inspiteofdanger (inspiteofdanger) wrote in _fracture_, @ 2014-01-14 01:37:00 |
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Entry tags: | chapter 1, flashback, kai, ronin |
'mornin, rockstar
who: Kai and Ronin
where: Kai's house
when: years ago
It was late morning on a Sunday, and she didn't actually have anything to do that day so she let herself sleep in. By the time Kai ghosted silently into her living room, with a bowl of cereal. She arched a brow as she saw Ronin there, crashed out and snoring softly on her couch. He'd only managed to get one boot off, it seemed, and the other was tipped over on it's side on the floor. Smirking to herself, she got the remote, walked around the coffee table, then dropped directly down onto his stomach, propping her Cthulhu slipper clad feet up the coffee table as she flicked the tv on, as if he weren't there at all.
Ronin was enjoying his sleep as he usually did. Sleep was a good thing. They were almost as close as he and Kai. She was prettier, of course. He always reassured her of that. But at this point, he was completely immersed in some form of mildly euphoric dream state and very much in no hurry to leave sleep behind. Until he was suddenly exploded into reality as everything on the inside attempted to expel itself onto the outside and a heavy weight was left in its wake. Well, not so heavy, but he protested loudly. “What the hell, Kai?” he grumped and shoved at her elbow.
She grinned, but didn't move. “Oh y'know. Goin about my morning. Open,” she said, reaching out to tap his chin. She kept tapping until he deemed it a good idea to just go with it.
He gave her a very dark look that sent death threats and angry, rabid bunnies. “Your morning doesn’t belong on top of me. How many times do I have to remind you of that?” He wrinkled his nose as she tapped his chin, loathe to open his mouth in case she shoved something unseen into it. But she was annoying him so he finally went with it, opening tentatively.
“See, and I find that conflicting, because I come out here, and low and behold, there's you, on the couch. So, I say to myself. 'That Ronin. He clearly desires to be sat on.' So really? I'm just giving you what you want,” she said matter-o-factly. Then when he opened his mouth, she carefully got a spoonful of her cereal, scraping the spoon against the bottom of the bowl so she didn't drip milk on him and she gave him a bite. “Have food. It's nummy.”
"I have told you that I don't see myself as furniture," he said dryly. "And when I want to be sat on, it's not like this." He cleared his throat. "This better not be bran flakes," he mumbled as he chewed, making a face like it was the most horrible thing he'd eaten even though it wasn't. "You're regulating my sleep already, I don't need you regulating my regularity too."
“It's froot loops, dumbass,” Kai giggled. Then she relented and slid off of him, to the very edge of the couch. She wanted to lean back, but was waiting to see if he was going to turn on his side so he could keep lying down, and she could lean back against him. She held out another spoonful for him. Occasionally she did wonder who fed him and how often. “And never, ever discuss 'regularity' with me again. Gross. Tell me not gross things, like...” she paused and wracked her brain. “Like if you're ever going to finish that song you were telling me about like, a billion years ago. Because, it's been a billion years now. You started talking about that when there were dinosaurs roaming the earth. Or, y'know, the sandbox, but whatever, semantics.”
Ronin couldn't help but chuckle though that kind of hurt because she was on his stomach. When she moved he did turn on his side, pressing back as far as he could because he didn't mind her leaning on him. Not really. Or the next spoonful that came his way. "You're a froot loop, by the way. You're the one who tried to force evacuate me by flopping down all ten tons of yourself," he grumbled but he was smiling now. "Have I been asleep that long? That explains why you look so old and haggard," he shot back at her. "I finished it last night. Hence the sleeping on your couch. It was a celebratory romp with my favorite piece of furniture."
She scooted back on the seat to comfortably lean back on him, laughing. “I agree to being a froot loop, I'm colorful, taste great and probably get soggy in milk, but doesn't everyone? And I do not weigh ten tons? I'm like, a midget, almost! I don't even break into three digits, soaking wet!” She stuck her tongue out at him and took another bite for herself before offering another to him. Which she gasped and took back with the 'old and haggard' comment, even if she wasn't actually offended. But she played it like she was. “And I'm sorry, was that something about celebration? I couldn't hear you over the plotting of your imminent demise. 'Here lies Ronin, He Didn't Know How To Keep His Jerky Jerk Jerk Mouth Shut'...”
