"Yeah. They don't grow back." he smoothed his hand along the soft ridges of his horns, frowning for a moment. "They do a lot of their growth in puberty, and then slowly grow for the rest of my life. But if they're cut off…"
And the Skies Turned Gold (Reboot) // OxO // Closed
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Tohru didn't want to be the one to tell Davin what to do. It was horribly unfair to him.
"You talked about how that's not something you'd want to do before though, right?" Tohru asked, trying to better understand the situation rather than jumping to judgment and giving him unsolicited advice.
"Yeah. I'm not going to do it unless I absolutely have to." he said, looking over at Tohru. "I just…I don't want to lose this connection." his voice was quiet, gaze flickering away again for a moment.
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"That makes sense," Tohru replied, relief flooding over him, "I'll do my best to make sure you never have to, then."
He leaned back in his seat.
"So, um… Vex invited me out for drinks later. I'm going to be gone for a bit tonight," Tohru started, his heart threatening to pound out of his chest.
He hated lying like this, but it was for Davin, right? It was so he could take care of him.
Davin listened quietly, nodding. "Sure. I mean, I'm not going to stop you from hanging out with a friend. Just let me know if you need me to come pick you up or anything. I mean. We don't…have a vehicle. But to walk you home."
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"Yeah, of course," Tohru laughed, "I just thought I should let you know. I'll let you know if I need to take you up on that offer. But I don't plan on drinking all that much, so I'll probably be good to make it back on my own."
He finished his cup of coffee and started scrolling through information about his target.
"Alright." He replied, giving Tohru a quick smile. "Just be safe." He sipped his coffee again.
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"I'll be fine," Tohru replied with a slight smile, "Hopefully won't be back too late. It'll be like I was never gone."
He would spend the rest of the day up to the hit doing more research on his target, finding potential whereabouts, and hoping that this one would go more smoothly than the last.
"Alright." he closed his eyes for just a moment, and setting his cup aside. "I have work later, by the way, so I may not be here when you leave."
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Tohru looked up from his device.
"You got the job? That's great!" he replied, a relaxed smile spreading over his face.
Maybe like this, he'd be able to save up faster.
"I did." he replied, smiling. "And they're alright with me wearing the hood. I told them it was a religious and personal garment that I could not remove."
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"Good," Tohru replied with a sigh of relief, "I know they're not supposed to reject you on those kinds of grounds, but I couldn't help being concerned."
He hummed very faintly. "Yeah. It would have been fine, I would have just looked elsewhere if I had to."
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"I know, I know…" Tohru said, "It would've been fine, but it's not ideal."
He scrolled through more and more on his device. He'd be full on tracking tonight. This target's whereabouts weren't quite known yet. Maybe he'd leave early to get a head start. Maybe he wouldn't even find them tonight and would have to make up more excuses.
"Yeah." he agreed, picking up his cup and sipping the last of his coffee. "Good thing I've got the job, though. It'll make it easier to pay rent and such."
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"Yeah, for sure," Tohru agreed, "What time do you have work?"
He stood up to go wash his mug, still glued to his device.
"About noon." he replied, checking the time. "So we have a few more hours." he waited for Tohru to be done so that he could wash out his own.
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Perfect. Davin leaving at noon would give Tohru plenty of time to investigate. Tohru put his cup aside and moved out of the way.
"I'll probably just be working on my art until then, but we can talk some more, of course. I'm always happy to."
(What if Davin ran into Vex while he's at work???)
(oooh and he was like "wait I thought you were with Tohru??")
Davin nodded. "Of course." he replied. He brushed a few loose strands of hair out of his eyes, still watching Tohru quietly.
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(Yes, exactly! And he just comes up with more bullshit, and things get tense, and then he actually gets in a really tight spot in a later mission and has to own up to it)
Tohru sat back down, "working on his art." In reality, he was still doing research, trying to narrow down his target's whereabouts before he went out later.
"I'm hoping we can stay here a while," Tohru said, "I don't know… it'd just be cool to settle down for a while."
(yeah! and Davin is like "dude this is fucking dangerous, I thought you said you weren't going to do it anymore)
Davin nodded. "Yeah. For a few months, as least. It would be nice." he shrugged his shoulders.
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(Yesss)
"Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to settle down for a lifetime. So many people seem to do that. And I wonder if I ever could," Tohru said, thinking aloud, "Or if I want to."
Davin glanced over at him. "I don't know that I can." he said softly. "But I'm sure you could, some day. If that is what you intend upon." he couldn't settle for a lifetime. Not with his identity.
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"No, but I can't foresee myself ever settling down either. So I'll travel with you as long as it takes to see things through. To make sure you're okay," Tohru promised.
He smiled a little, but it was tinged with sadness. "Yeah." he said softly. "You're free to leave whenever you want to, though."
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"That's not going to be soon," Tohru replied, "If ever."
He looked down and away, his cheeks flushing slightly.
"It's more than obligation, though. I like you a lot, and I enjoy your company. And I think you deserve better than the loneliness you've faced all these years."
He cocked his head for a moment, another soft smile tugging at his lips. "Oh. Thank you, Tohru."
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Tohru didn't see the smile that graced Davin's face at first, as he was avoiding eye contact for a moment. He was being vulnerable. It was humiliating.
"O-of course," Tohru replied softly.
He smiled again, looking down at his feet for a moment. His tail was twitching very softly, wrapping itself around his legs lightly. "Yeah."
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Tohru turned back to his research, and he was already honing in on a few possible locations for his target, but it would still take additional searching. He wasn't able to go out yet, though, so he did what he could to learn about the locations, possible entrances and exits, and whatever else might help him make a clean kill and a quick getaway, as well as keeping him from being noticed.
But slowly, his mind wandered from that, and he started looking up Kaythani jewelry. The price tags, even for the simplest of pieces, were steep. It would probably take at least a few months of rigorous bounty hunting to stand a chance at obtaining some. With that, he would probably start to get noticed. He might have to play a longer game. A game he didn't have time for if he wanted to make this gesture.
Yet, he didn't want all of the bounty money to go unspent. He wanted to do something for Davin before giving him back a piece of his home planet. Something. Anything to get some of his dedication across.