Luna Sea / X Japan - Four Birthdays and Four Times They Almost Knew
Title: Four Birthdays and Four Times They Almost Knew
Pairing: J x Inoran, Yoshiki x Hide
Rating: PG-13
Genre: general
Summary: As the title says.
Note: Celebrating magdalan's birthday; Happy Birthday miss Mag <3
1.
There is something maudlin about the way Yoshiki needs everything to be in order, even if he does nothing to empathize that urge; he does not even speak. Inoran sees the way his hands shake though and bites on his tongue, recites the alphabet in English inside his head before giving up and offering a steadier grip on the wine glasses. He is rewarded a hasty smile (and he thinks I have never seen him like this) before the pianist moves out of the kitchen again.
He puts one and one together easily enough, but will never be a combo-breaker and announce that fact out loud. No, he quite likes keeping secrets and observing (and he hears J’s voice in his head; you’re just like a cat in a tree. You know, all eyes, but never once coming down to share what you see and he has to agree). He spends three seconds grinning in an empty kitchen, wine glasses still in his hands, before he enters the living room with the shadow of a seventeen-year-old twinkling in his eyes.
J is already too wasted to notice the difference in Inoran’s behavior and simply accepts the empty wine glass, holding it up high so even Yoshiki has to tiptoe in order to refill. Tilting his head, Inoran watches Hide laugh loudly, with his head thrown back and his limbs flailing. He tries to pinpoint exactly what, but reckons he will never be able to see the world quite like Yoshiki does. They toast and Hide announces that from this birthday onwards, he will become years younger instead of older.
When people start to leave at six in the morning, Inoran’s head is filled with pleasant cotton and thoughts alike. He clutches onto J’s arm, who staggers and walks face into a wall. There is a moment of utter confusion, in which the bassist stares too long and too hard at his left shoe on his right foot and Inoran almost misses it. Almost;
( Yoshiki leans in and brushes his shoulder against Hide’s. The pink-haired guitarist’s laughter dies out and he looks at his band mate, eyes a color too bright to not be contact lenses. Honestly laces Yoshiki’s movements, his hand catching Hide’s wrist. An unspoken confession trails behind, fingertips brushing over the other man’s wrist a tad too slow to not mean something. Hide raises his eyebrows, quite possible in both confusion and surprise, but gravitates towards the other man anyway and rubs his toes along the other’s ankle for just a split second-)
yet it is gone before Inoran’s memory can register it for the next day.
2.
Tripping over the sidewalk, Hide grabs onto the nearest person he can reach (and Sugizo is the lucky one) before he gets up close and personal with the asphalt. J joins in on the laughter that follows, his arm slung around Yoshiki’s shoulders as they follow the crowd (of big-haired rock stars and down dressed roadies) to a bar in the outskirts of Saitama. Onlookers would wonder whose birthday it is they are celebrating, but looks can be deceiving and this J knows; Yoshiki by far is not always the gentleman he profiles himself to be.
The bar is as filthy as it promised to be on the flyer and the band that plays as noisy as their advertisement with all the bright colors that hurt the eye. They fit themselves around a table made of thick wood and J scratches his nail over the dirty surface, trying to see if he can carve something in it. He gets a shift kick in the shin from Inoran, who rolls his eyes. J focuses his attention elsewhere, namely the beer that magically appeared before him and his best friend, all red hair and malice (and looking nothing like the angel he portrayed in that ridiculous art house movie of his).
Somehow all their money ends up on the table to pay for drinks they have never heard of (included, but not limited to; Broken Down Golf Cart, Boilermaker, Flaming Doctor Pepper, Sake bomb and something called a Slippery Nipple). The world spins in front of his eyes, but he knows that is only the case because he is trying to walk and talk at the same time. He totters over to the bar and orders another round and while he waits glances back at the table to look at everyone.
The loud yelling and the awful music seem to blur in that moment and the faces of familiar band members and staff fade out until nobody is left clear but two men sitting at the head of the party. He shakes his head, wonders if that last shot had really been too much, but cannot lose the image and soon he finds himself captivated in what only lasts three seconds;
( Hide’s face is sharp and adorned with a smile that shows off his slightly yellow teeth. His hair is everywhere; in his mouth, sticking to his cheeks, stuck in the zipper of his shirt, but a couple of almost-invisible stray hairs are tangled around strands of Yoshiki’s. They pass the laughter between them and their faces betray nothing, nothing at all as their hands find one another underneath the table and link together in an almost painful secret manner,)
And then he is unconscious, alcohol taking its toll on him before he can even begin to place captions with the scenery.