He sort of curled a bit around her. He wasn't sure why but he always seemed to do it. Maybe he was furniture. "Okay, if I can't talk about regularity with you, you cannot talk about tasting like anything to me. Nope. Thanks." He grinned at her protest about her weight. She really was a tiny thing, that could have been also why he curled around her. It was sort of protective. "Oh good grief! My Jerky Jerk Jerk Mouth would have stayed shut if you hadn't woke me up!" he cried and then laughed, poking at her ribs.
Kai secretly loved when he wound up on the couch, because she liked this sort of thing. It was quiet, and they were comfortable there, and she didn't think too hard about what she liked about it. At least, she didn't unless she was thinking about it while she was on the cusp of falling asleep, thinking of him curled up with her like that. She opened her mouth to retort but then he poked her and she squeaked, immediately curling up. Kai was pretty horrendously ticklish, and he knew it. “You're gonna get milk all over both of us!” she accused, though it was with a laugh, and she did give him another bite. “Now I demand news of the song! Tell me!”
"I guess we'll get soggy together then, froot loop," he teased but he stopped poking. He didn't really want to get wet. He thought a moment about teasing her more about the song and then decided to tell her because he'd wanted to anyway. "It's a moody ballad with a great guitar pick up on the chorus. Well, in my head it is. The lyrics are about a guy who finds himself a star in the night sky to look down on the girl he loved but waited too long to tell. I guess I'm still going through my Gillian phase but I think the idea translates well to mainstream, right?"
Kai listened, and then gave him an 'awww!' look. It softened her features even more, and she leaned over and smooched his temple. “You get that done, Ro? And you are going to be a hit. Because that shit is the stuff of legends. Every girl in the world would feel like that's about her, or that they would want someone to think of them like that.” Including her. “So, that's a big yes. That will translate to mainstream like you wouldn't believe. Seriously. I can't wait to hear it – you're not gonna make me wait, are you?”
Ronin lifted a brow, waiting to be teased. He knew he was the sappy, sentimental guy. The nice guy. But she followed with affection and encouragement and he couldn't complain. Not in the least. "Wow, I need to run all my songs by you from now on. Every girl would want someone to think of them like that?" he asked, incredulous. "I think I just got forced into watching too many chick flicks." He thought again for a moment before he gave her a dry run of the lyrics in his trained baritone. "And she looks up at me each night. Like there's something there for her in the moonlight. She sees me, just me, at the heart. Why couldn't I have let her know from the start?" He made a face. It wasn't always comfortable sharing his songs yet but he knew he had to and who better than Kai?
“And that's why Gillian sucked ass, and you are never to speak to her again, and I'll punch her teeth out if she comes near you again,” Kai said simply, sweetly. “She was a romantic comedy girl! How sucktastic is that? Let me tell you. Tons, that's how much.” When he started to sing, she put her cereal down on the table, and shifted more toward him to watch him as he sang. She truly loved it when he did. He had a voice she appreciated, low tones with a slight scratch to it that made it sexy. Sure, she wouldn't use that word when she talked to him about it, but she knew it was there. She just couldn't say it without blushing. Or think it without blushing which was why her cheeks were just a tiny bit warm as she gave him her rapt attention, lightly biting her lower lip.
“I think it's beautiful,” she told him. “And people really respond to stuff like that, y'know? Who doesn't have someone in their past that they miss like that, or know they screwed up with, or got away, or something? You'd be hard pressed to find someone who didn't find that tugging their heartstrings,” she assured him. She did believe in him and that showed through clearly. She'd always encouraged him with his music.
