Blood to Blood [Hyosuke/Aiko]

Hyosuke's singular eye all but smoldered with attention as he watched Aiko with casual, almost leonine grace in his subtle motions, an intense interest in his gaze as she mentioned making him something? How sweet. As Aiko fashioned the medallion of blood and butterflies Hyosuke seemed surprised, genuinely and deeply, as his eye widened and he nearly frowned. His posture straightened for a brief moment as he stared at the medallion, confusion evident in his features, and he wondered by what sick cosmic comedy this girl with abilities to match his own had crafted a necklace of his own element into the shape his brother had favored.

But Hyosuke did not wish Aiko to think he disliked the gift, in fact it was the sheer opposite, and his eye silently asked permission before he gingerly took it from her hands. A small, almost..... child-like smile formed on his lips as he studied the necklace. A soft laugh, somewhere between a huff and a gasp, left him as he glanced to Aiko when she continued speaking. His next laugh was soft, but now more genuine and less surprised, and he would shake his head. His voice now genuinely warm, no teasing or bullying to be found, as the hand not holding the necklace extended out to grasp Aiko's hand over the table. This compliment, though rather ostentatious, dripped with sincerity as opposed to the cool, level teasing Hyosuke normally performed as he retorted.

"Aiko-chan you are rather odd. You claim to not be special..... or not have money or riches.... yet in one breathe you offer your time, company and this. Three things I would call treasures without compare.~"

To say that this one act had genuinely warmed Hyosuke to Aiko, at least enough to overlook his usual sense of superiority over souls such as herself, was accurate. In fact it was of no small amount of surprise to Hyosuke himself when he felt his own heart beating just a tad bit faster than normal. How.... unprofessional.....

There was no reason to fear someone with the utmost of honesty in their heart. In life, there are moments when you can feel someone is being sincere, and Aiko could tell by looking into Hyosuke's eyes that his words were the truth. No teasing, no bullying; he was being sincere, and she couldn't freak out or get nervous at that. Instead, she let her hand rest on his own and nodded.

"Well, thank you. I never thought of myself as anything special, but perhaps it's the small things that are done with care that matter and make it special. Thank you for saying that."

With a warm smile on her face, Aiko looked him in the eyes and continued.

"It... makes me happy that I can make others happy. I hope I can do more to make the people around me and myself content, as I guess that's all I really want. Does that sound naive or simple? "

As Aiko's smaller, warm hand rested on his own Hyosuke did not move his eye from her own, his thumb moving to softly caress over the top of her hand as he leaned forward a bit. Using the arm not occupied to rest his cheek on a hand, making a tiny bit of a show of devoting his attention fully to her, with a look that smoldered softly of the food going forgotten, and Aiko herself becoming the object of his hunger as he listened. A keen, almost sharp interest in her as Hyosuke gently laid the necklace upon himself and chuckled.

"See yourself as nothing special? Hmmm, well, as someone who possesses his own fortunes and sees no value in money I can understand. When someone is familiar with the wondrous and beautiful I imagine it becomes mundane to the senses.~"

Low, dripping charisma purred into Hyosuke's voice as he chuckle a low, rumbling noise.

"As for your desire to serve..... it makes you sound quite the devoted woman Aiko-chan, far from simple, I would say brave even. Spreading misery and pain is a common enough occurrence in this day and age..."

Hyosuke's hand would gently lace their hands together as he made a subtle show of dominating her hand with his larger fingers, curling and pulling her in a gentle motion as he smirked.

"But beautiful, charming or not remember that one person, one woman, cannot erase the world's sorrows herself. But like any insurmountable cause worth doing, it is an admirable trait to pursue it nonetheless."

Hyosuke's smile was now warm, small, but focused as his own crimson orb burrowed into Aiko's with the exact opposite of fear. His pupil moving in tiny motions as he searched, explored and luxuriated in the openness of her eyes. As if he could physically find her precious soul hidden within those starbursts of twinkling crimson somehow~.

"Mmmmmmm, it's something like that. I think it makes sense. LIke, as humans, if we are around something long enough, we adapt, and it becomes the norm. So maybe you are right."

After giggling to ease her nerves, Aiko nodded and agreed further with his sentiments.

