foolishmortals

[He's pleased when the man chooses to stay, but he doesn't say anything, choosing instead to delicately try one of the lightly fried fish filets.

But, tasty as it is, his full attention goes back to the man with him.]

Of course, anything.

You said... secrets make us monsters, right? [Or something to that effect, Maui wouldn't ever claim to have a good memory. His talents rested with his brawn, not his brain.]

Can I... show you mine?

[...Oh.

Oh, we're getting real. Okay. This isn't a drill. He sets the food down on the nightstand and turns to face him better.]

Absolutely.

[Somewhere in the back of Maui's mind, he felt almost disappointed that Lefou had said yes. Now it was all on him, to either back out or come out with the secrets tumbling about in his head.

Once more, he scratched at his neck, before turning his back on Lefou. His hand lifted, gathering up his hair and tying it into a bun on the top of his head. Without his silky hair in the way, the rest of Maui's tapestry of tattoos were revealed, including one of a woman and child between his shoulders.]

I haven't always been a god. I was born to mortals, just like anyone else here. And they... didn't want me.

[...He didn't know you were a god in the first place.

He reaches out, hesitates. He can't read but he can understand pictures perfectly fine - the woman large and highlighted, the small and featureless infant being thrown into the inky blackness.

He touches the shape of that small baby, gently but reassuringly, then lays his palm against Maui's inked skin, his hand cool against the human (God???) oven in front of him.]

...How did you survive?

[Jeez, Lefou, didn't you read the profile-- oh. Right.

Maui started at the touch, not used to contact in general, and certainly not in that secret place against marks better left forgotten. He shivered, though wasn't entirely discomforted by the touch of the man behind him. He had always expected mortals to think less of him once he admitted to being none too different, but twice now, they had yet to laugh in his face.]

The gods saved me. Granted me immortality and a powerful fish hook. That hook is what makes me Maui the demi-god. Without it I'm no more powerful than the rest of us.

If I had it, I could save us. That's why -- [He shook his head. The Hatbox Ghost had told him to keep quiet about the deal, and so he would. He had to hope there was still a chance of saving his friends.] That's why I spent so much time looking for it, those first few days.

[Lefou was quiet for a long moment, though his touch stayed there. He wasn't going to let Maui shy away from that.

How long has it been since someone's touched you, mon cher?]

I can't say for certain, but immortality sounds like a heavy enough burden by itself.

[His tone was soft and thoughtful, as he moved his hand up from Maui's back to his shoulder, at the crook of his neck. He would get this man used to to casual touch, again. He smoothed both hands down the ink-swirled shoulders, kneading gently at the tension in the immense muscles.]

You have shoulders broad enough to carry us all, mon ami, but that doesn't mean that you have to do it alone. No one here is expecting one man to be our savior. No matter how strong and handsome and...godly they are.

[Maui could feel the smile, small and sad, when LeFou leaned in to leave a small kiss on one of the rare blank spots on the canvas of Maui's body, right up between his shoulder and his neck.]

We'll get out of here by staying together. All of us.

Edited 2017-07-06 10:53 (UTC)

[The gentle strokes and pressure were just as off-putting as they had been before, but they felt as if they were eating away at not just the strain of the mansion, but also the weight of a thousand years.

He could almost believe his words, strange as they were. He wanted to be the one to save them, had worked tirelessly to break spells and cut suspicious deals. Maybe none of it had to be necessary. Maybe he didn't need to be the only hero. Maybe he could believe what he was hearing and simply relax.

And then Lefou kissed him.

Maui whirled around, as if he had been struck. His breath came out hard, and with it there came anger toward Lefou's presumption. That anger extinguished quickly, exhaled from his form and replaced by an odd sort of warmth. A thousand years, and he hadn't felt anything quite like it, this odd, coiling heat within his chest. The closest thing he could remember was when he lassoed the sun, and the mortals cheered, thanked him, and hailed him as a hero.

The memory seemed to blunt his tongue, left him almost speechless-- a rare enough occurrence for the demi-god. When he finally did manage to speak, his voice was hushed.]

