dreamcrystals | Happy Birthday, Dork | Backdated to August 31

[Good. Naoya gets the idea.

He raises his free arm up, wrapping it around Naoya's shoulder and leaning back against him in turn while his free hand careful lines up the shot for the picture.

He gets the cake, and subsequent birthday message in it on purpose when he tilts the camera, and smiles warmly.]

Thanks.

[Click! Goes the camera, and while Kazuya stays pressed against Naoya for a moment, he does eventually pull away to fiddle with his COMP once more, and the reason for it will become evident when Naoya's COMP makes a soft pinging noise of mail received.

He's not an asshole. He'll let Naoya have this. If it's his birthday, then by default it's Abel's too.]

[It is and it isn't. He hears the ping of the mail go off and knows what Kazuya's done. ... It's sweet, even if it's not true. Though in a sense it still is.]

[Souls are weird like that. Fragments of them even more so. He's met other Abels who would do similar, were they in the right era. He hesitates a moment and wraps his arm around Kazuya again to pull him into a hug. Even on his day, Kazuya is thinking about Naoya.]

[This close to Naoya's chest it's not hard to feel that it's thumping a little faster than normal. He's not one to show his emotions, but... Kazuya - or this Kazuya, at least - understands. Somewhat. As much as anyone who is or was normal can.]

... Thank you.

[He's not made of stone. He can have emotions, too.]

[The hug goes on for a few moments before he releases Kazuya and heads over to the kitchenette again to get a plate and some utensils.]

I'll leave you to eat at your own pace, if you'd like.

[The hug is somehow unexpected, but he does take it in stride. It's not like Naoya, at least not as they got older, but it also isn't unappreciated either.

He won't make a comment on it, he doesn't need to. He knows that his action is appreciated, and that Naoya knows that he appreciates him in turn, even if he's not always happy with the choices he makes.]

You can grab a plate too. I was only kidding when I said you weren't allowed to have any. There's no way I can eat an entire cake on my own, you know.

[It also wouldn't be bad to share a meal with Naoya again, after what feels like a lifetime. The lockdown was rough, in more ways than one.]

Oh? Is that so?

[The walls are back up again and he goes to grab a plate for himself. He cuts a piece for Kazuya and sets it aside. He cuts a bit for his own plate and goes to sit down, waving Kazuya over.]

[He'll let his cousin have the first bite. He's not that rude. ... Sometimes.]

Pretty sure.

[He'll take a seat, and not even hesitate in taking the first bite. It's good, but he already knew it would be. Naoya put care into it, made it for him despite him being a brat about it, and his hand shook decorating it.

So Kazuya loves it, naturally.]

Did you use mom's recipe? Or one of yours?

[He digs in as well, and waves his hand in a 'so-so' motion.]

A little of both. There were only certain ingredients available, so I made do.

[Technically it could be called an angel food cake, but he's doing his best to not think of that. It's not the same, anyway. Just close.]

I've collected a lot of recipes over the years. Not all of them have exact measurements or can be replicated with ingredients available outside of a specialized international market. It's usually too much effort.

[But for Kazuya, he'll make the effort.]

[Once upon a time he might have known the different breeds of cake. Maybe he might know them if he were to make an effort to actually bake a specific one, but as it is, as he's shoveling it into his mouth, he's got no clue the irony in the fact that he's eating what could almost be considered an angel food cake.]

Well, whatever it is, congrats, it's delicious. Mom'd be proud.

[On top of the fact that Naoya baked. For him! For a change.

Though, he is a bit curious.]

You should teach me them sometime. I bet you have a lot of weird recipes up in that big brain of yours.

Probably she would be.

[He wonders if she misses Kazuya. Probably - most parents do. Should he feel guilty about that? Again, probably - but his morality largely abandoned him long ago. He refocuses on the situation at hand and nods.]

I do. I could teach you more than a few of them. ... I know you know how to cook, but some are things you wouldn't have been exposed to, living in Japan.

Obviously.

[He's not as well traveled as Naoya and his many lives, and there's no way for him to know recipes from so far back that they've been lost to time. Still, he is interested, and is interested in learning about them from Naoya. Especially since it's not like there's any urgent Demon King duties he has to attend to here.]

Could start with the ones that are your favourites that aren't sweets.

I do have foods I like that aren't sweets, you know. ... Japanese sweets just happen to be very good.

[He's always had a bit of a sweet tooth, ever since his first life. The fruit he used to grow...]

[But that doesn't matter right now. What matters is that Kazuya's willing to learn.]

Hm... morisqueta shouldn't be that hard to make with the ingredients we have available...

Yeah, yeah.

[ He's heard that line over a dozen times. ]

Morisqueta? Never heard of it, but it's gotta be decent if it's the first thing you'd bring up.

