Chapter Text
It was great to inhale the outside air again instead of that rocky, damp jail cell he’d been stuck in for the last few weeks. He made some bonds with the bugs that shared said cell and… as creepy as a few of them looked, ‘like that huge ass spider’, they didn't take up much room. The ones that were bold enough to try and climb him were pretty much launched through the jail cells’ window and sent flying, but overall, the stay was alright. Free food, a cold and crummy place to sleep, next to zero disturbances and some below rude nattering with the other cellmates and he’d even got stuck across from Takuya… Who was… ignoring him most of the time, but it was a start!
His shoulder crunched as he stretched, fingers locked far above his head with his spine arching tightly. … In all honesty, to himself, it sucked, staying there was a total bore, the bugs were gross and NOTHING like his beetles, the people were totally rude and the guards never gave him anything to clean his horns with OR keep his hair maintained. They only let him clean up AFTER he was discharged from the place and they didn't even have the right stuff he asked for upon being let out of the cell.
Like… c’mon!
Dropping his arms and sighing deeply, he wandered down the stairs from the dank prison, stepping out onto the street to see that it was already pretty late, the sky was getting dark, the streetlights being on the verge of lighting up.
“Better get back,” he muttered, hoping that he hadn’t made Granny Oni all that worried. He knew that she knew he was safe and stuff whenever he was gone that long, but this was almost a 'month’.
He started in a light jog down the street, hoping to avoid any of the evening rush of civilians. Though, predictably, there were only a few people still out. Food staff and stalls, a few late neighbourly chatters, the old guy closing up shop, the Adventurers Guild, that Thoma guy, some kids packing up to get back to their pare-.
Itto abruptly paused and stared the moment he was about to cross the bridge, that blonde guy from the 100th stolen Vision ceremony and the Adventurers guild lady, Katheryne?
He quirked a brow, mostly eyeing the blonde guy. He recognized him from the great descriptions his guys gave him and honestly, they were really on point with how he looked, even down to the style of clothing, the colours, that horn headband thing, soft eyes and his warm smile. Would it be wrong to sort of describe him as like… a puppy? He had that look about him, a happy, loyal puppy?
Well, that puppy didn't look all that special to have his own ceremony! He looked about as strong as any other Vision wielder, but with those scrawny arms and legs and narrow waist, he looked ready to snap at the nearest heavy wind!
He frowned, still staring and grumped when he saw the blonde turn to leave, heading for the stairs with a wave to the lady. It was almost automatic, an impulse, that Itto swiftly jogged after him, playing it cool as he slowed down at the corner to take a peek. As a normal guy did, he was taking his time on the steps. But that’s just it! Normal! He was normal! He was an all Inazuman normal gu-, no wait, didn't they say he was like… a Monstadt guy? WHATEVER! He was a Monstadt normie!
He growled and shot out from the corner, jogging down the stairs without a care in his footing.
“Thoma!” he called loudly, seeing him stop and glance back over his shoulder. The smile that he saw for a split second was replaced with something tight, shocked and worried.
The Oni opened his mouth, about to continue when he missed a step, his heart skipping several beats with ‘I’m gonna die!’ rattling through his head. It happened really fast! Itto tripped, took a few tumbles, slammed into the blonde and pretty much dragged him along for the ride down the stairs. Now 'that' part didn't feel fast at all, the aches and pains from the rolling digging into every corner that wasn't covered by the blonde he'd automatically latched onto.
“Son of a-...” he groaned and gritted out slowly, lying on his back at the bottom of the steps, or at least at that square part where the shrine kid usually hung out.
The Oni grunted and opened his eyes, blinking a few times. His head hurt, throbbing some and there was something heavy on his chest and torso, the other guy he’d bet. Lifting his head, and sure enough, it was Thoma still holding onto his jacket as he shifted and tried to sit up.
Not that he felt bad or anything, but he looked a little…dirty from the tumble he’d caused. He waited and watched as he sat up on the Oni’s waist, straddling his lower stomach as he rubbed the back of his head and glanced down at him analytically as if trying to figure out what happened, and DAMN did Itto have to save face! He panicked internally. He was there to tell him he wasn't all that special ‘cause of the whole ceremony shtick and then he K.O’ed him down a flight of stairs! That was way more than he’d wanted!
