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You recently got a new projector. A nice gift from Director Goredolf who was feeling especially generous. In light of recent events, a bit of down time would do everyone– especially you, some good.
So here you were in your room with a free evening, making use of your new present. Somewhat absentmindedly shuffling between the movie library and the show collection. It was pretty impressive, for sure. The occasional title or two would pique your interest. A handful you’ve already watched in theaters or on your own. Some popular dramas and thrillers had your attention; only because before this whole ‘Last Master of Humanity’ gig, you remember the trailers for their sequels claiming that they were supposed to be coming out soon.
This year in fact.
Your grip on the remote falters.
The immediate reassurance your mind made to uplift you rang a little hollow when you were so comfortably sitting on your ass in your sweats and doing absolutely nothing to bring those movies, or the people that would watch them back.
The guilt began clawing up your throat.
Getting thrown around from one time period to the next. Foiling one master plan, dashing another’s idealistic dreams, and now being stuck in a stasis. Unable to further move along this long stretched out end. And here you were biding your time with a bit of R&R.
Your fingers lightly pad at the buttons on the remote. The cursor was left on a comedy. Some campy cop movie involving a silly drug cartel incident. You recognized the main lead immediately. You pressed play, recalling his relatively good reputation if the lack of scandals coming to your mind was anything to go by. Except for his love life– and while you were no expert in acting, the face on that screen was weary and no amount of make-up seemed to mask it. The jokes he was telling to his more straightlaced buddy made him laugh, but not you.
Maybe it was because you knew that smile that didn’t reach too far all too well.
…
Weren’t you supposed to be relaxing?
With a sigh, you put the remote down. Goredolf was right to say you needed to unwind for a while. But you just couldn’t fully appreciate the gift when sliding through novelty entertainment made you bitter by yourself.
Your head turned to a clock. A little after ten.
It’s a bit late to ask for company. But it’d be a hell of a lot better than stewing in your own misery. Assuming someone was even awake to accommodate your request.
“A movie marathon? Hell yeah, I’m in.”
...Was the very enthusiastic response of your Berserker, Shinpachi Nagakura. The fact that he agreed so readily in the first place was cause for you to provide whatever refreshments he wanted, even though he at first insisted he was okay.
“For drinks,” He ran a hand through his hair as he sat on the floor at the base of your bed. “Whatever you’ve got is good. I ain’t picky.”
The two of you returned to your room after picking up some popcorn from the cafeteria. Since bumping into him, your mood has improved quite a bit. Counting yourself lucky he was patrolling the halls.
“You can sit on the bed you know,” You added, sifting through your unfortunately mostly empty mini-fridge. “I really don’t mind.”
“I’m okay on the ground.” Shinpachi replied, somewhat half-heartedly. Picking up on his apprehension, you decided to tease him a little.
“You sure?” you called out, wiggling your eyebrows, "There's enough space just for the two of us.”
“Ah–”
That got him. Returning to his side to see his face flushed red. The way his face scrunched up, like he was trying to scowl the embarrassment away was worth it.
“...Master, please don’t say things like that.”
“Right right, sorry.” Offering a cold can of ginger ale as an apology. “But in my defense, you’re very easy to tease.” Shinpachi grunted in response. He wasn’t quite glaring at you– not yet anyways.
Your Berserker wasn’t summoned so recently that you’d need to be very formal with him anymore, which was nice. You weren’t super into the whole rigid protocol of treating Servants as tools anyhow. Neither was Shinpachi, as you soon found out. And the two of you gelled together pretty quickly. Save for moments like these where you found him more adorable than frightening.
Not that you’d say that to his face.
“Any requests?” You pointed the remote at the projector as you dumped yourself right next to him. And if Shinpachi had any comments about the close seating arrangement, they remained unvoiced.
“Hmm,” he scrunched up his face for a bit, quickly looking away from your figure that was barely illuminated by the projector screen.
“Oh yeah, there’s this series– Fast and Furious , that I finished watching with Takeda,” He picked up a few pieces of popcorn from the comically large bucket sitting on his other side. “That sound good to you?”
Honestly, you didn’t care. Anything was better than watching the blank screen with a thousand yard stare. Whatever he picked would be great.
“Fine with me. Got a favorite?”
“Mmm, not yet. Takeda seems to like the second one a lot, but it’s still growing on me.”
You had to stifle a laugh. “Is it because the races are illegal?” And that was two for two on new expressions from Shinpachi that made your heart skip a beat. “Don’t like the trouble they get into with the law, I’m guessing.”