Why did you --

[It had been nothing forward, just a small brush of a smile against his skin (because it was warm, because he liked touching people, because in France kisses were intimate but not inherently romantic and he just wanted him to know he was sincere, because when was the last time anyone treated this man with kindness?), but when Maui spun around on him he let go like the man's turned into a volcano, eyes wide and all the color draining from his face in a second like he'd been struck - no, like he was preparing for a strike -

Too much?

Do you want to be next?

The giant man breathed like a bull about to charge, and Lefou shied back.

But it was the sigh, the hushed voice that brought him back, far from Gaston's fury, from the snarl of the monster that had taken the place of his friend, and back into the small bedroom in a mansion he mattered, where people cared about him, where there were other people like him. He'd gotten too comfortable with the lack of boundaries, compared to how things were back home. He looked up to meet Maui's eyes again, fighting past the way adrenaline was making his heart bounce wildly between the pit of his stomach and his throat, and didn't see anger or hatred.]

I'm- I'm sorry, I... I- didn't mean to offend...

[The fear on Lefou's face was an alarming sight. He shrank back, a mirror of the man's own display, gaze quickly settling on something far away. How could he be a hero to all, as he so often claimed, if he terrified those he would have liked to consider a friend.]

I'm sorry. You spend a thousand years alone you... forget about things like that.

[After shifting to face him properly, Maui's gaze flicked back to Lefou. With some amount of hesitation, he extended a hand to rest upon his shoulder. He'd liked that before, hadn't he?]

You're a good man, and uh -- [He coughed. Arrogance had been his go-to for generations. How did he even begin to be more genuine?]

A better listener. I... shouldn't have acted like that.

[The fear faded from his face when Maui shrank away, startled. He didn't track his gaze, he was still coming back from the cold forest himself.]

You didn't deserve to be alone for- [Mon dieu, a thousand years, really] -so long.

[Maui wasn't Gaston. That much was plain about his...everything, but especially the hesitation. So he smiled, reaching one hand up to hesitantly touch Maui's wrist.]

I'm glad you felt like you could trust me.

Edited (I'm bad at writing in past tense and then when I just write in present I lose the context and end up with "Shrinked" somehow) 2017-07-07 02:10 (UTC)

Pff -- [Maui rolled his eyes, a more playful display than anything else.] I wouldn't say I trusted you. More like... decided to get even. I took care of you last week, now it's your turn.

[Normally, he might have elbowed the man playfully, but it was becoming more and more clear that his touch was a bit too aggressive for most of the mortals here. Instead, he shoved lightly at the hand at his wrist, before offering it a more genuine pat.]

But, uh. Thanks. [He cleared his throat.] Just so you know, if you tell anyone about this, I'll hang you from a banister by your undergarments.

[That made him chuckle a little bit, his smile a little more settled. The shove at the hand on his wrist doesn't budge it, and he's not nervous about the hand that's so much bigger than his own.]

Noted. Though, for what it's worth, nobody here would think less of you for it.

...[His gaze fell to the thick black lines on Maui's arms, remembered the tattoo that Maui had shown him, on the nape of his neck where his hair usually hid.]

Why did you get that tattoo? If you're so ashamed of being born human?

Maybe, maybe not.

[He wanted to believe that was true. That people like Namine and Anna would still care about him, if he ever managed to finally tell them the truth. Both of them had seemed willing to both listen and comfort them, but he couldn't quite loose his tongue.

Lefou's question was a perfect distraction from those thoughts, however. Rather than spiraling back into doubt, he pushed his worry to the back of his mind. It was far easier to hold up his arms, showing each scene from a lifetime of heroics.]

I don't get to decide. They appear after I do something important or worthwhile. [He pointed to the piece above his navel.] Like this one. The mortals were cold and needed something to warm them. I stole fire from a goddess and let the mortals have it.

I... uh. I liked doing that. Making mortals happy. Making them love me.

[Lefou doesn't like the implication that he's had that tattoo since he was a baby. But when he looks at the tattoos, they seem almost alive. It's strange, but even though Maui talks about goddesses and his great heroics, Lefou doesn't... disbelieve him. Everything here is so strange, that he'll believe anything.

