Thursday 1.7 – Afternoon

[skyrat13.livejournal.com]

Yohji quietly watched the hours slide by, his surprise at Ran’s continued presence failing to wear off, in spite of it being only the last in a long line of unexpected behavior. He should be getting used to it by now, the concept that Ran wasn’t half as predictable as he’d always assumed. It would probably take substantial time to really adjust to that though; Yohji had years of assumptions to overwrite.

Nonetheless, the unexpectedness of it gave Yohji difficultly in believing things would last. So he remained in bed, stubbornly refusing to leave so long as Ran was willing to stay as well, his subconscious convinced that such a moment wasn’t likely to give him a repeat performance. It was probably simply a testament to how badly Ran had been injured….

Eventually though, the daylight started to fade, and the sustenance of breakfast had long worn off. When Ran finally pushed reluctantly out of bed Yohji couldn’t reasonably contend it. He took his time in following though, appreciating the view of the younger man collecting his clothes and carefully dressing himself.

It pained him to see Ran’s awkward limping movements. And it was almost certainly his fault Ran had been shot. He covered his frown at the thought by rummaging in his bedside table drawer, in search of a replacement lighter. He found it and a pack of cigarettes as well. He dressed himself quickly, shoving both hastily in his pocket.

When Ran left, Yohji guessed it was to check on the shop, or his sister, or more likely both. He decided to make an appearance in the shop too, although with no intention of actually working. But first he was far overdue on a rendezvous with his smoking habit, of which he’d had particular difficultly indulging lately.

He silently slipped out the back door and sat down on the steps, a grin on his face as he lit up.

Comments

[skyrat13.livejournal.com]

Yohji raised an eyebrow in response to Ken’s initial outburst. He hadn’t been aware that there was anything to warrant an ‘again.’ This was a conversation he had wanted to have with Ken for days, but until now he had held back. Did Omi already confront him?

His eyes widened a bit more as he realized that Ken had already been in therapy. That…hadn’t been in his records, to Yohji’s knowledge. Was he going while in Weiss?

He watched Ken carefully; any doubt he might have had about the urgency of getting Ken to a doctor rapidly evaporating.

He wanted to ask Ken for details about his alluded past treatment, but held off, figuring that forcing him to dwell on it might sabotage his chances of Ken following through on an agreement. It didn’t take a very careful glance to see that the ex soccer player was currently balanced somewhere precarious.

The set to his jaw turned grim as Ken tried to brush of the second outburst, which apparently wasn’t directed at him…or anyone visible.

“Alright, we’re going,” Yohji affirmed with a nod.

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

Ran was frowning by the time his teammates' discussion ground to a halt. Therapy for Ken was a good idea, as long as Kritiker stayed out of it. His sense of their usefulness to the organization had been waning since the fall of Eszett; even if the others didn't seem to think about it often, he was certain they were viewed more often as tools than as humans. That made them all too easily replaceable.

He decided to go back up to his room. The kitchen seemed tense, and he doubted his presence would do more than aggravate Ken.

And Yohji had said -Ken was his 'best friend'? That had happened without Ran noticing, but so had a lot of things in Weiss, it seemed. He'd never assumed that Yohji had invested much in any of them - he'd seemed disconnected, above it all from Ran's observations in the past.

...yeah, he's real disconnected. He'd been pretty damned wrong about that. A faint blush colored his pale skin, remembering just how connected Yohji had been to him an hour or so earlier. It was enough to erase the frown and replace it with a bemused smile.

Plus - well, he'd always assumed out of all of them, Ken and Omi were the best friends of their group.

But...

A niggling recollection surfaced. Hadn't something happened between them this week? Something Yohji had refused to tell him?

He pushed himself to his feet, not really paying attention to his movements, and stepped badly on his leg. He slid down a step with a thud. He clenched his features, but managed to bite back the yell.

Damn. So much for sneaking back upstairs.

He turned, and decided he had been headed downstairs after all, so of course, that was where he was going.

[plotbunnytiff.livejournal.com]

~No sense putting it off. Better bite the bullet and get it over with.~

Ken was about to grab the phone book from behind the counter when he heard the thump on the stair. A split second later he was turned and on the defensive, but then he saw Ran's distinctive orange sweater and relaxed a little.

Had he been there long? A painful surge of pride made him slightly queasy. It was stupid, Ken knew: he trusted this man with his life almost everyday, and yet the idea of Ran find out about him getting therapy was terrible. He couldn't help it though.

