#all this is a lot of words just to say: pay your bootblacks

[spitfaggot]

another fun thing about bootblacking — it's as much of a kink as it isn't.

and by this, i mean: it's labor!

we have to look beyond kink into the vanilla/non-kink world to see the only remaining examples of shoe care as a job. the only examples i can think of are shoe-cleaning mall kiosks and, maybe, a chair or two in an airport terminal or fancy hotel. but these places are dwindling, if they even still remain at all. consumerism and planned obsolescence has invaded fashion so much that most people aren't concerned with the upkeep of their actual leather shoes, let alone sneakers or pleather boots.

this, compounded with the cost barrier to leather gear and a much smaller community post-AIDS of the 1980's i believe has made bootblacking much more scarce in kink communities. i mentored under a bootblack that primarily works bars and club events, and have gone on to do the same myself, and... not many people even know that a bootblack is anymore. i've met people in full cow at the local Eagle who have never even heard of our existence. i was in the right place at the right time and met the right people in order to be able to sub/apprentice under one.

getting booked at events is a headache in and of itself, which is where the talk of labor comes in. if you are bootblacking, you are doing physical labor. it doesn't matter if you're working a pup social at a leather bar, or a private residence party, it is labor. on average, i scrub and polish a shift at a bar event for 5 hours (8pm to 1am) with very few breaks. on a good night, i can polish usually 6 or 7 customers in that 5 hour shift, and that's if nobody comes to me with a Langlitz project or a full set of chaps. tipping your bootblack is crucial, because 90% of the time, that's how we make any money at all.

bootblacking is how i have kept my boyfriend, my cats and i fed many times. and it is very hard to find an event nowadays that will pay a bootblack up front to be there for the night — most just "allow you to keep tips" and maybe comp you a drink or two. at this point i just have a menu of my services that i provide, and i turn away folks who cannot pay or barter. (i, personally, will take coffee as payment for boots and harnesses.) this often means i make less than minimum wage for 5 hours of physical labor.

my point being: bootblacking is a kink, but it will likely be found today more often as a job leatherfolk will take up at an event, like a vendor. the more public adult spaces where we can actually express it as a kink are growing incredibly scarce. and the people willing to pay us, even more so, despite how much upkeep leather gear like boots and jackets should be getting.

[heyktula]

Closer, Chapter Three: Consensual - Bonus Features

Chapter three of Closer, the first installment in Somewhere in Canada (the Terror kink AU)... is now up! It's a long one again! The author continues to not be sorry!

Same deal as last week--technical notes first, story notes after, line notes to finish it all up.

Alright, here we go.

Technical Considerations:

Language: Phew, okay. So, I've written plenty of "hard kink written hard" (and arguably some "soft kink written hard"), but with this piece, I specifically wanted to do "hard kink written soft" so, uh, language is a thing! Ie, the sentence "Edward curled his hand into a fist and punched Jopson" does not belong in this fic, because there is nothing soft about that sentence no matter how much Edward loves him positive regard Edward is feeling toward his play partner.

So in order to make this fly the way I wanted to (ie, softly), I tried to avoid over-use of words like "fist", "hit", "punch", and that type of thing. I ended up in a really interesting rabbit hole that I think helped me get further into Edward's head, because the narrative had to become more focused on the technical aspects of what he's doing, and the physical results it's having on Jopson. It also emphasizes the continual assessment of how things are going that's necessary to do this kind of play safely--especially when it's the first time doing this type of play with a partner. And, it's in-character--Edward is an over-thinker anyway.

(I think the scene would have been softer, and probably more romantic, in Jopson's POV, but it would have been far blurrier as well, because he's pretty deep in subspace.)

While I'm talking about language, I'll just mention one other thing--Edward's knowledge of trans men has been academic up to this point, and he's approaching it the same way he approaches everything else, which is listening, learning as fast as he can, and taking Jopson's lead. It also means he's using--and will continue to use--the same language for Jopson as he would for any other man.

Capitalization of Sir: There's a whole entire thing in some subsets of BDSM about capitalization. At the extreme end, all references to the dominant are capitalized, all references to the submissive are lower case, and all references to both are split-capped (is that how it's referred to? I have no idea, but it describes what I mean, so I'm going with it.). It can lead to sentences like "In the dungeon, My pet, michael, always follows the rules W/we have agreed on".

I can't see either Jopson or Little going for that, so we have the more casual version of it going on here--"Sir" is capitalized, but everything else is conventionally capitalized. In a (hypothetical) situation where Jopson was collared to Edward, but referred to someone else in a casual "yes, sir" way, "sir" would be lower case. But then, for extra confusion, for someone like Sir John, where the sir is part of his scene name, it'd stay capitalized, even though Jopson's not collared to him.

