[Minato's hand slides into his manicured one, and the grip is strong when it takes hold, though not painful.] It does. [Like Bungee Gum, it's kind of useful for shooting around.
Without any kind of warning, the vine powerfully and hastily retracts, taking Hisoka up with it and, by proxy, Minato, too. The speed isn't as fast as the motorcycle, but it's fast. The vine can't go very far, so what it does is unravel and vanish and, higher, another vine stretches out to take his arm and launch them.
They literally careen up the side of the mountain this way, it's fine. Hopefully Minato didn't drop the bread???]
[ Minato doesn't drop the bread, because bread is too precious for him to relax his grip on it. But he does forget to eat, for a moment, as he's lurched up into the sky, doesn't think of getting any better grip than Hisoka's hand, and lets himself be carried off into the sky.
Worse comes to worst, Minato does have a rudimentary parachute in his bag. He's just never tested it out yet so who knows if it even works. ]
[The bread is safe, Minato is safe, Hisoka is safe... And they are just flying up the side of the mountain, close enough Minato could touch it, but far enough away to dodge the jagged edges and overhangs. It all whizzes by, and the ground gets farther and farther away.
It will really make the stomach drop.
But they reach the edge of one, not quite at the very top. A large, jutting side sticking out over the sky. The vine lets Hisoka go, and he throws Minato up a bit, letting him land first and catch Minato after.
He plops kigu Minato down.]
Now... Close your eyes. Oh. [He holds out a hand.] Bread.
[ As long as it's only the stomach and not their entire everything...
It feels weird to go from weightless to standing on solid ground again, and without the wind rushing past his ear, everything quiets down and he can feel his heart pounding in his throat, breathless. Again, he wishes time would stop, that he can keep this sight in mind forever and if it were the last thing he knows of the world, he would be glad for it.
Minato tears his bread in half, hands half to Hisoka and stuffs the other half in his mouth before closing his eyes. ]
[Something slithers up and wraps around Minato's legs from ankles to knees. It feels kind of like the vines from before.
Without any further warning or prompting, Hisoka just...
...shoves Minato off over the edge of the cliff. The vines tethering Minato to safety whistle and whip by him as he squats down along the very edge of the overhang. He peers over, lifting the bread to his mouth to have a bite.
[ The bread keeps Minato from making a sound as he topples over the edge and goes plummeting down into the abyss below. With his feet bound and hands up by his mouth so he can make sure not to drop the bread or choke on it, all he can do is hang out and accept this fate, closing his eyes every time the cord bounces up and then back down again until he's just hanging at the bottom of the cliff.
He swallows his bread and cups his hands around his mouth. ]
The vines begin to reel Minato back in, quick enough it doesn't drag out but not so fast Minato is tossed around everywhere. Two more tendrils branch out to pull Minato up by the shoulders to deposit back on the cliff.]
[ He waits until he's got his feet on solid ground again before speaking, so he can talk normally without having to shout. "Fun," he says, looking only slightly more awake than he was five minutes ago, but maybe that's all the expression he can manage. ]
Falling upside down, it's like flying. Will the vines hold if you come with me?
Hmm. [Thoughtfully, he peers over the edge of the cliff, and then he looks back to Minato. Lively now, huh? Better.] They will.
[Easily, he rises to a stand, pushing the rest of the bread into his mouth to take his time chewing. Several more vines snake out to loop Hisoka from ankle to knees, too.]
[ Oh. It's probably better that they're not sharing the same vines, and so Minato—- instead of waiting for Hisoka to push him off the cliff again- just goes ahead and leaps down himself, feel first into free fall. ]
[Poor heartstruck Minato wanted to be tangled up with senpai. It's okay. He could always ask.
Hisoka watches the boy fling over the edge, and then he follows after: spins around in place and leans back, dropping passed the edge and plummeting toward the ground. It's really nice. Standing right by the hub of life and death.
If the vines broke, they'd be splattered below. But it's only a farce, a game. They get all the intense feelings of horror and excitement right as they are saved by the vines.
Hisoka is smiling, but with how he falls, it seems like he's use to this kind of thrill.]
[ Minato isn't used to this sort of thrill, but he only ever needs to do something once or twice to be sure of himself, straightening himself up in the air so that he's upright again, feeling the wind whip against his back, watching the vines straighten and pull taut at the very end.
If the vines broke, he'd be dead. But he wouldn't realize until he's dead, and after that, what's it matter? There's no horror, just morbid curiosity, as if Minato is doing nothing more than watching a scene out of a movie instead of putting his own life on the line.
