Fic - Favor
Title: Favor
Pairing/Characters: Ryo/Uchi
Rating: R
Warnings: sexual content
Notes: Written for kitsune_hikaru for the 2012 K8-exchange. Thank you to my beta for the advice and help <3!
Summary Ryo and Uchi try out each other`s hobbies~!
Let's go out :D.
The message comes all of a sudden and Ryo does a quick double take at the sender's name. He wants something, is Ryo's first thought. He second thought is that he doesn't really care if he does. He hasn't seen him in a while.
Who are you again…. ?
Ryo grins, and thumb-taps the screen.
Haha, cute. I'm coming over in 30, be ready!
The night is looking up already and starts getting ready to go out. Unsurprisingly, Uchi shows up fifteen minutes late, letting himself in with his spare key.
"You're late," Ryo says with an exaggerated frown. Uchi holds his hands together looking suitably guilty, probably for show.
"Let's go!" Uchi says, pulling at Ryo's arm.
~__~
Morning! How do you feel?
Ryo squints at the phone and then stretches, the left side of his neck throbbing slightly. He sits up and swings his legs off the couch, and his foot bumps against a beer can from last night.
His head feels heavy and his stomach lurches a bit. Last night is still fuzzy but the pieces are slowly coming back to him.
Hung over. Where are you? Ryo sends as a response. He tries to run through what happened last night again: Uchi came over, and they went out drinking until the bar closed. Judging from the sheer amount of beer cans all over his apartment, they must have stopped at a convenience store and stocked up.
Ryo drags himself to the bathroom. He washes his face and then brushes the stale taste of leftover alcohol out of his mouth. He has some pretty thick black circles under his eyes and two small, angry red marks on his neck catch his eye when he finishes gargling mouthwash.
How in the hell?
It's summer, and bugs are out, but the spots aren't itchy. Ryo doesn't have to rack his brain for too long, a very clear memory of kissing Uchi, pressing him up against the entryway after coming back from the bar, comes to him.
Making out with his friends, while possibly kind of weird for most people, just seems to happen when Ryo gets drunk. It's not the first time that he's done that with Uchi, but it is the first time he's woken up with what might possibly be hickeys on his neck.
He tilts his head back, running his fingers over the slightly raised skin and frowns. He's really lucky that he finished up the magazine photo shoots yesterday. Hopefully, these will go away fast and he won't have to do any explaining.
He flicks off the light to the bathroom, scratching his belly and feeling another raised bump there and pauses. Trying to wrap his brain around why that is there is definitely too much to handle this early in the morning (afternoon).
Ryo comes back to his phone flashing with an unread message, and he feels awkward, not sure if he should ask Uchi about what happened last night but can't manage to bring it up. Maybe Uchi doesn't even remember.
Some people have work to do, slacker. I have a favor to ask…
Saying okay without asking questions after Uchi tells him ‘I need a favor’ is how Ryo finds himself on a golf course for maybe the second time in his life with some of the more intimidating senpai. He doesn't get how Uchi can be so comfortable going out with them like this. Ryo manages to be polite, but he’s slightly envious of the way Uchi easily laughs and jokes with them. He's always been like that though, faster to make friends than Ryo.
The weather's hot and even though they've been riding in little carts instead of walking, the sun is still beating down on them and the humidity is sending rivulets of sweat running down Ryo's back. Uchi didn't seem that much better off, his light shirt sticking to his shoulders.
"Your turn!" Uchi says cheerfully, patting him on the shoulder, his hand lingering just a second too long, and Ryo wonders, not for the first time, why Uchi wanted to bring him along.
Ryo grabs the club, lining himself up and trying not to worry about messing up in front of Higashiyama and Nishikiori too much. He swings the club and manages to keep it on the green this time. It doesn't go as far as Uchi's but he's getting better. He's not sure if he's imagining it when he catches Uchi staring at him. It's hard to concentrate on playing when he can feels Uchi's eyes on him; after everything, he can't ignore the weird tension between them.
"Three holes left," Ryo mutters to himself. Uchi owes him for this; and he knows exactly what he's going to have him do.
~__~
"Come over tonight," Ryo says into the receiver. "I want you to go somewhere with me tomorrow morning.
"I have early voice training for the stage play, I can't go," Uchi answers.
"What time?" Ryo asks quickly.
"At 12," Uchi says, sounding not too happy about it. That's not "early" in Ryo's book but Uchi was never a morning person. He prefers to be just rolling out of bed at 12.
"We'll be done before then. You're coming." Ryo grabs the container of yakisoba from the microwave and heads into the living room.
Uchi sighs into the receiver.
"… What is it?" Uchi asks, sounding wary.