Ronin gave her an amused look. "I think I don't have a choice in that matter, to be honest. She informed me yesterday morning that she was moving to Burundi. Where the hell even is Burundi and why would someone who looked like Gillian want to move there?" he asked, his mouth twisting to the side a bit. "I do know it was sucktastic. I'd rather watch a good horror flick and you know it. Hell, she knew it but I was blind. Love really does make you blind, doesn't it?" He sighed.
He wasn't sure why her face had changed colors and he was a little afraid to ask until she encouraged him further. It felt like such a genuine reaction that he couldn't help but thank her. And the only means he had was leaning forward to kiss her upper arm. "Thank you, you're the best. I guess I need to work more on finding band members and then a contact, eh? You really think I have a shot?"
“You remember when I was going out with Rick. I was going to dye my hair blonde. Blonde, because he liked blondes. You talked me out of it thank god, but I was so going to do that. So, that's the wrong word. I think the right one is stupid. Not blind, just dumb,” Kai said, though she wasn't actually poking fun at him. “And Burundi seems like far enough away that I won't have to kill her in her sleep, so hey, sounds good to me.” She knew he was still sore over the girl. She already had a plan forming in her mind for what to do about it, too. With Ronin, it wasn't a sit around and eat ice cream and cry thing, it was a rent the bloodiest, worst horror movies they could find and sneak beers thing.
She smiled at the little kiss on her arm, and she leaned over him, so she could meet his eyes, green to blue. “Ronin, you are very talented. You've got music in your soul, and it's beautiful, and you have a shot. More than a shot. This is going to happen for you. I'm gonna help. So, yes. Get on that gathering a band thing.”
Ronin gave her dead eyes. "Rick and Gillian would have made a good couple. If they hadn't run off together, I probably would have told them so. I'm sorry for that, by the way. Not sorry you didn't dye your hair blonde though." He tugged lightly at the bottom ends of her dark hair, curling in a bit more unconsciously. Maybe he'd subconsciously known she was going to get intense like that. He absorbed her firm, upbuilding speech and then smiled. "And one day? You're going to be in one of my music videos. Lead."
“I'm over it,” she assured him. Which she was, really. Did it suck? Sure. But she realized she didn't actually miss Rick so much as she missed feeling like someone wanted her. But her self esteem wasn't wrapped up in whether or not she had a man. “He was a dick anyway. And they can suck iii-iii-iiit.” She singsonged the last part. “And I would make a terrible blonde. Never let me think about stuff like that,” she requested. When he said she was going to be in a video of his one day, she beamed at him. “Seriously? Wait, you sure you want to sign up for that? I mean, I'm not the model you know. Sure you wouldn't want Mai to walk around and look longing? Because I assume that would be my job. Here, I'll show you.” She stood up, went around the corner so he couldn't see her, then waited a beat.
Then she slowly stepped back into view, not looking at him, and she leaned against the wall. She looked down, face near her shoulder, allowing her hair to fall over her chest as she gripped her upper arms, hugging herself. She looked up like she heard a chord change in a song, then quickly dropped to the floor, laying out with her hair fanned across the floor like ribbons. She lighted one hand on her chest, and looked at him longingly, which wasn't a difficult task. Then she reached a hand out to him. She held it for a moment then smiled.
Ronin raised a brow. She was rather effusive for being over someone but he didn't say anything. Teasing about exes wasn't something he did unless they hadn't hurt her. Bumbling idiots who made her laugh in retrospect, yes. Assholes, no. He snorted, taking more into account what she'd said about dyeing her hair blonde. "Yeah, no blonde for you. You're not allowed to think about that," he said firmly. "Or changing yourself for anyone." That was one of the red flags that he shouldn't tease her about Rick. That she'd ever think of changing herself that drastically for him because he'd been insensitive enough to actually tell her he prefered something other than what she was. He gave her an appraising look and couldn't understand who'd ever leave her. Certainly not Ronin. He was a lifer. "Can you see me not laughing if Mai looked at me like that. I don't think she can stand me. She'd end up looking sick the entire time and we'd have to reshoot anyway."
