[ Several minutes pass. Sen is held rapt by the photo; he remembers that day so clearly, but doesn't remember anyone taking a picture of him. With -
Ah, Rin.
He stares at himself across the span of a decade and thinks, Hold out, you. One day, they'll wake up and smile at you the way they smile at me. It'll come around again - the right time, and it will keep going as it does, but Rin will have all those days you promised.
And then he sends it to Rin to print out. They need it framed somewhere, because Rin looks angelic (always) in their sleep. ]
I believe you're due more than a favour, Nova-Love.
[...]
Thank you.
It's strange, loving them so openly. I forget, sometimes, that I needn't keep silent.
My lovely Rin.
[...]
Let me see what I have of Vitaly. And [...] guard yourself, with him. Be careful. He's a good man, Vitaly is, but he is - his life is - complicated.
And if you've been speaking with him for any length of time, you'll have cottoned on that he falls prey to fits of melancholy and sudden excitations. It isn't to do with his mental health, mind.
He's a soft soul, though. Too kind for his own good. Not like the rest of us. Fucking ironic, is what it is, what with him embodying the hypermasculine Eastern Bloc aesthetic.
[...]
Still searching. Give us a moment.
[ In the end, he sends three photos: the first is Vitaly and Sen standing side-by-side, arms around each other's shoulders; in their free hands, they're each holding bathroom signs. Vitaly is clearly doing this because Sen asked but finding it funny nevertheless; Sen looks elated. The photo gives Nova an idea of how tall Vitaly is; he's nearly even with Sen, but almost twice as broad. (Which isn't saying much, really.)
In the second, his back is to the camera; he's in a pool (?) smoking what is probably a cigar. His back is on full display with all its varying tattoos not quite hiding muscle definition.
The third is recent: Vitaly wheeling a motorcycle along, his hair longer and pushed up with sunglasses; he's looking at the photo with a beleaguered smile as if to say, "Why aren't you fucking helping?"]
no subject
Ah, Rin.
He stares at himself across the span of a decade and thinks, Hold out, you. One day, they'll wake up and smile at you the way they smile at me. It'll come around again - the right time, and it will keep going as it does, but Rin will have all those days you promised.
And then he sends it to Rin to print out. They need it framed somewhere, because Rin looks angelic (always) in their sleep. ]
I believe you're due more than a favour, Nova-Love.
[...]
Thank you.
It's strange, loving them so openly. I forget, sometimes, that I needn't keep silent.
My lovely Rin.
[...]
Let me see what I have of Vitaly. And [...] guard yourself, with him. Be careful. He's a good man, Vitaly is, but he is - his life is - complicated.
And if you've been speaking with him for any length of time, you'll have cottoned on that he falls prey to fits of melancholy and sudden excitations. It isn't to do with his mental health, mind.
He's a soft soul, though. Too kind for his own good. Not like the rest of us. Fucking ironic, is what it is, what with him embodying the hypermasculine Eastern Bloc aesthetic.
[...]
Still searching. Give us a moment.
[ In the end, he sends three photos: the first is Vitaly and Sen standing side-by-side, arms around each other's shoulders; in their free hands, they're each holding bathroom signs. Vitaly is clearly doing this because Sen asked but finding it funny nevertheless; Sen looks elated. The photo gives Nova an idea of how tall Vitaly is; he's nearly even with Sen, but almost twice as broad. (Which isn't saying much, really.)
In the second, his back is to the camera; he's in a pool (?) smoking what is probably a cigar. His back is on full display with all its varying tattoos not quite hiding muscle definition.
The third is recent: Vitaly wheeling a motorcycle along, his hair longer and pushed up with sunglasses; he's looking at the photo with a beleaguered smile as if to say, "Why aren't you fucking helping?"]
There. Now we've reached equilibrium.
You're welcome.