Leaning forward, he reaches his hand out to Hisoka. ]
[The whole time, Hisoka stays upside down. He's not the Hanged Man, but Minato could pretend he was instead. This way, the hair swoops up like it normally should even if this week he has left it down.
When the hand reaches out, the vines shift to bring him in closer. He's already in Minato's space, parallel, by the time he takes the hand and laces their fingers. He pulls Minato toward him but the vines are really what move to level their heads right in front of each other.]
[ There is no way Hisoka is the Hanged Man, as decisive as he is, doing what he wants without regard to others or the forces around him. It's something like that, that Minato really admires, linking fingers with Hisoka and being able to finally see him eye to eye for the first time, in a way that's impossible when they're both standing on the ground. ]
[The lids lower almost all the way over the golden eyes, thoughtful.] I don't think that's right. [Not a bad choice, though, for Minato.
With his free hand, Hisoka reaches up to brush the nailed fingers over the side of the boy's neck back to the hairline behind the good ear. When it comes back around, something stiff brushes Minato's jaw. A playing card which he turns around.
[ It makes his heart skip a beat when Hisoka reaches towards him, but there's no difference between a fight-or-flight trigger and the dokis when it comes to him.
King of Hearts. Minato has no idea what it means, so he can only assume the best. The King is the leader, of which he refused to do anything of the sort here, but was forced into the position back home. And hearts... heart, love, soul, whatever cheesy word you want to associate with it, he can't find fault in that either. ]
...I hope to live up to those expectations.
[ Also he reaches out for the card because he wants to collect them, packrat as he is ]
[Silly, Minato. But it's okay. Cards are curious like that. People can read them how they want, can pull meaning from them however they'd like to fit their lives.]
That's simple.
[Minato can have the King of Hearts. Hisoka's hand balls into a fist afterward, and then two fingers pop up from the palm, holding a card. He flips it around. It's the Joker card Minato may remember from before.]
[ It's the wildcard that Hisoka took back... It's weird, when Minato isn't the wildcard in the equation, but instead the King to somebody else's social link. He takes hold of the King of Hearts, and holds it tight in his hand to he doesn't lose it. ]
Wildcard's what I was called back home. Something like that, anyways. It feels like I'm always drawn to others like that.
[He brushes the top edge of the card down along Minato's face almost teasingly, and then he holds it out for Minato to take. He can keep the Joker card, too, since it was given to him before and taken away.]
lets go of Minato's hand. Though it's more as if he pulls his hand away from Minato's on his own volition. The vines holding Minato's legs unravel and whisk away back toward the jut of the cliff. Minato starts falling faster than Hisoka.
Goodbye.
Down below, across the expanse, vines hastily begin puzzle piecing together, overlapping and cross-hatching until there's a sturdy blanket ten feet wide all the way around. It makes for a springy thing when Minato bounces into it.
Hisoka, of course, comes easing down like a spider by the vines around his legs.]
no subject
[Minato's hand slides into his manicured one, and the grip is strong when it takes hold, though not painful.] It does. [Like Bungee Gum, it's kind of useful for shooting around.
Without any kind of warning, the vine powerfully and hastily retracts, taking Hisoka up with it and, by proxy, Minato, too. The speed isn't as fast as the motorcycle, but it's fast. The vine can't go very far, so what it does is unravel and vanish and, higher, another vine stretches out to take his arm and launch them.
They literally careen up the side of the mountain this way, it's fine. Hopefully Minato didn't drop the bread???]
no subject
Worse comes to worst, Minato does have a rudimentary parachute in his bag. He's just never tested it out yet so who knows if it even works. ]
no subject
It will really make the stomach drop.
But they reach the edge of one, not quite at the very top. A large, jutting side sticking out over the sky. The vine lets Hisoka go, and he throws Minato up a bit, letting him land first and catch Minato after.
He plops kigu Minato down.]
Now... Close your eyes. Oh. [He holds out a hand.] Bread.
no subject
It feels weird to go from weightless to standing on solid ground again, and without the wind rushing past his ear, everything quiets down and he can feel his heart pounding in his throat, breathless. Again, he wishes time would stop, that he can keep this sight in mind forever and if it were the last thing he knows of the world, he would be glad for it.
Minato tears his bread in half, hands half to Hisoka and stuffs the other half in his mouth before closing his eyes. ]
no subject
Without any further warning or prompting, Hisoka just...
