[Jamil pays for the few things he was confident in and picked up. Nothing was too essential, should this detour end up taking longer than he planned. It was the nice thing about only grabbing the ingredients he needed for one or two meals.]
[Once he steps outside to the street and the relative hustle and bustle, he flips his hood up. It doesn't serve much purpose other than letting him look slyly up at Ryuu from beneath the edge.]
... and now in a city street. [he reminds him.]
I'm pretty sure at this point your health isn't threatened but... are you going to be able to get back to your room safely? I'm sure there's some place along the way we could stop.
[Ah, or, well, perhaps he should have been polite and waited for the explanation before saying as much.]
[If that sort of announcement had come out immediately, Jamil probably would have had a bigger reaction. He might have even gotten flustered. Instead, Ryuu put it off for so long that it was practically obvious. Thankfully he was averting his eyes so Jamil didn't have to feign the shock of "oh no, an aphrodisiac"...]
That would explain your symptoms...
[And, even with the extra time to process, it's not like he knows nearly as much about it as, say poisons. It stimulated arousal and... what else? How would a treatment of that even be addressed?]
It must be a potent one, as well, since you hardly consumed any...
[ for one long moment, ryuu isn't sure whether he should be more or less embarrassed at the nonreaction to his plight. on the one hand, it doesn't give him any mutual fluster to latch onto and apologize for, but on the other... does that mean he already knew...? he sighs pathetically, wishing for the heavens to open up and engulf him in a cold shower. ]
It seems like it... but why would something like that be in the middle of a grocery store? Anyone could get ahold of it!
[ leave it to ryuu to immediately leap to worry about others when he's about to, ahem
[Instinctively, Jamil's pulled out his phone and is starting to scroll through the web apps. He can't imagine the information would be easily accessible. After all, he couldn't just easily search up what the spice was.]
It could be that it's not as effective on the natives, or maybe you're particularly sensitive to it... [tap tap tap]
Or maybe to them it's so obvious it doesn't need labeling.
[scroll scroll scroll]
... Ah.
[He's found something but, well, it makes him furrow his brows a little. It's not surprising but...]
[ his thoughts jolt this way and that, the physicality of what his body is wanting to do rubbing up against the better judgment that's telling him what he should do, which is escape before anything worse than an enthusiastic pulse and oversensitive skin happens.
yet... the noise jamil makes draws out his curiosity just enough that it gets the better of him. carefully, ryuu tries to take a look. ]
Like I suspected, it's a product for encouraging synchrony.
[He's scrolling through a wave of comments left by happy spouses and significant others. There are a lot of heart emojis (and eggplants and peaches). Jamil's eyes narrow slightly. From what the scientists on their rescue ship said, it shouldn't require sexual contact. Well, for people in an established relationship that must just be a bonus. Probably. He's never thought about it.]
And a few reviews are stating that the effects don't die down based on sexual performance alone.
[or, well, as the review says "My BF has come 4 times and it won't stop???"]
Synchrony, the emotional aspect, has to happen for you to recover.
[ it's around the point that ryuu sees all the emojis that he realizes he doesn't even need to read the scrolling text to get the idea. instantly, his eyes avert while he lets jamil do the honors in explaining the necessary cure. he knows that manna shouldn't theoretically require anything more than a touch, the ensuing connection...
but his body sure doesn't seem to know that. wilting, he looks somewhat defeated. ]
...I was just going to go home and try a cold shower, to be honest...
I suppose it would work if you took a cold shower with another person.
[He shouldn't have to restate what he already said. If Ryuu were to simply go home and try to suppress the desire with anything else he'd just still be suffering from it. At least, from what he can tell by scrolling, there wasn't a direct health consequence... aside from dehydration due to, ahem, attempts.]
At very least, we should get you back to your housing.
[boop, boop, phone away]
... if you'd like, I could hold your hand. Something like that might at least calm you down until we're out of the public eye.
[ such a blasé tone for such spicy wording. ryuu colors at the non-suggestion, knowing it's meant to tease him and yet still falling for it at least partly. devoting any of his effort to the nonessentials is getting more difficult as time passes. ]
That's really kind of you... [ considering he's out here really trying to shoulder all the responsibility as if the culprit hadn't been offered to him. ] While I'd like to say you don't have to do that -
[ desperate times. ]
I might have to rely on you. J-Just for a little while!
