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[ He is trying not to crack up behind his phone… (well, by Zuko standards, yknow). Gokudera’s humor always resonates with him more than most others, but he’s not even sure if he should be laughing. He doesn’t mean to take amusement in his friend’s plight but he can’t help it. Thank goodness Gokudera texted and sent a pic instead of just video-calling him… ]

maybe..
try frolicking??
bet youve never frolicked before

[ Zuko, you’re a jerk, lol. ]

I haven't. uh-

[Is this okay? He hopes so! Suddenly he's standing and looking normal. There are black stubby little horns poking out of his head, a few inches behind his fringe. He looks normal, not showing his goat half on camera yet.]

Show me how.

[Said with a serious expression.]

[ Seeing Gokudera’s face on video, with his little horns, somehow makes this all the more real, even if Zuko can’t see his new legs. He serves back an almost equally serious face, by will, but something about the corners of his mouth and the tone of his voice reveal that he’s really trying not to laugh, like when comedians almost break during a comedy skit. He’s trying to keep this up, doing his best to force a flat face and flat tone. And not be rude, sort of, but, uh, that’s low on the list of priorities. ]

No. Go find a meadow.

No! What if someone sees me?!

C'mon just show me on video.

[Gokudera's sincere but not distressed.]

You're the one who needs to practice prancing, not me! I don't have weird goat legs. You show me on video!

[ Zuko's facade is cracking, but he is as bristly as he always is even with his good humor. Defensive. Reactive. But in a good mood over this regardless. ]

How can I practice something I've never done before? I need an instructor and you're the one who brought it up!

[He's not going to make a fool out of himself on his own thanks. This is going to be fun and stupid because they both have to be involved. Bickering and all.]

I didn’t offer to be an instructor! You asked me what to do with your new weird goat-dog legs! How should I know?! That’s what goat-dogs and fox-antelopes and stuff do, right… Frolick. Follow your instincts!

Well, you brought it up so I'm going to need to see how it's done. I've never even seen a goat-dog or a fox-antelope.

I'm asking as a friend.

If I had any instincts to follow, it would be to get out of this apartment. Uri keeps looking at me oddly.

Okay, so maybe not a goat-dog or a fox-antelope or whatever! Are there animals with legs like that in your world? Do what they do! I'm not prancing... Just go find a forest and jump for joy.

[ Zuko's a jerk practicing his jerkbending, as Sokka once put it. Still accurate sometimes. ]

Are you too scared to show me or something?

[Guilt tripping didn't work.]

No...! But why would I frolic? I don't have weird legs! You're the one who's scared to try it!

[ He's absolutely too reserved and self-conscious and a stick-in-the-mud to show him. But guilt-tripping about his bravery, like, pretty much always works. Though this may take some extra needling... ]

I'm not scared! I'm doing it right now!

[He's just kind of walking at a fast pace, and the clippity-clop of his cloven hooves can be heard, but it's difficult while holding the device, ok?]

I think? Huh I think you're just too scared.

[He stops, and there's Uri, glaring at him while in his living room-tree.]

[ Zuko glowers at the camera, but somehow, it's still in good humor, even if this is slightly more aggravating and embarrassing than before now... He liked joking, not being put on the spot. Asked to frolic. Nope. ]

...I'll watch you frolic and tell you if it seems like frolicking. But I won't do it.

[ That's a compromise in his book. ]

Come on. Is anyone around or something that's making you feel bad? Show me how! I just tried it!

Do I need to go to a meadow? Is that how you define it or something?

...Yes. Let's go find a meadow. Probably in that big forest.

[ He says this with zero enthusiasm, in the flattest voice, thick with amusement and incredulity in equal parts. ]

Okay!

[He sounds honestly excited, which is much better than how he was the last time he and Zuko spoke.]

Right now?

[ Oh, that look on Gokudera’s face… and how excited he sounds, indeed… melts Zuko’s heart a little. Like he’s gotta lie in this bed he made. His snarky joke backfired on him, and he hasn’t seen Gokudera seem excited in… quite a while.

“As a friend,” he’s asking…

…Oy gevalt. You can see the hesitation melting on his face as he resigns to being a good friend. Begrudgingly. You can also see the nerves start to build up in his shoulders and posture as he realizes he’s probably gonna have to jump around like a fool to appease Gokudera’s excitement… He signed up for this. He is the one who brought it up. He’s gotta go along with it now. ]

…Yes, right now. I’ll come to your place. We’ll walk together.

I'll meet you outside!

[Outside of his house, but he has to figure out how to go down the fire escape stairs with his goat legs. Might as well get started on that now, and he's got his device still on and recording as he moves to gather a bad, since... with his animal curse, there are no pants, and therefore no pockets.

Being in the forest is his favorite, and Zuko is a friend he feels comfortable around. Even if he looks stupid, he trusts that the prince won't judge him.]

Okay! See you!

[And he cuts off the feed before Zuko can see him potentially fall down the stairs outside his front door.]

[ Zuko may laugh at him... but he won't judge him. Even just the way Gokudera cuts off the feed makes Zuko smirk. Even when they bicker, even when they fought, somehow so much of Gokudera's disposition and way about things endears him. There's no one else he can think of who'd be able to convince him to go, uh, meet them in a meadow... to frolic... Maybe the Avatar, but that's a big Maybe™ even then. Even Hikaru. Even Iroh. His uncle would really have to needle him even more than Gokudera had and take a whole different philosophical angle about the innate value of frolicking to be able to convince Zuko to move even an inch. But Gokudera? He has. Goat-dog legs. And needs a friend to deal with that. Apparently.

