Phantasm Club, Tokyo, 5 a.m. Monday

[withoutverona]

For some strange reason, this club had large clocks mounted where the mirrors should be over the sinks in the men's room.

For a stranger reason, Romeo actually looked at one long enough to read the time. Time hadn't mattered much, not after the stress of their first dinner with Yurika's parents (and the long, awful waiting afterwards while she and her father fought just within earshot, until she reappeared, wearing a distinctly brittle smile). There'd been odd news from home, of course, but she had promised him Tokyo did not sleep, and so neither did they. Distraction seemed the best they could do in the absence of ghosts or gods to fight.

So when he saw the clock, it took some time for his poor brain, which was half drunk and half hungover, to make the connection to anything he had to do, but when he did he dashed back to the bar to find his girlfriend.

"When did you say we were to find our portal home?" he demanded.

Dōjima	"Nani?" Dōjima blinked at him blearily and wrinkled her nose. "Doushite? Yoku wakaranai." Why was he asking about the portal? They didn't leave until Monday. Curious, she pulled her phone out of her purse and flipped it open to check the time. Huh. Look at that. Monday. "Oh, fucking kuso."
Romeo	"Kuso," Romeo agreed, reaching for a cocktail napkin. He wasn't quite sure why wearing eyeliner had seemed like a good idea, but he was not going back to Fandom that way. He rubbed at his eyes as he spoke. "Have we time for a last round, or must we run?"
Dōjima	"We've got time," she answered, reaching out to try and steal the napkin from him. It would work a bit better if he got it wet first. "The portal isn't until nine, don't worry. Besides, there's a time difference. We'll probably get back yesterday." Or would it be tomorrow? Dōjima had never been very good with keeping her timezones straight.
Romeo	Romeo squirmed a little -- things near his eyes, ew -- but handed her the napkin. "Yesterday, today, tomorrow," he said, not being good with time zones either. "I just hope the island has not moved again."
Dōjima	"It shouldn't matter, right? The portal is supposed to take us to Fandom, I'd hope it was smart enough to find the island, wherever it may be." Dōjima flagged down the bartender and got a glass of water, which she dipped the napkin in. She reached out to hold his face lightly in one hand, and dab at his eyes with the other. "So, tell me why we're smearing your eyeliner everywhere? Are we going for the emo look, now?"
Romeo	"I wanted to remove the stuff before we got back to Fandom," he told her. "Will it smear, really? That would be worse yet than leaving it where it is." He winced a little as the napkin seemed a tiny bit too close to the meat of his eye.
Dōjima	"Without actual makeup remover? Yeah, it won't come all the way off." She pulled the napkin back before she could do any more damage and grinned, wavering slightly on her seat. "You don't want to go to class looking like you just came from the club? Doushite? No one's gonna care, and you look all cute and stuff." Someone was still clearly tipsy, and not yet in the slightest bit hungover.
Romeo	He grinned back at her. Hey, she'd said he was cute. "So you wear something next to your eyes that one must use a special substance to remove," he teased, shaking his head. "Girls are brave." He blinked rapidly. "I had almost forgotten we had to go to class soon. Perhaps the time zones will be kind, and we can sleep first."
Dōjima>	He was cute! Cute enough that she had to try and scoot a bit closer to him. "You go to classes!" Dōjima giggled, poking at his chest. "I am not silly to have Monday classes or things, and I can go right to bed. It's a nice bed, you know, with pillows and blankets and things." Her lower lip poked out slightly, and she blinked her large, woeful eyes at him. "I think I like your pillow bestest." Subtlety was not Dōjima's strong suit while sober, let alone now.
Romeo	He leaned toward her, and his grin sharpened into something fierce. "Perhaps I could bring my pillow to visit you after class," he said. "We'd have a pillow playdate." ... and somehow he was back to talking about furniture.
Dōjima	He was looking at her, almost like he wanted to gobble her up, and Yurika licked her lips slightly. That was. What were they talking about? Oh yeah. "Haaaaaai," she drawled, leaning into his personal space to smirk right back. "I have to drop off the things I picked up for Reno and Rikku, but after that?" "You and your pillow know where to find me." "Do think we can even get back?" Yurika asked suddenly, leaning back to look up at the ceiling. "With...you know. Will the portal even connect?"