He pushed himself up on one elbow to watch her, disbelieving the fact she'd give him fodder with which to tease her. He watched her performance, pulling himself up to a sitting position when she went onto the floor and crossing his legs as he sat sideways, elbows on his knees and brows lifted. That last look she gave him before smiling pinged off something inside him and he shifted uncomfortably for some reason then laughed as he realized what had happened. "Well you're convincing, I'll give you that. Almost had me believing you wanted me oh so longingly," he said, his last words a bit breathless and playfully effeminate, fanning himself. Then he laughed again. "You have the job. Now I have to figure out what song would require all that angsty goodness in Cthulu slippers."
She grinned at him, secretly happy that he was even thinking about including her like that. And, knowing him, he'd follow through, too. She sat up, and batted her eyelashes at him. "A song called 'I even want her on Sunday morning'?" she suggested. Then she sat up straight. "Oh! Stay there!" she commanded, then went dashing out of the room.
He mouthed the words, "I even want her on Sunday morning…" One brow raised thoughtfully and then he nodded. "I think I could make that work. In fact, I even have a few ideas already. Huh. I'm tapping you again for song ideas some time, girl." He laughed lightly when she told him to stay put, figuring she must be going for her camera. He shook his head. What in the world did her eye catch now?
He was proved right, of course, when she came back with her camera. She crawled right up onto the back of the couch, almost fully behind him but not quite. "I'll write down song ideas for you," she said, mind already working on framing him in the shot. "Okay, turn your head just a little toward me, but don't look at me. Find a spot and give it your best 'I'm deep' look. And no Blue Steel bullshit, mister!"
Ronin gave her the same look he always did when she chose a strange angle or any angle at all with him for no apparent reason. He attempted to give her what she was asking for. Looking back again toward where she'd been but then turning his head slightly toward where she actually was. He did his very best not to suck in his cheeks for Blue Steel. She knew him too well. Instead he looked where she'd been a moment ago, channeled how he'd felt when she'd given him that longing look, and set his face.
And there it was. She snapped the picture then made a happy sound. "That was perfect!" she told him. "Okay, lie down," she told him. He was a good model, in her opinion. She didn't really like the plastic look of other models and he didn't have that. He was just...real. Ronin, who deserved immortalization. Plus, no matter what anyone said, she thought he was damn photogenic.
Ronin gave her a more concentrated look this time. It was a question, really. Why was he lying down? Still he found himself doing as he was asked. He settled in and took a deep breath. Letting it out, he turned his eyes to her. His expression was slightly dark, but there was a glint in his eyes that spoke of mischief or hidden stories left to be told. He knew the drill.
Kai took another quick shot, then moved, curling one leg underneath her on the back of the couch, and she stretched the other toward him, resting her slipper-clad-foot by his shoulder, her leg slightly across his chest. Then she took another shot, with just her leg in there, almost more just a hint of it than a full blatant shot. Then she moved again, planting her feet on either side of his hips as she angled the camera down at him. "Show me your inner rock star."
Ronin watched her and realized what was happening pretty quickly. He simply settled in for the strangeness and waited it out. Not sure what else he could do until she directed him. He knew better than to poke fun at what she loved. She was very good at it and when he looked at the shots after she was done he was always more than impressed. He just never knew what to do with himself when she wanted him to be serious and sexy or whatever. He glanced at her Cthulu slippers and then up at her. He gave her an almost bitchy expression that then turned somewhat humble, more representing who he was.
She snapped a few pictures there, getting the transition between his bitchy look and the humble one. Then she squatted down over him, reframing the shot. "Okay, Ro, this is the shot for the ladies. Look directly into the camera, and tell everyone out there just how soulful, sexy and present you are. Look at the camera like this is your best girl, looking down at you."
There was something strange about how he felt when she got closer, squatting over him. He felt his brows knit slightly for a moment before he discarded it. He put on his best come hither stare, doing as he was asked by looking right into the camera. Except when she said he needed to look like it was his best girl looking down at him, the fact she was looking down at him gave him pause. He had no idea what his face looked like then in response to that but it translated through to being just a reaction to how convincing she could be. And he laughed a moment later.
