( makoto only responds to that dubious reply with a sharp look and a tsk rolling over his tongue. it isn’t a concern! his self-restraint might not be perfect, but he’s not a feral animal either. that, and he actually likes kazuya, so he’s especially not going to want to go too crazy and push him further than he’s either comfortable or capable of. that they’re both erstwhile humans now getting used to their new demonic states, that kazuya seems to be interested in some of the things that makoto has always been inclined towards… he doesn’t want to fuck anything up. and he especially doesn’t want to go a bridge too far and freak him out—which, regardless of how difficult that might be in reality, he would always be fearful of, emotional and illogical.

he is hard to get a read on about this sort of thing by design, as he has spent basically every waking moment since puberty making sure that he wouldn’t let too many people on about this very subject. he is just a little more loose with kazuya, given their similarities, but… whenever he feels like he’s going a little too far, he retracts in panicked half-instinct. it’s hard to break so many years of having learned to do just that.

he is terse in the silence that marks his initial reply. kazuya might not mind riding on other’s coattails, but… there’s something about it that doesn’t sit well with him, even when offered. it’s a fierce and prideful independence, underlined by wariness in how others might attempt to control him by debts owed.

at least in this, it’s not really that big of a deal to shake his head and refuse. ) Thank you, but no. It’s alright. This is enough to replace the ones I had to throw out.

( though… his brow knits. ) Have you really been making that much money…? ( damn, kazuya… )