not enough coffee for a clever log title (closed)

[tuberculosis]

Who: Souji (tuberculosis) & Saitou (iaijutsu)
When: Today, just before sunrise
Where: Shinsengumi pad.
What: Actual bedninja Okita Souji invading the best friend's personal space.
Rating/Warning: PG-13 by sheer virtue of Souji being Souji.

---

[with the strange way souji keeps his sleep schedule, the time just before the sun rises always feels like the most taxing. it's a combination of things these days, even more so than it had been in haven. he shifts back and forth frequently between sleeping in the daylight hours and sleeping in the night normally out of necessity, though on those days he fights through the sunlight, he just winds up even more tired.

today? well, today is one of those days. he managed to get through the day (though it was hardly as productive as he would have liked), and resisted his tiredness by slipping out of the apartment and exploring the city a bit. by the time he gets back, though, the sun is on the horizon and he's so exhausted that he could barely stand.

probably not one of souji's wisest moves, truthfully. even if he's managed to keep any signs of his illness at bay, this is just asking for trouble.

which is exactly why when he makes it back to their shared room, souji flops down on the first bed he reaches, which little care or regard for the fact that it may not be his bed at all... or that someone else may be in it. it wouldn't be the first time he does this to saitou, and it definitely won't be the last.

but hey, minor details, right? he's tired and it's not like saitou will care. it's not like he's ganking food or anything.]

Comments

[iaijutsu]

Perhaps.

[Not that Saitou sounds like he's even entertaining the possibility.]

I will need more to be convinced of that than burgers and..."power points."

[Why the hell was that speech even called a power point. It was neither powerful nor was there a blade in sight.]

[tuberculosis]

[at least he's not the only one considering it. that gives souji a little more ease of mind, if nothing more than on principle.]

Mmm, right, right. They'd be pretty foolish if they thought those sorts of things would get us on their side so easily, don't you think? I guess it doesn't matter much, though. We'll just have to be ready, and if they mean it... it'll come to light soon.

Something like that. [thinking about this kind of stuff isn't exactly his strong suit, but he's not blind to the facts and the logical course of events that should follow.]

[iaijutsu]

If it doesn't come to light, it may fall to us to unearth it.

[But that's going to be...an undertaking, to put it lightly. Espionage may be more Saitou's speed than Souji's, but finding things out here is a far cry from the kinds of information gathering that Saitou was entrusted with in Kyoto. Finding out more about what's going on behind the closed doors of CERES facilities is going to take a lot more than just stroking Itou's ego a little bit, after all.

(Though whatever it takes may ultimately prove to be less distasteful. Who knows?)

But god, thinking about how to get an inside look at anything here is complicated and who knows where to start when he barely understands what a computer is and he is so damned tired right now.]

[tuberculosis]

That does sound like a job we'd get stuck with, isn't it?

[he heaves a tired sigh, shifting his weight on the bed a little. it's probably only by some miracle that he's even still awake and conversing now. once this conversation ends, it's very well likely that he's going to wind up sleeping for a full day, like he did when he was still noticeably failing health. whatever — it's not like they have urgent patrols right now anyway, so souji doesn't consider it the biggest issue.]

It's not like these types really like to tell us what's going on, after all.

[iaijutsu]

[Souji's weight?

Totally not completely on his half of the bed right now.

Saitou? Having extreme difficulty finding it in him to be bothered by it (or to wonder about how quickly half of his own bed is now, even in his own mind, "Souji's half"). It's not as if he finds this comforting, after he'd gotten used to it in the wake of his own death in Zelien and then lost it, it's just that -

- he totally finds it comforting and there's no way he's ever saying that out loud.]

Don't think of it as a job we're stuck with. Think of it as being proactive about our own wellbeing.

[tuberculosis]

Right, right.

[he knows saitou's right about that much, and he lacks any sort of real energy to argue it anyway. the longer he lays like this, the more comfortable he gets — it's probably why he hasn't even noticed how much he crept onto saitou's side of the bed.

...or maybe he still just doesn't really care enough to follow the rules. it makes two of them, though, who take strange comfort in this positioning but dare not say a word. why bother? it doesn't really need to be, after all.]

Proactive or not... It was going to fall to us anyway. The Shinsengumi always does the messy jobs. [and he's sure it'll get messy.]

[iaijutsu]

All the more reason to meet it head on rather than wait for the worst to land on our doorstep.

[He rolls over, from his back onto his side - which doesn't quite put him neatly to the side of the halfway point, either, but Souji's the one who decided to drop into his bed and if he has a problem, well, that's not Saitou's problem.]

[tuberculosis]

I wonder how much we'll be able to do before that happens.

[if it bothers souji, it doesn't show at all (likely because it doesn't). he remains where he is, somewhat still and fairly comfortable, despite the sigh he emits. they could do all the legwork they want, but souji's pretty sure they're going to be stuck waiting on a lot things before that.]

[iaijutsu]

We'll find out.

[There could be an ominous element to that, were he saying it under other circumstances.

Right now, though, he just sounds tired.]

[tuberculosis]

It's something we can worry about after sleeping, right?

[he can hear how tired saitou is, and honestly, it's a work of miracles that souji hasn't passed out mid-conversation. he actually might, if they go much longer.]

[iaijutsu]

I suppose it is.

[It's hard for him to admit even this much, even as tired as he is, because once the can of worms has been opened Saitou's pride wants them to damned well finish with it.

Despite how hard it is for him to keep his eyes open.]

[tuberculosis]

Let's do that then. It's not like we're solving much like this, anyway.

[souji's not exactly thrilled about it either, but their other options for the moment aren't exactly appealing. besides, who wants to hear hijikata bitch and moan if they end up not being well-rested when they need to be?]

[iaijutsu]

[Invoking Hijikata's complaints if they're not rested up, honestly, would be incredibly effective here, after certain lectures Saitou received in Zelien.]

Fine.

[As grudging as he sounds about having to drop it and go back to sleep, the fact that his eyes are already closed before he says it ought to say something.]

[tuberculosis]

[that makes two of them, considering it's only a minute or so before souji's breathing gets a little heavier as he drifts off...

and will very well likely end up with limbs on saitou at some point. because that's totally how restful sleep works. unknowing saitou body pillow.]

[iaijutsu]

[It won't wake Saitou up, and in fact, he probably won't even seem that miffed about it whenever they do finally come to.

Though he might pretend to be for appearances' sake.]