His lips formed a thin line that wasn’t quite a smile and his eyes squinted very slightly in a puzzled way, as if you managed to find the words he couldn’t. The blue in his eyes seemed to flicker like a candlelight in the wind but quickly changed to a subdued light.
“Normally I shouldn’t endorse that sort of thing…But every time I see Sean nail a drift, and I watch the camera follow the tires…I have to admit that it’s so cool.” There was a mix of mild frustration and unfettered excitement on his face when he said that.
“Tokyo Drift it is.” Pressing the play button to start what would hopefully be a better night.
You were an hour into the movie and a comfortable silence fell over the two of you. Occasionally Shinpachi would change his sitting positions or take a sip of his drink but that was it. His eyes were completely glued to the screen. A small smile in amazement whenever a scene played out, as if he were watching it for the first time. He wouldn’t look away. As for your eyes……..
They were glued to him. The movie just wasn’t doing it for you.
And it wasn’t because the movie was bad or anything like that. Thoughts on the later Furious movies notwithstanding, you’ve watched Tokyo Drift and the first four dozens of times. Usually with friends. Sometimes pirated, other times in the theaters. And you enjoyed them. Better put, you enjoyed the experience of watching them with others, of laughing at the fact that there was going to be another movie with others, and dancing to the soundtrack with other people. And the constant reminder of how Dominic loved and performed absolutely wild stunts for his family– well, as ridiculous as it was, look back at them now, as all the memories replayed in your head made you feel lonely.
It was silly, really. This franchise and your feelings. But knowing that this year wouldn’t have a Fast & Furious film about family to make fun of and watch with family due to a very, very bleached earth was honestly, kind of upsetting. It made you think about things you really didn’t want to. Thoughts you explicitly wanted, and were expected to at a time like this, avoid.
In an attempt to pull away from those thoughts you rested your eyes on the person next to you. A brightness in his gaze you were very envious of. To say you had a crush on Nagakura Shinpachi would be embarrassing but your actions since his summoning made it apparent. Though those ideas seemed to toe the line between adoration and arousal, and you weren’t quite sure where it firmly landed. And thankfully Shinpachi didn’t notice your staring, yet.
And then something changed. He stiffened up. He clutched the popcorn bucket in his hands for dear life but his hand wouldn’t move any further into it. The lights weren’t on, but you were close enough to notice him chew into his lip, just a tiny bit, barely noticeable. But that wasn’t all. His cheeks were dusted pink, making the scar on his right side stand out even more.
Your eyes quickly darted back to the screen. Oh.
A full on make-out session was unfolding before you.
This gave you an idea.
But you really shouldn’t mess with him. Not after he went to the effort of being your company for the night. But the sight of Shinpachi squirming and his very uncharacteristically sheepish expression from a little PDA was already being seared into your memory. And the pressing question of if there were more just like it.
Besides, it’s far more exciting watching him than something you’ve seen dozens of times.
“Hey Shinpachi?” You whispered to him, getting real close; your voice in veiled excitement. “Are you okay? You seem really nervous.”
“M-Master?!” he nearly jumped. “I- uhh, yeah! I’m good!” He must have forgotten you were right there next to him.
“You sure?” you added, placing your hand right next to his leg, leaning closer. “Your face is all red.”
“Yeah. It’s just, what’s on screen, it’s a little…” You noticed his eyes looking away from you. So you played oblivious, tilting your head in mock curiosity.
“On screen…?” You turned to the projection. “So the movie’s bothering you?”
“N—not exactly.” He was clutching the popcorn like his life depended on it. The scene playing out was the main couple sharing a very, very intimate moment together.
He practically groaned at your exaggerated ‘aha’ moment.
“Shinpachi.” There was an excited jumpiness to your voice that he was having a very hard time trying to ignore. Every instance his face would turn away you’d make a point to edge just a little closer to him, with an all too eager smile growing on your face.
“Shinpachi Nagakura~”
“...Yes Master?”
“They’re kissing ~”
“I can see that Master.” He was running out of things to direct his gaze that wasn’t you or the movie.
“Isn’t it romantic?” You leaned into his shoulder, playfully nudging him a little.
“Romantic? Ehh, I guess– wait, no! No, no…well, kinda?” His face scrunched up with a scrutinizing look directed at you. Too bad your barely contained laughing didn’t give it any chance to affect you.
“Tch, is that how modern people interpret scenes like that?” he murmured, not really expecting an answer to it. With a shake of his head Shinpachi tried to answer you properly.
