've been enjoying everything!
It's been raining for three days now, and Gou hasn't slept for two, and he isn't even awake when Chase comes back. He stayed awake for as long as he could, but Rinna makes him sit down and get out of her way around half past eleven, and by the time a body is spinning itself together on the table he's been dead to the world for two hours.
He drifts back up towards consciousness to the sound of a low, steady voice saying, "He looks unwell."
"He hasn't been sleeping enough lately, he's been helping me out here in the lab a lot." Rinna's voice is quiet, the softness of someone trying not to wake a sleeping child. "Even when I'm not here, he's been sitting at the computer over there just watching the data compile."
"My data?"
"Yes, he's put more work into...this, this whole thing, than pretty much anyone else."
"With what intent? He does not like Roidmudes."
"That's--I'll let you ask him yourself when he wakes up."
And finally it dawns on Gou, still half-asleep, that they're talking about him, and moreover that he knows that steady voice, knows it like a dog knows a thorn in its paw or a murder victim knows the knife in their chest, and he jolts awake and says, "Chase."
Chase looks down at him, impassive as always. "Shijima Gou. You require more sleep."
Gou has had years to think of what he might say now, has come up with and discarded and reconsidered countless impassioned declarations and smart comments and simple greetings. Every single one of them flees him now. He just stares up, blinking the sleep out of his eyes, and says, again, "Chase. It's you."
"Yes. It is me. Dr. Sawagami tells me that you are in large part responsible." There's a hesitation in which Chase remains, as usual, expressionless, but nevertheless there's a palpable something in his voice as he says, "Why?"
Which is too much of a question to answer in one go, too much of a question to answer now when he's still exhausted and trying not to tremble from the shock of Chase, it's too--"I. Uh. That's a great question, can we talk about it...not now? Excuse me." He gets up from the chair, ignoring the insistent agony of Bad Nap Location Choices, and heads for the door that leads outside because there isn't really anywhere else that's good to go around here.
it is, of course, still raining out. Harder than it was before, even, nearly torrential, and somehow that feels right. He tucks himself against the building, into the minimal protection of the overhang, and breathes. He's not panicking. His heart is beating so hard that it could explode for entirely unrelated reasons.
Five minutes pass, then ten, and his heartbeat slows down but he's still shaking, and the rain will not let up but going back inside isn't an option yet. So he stays outside and lets his clothes get soaked through, and that feels almost ok.
Another five minutes past that and the door opens and he doesn't look up from his drenched sneakers to see who it is. He just waits, listening to the rain and the little bit of passing traffic and the profound stillness of the person standing next to his elbow, and then Chase says, "I have spoken to Heart on the telephone."
Gou takes a long, shaky breath. "Yeah? He tell you anything interesting?"
"He told me that he was babysitting."
"...yeah. Yeah, he does that a lot lately."
"He also told me that he has only been alive again for three months, and that his successful resurrection is due in part to your efforts. His, and Brain's, and Medic's." Beat. "He says that he has grown fond of you."
Gou lets out a coughing laugh. "He likes everyone."
"He does not. He is generous with his affection, but not indiscriminate."
"If you say so. I don't really know him that well, fond of me or not."
"You are less generous."
"...I guess so."
"You do not like me, but you have endangered your own health for my sake. Why?"
Gou keeps staring at his sneakers. "You're wrong."
"About what?"
"I like you. I like you a lot. More than pretty much anyone, actually." He stands up, away from the wall, and finally he starts to turn towards Chase, but he's still so tired that he loses his balance and ends up falling to his knees at Chase's feet. Which feels fine, that feels appropriate. "I'm just really fucking dense, you know? So I didn't actually figure it out until. Until--I killed my dad with an axe for you, did Rinna mention that?" He looks up at Chase, bleary and exhausted and dizzied by the sight of Chase backlit and glowing in a halo of pounding rain. "You don't have to...to do anything with that. Or any of this. I just thought you should know. That he's dead, and I like you."
