puppycrush2 | week three

Entry tags:

week three | mingle

So, uh.

Welcome to Week Three! We’ve officially passed the halfway point, and after a super, duper successful Match Ceremony, I’m sure the teens are feeling all hyped up and raring to go.

Right?

Regardless, there are a few changes this Monday morning to greet the teens:

First off, there is a new bathroom! Oooh, aaaahhhh. Three whole bathrooms in the house for the teens now. Enjoy.
There is also a set of video games in the living room to connect to the TV. They are pretty much all multiplayer party games like M*rio C*rt. Don’t kill each other.
There are a few packs of dorayaki now scattered around the house.
There is also a piano now in the living room!
On the counter in the kitchen, there is also some paper and writing implements, like basic ballpoint pens. Wait, doesn’t that break the rules?

Tsukasa’s extremely loud and obnoxious voice is not here to greet you guys this morning, which means it seems there isn’t a Task for the week–

But something else seems to be going on.

Embrace Space | Property Damage, etc | Dates | Mini-Event
Truth Booth Voting | Match Ceremony Submissions

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[On this fine past Wednesday, Sanji emerges from the embrace space looking slightly worse for wear than when he entered it. While he's otherwise unmarred, his dress shirt is shredded in the front—and starting to develop dark red spots—as if it's been slashed. There's no urgency in his steps as he makes a beeline for the nearest bathroom, where he shrugs his shirt off to assess the gouges concentrated around the center of his chest in the mirror.

They're a bit deep, but not enough to be cause for alarm as far as Sanji's concerned. He supposes, since it was an accident, the anti-violence measures didn't kick in to stop them. Clicking his tongue, he looks down at the torn, stained shirt in his hand.]

Guess there's no saving this . . .

[ Josuke here is about to start his lengthy nightly beauty routine, which includes taking down his hair, but he's startled by Sanji's presence, which quickly turns to alarm when he sees blood. ]

Sanji? The hell happened?!

[ He's already reaching out to grasp his shoulder, trying to turn him around so he can see the gashes for himself. ]

[He's got a six-pack.

Sanji puts up no resistance, because he has no reason to fight Josuke. He looks entirely unbothered as he glances casually up at him. The gashes are like a crude star etched into his chest, the reddened lines congregating toward the center without meeting.]

Ah, this? It was just an accident.

[ DOES HE ACTUALLY??

Anyway, Sanji looks way too calm about this. Concern is plainly evident on Josuke's — well, everything. The draw of his brow, the tenseness of his shoulders. There's a few hairs straying from his pompadour since it's the end of the day, and he doesn't even go to fix it, because whatever's happening with Sanji is so clearly a priority. ]

Yeah, bullshit. [ It's literally a shape... though the oddness of the cut pattern does make him pause, committing it to memory. ] Who did this to you?

[ His words are pointed, forceful. There's not a chance in hell he's gonna let Sanji say 'I somehow fell down the stairs,' or something. Without saying anything else, he puts his hand over the center of his chest, the wounds knitting themselves back together as though by magic. It's all accompanied by a comforting, warm sensation — leaving no trace of pain or discomfort in its wake. ]

[Yeah, he does. He's also got lean muscle everywhere. These are arms that can break through the deck of a ship with a hammer.

It's a shape that, for a discerning eye, looks like he was grabbed by a clawed hand—and fading like it never was under Josuke's ministration. Sanji blinks down as quiet astonishment colors his voice to see the power in action on himself.]

Oh, thanks. What a power . . . ! I don't feel a thing.

[Well, not that it was bothering him much. His tolerance for pain is absurdly high.

He lifts his head. Josuke's concern doesn't go unnoticed, but Sanji has no plans to add to the panic.]

And it's the truth. You know what's been happening around the house lately.

[ Help. Well, Josuke is politely not going to stare and Sanji being jacked, then. I'm proud of Sanji for not having gay panic at a guy touching his chest. When the healing's done, he retracts his hand, squinting a bit to make sure nothing else is out of place. Then, expectantly, he tries to take the shirt from Sanji, too. ]

What are you talking about?

[ He seems genuinely clueless about what he's referring to, eyes still suspicious. Sanji is still way too calm about this... something's going on, and he'll get to the bottom of it!! ]

[Please, he's tactile with guys.

But Josuke's ability has done a bang-up job of stitching Sanji back together as if nothing had happened. Realizing the silent offer, Sanji loosens his hold on the shirt: An intact shirt is money saved.]

Her arms were different. It's not her fault that she hasn't gotten used to them yet.

[ Once he gets the shirt in his paws, he's holding it out to see what he's dealing with, before the threads start fixing themselves, too. Blood stains come out of the shirt, separating from the fabric and dripping on to the floor, instead. ]

So it was Asa...

[ His opinion of her is not very good, and hasn't been since the start, no matter what she has to say about it, and his tense frown seems to communicate this. ]

That still doesn't explain why it happened. [ He's willing to hear Sanji out before condemning Asa... barely. He's focused on repairing the shirt, so his focus stays there, for now. ] Did she push you, or try to grab on to you?

[His eyes flit down, following the blood's trajectory. Huh. He wasn't expecting that, but he supposes it makes more sense for the blood to separate than just disappear.

Then his gaze snaps back to Josuke, mind whirling at the look on the latter's face.]

She pulled me in. We were in the embrace space to talk, and time was running short. She didn't mean anything.

[In multiple definitions of the phrase. He feels he has to emphasize this, because he really doesn't want Josuke to get the wrong idea and assume the worst about Asa's intentions. She's going through enough as it is.]