(For some reason, I can't picture Sir John not using Sir John as a scene name. James Clark Ross, on the other hand, I feel can take or leave the title unless he's entered into a formal arrangement with someone, in which case that's between him and Ann and whoever else to sort something out.)

Hard Cuts: That's right, I put a hard cut in the middle of the dungeon scene. In my defense, it takes a while to bruise someone whose skin is resistant to bruising, and it's a very repetitive process. Jopson and Edward had a perfectly nice time without us, and I documented most of the good bits for you. (I do feel a bit bad for skipping the majority of the aftercare, but imo, the story arc is fine as it is, and we see enough to know that Jopson has his jacket around his shoulders the way he wanted it, so we can assume Edward bossed it out for the rest of the aftercare too.)

Story Considerations:

Bootblacking: I am not a bootblack. Ideally, this isn't obvious, because I did Online Research, but for people who do bootblack, I'm sorry if I fucked it up.

Also, one thing that I learned in the course of my research is that there's two different kinds of boots--regular boots, which need to be polished, and then oil-tanned boots, which need to be conditioned instead. I gave Edward oil-tanned boots, because that involves a hell of a lot of leg massage via rubbing conditioner into the boot, and I wanted Edward to have a nice tactile experience. (Okay, fine, I also wanted Jopson to be able to show off his skillset.)

Consent Negotiation: I love consent negotiation. I think it's great foreplay, a great way to build hype for a scene, and I think it gives you a sense of a person before you go in and do intimate and/or dangerous stuff with them. I think Edward's initial plan for having the consent negotiation once they'd moved over to the mats was good. I think Jopson's plan of doing the consent negotiation while Edward was a captive audience getting his boots conditioned was better.

There's so many bits and pieces to consent negotiation as well--there's the physical bit (like medical conditions and whether you've had food/water recently--after all, you're putting your body through something challenging, and if you're dehydrated or fasting, that's not ideal conditions), there's the mental bit (like not liking to be humiliated, and any trigger words or actions that should be avoided), and then there's the actual activities that you're going to plan on doing. Typically, there would be an additional bit, and that would be the sharing of STI results. Edward skipped that during this negotiation for two reasons--firstly, he generally just does dry play, ie, no body fluids exchanged. And, secondly, no sex in this particular dungeon. As it turned out, it wouldn't have hurt to have done that.

(Jopson clearly did his own risk assessment on the barrier-free blowjob, and was fine with his chances--but, then, I suspect if you read between the lines on Edward's blog, the lack of a fluid-bonded partner, or an intimate partner of any kind, would have been apparent.)

Dungeon Monitors: Dungeon monitors (DMs) are present in most dungeons, except the play-at-your-own-risk-in-someone's-basement type (and sometimes even those have them). Their general function is to make sure that people are safe, that equipment is being cleaned properly after use, that medical treatment is provided if it's needed, and that type of thing. I figured the medical team was a good translation, so between Goodsir and McDonald, they're splitting the dungeon between themselves for the first chunk of the night. (Presumably Peddie and Stanley are on the later shift, or maybe Bridgens is assisting, but either way, Edward was not paying attention and did not care.)

(I bet Stanley hates dungeon shifts.)

DMs generally wear vests or some sort of gear that makes them easy to spot, which is especially important when they're almost always members of the community as well, meaning that they need to distinguish between when they're on duty, and when they're playing. The radios are handy in case an ambulance needs to be called, which does sometimes happen, but it's also good to allow them to communicate with each other.

For the majority of play, it's not necessary to talk to a DM beforehand. (YMMV, consult your dungeon rules, etc.) In Edward and Jopson's case, since they're going fairly hard, it's a good idea to give a heads-up to your DM to let them know that the scene is happening. McDonald would have been watching them pretty sharply as the play got going, and then probably less so once they settled into it.

Edward noticed exactly zero of this, because he didn't care.

(I guess an additional note there is that sometimes there's a "fear factor" involved in physical play, where the dominant/top partner is specifically and consensually trying to instigate a fear reaction in the submissive/bottom partner. So in that case, having a DM aware of what's happening and what the safewords are is real important to make sure that everything is above-board, ie, the safewords aren't being deliberately ignored.)

Dungeon Rules: They totally would have fucked if they hadn't been in Canada.

Sorry to both of them, but sorry to Jopson in particular.

Subspace: So subspace is basically an altered state of consciousness that can be dropped into during BDSM play. Every submissive/bottom gets there at different speeds and through different methods. Jopson is a masochist, so pain will get him there--but he's deeply into ritual as well, and so just the act of bootblacking for an hour prior to Edward getting there has already gotten him started on that path--though, as he notes, not far enough that he can't pull himself back out of it if it's no longer appropriate to be in it. It's sort of like a hot bath, in that way--if you've just dipped your toes in it, fine, you can go answer the doorbell. But if you've been submerged in the tub for an hour, you're not getting out unless something really pressing happens.

