For all of whatever else Hakkyuu is feeling, the sense that K is drawing in this moment as something unique, a personal first, is something Hakkyuu can appreciate tremendously.
Except when the question arrives it means he has to give some kind of answer, and to give some kind of answer means putting an awareness he has out into the world that he's trying to pretend he's in denial about.
"It killed my entire family in the dead of night for political gain," he replies dryly, turning away to grab something.
It's all humour that works for Hakkyuu, having never known and never cared to begin any journey to find who is related to by blood for multiple reasons, with the biggest on being that he has a family that he's more bound to now than he could ever imagine blood could come close to, and why cheapen it by trying to follow a rope that's either going to be cut short or so covered in moss and barnacles as to prove a lack of prior movement.
But that's how he often approaches the world--abrupt and often on the edge of a joke more aligned with his own humour than what most others appreciate and he's been at odds with people's understanding of him for his entire life.
When he turns back, he has a glass mister in his hand with a metal plunger at the top, which he offers to K.
"Here, soak him down, it'll make his little frog day toad-ly fantastic."
Another person might have reacted poorly to that line being fed to him, or at least rolled their eyes, annoyed. K doesn't so much as look up, at least not until Hakkyuu is holding out the mister.
He accepts it, eyebrows raised in good natured skepticism. "Do you often care so much for the comfort of a genocidal creature?" he asks mildly. And: "Frogs and toads are two different creatures, I'm pretty sure."
If Hakkyuu is going to be sharply sarcastic, K is perfectly capable of being blandly earnest.
Giving K a fairly flat look at this very reasonable question and corrective observation, Hakkyuu then gives a slight shrug.
"What can I say, it's the only connection to particular loved ones that I have now,"
Ironically, right now, that part isn't an outright lie, a truth buried obliquely in a joke. There's a momentary pause, something like irritation flashing through his eyes, before he makes an exasperated noise and waves impatiently in the creature's direction.
"Just spray the damn frog and enjoy yourself, yeah?"
"Frogs swim, I don't think you'll do it any harm if you drenched it entirely. I'd probably say keep going until you're done or you get the feeling it's had enough."
He moves to lean his back against the sideboard again, arms folding over his chest, though when he speaks next it's with a little less nebulous annoyance.
"You realize I'm still learning what most feelings even are," he points out, idly, a wry joke of his own to make a very real truth go down a little easier.
But something Hakkyuu has said has raised a larger concern for him for the moment than the other man's surliness. "Does he need a pond or something?" he asks, giving the frog a few careful, experimental spritzes.
Hakkyuu's expression takes on a fairly unreadable state, though he doesn't sound precisely unamused as he simply answers, "Yeah, well, get used the whole learning what feelings are thing, most people don't entirely know themselves. You're probably doing way better than you think and almost certainly better than most."
He watches the frog as it blinks, wetly, lifting one little webby paw to drag it's little fingers over its face a few times as it subtly leans towards the spray K provides.
"I'm sure he'll work himself out. It's a plant room, not a frog room."
But then, he gets the feeling there's a protest on the frogs behalf building so he takes a deep, demonstrative breath that's Oh So Put Upon and adds, "Bet if you ever wanted to bring him a bird bath though I'm sure he'd be real happy about it. Don't let the name fool you, we'll add a little 'bastard frogs welcome' sign, how about that?"
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no subject
Except when the question arrives it means he has to give some kind of answer, and to give some kind of answer means putting an awareness he has out into the world that he's trying to pretend he's in denial about.
"It killed my entire family in the dead of night for political gain," he replies dryly, turning away to grab something.
It's all humour that works for Hakkyuu, having never known and never cared to begin any journey to find who is related to by blood for multiple reasons, with the biggest on being that he has a family that he's more bound to now than he could ever imagine blood could come close to, and why cheapen it by trying to follow a rope that's either going to be cut short or so covered in moss and barnacles as to prove a lack of prior movement.
But that's how he often approaches the world--abrupt and often on the edge of a joke more aligned with his own humour than what most others appreciate and he's been at odds with people's understanding of him for his entire life.
When he turns back, he has a glass mister in his hand with a metal plunger at the top, which he offers to K.
"Here, soak him down, it'll make his little frog day toad-ly fantastic."
no subject
He accepts it, eyebrows raised in good natured skepticism. "Do you often care so much for the comfort of a genocidal creature?" he asks mildly. And: "Frogs and toads are two different creatures, I'm pretty sure."
If Hakkyuu is going to be sharply sarcastic, K is perfectly capable of being blandly earnest.
no subject
"What can I say, it's the only connection to particular loved ones that I have now,"
Ironically, right now, that part isn't an outright lie, a truth buried obliquely in a joke. There's a momentary pause, something like irritation flashing through his eyes, before he makes an exasperated noise and waves impatiently in the creature's direction.
"Just spray the damn frog and enjoy yourself, yeah?"
no subject
"I know we've only just met, and I don't have the first clue about what your preferences are. A light misting? A thorough soaking? Something else?"
He painstakingly adjusts the mister in his hand, a stickler for details even when he doesn't know them.
Apparently.
no subject
He moves to lean his back against the sideboard again, arms folding over his chest, though when he speaks next it's with a little less nebulous annoyance.
"You won't hurt him, K. Go ahead."
no subject
But something Hakkyuu has said has raised a larger concern for him for the moment than the other man's surliness. "Does he need a pond or something?" he asks, giving the frog a few careful, experimental spritzes.
no subject
He watches the frog as it blinks, wetly, lifting one little webby paw to drag it's little fingers over its face a few times as it subtly leans towards the spray K provides.
"I'm sure he'll work himself out. It's a plant room, not a frog room."
But then, he gets the feeling there's a protest on the frogs behalf building so he takes a deep, demonstrative breath that's Oh So Put Upon and adds, "Bet if you ever wanted to bring him a bird bath though I'm sure he'd be real happy about it. Don't let the name fool you, we'll add a little 'bastard frogs welcome' sign, how about that?"