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Raven seems quite pleased that they can still communicate. I'm glad that he still has people he can confide in, despite his circumstances.

[It's a rather promising prospect for all of them, if anything.]

Just think of the shenanigans we could enact if we were to call one another across worlds...

He's hardly going to form bonds—[rather dented but still audible distaste]—if he spends all his time talking to you, is he.

[But he's... ugh. It's one thing to have to go back and dance with Ren. It's quite another to deal with whatever comes after Maruki with Crow and Raven on his heels.]

He's already made some plans. I think he'll be all right.

[That distaste does earn a little laugh, though.]

Actually, I've noticed that our bond has jumped quite a bit. Rank 8, by the looks of it. That's almost to the highest level.

[What? His cup visibly tilts in his hand, as he stares.]

You can't just say things like that. It's an invasion of privacy.

[Yeah. One of those. He shoves some coffee into his face.]

The links go both ways. And just look at how far we've come...

[Is he teasing? A little, but isn't that better than mopey Crow?]

[It is better. But still.]

Yes, on a road full of pitfalls and unexpected dead ends. And elephant traps.

I've faced gods. Our time together was considerably more pleasant even on the worst of occasions.

[You hear that, Magpie? It was pleasant. Mostly. Persistence pays off in the end!]

Only "more" pleasant, is it? Admittedly, if it wasn't at least partly unpleasant, I wasn't doing my job.

[One might validly wonder what Magpie considers his job to be. He sips his coffee again.]

You could be frustrating at points, but I'd still take you over Yosuke at his worst, and Yosuke is a longtime friend of mine.

[Heh. He chuckles a little.]

And I know I'm quite a pain in the ass myself.

Don't get ahead of yourself. You aspire to be a pain in the ass. You're a mother hen.

[Perhaps a bit near the knuckle considering what they've been discussing, but also not as cruel as it could be.]

Yosuke is one of your Inaba friends, as I recall? Not another of your cognitive murderers. [Just a bit too musical.]

Edited 2024-01-02 22:14 (UTC)

Yosuke is, in fact, one of the founding members of the Investigation Team, who used to be a colossal, closeted mess with very little tact.

[Heh. The cognitive murderer comment doesn't even get a twitch of irritation. Crow just takes another sip.]

He's been dating Yu for years by this point, and I suspect that if either of them knew the state of my love life, I'd never hear the end of it.

[Yeah, he's sipping his own coffee for the duration of that.]

Do you think there's something about us that selects for it? Persona-users, I mean.

[The Gay.]

Well, no one in the Investigation Team felt particularly straight... except my dad, I suppose. Then again, he's in his forties, and of a generation that was far less inclined to look inward and question their orientation.

[Plus, Dojima lost his wife. It stands to reason that he just wouldn't have much inclination to do so.]

[As ever, he double-takes slightly on "my dad". But then he nods, thinking about it.]

Isn't there a theory that everyone is at some level bisexual, and it's just life experience that guides us in one direction or the other? If that were the case, it would follow that, having faced ourselves, we're also more open to experience.

Please don't take this to mean I'm open to your experiences, by the way. [Sip.]

There are multiple schools of thought on sexuality, from it being a matter of biology versus a matter of upbringing... Then there are those who are not inclined in either direction, and they're perhaps the most invisible.

[Sex and romantic relationships are just so normalized that the absence of either is seen as less valid for one reason or another.]

And rest assured, I don't plan to give you an in-depth play by play. The dissertation I sent to the other Ren in a post-sex haze was embarrassing enough.

You know, I'm almost disappointed. I could have held your post-sex dissertation over you for the rest of our lives, as it turns out. [He is not disappointed. But he is, he can't deny, curious.]

Clearly it would be understatement to say it worked out.

You have to understand how fucking bizarre it is in hindsight.

[He punctuates his words with another sip. Almost done now.]

I went from "serpent below the belt" to... well. Let's just say Ren quite enjoys acts of intimacy with me and I've gained quite a wealth of experience in a relatively short time.

[He's doing the best impression you have ever seen of someone who truly isn't interested at all. It's unlikely that it's good enough to fool Crow.]

Wait. So your Ren had already...?

[A little gesture here and there with one conveniently-gloved finger: he'd already done it?]

We were both virgins. It's just that Ren took to it like a fish to water, and, well...

[He places his hands together, taking a deep breath.]

Our first time gave way to a second time mere moments after we had finished.

Edited 2024-01-03 01:45 (UTC)

[Wait, what? His mask of indifference flickers.]

What, were you in the Metaverse? I always found it put me to sleep.

[Which is a lot of the reason he does it. He has done it twice in a row, but not anything he'd describe as "mere moments" later. A portrait is forming in his mind, alarming and strange, of Ren Amamiya, Sex God.]

Edited 2024-01-03 01:50 (UTC)

No Metaverse required.

[He pauses.]

Let's just say that Ren found the end result of our first round quite arousing, and our hormones did the rest.

[That's the polite way of saying that he was leaking, and this was apparently a kink.]

Edited 2024-01-03 02:02 (UTC)

[Being this bright is a curse, sometimes. His mind helpfully, and at once, fills in four or five different ways that could be true, complete with imagery. One of them is even correct.

Rather than seem like he's going into a flap, he sets his cup down and drops back in his chair with a laugh. He's fine.]

Dear me, that's no good. I'll have to kill him after all.

[He's flapping.]

Your Ren may be different. And regardless, it would be a waste to kill someone who clearly has genuine feelings for you.

[Oops. He... may have neglected to mention that before now. Surprise, Magpie?

Crow's smile wavers a lil' when he realizes how casually he let that slip.]

Oh, come on.

[It's not news, though his tone might be tellingly whiny. He vividly remembers his conversations with Ren at the party; both of them. And he remembers how fucking strange future Ren had been.]

You know I'm altering his past when I return. That guy won't ever exist, and nor will anything going on in his head. [Assuming it was only in his head.]

You're assuming he doesn't already feel a spark. All I'm suggesting is that you leave yourself open to the possibility.

[Still, Crow's tone is rather relaxed, all things considered. He suspected a response like this might ensue.]

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nsfw text lmao

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