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

[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.