(open) where have you been?

[forethinking]

Who: Ren Amamiya + Bonnie's Flophouse residents + ADI visitors!
When: July 29th
Where: Bonnie's kitchen
Summary: Just Ren being homely, making food for everyone! Curry night! Feel free to make your own top-level, you don't have to interact only with Ren!
Warnings: None aside from the gentle reminder that he was indeed a seal and everything that happened in there. Also mentions of P5 spoilers!


(Being in his body feels strange from time to time. It feels a little concerning to have fingers when you once had a fin, to be able to hold objects in your palm, super weird to have toes, so on. He's been a rat before, but it was for much less time than he had been a seal, and it wasn't traumatizing then. It was actually pretty fun! He remembers hopping around, flamboyantly, eating cheese, doing what he does best! Being a seal, it wasn't so great.

But at least he's always looking forth, with a smile that never wavers, so instead of dwelling on what happened, Ren can make himself useful around the house by doing what he does best. Nevermind him adding a little chocolate to it! It's a family trade!)

Could you stir this for me for a second?

Comments

[simulatio]

Would you throw out the pot if I said I didn't?

[What difference does it make, whether he likes it or not? Admittedly, as much as the question is a rhetorical one, he is just a tad curious. Would Ren abandon all his hard work on Akechi's word? Certainly not for something like this.

He pauses when Ren licks his palm, lip curling in derision.]

What are you, an animal? Next you'll just dip your finger directly in the pot.

[forethinking]

(Nothing about this conversation makes him want to answer!! He wouldn't throw the pot, he'd just make another for Akechi, there are others to eat it, after all! (Not that the fact that he'd make a new one isn't telling enough), but Ren's just going to roll his eyes and do it again, just to be a pain.

Shut up, Akechi.)

It's more fun this way.

[simulatio]

[Akechi just shakes his head, not deigning to drag this out any further. If Ren wants to behave like a child, that's his business.]

It's fine, [he decides finally, setting the spoon Ren had given him beside the pot. He isn't going to just drop a spoon he'd licked back into the pot, after all. Unhygienic, like whatever Ren's doing over there licking his palms.]

Any other lingering animal tendencies I should be aware of?

[If it sounds scathing, well. They still haven't truly talked since the other boy's rescue. Being sliced out of sealskin seems traumatizing to say the least, but they all have their traumas. If Ren's not over it already, he'll have to figure out how to compartmentalize it soon.]

[forethinking]

(Listen, he was unhygienic towards himself, but the pot remains germ free, thank you very much. Ren turns off the stove, moving to wash his hands. Fingers, hands. He'll shake it off eventually, but it's still very fresh in his mind.

Give him a week or two. It'll turn into fuel to propel him to do better next time.)

Besides freaking out about having fingers, nothing much.

[simulatio]

Is that so?

[Akechi watches him move, trying to spot any telltale differences in the dexterity of the other boy's fingers. He was wrapped in sealskin and hunted for sport by a far more vicious version of a kelpie than the weak Shadows in the Metaverse.]

Something akin to phantom limb loss, perhaps...?

[forethinking]

No, it's more like... Dysphoria.

(Or something akin to that. Either way, it's nothing to dwell on, he's already busying himself with pouring a cup of hot coffee and handing it to Akechi before he can serve his curry. Sure that he's not necessarily supposed to do all this, but it's a little bit like home - he can't help but like it.

Gently, he sets the plate on the table, moving to get some for himself.)

[simulatio]

Hm.

[It's not a derisive hum, just a contemplative one as he accepts the offered cup of coffee and wraps his hands around it. It's far too hot for gloves, so there's no barrier between him and the mug for once. Grudgingly, he has to admit it smells just as delicious as the curry, even if it's too hot for an immediate sip.

He'll wait until Ren sits down across from him before extending his own hand, palm up as if expecting to be given something.]

Give me your hand.

[forethinking]

(If Akechi has noticed, Ren's fingers have been much more fidgety as of late, and perhaps it can be exemplified with the way that he attempts to spin the fork in his fingers, failing midway. It's not that easy, not when he doesn't feel used to them anymore. It'll take practice, patience, care.

He's patient towards others, but towards himself, in this situation? Not so much.

Akechi's request is unexpected and Ren's head tilts a little bit before he offers his right one, confused, but willing to hear the other out.)

[simulatio]

[Ren's hand feels warm, warmer than his own, and indisputably human.]

Are you familiar with the rubber hand illusion?

