I'm fine.

[His heart flutters at just that softest point of touch and Akechi slowly moves to hook his pinkie around Ren's, holding him for just that little bit. Just this point of connection feels good and calms some anxious part of him that has been reeling ever since he'd been hit.

He's missed him. As their pursuit of Sae winds to a close, he knows he's going to miss him even more, later on. How does it feel like his world begins and ends with Ren? All he'd done was - touch him, care for him, heal his very literal wounds. Each day they move forward is a day closer to his plan being enacted, and Akechi feels as if his whole life is on a thin wire, stretched out, unable to decouple from. There's only one path forward and he tries to tell himself that nothing else matters, but the more he spends time with Ren, the more he starts to doubt.

It won't be long now, he thinks. That only makes him desperate to spent every moment he can with him.]

I was... wondering if you wanted to come over, [he offers, his tone light and casual,] we could watch a movie.

[Akechi lives alone, though he hasn't mentioned that to anyone yet. He's also never invited Ren over - or really talked about his home life at all. He knows that doing this is a risk. His apartment is scrubbed clean of all of his possible associations, but there's always a chance he's missed something, and always a chance that someone could try to contact him there while he has company. It's unlikely, but possible, exposes a potential vulnerability that he doesn't have to.

But he just wants to spend time with him. Just a little more, before the end.]

Of course not. I wouldn't have invited you if I was worried about that.

[Akechi smiles brightly, his usual mask when he's around others. He can tell he's still not exactly popular among the Thieves, but they seem to be still accepting his general presence. At least, no one has seemed too overprotective of Ren, save for a few disapproving glares sent his way. Akechi can handle those easily though, particularly when his whole focus tends to dissolve everything but the boy next to him away, in static noise around them both.

God. He's really got it bad. Something about the last time they were alone together down there in Mementos had wormed its way into his chest and sent fractures all throughout him. He's rattled, anxious, throwing himself into this charade of boyfriends because he wants to relish every moment he has until he ruins things again.

But he can't think about that now, can't think about how Ren seems genuine when he says he was worried about him. Akechi pushes it away and maintains his smile, his fingers tightening a bit on his bag.]

It's not far from here, actually. I live in an apartment in the city.

[He doesn't say he lives alone, at least not yet - not only would that be an alarm bell for the others, but it also signals just what he's planning on doing with Ren, all the way up in his apartment. They'd either assume he was going to kill him, or that he intended on debauching him, and Akechi really doesn't want either of those options to cross anyone's mind.]

[Akechi finds himself flushing at that, his eyes darting forward, making sure that no had heard them. Just the confirmation that Ren's mind is also on what they could be doing quickens his heart, makes it hard to wait just that short amount of time until they can be there. Soon, he can have Ren again. Soon.]

It's... [He clears his throat softly, having a bit of difficulty saying this, for all that he's supposed to maintain a humble and meek outer layer.] ...it's a very nice apartment.

[It's the sort of apartment that top earning businessmen buy to do their shady dealings in, whether carnal or violent. Of course it is - it's funded by Shido, after all, to keep tabs on him, so that Shido knows where to find him when he has another task that only an assassin could fill. As such, it's quiet, relatively insulated for sound, and if anyone hears anything... well, it's no worse than what goes on in some of the other apartments in the building.

Ren's concern is still touching though, and Akechi leans over to bump an elbow against him - casual, just a light prod to tease him with, for all that he wants to touch him so much more now.]

Don't worry about me.

I have what we need.

[It sounds so ominous when he says it like that, but really, it would be out of character for him if he hadn't planned ahead. Of course he'd gotten everything they might want to use, as well as some... extra supplies, just in case. He'd had no real guarantee that Ren would ever come back to his place, but it hadn't been an imposition to buy things to have on hand anyway.

They stop by the train station and Akechi watches quietly as everyone says their goodbyes, waving a little as they make their departure, but not trying to make conversation or insert himself in any of the exchanges. He's still - separate from them in too many ways, and he wouldn't consider any of them friends, even if he wasn't planning on betraying them at the end of the month.

Ren, though... Ren is different. As soon as the last of Ren's friends board the train, Akechi's face falls and his shoulders go slack, as if some of the tension in him had been cut. His posture shifts, sliding easily from the charming detective to - something else altogether. It's still not the truth, not entirely, but it's closer to it, something that only Ren gets to see.

When he speaks, his voice is duller, less bubbly.]

