five ○ voice / action

[mylegacy]

Who: Caesar & u
Broadcast: Fleetwide!
Action: Marsiva, kitchens & gym!
When: Ostensibly 11/15, but really whenever

[His voice sounds muted, almost bored, but anybody who actually knows him might be a little worried at the lack of underlying irritation there. There's the clank of pots and pans in the background, also muted.]

Since we're stuck here for the foreseeable future - I understand that people are coping. [As people do. For what good it does.] I don't have the proper augment, but I know how to cook if anyone wants to learn. I don't have anything else to do. [Besides watch The Princess Bride on endless repeat.]

[. . . And then, almost as an afterthought:]

I can fight, too. If anyone wants that.

[Find him in the kitchens, or the gym on request. Close CR can assume a delivery of a comfort food of their choice.]

Comments

[mylegacy]

[He twists his fingers in the hem of Joseph's shirt, leaning back against the counter and tipping his chin up with a little smirk.]

You were already spoiled when I met you. This isn't my fault.

[Except for how it kind of totally is. Sigh.]

[nextlineis]

Alright, alright, [Joseph says as he rests both hands on either side of Caesar on the edge of the counter.] Maybe it's not entirely your fault.

[He kisses Caesar's chin.]

But I don't see you putting an end to it either.

[mylegacy]

That's not my job.

[Hmm. He stays still, lets Joseph pay attention to him. He still doesn't really feel like he deserves it, that kind of attention. But he likes it, all the same.]

I like you the way you are. Don't tell anyone, though.

[nextlineis]

[It's that feeling he doesn't deserve it that partially drives Joseph to do it in the first place. Caesar deserves everything Joseph can give him and more. Maybe one day he'll get that, but maybe not. Either way, it's Caesar's to have as long as he wants it.]

That sounds like something I should announce to the entire network though. [He grins crookedly. He nips at Caesar's lip teasingly, but avoids kissing him at all costs.] Why should I keep something like that to myself?

[mylegacy]

Because--

[He grins a little, leaning into the bite. Sometimes, lately, he's starting to think he's becoming almost as spoiled as Joseph.]

I'll be nicer to you if it's just us.

[nextlineis]

I don't knoooow... You're not that nice to me to begin with.

[What a liar Joseph Joestar is. It's not like they just establish what a spoiled brat he is or that Caesar contributes anything to it, or anything like that. But also note: he's not complaining.]

[mylegacy]

[Such a liar. But it's really cute. God, it's really cute, he's going to die from this.]

You want me to be nicer? Like how?

[nextlineis]

Oh c'mon, I shouldn't have to spell something like that out for you. [Joseph shakes his head and just so happens to nuzzle noses with Caesar. Huh, how'd that happen?] You're always going on about what an idiot I am, so use that big brain of yours, dumbass.

[mylegacy]

[What a mysterious thing has just happened . . . almost as mysterious as the way Caesar leans in and kisses the tip of Joseph's nose.]

Maybe I should just tell you everything I think when I think it, like you do.

[nextlineis]

Uuuhhh...that might not...be such a good idea.

[You know, you sometimes make girls cry when you're like that.]

[mylegacy]

Oh? Are you admitting that you're wrong?

[Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm?]

[nextlineis]

Hey! What? [That absolutely does not make sense, nope. No. How dare you, Caesar...] No way!

[mylegacy]

Yes, you are.

[Kiss.]

You said that--

[Kiss.]

It's not a good idea.

[Double kiss.]

[nextlineis]

[You cannot just kiss him like this and expect him to concede, Caesar. Wow. This is completely rude and uncalled for. Just for that, he's not kissing you--]

That--

[Right away. Kiss. Willpower, what is that?]

Is not the same thing.

[mylegacy]

It's not?

[Doing that leaning-up-but-not-quite-touching thing again. Fight him about it.]

I like it when you hold me like this.

Was it a bad idea to say that?

[nextlineis]

[Be strong, Joseph. Don't give in. But don't pull away either, okay. That'd also be losing. In fact, that'd be double-losing because then you wouldn't get squat out of losing.]

Mmmm maybe not that.

[Be strong, Joseph. Look somewhere other than his lips. No, not his eyes, you idiot.]

[mylegacy]

Not that . . . okay.

What about . . .

[Oh, it's so hard not to grin at him.]

What about: I like it when you look at me like that.

[nextlineis]

[Joseph huffs lightly because this is tough. Why is Caesar making him exert all this self-control? This is absurd. He should knock it off. Without going anywhere. Somehow.]

[He'll leave that up to Caesar to work out. He's not that good at thinking right now.]