Chase nods slowly. "I see." He's holding out a hand, and it takes Gou a moment to realize that it's for him, another moment to grab it and let himself be pulled up. "Thank you."
"I, well, I, uh--I don't really know what to. You're. You're welcome."
And Chase kisses him.
The thing is, he's put some thought into what kissing Chase might be like. A lot of thought, maybe too much thought, maybe he's thought so much about what it might be like for Chase to be alive and there and letting Gou kiss him that it's a little unhealthy. Maybe the concept in its infinite variations has sustained him through a dark night of the soul or five. And yet, somehow, in among all those infinite variations, he's never managed to hit on one where Chase is the one initiating, because there's no way in hell Chase both knows about kissing and would consider doing it with him without him suggesting it first.
Right?
So it sort of feels like he's blown a fuse in his brain, and all he manages to say is, "Uh?"
Chase blinks slowly. "It seemed situationally appropriate." He looks at Gou closely. "We should go inside now, you are both very wet and suffering from sleep deprivation."
"What? What does that mean, it seemed situationally appropriate?"
"We can discuss it in greater depth when you are not in imminent danger of collapse."
"I'm not going to collapse, what does that mean?" Despite his confusion, Gou finds that he really doesn't have the energy to resist being walked inside, and anyway he kind of doesn't want to move away from Chase's arm around his shoulders. "Also how do you know about kissing?"
Chase glances at him. "You are not the first person I have ever kissed."
"Oh." Gou blinks, the exhaustion hitting him in a sudden wave as he tries to process this. "Oh, ok. Wait, who else did you kiss?"
"Dr. Sawagami, are there any towels available? Gou is in danger of hypothermia."
Heart and Brain and Medic are back and happy and living together, but due to a couple of complicating factors they just can't get their mail directly, which means that Gou has a regular gig now.
Notes: Obviously we're a bit past it now, but a very happy birthday to @timetoddddavis nonetheless--I hope you enjoy this ridiculous thing. ^_^
Hi! I’d like to request #17, with Philip and Chase (and bonus Shoutarou with another Drive character, if you like). I just have this need for Philip to interact with all my favorite characters, and your W crossovers are delightful. ^_^
17. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
Really, Shoutaro thinks, it shows a lot of restraint from Philip that he managed to wait a full week after discovering that Roidmudes were back in the world before he insisted on meeting one. Not that he’s unrestrained, of course. In fact, he’s gotten a lot better over the years about not overwhelming people with his academic enthusiasm. But there’s academic enthusiasm, and then there’s his increasing interest in the various unusual friends their junior Riders have picked up. He’d been practically vibrating with excitement since he first heard that Dr. Sawagami had run successful preliminary trials in her project to bring back the Roidmudes.
Of course, Philip could ask to speak with one or more Roidmudes all he liked, it had taken some time to arrange it. They’d had to talk to Terui, and he’d called Drive, and Drive had spoken to the four now-living Roidmudes, and then it had still taken two more months after that before anything could be scheduled just due to the tremendous problems Drive’s friends were having getting the Roidmudes legal status.
Now, though, the day's come, and Philip is enthusiastically shaking the hand of a man so color-coordinated that he could put Terui to shame and saying, "It's a absolute pleasure to meet you, Mr. Chase, thank you for coming, I appreciate it. Would you like coffee? I don’t know if you eat.”
Chase stares at him for only a very brief moment before saying, “Thank you, I do not drink coffee.”
Next to Chase--towering over him, in fact over all of them--is a man in a red coat with a thoughtful look on his face, and Shoutaro has to think for a moment before he recalls the last few messages he’d gotten. “And you’re...Heart, right? I’m Hidari Shoutaro, and this is Philip.”
Philip blinks. “This isn’t Mach? I thought Shijima Gou would be accompanying Chase to Fuuto. Shoutaro, I’m sorry, did I forget to introduce you?”
“It’s all right, partner, you were pretty excited. No, you remember the email, Gou was tied up with something last-minute.”