Kai snapped a lot of pictures when he was going through it all, and she loved the laugh which she captured too. Then she pulled the camera away from her face to rest against her shoulder, right near the heart tattooed there. She was beaming at him. "Welcome to your first day of being a rock star, Ronin," she said, tone warm and full of affection.
Ronin gazed up at her, an almost Cheshire Cat smile on his face. "You know you're the only reason I'd ever be remembered if I died. I don't know what voodoo you do, but I know it's magic.” He sat up, his face very close to hers when he did. "What are you going to do with those anyway?" he asked.
Kai made a face at him. "Bullshit!" she called. "You are the stuff of legends, my friend." She might have said more, but then he was very close to her, and her stomach gave a little flutter, out of the blue. "I'm going to do cool things to most of them, and keep them for your portfolio when you need it, and the one of my leg and slipper in it I'll keep for like ten years then leak it online. Then you can go do interviews about the mysterious girl in the photo, and you can make up a super kick ass story however you want your image to be tilted then."
Ronin chuckled at the face she made, giving her the one he always did that was meant to communicate she should be careful or her face was going to stay that way. He liked that they had gotten to a place in their friendship where the teasing only had to happen via facial expressions at times. “If that’s true then so are you, my friend. Because we both know I’m nothing without you,” he said, his tone playfully dramatic again. He scooted back a little because he could barely look at her from that angle and laughed at her explanation. “Now there’s a challenge. Especially since it’s that particular slipper. I’ll make it a tragic story about my kid sister who disappeared when she tripped on Cthulhu and the great god took her away somewhere.” He sniffed.
Kai made another face at him then nudged his side. "Make room," she said, shifting to get off the couch, she wanted to stretch out with him, show him the pictures. "And fine, fine. You're right. You're nothing without me, and to forget such things will be your ultimate downfall. Like, trip and fall face first into molten hot magma levels of downfall, we're talkin. Downfall that will be epic only in it's tragedy." She laughed at the story. "Yeah? You're going to say your sister had her leg sprawled over your chest like that?" she posed, arching a brow. "Also, don't bait Cthulhu. It's just not the smart move."
Ronin smirked at her face but did as requested. He scooted over as far as he could though she didn’t really require much room. He leaned against the side of the couch and folded his hands behind the back of his neck. “Mmhm, see I already know that. Which is why I don’t stray very far away from your couch,” he said lightly, continuing to smirk. He quirked a brow and laughed. “Um we’re very close?” he offered as a reasoning though that was pretty much the stupidest excuse he could ever come up with. “Of course, that would build more intrigue because no one would believe it. I think I see a way of spinning some pretty good press here. Without baiting Cthulhu too much.”
“My couch is magic,” Kai said with a nod. “Ancient Navajo Magics and all,” she added sarcastically with a wiggle of her fingers, unable to hide the smirk in return to his. She dropped down next to him, scooching enough so they could both comfortably see the pictures as she started to slowly go through them. “See?” she asked, showing him one of the sexy shots. “You're going to be everyone's new Band Boyfriend. It'll be great.”
Ronin glanced over at her as she scooted inward, rolling his eyes at her magical couch speech. "Was it blessed by an ancestor?" he asked, only teasing that an ancestor would bless a couch. He watched her go through the pictures, seeing just himself. He knew there was artistry in the angles she'd chosen and even the impromptu lighting she'd caught. But it was just him. Ronin. Still he couldn't resist asking, "You think there will be posters and pull out pages in Tiger Beat? Bop? Teen Vogue?"
Kai giggled. “Um, yeah, of course there will!” she said, getting through them and putting her camera on the coffee table. When she spoke next it was in her best valley girl affectation. “Cuz like, oh my god! You're so totes hot! And like, sooooo deep? Like, cray-cray deep. Like you would be the best boyfriend evar, and like, even if you were on the road? You'd like call me all the time, and never ever look at another girl, cuz you're so awesome like that!” she said. She dropped the voice and smirked at him. “So will sayeth fifteen and sixteen year old girls everywhere. Well. And like forty year olds who are still into the same music they were into when they were in highschool. Them too.”