"We're going for a drive," Ryo lies smoothly.
"…I know I'm going to regret this," Uchi grumbles. "But, okay, fine."
"Hurry up and get over here then," Ryo says, saying bye and hanging up before shoving noodles into his mouth.
~___~
"You're fucking kidding," Uchi whines, pulling the covers up over his head. It's four in the morning. Ryo pulls off all the blankets and smacks his ass and wants to laugh when Uchi mumbles incoherent curses under his breath.
"Get up," Ryo orders. He takes great pleasure in shaking Uchi until he finally relents and sits up, glaring at Ryo with half of his hair sticking up straight and the other half pressed against his cheek.
"I hate you," Uchi says, mumbling and rubbing at his eyes.
"Here's coffee, drink it. We're leaving in 20." Ryo stays in the room for a few minutes to make sure Uchi doesn't try to go back to sleep. Uchi, to his credit, doesn't but he is definitely not happy about it.
"You're an asshole," Uchi says when he climbs into the car; Dior sunglasses on and baseball cap pulled low.
The display in his car is glowing 4:30 and Uchi's already leaning his seat back and opening his mouth in a huge, jaw popping yawn.
Ryo hops in the driver’s. He flips through his music collection and puts on a Red Hot Chilli Peppers album. Uchi glares at him and Ryo just turns it up. After that, Uchi doesn't attempt to make conversation - at first, Ryo sings under his breath, pulling out of his apartment complex.
When the car finally rolls to a stop, Uchi stretches and mumbles, “Where are we?”
It's almost 7 now and stretched out before them is an empty beach. They're in a parking lot and Uchi groans an "oh, fuck" when he notices the small building with various surfboards propped up outside.
"I hope you realize that I'm not going to do it."
"I went golfing."
"People don't drown when they golf."
"You're not going to drown."
"That's right, because I'm not going."
Thirty minutes later, Ryo is coaching an extremely reluctant Uchi on how to properly stand up on a surfboard.
"Your back leg is coming up too slow, you'll fall over if you do it like that."
"I'm going to fall over no matter what," Uchi grumbles.
"Your legs are too straight, you have to keep your knees bent."
Another twenty minutes and they're dragging the boards into the water.
"It's cold," Uchi whines. Ryo rolls his eyes, but keeps dragging him forward.
"You're trying to kill me, aren't you?" Uchi says darkly. Ryo is looking forward to seeing Uchi biff it out there.
~__~
"I can't do it." Uchi says, clinging to the surfboard as the waves rock them back and forth.
"Quit being a baby. I'm going to push you into the wave, just paddle when I tell you to," Ryo says.
"I'm going to haunt you forever, just so you know. I've had a lot of time today to think about how I'm going to do it too," Uchi warns him. Ryo ignores him, checking behind them to see the waves coming in.
"All right, not this one, okay… three, two, one, go!" Ryo says. He shoves the board as hard as he can and watches as Uchi paddles too slow. As the wave passes him by, Uchi wobbles back and forth and then face plants into the sea water.
Ryo cracks up laughing when Uchi pops up a minute later, scrabbling for the surfboard and grabbing onto it.
"I hate you," Uchi yells and ends up getting a face full of wave.
Ryo laughs harder.
Uchi paddles back to him slowly, looking wet and miserable; it takes Ryo by surprise when he feels his surfboard lurch and tip over, Uchi's shit eating grin the last thing he sees before he's falling backwards into the water.
"Payback’s a bitch," Uchi says when Ryo resurfaces.
"No, I think you're the bitch," Ryo says but he's grinning and he can see the corner of Uchi's mouth twitch before he gives in with a laugh, shrugging helplessly.
~___~
"Fuck, oww," Uchi says, rubbing at his shoulders. Ryo stares at the way his muscles flex under his skin when he starts rolling his shoulder. Uchi looks at him questioningly and Ryo avoids his gaze, grabbing his surfboard and starting up the beach.
They return the boards and Ryo steps under the outdoor shower, shivering at the cold water. He can feel Uchi watching him again and jumps when he feels a hand on his shoulder turning him around.
"Ryo-chan?" Uchi questions softly. "What's wrong?"
Of course he'd notice, Ryo thinks. He licks his lips nervously, suddenly remembering their kiss that night. His gaze accidentally slides down to Uchi's lips, pink and right there. He could lean in and kiss him.
"Nothing," Ryo mumbles, about to pull away but stopped by Uchi's hands coming up to his cheeks. He freezes, still in shock when Uchi's lips press softly against his.
"I…. why? What was… um?" Ryo says confused, unconsciously moving closer.
