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stay out of trouble . (Gino @ Kogami!)
perhaps it’s the late hour making him charitable.
or maybe the common sentiment shared among enforcers - masaoka and kogami specifically, that gino ought to be kept on the sidelines of all that hides in the shadows. unlike their own hues, his can still be maintained, can strive for salvation. as for the rest of them, well, they’ve already become familiar with the robotic voice dialing central, the reply back unlocking the weapon’s potential to paralyzer, at the very least, and in the worst cases, at the darkest hour of their minds, there’s no other way out but having their guts rained on ther companions. gruesome, but that’s their reality, one that gino should never know.
smoke clouds the space between them, standing side by side, and it’s perhaps the familiar ambience, like how it’d been in the past, which sapped his ability to reason when reason was the wisest thing to do. and remain quiet, for certain.
‘ trouble is a broad word. ’ he swept a hand across the air, bracelet come to view, ‘ as far as i’m concerned, i’ve been navigating in trouble for a while now. ’
guess the joke didn’t land well, he thinks, catching a glimpse of gino’s face contorting in something akin to anger, disappointment, defiance all at once. and isn’t it a dangerous feat, that he’s able to come bare with his emotions in the blink of an eye? it’s a weakness in the eyes of a predator like kogami, someone who’s always on the hunt for something, a ghost, or a memory. for any other person, honesty is freedom. it’s a distraction to himself, to let his thoughts wander. he picks up where he left off, sensing the tension embroidered in the seconds that he let the pause drag on for too long, so he offers gino a smile, once their gazes are locked.
‘ i get what you mean. it’s not the first time you’ve mentioned it. not the first person, either. you’ll probably hate to hear it, but masaoka has been insistent about it, too, in his own way. ’
the more you chase after something, the further away from your own skin it drives you; it’s crossed his mind that whatever becomes of him, of his raw flesh and bones, it can’t be anything pretty. when he set on this path, he accepted whatever outcome resulted of it. doesn’t mean he won’t give anything less than a calculated performance, that he’s received the devil’s gesture and returned it in kind.
how to tell gino this, and that, and every other thing that comes after? there, suspended in air, balconies away from the other offices, it feels almost as if they were standing at the edge of the world. kogami’s gaze drops momentarily, welcoming the vertigo. he feels the treacherous birth of a smile, mirthless, and whether it’s the will of the fall - primal desperation, or the absurdity of this, bitter flavor of vengeance, he isn’t sure. but he wanted to say it no matter what.
gino deserved that much.
‘ you’re asking too much of me. i can’t give this up, you’ve known it for a long time. but i can promise you this: when the time to take the leap comes, i won’t drag you down - you, or inspector tsunemori or masaoka; you name it. think me a fool, if that’ll give you peace. curse me all you want, i’ll accept it. ’ if this hunger will be the death of me, then so be it. @lustraveil