Ronin listened to her and wrinkled his nose further and further until he was almost scowling at her. "Seriously, you need to stop because, one? Yuck. And two? Mai's going to hear you making fun of her crush on me." He tried not to burst out laughing but a couple chuckles escaped. Then he turned serious again. "Really though. You think fame will go to my head to the point I wouldn't be faithful to someone or are you just making fun of high school girl crushes?" He made another face. "I'm kind of re-thinking this fame thing. I think I'd rather just be a garage band. Or maybe migrate to Europe."
Kai rolled over on the couch so she was on her stomach and she could look him in the eye better. She propped her cheek on one hand and smirked. “Whatever, Mai's crush on you was over the second she discovered her first love – the mirror,” she teased. “And I'm making fun of high school girls, of course! I know them well, y'know.” She winked. “And no, fame isn't going to go to your head. All those other asses out there who did? They didn't have what you have going for you! So don't worry. No re-thinking. You're fine!”
Ronin had the odd thought that he was close enough to kiss her when she rolled over. There wasn't really any emotion attached to it as far as he could tell. Just proximity. He raised a brow at her and chuckled. "I'm telling! First chance I get to pay you back for something, Mai is getting an earful!" He was only teasing as he'd done a thousand times before. He listened to her reassure him and gave her a questioning look. "What do I have going for me that the other assholes out there didn't? Because I've watched enough musician biographies to know that there are a lot of different types of musicians out there and most of them sell out."
Swatting his shoulder playfully, she crossed her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him. “Don't start telling on me, Ronin Cross. Or I might start telling on you, and then we'll have to play the 'who has more dirt' game, and no one wants that!” When he asked what he had going for him, she leaned in close and rubbed the end of her nose against his in an eskimo kiss for a second. “Me, of course,” she said as if he should have know. Then she moved back again. “Like I'd let fame go to your head or anything like that. You wouldn't want me breaking out my Stern Look! So you'll be fine.”
Ronin tried to dodge her swat but ended up laughing at her threats. "You have no dirt on me! I own all my badness. And I don't care what Mai thinks of me either. Who would you tell?" He gave her raised brows in challenge but only because he knew she could stand up to it. He wanted to see what she'd say because he knew it would make him laugh. He fell quiet though when she eskimo kissed him and proclaimed herself the reason fame wouldn't go to his head. He was a beat behind in agreeing. "You're right, too right. No stern look needed. There will be no fame-large heads."
“Um, do we need to go in to my sixth grade birthday party? Because we can! I can throw down with the best of them, and I'm pretty sure everyone would want to know about that! I'll spread it around in places you haven't even thought of yet!” she declared. “So don't mess with the bull, young man,” she warned, unable to stop the little giggle that went with it. “Also you'd look super silly with a balloon-head. So I won't let you go there. You'll just have that nice fame thing going out there. Liiiike...Hanson. They're totally all grown up and married with kids, and still doing shows too, and they don't seem fucked up at all.”
Ronin turned on his side more to face her and gave her a look. "Your sixth grade birthday. Do you really think anyone will believe you anymore? It's been so long. I don't think even the people there remember what happened. I know I don't," he said even though he clearly did and was clearly bluffing. He stuck his tongue out at her when she said not to mess with the bull. He grinned as she giggled though. "I really would look terrible with a large head. I appreciate your discresh- Hanson? Seriously. You just compared my music to Mm-Bop." He pushed his lips out in a less than impressed pucker.
“Not your music!” Kai insisted immediately. “Hell no! Just y'know, they're the only example I can think of right now of clearly not fucked up musicians that made it big! And hey, put it this way. If those guys could grow up in the music industry, hounded by like, tweens everywhere for years? You can hack it.”
Ronin ducked his head and tilted it to the side. "Kai, I love you dearly, but I'm not a tween. Is there any hope for people who start out in the music industry as adults? Other than your magnificent intervention, I mean, of course. Or should I do informercials and rent you out?" he teased.