The general, uh, fuzzy nature of subspace means that Edward's call not to discuss facefucking was a good one, because Jopson would have just said yes, and Edward would have derailed himself wondering if it was an honest yes. As it was, Edward got the unprompted deepthroating, and I don't think he has any regrets whatsoever about that one.

Line Notes:

There’s no way for Jopson to know that Edward purchased two collars for him, but he’s showing off his neck like he’s trying to make a point of it, like he’s trying to bring out all the possessive bits that Edward is trying to keep tamped down.

That's exactly what he's doing, Edward. He's trying to gently coax you into going feral on him.

He should have adjusted his dick before he sat down, but it’s too late to do that now without being territorial about it.

Tozer wouldn't hesitate for one moment. He adjusts his dick when he feels like it. Just as an aside.

I don’t see you, Edward wants to say. How have I lived my entire fucking life without ever having seen you?

It's because you and Tozer go to the shittier clubs with louder music and younger people, and I don't think Jopson has been to a club like that in his entire life.

(God, I have, like, an entire essay worth of headcanons about Jopson and his Terror and Erebus experiences.)

“Safeword,” Edward says, after some time has passed.

Jopson looks up at him, eyes wide, and says nothing.

So, we were talking about Jopson's risk assessments earlier, re: the blowjob, and here's another point where Jopson is flirting with the possibility of playing with Edward irresponsibly.  I think there's a couple different things to observe here--and the first is that the ideal response is the one that Edward gives, which is essentially "absolutely fuck that, we'll play with a safeword that you're going to use when you need it, or we won't play at all". The other responses are...less than ideal, but Jopson might have still played with Edward under those circumstances anyways, and that's on Joppie to justify, cuz I'm not gonna bend over backwards to justify that for him. I do think, though, that there's a couple points that happen over the course of the weekend where nobody would blame Jopson if he was doing an assessment and figuring out--is there the possibility of a long-term thing here, or is this a one-weekend-only thing? And in every case, Edward is coming down solidly into the long-term possibility category.

Jopson frees the laces, runs them between his fingers. “I’ll get chatty before I get quiet. When I stop responding verbally when you speak to me, pull me back out, please—speak to me, get me something to drink. Drape my jacket back over my shoulders.” His mouth twists a moment. “I may get…affectionate, but you shouldn’t—”

There's so much here that I want to talk about! First of all, Jopson is highly comfortable with and cognizant of his own response to this type of play, and he's able to articulate that response very clearly--which is something that comes with experience. He's communicating to Edward the point where he wants the play to stop--ie, when he no longer responds verbally--and he's also clear about what needs to be done to gently tug him back out of it. (Coming back out of it isn't always required, but in this case, since they're sleeping separately and working in the morning, it's for the best.)

If Jopson had finished his last sentence, it would have been along the lines of "I may get affectionate, but you shouldn't take it seriously if I do". I pulled directly from Jopson's abandonment issues in canon for that one, and it hurts my feelings to put it here, but it's here so that Edward can respond appropriately this time. I think any feelings that Jopson has during scenes are legitimate--but I also suspect, based on this, that Jopson has been affectionate during scenes before, and had that affection rebuffed, or had it indicated to him that the affection wasn't welcome or needed, so he's used to disclaiming it. Which, ouch.

“Good job,” he says, voice low and right next to Jopson’s ear. “Pack your things. I’m coming back for you.”

Speaking of AU!Edward Littles that didn't fuck up their decisions, here's one right here.

His hand is pleasantly tingling, his mind starting to fuzz out with endorphins, and he wants Jopson to feel the same—

So Edward puts literally zero thought into his own headspace throughout this scene, because that's the kind of POV character he is, but you can see the beginning of his...actually, I don't even know the word for it. Whatever the equivalent of subspace is for doms, Edward is getting into it.

I like symmetry

Says the man with the tattoo on one arm. Alright, Ned. Alright.

"Mrf." Jopson swallows, the movement of his neck something Edward can actually feel, now that he's carrying Jopson fully. "Don’t want to derail the scene—I just—a minute—your cock is quite distracting."

I love that all the physical play was just fine, but it's being nestled against Edward's hardon that makes Jopson need a minute. (Which, fair.)

“Yeah,” Edward manages. “I can—I can do that. You, uh, the safewords?”