[It was a bit of a tease, a bit of the truth, and a bit of a probe. After all, Ryuu could stop and say that he actually had a roommate or someone to rely on in this situation. Some people had already latched onto one another and created little co-dependent pairs in this strange place. He could understand it from a perspective of stability but... hm, well.]
... it's just holding hands. Are you really so ashamed of yourself right now?
[It's not as if he's a touchy-feely person, but in a situation like this holding hands was obviously on the low tier of physical contact to be offered. It's not like he was offering a handjob in the bathroom or something.]
[(god, these two are dancing around things and won't just go for a handjob in the bathroom)]
Or, are you worried something like that is going to encourage bad behavior?
[ (please he's a gentleman, that is at least a second date activity) ]
It's - [ how does he explain... ] It's not like I'm really unused to things like this happening, because I was in a similar place before coming here.
[ insofar as physicality being "facilitated" in one manner or another. and sure, there, he'd been lucky enough to have bit more of a support system to call on when things got out of hand, but here? he can't just expect the same right away, no matter what their responsibilities as gembonded are. plus, there are people with him now who respect him? it's a whole different playing field. reliance is a thing cultivated, though he seems quick to trust. ]
But it's not like I can just expect syncing from anyone I come across because of that, you know? That wouldn't be fair of me.
[ he would absolutely trudge himself home in a pre-walk of shame... walk of shame. ]
["Responsibilities" as gembonded wasn't something Jamil was ever going to accept easily. Then again, this was also...]
[... it's holding hands? Was there something inherently sexual about holding hands he didn't know? Was Ryuu just the type that thought holding hands with someone aroused was terrible? Jamil himself has avoided most instances of Synchrony he could so it's not as if he knows about any of the other effects or how it feels. He's simply left trying to piece information together into something he can use.]
I'm offering. What's so unfair about that? Don't act like I can't handle this much.
[ there's a slight tense in his palm, but ryuu quiets into it quickly enough once the feeling of synchrony kicks in, the manna runoff soothing his blood somewhat. fingers closing in reciprocation, he lowers his chin like he's been admonished for worrying.
he's still a bit gunshy, so the tilt of his emotions reads about the same. ]
Sorry. I didn't mean to doubt you.
[ maybe yes, he is concerned about encouraging bad behavior. ]
[While it is "just holding hands" it was also "Synchrony." There's a jolt of something like pleasure at their connection and it catches him off-guard. The feeling he had felt taking the other's hand, don't underestimate me, echoed in his mind in a more desperate way. I don't want to be underestimated by you.]
[Time to swallow whatever THAT feeling is.]
... See? It's fine. Now which way is the place you're staying?
[ ryuu isn't so used to reigning himself in in this context. in other matters, sure - part of his training was in manners, in holding his tongue, in standing there and looking pretty, knowing when to speak and when to let go... in the interest of compelling the hearts of those watching him. lunatia had flung the doors and windows open in many ways, had closed the distance on how he connects to people.
when their hands meet, he doesn't think the jolt will be so sharp, but then again, his body is making no secret of what it wants. then, there's the refashioning of a desire that's not his... swallowing, he turns his gaze forward and wills himself to calm down. ]
- right, it's in the Emerald District, where the Embassy sent us. The apartment complex.
[Jamil had noted comparisons between the magic of his own world and this world. There were cardinal elements. There was a link to human emotion. Over-use would result in a strain on the health of the person. This, though? This was something completely different. Rather than just a matter of his magic being an expression of himself, there was suddenly a way their magic could communicate which was another whole mess of thoughts and feelings.]
[And they punctuate it all with pleasure like some sick kind of behavioral conditioning.]
... Right, I would be heading that way anyways.
[After all, he was competent enough to arrive and fill out all the paperwork in a timely fashion.]
And our holding hands will only stand out if you make it obvious. It doesn't seem to be a huge deal, here.
I feel better knowing you won't be going out your way...
[ like, emotionally better. physically? that's still up in the air.
though the flow of manna does seem to be bringing him down from the most immediate of the tensions that had locked up throughout his body like a band waiting to snap. unfortunately, willing his cheeks to cool seems like it won't be as easy of a process. he still looks... overexerted. ]
I guess it wouldn't be, with manna being so important... but it's not like I can really help it just yet. That was nervewracking!
[Even if the physical effects started to wane, he would still be embarrassed... this much synchrony should be able to avoid the worse effects he saw on his phone. That was what mattered.]