"After the last world war, I think even the average person could see how easy it is to spread misery and pain and stuff. It's funny because, as gothic, as I look, that's not something I want. Things are bad enough as it is without more annoying assholes making the world worse, y'know?"

Well, at least she was peaking more confidently and candidly now. Yep, there were still a few butterflies in her gut, but Aiko was proud of herself for fighting against it.

After that thought passed, her eye briefly glanced down at his hands lacing together as he pulled her in.

"You are having fun, it seems. A lot more relaxed than earlier."

She would snort and then continue to engage.

"But I don't have plans to eradicate everything terrible in the world. I do what I can on the small scale and make things a bit better within my power. I don't have any delusions about bringing world peace; that's silly. But thank you for compliment about bravery; I'm flattered."

Hyosuke would give a small shrug as Aiko commented on him having fun, his thumb not halting it's soft sweeps over her hand unless she stated she wanted it to stop or moved her hand away, The snort was quite adorable and as Hyosuke listened to the rather moderated, if still selfless goals, of the bloody little angel across from him he chuckled. HIs voice a low, purring hum as he replied.

"Oh my.~ Well no need to be flattered then, as the halo may be quite appropriate, since it sounds like I have quite the crimson angel on my hands. One does not need to be loyal to the horrible realities that surround them Aiko-chan, rather I find it is the principles and ideals one holds to be of the most importance, and how far one can stomach the world they live in turning from them."

Hyosuke would gently adjust their hands, softly moving Aiko's so that it lay on the table, palm up, and his fingertips would softly tickle and scratch at her open palm, arcing up her digits to her fingertips before caressing back down to gently scratch up over her wrist and tantalizingly spider over her forearm before he rubbed his palm back down to gently take her hand again. His own rather warm and curling around hers protectively.

"Something tells me you have seen quite your share of ugliness in the world Aiko-chan so to still seek to hold to your ideals is nothing but admirable. Though I don't wish to distract you from your food any longer....."

Hyosuke would begin to withdraw his hand, smirking softly, and unless Aiko had any objections he would begin eating once again himself.

"Wellllllllllllllll, I'm no Angel, I can tell you that, Hyosuke. But I'll take the compliment anyway. The world can be a rough place, so stomaching what makes you feel happy and doesn't hurt people in the process that don't deserve seems like a good bet to me."

As Aiko smiled and nodded, she seemed to be enjoying herself and getting lost in the conversation. It seemed like time was flying, her nerves were lessening, and she was getting a better feel for the man ahead of her. If nothing else, there was a lot of depth to him now besides some of the mocking comments he had made before, and it was nice to know he had an interesting view of the world so far and how to articulate them.

Still, her crimson eye returned to his fingers playing and tickling her palms. Aiko giggled and then spoke up.

"What? Are my hands that interesting?"

Teasing a bit, she gently bopped him with her other hand before digesting some of his other words that were spoken. Finally, after remaining quiet for a few moments, Aiko felt she had the right words to say and just went with her gut.

"But, joking aside, I think everyone in this life will see the ugliness of this world. I can't say I've had it worse than others in this world, but I've seen my fair share of bad things. In spite of that, you can't let it turn you into a bad person even if you've done bad in the past. What's the point in making things worse? I'd rather leave the world slightly better than when I left it, y'know?"

Speaking sincerely in her heart, this type of honesty made it easier to navigate through any hesitation, and it was nice to speak her mind without care for once. However, that was until her gut started growling, and the woman briefly had a flush of red come across her cheeks when he noted that they shouldn't be distracted from their food much longer.

"Uh, my stomach thanks you. I better get on that!"

And with those words spoken, the woman let go of Hyosuke's hand and just started eating her pork and vegetables to feed the beast that was her hunger.

Hyosuke took in Aiko's earnest well-wishing and intent with all the relaxed charisma of a focused jungle cat languidly watching it's prey from a perch. Noting the bashful blush that crossed her cheeks Hyosuke merely smiled at her giggle and hummed softly as she asked if her hands were that interesting. His eye narrowing just a tiny bit Hyosuke would purse his lips and his smile would grow just a tiny bit.