One of the things I really love about Edward here is that when he gets overwhelmed with how awesome something is, he reverts back to safety and checking in with his partner. (I'm pretty sure you could contrast that with Tozer, who I'm pretty sure would just talk filth until he'd gotten a grip on things again, and Crozier, who I see as pretty unflappable during play considering that he hasn't met a certain "online guy" yet.)

“I can’t believe we can’t fuck in here,” Jopson mutters grouchily.

Couldn't get ploughed in the dungeon the way I wanted, 0/10 on TripAdvisor.

Edward puts his hands behind his head, tugs at his own hair a moment to ground himself, and then curls his hands into fists where Jopson can’t see them, brings them down and around, quick and sudden, thumping the sides of his hands into Jopson’s ribs.

The very first time I was in a rough play workshop, this move was demonstrated. The demo bottom was facing the audience, and the presenter was sitting on a table behind him. They had him put his hands behind his neck and just stand there and wait while they was talking about something else, but from our position in the audience, we could see them raise their hands above their head, and knew what they were going to do, because they mimed it out for us first. I think that's where I fell in love with this kind of play, because they made it fun.

“I’ll go faster for the rest,” Edward promises. “Keep counting, and you’ll get your reward on five.”

Or, you know, on six, because one of you wanted five hits in a row and restarted the count on purpose, and the other one of you stuck to your promise of going with a verbal command of five because there wasn’t enough time to go through the whole ‘what is the correct response here’ and muscle memory won out over anxiety domming. (You can save your “oops”, Jopson, we all know it’s insincere.) 

Jopson doesn’t scream. His entire body goes stiff, breath sucking quick into his lungs and his fingernails digging sharply into Edward’s bare back, legs clenching around Edward’s thigh, and it’s like time just fucking stops for one ecstatic moment until Jopson goes limp, his hands patting randomly on Edward’s back, over the scratches he’s just left in Edward’s skin that Edward is going to treasure forever, because he did that to Jopson and he’s going to wear these scratches with fucking pride.

Y'all, Edward "so excited about the part where he scratched me that I completely missed the part where he came" Little. He'll be here all weekend.

Jopson blinks, slow and easy. “Quite lovely, thank you. Everything cleaned up?”

I'm deeply in favour of doms who look after cleaning up the space while their subs recover. I'm not convinced that Little and Jopson will fall into that pattern permanently, but I think it's a sweet gesture on Edward's part that he looks after everything for their first time. It's also a very encouraging thing for Jopson--because, say, if he was trying to make sure that he wasn't going to have his service taken for granted, this is a good indication that it won't be.

Edward feels vaguely like he should demur, out of manners, or, uh. Concern for Jopson’s knees, or—or his, um. Aftercare. Or. Or something.

I love deep POV.

Edward raises his eyebrows, deliberately puts his hands flat on the wall behind him. He’s suddenly very, very hard. “I’m not gonna stop you if you want to do it yourself,” he says, voice rough. “That’s hot as fuck.”

*eyeballs emoji*

(And we can make a note of that particular detail for the next chapter, when Edward awkwardly discloses something that Jopson already suspects--or, at least, would suspect if he weren't currently high as fuck on happy endorphins.)

“Oh my god, I am so sorry,” Edward says. He swallows. “I—uh. Sorry, this is stupid, I forgot they were there—I generally do, you know, warn people in advance, this isn’t how I normally—I, uh.”

I suspect the actual issue here is that the last time Edward had his dick sucked, there wasn't nearly as much metal in it, so "hey my dick is heavily pierced" isn't a conversation that he's used to having, but Edward can excuse this however he likes.

...it’s just—he’s just—he’s never—not without his partner gagging, and there were always other things they could do, there were always—fuck—this was never a priority...

Little refuses to think of his own dick as big, because it's the dick he's always had, so unfortunately, this is the closest we're gonna get to confirmation of his dick size in his POV.

Edward can feel—oh, fuck, no, that’s not just his cock, he can feel his own piercings in Jopson’s throat, the hard balls of the barbells firm under his fingertips, and Edward’s balls tighten.

I don't want to admit how much time I spent trying to figure out if this was a legitimate thing, but it was more than an hour, I couldn't find an answer, I have no one to ask, and I liked the mental image too much to let it go, so now we're all stuck with it.

I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm not.

Edward takes a deep breath, steps into the hotel room, and shoulders his responsibilities.

Edward, sweetie. Sol would be the first one to tell you that he can handle himself.

I mean, we can all agree that he clearly didn’t handle himself particularly well tonight.

But he’d be the first one to tell you to fuck off.

Phew. That's it for this week! Chapter four, Kink, goes up next Friday, and we'll touch on Solomon Tozer's no-good very-bad day then.

And if you have questions or anything in the meantime, you can always drop me an ask on tumblr or Curious Cat. I know I didn't cover everything, even in this long-ass entry, cuz there's a fuck of a lot of stuff going on in the foreground, much less the background. I honestly don't mind if you ask, it's totally cool. :)

See you next week!

