#//though ooph I feel that. i spent awhile without one and then one that was so out of date i scared people with the version I was using lol

[despairs-memorial]

Gundham blushes and pulls the scarf over his face as he watches the confusion flash across Kazuichi's face. He wasn't sure what to expect after confessing something like that to the mechanic, but he could only hope that this was a good thing rather than a mistake like a part of him feared that it was. The sounds of people closer by, though, only made him more nervous about this, but the offer of getting away from this, even if it wasn't too far, made it easier to breathe as he lowers the scarf from his mouth to make it easier for Kazuichi to understand him.

"Worry not, should the she-cat have need of me, she will contact me." If she could call his number with how much she had drunk, he wasn't sure, but Ibuki was there, and he trusted the musician to not allow anything to happen to her. Besides, they had already been separated by the crowd. If she wanted to seek him out, then he was sure that she would be able to find him much easier than he could her.

He thinks for a moment. "Perhaps a room would be better. It will be easier for us to return should our compatriots have need of us... and I will be able to focus solely on you for a moment." Night walks were nice, but if they happened to see or hear an animal of any kind while on their walk, his focus would be completely on that rather than something as important as this. "However, if you are in need of a walk, then we will do that. I follow where you go, Kazuichi."

There's a temptation to offer his hand as he walks with the mechanic back into the house to Ibuki's room. Catching a glimpse of Sonia in the house, he gave her a wave as they continued there. He almost wished that he had more than just one drink as they got to the door, and he waited for Kazuichi to unlock it. Though, he was glad that there was no way he was going to forget what happened as the two of them entered it and shut the door.

The quiet made him release a breath that he didn't know he had been holding as he relaxed a bit more. "What... exactly did you need to say that required privacy?" He asks as though he doesn't know. Even if he had a very good idea of the confession or words of disbelief that were coming, he wanted to be sure. This needed no room for second guesses.

For a moment, Kazuichi swore his ears were acting up again, a hand coming up to fiddle with the tiny devices curled around his ears, only to find that they were, in fact, working just fine. If not that, maybe it was the alcohol? Sure, he didn't have that much, enough to have him warm and carefree, but surely not enough to halluciante entire conversations. Did...alcohol even do that? Well, seems that would remain a mystery as everything Gundham was saying lived in reality.

He hadn't expected a return defense against his own self depreciation, Kaz's cheeks steadily gaining in color until the flush traveled well down his neck to disappear under his shirt collar. If he had been confused before, he was woefully lost now, caught between the compliments, the promise of defense from his father despite Gundham not truly knowing what it would entail, and-

"Wha-" Words replayed in his head, mouth opening and closing several times before looking up to the breeder in pure disbelief. "Did...are you..." He was afraid to say it, that if he said it outloud it wouldn't be true, that Gundham would laugh at his misunderstandings. There was no fucking way...was there?

His emotional whirlwind came to a sudden, almost nauseating halt as a group of people started shouting where they gathered in Ibuki's pool, Kaz's hand having to cover his ears it had been so loud with the help of the amplifiers he still hadn't fully acclimated to. "C-Can we like...I dunno, go for a walk or something? I don't wanna make you ditch Sonia but I-I...I don't wanna be here anymore." What if someone overheard? What if they laughed at how delusional Kaz was being? What if his own shitty reputation started to affect Gundham after this?

"I-If you don't wanna leave, I have the key to 'buki's room? Her heh, her parents had it soundproofed after she got her last bass, so it sure as shit won't be this noisy in there."