make amends

[insertusername]

make amends

Remember that terrible shit you did? Time to make it right. Ish.

Top Level with the start of your apology(ies). Public or private. In person or over txt.

Well That Was Awkward ↦ Maybe you’re nervous. Awe struck. Tongue tied. Just a little socially awkward. Whatever. This is going to be bumpy.
Total Catastrophe ↦ You fucked up so hard with this one there might not be any coming back from it.
Not Again ↦ You know this wasn’t the first time. This is kind of your MO.
Sorry Not Sorry ↦ Maybe you’re prideful. Maybe you really aren’t to blame. Either way, this only debatably qualifies as an apology at all.
Wildcard ↦ You know what you did.

Comment to see where their sorry song goes. Maybe it’s an apology you didn’t know you had coming, maybe it’s long overdue, completely unnecessary or anything else. Whether or not you’re feeling forgiving is up to you.

Comments

[irongrip]

...Perhaps in your case. If there were less men like me, I'm certain that things would be far easier for civilians trying to live their lives. I might be your rabid dog, mm? [Nishikiyama's smile, dour as it is, gets mirrored in full.] ...A tragedy that I don't drink anymore, to justify saying things like that.

But I can't say that I regret it, or any of this conversation! To be actually honest about my nature is indeed refreshing. Like taking off a mask at the end of a very long play, and talking with a fellow actor.

[More than that. It's a personal victory, to get that sort of genuine reply from Nishikiyama; not that it'd been his aim, even with firing at their mutual healing bruises, but Tachibana can't help but relish any softness in turn. Not even as a fellow predator, but in the same way that a fool looking to be endeared might enjoy it.

It's unnerving to think about, though. That he can't control his desire to see the chips and flagging veins of the same man who'd once freed him and fought for Makoto underneath the stone. Get that emotional shit outta here.] A question, to direct the aim away from ourselves and lighten the mood just a touch; what are your thoughts on those who do fail to thin out the undesirable they know? No judgment between friends, of course.

[yashin]

[ stop saying nice things about him???? stop it?????

And of course, he couldn't even find the decency to leave Nishikiyama with his comfortable ambiguity, the special plausible deniability that comes with the knowledge that Tachibana's first language isn't actually Japanese - that maybe he didn't mean for that to come out as loaded as it did. He had to dash that little stickfort, too. No, apparently, Tachibana meant exactly what he said, and his only regret was that he couldn't have been drunk when he said it.

He levels his calm gaze on him, for a contemplative moment punctuated by clacking pool balls. His eyebrows lift. ]

Perhaps so. Though I hope that you won't mind my saying that it's quite difficult to imagine you on the end of any man's leash.

[ Look, they both know well enough about Kazama, but it isn't like he has any ground to stand on when it comes to calling out other people drinking the Kazama Kool-Aid. So he'll do the decent thing and give Kazama what he deserves; silence and a berth wider than his ego.

And he's grateful to have even more excuses to leave those thoughts where they lie. Nishikiyama finishes sipping from his glass and sets it down.

He doesn't even need to think about this one; ]

Sentimentalists and fools who don't need me to tell them what extending such tolerance to mongrels and pigs will get them.

[irongrip]

I'm glad to hear it.

[Which part, he doesn't clarify. Both are certainly accurate and pleasing to the ear, though that might just be Nishikiyama's voice.] As much as affection can dull the evaluation of a man, some truly need a leash, and some cannot even be obedient then.

We know better, thankfully. For all of the learning you and I have had to do, we know better.

[That last part comes out with conviction that...Doesn't exactly suit the jovial tone Tachibana typically takes when he plays the part of a child dangling a treat in front of a wild tiger. Reassuring himself, perhaps. It's dissipated with a little head-toss, and his eyes light up once more with playfulness in its stead.] I had a friend who had a habit of collecting many and varied movies, though most skewed in the direction you might suspect. He'd be disappointed if I didn't joke about how some men would enjoy being on a leash, so I'm obliged to.

I feel it prudent to emphasise that any undesirable would find himself very lucky to be your rabid, leashed dog, Nishikiyama-san. While collars would chafe me too much, goodness knows that Kamurocho is brimming with men who would blossom with care and guidance. And discipline. The real question is whether you're into that, of course. [How can he say shit like this without audibly laughing? Who knows.]

comes back and leaves this here like it hasnt been a whole ass month hey hi hello

[yashin]

That we do.

[ Nishikiyama's fingers drum at his sweating glass, watching the way the bar's dim, warm lights catch in the rim of his glass, jaw resting in his hand - a rare and casual posture, courtesy of the boozy warmth pitting in his stomach.

He lets a sigh roll from his nose. ]

That we do.

[ He might have taken that sentiment as a slight, had it come from anybody but Tachibana. It's an uncomfortably vulnerable thing, to have somebody peel back his skin and see what's happened to him beneath it - and even more uncomfortable to be able to do the same in return. Though, as strange and uncomfortable as it is, there is something grounding about that simple nod, that moment passed between the two of them which only they could understand. It's been - and as loathe as he is to admit it, even privately, there's no getting around it - too long since he was understood.

Give him a minute to figure out if he missed it.

His fingertip has moved to that glinting light, flashing from the rim of his glass, by the time Tachibana draws his gaze again. He watches him speak as his finger moves idly, scrubbing out the glint in the glass, back and forth.

And Tachibana actually does the impossible and manages to soften that stony, permafrost scowl on his face - his eyebrows shoot up at that word, lucky, and they stay up as he continues. What sort of films did he say his friend collected?

He's still trying to find the edge of the joke he'd mentioned when his mouth opens, and out comes; ]

With the right sort of man, perhaps.

[ Does he feel a smile beneath his fingers? ]

Are you, Tachibana-san?