“Uh… You good?” he asked, mentally kicking himself and expecting like… a pretty severe retort, but the look he was given was WAY off! He smiled a little sheepishly, dusting his shoulders.
“I’m fine, just a little winded,” he chuckled and totally sounded it... Winded. The guy looked at him with an honest to Archon smile that could rival any sweet old lady’s-... “Are ‘you’ okay? You took the brunt of the fall for me,” he was clearly observant! In that fall, Itto automatically cradled the guys' head with his hand and held him pretty tight so he could take the damage.
“Uh-, yeah, I… I’m fine,” he was pretty stunned, the guy was so… gentle?- His voice! His voice was gentle! Not his face! Not his touch where he was currently resting his hands on his chest! Not his-... Well... maybe his eyes too? He had pretty keen observational eyes, but like they were really soft too?- .... He really wasn’t supposed to be thinking ‘any’ of that.
“So... what did you want? You looked like you were in a rush to catch up to me. You’re not in trouble again, are you? You only just got out of jail,” he chuckled, the guy ‘chuckled’ at his misfortune!-... Was it a misfortune? No, he’s out of the clink, which was a good thing... Why was he angry again...?
Oh yeah!- “It’s about the ceremony!” he rushed out with a grumpy grunt, reaching a hand up to hold the blondes waist as Itto abruptly propped himself up with the other so that the guy wouldn't take another tumble with how fast he'd moved.
“What about it?” he looked a little sheepish again, but more... shaken? He sort of looked like a kicked puppy for a second and it ‘really’ put Itto off getting all Boss on him about him thinking he was better because he got a ceremony. He actually looked pretty worried about it, like he had some post-stress.
He needed to think of something new! Quick! He sucked at lying though! Uh... Uh... Uh...
“I shoulda been up there, not you!” his mouth moved faster than his brain, the way it was said sounding pretty dirtbag’ish even to ‘his’ ears-, “I mean... like... You shouldn’t... have... gone through that... Must’ve been hard,” he tried correcting himself, trying to make it sound better but it sounded uncertain even to him.
He was leaning there awkwardly, the two staring in silence for a long moment before his heart skipped, thinking he was about to be punched or something. But the blonde had leaned in to... hug him, his arms around the Oni’s shoulders, he hadn’t slugged him.
“Thank you,” he heard the blonde muffle into his shoulder as he was pretty much lying against him, arms laced around his neck. As observant as Thoma seemed to be, Itto wasn’t exactly blind either. He’d felt the relief and relaxation in him. The guy was sitting in his lap, the Oni’s hand on him, he’d figured he was just really damn toned, but what he felt was muscle tension from stress, he realized that just before the blonde hugged him. It’d felt like a wave of tension left the guy.
“What the hell kinda stress did that give you, man. You’re really loose all of a sudden,” he muttered aloud, his hand leaving the blonde's hip to rest on his back. He almost wanted to hug him back... In fact, erase the almost part.
“I thought I was hiding it pretty well,” he chuckled quietly against him. In all seriousness, Itto hadn’t seen it, it was a fluke to save his ass.
“Well, you know us Oni, we see through lies,” he chuckled to save face, feeling the arms shift more securely around his neck. He hadn’t really thought about it until his shoulder started aching from the position, but this looked... odd to anyone that just ‘saw’ them as they passed by. Thinking that, the Oni moved them into a sitting position, not really bothered when the blonde lowered to sit exactly in his lap, arms drawing back until his hands were on his shoulders instead. Still didn't make the position look any better, but it was less... 'intimate' looking?
“So... you’re pretty stressed about what happened, huh,” the Oni concluded, seeing the slow nod he got in return. The tension was still there, but way less than before. It looked like he was finding it easier to breathe, if that made sense. He was calm and stuff.
“It sounds silly, I know, but-,”
“There’s nothing silly about stress caused from trauma,” he deadpanned, seeing the surprise on Thoma’s face, “I wasn’t there at the time, but I’m willing to bet that a lot of stuff went down from what I heard and you were in the middle of it, about to have your Vision stolen,” as Visions were a deep part of someone, no one could blame anyone for getting some form of trauma from the fear of having it take from them, and not that close to having it taken. Plus, anybody would freak out if the Raiden Shogan herself showed up. Not him! No way the Shogan would scare him, as if.