“By which he means he forgot that Professor Harley was going to be in Japan and expecting to see him.” Heart smiles, although he’s watching Philip with something that might be suspicion. “So I volunteered to come along, I’m always interested in making new friends.”
Chase glances at him. “You are overprotective.”
Heart makes a hm noise that doesn’t sound entirely like disagreement.
“Heart, Heart...” Philip’s eyes light up. “Yes, you’re also a Roidmude! Terui had said you weren’t interested in being interviewed, I don’t suppose you’ve had a change of heart? Forgive me, that wasn’t intended to be a play on words.”
Heart wavers for a moment, and Shoutaro can’t quite figure out whether it’s due to shyness or actual discomfort, so it’s probably fortunate that Chase is the one who answers. “Heart is not comfortable with discussing the past.”
“Ah. Yes, I entirely understand. Would you like coffee?”
“Now who’s overprotective?” But Heart relaxes visibly. “Yes, coffee would be wonderful, thank you.”
--
"Terui Ryuu said you and the other Roidmudes were having difficulties with your legal status, do you mind if I ask what they were? I know there are existing procedures for establishing the legal identities of non-humans, it's been done for two Bugsters in Seito. Well, three. Two and a half? Dr. Kujou is a complication."
Philip, Chase finds, is refreshingly blunt. He doesn't talk around issues the way many humans do, he cuts directly to the point, and moreover he seems pleased when Chase does the same. "There was an attempt to declare the Roidmudes property of the Japanese government."
"Oh.” Philip blinks several times, rapidly. “That's offensive, I imagine you all objected strenuously."
"Yes." Chase takes a sip of his tea. "And then once it was conclusively determined that we were people, there was the question of criminal charges."
"Really? Against you?"
"Against all of us. Heart, primarily. Brain and Medic were considered accomplices."
"I imagine your being a Kamen Rider helped with your case?"
"To an extent. I am not considered a threat. As it stands, we are no longer capable of causing gravity surges or otherwise wielding serious destructive force, and are under intermittent observation. The current legal debate centers around whether a Roidmude can be considered to have experienced mental duress."
“Hm. Really? Compelling. I wouldn’t think that was a debate at all.”
Chase considers this carefully before replying. “Why would you say that?”
“If Roidmudes are people, which they certainly are, then they can of course experience mental duress, or indeed any form of psychological distress.” Philip stares into space, hands wrapped around his coffee cup. “Unfortunately I’ve found that one of the hallmarks of personhood is a capacity for acute suffering. A being self-aware enough to love must also be self-aware enough to fear losing that which they love, and that fear can naturally be leaned upon by the unethical to coerce.” More staring into space. “Or simply to terrorize. It’s even more unfortunate when one realizes that unethical people of that type will likely always exist.”
“I...had not considered this previously.” Chase frowns, slowly. He’s experiencing an unfamiliar emotion--not that there are many emotions truly familiar to him, but this one contains elements of both surprise and happiness, and he is not clear on how one might express it.
He likes Philip, he realizes. He would like to be friends with Philip. Perhaps this is how Heart feels all the time.
“If this is the case, then in your determination, do Roidmudes have souls? I am not clear on what a soul is meant to be, but it has been the subject of discussion.”
Philip actually laughs. “The nature of the soul is one of the few topics on which I’m not the man to ask, for that you might want to talk to Ghost. In fact, I’m sure he’d be happy to discuss it with you. But in my limited experience with the subject--yes, I would think that Roidmudes have souls.” He takes a long drink of coffee. “Please excuse me if this is an indelicate question, I’ve been trying not to ask these things so abruptly lately, but my research indicated that Roidmudes have a more robotic base form onto which your human guises are layered, may I see it?”
--
They’re at the Windscale boutique getting Heart a suit.
They’d been discussing the Agency, and Heart mentioned having been a detective very briefly and seemed interested in the work, and this had led very naturally to talking about the boss, and from there to what Shoutaro had learned from him. Including, crucially, manner of dress, a topic that Heart seems fascinated by.