3.
Inoran wears his shirts like the mannequin dolls in the windows of the shop, because his limbs are so thin and his torso so small he could well be thirteen years old again. Worry makes its way onto Yoshiki’s face for a moment, but he knows better but to comment on it; they are grown men and they take care of all the fucked up responsibilities that come hand in hand with the life of a rock star. Instead, he tries out the quiche and takes an extra piece with him for Hide (and he thinks, at least I can make one of them eat without feeling guilty).
It is an awkward party; the combination of rich family members and ragdoll celebrities never made much sense to him. It had something to do with the lack of time, the sudden overflowing amount of space and that new restaurant delivery service that it came to be as it is right now. Yoshiki is glad that J’s comment about the silver cutlery and the porcelain plates is a joke and shoves the plastic solution under Hide’s face before he sits down once more.
There is a lot of talking, but it is mostly J leading the conversation, knowing far too much about his band member and recalling memories not even Inoran’s parents knew about. There is a get-together in the living area after that and Yoshiki offers to help with the dishes to which Inoran replies that no, he has one of those dishwashers and he needs a little time alone. Yoshiki thinks he can relate in some way and joins the other people, catching phrases here and there but never able to comment on anything properly. Time ticks by slowly.
Eventually his eyes catch Inoran on the balcony, the windows reflecting his image twice and outlining his profile against the dark night’s sky. The stars seem to dance around the guitarist’s head and he wonders what it would look like if Inoran was not so Robert Smith with his hair wild and his cigarette blooming flowers of ash in the wind. Averting his eyes, he nearly does not catch the image of a second person, just peeking around the edge of the window;
( J runs his fingers over Inoran’s thin wrist and takes the cigarette from him to steal a long drag. They do not talk, but Inoran watches the bassist with something that can only be described as fond interest before taking the cigarette back in his own fingers. The moment he tosses it over the railing, J turns around to move back into the house and Inoran’s frame tenses visibly, shoulder blades protruding underneath the fabric of his thin shirt,)
but then J is back among the crowd and Yoshiki frowns, trying to remember whether or not it had actually happened at all.
4.
That his best friend is an idiot Hide had known exactly ten minutes after their first meeting, but he reckons it has never been as visible as it is at this very moment; J strips down to his underwear on top of the table, hollering loudly as he tosses his shirt towards the chandelier (and days later it would still be there, hanging almost sadly from one of the fake candles). He laughs though, because even if he were embarrassed he would not be able to not laugh at the situation. He bumps shoulders with Inoran, who knocks over his drink.
J is such a happy man, proudly announcing that he finally is an adult now and Hide snorts (and thinks, legally, legally, just legally and knows Inoran can read his mind). Soon enough they are playing poker, foreshadowing strip poker in the near future and J keeps on winning because it is his lucky day. Yoshiki finally arrives, better late than never, with bags full of drinks that never seem to stop coming hours later. Someone calls that the toilet is clogged up, someone replies that Sugizo has been throwing up in the bedroom and then it is concluded that this will be one of those nights they will never forget.
Somewhere in between playing Twister and singing along to Zi:kill’s new song, J smashes a glass on the floor and begins a speech of slurred words and wide-mouthed laughter. Everybody loves it and nobody dares to point out that the bassist is wearing his shirt inside out and has cake crumbs sticking to his cheek from when Shinya pushed his face none too gently in one of the fresh baked goods he had brought along. Hide leans back, arm on the back of the couch and makes obscene comments about J’s newly dyed hair and places that he should not forget to dye as well.
But then Inoran passes out with his head on the table and it should not at all be as surprising (because here and there people had passed out already and nobody really had the decency to do anything about it), yet there is something that changes on J's face and Hide swears he has never seen that expression before. Everyone is encouraging Ryuichi to bend over a little further and put his hand on the red circle when the bassist slips away from their attention and Hide glances over to see exactly;
( Inoran groans as J pulls him up, but his fingers curl into the fabric of the man's shirt and his face buries itself against the other's throat. J tenses up for a moment; back straightening and hands hesitating before he wraps his arms strongly around his band mate's waist and steers him out of the room. Just before they make it through the door, Inoran's foot catches on the threshold and J decides to slip his hand under the man's shirt to support his back,)
but they disappear out of sight and Hide forgets all about it the moment Ryuichi falls over.