The guys' arms were around him again, his face buried in the Oni’s neck with a stuttery breath. Itto swallowed thickly, hesitating at first before slowly hugging him back. He was pretty lost on what he was meant to do. The tides changed fast on the events within the last few minutes and he almost felt bad for wanting to get into a verbal clash about the whole 100th Vision Ceremony rigmarole.
“It’s... okay. It’s okay, man. I get it. You need a break,” he tried to laugh it off, the sound coming out quiet and slow, not with his whole heart in it. He was... upset? to see the guy change. He had one helluva mask he put up for everyone, that was for sure.
“I’ve had one. Miss Kamisato gave me a vacation after I was hidden in the Tea house until the events blew over,” he replied against his shoulder, “I hung around the estate and did my chores, like cleaning and negotiating with our links,” the Oni quirking a brow with a flat expression.
“That’s not a vacation,” he deadpanned, sighing softly through his nose. The guy sounded like a housemaid and workaholic. He sounded like he needed a real break, one that got him away from the estate and city in general, somewhere to hang and have fun-... gradually, a large cat-like grin started spreading across his face, “I have an idea~,”
After a moment, the blonde shifted back, still in his lap, but he was now sat back and blinking at him with a questioning look on his face.
“Ask Kamisato to give you another break and I’ll pick you up some time tomorrow evening,” he grinned cattishly.
“I can’t do that, I already had my bre-,”
“Then I’ll come with you and tell her myself,” he countered, cutting off the concerned looking blonde before he could finish the sentence, and what Itto said in return only made the incredulous expression grow and become more comical to the Oni.
“No! No no no!” he waved his hands frantically and seemed to start squirming to stand, but instead of letting him get up, the Oni kept a hold on him, stopping him from struggling out of his grip, “I’ve got a job to do and I can’t just-,”
“-Have a break and relax like any normal traumatized guy? Suuuuuuure~,” he teased, clamping him to his lap so he really couldn’t get up and decline his o’so generous offer, “I want you to ask her and I want ‘her’ to be there to tell me whether or not you can’t go~, because I won’t believe you if you tell me that you can’t,” he smirked deviously, seeing him deflate some at his words. He was totally going to try it! Itto knew it!
Thoma was quiet for some time, staring at him with a look that portrayed his exasperation, but only by a fraction as the rest of it was far softer and almost appreciative. Really, his soft and gentle features made him look way nicer on the outside and honestly, anything he heard about this guy, there was not a mean bone in his oddly appealingly curved body. That was a really narrow waist for a guy.
There was one final attempt to get up from his lap and eventually, he gave up, the blonde simply sighing and relaxing against him in resignation.
“You’re not gonna give up on this?” he asked slowly, the two staring at each other. Itto’s grin grew that much broader, basically advertising his answer to the other.
“Nope~,” he popped the ‘P’ in his reply, chuckling some, “Ask her to gimme her reply personally and I’ll be taking you back to my hideout with me ‘when’ she gives me the go-ahead to steal you for the week. I swear, it’ll be the most fun ever and you’ll still get to relax,” he beamed, seeing the interest at the sum-up he gave.
“For real, breaks shouldn’t be spent doing chores, even if that’s your version of fun,” he deadpanned comically while staring at the blonde. He hadn’t expected the light-hearted chuckle that left him.
“Alright, alright~. I’ll see what I can do. Tomorrow night?” Itto nodded excitedly, still holding him in place despite him having given-in to the Oni’s persistence, “You can... uh... let me up now,” the blonde shifted, almost seeming... embarrassed? Eventually, he did let go, the two moving to stand, “I’ll see you tomorrow, I guess,” despite it being dark at that point, Itto could see the 'real' happy look on his face, the Oni smiling genuinely in return.
“Yeah! I’ll come by as soon as I get the chance! Tomorrow evening, don’t forget!” he reminded firmly with a finger playfully jabbing him, “ Make sure you have some extra clothes, but you can wear some of mine if you run out, I got some spare stuff that doesn’t look as badass as this,” he gestured to the style he currently wore.
“Okay, I’ll be sure to. I’ll see you tomorrow,” the man chuckled again.
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow, man,” the Oni shoulder punched him, being playful before turning to leave, descending the steps and heading off in a jog. He had a lot to prep for and a few people he needed to tell, Granny Oni being the priority.
He really had no idea that the guy had been going through stress from it, his excuse had seriously become the dead truth, thinking that he wished it’d been him for Thoma’s sake instead of having that spat he was expecting.