[As usual, Akechi doesn't wait for Ren's response before he explains,] It's a technique for tricking one's senses. The "rubber hand" refers to just that, a literal rubber hand or other false limb. By placing the rubber hand in the approximate place where one would expect their own hand to be, were it present, and applying stimuli, such as stroking a paintbrush...

[Rather than stroke Ren's hand, Akechi starts manipulating the fingers, clicking his tongue with some irritation.]

Focus on your hand, please. Now, the curious thing about the rubber hand illusion is that when one applies stimuli to the false hand, the brain starts to sense it as real due to proprioception. This can be used to allow someone to feel like they can flex a hand to alleviate phantom limb pain.

Now, as for you. [All while he was speaking, he kept manipulating Ren's fingers, bending each one at the knuckle in turn, closing it into a fist, bending the fingers back just enough to meet resistance without attempting to inflict pain.] It isn't exactly the same, but I do wonder if repeated stimuli that could only be done to a human hand, not a seal flipper, would achieve some measure of success.

[forethinking]

(He's trying to pay attention, he swears to God, but it just feels too nice to feel Akechi's hand against his own. Akechi's is soft, not calloused and cold in comparison to Ren's own - he runs absolutely hot, like a space heater, Akechi might come to find. He finds it rather refreshing.

For a second, he thinks about how easy it would be to just take Akechi's hand into his own, have his fingers fill the emptiness between his digits, and his smile is so bright that it may blind the man who has his hand on his palm, from ear to ear too.

Not like nobody knew about your crush, Ren, please allow your expression to betray you further.

He offers no resistance towards all the movement in his hand, it might actually be working, in fact?)

Maybe. It does feel a little better.

[simulatio]

[It would be so easy to snap Ren's long, dexterous fingers. So easy to just adjust his grip, hold the other boy's pointer and middle finger together and shove him to the ground in a joint lock. He could break at least one of his fingers before Ren could even think of reacting, and several more before he could actually do something about it.

He doesn't, of course. But it's the trust that Ren shows, in spite of everything, that leaves him snorting through his nose with equal parts derision and disbelief. That Ren can still be so foolishly trusting after what he's been through... he's either incredibly strong, or shockingly stupid. Probably both.]

Good.

[His point made, he should let go of Ren's hand. When's the last time he'd let his ungloved hand linger in someone else's...? Not since he was a child, certainly.

A moment, then he does let go, clearing his throat and taking his fork to the curry.]

You should see if ADI has a physical therapist on staff.

[forethinking]

(Great that Akechi thinks of violence while Ren gayly stares at the man with the silliest smile on his lips, just very fitting for their relationship, truly.

He has no reason to mistrust Akechi, not anymore. Without a clear objective in mind, Akechi wouldn't just lash at Ren for no reason, or so he thinks.

And he adored having his hand taken, there's signs of a small pout when their skin disconnect and he turns his attention to the food instead.)

I'll be fine in no time, I think. I'll do it if it worsens.

[simulatio]

"An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure"... or so they say. You, of course, can do as you wish.

[Though his tone implies that Ren would be an idiot not to at least find out his options. He sniffs with another hint of derision. Surely Ren could find another doctor to supply him with suspiciously-strong medications once again, if he only put the effort into it.]

Regardless, I meant to ask earlier. Regarding this curry... do you happen to know a vegetarian version of it? With tofu, perhaps, or a plant substitute?

[forethinking]

(He'll live through this, he's sure! It's truly nothing to worry about, they can move on from the conversation, nothing to see here. Look, he's even eating like he's forgotten everything about it and it's not like the feeling of the fork between his fingers irk him at all!)

Tofu or mushrooms could go well. Why?

[simulatio]

One of my roommates is vegetarian. Monika.

[She'd gone on about it being for environmental reasons, which is all very nice. Of course, Akechi doesn't particularly care about any potential fate for the planet, and often thinks that quite a few problems would be solved if it were to destroy itself, but good for her.]

You obviously have a habit for wanting to feed those around you. I simply thought you might appreciate a heads-up should you decide to stop by.

[-And feed him and his roommates, of which, of course, Akechi will reap the social benefits. And the food benefits.]

[forethinking]

Thanks.

(Meaning it's time to dig into the internet for more recipes - perhaps he should learn how to make some international dishes as well, considering there are people from all around the world that are stuck here with them.)

Do you mind testing new recipes with me?

(He needs a guinea pig.)