“Romantic or not, I just…” He propped up his leg, resting his arm on his knee. Like he was putting it in time out for moving too much. “ Feel like I shouldn’t be watching it.”
“Not a fan of PDA then?” You asked, noticing the atmosphere between you change.
“It’s not that,” you noted how his index finger hung to the rim of the popcorn bucket, shifting one way to the next.
“Attention always makes someone self-conscious, especially if it's just between two people.” His words took on a wistful and distant tone. One closely reminiscent of his elder age. It didn’t quite fit the man who looked like he was teetering between extremely self-conscious and adorably oblivious “And they’ll get so caught up in that attention, what the rest of the world is caring about isn’t worth shit. It’s just you. And that person.” If you weren’t sitting right next to him, you’d have believed he slipped back into his first Ascension.
“Getting caught in the moment is natural. It’d be dumb to resist that feeling, and showing it off–that you’re y’know, in love, isn’t bad. But for a movie, putting that closeness out for all the world to see comes off as kinda…rude, you know? The audience, I mean…” His voice trailed off, as the words he spoke weren’t quite right, he sat with them all the same. The uncharacteristic mumblings about affection from someone like him gave you an inkling there was more to his words.
You thought you had a good idea of what he was getting at, despite his struggle to put it all out there. “The cameraman is doing a good job then. It’s a deliberate move to make scenarios like this one more invasive,” Gingerly gesturing to the popcorn, you scooped out a tiny handful.
“Just to get the audience invested in their relationship. The whole ‘will they, won’t they?’ Allure is a very real thing and directors know this, so,” your popcorn filled fist gestured to the movie; of Sean having suddenly pulled away from Neela– the main antagonist’s girlfriend.
“They do stuff like this.”
“Invasive…” He repeated slowly. Turning the word over in his mouth, liking how well it fit. “A bit too good of a job, then.” He finally said to you. And you could only agree in turn, not expecting the conversation to turn this way. But you didn’t mind.
Shinpachi cleared his throat. He grumbled something about being thirsty too. You leaned back, smiling to yourself. “There’s more in the fridge. Help yourself.”
He did just that. And as you were watching him get up, the solemnity that dwelled in your heart left with him. You completely forgot you intended to tease him tonight. While that didn’t exactly go as you expected it to, the stirring of your heart meant you were quite satisfied by the peculiar revelation of Nagakura Shinpachi— the him that cared for the seclusion of private affairs.
“Haven’t you watched this one already?” You asked him as he returned to his spot next to you. The snack break was coming to an end as Shinpachi came back with two more drinks in hand as you were pulling up the next FF film.
“Mhm, and I find something new to pay attention to.” He replied with a lot of that friendlier, easily excitable voice returning to him. As if even the most mundane activities never bored him.
“But I’m guessing you have? Want to skip it?” You shook your head, not really minding either way. Sitting at your side again, Shinpachi offered you another drink.
And once the next movie started, he proved it. Because the moment the movie started, his eyes were glued to the screen– ignoring you. Fortunately, his very attractive figure at least gave you something to keep your eyes on.
Yet you pouted all the same. While he was clearly enjoying himself, you were stuck comfortably twiddling your thumbs. And you’ve had enough of it.
So you sat in silence for a while. Thinking of ways to woo him a little. Sit on his lap maybe? Or would he be more receptive to acting a little out of line by obstructing his vision? Finally, you settled on something more subtle. It’d be believable enough, you supposed as you checked your clothes.
“Hey, Shinpachi,” You made a show of rubbing your bare arms together to warm up. “I’m getting kinda cold. Do you mind if I si–”
Those words barely left your mouth, because his jacket was already thrown over your head. The sudden warmth and temporary impairment only doubling your confusion.
Seriously? It was that easy?
And his eyes. You shot an unimpressed stare at him. Shinpachi Nagakura, ever the oblivious one, still had those eyes on the movie. The only difference now being you could get a good look at his arms that filled out the plain T shirt he wore. The bright glow of colorful scenes strewn all across his features.
You mumbled out a very much deflated thanks. His unquestioning and unconditional kindness fizzled the fun out of you.
Oh well, maybe it’s for the best . Slipping your arms into the sleeve holes you found yourself enjoying its oversized protection. The soft black collar tickling your cheeks eased its familiar scent into you. With better judgment and white noise of the ongoing movie chipping away at your dissatisfaction.
Falling back into your new-found comfort, you decided to do away with the teasing. At least, for now.