No... [he says slowly,] that's not so bad either.

[mylegacy]

See, I think I'm doing all right.

[He bites the inside of his cheek. Don't laugh. Don't do it. God. Cute. Shit. Bluh.]

I like when you forget how to talk as quickly as you normally do.

Really, I just like when you forget everything else exists. When you pay attention to only me.

[nextlineis]

[Okay, you know what? That's not fair. That's completely no fair and Joseph's going to write a strongly worded letter of complaint...]

[...Maybe after he's done kissing Caesar. Maybe. But he might also forget about it the moment he's kissing him again, softer and gentler than he usually does if only because his concession is a gradual one.]

You make that easy. I can't think of anything or anyone I'd rather pay attention to.

[Just by being.]

[mylegacy]

[Mmf. He goes a little red at that, keeping his eyes closed just a few seconds longer than he needs to. That was. Nice.]

I like it when you kiss me . . . and say nice things like that . . .

[You could knock him over with a feather right now, honestly. Sort of dizzily, he opens his eyes and gives a small grin.]

I like it when you're really close. So you have to stay here now.

[nextlineis]

[This is probably the most Joseph's ever heard Caesar say exactly what he likes in all the time that he's known him, never mind since they've been. You know. Together together. Usually it's little hints that Joseph just picks up on because there's a language between the two of them that neither one needs explained, but he rarely just says it.]

[And even rarer than that is Caesar one to make an explicit demand. Saying what he wants... Well, for Joseph, that's just second nature. He says what he wants and he gets it. Sometimes he doesn't have to, but he does anyway because he doesn't want to change it getting confused or overlooked. But Caesar? Joseph thinks even before Caesar's father left, he wasn't good at that. How could he have been in a family that big?]

That's an interesting coincidence. [And he says it as if it really is just coincidence. Joseph starts running his fingers through Caesar's hair.] I just so happen to want to stay with you. What are the odds of that?

[mylegacy]

[Oh. He leans into the touch. Yes, good, okay, keep doing that.]

I guess I must just . . . be really lucky.

[So goddamn lucky. Pet his hair and tell him he's pretty.]

I like that, too. What you're doing now.

. . . All of the things you're doing. I like . . . you.

[Which somehow, bizarrely, feels more intimate than I love you. He looks down, away, eyelashes casting shadows on his cheeks.]

I like you a lot.

[nextlineis]

[Okay, objectively speaking, Caesar is a very nice-looking guy. Joseph thought that before he came anywhere close to piecing things together because... Well, just look at him. He's got a little more of a mature look about him compared to Joseph. Partly because he just doesn't smile in a lighthearted or mischievous way all that often, and partly because he's simply got two years on Joseph. But he has beautiful eyes with a sharp gaze to match and his birthmarks only serve to highlight his strong cheekbones, and everything about him simply reads strong. It's not something Joseph would have anticipated he ever would find attractive himself because there's something always a little threatening about another guy coming off like that. But it doesn't bother Joseph quite so much and...]

[Well, sometimes there's glimmers like this of something much softer. Shyer. And yet somehow it's not like a radically different person. It's still so very recognizably Caesar, but it's the part of Caesar that belongs to Joseph because he doesn't doubt for a second that no one else gets to see this. No one else gets to see Caesar lean into their touch or look away because what he's saying is such an incredibly good thing instead and maybe a little difficult to say, but not for the usual reasons.]

[Joseph hooks a finger under Caesar's chin to bring his gaze back up. His inarguably handsome Caesar is so beautiful right now in a way that is so different and yet altogether the same.]

I like you more, [he teases.]

[mylegacy]

[It's so strange. He knows this move. He used this move. A lot. He was good at it. And he'd never use it with Joseph, because he'd know, and he'd just start making fun of him, and there wouldn't be any point. And besides, Joseph is - is taller, isn't he. Joseph has a few inches on him.]

[And he's tilting Caesar's chin up until he can't help but look him right in the eyes, and then he has to swallow because, oh, okay. That's, that's what it's like, isn't it. To have someone look at you and think you're the most important and beautiful thing in the world.]

[This is what it's like to be the center of someone's universe.]

[His eyes are a little wide - not quite startled, he's still too dazed to react that strongly - but surprised, yes. It's hard to connect the man in front of him with the boy he met not all that long ago, the one who hit himself in the head with his own weapons, the one he hated. He did, for maybe ten whole minutes, he did hate Joseph a lot. And now - this.]

Jojo . . .

[Never in his life has he been so desperate to be kissed. Never in his life has he ever needed someone else to move first.]

[But there's a first time for everything.]