Kai gasped, then laughed. “Rent me out?!” she said. “And just what for?” she asked. “But there's hope! I'm sure there are other people who haven't gone six shades of 'holy craptarts'!” She also paused, then narrowed her eyes at him. “You're winding me up,” she accused, as if she just now caught on to this.
"Of course I'm winding you up. But to what end. Tell me that." What the hell else did she expect he'd do when she started talking like that? Posters and fame and not looking at other girls. She knew he was a one girl kinda guy even if there were lots of girls. And his relationships never really went anywhere in the first place. Six shades of holy craptarts really made him laugh though. "No chance of that happening to me. I'd rather sleep on your couch than be famous to the point of craptarts," he said honestly.
“Um...to make my voice go squeaky right before you tickle me?” she suggested, as a possible end game to winding her up. She did however, really love cracking him up at her choice of words. “You, Ronin, are going to be sooo cool,” she told him, letting her real feelings on the matter show through. It was affection, and belief in him. She thought he could do it, really do it. “I picture you, on stage, singing, sold out shows screaming in a roar to your music. Lights, dancing in the dark around, catching glimpses here and there of fans who can feel chords shudder right through them.” She had a vivid imagination, and that was put to use from time to time, sharing her vision of his future.
He listened to her describe what she thought was his future. And each little bit of it that she spoke, he thought about how much he wouldn't enjoy it as vividly as her imagination described it. Not unless she was there. Which made him feel strange because he never wanted to keep her from her own shit but he also never wanted to be so far away that he couldn't sit on the couch with her like this. But that was coming according to her predictions. What did he do about it? Well… he manned up. That was all there was to it. "Heh, no. I guess no tickling. I have a sold out show to prepare for."
“Don't you have a band to form first?” Kai posed, reaching out to tickle him, since he wasn't going to tickle her. She grinned. “And songs to write, and pants to pee?” she kept tickling him, or trying to, anyhow. She knew he could overpower her in a heartbeat if he wanted.
"I don't … I don't… I can't even!" There really was no literal, conscious thought in him when she went to tickle him. He squirmed and made sounds that no man should ever make. In fact, he was halfway to elbowing her off the couch as she kept at it. He so should have tickled her when she'd suggested it!
Kai liked when she got the upper hand. Really, she liked play fighting with him. It was fun. It was some internal little pleasure of hers that she played off as just 'oh that! We're just like that!' but really she kind of cherished. Or a lot cherished. She tickled him without mercy, sure that he'd dump her on the floor any minute.
Ronin, still attempting to keep his elbows down to block his sides, still managed to get his hands up somehow, sacrificing a little obviously, to tickle her back. But she was more powerful than he was. His hips wriggled and he laughed until tears came out of the corners of his eyes. "Uncle! Seri-uh-fucking-ly Uncle!" he crowed, his fingers finding her weakest spot and shoving her even closer to the edge.
And that was her downfall. He caught her and she squealed, losing pretty much all ability to control her voluntary reflexes, and she was a giggling mess, trying to get back, which nearly toppled her to the floor. She reached for him so she didn't fall, or at least so she didn't fall alone.
Ronin tried to catch his breath but he was laughing at her reaction and whatever it was she was doing. He felt her start to slide backward and reach for him and he caught her but her momentum and his state of laughter and breathlessness took him over the side of the couch in a sprawl with her. He made sure he wasn’t on top of her and then lay there on the floor laughing breathlessly. “Darn you,” he chuckled.
She giggled, before hearing her mom shout about the noise from upstairs. She buried her face against his shoulder and laughed harder before pulling back to grin at him. “C'mon, Rock Star,” she said, reaching out to affectionately muss his hair. “Let's go put up fliers, so you can find your band.”
Ronin’s face went downright fearful when her mother yelled down, his eyes widening. He always teased that her mom was scary even if she wasn’t. It made getting in trouble for being too loud all the more fun for him. He elbowed at her when she messed with his hair. “Yeah, you cross your fingers for that. I’ll bet I get the high school marching band rejects. But at least we can say we tried, right?” And he poked her in the ribs for good measure.