It's fine. [He says it in a way that's so certain that it might be heard as reassuring.]
People are very inattentive. It's very likely that no one noticed in the store. The only one who knows,
[a squeeze of the hand, a small smirk]
is me.
[And there's a pleasant feeling of ownership in that. I'm the only one who knows, I know your secrets, and I'll keep it because I like that.]
[ the brief and unexpected show of strength in the hold on his hand makes ryuu reel, like it's his lungs that are being squeezed rather than his hand. his body makes a half-leap, misconstruing the intent. it only hones on the feeling of more. swallowing thickly, ryuu's chin tucks downwards.
anyone else might consider it something of a forewarning, a precipice he ought to step back from. ryuu, even on a good day, doesn't often think to peel back the action to get at the intent underneath.
[There were levels upon levels that they were working at. There was intent, there was Ryuu's own body, then there was Ryuu's nature. There wasn't anything annoying like a pre-existing relationship between them, simply a kind of heat and fever warmed by the presence of Synchrony.]
[It made it nice to want, too. There was nothing to cloud up the feeling of simply enjoying how someone squirmed, the heat in their cheeks, and the power dynamics of meting like this.]
["Just you."]
[Take those words out of context, wrap them firmly in a cloth, hold them, I hope it's just you.]
And please don't worry. I'm good at keeping secrets.
I suppose I'd just have to take my chances if you weren't the type...
[ ryuu has been pretty forthright so far, even under the influence of the mystery spice. there's a sort of weakened pulse in his emotions when he says it, the involuntary shy back from a bad situation that's bitten him once before. but... if it's between being scarred for who he is and never experiencing anything for fear of it, he'll gladly choose the former.
that's why he pushes past the veil of heat that's overtaken his body. ]
[While obviously the situation here could be twisted or spun into something untoward, there really wasn't anything Ryuu had done wrong. He had been appropriately cautious of even holding Jamil's hand. He was being escorted home with the intent of dealing with it on his own.]
[Still, it was only a mild line of trust. Because he could twist, he could lie, he could use that power to blackmail or betray...]
[... but why would he? He wasn't like a certain octopus that held onto people's dirty secrets for fun.]
[Hm? Was it just as bad to take pleasure in the embarrassment, to hold onto the privacy of the information, and to simply know? No, see, there was a key difference. He wasn't Azul Ashengrotto.]
Hm, you think you'd let me push you around? If I weren't a good person?
[Not that he would even call himself a good person. So, really, the question is more "can I push you around?"]
[ though he's really giving every indication that he's quite mutable in situations where he's at someone's mercy. (in fact, it seems to be something of a talent.) leave it to ryuu to spin it as a positive thing, to cast a new light on an old problem that could lash out and bite him, if he's not careful.
self preservation? low. integrity? sky high. ]
It's kind of hard for me to imagine you being a bad person, like this...
[ he hasn't at all cottoned on to the possibilities that snake beneath the surface, the could-bes and the maybes. ]
[A "harsh" way of putting it. It was almost cute. Pushing someone around was a gentle brush of a term. What if he had said manipulate? Use? Well, if he had said such a thing then Ryuu wouldn't have nearly as good of an impression of him.]
[He gets the point, though. Even if he had been sharp in his choice of word, even if he had worn his potential malicious intent on his sleeve, this was a person who would try and overlook it. Same from the moment he'd tasted something offered by a stranger... a trusting idiot.]
[For now, though, he's fine with that.]
Hm, maybe I should have made you carry my bag or something of the like.
[A harmless example of pushing around, to reinforce the idea that he couldn't possibly be a danger. In reality, it's a single grocery bag, and he'd probably be annoyed if Ryuu had offered to take it out of some misguided need. When he's proposing it, though, it's the simple statement: if I asked you to carry my bag, you probably would.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
[Once he steps outside to the street and the relative hustle and bustle, he flips his hood up. It doesn't serve much purpose other than letting him look slyly up at Ryuu from beneath the edge.]
... and now in a city street. [he reminds him.]
I'm pretty sure at this point your health isn't threatened but... are you going to be able to get back to your room safely? I'm sure there's some place along the way we could stop.
[Ah, or, well, perhaps he should have been polite and waited for the explanation before saying as much.]
no subject
I wouldn't call it my health, exactly...