"Well..... I suppose your hands are part of you and you are quite interesting Aiko-chan so.... yes I suppose they are.~"

Hyosuke hummed at Aiko's observations and thoughts on the world, generally speaking agreeing with them, but they were somewhat simple pleasantries. As Aiko turned back to her food he would grimace softly, disappointed in the world for her for being more complex than her outlook accounted for, but he returned to his own food silently. His hand not moving from her own as he made short work of his food with clean, efficient motions. Only once his plate was clean did Hyosuke dab his lips with a cloth and smile softly.

With his hand tightening ever so softly on Aiko's Hyosuke would wait for her to finish before glancing at the balcony overlooking all those lights, a rather beautiful and private place to eat, and struck with a thought both mischievous and romantic he would sigh wistfully and stand, approaching Aiko's side of the table and bowing to her.

"A question Aiko-chan. Do you know how to dance~?"

Once all the food was stuffed in her belly, Aiko let out a sigh that showed she was content with everything for a moment. There was nothing better than a warm meal that made you comfortable in her mind.

Of course, her crimson eyes locked back with Hyosuyke's own blood gaze as she seemed mildly surprised he was so quick to move to her. But maybe that's because she was lost in her own little world for a moment and got brought back to reality. Regardless, as she blinked for a moment, Aiko nodded and spoke:

"Uhhhh, I go to a lot of rock and metal concerts, so I do like to do a little dance. But I'm not sure if it's proper dancing. I just kind of go with the flow."

After a small chuckle escaped her lips, Aiko stood up and gave a little curtsy before asking her own question.

"How about you?" I take it you dance or something? "

Hyosuke genuinely chuckled at her answer about rock and metal concerts. They weren't genres of music he listened to, not in the least, though he had overheard what he understood to be the genres during some time in the living world. Not quite his cup of tea but he supposed it still made Aiko's very interesting personality all the more nuanced. His lips would curl into a small smirk as she curtsied and, gently approaching her, he would softly trail his hands down her arms. His right hand would grip her left and he would nod before guiding her right hand to his left shoulder only for his own left hand to move to her hip and pull it softly closer.

His grip would draw her closer inch by inch until their bodies gently touched front to front, nothing overly grinding or lewd, but enough to feel the contrast in their forms as his left hand softly rubbed around her side to fan out over the small of her back. His head would give a gentle, curious tilt as he laced their joined-together hand's fingers and brought them to her face to brush her hair back together. Gently tucking it behind an ear he would hum softly, his eye studying hers, before he would ask in a soft near-whisper of a rumble.

"Do you require music to dance to dear Aiko-chan? I would be quite fine simply letting your body inspire me, if you like, but...."

His hand on the small of her back would push her forward a tiny bit more, causing her breasts to be squashed between their bodies ever so gently, and his eye would narrow with purposeful teasing for a moment.

".... if you require more stimulation to get your body moving I would understand completely.~"

Turning his head to look out over the city shrouded by a bright sunset for a moment his hand on her back would gently begin to rub in small circles and he would chuckle.

"Though I suppose the view is also quite lovely isn't it?"

With sunlight glimmering in his eyes and gently painting his features in shadow and burnished orange Hyosuke would look back at Aiko curiously, a gentle smile on his lips the entire time.

Hmmmmm, tango? There wasn't anything wrong with that. Aiko didn't seem super defensive about Hyosuke gradually guiding her towards some waltz against the setting sun. But, by this point, she could tell the male was into her. Yet, for one reason or another, she didn't seem to mind as much. So, she slowly just followed his lead and looked into his eyes as her head tilted.

"I require music and a drink."

Even if she accepted the advances at the moment, she still needed her nerves calmed. So, the woman had a small tendril of blood seep back to the table, and another glass of wine mixed in with some liquor for added oomph was taken. Once the glass was acquired, Aiko guzzled it down, let that warmth of her drink loosen up her body, and soon she was ready to go as their bodies pressed against each other.

"But I can totally tell you are coming on to me."

With a slight smirk, the woman then glanced back at the setting sun and observed the reflective view of the city now that the rain had dissolved itself. Honestly, it was beautiful, and she loved how the amber and violet colors drenched the endless metropolis before them in its warm glow. It wasn't a bad way to show a girl a good time, but she was curious about something else.

"And I have another question: what music are you into? You don't seem like the rocker/metal type, maybe you are into classic stuff to get you moving? I have no clue what rich people listen to."