You're not hungry, are you? I have some food back at my place, but we could stop for something too.

[That makes the corner of his mouth twitch up in a smile. It's... actually kind of nice to know that Ren is thinking about it, that he's looking forward to this too, that he wants to just be there with him. As the train pulls away, he lets the momentum of it cause him to lean in and just brush against him, feel the warmth from Ren's body, just a short distance from his own.

Akechi glances away.]

I didn't want to say this in front of the others, but I live alone.

[Which... should be more or less obvious, given what he's already told Ren about his family life. His expression is surprisingly blank as he continues, even and measured.]

After my last foster home, I filed paperwork to be legally emancipated. It's easier if a celebrity doesn't have any family ties, right? [It's a rhetorical question. He shifts from one foot to another, watching as they pass through the next station. Nervous, somehow, even now.]

Anyway, I make quite a bit of money with my consulting work and public appearances. Enough to live comfortably. So you don't have to worry about anyone walking in on us or anything.

[He nods in confirmation, still not quite looking at him.]

You can stay the night if you want.

[Akechi says it without really thinking. He's thinking about his apartment, about how lonely it can be in there - he's thinking about Ren coming into that space and changing it with his presence. Akechi has spent a lot of time there in silence. He wonders what it would sound like if their screams echoed off the walls.

Once he realizes what he's said, he's a bit surprised with himself, but he doesn't take it back. The idea of getting Ren alone all night, of being with him... maybe that's the real reason he invited him over. If not for the sex, then the hours of companionship that they could spend together, before they had to return to the real world. Whatever the case, the invitation is out there now, up to Ren to decide what to do with it.

Helpfully, he adds:]

I don't have anywhere to be in the morning.

Sure.

[He really doesn't live far - the next stop is his and so he nudges Ren so that they can get off the train. Akechi leads the way then, back up out of the train station, into the bright city aboveground. He lives in the heart of Tokyo, near enough to all of his social engagements that he can flit in and out quickly, in case Shido might need him for something. Akechi steers Ren through the streets, lit-up screens and flashing advertisements lighting the way through the evening light.]

You're awfully polite for a delinquent, you know.

[He's so concerned about inconveniencing him or others around him... Akechi isn't sure why. So he teases him for it a little, turning down the street toward his building.

Akechi lives in a high rise, an impossibly tall, thin building with a glassy exterior that reflects the light against it. The bottom floor is comprised of small specialty shops nestled around a marble elevator lobby. Akechi digs through his pockets for the key before scanning it near the call button and pressing it, stepping back to wait for it to arrive.]

Hard to imagine you're the same person who orders me around so much. [He muses - the lobby is empty, no one around for them to hide from.]

You've got a point.

[He ushers Ren into the elevator when it comes, pretending not to notice how startled the other boy is in the face of this place. Akechi feels nothing for it: it's paid for with blood money and a useful tool for keeping him tightly on the other end of Shido's leash. The elevator crawls upward and Akechi watches idly as the floor indicator ticks up further and further.

They get off at the twenty-first floor - not anywhere near the thirtieth floor penthouse, but close enough, and Akechi leads Ren through the narrow hallways until he finally reaches his front door and unlocks it, stepping aside so that Ren can move in.]

... welcome in.

[His apartment is neat, minimalist one bedroom, so sparse and empty that it almost looks like a display room, rather than something actually lived in. Akechi removes his shoes in front of the door and closes it behind them both, hesitating for a moment as he watches Ren take it in.

Most of it is reminiscent of a studio apartment, with the kitchenette, dining area, and living area folded into one large room. Unlike a studio apartment though, the ceilings are high and the far wall is simply a floor to ceiling window, looking out over the sparkling lights of the city. There's a tiny hall tucked near the front door, which leads to several other doors: presumably a bedroom, a bathroom, and a small closet. It's not the largest living space, but it uses what space it has very well.

It's also almost devoid of anything livable, stark and empty and sterile, the surfaces all utilitarian glass and steel. It's had to be blank, for the meetings he sometimes is forced to have here, and so if Ren was hoping to glean anything about Akechi's personal life by coming here... well, he might see that Akechi's life is crushingly empty, but that's about it.]

The bathroom is down the hall.

[Ren's reaction is so charming that he can't help but to smile, his anxieties easing away at how well the other boy seems to take it. The contrast between their lives couldn't be sharper: Ren living in an attic which doubles as a storage unit, dusty and cramped for space, and Akechi having all of this at his fingertips... it parallels the rest of their lives, he thinks, and he locks the door behind them and moves to set his bag down.]