[ unless the awful pace of anxiety and arousal thudding in his heart counts.
so, before his problem starts to manifest as, ahem, action, rather than words, he decides to just come out with it. ]
Whatever I tasted, I think it may have been an aphrodisiac...
no subject
That would explain your symptoms...
[And, even with the extra time to process, it's not like he knows nearly as much about it as, say poisons. It stimulated arousal and... what else? How would a treatment of that even be addressed?]
It must be a potent one, as well, since you hardly consumed any...
no subject
It seems like it... but why would something like that be in the middle of a grocery store? Anyone could get ahold of it!
[ leave it to ryuu to immediately leap to worry about others when he's about to, ahem
have a more obvious problem. ]
no subject
It could be that it's not as effective on the natives, or maybe you're particularly sensitive to it... [tap tap tap]
Or maybe to them it's so obvious it doesn't need labeling.
[scroll scroll scroll]
... Ah.
[He's found something but, well, it makes him furrow his brows a little. It's not surprising but...]
no subject
[ his thoughts jolt this way and that, the physicality of what his body is wanting to do rubbing up against the better judgment that's telling him what he should do, which is escape before anything worse than an enthusiastic pulse and oversensitive skin happens.
yet... the noise jamil makes draws out his curiosity just enough that it gets the better of him. carefully, ryuu tries to take a look. ]
Did you find something about it...?
no subject
[He's scrolling through a wave of comments left by happy spouses and significant others. There are a lot of heart emojis (and eggplants and peaches). Jamil's eyes narrow slightly. From what the scientists on their rescue ship said, it shouldn't require sexual contact. Well, for people in an established relationship that must just be a bonus. Probably. He's never thought about it.]
And a few reviews are stating that the effects don't die down based on sexual performance alone.
[or, well, as the review says "My BF has come 4 times and it won't stop???"]
Synchrony, the emotional aspect, has to happen for you to recover.
no subject
but his body sure doesn't seem to know that. wilting, he looks somewhat defeated. ]
...I was just going to go home and try a cold shower, to be honest...
no subject
[He shouldn't have to restate what he already said. If Ryuu were to simply go home and try to suppress the desire with anything else he'd just still be suffering from it. At least, from what he can tell by scrolling, there wasn't a direct health consequence... aside from dehydration due to, ahem, attempts.]
At very least, we should get you back to your housing.
[boop, boop, phone away]
... if you'd like, I could hold your hand. Something like that might at least calm you down until we're out of the public eye.
no subject
That's really kind of you... [ considering he's out here really trying to shoulder all the responsibility as if the culprit hadn't been offered to him. ] While I'd like to say you don't have to do that -
[ desperate times. ]
I might have to rely on you. J-Just for a little while!
no subject
... it's just holding hands. Are you really so ashamed of yourself right now?
[It's not as if he's a touchy-feely person, but in a situation like this holding hands was obviously on the low tier of physical contact to be offered. It's not like he was offering a handjob in the bathroom or something.]
[(god, these two are dancing around things and won't just go for a handjob in the bathroom)]
Or, are you worried something like that is going to encourage bad behavior?
no subject
It's - [ how does he explain... ] It's not like I'm really unused to things like this happening, because I was in a similar place before coming here.
[ insofar as physicality being "facilitated" in one manner or another. and sure, there, he'd been lucky enough to have bit more of a support system to call on when things got out of hand, but here? he can't just expect the same right away, no matter what their responsibilities as gembonded are. plus, there are people with him now who respect him? it's a whole different playing field. reliance is a thing cultivated, though he seems quick to trust. ]
But it's not like I can just expect syncing from anyone I come across because of that, you know? That wouldn't be fair of me.
[ he would absolutely trudge himself home in a pre-walk of shame... walk of shame. ]
no subject
[... it's holding hands? Was there something inherently sexual about holding hands he didn't know? Was Ryuu just the type that thought holding hands with someone aroused was terrible? Jamil himself has avoided most instances of Synchrony he could so it's not as if he knows about any of the other effects or how it feels. He's simply left trying to piece information together into something he can use.]
I'm offering. What's so unfair about that? Don't act like I can't handle this much.
[He reaches out and takes Ryuu's hand in his.]
no subject
he's still a bit gunshy, so the tilt of his emotions reads about the same. ]
Sorry. I didn't mean to doubt you.