Pairing: J x Inoran, Yoshiki x Hide
Rating: PG-13
Genre: general
Summary: As the title says.
Note: Celebrating magdalan's birthday; Happy Birthday miss Mag <3
1.
There is something maudlin about the way Yoshiki needs everything to be in order, even if he does nothing to empathize that urge; he does not even speak. Inoran sees the way his hands shake though and bites on his tongue, recites the alphabet in English inside his head before giving up and offering a steadier grip on the wine glasses. He is rewarded a hasty smile (and he thinks I have never seen him like this) before the pianist moves out of the kitchen again.
He puts one and one together easily enough, but will never be a combo-breaker and announce that fact out loud. No, he quite likes keeping secrets and observing (and he hears J’s voice in his head; you’re just like a cat in a tree. You know, all eyes, but never once coming down to share what you see and he has to agree). He spends three seconds grinning in an empty kitchen, wine glasses still in his hands, before he enters the living room with the shadow of a seventeen-year-old twinkling in his eyes.
J is already too wasted to notice the difference in Inoran’s behavior and simply accepts the empty wine glass, holding it up high so even Yoshiki has to tiptoe in order to refill. Tilting his head, Inoran watches Hide laugh loudly, with his head thrown back and his limbs flailing. He tries to pinpoint exactly what, but reckons he will never be able to see the world quite like Yoshiki does. They toast and Hide announces that from this birthday onwards, he will become years younger instead of older.
When people start to leave at six in the morning, Inoran’s head is filled with pleasant cotton and thoughts alike. He clutches onto J’s arm, who staggers and walks face into a wall. There is a moment of utter confusion, in which the bassist stares too long and too hard at his left shoe on his right foot and Inoran almost misses it. Almost;
( Yoshiki leans in and brushes his shoulder against Hide’s. The pink-haired guitarist’s laughter dies out and he looks at his band mate, eyes a color too bright to not be contact lenses. Honestly laces Yoshiki’s movements, his hand catching Hide’s wrist. An unspoken confession trails behind, fingertips brushing over the other man’s wrist a tad too slow to not mean something. Hide raises his eyebrows, quite possible in both confusion and surprise, but gravitates towards the other man anyway and rubs his toes along the other’s ankle for just a split second-)
yet it is gone before Inoran’s memory can register it for the next day.
2.
Tripping over the sidewalk, Hide grabs onto the nearest person he can reach (and Sugizo is the lucky one) before he gets up close and personal with the asphalt. J joins in on the laughter that follows, his arm slung around Yoshiki’s shoulders as they follow the crowd (of big-haired rock stars and down dressed roadies) to a bar in the outskirts of Saitama. Onlookers would wonder whose birthday it is they are celebrating, but looks can be deceiving and this J knows; Yoshiki by far is not always the gentleman he profiles himself to be.
The bar is as filthy as it promised to be on the flyer and the band that plays as noisy as their advertisement with all the bright colors that hurt the eye. They fit themselves around a table made of thick wood and J scratches his nail over the dirty surface, trying to see if he can carve something in it. He gets a shift kick in the shin from Inoran, who rolls his eyes. J focuses his attention elsewhere, namely the beer that magically appeared before him and his best friend, all red hair and malice (and looking nothing like the angel he portrayed in that ridiculous art house movie of his).
Somehow all their money ends up on the table to pay for drinks they have never heard of (included, but not limited to; Broken Down Golf Cart, Boilermaker, Flaming Doctor Pepper, Sake bomb and something called a Slippery Nipple). The world spins in front of his eyes, but he knows that is only the case because he is trying to walk and talk at the same time. He totters over to the bar and orders another round and while he waits glances back at the table to look at everyone.
The loud yelling and the awful music seem to blur in that moment and the faces of familiar band members and staff fade out until nobody is left clear but two men sitting at the head of the party. He shakes his head, wonders if that last shot had really been too much, but cannot lose the image and soon he finds himself captivated in what only lasts three seconds;
( Hide’s face is sharp and adorned with a smile that shows off his slightly yellow teeth. His hair is everywhere; in his mouth, sticking to his cheeks, stuck in the zipper of his shirt, but a couple of almost-invisible stray hairs are tangled around strands of Yoshiki’s. They pass the laughter between them and their faces betray nothing, nothing at all as their hands find one another underneath the table and link together in an almost painful secret manner,)
And then he is unconscious, alcohol taking its toll on him before he can even begin to place captions with the scenery.
