Thursday1.3 - Waking Up

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

[someone will come, Aya! We concluded there'd be a chunk missing without a wakeup post though...]

Ran woke later than he would usually choose to the sun in his eyes. He tried to throw his arm across his face and found it hindered by the deadweight of a body. Coupled with an all-encompassing ache, he very nearly concluded a mission had gone wrong.

Panicked, he nearly attacked his bedmate. Blonde hair at the edge of his peripheral vision and the other man snuggling into him saved Yohji.

Ran let his head fall back against the pillow. He was too warm under the blankets, but Yohji had clamped himself down, as if even in sleep he was aware Ran might bolt. The feel of Yohji's lanky frame pressing into him wasn't unwelcome, however - only startling.

He'd made a realization the night before.

Either he had to accept Aya's ultimatum and finish things - or he had to realize that however he felt inside, he was no longer alone. Aya depended on him to be present for her. Not just as a protector, not just as an avenger, but as her brother. He still loved her as her brother.

He wasn't sure how Yohji factored into his life. The other man had seemed to have decided Ran was completely un-self-aware, however, and as last night had proved, Yohji had been partially right. Without his consent, he had formed an attachment to the other man. How could something like that happen without his knowledge?

He had no idea what the blond saw in him. As far as he could tell, the man could have anyone he chose, except perhaps for Manx. Why choose Ran? He wasn't fun. He wasn't interesting. He was irritable. Ran couldn't find a single thing, except possibly for his appearance, to draw Yohji to him.

Yohji seemed to be still asleep. Safe from detection, he looked down at the man's sleeping face.

He looked calm.

He wanted Yohji to be happy. Fuck. Which had to mean he cared, which had to mean he couldn't go back to...not this.

Ran resigned himself to staying in bed a few moments longer. Sneakily, he placed a barely-there kiss into Yohji's hair.

The first he'd done something like that, to anyone. The first he'd woken up not alone with anyone but a family member.

He found he didn't object to it.

Comments

[skyrat13.livejournal.com]

He’d expected to wake up alone.

Ran had practically told him he would, with his ominous announcement the night before, "Right now, I don't regret this." That was Ran-speak for I expect to later.

Well, it was later.

Ran had slept in (unheard of.) Ran hadn’t kicked him out yet (unexpected.) Ran was awake for all of his attempts to appear otherwise by lack of movement. His body was a little too stiff to belong to a sleeping person (Yohji could fix that.)

Yohji had found the previous nights events just a little too fortunate. He’d been almost certain that after finally getting a taste of what he’d so badly wanted, all he had to look forward to was an ashamed teammate and copious amounts of denial and awkward pretending that nothing had happened.

Eyes still shut, Yohji shifted against Ran’s side, and let his hand wander beneath the sheets. Ran felt warm, and solid, and a hundred times better in person than he had in Yohji’s head. There was no way he was letting go of this…. He nuzzled his head against the curve of Ran’s neck and shoulder before cracking open a green eye to take in his bedmate.

Ran was rumpled from sleeping, hair mused, face uncharacteristically relaxed. Yohji couldn’t resist reaching up and smoothing a tousled bang out of Ran’s face.

Yohji Kudoh, you are either the luckiest bastard alive, or you’re dead and don’t know it.

You haven’t behaved nearly well enough to have it this good dead.

Yohji broke into a wide grin. “Mornin’ hot stuff,” he beamed.

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

Ran blinked down at a suddenly-awake Yohji. He was caught between embarrassment at the endearment and being offended. There was no way to counter it without hurting his pride, however - after all, what would he say? 'No, I'm not hot stuff'? That would only encourage Yohji.

He settled for ignoring it with an expression that clearly said he didn't know what to make of it. Almost ignoring it. "Hn. I'm not a girl." he mumbled. Things like that were what you said to girls, after all, not boyfriends. Plus, if Yohji slipped up and said something like that in front of Ken...no, make that Ken or Omi...it would be disastrous.

That was a good opening to kick Yohji off. Since he didn't, he decided he was simply worn out from everything that had happened. At least his leg felt marginally better from the rest. Very, very marginally.