You're the first person I've invited here.

[All of his other company - what thankful little there were, as Shido preferred to have meetings via phone or in his office - was definitely not invited by him.

He wants to... he wants to hold his hand. He wants to take him through every surface of his place and have Ren leave his fingerprints. He wants to take him into bed immediately, he wants to hit him for daring to look so happy, as if he's pleased just to be near him, just to spend time with him, with no idea of how precious little time he has left. Akechi steps in close, his arms lifting up to rest on Ren's shoulders as he offers him an appraising look, the adrenaline rush from earlier starting to kick back in, now that they can be alone together.]

It's too bad your friends know you're with me, you know. This would be the perfect place to torture you.

[Is he joking? Ren has willingly stepped into places alone with Akechi over and over again, and each time he's had at least some form of safety net, but that doesn't mean he walks away unscathed. Akechi's apartment might as well be the heart of his spiderweb, for all the opportunity it could have given him.]

[Ren's surprise is... kind of cute actually, and Akechi can't help but to smile. Who else would he have brought over? He supposes that it's possible that an interviewer or teacher or something would want to visit, but he's never brought in anyone like that - just Ren.

Seeing him in his apartment is shockingly intimate, as if he doesn't belong in this perfectly curated space, but he makes it better regardless. Ren breathes life into this place, makes it seem like more of a livable space than the prison Akechi has taken it to be since he's moved in. He likes the look of the other boy here, likes the companionship that it implies - and he especially likes how Ren reacts to his thinly-veiled threat.]

I think we both have desires that put us at a disadvantage. [It's one of the many reasons that this works at all. If Ren had just been dominating, overwhelming, smug in his own victory without ever giving an inch, then Akechi would have grown too frustrated with himself for giving in to see this through. It would have been easier to cut that off and lock away that part of himself that loves it when Ren takes the reins, drags him around by his hair.

No, it's that Ren wants to do that - and Ren also wants him to hurt him, to make him stupid and useless with lust, to be put back in his place and mocked for it now and again. The transfer of power is intoxicating and unpredictable and ultimately results in their mutual assurance. As long as they know one another's weakness like this, they never win and they never lose.]

If you think I don't know how to torture someone without leaving obvious marks, you don't know me very well. [It's mostly teasing, sort of - it's not like he really brought Ren here for that reason, but he admits that it's a nice thought.]

I want you on every surface of this place. Do you think you can keep up?

[Akechi lets out a soft sigh of satisfaction when Ren closes the distance between them and attacks his throat. He doesn't stop him - he tilts his head up, giving him more access as he takes the gentle pulling as permission to just push him.

The window is right there and Akechi forces Ren against it, his hands slipping down to unbutton his blazer. He leans in close, crowding him bodily against the glass as he tugs Ren's school jacket off of his shoulders, already hungry for him, unable to hide his desire any longer. The window is sturdy, of course, but it still feels disorienting to stare out at a dead drop of hundreds of feet, the lights of Tokyo sparkling underneath them as if reflected off of the surface of water.

They're too high up for anyone to see, but even this feels - public almost, like he's showing off in front of the whole city, flirting with the danger of being seen. Akechi slides his hands behind Ren, cushioning them against the window and digs his fingers into the alluring curve of his ass.]

Here.

[It's growing in his chest, his need - his lust for him, and Akechi is already starting to ache for it.]

I want to suck you off first. Right here.

[Akechi smirks at that, and a week ago he might have gotten angry, might have tried to hit him, furious with how much he needs it, furious with how much Ren seems to know he needs it - but now it just feels right. It's understood between them, what they need, and as Ren moves to push him down, Akechi turns, shifting them easily so that his back is to the glass instead.

Then, he slides to his knees with a practiced ease.]

Maybe it is all I want you for.

[He teases even as he reaches to undo Ren's pants, hurrying with the fastening, the zipper - like most of the times they'd done this, Akechi doesn't bother trying to get him naked, just undressed enough to get at his cock. Like this, Ren can feel like a king overlooking the city, can feel the power that comes from flaunting what they have, and Akechi wants to give this to him.

It really is a nice view.

He gets his mouth on him quickly, tasting him with a low groan and already working diligently to get him to full hardness. Akechi has learned now what Ren likes and he puts it to use, looking up at him with large eyes and goes at him as if he'd been starving for it all day.]