Zuko watched a whole porno film with his other best friend's boyfriend whom he barely knew just to help him mentally prepare for losing his virginity to Zuko's other best friend, whom Zuko was sure was some sexpert at the time. Meeting up with Gokudera in the forest to criticize his frolicking was nothing compared to that experience...

But that doesn't detract at all from the amusement he's secretly taking in this.

He's prompt as always, appearing sooner than Gokudera likely expected. He's in a plain V-neck maroon T-shirt and dark blue jeans and his black and white striped Abibas trainers, simple and well-fitted as always, his new chic short haircut still doing all right, even without the little extra styling Hikaru had done on him the last time he saw Gokudera.

But the last time he saw Gokudera, the bomber wasn't smiling or excited about anything at all, and neither was Zuko. Today... they were both smiling, though for different reasons, even if about the same thing. Seeing Gokudera in person, as soon as he reaches the apartment and happens to catch Gokudera on his last few steps of the stairway, earlier than expected because Zuko Time™, something about just seeing this at all... He can't hide the twitch in the corner of his mouth. ]

Yo...

[ He says thickly with a nonchalant wave, trying to swallow his smile. It's cute seeing Gokudera excited, giddy, happy in literally any way, neither boy one to smile readily. And it's cute seeing Gokudera struggle to get his bearings and deal with crazy magic. They'd done this before in Lunatia, unbeknownst to Gokudera, struggling with animal features, cat-paws, full-on bear transformations, that was so bonding then, that seeing him now with some other weird animal features... it resonated somehow in a way that just tickled him inexplicably, and even if he tries to play it cool for Gokudera's sake as much as his own, he can't hide how that endears and amuses him, however restricted Zuko is. He likes his best friend. That's it. Whatever he's going through. Pure and simple. ]

[Gokudera feels oddly exposed in his new legs. The lack of pants is -while obviously not a new experience considering the other worlds he's been on- making him a little self conscious, so he's put on a distractingly bright pink tank top with the words 'PIXIE POWER' printed across the chest. He can't wear his pants with all of his belts, so there are many more bracelets on his wrists than usual.

He isn't expecting to look up and see Zuko as he's just taking his last step down, grateful to have not fallen down. Gokudera jerks in surprise and blushes hot pink at the way Zuko is looking so amused at him.

It's not that this is a time of need, but it's fun and funny. He wants to share how crazy this is with his friend, and see how stupid it all is before he meets up with Tsuna to escort him home from school. Gokudera's tail wags about and he holds his arms open, turning to show off his new features with a clumsy sort of spin.]

What do you think?

[He walks right up, a little wobbly, but he's getting the hang of it. It's like walking on his toes... kind of.]

[ Zuko pauses, still swallowing a smile that keeps building inside, as Gokudera makes this even harder to process by showing off his new goat gams. Zuko can't keep at least one corner of his mouth from twitching into a smirk. ]

...You look ready to frolic.

[ That's his response. Silly. ]

Well, then! Let's go. We're losing daylight and I'm not interested in frolicking at night... or... well... hm.

[Maybe that would be fun to frolic under the moonlight. It would be super fitting for this world, he thinks.]

Yeah that's stupid let's just go.

[And he starts leading the way to the forest. There's a good meadow in there, and he doesn't intend to use any magic and risk getting cursed over something stupid. With Zuko around, it also feels safe.]

So... my world has goats. It's just... a goat. It's ugly. What animal did you say I had the legs of?

[He's chatty, but then, he's been dying to talk about this with someone and fortunately (for Tsuna at least), it's someone who seems entertained by him rather than completely lost and uncomfortable when faced with his enthusiasm for animals and magic. Maybe if he works hard enough, he can learn animal magic.]

[ His enthusiasm is definitely making Zuko want to laugh. "We're losing daylight!" He can't hide his amusement. But the mention of "just goats..." ]

Goat-dogs. They're kept as pets. But uh, a fox-antelope— it also has hooves like a goat-dog, but it's way bigger, and lives in the forests in the Earth Kingdom... They're not domesticated. People keep goat-dogs in their homes.

[ He gives Gokudera the once-over as they start to walk. ]

You're, uh— somewhere between the two...

Just the legs of a goat-dog?

[Gokudera wonders if they have the front end of a dog and the back end of a goat, or if it's a goat with a dog face... or a dog with horns and hooves? It's fun to try and guess.]

People keep goats as livestock and dogs as pets... like Yamamoto's dog... [He sounds a little sad there, but then, it's mentioning Yamamoto so it's not unusual. Gokudera just gets a bit more of a determined stomp to his step, and his hooves clip and clop against the New Camelot street.]

Like— the back-legs... We don't use goat-dogs as livestock, they're just pets, like other dogs, and cats, and cat-owls, and poodle-monkeys... Fox-antelope are much more, uh— formidable? Even though they're just gentle forest animals.

[ As they walk, he can't help but let his eyes drift toward Gokudera's hooves clopping on the cobblestone. ]

There's nothing intimidating about a goat-dog...

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bakudan_bambino - 2021-08-13 11:58 (UTC) - Expand

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text -> video

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i swear we'll get back to short tags boomeranging like before BuT i needed some ReFLecTioN lol

I feel like I called this.

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