Yohji looked too happy to be preventing him from getting up. He was practically radiant. No one should look that good in the morning. Especially after getting kidnapped. Especially not Kudoh. Since when was he acknowledging Yohji looked good, anyway?

Since you put Yohji's penis in your mouth last night and...

That was it. Panic was setting back in. Yohji felt good, way better than Ran ever thought another human could feel, but he was too close, he wasn't prepared for waking up not regretting it, and he needed space, now.

He tried extracting himself without letting Yohji on to his emotional mess. "I overslept," he said shortly, tugging his arm free.

[skyrat13.livejournal.com]

"Obviously," Yohji smirked, undeterred. He drew his knee up and rubbed it suggestively between Ran's legs. "If you were a girl I probably would have called you 'sweet cakes,' or maybe 'love bunny,' instead."

He stretched out on the bed next to Ran and did his best to be in the way, without physically clinging to the point where he'd encourage Ran to bolt.

"I could call you Stud Muffin, hmmm?" He tried to hold a straight face while he looked at Ran, but failed. "If you'd prefer something, I dunno, more macho."

Yohji was loving this. Teasing Ran had always been one of his most favorite activities. This sort of teasing just added a whole extra layer of gratification to his usual brand. He didn't think he'd get tired of it.

Ran would definitely get tired of it.

He was going to have to be a little bit careful.

"You haven't overslept nearly enough," he said, lightly trailing his fingers across the waistband of Ran's pajamas. "You owe yourself some catching up."

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

Ran's body was reacting traitorously to Yohji's carefully placed touches. The older man was doing his best to be irritating, and despite his best efforts he couldn't maintain his scowl. Yohji was obviously in his element, he looked completely carefree, without any trace of what he'd gone through the day before.

Even as the corner of Ran's mouth twitched upward without his permission, he stated wryly, "I'm glad you obviously feel better." He hurt like hell, but wasn't about to say it aloud. Yesterday, the constant barrage of stress kept him from focusing. Waking up with a gunshot wound meant there was little distraction to the pain.

Yohji's fingers on his lower stomach was convincing parts of his body otherwise. It was embarrassing how easily Yohji affected him.

He sat up, rubbing a hand across his eyes. Yohji's presence in his bed should have felt far more unnatural than it did. He should feel far more awkward than he actually did. Even despite the constant underlying thought - was Yohji only using him for sex? - he trusted the other man.

Yohji's return to something approaching his usual behavior was working to put Ran at ease, however. The panic was subsiding, albeit slowly.

[skyrat13.livejournal.com]

Ran's comment was mildly sobering. He'd been doing his absolute best to ignore the dull throb still present in his chest. Being reminded that Ran was in equally bad shape made it harder to dismiss.

"Heh," Yohji cracked a slightly pained smiled. "If I was really better, I'd have you pinned to the mattress right now."

He sat up, relieved to notice that in spite of the pain's consistency, he could move with a bit more ease. He wasn't quite as weak as he'd been the day before. He kicked the tangle of sheets aside so that he could get a good view of Ran's leg.

"Bet it still hurts like a bitch, huh?" He didn't have to wait for a response, he was unfortunately familiar with what a gunshot generally felt like. He sighed. "I'd like nothing better than to keep you trapped in bed all day. But the truth is, we'd probably better get up and eat something. So we can do a little self-medicating."

And then there was that whole matter of actually seeing the rest of his team. He ought to be giving them some sort of report. Should have the night before, technically.

He didn't feel like talking about it.

The good mood he'd woken up in was already starting to strain around the edges.

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

"It's fine," Ran mumbled.

With Yohji actually agreeing with him to get up, suddenly the prospect of facing their team and his sister was much more real. He didn't like anyone in his business usually, let alone regarding things that actually mattered. He was not looking forward to being more than likely criticized and judged by the other two Weiss. He didn't want to defend his actions, however selfish that was. He'd decided last night he was a selfish person, anyway.

Deliberately, he leaned sideways into Yohji's shoulder. If the man could claim him as bedspace, he should be allowed to touch back.

