[RL with Birkin - technically the island probably has its own legal drinking age.]

[unknownrival]

Issei hovered near the door to the island's building. He knew Birkin was in there. He also knew Annette was in there, and Stein, and Wesker. He did not want to meet any of them. On the other hand, he had no idea where Birkin was in there.

With a sigh, he opened the door and took a tentative step inside. If this all went badly, he would blame Birkin for it. It would be his fault anyway.

Comments

[notahandbag.livejournal.com]

"I'll try to restrain myself," Birkin smirked, but he made sure it was more friendly than dangerous. He wouldn't infect Issei. Probably.

[stripping.livejournal.com]

"Let's move on to something else." Issei was getting nervous all the same, and he changed the subject. "Have you been eating well since I stopped sending you meals...? You're all right?"

[notahandbag.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, I've been fine. Mostly staying in my room, though..." He swirls the liquid in his glass. "But I get food, don't worry. Thanks for caring."

[stripping.livejournal.com]

Issei took another sip of his drink. "I don't fault you for staying out of harm's way. As long as you're healthy, I can't complain."

[notahandbag.livejournal.com]

"As healthy as I ever am, I guess." Birkin shrugged and lay his head down on the back of the couch. "Do you ever wonder what your life would be like if you didn't find this place?"

[stripping.livejournal.com]

"Lonely," Issei answered instantly. "I've never been one to have many friends without the safety of a computer screen between us. There are hardships I could have avoided, true, but I also would not have met you because of it."

[notahandbag.livejournal.com]

The corner of Birkin's mouth twitched into a slight smile. "I would have died alone and friendless. Now, at least, I feel like if I died, I'd be able to make peace with that. Dying's terrible, but dying among friends is slightly less so. But maybe I'm just a romantic."

[stripping.livejournal.com]

"Dying is natural. What's important is the quality of life that you lived." Almost unconsciously, Issei rested the hand that wasn't holding his drink on Birkin's shoulder.

[notahandbag.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, well," Birkin mumbled leaning over to lean his head down on Issei's. "The quality of life that I've lived isn't... Quite that good."

[stripping.livejournal.com]

Issei's smile softened. "I could help you change that."

[notahandbag.livejournal.com]

"E-eh...?"

[stripping.livejournal.com]

Issei blinked. "Did I say something wrong?"

[notahandbag.livejournal.com]

"That just sounded..." Birkin picked his head up and shook it back and forth really quickly. "Nevermind. Not important."

[stripping.livejournal.com]

"...I didn't mean to make advances towards you." Whether he meant them or not was another matter.

[notahandbag.livejournal.com]

Birkin took another sip of his drink. "We should. Stop drinking maybe. Heh, you weren't kidding, were you? Least you haven't ended up on my lap yet. These security cameras have already fucked me over once this week, and I'd like to keep it at that."

[stripping.livejournal.com]

"I fail to see how things could get much worse from here." Still, Issei kept himself from scooting any closer. "...'d be nice, though."

[notahandbag.livejournal.com]

"You've got a point..." He bites the inside of his lip again and debates moving closer. "Both of 'em were pretty good points, actually."

[stripping.livejournal.com]

"You and I are both on the community and we talk, it's only a matter of time before a romantic virus affects us anyway." Perfect reasoning.

[notahandbag.livejournal.com]

"Also, we have vaguely romantic intentions with each other, in case you haven't noticed," he said, chuckling under his breath. Objectively, it wasn't really all that funny, but... This place was pretty good at changing one's sense of humor.

[stripping.livejournal.com]

"Vaguely romantic is a good term for it." Issei leaned a little closer.

[notahandbag.livejournal.com]

"Well, I'm a scientist; we make up good terms for things all the time," he murmured leaning over a bit himself...

Before quickly pulling back so hard he fell backwards off the couch. "We really, really need to stop this," Birkin said from his position down on the floor. "One of us is going to get hurt. And I'm starting to think it'll be literal and in a non-Stein related accident."

[stripping.livejournal.com]

"?!" Issei helped pull Birkin to his feet. "A-are you all right?" Topic of conversation ignored in favor of checking out bff's safety.

[notahandbag.livejournal.com]

"Dizzy. Really dizzy. And this is probably going to hurt like a right bitch in the morning." Birkin rubbed his head dramatically. "But I seriously doubt I have a concussion or anything that extreme."

[stripping.livejournal.com]

"You idiot." Without further care of what this looked like, Issei hugged him. "Don't injure yourself trying to avoid romantic entanglement with me. It isn't that bad."

[notahandbag.livejournal.com]

"All possible outcomes lead to failure, though." Well, all the ones Mr. Paranoia has thought up at least. But still, he's hugging back, at least.