[WEEK 5, SATURDAY POST-TRIAL: Akira]

[spinatalltale]

[it's late. extremely late, well after Magilou has spoken to Lief and Lucina-- the only other two people on the island she wanted to see. honesty, some part of her debates just locking herself up in her hut for the night and not even bothering with Akira. . . she can still feel the frustration bubbling in her stomach, can still feel the way that fear freezes her heart in her chest and makes her want to throw herself into the ocean and never resurface. these emotions are so unfamiliar, and she still isn't quite sure how to deal with them beyond running]

[. . . but maybe, some distant part of her knows better. she hasn't run yet. she can't run now]

[she walks, hands linked behind her back, expression blank, down the dark beach towards where he stands. she sidles up next to him-- her approach isn't exactly quiet-- but otherwise. . . she says nothing, nor does she reach for him. not yet]

Comments

[jokered]

[honestly, he was waiting.

waiting to see if she'd find him, or if everything that was left would be fleeting with his confession. but ultimately... magilou keeps her promise and ends up at his side again; he can tell it's her without even looking..

and though sad, his relief his palpable. this isn't how he wanted it to end, but the burden his off his chest now—he can stop worrying about being found out.]

The last night. [for both of them, likely, though it different ways.]

[spinatalltale]

[she hums]

You make it sound so dramatic.

[keeping things light, as always. but he's right]

. . . Vriska dies tomorrow, and with her, the last of the Sirens. [. . .] I had a feeling things would come to an end this weekend.

[that isn't what he means, but it's what she focuses on. it's easier]

[jokered]

I was hoping we'd get an ending where neither of us had to die for it.

[he admits, quiet. he'll focus on the worst stuff, because it's in his head now anyway.]

But I guess I'll get my comeuppance before this is over.

[spinatalltale]

[her expression flickers, impossible to see in the dark. but he'll feel her grasping at his upper arm, fingers digging into his skin tightly]

Stop saying you deserve this.

[jokered]

[it's funny, how even when quietly agitated, she's still a bit warm.]

Just for you, I'll stop saying it. [...] I'm still sorry, though. That you're going to have to do this.

[spinatalltale]

[that just irritates her more, and she pushes against his arm so he's facing her, and her him. she tilts her chin up, looking him straight in the eyes]

Stop apologizing.

[he isn't making her do this. and if this is the last night-- potentially, their very last night together, ever-- she doesn't want him to spend it being contrite]

[not at her]

Be selfish, Akira.

[jokered]

[for a moment, he looks at her... his eyes are a storm of different feelings. they're relieved and tired. they're sad. he looks like he could probably just cry again from the overwhelming feelings that come with this.

he still has to feel the pain of death before this is over, and he still doesn't even know if he managed to save haru. the people he's betrayed, both living and dead have probably turned against him—and he doesn't blame them.

all that's left now is magilou.]

Alright.

[it comes out, hushed just above a whisper.

she wants him to be selfish? fine. he brings a hand up to lift her chin a little more before leaning in to kiss her with... some sort of strangled desperation.]

Stay with me tonight.

[there are implications there that certainly exist. they're blatant—but if magilou wants him to be selfish, this is where his selfishness is going to take him. even if he expects her to refuse, because it's far too much to ask (and he wouldn't push it if she does)...

if she wants to know what it is he really wants before he has to die in front everyone who remains and face the people he's killed?

it's magilou. it's all of her, so he has one thing to really look back on.]

[spinatalltale]

[for the very first time, she actually feels her skin heating up, from her collarbone all the way to the tips her ears. he's never really managed to make her blush before-- she's pretty tsun, but not shy-- but those implications really aren't lost on her at all. and for some reason? they make her stomach curl in a way not at all unpleasant]

[her grip looses on his arm, hand sliding up across his shoulder, his neck, all the way to cradle his jawline. there's hesitation before her response-- he's already seen so much of her, after all. so much more than she's ever shown anyone. and she isn't really sure her broken heart is capable of giving him more than what she's already given]

[. . . but hey. she doesn't know unless she tries, right? and if it's anyone. . . it might as well be him]

[this stupid Trickster who was willing to sift through her shattered pieces, cutting his hands along the way, to put her back together again]

[her response isn't verbal. she leans in, and draws him in for a kiss that she doesn't break away from, as one hand stays on his cheek and the other cards through his hair]

[that's her answer]

[jokered]

[it's more than he expects, really.

akira's always been the sort to pursue what he wants, but he has the sense to back up when he knows that he's pushing boundaries. he would never go so far as to push for something she didn't willingly consent to, so when magilou hesitates, akira very much so expects that he should prepare to back off.

but then she shifts. her hands, despite the cold, feel warm against him, and maybe it's because they feel like electricity.

he knows what it means.

her kiss is warm and deep and consenting, telling without words exactly what she thinks of his proposition. and it's enough, enough for him to reciprocate, and enough for him to really and truly want to sweep her off her feet. this is the only chance he's got; even if they reunite when this is over, they really don't know if they'll have another chance.]

...Let's get out of the cold, Magilou. [he murmurs quietly against her mouth, breaking the kiss for just that long before doing so again. is it desperate? maybe. will he regret this? absolutely not.]

[spinatalltale]

[she can't respond when his mouth is on hers like this, but she doesn't seem in any hurry to do so, anyway. both arms twine around his neck as she steps impossibly closer to him, pressed flush against his chest as she follows him deeper and deeper into each and every desperate kiss. hers are a bit like that as well, raw with want and emotion that she didn't even know she had. god damn him for bringing out this part of her-- this part that she thought she had locked away so long ago]

[but, hey. . . it being the last night can really do that to a person, she supposes]

[it takes her a moment to finally break away, but when she does, there's a curl to her smile that's somewhat mischievous. her eyes are dark, and her bangs-- now tousled-- hang loose in front of her face]

. . . lead the way, Trickster.