[ Hmmm.... okay. That does sort of make sense, given the pattern of the scratches. As if a hand has tried to close around his shirt, and scratched him by accident. Josuke's not oblivious to Sanji's attempts to clear Asa's name, and they don't seem grounded in Girls Can Do No Wrong, so he lets the matter go, for now.

Waving the shirt once to straighten it out, he holds it out for inspection. ]

Fine. Most people would be more freaked out than you, though...

[ He holds the shirt out to Sanji — it's good as new. Josuke does this all without a word, clearly very used to fixing up things like this for the people around him. He rarely needs to be asked. ]

You okay, otherwise?

[ Like... emotionally. It's not so easy to fix that. ]

Thanks.

[His gratitude is sincere as he takes the shirt back, marveling at its pristine condition. He owes Josuke for this, and will probably serve him pudding the next morning for dessert after breakfast. Saved a trip to the bedroom for a change of clothes, he puts his arm through a sleeve and shrugs the shirt on to do the same with his other arm.]

And I'm fine. She has a lot on her mind . . . It was my idea to talk, so I'll take responsibility for anything that comes of it. [He pauses.] Don't tell her if she doesn't know.

[ PUDDING FOR BREAKFAST 🔥🔥🔥🔥 In response to the thanks though, he just shrugs it off. He's never really needed or wanted thanks or anything in return, whenever he patches someone or something up. ]

Don't tell her about...? My ability?

[ He blinks, oblivious. ]

[Well, he's getting the pudding as thanks. Try shrugging that off.

As for Josuke's ability, that's for him to tell. Sanji's not going to police the disclosure of that.]

About this. I didn't notice how deep it went until I was about to leave. If she didn't, either, then I'd rather keep it that way.

[ With some hesitation, Josuke nods. If it was an honest accident, then there isn't really a reason to harp on her or make her feel worse... though a part of him thinks she should know how dangerous those claws are before she hurts someone else. ]

It did look pretty deep... [ Which begs the question: ] It didn't hurt much? You could've bled a lot, if I wasn't here.

[ Though Sanji seems remarkably nonchalant.]

I was distracted.

[Swallowing, he glances away for a fleeting moment before turning back to Josuke. Adrenaline really has a way of blunting pain.]

I've almost bled out before. This was nothing. It would've taken a few days to heal, though . . . so I owe you for that.

[ Josuke shakes his head, then waves his hand. ]

I didn't heal you because I wanted something back.

[ With all this out of the way... he's gonna lean further towards the mirror to inspect his reflection, running a hand through his hair - it's starting to come loose from it's all day hold. ]

I guess maybe for you it'd only take a few days... after what you said about the teeth. [ Which is still weird. ] How'd you almost bleed out? Pirate shoot out?

[Too bad. He's getting something back.

What's this fixation with his teeth? Anyway, while Josuke works on fixing his hair, Sanji grabs some toilet paper from the holder and crouches down to wipe away the blood on the floor before it dries. No sense in giving the others a scare.]

Our dear navigator was sick, so we were scaling a mountain on a winter island to meet the doctor at the top. There was a commotion on the way, and I got caught in an avalanche. According to Chopper, I lost a lot of blood. [He straightens and tosses the soiled toilet paper in the waste basket.] Broke my back and some ribs, too.

[ He makes a face in the mirror, looking at Sanji through the reflection rather than directly at him. Pause.... very long pause... ]

You know that isn't normal, right? Those aren't things normal people can recover from!

[ Not in the time frame Sanji seems to be suggesting, and not without life long complications!! Jeez. ]

Jeez. Between your organs and this, I'm starting to wonder if you're a superhuman, or something.

I'm just hardier than most people.

[That he knows, anyway. He lifts his head as a memory rushes back.]

Ah, right, my organs ruptured that one time I fought a fish-man. I coughed up a lot of blood then, too.

Stop, stop! You're gonna stress me out.

[ Sanji might be fine enduring such injuries — clearly, if he talks about it with such nonchalance — but Josuke worries about people who grievously injured out of his reach. With the people he keeps close, he generally feels confident that he can protect them. When Sanji goes back to this insane pirate lifestyle, though, is anyone going to be there to prevent him from... he doesn't know, exploding!? ]

Someone's gotta take care of you, though. You said you have a doctor on your ship?

[Josuke is so delicate . . . The life of a pirate would be pretty unsuited for him. Considering he has his mother, that's probably a good thing.]

Yeah, Chopper. He's a reindeer. He can't do what you do, but he's got the brains to make up for it.

[ Reindeer...... having medical brains..........

He sighs. ]

So that's who you were talking about before...

[ He'd definitely imagined a big burly guy with double cleavers. His name is Chopper! ]

When it comes to healing, nothing can beat my Crazy Diamond. But I'm glad there's someone over there keeping you all from dying... even if it's a reindeer. [ Which he says with some lingering disbelief. First the sky fish, now this. ] Just tell me if anything else happens while we're here, okay? No need for you to walk around bleeding.

[Chopper can become big and burly. He's talented like that; however, because Chopper is a male reindeer, Sanji feels no powerful urge to defend him from the unspoken accusation.]

Will do.

[It's really no skin off his nose, but he understands that this would be best for Josuke's peace of mind. Speaking of Josuke . . . ]

But your hair holds up pretty well throughout the day, huh? It's only starting to come loose now.

Hm? Yeah. Well, it's also that I try not to do anything that'll mess it up...

[ Like exert himself, be in the pool, et cetera. He's very protective of his hair staying styled. ]

I probably wouldn't last a day in the kitchen.

[Honestly, given how Sanji is about food, he can understand the dedication to a meaningful hairdo.]

Well, the good news is you won't have to while I'm here. I guess that means your hair's safe for another week.

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week three | mingle

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SHIRTLESS SANJI REVEAL???

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