Romeo	He probably looked that way because he did. He wasn't terribly subtle himself, and he didn't shy away from her invasion of his personal space. At least, not until her question made him draw back and frown slightly. "I think it has to," he said. "It is as you say, it was smart enough to find Fandom before, it shall find it easily enough for the return trip. I don't know if it's smart enough to know about ... that."
Dōjima	"Well, maybe we stay here, then," she said lightly, tilting her head to smile at him. "I'll take the detention for skipping classes this week, if it means we aren't exposed to whatever Witchcraft is causing the ghosts. I'm sure we can find something to occupy us for the rest of the week, until my parents force-march us to an airplane bound for the States." "We just won't tell them that the school isn't there right now..."
Romeo	It took a long moment for Romeo to remember why that wasn't a good plan. An exceptionally long moment. "And then, koibito, they learn of it and chase us down, and you don't get to come back to Fandom at all," he pointed out reluctantly. "And besides, if there's still fighting to be done in Fandom, I aim to help."
Dōjima	He was using new words! Yurika made a happy sound, and decided that his lap was a much nicer spot than her seat, and therefore she should be sitting there. Hopefully he wouldn't mind. Then his second statement permeated her haze and she shook her head. "Of course you do," she murmured quietly. "Sou? How are you planning to fight a spirit?"
Romeo	Hmmm, speaking Japanese got a girl in his lap. He'd need to remember this clever tactic. Sometime when they were being less serious. "I don't know," he admitted, reaching a hand up to touch her hair. "I would bother someone who did know until they told me."
Dōjima	Yurika leaned into his hand and closed her eyes. "Remind me to muzzle the entire school," she joked. "Maybe we should stop by a shrine before we go, and kidnap a priest to do an exorcism!"
Romeo	"We should," Romeo agreed lightly. "I'm sure he'd find more than enough to do there, even if there were no creatures to fight."
Dōjima	"No, wait, bad plan!" Dōjima giggled, shifting slightly to plant a kiss on his cheek. "No priests! I think it might be a customs violation, and I'm already sneaking extra duty-free booze into America." "Besides, I don't want to know what kami are loose on Fandom, and I don't want to be bothered with my kegare. Boooooooring," she said, nodding seriously. "Ano, we must leave the priests and the miko here, hai?"
Romeo	He wrapped his arms around her waist. "Ii yo," he agreed. "Wait, have they customs officers when you travel by portal?" "I'm not," he pondered, "sure Greek demons would even listen to a Shinto priest. He might make the trip for nothing."
Dōjima	Arms! Dōjima cooed happily and wriggled a bit to make herself comfortable. "I'm not taking the chance!" she declared. "With my luck, the Fandoms customs officer is the vice-principal, and that is one scary lady." "Eh, mou ii yo," she said, waving one hand idly. "It doesn't matter, because we will not kidnap a priest, and she won't find my sake." "But you, koibito, have been practicing, or paying attention. Or both. Either. Something. And that -" punctuated with a nuzzle against his neck " - deserves to be rewarded."
Romeo	"Listening to you, mostly," Romeo said, visibly preening. "And I got some books, though being in Tokyo these few days gave me a better sense for how things sound." He kissed her neck. "I like your words. Though if you wish to reward me..."
Dōjima	Yurika stopped nuzzling long enough to wave at the poor beleagured bartender before returning her attention to Romeo. The Look she was giving him right now very similar to the one he'd bestowed on her earlier. "Well," she mused, reaching out to play with his hair. "They close here soon anyway, I think we can safely head out. Maybe grab a shiny or two and hit a purikura booth on our way back, ne?" Grinning, Dōjima shifted slightly in his lap. "Go back to the house, and take a nap before we go?"
Romeo	Romeo matched her grin and tossed his credit card on the counter to settle up. "That sounds like the best way to finish our visit to your home." Then, because he had to, he tilted his chin up to kiss her, just a taste of what might happen during that nap, if not sooner.
Dōjima	Judging by her response, it was probably going to be sooner rather than later. Giggling, she slid off her perch, humming as she swayed to the music. Definitely still tipsy. "Let's go then, aijin," she said cheerfully. "Back the ghosties and ghoulies and things that go bump in the night!" "I love our school."

[OOC: Preplayed with the lovely and amazing dojima_hime. NFB due to location.]