[ And shockingly, he trusts Naoya's tastes. ]

It's mostly rice and beans, but it's served with a sauce that's made of tomatoes, onions, and garlic.

... It's been a while since I was in Mexico, huh.

[Of course, he can remember it like it was yesterday. But that doesn't mean anything when he remembers everything.]

[ Well, it sounds pretty good. But then Naoya says that, and Kazuya scrunches his face a bit. It's another reminder of how different they are, of how different Naoya is.

He remembers everything he's ever been through in his many lives
and Kazuya can't help but be curious aboutil it. Naoya is an enigma, but he doesn't have to be anymore.
There's no reason for him to hide anything anymore.]

... What are you going to do? In your timeline, I mean. Since other me really screwed up your plans.

... I'm not sure.

[It's an uneasy answer. He'd thought of what he might do if Kazuya didn't make it - but joining God was not in his plans. He'd thought it blatantly out of the question. He takes another bite and considers the question - what is he going to do?]

I'll have to see how the situation develops. I'm not sure if 'stripping free will' will even work on me, but I'm disinclined to find out.

... Stripping free will?

[He'd known that'd been on the table, hell, it'd been part of the reason he'd chosen his path as he did, so that wouldn't happen, so that would never be threatened to happen again.

There's no way this other him would actually go through with that, right? He doesn't want to believe that, the thought far too frightening. Why? Why would he have chosen such a path? To let himself be the pawn of an actual tyrant. To hurt his cousin. To put people at risk of another of God's ordeals.]

I wouldn't let that happen. There's no way.

It's an option that they have on the table, and I wouldn't be surprised if they use it should humanity not act the way that they want.

... I don't think the other you would want that to happen either - but he might be overruled.

[Hard to tell the 'boss' what to do when you're a subordinate...]

In the end, that path is going to end up with no one happy. Not even Him.

[Why? Why why why? Why would he have joined forces with such a tyrant? Just talking about God and the angels makes his stomach shift uncomfortably, the Bel's hate for Him roiling in his blood.

What was said to him, to make him think that it was the only way? The best way forward? The angels had caused the lock down, and by extension, God. They'd put him and countless other people through hell on earth, and for what? Because they didn't like how humans had exercised the free will they'd been given?

Kazuya stares at what is left of the cake on his plate hard, like it might hold the answers he seeks.

Naoya had attacked him as the Messiah, hoping to change his mind, and by Naoya's own admission, he'd attacked back. He shuffles the cake on the plate with his fork, quiet and contemplative.]

Are you going to try to kill me?

[He doesn't sound upset by his question. If Naoya kills him, the other him, then he'll probably have another shot at using him, or at least a piece of him, in the future again to kill God.]

... I don't know if I can. Physically, or... otherwise.

[He tried before and was beaten - easily. Even with Loki on his side, he'd escaped with a lot of injuries. But more than that...]

[... He can't kill Abel again. God he'll never bow and apologize to, but Abel... Abel didn't deserve that. Even if 'Kazuya' did, Abel did nothing wrong. He lets out a breath he realizes he's holding, staring at his hands.]

[There's blood on them, but he knows that's his mind playing tricks on him again.]

[He's silent again, pushing the cake on the plate more and more until it's a pile of mush infused frosting.

It's not fair. It's not fair that Naoya had to go through that. That he himself put Naoya through that. How traumatic, must it have been? To have had what must have been his only shot at freedom ripped out from under him?

God's love is boundless. What a load of shit. What a cruel game.]

You'll figure it out. I know you will.

[And...]

Even if it's because you do manage to kill me or otherwise make me see reason.

I know. I always come back from disaster. I've got nothing but time.

[He'd rather not kill Kazuya. Maybe, just maybe he can get him to get God to see reason.]

I don't know what the other you's trying to pull - if he really does hate me despite what he claims or if he thinks he can change His mind. That's the only reasons I can think of for why he'd do that.

[And part of him says that the former can't be true, despite the rest of him insisting that it is.]

I wouldn't hate you. Not matter what, Naoya.

[Even if he did decide to become the Messiah, or whatever. There's just no way that he could ever bring himself to hate his cousin, his brother.

Even if he did attack Naoya back, not even God Himself could make him hate Naoya in any capacity.]

I know the other me feels the same way. I know it.

... We'll see.

[It's his only real diplomatic answer at this point. Either way he leans over and ruffles Kazuya's hair.]

I can clean up if you're done.

[Kazuya catches Naoya's wrist in his hand as he ruffles his hair, holding him in place so he can't pull away.]

I'll clean up. It's the least I can do since you made the cake.

[Also... Because it's something small that he can do for him.]

Happy Birthday, Dork | Backdated to August 31

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