[wilwywaylan]

Silent-web-of-wyrd said :

Shinji x Yuki !

Send a pairing/couple and the numbers. (◕‿◕✿)

Big steps in the relationship !

1. Who made the first move / who kissed who first ? Shinji did, by kissing Yuki and then lying down on his lap like a drunk cat. Then he had to assure him that he wasn’t drunk and he knew exactly what he was doing : claiming his love for his little messenger. Yuki was understandably a bit startled. Especially when Shinji then dragged him with him to sleep on the couch.

2. Who tells their family/friends about their relationship first ? Shinji already told the Vizored about his feelings. And lamented. And complained. And rolled on the floor. They know everything because he can’t help but tell them. As soon as he could, Yuki ran to the 11th division and asked Tomoyo about what he was supposed to do, to feel or to say. Tomoyo had nothing better to do than ask her crazy teammates, almost causing Yuki’s death by blushing. But the ones who were aware of the relationship first were probably the Vizored. It’s a bit hard to tell.

3. What do their family/friends think of their relationship ? Shinji’s bunch of strange persons he calls his friends and family (okay, he calls them his “idiots” but that’s the same) are very happy for him, of course. There are a few comments when they see his choice of partner, of course, and a few advices on how to handle him to a bewildered Yuki. But for the most part, they accept him in their little group. Tomoyo-dono is very happy for her little friend. She even encourages him to be bolder, more daring with Shinji. With lots of.... imaginative words. Yuki tries his best not to listen to her advices. Momo is very happy to see her captain happy, because he’s a good captain (if kinda lazy). She hopes Yuki’s dedication will rub off him a little, and get him to work more. For now, it’s the opposite. She still hopes. As for Yuki’s family, they think that Shinji is barely better than a Hollow. In fact, they would almost be happier to see him with a Hollow because they could slay him and be done with him. Instead, he’s a Vizored, but a captain, so they have to endure his horrible smile and the knowledge that Yuki chose for himself, someone they would never, ever accept.

4. Which couple/family are they closest to ? The Vizored are one big, happy family who gladly incorpores everyone they take a liking too. This includes Akon because Hiyori grabs him and doesn’t let go, Momo who Shinji proudly annonces is his “new daughter”, Kira because Rose wants him to feel loved, and of course, Shinji’s partner Yuki. He takes some time to truly fit with them, and he still kinda thinks they’re totally crazy, but he feels very comfortable with them now.

5. When do they move together ? Where and how ? They start almost as soon as they are together. Yuki starts spending more and more time with his captain-lover, and one day, Shinji just decides to move all his lover’s belongings to his room and make it their shared room. Yuki goes along, of course. Shinji’s place is bigger, full of light, comfortable, and contains, well, Shinji.

6. Who proposes and how ? Shinji. And it was totally decontracted and out of the blue, like “hey, we’ve been together for a while, and I love you. Let’s get married”. Cue a Yuki turning red from head to toe. And since Shinji is a little shit, he’ll invite Yuki’s whole family, just to rub it in their faces that he’s marrying their son / grandson / nephew / scapegoat and there’s nothing they can do about it.

7. Where do they go on their honeymoon ? Do you really think Shinji will hesitate only a little before charging Yuki in his suitcase and heading to the Human World ? There are so many things he can show him ! Even Karakura, because Yuki has never seen Karakura, or the Living World, or anything outside of the Seireitei, really. Later, the world, but for the honeymoon, Karakura is way enough. They have lots of fun running around, Shinji showing Yuki everything he can. Then they invade Kisuke’s shop, crash under his kotatsu, drink his tea and steal a bed. And it’s totally perfect.

Let’s talk about sex~

8. Who has the biggest kink (and what is it) ? Shinji has several, mainly shibari, but he never talks about it in fear of upsetting Yuki, or making him uncomfortable. One day, he mentions bootblacking in conversation with Rose, and immediatly does a double take when he realizes that Yuki is in the room. But Yuki doesn’t seem that afraid, and after a while to digest the information, and when he’s sure to catch Shinji alone, he tells him that he wouldn’t be against trying it, because it’s not a plan to humiliate him. Shinji assures that they don’t have to try, but Yuki insists. Shinji gives him the biggest hug he can muster.

9. Who initiates sex more often ? Shinji. Not that Yuki isn’t interested by sex, despite a few... rocky experiments, but he’s very shy, and can’t fathom why anyone, especially his strong captain, could be interested in his little person. Shinji is very happy to show him that yes, he is.