3.
Inoran wears his shirts like the mannequin dolls in the windows of the shop, because his limbs are so thin and his torso so small he could well be thirteen years old again. Worry makes its way onto Yoshiki’s face for a moment, but he knows better but to comment on it; they are grown men and they take care of all the fucked up responsibilities that come hand in hand with the life of a rock star. Instead, he tries out the quiche and takes an extra piece with him for Hide (and he thinks, at least I can make one of them eat without feeling guilty).
It is an awkward party; the combination of rich family members and ragdoll celebrities never made much sense to him. It had something to do with the lack of time, the sudden overflowing amount of space and that new restaurant delivery service that it came to be as it is right now. Yoshiki is glad that J’s comment about the silver cutlery and the porcelain plates is a joke and shoves the plastic solution under Hide’s face before he sits down once more.
There is a lot of talking, but it is mostly J leading the conversation, knowing far too much about his band member and recalling memories not even Inoran’s parents knew about. There is a get-together in the living area after that and Yoshiki offers to help with the dishes to which Inoran replies that no, he has one of those dishwashers and he needs a little time alone. Yoshiki thinks he can relate in some way and joins the other people, catching phrases here and there but never able to comment on anything properly. Time ticks by slowly.
Eventually his eyes catch Inoran on the balcony, the windows reflecting his image twice and outlining his profile against the dark night’s sky. The stars seem to dance around the guitarist’s head and he wonders what it would look like if Inoran was not so Robert Smith with his hair wild and his cigarette blooming flowers of ash in the wind. Averting his eyes, he nearly does not catch the image of a second person, just peeking around the edge of the window;
( J runs his fingers over Inoran’s thin wrist and takes the cigarette from him to steal a long drag. They do not talk, but Inoran watches the bassist with something that can only be described as fond interest before taking the cigarette back in his own fingers. The moment he tosses it over the railing, J turns around to move back into the house and Inoran’s frame tenses visibly, shoulder blades protruding underneath the fabric of his thin shirt,)
but then J is back among the crowd and Yoshiki frowns, trying to remember whether or not it had actually happened at all.
4.
That his best friend is an idiot Hide had known exactly ten minutes after their first meeting, but he reckons it has never been as visible as it is at this very moment; J strips down to his underwear on top of the table, hollering loudly as he tosses his shirt towards the chandelier (and days later it would still be there, hanging almost sadly from one of the fake candles). He laughs though, because even if he were embarrassed he would not be able to not laugh at the situation. He bumps shoulders with Inoran, who knocks over his drink.
J is such a happy man, proudly announcing that he finally is an adult now and Hide snorts (and thinks, legally, legally, just legally and knows Inoran can read his mind). Soon enough they are playing poker, foreshadowing strip poker in the near future and J keeps on winning because it is his lucky day. Yoshiki finally arrives, better late than never, with bags full of drinks that never seem to stop coming hours later. Someone calls that the toilet is clogged up, someone replies that Sugizo has been throwing up in the bedroom and then it is concluded that this will be one of those nights they will never forget.
Somewhere in between playing Twister and singing along to Zi:kill’s new song, J smashes a glass on the floor and begins a speech of slurred words and wide-mouthed laughter. Everybody loves it and nobody dares to point out that the bassist is wearing his shirt inside out and has cake crumbs sticking to his cheek from when Shinya pushed his face none too gently in one of the fresh baked goods he had brought along. Hide leans back, arm on the back of the couch and makes obscene comments about J’s newly dyed hair and places that he should not forget to dye as well.
But then Inoran passes out with his head on the table and it should not at all be as surprising (because here and there people had passed out already and nobody really had the decency to do anything about it), yet there is something that changes on J's face and Hide swears he has never seen that expression before. Everyone is encouraging Ryuichi to bend over a little further and put his hand on the red circle when the bassist slips away from their attention and Hide glances over to see exactly;
( Inoran groans as J pulls him up, but his fingers curl into the fabric of the man's shirt and his face buries itself against the other's throat. J tenses up for a moment; back straightening and hands hesitating before he wraps his arms strongly around his band mate's waist and steers him out of the room. Just before they make it through the door, Inoran's foot catches on the threshold and J decides to slip his hand under the man's shirt to support his back,)
but they disappear out of sight and Hide forgets all about it the moment Ryuichi falls over.