[jokered]

[he's glad, that if nothing else, he could pull this raw emotion from her. that he could see her completely unfiltered in every way—that she's letting her walls down for him at time when he's equally vulnerable.]

I have to sweep you off your feet one last time.

[and he will. if there's any fire that remains in his gaze, it seems to exist solely for magilou as he goes for the same motion he did just a couple of days ago—literally sweeping her off her feet to carry her back to his hut.

apparently, they're going to keep warm in their own way tonight.]

[spinatalltale]

[jesus CHRIST]

[. . . immediately ruins all the romance of this scene AGAIN by shoving a hand in his face]

-- I can walk! Why do you insist on carrying me places?!

[jokered]

It's more fun this way.

[oh.]

And you told me to be selfish.

[oh.]

So I'm going to be selfish with you until morning comes and we have to go our separate ways.

[oh.]

[spinatalltale]

[GOD]

[. . .]

[yanks at his nose :/ JUST LIKE THE LAST TIME HE DID THIS]

You think you're such a charmer. . .

[jokered]

I think I'm out of energy to even try.

[honestly.]

I'm just being sincere now. This is all I've got left to give.

[spinatalltale]

[. . . honestly]

[that's even more charming than him actually trying, and it really eats at her. she stops yanking at his nose, only to brush her fingers against his forehead to push his bangs from his eyes]

It's even worse if you're being sincere, you know.

["worse," and by "worse" she means "better," but hey don't call her out on that. she plucks his glasses from his face and slips them on her own, because. isn't eyewear theft kind of where this all began??]

[jokered]

[he doesn't seem to mind that she takes his glasses. after all, he was going to take them off anyway.]

There's a lot of things I could regret right now, but being sincere's not going to be one of them.

[he leans in to press another kiss to her lips without stopping his forward motion towards his hut. he's pretty committed to this much, at least.]

[spinatalltale]

[now she is wearing them and she looks cute! even though they are way too big for her face]

No. I didn't think so.

[tilts her chin up to return that kiss, but when they part--]

Watch where you're going, or else you're going to run us into a tree.

[s-so romantic]

[jokered]

Right. I might get distracted by this cute look. Even if they're still too big for your face.

[this is fine? apparently now that it's all over for him, he's just not holding back anything—akira at his most honest, even if that also means being stupidly flirtatious.

but he'll focus on getting back to the hut, anyway. it'll be nice to get inside and just... not have to worry about prying eyes or what have you.]

[spinatalltale]

Eh. I think it's the fact that they are too big for my face that makes me look cute. Honestly.

[. . . at least she's settled down in his arms, and is now kind of. curled up against his shoulder?? this is fine. if he insists on carrying her, then she'll go along with it. she's already lodged her obligatory complaints]

[jokered]

Mm, that must be it.

[he doesn't argue it at all. she looks cute this way, he likes it, he has nothing to hold back now.

all that's left is what stands between them and their plans for this final night. the door to the hut. this is fine—akira's proficient and dexterous enough to handle it on his own.]

No takes-backsies once we step through that threshold.

[he's joking, of course. they could be midway through the deed and he'd stop if she asked him to, but he's giving magilou one last chance to back out before they do anything.]

[spinatalltale]

[god he's respectful as hell, what the heck. maybe she wants to see him be a little disrespectful?? geez!!]

[she reaches out and plants her hands on his cheeks, smooshing them together. and then she releases his face, and leans in to draw him in for one last long, deep and very languid kiss that leaves nothing to the imagination]

[she's a bit breathless when she pulls away]

Stop stalling and open the door before someone sees us.

[she doesn't get cold feet]

[jokered]

[well, it's fine. this is absolutely fine; it's not like he really wants magilou to back out anyway. her kiss says it all, anyway. it's filled with so much feeling that it really can't be denied.

even if it does give him that pang in his chest as he remembers that what comes tomorrow will probably hurt the heart he's been trying to badly to mend. but there's nothing he can do about that but try to make it better once they've reunited.

for now? well, akira's a little breathless.]

Alright.

[and so he will, pushing the door open and kicking it closed with his foot; he'll carry magilou to the bed, and...]

(I spent a long night with Magilou, preparing for our final act...)

[definitely taking a page out of milla maxwell's favorite book, "men and women beneath the sheets."

nailed it.

literally.]

[spinatalltale]

[she doesn't return to her own hut that night. honestly, there's no point, since Lucina isn't there. so when Akira awakens on Sunday morning, well before execution time, there's a nice warm presence curled up at his side!]

[. . . with her arm strewn across his face, I'm sorry she's like this Joker. also she's drooling? yeah, she drools in her sleep]

[gross]

[she's a mess]

[jokered]

[it's a good night. it's the sort of night they both likely needed, because things will sober up very quickly as the reality of their day sets in.

for now, she's a mess. but isn't he a mess, too? he wakes from likely the most sound sleep he's gotten in the last five weeks; even before taking a single life, he had been burdened by his role and the incentives that existed behind it. he's free of those burdens now, with everyone knowing what he did, there aren't many burdens left to bear.

save for dying and apologizing to the people who got hurt along the way.

he doesn't really expect an arm in his face. or the drool. but groggily, he just shifts to pull her arm down to a better position before pulling her close to him for the extra warmth. even if there's a little drool.

it's fine.

they've still got hours before they have to deal with the execution, so he just shifts in, pressing his lips to the top of magilou's head. she can sleep a little longer if she likes—she has the bigger burden of the two of them to bear today, after all.]