route_1065 | log ; the rose I kept in a glass cage

Entry tags:

fuji shuusuke | prince of tennis

log ; the rose I kept in a glass cage

Who:

usedlaserbeam
Where: Goldenrod, in a park by the pokemon center
When: 07/30, directly after the text messages
Summary: a discussion about foxes, and the eyes that see them
Rating: PG-13
Log:

[it really is a nice day for the park, isn't it.

he knows that he's there early, for a given value of early, when he doesn't see Yagyuu there-- though really, it couldn't be called early. not since neither he nor the other set on a time. 'now' is so very subjective in the strangest of ways-- what constitutes as 'now' for a world where the land never stops spinning? surely it must've been the moment before that one, just slightly off-kilter...

he finds a nice park bench, and settles down on it, leaning back.

the sun really is so high.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

At the very least, it would solve the prospect of someone getting caught on fire.

[it's a calculated risk, but it's still there-- the risk, that is, of the small creature taking the slow movements as a gesture of threat. it would undo the good that had been wrought. he is well aware of this, even as his hand slowly descends to touch the ground lightly with his fingertips. it's the reason why he hums, peering up at Yagyuu with a contemplative look, pleasant.]

Unless, of course, you don't consider that to be a problem.

[And that, of all things, earns Fuji the first smile Yagyuu's cracked since the encounter began--and a surprisingly natural one at that. Of course, it's partly from the intended humor and partly because, well, there have been days when he frankly wouldn't have considered Fuji set on fire to be much of a problem, no.]

In that case, I promise to utilize it should that eventuality arise.

[the response is nostalgic. dry humour, pleasant. there are people out there who will claim that Tezuka Kunimitsu isn't capable of irony. Fuji supposes that he knows better. it makes him wonder, just a little, since when did he start finding similarities between Yagyuu Hiroshi and his captain.

a huff, mock-sigh.]

Figures. I suppose I'll just have to muster up the motivation to save myself, if it comes to that.

With a capacity for innovation like yours, Fuji-kun, I wouldn't doubt your ability to escape a roasting for a minute.

[And the Vulpix sneaks closer again, almost close enough to brush her nose against Fuji's hand.]

Though I still doubt you're in any danger from this one.

[ah, delight-- it's in the way his eyes flash discreetly at the closeness of the gesture. but still, he does not move. there's a hum as he tilts his head up at Yagyuu, contemplative.] Mm, I'm afraid of getting burnt.

What's your excuse?

Being that she's currently my responsibility, I suppose I'll have to volunteer to protect you from that possibility, then.

[His eyes are alert, calculating. It's the moment of truth--will she find the courage to take that last step? Is there more to this charge of his than he'd originally thought?]

My excuse?

[the outcome, he thinks, might not be one that he is expecting. with her so close, perhaps it's only the beginning. he holds still with baited breath. lightly, absently--] The reason, of course.

For why you're down there and I'm not?

[His voice is light, too--Fuji's not the only one holding his breath in anticipation.]

For why you're still standing, really.

[precariously still.]

You've come so far already. I'd hate to destroy it by being careless.

[And a small, cold nose nudges against Fuji's hand.]

Well, I think there's something to be said about letting your gu...

[he trails off when he feels contact. there's a pause as a smile slowly crawls across the sides of his face, before he angles his hand slightly to let the vulpix have better access to it.]

...guard down?

[He's surprisingly quiet, watching this. Leave it to Fuji, somehow, to achieve in minutes a breakthrough that's taken Yagyuu a week and potentially more.

Then, carefully, while her attention is on investigating Fuji, he gradually eases himself down to the ground, for once unmindful of his clothes.]

[he smiles, crooked, and watches Yagyuu out of the corner of his eyes as he focuses on the little fox. now that she's crossed the initial gap, he lowers his palm down to the ground completely, and let's her investigate to her heart's content. she's made it this far, after all-- there's no hurry.]

Precisely. But unlike what some people might say, it's not always an earth-shattering thing.

After all, you can't be tamed, otherwise.

[He almost wonders, as he comes to rest on the ground, if he hasn't played into Fuji's hands somehow by doing it, as much as the Vulpix has by letting her curiosity get the better of her. In both cases, it's distance being removed, isn't it?]

Some would say a defeat is always earth-shattering, no matter how small it is.

[Yagyuu's response gives him pause. he tilts his head, even with his eyes riveted on the spot next to the little fox, carefully impersonal.]

That's an interesting definition for defeat.

It's part of being tamed, isn't it? Domesticating something wild involves removing at least some aspect of its autonomy.

[He doesn't nod, doesn't gesture, but his eyes move to the fox, to Fuji's hand, and then carefully away again.]

And around here, the prevalent means of domestication seems to be battling them into submission.

[he's careful to follow that gaze, understanding the implications. in a way, it makes him want to smile, if only because it feels like such a natural thing to do. teasingly, echoing--]

Isn't that quite the mercenary way of regarding it, Yagyuu?

[His shoulders raise slightly in a hint of a shrug; they both know it is, and more likely than not they both already know why he sees it that way.]

Which way would you prefer, Fuji-kun?

Mm, I prefer to think of it in terms of the wheat.

[And now it's his eyebrows' turn to go up.]

The wheat.

[a hum]

You've never read the book?

[The only book that immediately comes to mind involves rye, not wheat, and he's betting the two types of grain aren't comparable enough to match. Loath as he is to admit it, Fuji's one step ahead of him again.]

Evidently not. You seem to be quite ahead of me in that respect today.

Mm, well, that's too bad. I suppose it won't make much sense to make the metaphor about the laughing stars.

[to be entirely honest, he isn't surprised. Yagyuu doesn't seem like the whimsical sort of person who'd pick up a children's book and take stock in it. if he were completely honest with himself, it's a little disappointing.

one of these days, he'll leave a copy where the other boy can find it.]

'The Little Prince'. It's a children's book. An aviator stranded in the desert discovers a little boy hailing from an asteroid-- the little prince-- who goes on to share stories of the things he saw as he traveled from planet to planet.

I haven't read a story to my sister in years.

[Which is, perhaps, his version of an explanation--because of course, why else would he read a children's book, if not because he was reading to a child? Such are the workings of Yagyuu's mind.

Though he's curious, now, why it is that Fuji's thinking of it now. So he'll press, just a little--]

And on one of them, he discovered a field of wheat, I gather?

[he gives pause, here. definitely leaving one out where Yagyuu can find it. perhaps even slip it into his bag-- a far more challenging venture, he thinks, but possibly more gratifying.

he keeps an eye on the little fox as he answers, a bit of a smile to himself as he recalls the book fondly.]

Something like that. He lands on earth, and discovers, under an apple tree, a fox, who asks him to tame it.

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