Porcelain doll

1

"Dang, that's so good!!", Joe exclaimed joyfully as he stuffed his mouth with new treat. "Thanks", said Bora with a wide grin, delightful to see his cookings being appreciated. "Say it again, how are those called?". Joe put some more of the dish on his plate, using chopsticks clumsily. "Okonomiyaki"¹, Bora put his head in his hands. «Yeah right. Mmh Seriously Bora, if you keep spoiling me like that I will fall in love with you." Pinkish shade flooded Bora's face and he mentally reminded himself to make taiyaki ² tomorrow. And Joe continued praising him, "I'm so lucky to have you as a friend with such intense interest in Japanese stuff and with such good cooking skills." Flattered, Bora begun to clean the table and the dishes only to hide how flushed he was, "I think you exaggerating". Joe stopped eating and frowned, "No I'm not! I really think that you're very cool! You and everything you does. Damn, you can speak Japanese and write characters and... and you even performed in one of those Japanese theaters! How is it called? Bukkake³?" Bora froze for a second, feeling his face becoming incredibly hot and red. "K..Kabuki⁴, Joe, it's Kabuki. Be careful with the words", Bora finally stuttered. "Oh sorry, yeah Kabuki, you've performed on stage in those cool masks and kimono. Isn't that incredible? I bet you've tried every Japan related thing", Joe got back to his attempts to bring another piece of okonomiyaki to his mouth using chopsticks. "Oh now you spoiling me with all those compliments. Besides, I haven't even tried shibari with a real person. And it's like the most mainstream thing", Bora said carelessly as he began to wipe the dishes. After a second he realized what mistake he've just made. "What's shibari?", Joe sounded so curious and excited. "Uh...", Bora internally sweared, how he could be so frivolous. "W..well, it's the specific method to tie a person...", poor guy began to sweat. Joe arched his right eyebrow and looked at the friend puzzled. Bora hastily tried to explain, "P..prisoners and criminals were restrained that way in Japan during the medieval and Edo periods... In other words it's uh.. a rope bondage." There was a moment of silence in the room. Bora lowered his eyes just not to see friend's possibly judging stare. "Hmmmm", - Joe drawled - "And people still practice that? Why?" Surprised that he wasn't called a weirdo yet Bora answered a little too passionate, "Because that's a very unique art. There're lots of elegant and sophisticated ways of tying. Actually shibari isn't fully about restraint, it's about the complexity and beauty of a human body. Shibari highlights the hard work of nature that created such exceptional and highly functional organism." Suddenly Bora noticed how caught up in the enthusiasm he was right before he was going to reveal his attraction to control those "beautiful bodies". So he bit his tongue. "Wow, that sounds so... fascinating to be honest", Joe sounded genuine and actually really impressed. "So, you said that you've never tried this stuff with a person. Why so? Is there no more nerds as you are?", Joe asked half joking. Bora's face darkened and he fidgeted in embarrassment. It was quite unusual to see a person as bold as Bora (the guy literally wore a t-shirt with his name on it) to be so shy and caught off guard. "Well, you know...", he began drawling, "I don't want it to be some random person. I want it to be someone I know and who knows me well. And I don't want to get to know a person for a sole reason of tying them up." "Jeez, it sounds like you're talking about marriage or something!", Joe laughed. Bora's face was fully red now and he frowned. He was talking his heart out and was mocked for that. As he was going to leave the kitchen he felt that Joe captured his wrist, stopping him. "Hey please, don't go, I didn't mean to hurt you, really. M sorry", Bora looked at Joe, his bushy eyebrows were pointed upwards. He always did this when he was truly sorry or serious and for Bora it looked endearing, even cute. So he couldn't help to let out a small laugh. Joe smiled too, "You know, I have an idea. What if I will be your shibari partner?", Joe was actually eager about that. "What?", instantly Bora changed his expression to the shocked and panicked. Now, he really regretted bringing that up.
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1 - Okonomiyaki is commonly referred to as being a Japanese pancake. Okonomiyaki can be served with a variety of toppings which include everything from meat and seafood to vegetables and cheese.
2 - Taiyaki literally means 'baked fish' in Japanese and it replicates the shape of a 'Tai' – the Japanese red seabream. Traditionally, Taiyaki is filled with a red bean paste made from sweetened azuki beans.
3 - Bukkake is a sexual practice involving a group of men ejaculating on a person. Yes... I have to make that stupid joke...
4 - Kabuki is a form of traditional Japanese drama with highly stylized song, mime, and dance, now performed only by male actors, using exaggerated gestures and body movements to express emotions, and including historical plays, domestic dramas, and dance pieces.