10. What kink/kinks turn(s) one (or both) of them off ? Everything that includes pain is absolutly forbidden for Yuki. Like, nope. Absolutly not. Shinji isn’t keen on him either, but what turns him off is rather a mix of... signals. Smells, touchs, a word said in a particular word... It’s enough to totally kill the mood.

11. What’s the craziest place they’d have sex ? Shinji’s bed. Yuki wouldn’t want to do it anywhere else. Too audacious, too much danger of being caught. And having sex in a hammock isn’t the best either. So bed it is.

12. Who is more aggressive in bed ? No one. Yuki doesn’t have an aggressive bone in his body, including in bed. Shinji does his best to stay gentle with him.

13. How does the other person react when their partner wears something special (boots, lingerie, etc.) ? Yuki becomes aaaaaall red all over, and stammers and hides and stammers more. He’s happy, of course, and very very grateful. He’s just not used to it at. all. Shinji is always very happy, always makes a point to compliment Yuki and tells him how good it looks and how happy he is.

14. Lights on or off ? Half-half. A soft, glowing light, just enough to see the other’s face and smile, not enough to see the scars and marks.

Quirks and habits

15. What are their quirks while sleeping ? Shinji sleeps like a cat. He starts out laying down in an almost normal way, then progressivly starfishes across the whole mattress. Since Yuki sleeps all curled up in a tight little ball (years of sleeping in a hammock don’t help), they fit together quite well. Yuki being a light sleeper, Shinji moving often wakes him up. So he ends up sleeping on top of him. There’s still a risk to be pushed from the bed, but it’s way better like that (and it gets him lots of hugs !)

16. Who is the morning person/night person ? Yuki is a VERY EARLY MORNING person. He’s used to because of his messenger job, for which he has to get up really early. At night, he’s exhausted and crashes into bed. Shinji likes to take his sweet time on mornings, and drag Yuki back in bed with him for a few lazy hours.

17. Who wakes the other one up with kisses ? Yuki sometimes, when he feels happy, but he’d rather let Shinji sleep because if he needs sleep, then the captain needs even more sleep ! That’s logical ! Captains do more than messengers, they need more sleep ! (that explains Shinji’s inordinate amount of naps too.)

18. Who is the romantic one (Valentine’s Day or other) ? ..... Shinji is not romantic AT ALL so Yuki wins by default. Which doesn’t mean anything, because he can’t romance anyone to save his life. That’s not part of a good education, except things like writing poetry to your bethroted. Which Shinji wouldn’t be interested in. So no. No romantic one, really.

19. Who would lead in ballroom dancing ? Shinji. Yuki may have learned to dance as part of his noble upbringing, but Shinji is suprisingly light on his feet and graceful, and he loves to grab Yuki and dance around the furniture in his office.

20. Who is the one to most likely pick the movie they watch ? Shinji because he’s the one who knows about movies. Yuki is always eager to discover those weird stories his captain seems to love (because it means snacks and hot drinks and cuddles with the captain. So good).

21. Who is the one who would pay for dates ? Probably Shinji at first, because he has the money. Now that he earns more, being the capitain’s personnal messenger, Yuki tries to invite him to dates too, but Shinji always refuses because he wants to treat him. The only time when he lets Yuki invite him is for his birthday.

22. Who takes over the beauty/style department ? Depends on the occasion. Shinji takes over for their daily life : finding Yuki better uniforms, helping with his hair and everything... But for special occasions, Yuki takes over and dresses and arranges Shinji’s hair. Because no, captain, you can’t wear a tie with a kimono. Please no.

23. What would they get each other for gifts ? Shinji brings Yuki things from the Living World. It’s easy, because Yuki isn’t used at all to get presents, so even the smallest token makes him happy. But the cuter, the better. He has several cute toys (Pokemon figures and plushes, a few Hello Kitty, a Neko Atsume plush, and even a few Disney toys), nice human clothes that are was comfier than his uniforms, human food... He loves each and every present he gets. Yuki tends to ask Rose for advices on what to buy for his captain-partner. It’s not easy to find, especially music-related gifts, and Yuki doesn’t have lots of money. So when he wants to make Shinji happy, he writes and delivers cute little messages to him. Shinji keeps them in a special folder. When he has enough money, he buys tasteful things. Not to sat that Shinji has bad taste, but Yuki bought him a beautiful kimono, the best coffee he could find, those kinds of things. It makes Shinji really, really, really happy.

24. Who cusses more ? Shinji, Shinji, Shinji, He’s not cursing at Hiyori levels because no one does beside Hiyori, but he still uses his fair amount of curses. Yuki almost never cusses, which makes it way impressive when he does.