The contact delivered the calming effect he'd been seeking. The result surprised him.

He really was comforted by Yohji.

When the hell had that happened?!

He dropped his head to Yohji's shoulder so his expression would be hidden.

[skyrat13.livejournal.com]

Yohji instantly snaked his arm around Ran and clamped down. Even with him leaning on the uninjured side of his body the pressure was uncomfortable, but Yohji didn’t care. It was doing him more good than painkillers could ever have a shot at.

He wanted to say something but couldn’t think of anything that wasn’t offensively cliché or sappy, so he abstained. Ran was someone who could appreciate a meaningful silence anyway. He let his hand drift up to run through the blood red locks that had fascinated him since Ran’s very first day on the team.

His body was practically screaming at him for food and medicine, but Yohji was in no hurry to leave Ran’s bed.

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

Ran's eyes closed briefly as Yohji stroked his head. The contact on his scalp felt unexpectedly good.

Yohji was uncharacteristically silent. Ran was grateful for it. He was not in a mood for teasing, or to get called out on his behavior. He wondered if Yohji was dreading the others as well, but the chances of that were slim, in his opinion. Yohji would more than likely flaunt that he'd woken up in Ran's bed the first chance he got.

Frowning at the thought, but still unable to protest something that hadn't happened, or give warning, since that might plant the idea in Yohji's head to do so, the panic creeped back in.

This hadn't been and wasn't a smart idea. Ran blamed bloodloss, tiredness and a valid concern for a teammate.

The lie didn't stick.

Ran broke contact without the risk of looking directly at Yohji. "Your clothes aren't in this room," he stated. Violet eyes flicked up for a moment before shifting aside to his own dresser.

[skyrat13.livejournal.com]

“No,” Yohji shrugged, “and I wasn’t really planning on changing.” He stood up and ran a hand through his own hair while he stretched.

He regarded Ran cautiously, suspecting that the other man’s mind was probably already racing for cover stories and ways to hide what had happened between them. It seemed almost a given that if Ran where to permit this to continue he’d insist on secrecy. The thought depressed Yohji. He was naturally open and found excessive discretion to be stressful. When he was happy he wanted to share it. Besides, it’s not as if Ken at least didn’t already have a clue about what had been going on between them. Considering that they all lived together, the others really had a right to know.

He might skirt the borders of what Ran deemed acceptable, but Yohji didn’t intend to immediately press his luck. He wasn’t about to throw away something this important to him just over matters of his own stubbornness. He’d just have to gradually wear Ran down after the man had grown more comfortable with him. Yohji was pretty confident in his powers of persuasion.

“Considering I’ve been gored, kidnapped and—” he was about to add tortured, but then thought better of it. He wanted neither to alarm Ran nor invite too many questions about what had happened. “Well, if that doesn’t warrant me a ‘sick day,’ then I think I ought to dust off my resume, heh.”

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

Ran frowned at Yohji's hesitation after 'gored' and 'kidnapped'. He didn't like the insinuation Schwarz had done things Yohji wasn't comfortable sharing.

"Hn." He decided to let it go, for now. At the moment, Yohji appeared nearly his usually self, if a bit more toned down.

...more honest.

He stared at Yohji for a moment longer, then accepted the man intended to stay until he was ready to leave the room himself. He stripped efficiently and carefully, working the waistband of his pajamas around the bandages, then grabbed the jeans Yohji had given him the night before and another black tee from a drawer. He put them on, combed his hair briefly without looking at it and left the room to use the bathroom and head downstairs.

[skyrat13.livejournal.com]

Yohji carefully watched Ran, waiting until he had left the room before moving. He took a second to look around and take in his surroundings before he left.

He hoped to be spending a significant amount more time here.

…But he wouldn’t count on it.

He finally motivated himself to move, and headed downstairs, still clad only in pajama bottoms and bandages.

[Yohji exits to Thursday 1.1]

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

[Oh lord, that last Ran post was atrociously written, I apologize for the errors. Writing suffers when you do it at work! ;_;

...anyway, Ran eventually exits to Thursday 1.1]