...shoves Minato off over the edge of the cliff. The vines tethering Minato to safety whistle and whip by him as he squats down along the very edge of the overhang. He peers over, lifting the bread to his mouth to have a bite.
It's BUNGEE jumping, Minato. Enjoy.]
no subject
He swallows his bread and cups his hands around his mouth. ]
Can I go again?
no subject
The vines begin to reel Minato back in, quick enough it doesn't drag out but not so fast Minato is tossed around everywhere. Two more tendrils branch out to pull Minato up by the shoulders to deposit back on the cliff.]
Did you have fun?
no subject
[ He waits until he's got his feet on solid ground again before speaking, so he can talk normally without having to shout. "Fun," he says, looking only slightly more awake than he was five minutes ago, but maybe that's all the expression he can manage. ]
Falling upside down, it's like flying. Will the vines hold if you come with me?
no subject
[Easily, he rises to a stand, pushing the rest of the bread into his mouth to take his time chewing. Several more vines snake out to loop Hisoka from ankle to knees, too.]
no subject
no subject
Hisoka watches the boy fling over the edge, and then he follows after: spins around in place and leans back, dropping passed the edge and plummeting toward the ground. It's really nice. Standing right by the hub of life and death.
If the vines broke, they'd be splattered below. But it's only a farce, a game. They get all the intense feelings of horror and excitement right as they are saved by the vines.
Hisoka is smiling, but with how he falls, it seems like he's use to this kind of thrill.]
no subject
If the vines broke, he'd be dead. But he wouldn't realize until he's dead, and after that, what's it matter? There's no horror, just morbid curiosity, as if Minato is doing nothing more than watching a scene out of a movie instead of putting his own life on the line.
Leaning forward, he reaches his hand out to Hisoka. ]
no subject
When the hand reaches out, the vines shift to bring him in closer. He's already in Minato's space, parallel, by the time he takes the hand and laces their fingers. He pulls Minato toward him but the vines are really what move to level their heads right in front of each other.]
Is your heart still a spade?
no subject
I'm thinking it's more..... 9 of hearts?
no subject
[The lids lower almost all the way over the golden eyes, thoughtful.] I don't think that's right. [Not a bad choice, though, for Minato.
With his free hand, Hisoka reaches up to brush the nailed fingers over the side of the boy's neck back to the hairline behind the good ear. When it comes back around, something stiff brushes Minato's jaw. A playing card which he turns around.
King of Hearts. The Suicide King.]
You've always been a King.
no subject
King of Hearts. Minato has no idea what it means, so he can only assume the best. The King is the leader, of which he refused to do anything of the sort here, but was forced into the position back home. And hearts... heart, love, soul, whatever cheesy word you want to associate with it, he can't find fault in that either. ]
...I hope to live up to those expectations.
[ Also he reaches out for the card because he wants to collect them, packrat as he is ]
What card are you?
no subject
That's simple.
[Minato can have the King of Hearts. Hisoka's hand balls into a fist afterward, and then two fingers pop up from the palm, holding a card. He flips it around. It's the Joker card Minato may remember from before.]
I'm the wildcard.
no subject
Wildcard's what I was called back home. Something like that, anyways. It feels like I'm always drawn to others like that.
no subject
[He brushes the top edge of the card down along Minato's face almost teasingly, and then he holds it out for Minato to take. He can keep the Joker card, too, since it was given to him before and taken away.]
no subject
Thanks. I still need to learn about magic tricks... I'll have a full deck at this rate, though. Has Lea asked you yet?
no subject
Lune gave me these when I asked. [So ask Lune, little buddy.] Hmm? Has he asked me what...?
no subject
To borrow your deck so we can play poker together someday. He said he'd teach me.
no subject
Ah. He hasn't.
[Shame, Lea. Not upholding your deals with Minato. Guess Hisoka is the better clown after all.]
no subject
Oh... Maybe he's trying to find the right time. Think maybe you can act surprised when he asks you? Like you never heard it from me.
no subject
[He smiles, but
lets go of Minato's hand. Though it's more as if he pulls his hand away from Minato's on his own volition. The vines holding Minato's legs unravel and whisk away back toward the jut of the cliff. Minato starts falling faster than Hisoka.
Goodbye.
Down below, across the expanse, vines hastily begin puzzle piecing together, overlapping and cross-hatching until there's a sturdy blanket ten feet wide all the way around. It makes for a springy thing when Minato bounces into it.
Hisoka, of course, comes easing down like a spider by the vines around his legs.]
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)