IC Inbox [Victory Road]

[forsaintcecilia]

Please leave any mail for Kazuki here, whether of the electronic or physical variety! He'll get back to you ASAP!

Comments

[forsaintcecilia]

Um, normally it's like, a woman's name, or a name related to the sea, or sometimes a pun...

[schachmeister]

Well, I don't think I really know any women to name a boat after...

[He already named a pokemon after Mikasa. He can't name everything after her. And even if he wanted to, this boat doesn't really suit her name. Maybe if it was a sleeker, quicker model. But not this type of slow and languid thing.]

[forsaintcecilia]

You can always just choose a name you like! And you have time to think about it while you fix her up.

[schachmeister]

That's true.

When it is done, you should come and check it out. We could even go out onto the ocean if you wanted. You could bring Shimizu and give him a chance to really stretch his flippers.

whoops, missed this!

[forsaintcecilia]

Do you think that there's enough room for two people to stay on it?

1/2

[schachmeister]

Sure. There is even a bed fit for two!

2/2

[schachmeister]

[Wait, in his excitement about his new boat, Armin just said something weird, didn't he? Something that could be taken in a completely different way and oh no! That is super not what he meant.]

N-not that we would be sharing the bed, of course! I just meant that it is a clear indication that this boat was meant for at least two people! Nothing weird!

[forsaintcecilia]

[Kazuki gave Armin a confused look at first-- why was he so flustered? If there wasn't much room on the boat, sharing a bed was understandable-- but that soon dissolved into amusement and laughter as he understood Armin's embarrassment.]

Don't worry, I didn't think anything of it! Even if we have to share a bed-- that's fine, right?

[schachmeister]

No, of course not. Eren and I used to share a bed all the time. I just... didn't want you to think I was suggesting something which I was not.

[Because it was Not Like That. Not that there is anything Wrong with being Like That. It just wasn't.]

[forsaintcecilia]

I've never gotten the impression that you're that kind of guy anyways.

[Kazuki knew Armin was married to the ocean.]

[schachmeister]

[The ocean is the perfect body of water for him, it is true. But also--]

Ah, well, about that...

[Armin has never admitted this to anyone, but if it is Kazuki, it is okay, right? If there is one person who won't judge, it is him.]

[forsaintcecilia]

Yeah? What's up?

[He was correct! The Kazuki Zone was a No Judgement Zone.]

[schachmeister]

It is not entirely true that I am not a guy like that.

[Listen, he's going to admit it, but that doesn't mean he has to be very forward and blunt about it. Kazuki is only the first person he's actually really telling this and this is not the sort of subject anyone would ever talk about back home.]

[forsaintcecilia]

Huh?

[When Kazuki said that, he actually meant more around the lines of Armin being too reserved to take advantage of a situation like that. He was a nice gentle coconut boi, not a sexual predator. So without clarification, that statement was a little confusing...]

[schachmeister]

[Lord no, Armin is definitely not a guy like that. That's just-- no, he wouldn't even contemplate something like that.

He is, however, entirely unaware of the bit of miscommunication happening here. He honestly had been hoping Kazuki would've picked up on his broad hints by now.]

Uhm, well, you know. A guy like Shiro to some degree.

[forsaintcecilia]

Oh...Oh!

[Now he gets it! And why Armin was being shy about it too.]

That's okay! I mean... [What are the right words for this kind of situation? When Kazuki learned about Shiro, he was confident about it. Armin seemed much less sure of himself. He had to be gentle...] I'm like that too, so...

[Would that put Armin at ease, or make him uncomfortable? But it was the first thing that came out of his mouth...]

[schachmeister]

[Armin's eyes widen a bit at that. Really, he hasn't got anything like a gaydar. Unless he knows someone is dating someone of the same sex, he pretty much assumes everybody is straight.]

R-really?

[forsaintcecilia]

Yeah. But... I'm pretty sure Shiro just likes guys, but I like girls too.

[schachmeister]

Ah. That goes for me as well. Liking both, I mean.

I never knew until I came here though.

[forsaintcecilia]

You probably just didn't have the time to figure that kind of stuff out about yourself back in your world, right?

[That, and Armin was a bit younger than him, and sometimes it just takes maturity to know things like that about yourself.]

[schachmeister]

I suppose that is possible.

[To be honest, Armin hadn't particularly gone all head over heels over girls back home either. Love was complicated. And going all moonstruck and gaga-eyes like Jean had over Mikasa... that was just embarrassing.]

It's also... not really the sort of thing we talk about back home.

[Being anything not straight that is. Straightness is very much talked about, or at least, it is in barracks full of hormonal horny teenage boys who love to one up each other with how much experience they have with the other sex.]

[forsaintcecilia]

[Kazuki despite having an extremely loving personality towards pretty much anyone who feels close to him, also takes a bit before he realizes romantic feelings. But when they hit him, they hit him like a semi on the freeway. He felt like the floor had been knocked out from under him when he figured out how he felt about Kahoko.]

Ah, we don't really either. [Japan isn't so great about anything other than heterosexuality either. People like him are usually reduced to unflattering stereotypes.] But I'm cool with it, so don't worry.

[schachmeister]

I know. I've seen how you act around Shiro. I don't think I would've told you if I thought you would mind at all.

[He thinks for a moment.]

I don't really think I've told anyone at all. Before this, that is.

[forsaintcecilia]

Aww, really? I'm touched! That takes a lot of trust!

[schachmeister]

It does.

[Though he hastens to add:]

Ah! Not that I don't trust Shiro and the others.

[It just... never came up in a way that felt organic to him. He doesn't want to make it into a scene or anything big. Which is what announcing it out of nowhere would feel like to him.]