spirits_and_such_offices

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Minegishi was in the greenhouse. They spent a lot of time there, even when they weren't practicing at using their powers. They felt more comfortable, somehow, being around plants rather than people. Not that they were particularly fond of the people they had surround themselves with.

Minegishi flipped a page int their book, only to glance up as they heard someone approaching. They were hardly surprised when they saw who their visitor was.

"What is it?" they asked. They should probably set their book aside, but they didn't particularly care to. And even if they did, their visitor wouldn't be able to see it anyway. With his eyes, anyway.

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Shimazaki mercifully took his hand back to drape over the back of the bench instead, but—

“Speaking from experience. I’m sure the boss wouldn’t complain if we could found a nice guy for you to spend the evening with.”

"Um," Serizawa started, leaving a long silence fill the space afterwards. "I think I'm okay, if that's okay with you."

At this rate, the only person he’d get to successfully unwind with him was the middle schooler. Pretty sad.

“Fine. Let’s compromise. You do a shot with me and I’ll grab some of that Tonkatsu you really liked from a few weeks ago. Just you and me.”

"Well..." If one of Serizawa's hands wasn't too busy holding an umbrella indoors, he would have been fiddling with his fingers. "...if it's just the two of us..."

"Alright! Then meet me in the lounge later tonight." Shimazaki papped Serizawa's scruffy cheek. "Leave the liquor pairing to me. I can tell what you'll like already."

"You can?" Was that another one of Shimazaki's psychic powers?

Shimazaki leaned in. "I can tell from your breath. You're sensitive to alcohol, so we won't do anything too strong."

Serizawa slapped his free hand over his mouth, hoping that his breath didn't smell poorly. "R-really?" he asked, muffled from behind his fingers. "You can tell all that from just my breath?"

"Hey, don't be shy." Shimazaki scooped a finger under Serizawa's to tenderly peel his hand off. Serizawa's energy was spiking again.

Was Minegishi still watching? Shimazaki hoped so.

"There's a lot I can tell about you. But...we'll just leave it at that for now. I'll see you around 8?"

"Um," Serizawa croaked. "Sure."

He quickly stood and sidestepped around Shimazaki, then rushed out of the room, umbrella tightly in his grasp.

Minegishi let out a satisfied little noise as they smirked. "That was mean." There was no judgment in their voice, though. If anything, there was approval.

“Not as mean as you would’ve been if I hadn’t swooped in.” Shimazaki said with uninhibited affection as he sunk back onto his side on the bench. It was the lesser of two evils, really. Serizawa would be fine. He was already getting the best lot in life—for someone as downtrodden as him, anyway.

“I think I deserve a little something for saving the day, by the way.”

"What were you thinking?"

“One round of truth or dare.”

Minegishi's eyes narrowed slightly. "Are you serious?"

“Yeah. Right now. I’ll even let you go first.”

Minegishi was so off-guard that they couldn't even conjure up a single thing to ask or dare. They didn't like being caught off-guard. They needed more time.

"No, you go first."

His eyebrow raised. “If you insist. Truth or dare?”

Edited 2024-05-03 15:16 (UTC)

"Truth." Minegishi didn't even want to imagine what Shimazaki would dare.

“If you could only choose two other members of the org to be left standing after world domination, who would you choose?”

"Other than you?" It was worth clarifying. If Shimazaki wasn't one of the two, it was going to make things far more difficult.

“Yeah.” Shimazaki paused. “Wait, other than me?”

"Is it that surprising?"

Shimazaki just laughed, his head dangling over the edge of the bench. It’s not like Minegishi ever cared about flattering him or impressing him, which was exactly what he liked about them. If anything, he was prepared for some denigrating remark about expecting to be included.

“Now I’m embarrassed.” He felt a vine slither against the back of his neck—was it trying to keep him from falling? “Well…if you really feel that way…we can just say three’s a crowd and leave it at that.”

"That's probably for the best." Minegishi either disliked or was indifferent to the rest of CLAW. They weren't sure if they'd go so far to say they were fond of Shimazaki, but he was probably the closest one to it.

Shimazaki sat up, giving his head a good shake and smoothing his hair back into place.

“Alright. Your turn. I’ll pick truth too.”