He shot Yohji a repressed look of panic: ~Please please please, for God's sake, don't bring it up!!~

[skyrat13.livejournal.com]

Yohji started a little at the sound of an intrusion, although his look of surprise quickly melted into a grin as Ran entered his sight….

…Which again quickly transformed back to seriousness as he caught a glance of Ken’s panicked expression. He patted the phone book and winked, saying nothing.

“Good morning!” he joked, stubbing out his cigarette as he turned to face Ran. “Want some coffee? I was just looking for an excuse to make some.”

He refrained from allowing his eyes to dart back and monitor Ken. He would probably catch him alone again soon enough anyway.

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

Ran steadily ignored Ken's visible panic and his own...

He was actually embarrassed.

He gave a short nod to Yohji, a miniscule smile threatening to appear on the corner of his lips. He shoved his hands in his pockets and hovered on the edge of the kitchen. He had intended to pass through to the living area. His eyes brushed by Ken's but didn't linger, they both had too much cause to be uncomfortable with each other as it was.

[plotbunnytiff.livejournal.com]

"Oh! Hey, I'll get it, I uh, wanted a snack anyway." Ken half scurried across the room. "Just double count the till for me. I'll be back in a few."

He walked past Ran with his head high, sparing only the quickest glance at his leg as he passed by. He wasn't putting much weight on it, but it wasn't as bad as before.

He slowed down a fraction as he passed, lowering his voice so only Ran could hear.

"Nice to see you up and around."

With that he continued into the kitchen.

[skyrat13.livejournal.com]

Yohji leaned back against the counter, briefly letting his eyes skim over the phone book again. He raised an eyebrow as they reconnected with Ran’s, curious as to how much the other man might have overheard. He had no intention of discussing the matter; aside from Ken’s obvious desire for him to remain quiet, he’d already alerted Ran to his concerns about Ken, long before there had been any conversation for him to overhear. He could guess that by now Ran’s doubts were probably as thoroughly demolished as his own.

He felt a surge of relief, Ken’s acquiescence and Ran’s reappearance (in an apparently decent mood, no less,) both serving to quiet some of the nagging concerns that had been eating away at his peace of mind.

A grin easily slid back onto his face as he continued to regard Ran.

“Well I don’t know about you,” he drawled casually, “but I think I’m gonna turn in early tonight. I haven’t nearly caught up on my…rest yet.”

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

Ran turned back from staring after Ken in the wake of his quickly dropped expression of concern, an eyebrow raising at Yohji with an answering suggestion. He didn't acknowledge that he'd heard anything of their conversation, though he had resolved to keep it in mind.

"Staying in?" He asked casually. He couldn't quite keep the dry note from his voice. Yohji had continually clarified where he stood this past week, but Ran couldn't so easily keep up with the shift. He held Yohji's eyes steadily with his own, his gaze intense. There was a thick energy in the room. Finally, he looked away and moved to the register, taking out the till to do as Ken asked and recount their earnings.

[skyrat13.livejournal.com]

Yohji held Ran's gaze unflinchingly, remaining silent until Ran turned and busied himself with the till. He quietly trailed behind him and leaned forward to wrap his arms around the younger man's torso, snaking his hands up under the front of Ran's sweater.

"Oh, you betcha," he said quietly, hovering close to Ran's ear "it looks like it might become a habit."

He didn't especially care if Ken came back into the room and saw.

...Or anyone for that matter.

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

Ran ducked his head, hiding the smile that finally broke free with his eartails. His abs tensed under Yohji's touch, nerves igniting. "Is that so." His tone remained flat nonetheless.

He had lost the count. Yohji was a distraction. There was a small twinge of fear accompanying that thought; but he'd known that would come with this...whatever "this" meant.

Later. There was no danger right then, no threat. Ran forced himself to relax. He attempted to begin recounting without letting Yohji on to the fact.

[skyrat13.livejournal.com]

"Mmhmmm," Yohji continued to hover, and lightly ran the tip of his nose along the edge of Ran's ear.

He could feel Ran tensing, and lightened the pressure of his fingers as he drew them across the plane of his stomach. He noticed a falter in the movement of Ran's hands but didn't pay too close attention to it. All that really mattered to Yohji was that he wasn't getting shoved off.

....Yet.

"I might agree to go out on a date...if the right guy asked me."

He stilled Ran's hand, inevitably throwing off his counting again.