25. Who remembers things ? And who forgets the birthdays and anniversaries (and has to be forgiven) ? Both. Yuki doesn’t have lots of dates to remember, so it’s quite easy. Shinji is a bit absent-minded, but he has an habit to take notes on everything that’s at hand : reports, forms, candy wrappers, Rose’s music sheets, Aizen’s novel pages... Most of the time, he can’t find them after five minutes and has to take some more notes.

26. Who is the bigger cuddler ? Shinji, because he loves hugs and cuddles. Yuki does too, but he doesn’t dare disturbing his captain, especially when he’s busy. Luckily for him, Shinji seems to always guess when there’s a huge need of cuddles around.

27. Nicknames for each other ? Yuki absolutly refuses to use Tomoyo’s nickname of “Captain Rack-of-Teeth” under any condition. Shinji is now “Shinji-sama”, and that the extend of what he’s able to use. Shinji calls Yuki by his name, but takes great pleasure into drawling it as much as he can. Yukiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii~.

28. Who decorates the apartment ? Mostly Shinji, because they live in his captain quarters. He brought a lot of things from the Living World, to be more comfortable, surrounded by everything dear to him. Yuki just added small, personnal touches here and there.

29. Who initiates duets ? Shinji. Half of the time, that’s because he’s singing along whatever record is playing at the moment, and he tries to get Yuki to join. Which doesn’t work because Yuki is very shy, and doesn’t know the words anyway. It only works with a few songs they both know, and often needs him to be a bit drunk.

30. What do they do to cheer each other up ? They both send each other happy little messages, sometimes through Yuki, sometimes through others. Shinji puts on loud music, rolls Yuki in a blanket and gives him the sweetest hot chocolate he can make, then hugs the Yuki-roll and cuddles him. Yuki’s method is more or less the same because he learnt it from him. It involves cuddling Shini, dragging him outside to watch the fishes in the nearest koi pond, asking Rose for a good snack. When they are in bed, they have taken too to cover each other’s scars, with words, signs or drawings in ink.

Daily life

31. Who is more tech-savvy ? Shinji, because he’s the one who knows about all those funny little human devices he brought from the Living World. Yuki is endlessly amazed by everything he can do with them.

32. Who drinks all of the coffee ? Shinji, because Yuki drinks tea. But he drinks looooots of it. His office always smells of coffee, and there’s always a pot brewing for him somewhere.

33. Who does what chores ? The advantage of being a captain of the Gotei 13, is that you get servants to do them for you. Which is good, because Yuki has been raised as a noble, and can’t do them to save his life (okay, he can do basic cleaning and take bloodstains out of everything, but that’s all). Shinji does the chores he likes, like cooking, but that’s all. The rest is taken care of. Even the paperwork, that’s what Aizen is for.

34. Who kills the bugs ? No one ! You don’t kill bugs, you catch them and release them outside ! Or you make Yuki cry. Your pick.

35. Who makes the bed in the mornings ? What is this “bed-making” you’re talking about ? Shinji doesn’t make beds because he loves lounging around and stay in bed in the morning for hours. And takes naps. And loves to drag Yuki with him. Besides, Yuki doesn’t know how to make beds anyway.

36. Who starts getting into holidays way before they should ? Shinji. Holidays means fun and good food and sometimes presents, but above all, friends and fun. So he gets in the mood early, obtaining snacks from Rose, polishing his holidays clothes and decorating everything he can. At first, Yuki doesn’t really understand. For him, holidays are like other days, workdays. Once he stays with Shinji, he starts to understand and gladly follows his lead.

37. Who initiates the couple selfies ? Shinji, of course. He’s the one who owns a camera, and he loves catching Yuki and smushing him against him to take a pic, with goofy smiles or faces. At first, Yuki was startled and a bit afraid, but he very quickly got used to it, and he likes it a lot now.

38. Who always ends up with too much junk food after grocery shopping ? Strangely, Yuki. But that’s not his fault. Can you see how MANY snacks are available in human shops ? Really, he can’t help but want to try them all. Shinji is more than happy to enable him.

39. Who asks to keep the abandoned kitten/puppy they find in the rain ? Shinji tends to keep a lot of abandoned creatures, mainly Yuki and Momo. But honestly, both, because they can’t resist a poor, abandonned kitten, puppy, bird or other animal. They both know very well what it’s like to be lost and lonely.

40. So how many pets, and who rememebers to feed them ? They find a cute little cat in the rain, nothing more than a ball of wet fur with pointy ears and a tail. They bring it home, clean it, feed it, and name it Shizuka. The cat quickly becomes a fixture of Shinji’s office and their home, and proceeds to make his name a total lie, by climbing the curtains, playing with the paperwork, running around at full speed and trying to eat Aizen’s hair. They still both remember to feed him, and he turns into a purring monster as soon as he’s on their lap.

