Between the Lines, All the Days and Nights... And the World is my Playground

[ktotheatothez]

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Comments

[clayce]

[Have a tiny, draconic smile.]

I think I can help you with that. Do you have a design in mind?

[ktotheatothez]

Y-you can?

[There's apprehension there, because he doesn't want to intrude on your rest, Aidan. He'd just come down hoping for advice.]

Um... It's just that Nico works really hard. [He shrugs.] People used to think it was all so effortless for him. I did too, and then I got to know him and I saw how hard he'd work. It's one of the things I love about him. But how do I put that into a mask?

[clayce]

Well, in my experience, it's best to not think about the how too much and to get right down to the doing.

[Amused, but not judging at all.]

They call it a labor of love for a reason, I believe. And if he loves you as much as you love him, I think he'll see that.

[ktotheatothez]

Labor of love, huh... Yeah.

[He does blush so fantastically when Nico loving him is mentioned. Four years down the line and there are moments that he still can't believe it.]

I... Do have an idea. Kuwagata, the grasshopper.

[clayce]

[Ah, that choice intrigues him. It's a bit out of the ordinary, as oni-tsukai masks tend to go.]

All right. Why does that leap out at you?

[The process is just as important as the end goal itself.]

[ktotheatothez]

Nico's always been the type to keep moving forward... He's the type to make leaps of faith, not just in the things he does, but in the ones around him...

[Like me... Nico Raio had explicit faith in Kaz after they'd gotten to know each other, always got him to keep moving.]

Grounded all the time. Yeah he was the golden boy, but he never liked the attention, never sought it out. He sought me out and I mistook that for pity once, a long time ago... He anchors me.

[It sounds like an assessment, but the tiny, loving smile on Kaz's face betrays that. He's seen how Nico influences people, bring out the best in them. Experienced it first-hand.]

[clayce]

[Listening both to the words, and the way Kaz talks of this Nico Raio. It's comforting to know that he boy has someone, and cute to see that things appear to be working out.

How did Riley put it again? Ah, yes. "To be young and in love."]

Well, don't take my word for it, but... I think the grasshopper fits.

[ktotheatothez]

[Oh look at that, he's smiling now. He probably needed to voice this out anyway, but he's glad that he got it right.]

Th-thank you, Father.

[His left hand's absently scratching at his right cheek, the old tell when he's embarrassed or nervous.]

So, uh, how do we do this?

[clayce]

That depends. Would you like to carve it yourself? I can guide you.

[...Or he could make the entire thing for you, really, but this is kind of important. He needs to ask.]

[ktotheatothez]

Yes, please. I think this is something that I should do myself.

[He says that with gratitude at the start, and resolve. After all, nothing really says I love you than a mask you make yourself, at least in his mind right now. And again he remembers that he has no idea how to begin.]

Erm, what do I need?

[clayce]

It can be made from any material, really. You're familiar, I hope, with Japanese masks.

[Given who his boyfriend is, he probably is...]

Now with thinky face!

[ktotheatothez]

Well, I am. Mostly just the festival ones.

[His brow furrows, clearly he's thinking hard about how to do this and what to make it from.]

Which can also be a trolly face...

[clayce]

That's close enough. Some oni-tsukai fashion theirs after that sort of thing. Others go for something a little more... martial.

[Ah, those crazy war freaks. They're just like their leader.]

Actually

[ktotheatothez]

Hrm... Martial.

[And there go the cogs in his head. He knows what he wants it to look like, but not what to make it out of. Naturally, he wants it tough enough to withstand the elements, but he wants it to fit with the creature it represents.

His tablet's out and well, Kaz in research mode is kind of odd. He mutters under his breath No, that's not gonna fly, *snort* Now that's just crazy.. It takes him a while before he says anything, and when he does, he's looking at Aidan.]

Can I fuse emerald and titanium together to make the mask?

[clayce]

[And he's just waiting, because he knows how these things go. He sits with Jessie at the Great Hall through at least two meals a day, so.]

That can be arranged.

[He had, after all, offered to help, right?]

[ktotheatothez]

I suppose we should get started... Um. I should get that design.

[While he wasn't an artist of talent like Jill, he could draw, so he clicks out the stylus from his tablet and opens an application. It actually takes all of a few minutes, before he's showing you the design of a mask, colored too. It's a deep green around the mouth, the color extending up past a pair orange of bug eyes and into a tiny serrated pair of antenna. The rest of the mask is black. He shows it to Aidan when he's done.]

I'm probably borrowing from a very old show, but... I thought this best represents Nico. And I thought it'd be kind of scary to see this mask under the hood of a Mangekyo.

[clayce]

[Of course Aidan turned his head to watch Kaz at work. Why wouldn't he?

Once he's done:]

Agreed.

[And now he's rather amused.]

I think I know what show you're referring to.

[ktotheatothez]

E-eh?

[Who knew that the Malice Kings watched Tokusatsu?]

W-well... Um.

[You've boggled his mind, Aidan.]

[clayce]

[Well, your reaction's definitely the straw that broke the camel's back on this one. Chuckling now.]

You don't live for as long as I have without knowing a thing or two. Or doing a thing or two.

[ktotheatothez]

[That's a mental image he's never going to get out of his head, really. The sight of Aidan sitting around watching Kamen Rider. It was kind of like seeing your dad freak out while playing Resident Evil (which he did see)

Wait, do??

Have a look that is both surprised, confused and filled with many questions.]

[clayce]

Yes? What is it?

[Heh heh heh.]

[ktotheatothez]

[And he almost asks Just how much of Kamen Rider Wizard was based off of you, Father? Instead, he asks, with all seriousness:]

Showa, or Heisei?

[Yeah, fanboy. He's stalled for a second.]

[clayce]

[That just makes him laugh.]

I'm not going to tell you.

[Yeah, now he's just being a troll.]

[ktotheatothez]

[And Kaz almost... Pouts. But he doesn't and just goes back to the drawing, making a few adjustments, just so it doesn't look too much like a Rider's faceplate. In the end, the tapered points are flat against the mask, sloping upwards.

He's not mad, but he's got plans... Eventually.]

[clayce]

[That was cute. Anyway, shifting so that his head is in an even better position to watch you at work. Being this size can be tricky.]

Looks good so far.