[ maybe yes, he is concerned about encouraging bad behavior. ]
no subject
[While it is "just holding hands" it was also "Synchrony." There's a jolt of something like pleasure at their connection and it catches him off-guard. The feeling he had felt taking the other's hand, don't underestimate me, echoed in his mind in a more desperate way. I don't want to be underestimated by you.]
[Time to swallow whatever THAT feeling is.]
... See? It's fine. Now which way is the place you're staying?
no subject
when their hands meet, he doesn't think the jolt will be so sharp, but then again, his body is making no secret of what it wants. then, there's the refashioning of a desire that's not his... swallowing, he turns his gaze forward and wills himself to calm down. ]
- right, it's in the Emerald District, where the Embassy sent us. The apartment complex.
Thank you, again.
no subject
[And they punctuate it all with pleasure like some sick kind of behavioral conditioning.]
... Right, I would be heading that way anyways.
[After all, he was competent enough to arrive and fill out all the paperwork in a timely fashion.]
And our holding hands will only stand out if you make it obvious. It doesn't seem to be a huge deal, here.
no subject
[ like, emotionally better. physically? that's still up in the air.
though the flow of manna does seem to be bringing him down from the most immediate of the tensions that had locked up throughout his body like a band waiting to snap. unfortunately, willing his cheeks to cool seems like it won't be as easy of a process. he still looks... overexerted. ]
I guess it wouldn't be, with manna being so important... but it's not like I can really help it just yet. That was nervewracking!
[ at least he keeps his voice low. ]
no subject
It's fine. [He says it in a way that's so certain that it might be heard as reassuring.]
People are very inattentive. It's very likely that no one noticed in the store. The only one who knows,
[a squeeze of the hand, a small smirk]
is me.
[And there's a pleasant feeling of ownership in that. I'm the only one who knows, I know your secrets, and I'll keep it because I like that.]
no subject
anyone else might consider it something of a forewarning, a precipice he ought to step back from. ryuu, even on a good day, doesn't often think to peel back the action to get at the intent underneath.
still warm all over, he nods. ]
...yeah. I hope it's just you.
[ otherwise? embarrassing. ]
no subject
[It made it nice to want, too. There was nothing to cloud up the feeling of simply enjoying how someone squirmed, the heat in their cheeks, and the power dynamics of meting like this.]
["Just you."]
[Take those words out of context, wrap them firmly in a cloth, hold them, I hope it's just you.]
And please don't worry. I'm good at keeping secrets.
no subject
[ ryuu has been pretty forthright so far, even under the influence of the mystery spice. there's a sort of weakened pulse in his emotions when he says it, the involuntary shy back from a bad situation that's bitten him once before. but... if it's between being scarred for who he is and never experiencing anything for fear of it, he'll gladly choose the former.
that's why he pushes past the veil of heat that's overtaken his body. ]
But if you say so, I won't worry.
no subject
[Still, it was only a mild line of trust. Because he could twist, he could lie, he could use that power to blackmail or betray...]
[... but why would he? He wasn't like a certain octopus that held onto people's dirty secrets for fun.]
[Hm? Was it just as bad to take pleasure in the embarrassment, to hold onto the privacy of the information, and to simply know? No, see, there was a key difference. He wasn't Azul Ashengrotto.]
Hm, you think you'd let me push you around? If I weren't a good person?
[Not that he would even call himself a good person. So, really, the question is more "can I push you around?"]
no subject
[ though he's really giving every indication that he's quite mutable in situations where he's at someone's mercy. (in fact, it seems to be something of a talent.) leave it to ryuu to spin it as a positive thing, to cast a new light on an old problem that could lash out and bite him, if he's not careful.
self preservation? low. integrity? sky high. ]
It's kind of hard for me to imagine you being a bad person, like this...
[ he hasn't at all cottoned on to the possibilities that snake beneath the surface, the could-bes and the maybes. ]
So, I won't!
[ tada. ]
no subject
[He gets the point, though. Even if he had been sharp in his choice of word, even if he had worn his potential malicious intent on his sleeve, this was a person who would try and overlook it. Same from the moment he'd tasted something offered by a stranger... a trusting idiot.]
[For now, though, he's fine with that.]
Hm, maybe I should have made you carry my bag or something of the like.
[A harmless example of pushing around, to reinforce the idea that he couldn't possibly be a danger. In reality, it's a single grocery bag, and he'd probably be annoyed if Ryuu had offered to take it out of some misguided need. When he's proposing it, though, it's the simple statement: if I asked you to carry my bag, you probably would.]