41. Who gets babied when they’re sick ? Both. Shinji takes care of Yuki because he knows Yuki almost never got taken care of, and he loves how happy he looks when he brings him tea, medecine or hugs. Yuki takes care of Shinji because he loves him and wants to make him feel as loved and protected as Shinji usually does.

42. Who brings breakfast to bed ? Yuki likes to surprise Shinji with a warm beverage on cold mornings. The first time he tried, he brought him a cup of tea, and started a panic attack that ended up in tears (Shinji’s and Yuki’s) and needed Rose’s intervention. Now that he knows, he takes great care of bringing him the best coffee he can brew.

43. Who has sole posession of the T.V. remote ? Shinji, because he has possession of the TV too, and Yuki doesn’t know anything about TV or remotes. Besides, Shinji knows how to arrange the sound, and Yuki is quite happy to just cuddle with him.

44. Who comes home drunk at 3am ? Shinji, because he’s always out to party with the other Vizored captains (and sometimes other people too). Yuki stays with him most of the time to walk him home and prevent him from getting lost. But since he falls asleep on the captain halfway through the party, most of the time, Kensei is the one bringing them home.

45. What do they do when they’re away from each other ? Shinji does his captain job... most of the time. He spends time with Rose, Kensei and Hiyori and Kisuke when they visit, throws his office supplies at Aizen’s head, spends time with Momo to help her get back on her feet, lies on his couch and listens to jazz... He’s a very busy captain. Yuki does his messenger job and runs around a lot. He visits Tomoyo at the 11th and Rie in the archives building, and spends time with them. Sometimes, he has to visit his family, but he does is very reluctently, and most of the time, he waits for Shinji to drag him with him as much as possible. When Shinji is away on a mission, he spends all his free time in the 11th division.

46. What are they afraid of ? Now that he’s atuned to his Hollow, Shinji doesn’t fear losing control anymore and see his other part destroy everything he holds dear. Same for Aizen ; now that the former lieutenant-captain-lover-lord-of-hueco-mundo-with-god-complex is chained to his desk with a mountain of paperwork, he’s safe on that side too. The only thing left to fear, beside an angry Hiyori with a sandal, is what the assholes in the Central 46 could decide about them being horrible creatures and whatnot. At least the captain commander is on their side. Yuki fears a lot of things : people stronger than him, Himiko, large dogs, Himiko, storms, Hollows and Himiko. But his deeper fear is for Shinji to somehow get fed up with him and deciding that he doesn’t want him anymore. He’s deathly scared of being left alone once again. Now that he got a taste of what true love, affection and companionship means, he’s not sure he could go back to his former life.

47. How often do they fight ? Never. Not because Yuki is a wimp who covers at the slightest hint of a scream. You’d be surprised at how forceful he can be when something upsets him enough. They never fight because Shinji rather tells Yuki when there’s something wrong, and he’s now an expert at reading when Yuki is angry or sad. So they sit and talk it out, to find a solution. They both had enough unsaid things poisoning their lives for a lifetime or two, and they’d rather not waste a wonderful relationship because of small things blown up until they explode.

48. What would they do if the other one was hurt ? Yuki mostly panics. The captain is hurt, something is very very wrong and what can he do ! But he tries to hide it as best as he can, because it’s not about him, and tries to be as useful as he can. Shinji would raise hell and exact a holy vengeance on the culprit. Someone helps the one who dared hurting his lover, because they are about to get a firsthand taste of hell. Then, hugs and cuddles.

And once they have kids…

49. How many kids ? Momo Maybe they will adopt children once Yuki is feeling better about his life, family, and himself in general. Which means in a very, very long time. They’ll probably go and find cute, orphaned, shinigami children in the Rukongai (or hell even non-shinigami) and bring them to live with them. How many, I don’t know. Maybe a lot, because once he’s better, Yuki will probably want his own family. As Shinji, he loves being surrounded with people, and children are fun and nice, so he’s totally on board.

50. Who is the stricter parent ? Shinji, but not by much. Yuki doesn’t have one strict bone in his body, coming for years of abuse, low self-esteem and naturally meek personnality. Shinji, as a captain, has to be strict sometimes, but he would still be a very permissive parent.

51. Who stays up late helping with homework ? Yuki. Part because he wants to help, and part because Shinji already has a lot of work, even with Aizen doing his paperwork, and he deserves to rest on the evenings.

52. Who likes to take the family out and for what ? Shinji LOVES dragging all his little family to the Living World for a day of fun. Shopping, amusement parks, movies, concerts, cozy little coffee shops... He always plans a nice little schedule for them, full of nice, fun and relaxing activities, and brings them back to Kisuke’s shop for a last cup of tea before heading to bed.