"...I'd agree to a lot of things, if the right guy asked me," his voice dropped lower.

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

Ran let his hand fall to the countertop under the pressure from Yohji's fingers. He looked down at them, new knowledge about how it felt to be touched by them intimately making him draw in a shallow breath. Ran's whole body, in fact, had stilled; a warning sign.

The next moment, despite the gunshot wound hobbling him, he twisted his own fingers through Yohji's and spun them both around, pressing the taller, lanky man back into the counter. Though his lips were straight, the smile had reached his eyes. His hips had Yohji's pinned.

"I already agreed to our bet." He leaned a hand on the counter to Yohji's side, close enough to feel the other man's heartbeat.

Fuck. He had never thought to see Yohji's green eyes trained on him like that, in earnest.

...he'd done his best to avoid it.

...he'd wanted him since...don't admit it.

Ran spun off of him, back to the counter, picking up the money again without looking sideways to see the blonde's reaction. "I'm good on my word."

[skyrat13.livejournal.com]

A bolt of pain cut across Yohji’s chest, as the unexpected reversal of Ran pressing him backwards made him sway and strained his stitches.

It barely even registered.

Without even putting thought into his movements, his fingers were tightening around Ran’s and his hips were shifting to increase the contact.

He’d actually forgotten the bet….

He was surprised to find that it didn’t even seem half as enticing as it had when Ran had first dangled the notion in front of him. The possibilities for what he could do while they stayed in suddenly trumped any possible outings. Just the contact right now was better than the rhetorical date that Ran had not-so-sincerely promised.

Although now that Ran had reminded him there was no way in hell that he was going to let it drop. Ran at a club. Not a mission. The grin already in place only widened.

It would have to wait though. Yohji wanted both of them to be completely healed before cashing in. A date like that might be a one time deal, and he wanted to properly enjoy it.

All too quickly the desired contact was removed, and Ran was nonchalantly back to acting as though nothing had happened. It took all Yohji’s willpower not to grab him back and drag him out of the flower shop. Ken could come back at any moment after all….

He picked up a fragment of an oasis from the counter and satisfyingly crushed it to green powder in his hand. He studied the mess for a moment before returning his gaze to Ran.

“Good to know” he said calmly. “I’ll remember that. Need any help there?”

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

The grin on Yohji's face made him look like a cat that had just backed its meal into a corner. He ignored Yohji's offer of help and finally finished the tally, closing the register back up. He let his eyes slide back to Yohji's; an answering smirk finally asserting itself on his face. There was no one else around to see - Ran let his hip lean on the counter, alleviating the weight on his foot, and dragged his eyes down Yohji's torso to his groin and back again.

"If I said yes?" His voice was deep and held a note of rare teasing.

[skyrat13.livejournal.com]

It was taking increasingly more effort to retain his composure. Yohji kept his eyes steadily locked on Ran, as the other man mischievously checked him out.

He definitely liked this increasing trend towards blatantness.

"I can be very helpful." He wiped the dusty remains on his apron before striding up to the register, stopping about an inch from Ran. "Multitalented, you know," he breathed into his ear.

He then swooped over to the sink and busied himself with clearing out the stem clippings.

[plotbunnytiff.livejournal.com]

Ken took another cautious look into the shop before deeming it safe to come back.

The first two times he checked for an "all clear" he got to see something that he didn't want to walk in on. If things had progressed further Ken would've given up and stayed in the kitchen.

With steady, careful movements he gathered the three full coffee mugs and brought them in without incident.

"Um, do you think we should close a bit early today?" He wondered aloud, peering into the depths of his coffee as though it held the secrets of the universe. "The afternoon rush might be a little difficult to handle with, well..." He made a small gesture in their direction.

[skyrat13.livejournal.com]

Yohji raised an eyebrow at the nod.

With what? Their injuries? Or…behavior….

Yohji shrugged and turned to accept the coffee from Ken. “I’m always game for closing the shop.” He agreed enthusiastically.

Was it just his imagination or was Ken avoiding eye contact? He looked sideways at Ran.

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

Ran looked at the coffee mug handed to him in surprise and muttered a "thank-you" while Yohji responded.

He frowned a little at the suggestion himself, and while he decided it was better not to know exactly what the soccer player meant by that, both for his own sake and for Ken's, he admitted he was right. He removed himself from the decision and looked away, skimming past Yohji's gaze to the front door. There was a gaggle of schoolgirls already approaching on the sidewalk across the road. He repressed a sigh.