A scowl of frustration overtakes his expression as one of the tempura on his plate is rudely snatched by the other slayer.. Zenitsu, for the most part, tolerated this behavior.. He recognizes that the boy was raised in such a way that made him ignorant to manners, and even favored him when acting impolitely, if only to survive.. In the past he’s allowed the feral boy to yoink foods off his plate with nothing more than a whine or squawk in response, unwilling to provoke an unwanted conflict that could end with him on the floor.. This time however, the blond was quite looking forward to his meal.. So what did he do?? Why, he pretended to snatch his companions nose of course!! An eye-for-an-eye, as they say!! Thumb held between index and middle finger, his hand hovered next to his head.
His plan was going exactly as intended, the shock on his peer’s face enough to kindle a vague smile of amusement.. However, it was short lived, as the second Inosuke’s fist slams down on the table, his entertained expression shifts with a frightful passion, and he instinctively draws back.. Perhaps his decision was a bit regretful, or even recklessly compulsive, but even he loses patience every now and then.. This is why he typically avoids eating so close to the boar.. So when the other boy lunged forward, seemingly completely disregarding the rest of the contents on their plates as well as the peace maintained by everyone else within the vicinity, Zenitsu fell backwards with a shout of his own, still clutching the “nose” tightly in his grip.
He hissed, narrowing his eyes in a declaration of protest ( and also in attempts to hide his flight response as a direct reaction to the threat ).
❝ i’m taking this as payment for the food you just stole from me!! you can’t just do that, y’know!! i’m hungry too——!! ❞
Having grown up in the mountains, where food is scarce and often one has to scavenge just for a small meal, Inosuke is used to taking from others, is used to fighting for scraps. He is also used to winning, at least now that he’s older, with more strength and experience than most animals in the forest. Even in the house where Takosuke and the old man had lived Inosuke had fought hard to obtain as much food as he could and had always come out on top. That’s just how it is in the mountains. That’s how the mountains raise you. You either fight with all you have and take what you can, or you become weak and you die.
That’s never going to happen to Inosuke though, and he won’t stop fighting, not even now.
However, this yellow haired creature is an entirely different story. He is not like the animals from the forest, nor is he like Takosuke. He’s strong and knows how to use breaths, but his constitution is loud and he complains way too much! Inosuke decides that he needs to teach him about the mountains, where you don’t just leave lying around unattended, where you fight and win, and if you lose you just have to deal with it. Most of all, however, it’s a place where people don’t steal noses off faces.
Sprawled most of the way across the table, Inosuke’s arms stretch to reach for the hands holding his nose prisoner. His explanation is to the point, without malicious intent, but clearly explaining a law of nature that should really be well known, “You weren’t eating it so I took it! Now give my nose back, stupid Monzetsu!”
@talkngflowers ----- uwu ♡