“I’d thought you could just sort of...shapeshift your clothing,” Shoutaro says. “At least, Bugsters do that, and Philip had mentioned that you do something similar.”
“Well, I can.” Heart plucks at the furred cuff of his coat. “But Tomari Kiriko’s suggested that I might adjust better to living among humans if I try to pick up some of their habits, little ones, and I like clothing.” A smile flashes across his face. “Mostly I’ve been borrowing things from Tomari Shinnosuke. He’s indicated that he’d like me to stop, though, because apparently he’s tired of having to come find me if he’s missing something he wants.”
“That’s Drive and his wife, right? We’ve never actually properly met, it’s sort of an oversight on Philip’s and my part.” Shoutaro frowns. “Do you live with him?”
Another flash of smile. “For the moment, yes. I was...revived...several months before the other Roidmudes, and they offered to let me stay with them. Mostly I watch Eiji for them and help Kiriko with housework. I’m learning how to cook. Brain and Medic are staying with other friends of Tomari Shinnosuke’s until the authorities can stop arguing about us and let us find a place of our own.”
“Well...” Shoutaro squints up at him for a moment, trying not to resent the man for being taller than him. “What kind of clothing do you like? I’m not exactly an expert on men’s fashion, but I like to think I know a little bit about it.”
This time it’s not a flash, the smile stays as Heart says, “Well, I have to say, the suits that Tomari Shinnosuke and his colleagues wear aren’t very interesting, but I do like your outfit quite a lot, it’s very sharp.”
So now Heart is trying on hats, and the Windscale salesgirls are losing their minds over how handsome he is. Normally Shoutaro would be a little jealous, they’re so used to him at this point that nothing about him is interesting to them, but he can’t quite bring himself to be. Not when Heart looks so pleased to be doing such an ordinary thing. Anyway, he’s letting Shoutaro pick everything out, and it’s so rare for someone else to be this trusting of Shoutaro’s fashion sense.
He also looks very good in a three-piece suit. But then, Shoutaro thinks, straightening his waistcoat, doesn’t everyone?
“What do you think of this one, my friend?”
Shoutaro looks at the latest hat Heart’s picked out and says, after a moment’s thought, “I think you look like a real man.”
Heart pauses. “Is that a good thing in this context?”
“Yes. The best thing I can think of, really. I mean, not that it’s bad to be a woman, but--listen, what I mean is, you look good, it suits you. Do you, uh, do you like to read at all?”
“Yes, sometimes, why?”
“We’re going to a bookstore after this, there are a couple of authors I think you’d enjoy.”
--
“Thank you for allowing me to examine you,” Philip says, when Chase shifts back into the human form that he’s finding more and more preferable to Proto-Zero’s, “it’s been a tremendous help to me. It’s--the many varieties of personhood that exist within the modern world are terribly compelling, but so few people are willing to speak about it at any length. Which I understand, but it does make study difficult.”
Chase nods. “I understand.” Beat. “You say personhood, but not humanity?”
“They’re hardly synonymous. Like circles and ovals. Every human is a person, but not every person is human. I haven’t always fit the precise definition of human myself.” Philip’s hand stills in the middle of a furious bout of note-taking, his face taking on a faraway look that Chase is learning to recognize. “What was death like for you? If you don’t mind my asking. Personally, I find the memory very difficult to grasp. Like a dream. I know that it happened, but when I reach for it, it slips out of my fingers.”
“It was...” It takes some time to find the way to phrase the answer. “Silent. And then when it ceased to be silent, it was because I was alive again.”
Philip nods, and takes more notes, and says, “Thank you for sharing that, I appreciate it. It’s...most people I know have never died. It’s difficult to explain to them.” The notebook snaps shut suddenly, Philip’s pen slides into its spiral binding right before it’s set aside. “Now. Is there anything I can do to help you?”
Chase blinks, slowly, several times, before replying. “How do you mean?”