He knows better than to reach out to such a vulnerable area (though he wonders if anywhere on the man is really vulnerable, I mean look at him, really), but he sees how the pictures come together and tell the story, Maui the great bringing fire to the mortals.]

I'm- I can understand that.

This is a grander scale than anything I ever did, but... I've spent most of my life trying to be noticed. I don't know if you realized, but I don't have anything really special about me.

Nothing special? [It was hard to hold in a scoff. Maybe he understood why it might seem like that at first brush. When they first spoke in the bathroom, the man certainly did come off as plain and unremarkable.

But there was something about him. A more poetic man would be able to describe how his strength was internal, that his heart was bigger and fuller than any other person Maui had come across. If he was an emotional man, he would mention that no one made him feel comfortable about talking like Lefou had.

What came out was far simpler than all of that, and Maui simply had to hope that it conveyed the disbelief churning within him.]

You listen better than anyone here. You don't see me babbling my life story to Sylvia or Wendy, do you?

[Lefou was used to simple. He shifted so that one leg was up on the bed, to give him more room to face Maui without bending his back. He got it... somehow.]

That's true...

Tell me about another one of your tattoos? You said they just... appear, when something important happens. Like your body's a living record of everything you've done.

[Maui was concerned at how quickly the conversation flicked away from Lefou but... it was also hard to resist the siren's call of talking about himself.]

A lot of mortals complained about their crops not being able to grow because the days were too short. So I did what any god would do and lassoed the sun. In exchange for me releasing him, he'd stick around longer during the day.

[In response to Maui the greater's words, Mini-Maui leapt from one side of his chest to the other. With a great swing of his own inky-hook, the sun was captured.]

[Lefou's eyebrows shoot up his forehead when he sees Mini-Maui actually move (not to mention, it definitely draws his attention to those impressive pectorals and it's very hard following the story when it's being told on skin.]

That's amazing.

[He watches Mini-Maui hook the sun and pull it in, he wants to trace the moving lines with his fingers, to see if they feel any different as the ink moves across the canvas of Maui's skin.

God help him, he's far too gay for this.]

How do they move like that?

A few of you have asked me that. [Each time, he hadn't known. The usual answer was simply magic, but that seemed pretty ineffectual for the more intellectual types around the mansion. Not that anything else made sense. What was tattoos appearing and moving but Magic.]

Honestly, I don't know. What makes a fish hook all-powerful, or a mortal immortal. The will of the gods and their almighty powers. Plus -- [Maui shifted and flexed his arm.]

Sheer awesomeness. That helps too.

[Lefou is far from an intellectual type, and he's...seen magic. Heard about miracles.

What's moving ink when he's been taught to believe in burning bushes?

He tries. Really hard. To hide the ~~gay~~ little delighted noise that almost squeaks out of him when Maui flexes.]

The charm and handsomeness come with the whole package, right? Or did those just come to you naturally?

[Now he's flirting.]

[It was a little odd, hearing such sounds of adoration coming from another man. Usually it was the women who oooh'd and ahhh'd over his muscles, the tattoos on his skin and of course, that sheer awesomeness he loved to brag about.

But on the other hand, appreciation was appreciation, and it'd been so long since he'd heard anyone marvel at him. He wasn't going to reject his first bits of praise in a literal millennium, just because it wasn't a woman doing it.

Besides, Lefou... he wasn't so bad, right?]

Uh, naturally of course. The gods can do a lot but hair like this [He sent a wave of curls tumbling down his back.] All me, baby.

Edited 2017-07-07 04:37 (UTC)

[Lefou was too gay to function right now. He watched Maui let his hair back down, shiny curls flowing over his shoulders.

He had a type and it wasn't fair. How in god's name was this man alone for a thousand years?

He chuckled at the cocky attitude, but not meanly.]

I've never met anyone at all like you before. I think I'm luckier, now that I have.

You're not the first to say that.

[And yet, Lefou knew one of his secrets, the one kept closest to his chest. Despite that, he still thought himself lucky, of all things. Given everything Maui had thought about himself, Lefou's standpoint was one that was hard to believe.

Not to mention the odd way it made him feel.]

But, uh. I'd say I'm lucky, too.

WEEK 4

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