“You. And your fellow Roidmudes. This is not an easy world to live in, especially when one’s personhood is treated as a subject for debate instead of a given. I would like--I hope that you’ll consider me a friend. I would like you to be my friend. And as a friend I would like to offer you and the other Roidmudes whatever help I can in establishing yourselves as people deserving of independent lives.” Philip grins at him. “At the very least I’m wonderful at winning debates.”
--
When Philip and Chase emerge from the garage, the first thing they see is Heart sitting in one of the front room chairs with an elderly gray cat asleep on his legs, and a much younger marmalade cat draped around his neck like an ungainly scarf. His red coat is nowhere in sight; he is, instead, wearing a black three-piece suit, a vividly red shirt, and a burgundy necktie with a heart-shaped pin in it. He's also engrossed in a book in English, although when they enter the room he glances up and says, cheerfully, "Hello."
"Good afternoon, Mr. Heart, I see Shoutaro's actually succeeded in his quest to get someone else to like Windscale as much as he does, you look very good. Are you enjoying Raymond Chandler? Shoutaro, is that Mrs. Mizuishi's kitten on our friend's shoulders? Where was he this time? Mrs. Mizuishi is a bit absent-minded," Philip says to Chase, "Chobi frequently wanders off when she's looking elsewhere."
"Yes, she called when we were on our way back from the bookstore." Shoutaro's sitting at the desk, in the middle of typing what looks like a list. "He'd only gotten up a tree, Heart helped me get him down. Mrs. Mizuishi’s coming to pick him up soon."
"And I see he has Mick's approval as well."
The gray cat opens one eye and gives Philip an unamused look, as if to say, “Yeah? What are you going to do about it?” only to begin purring when Heart absently reaches down to scratch his ears.
Chase sits down next to Heart while Philip goes over to speak to Shoutaro and is immediately investigated by the orange cat, who sniffs at his ear briefly and then gets up and hops from Heart’s shoulders to his. “What are you reading?”
“A collection of detective stories. Hidari Shoutaro gave it to me. He’s making me a list of movies that I might enjoy, I think I like detectives.” Heart leans slightly so that his arm brushes Chase’s. “It’s nice to have made a new friend. I hope the questioning wasn’t too intrusive?”
After a moment’s consideration, Chase says, “No. It was an enjoyable conversation.” He reaches up offer the orange cat his hand to smell. “I think it would be safe to say that Philip is a friend as well.”
Heart breaks into a smile. “That’s wonderful! I’m very glad to hear it.”
“However, I think we are expected to return to the city shortly.”
“Right, yes, I suppose we are.”
Over at the desk, Shoutaro pulls the paper out of his typewriter, blows on it to make sure that the ink is dry, and then folds it up and tucks it into an envelope. “Here, Heart, I’ve got that list for you. And my email address is at the bottom, please let me know which one you like best, you have no idea how long it’s taken me to find someone else who’d want to watch any of this stuff. I mean, Philip watches them with me, but other than that.”
Philip laughs quietly. “I do enjoy them, partner, I’m just not as passionate about them as you are.”
Heart carefully moves Mick onto the coffee table and stands up, reaching for a black hat with a red band that Chase hadn’t previously noticed hanging off the back of his chair. Chase, similarly, has to untangle himself from the orange cat, which objects strenuously to being moved and then promptly falls asleep in his chair as soon as he’s on his feet.
“I hope you’ll visit again,” Philip says as they’re shaking hands, “for non-research purposes, of course.”
Chase nods. “I would like that.”
Next to him, Heart tucks the envelope from Shoutaro into his suit jacket and says, “Maybe we can bring Brain along next time, I think they’d get along.”
They head out the door as a group, Shoutaro saying, “You’re going to email me, right, I need to know whether you like Spade or Marlowe better.”
“Of course, although I can tell you right now that just from the reading I’ve already done I like Marlowe quite a lot.”
One more round of handshakes as they all stand next to Chase’s motorcycle, and the last thing Philip says to Chase is, “Thank you again, so much. It was a pleasure to meet you. It’s wonderful to have new friends.”
Chase nods, says, “Likewise,” and resolves to visit again as soon as it’s feasible.