"I wanted to try again, since you were pretty lame last time," Uchi says with a grin, that all too familiar tone automatically annoying Ryo. "You passed out on me within three minutes." Uchi says this, stepping in even closer. The ends of his hair are wet from the shower but Ryo can still see sand flecked throughout it. Uchi leans in again and Ryo places his hand on his chest, the skin hot underneath his fingertips, stopping him. Uchi tilts his head, looking confused, but Ryo just shakes his head. "Let's go to the car."
Ryo's heart beats faster the closer he gets to the car, his hand shaking a bit as he opens the door, feeling Uchi standing right behind him. He gets in the back seat, leaning in between the two front seats to turn on the car and get the AC running.
He feels Uchi's fingers slide slowly up his back before he winds his hand around Ryo's waist and pulls him back into the back seat. The windows are tinted and the sun visor still up, so they have privacy, which is a good thing because now Uchi's sucking at the side of his neck and Ryo may have tilted his head to the side to make it easier for him.
Uchi pulls him closer, Ryo half sitting on him, half sitting on the seat, and he finally turns around so he can kiss Uchi properly. Uchi responds enthusiastically, and Ryo shivers when he moans softly a few moments later.
It escalates quickly from there, Ryo's head feeling lighter as they keep kissing, barely breaking for air. Uchi pushes him back a minute later until he's sitting in the next seat over and Uchi's kneeling down on the floor between his legs, drawing random patterns on his stomach. Uchi grins up at him and when he squeezes the front of Ryo’s shorts, Ryo's mouth goes dry.
It doesn't look too comfortable, crouched on the floor, but if Uchi doesn't say anything about it then Ryo sure as hell isn't going to. Not if it means he'll stop kissing down his stomach while he rubs his over the front of his swim trunks. Ryo spreads his legs in an open invitation, watching through half lidded eyes as Uchi pulls down the trunks, urging Ryo's hips up, and grabbing his cock once nothing is in his way. Ryo bites his lip, hands resting on Uchi's shoulders and fingers digging into them when Uchi's tongue slides over him slowly.
He leans his head back against the headrest when Uchi's mouth, hot and wet, covers him and he feels Uchi's mouth sliding back and forth over him. Ryo sighs and can feel his face flushing as small shocks of pleasure shoot down his spine when Uchi moves faster, head bobbing at a steady pace.
"Fuck," Ryo groans when Uchi pulls back to suck on the tip, moaning around it and looking up at Ryo. It doesn't take long for him to get closer and he grabs at Uchi's shoulders, his toes curling and a long drawn out moan is Uchi's only warning before he comes hard, Uchi swallowing around him and pulling back, wiping the back of his hand across his mouth.
Ryo, feeling relaxed and content, pulls at Uchi until he's up and straddling his knees, hunched over so he doesn't hit his head on the ceiling. It's awkward but Uchi doesn't seem to care at all when Ryo's hand slides into his trunk and he slowly starts stroking him.
Uchi's loud and responsive, moaning against his ear and clinging to him; it has Ryo wishing he could recover fast enough to do it properly with him. He slides his thumb through the tip and watches Uchi's mouth fall open as his hips cant towards him.
Uchi gasps a second later, his body shuddering as his comes over Ryo's hand.
They're both breathing hard. Ryo feels his knee falling asleep. He's about to tell Uchi to get his fat ass off of him but then he grins down at Ryo before kissing him softly.
"I like you but there's no way in hell I'm surfing ever again," Uchi warns him, shoving tissues at Ryo so he can clean up. He looks embarrassed for a split second before covering it up with a grin.
"And there is no way I'm going golfing with you," Ryo counters, returning his smile. He is already looking forward to the next time they can be together like this.
Pairing/Characters: Ryo/Uchi
Rating: R
Warnings: sexual content
Notes: Written for kitsune_hikaru for the 2012 K8-exchange. Thank you to my beta for the advice and help <3!
Summary Ryo and Uchi try out each other`s hobbies~!
Let's go out :D.
The message comes all of a sudden and Ryo does a quick double take at the sender's name. He wants something, is Ryo's first thought. He second thought is that he doesn't really care if he does. He hasn't seen him in a while.
Who are you again…. ?
Ryo grins, and thumb-taps the screen.
Haha, cute. I'm coming over in 30, be ready!
The night is looking up already and starts getting ready to go out. Unsurprisingly, Uchi shows up fifteen minutes late, letting himself in with his spare key.
"You're late," Ryo says with an exaggerated frown. Uchi holds his hands together looking suitably guilty, probably for show.
"Let's go!" Uchi says, pulling at Ryo's arm.
~__~
Morning! How do you feel?
Ryo squints at the phone and then stretches, the left side of his neck throbbing slightly. He sits up and swings his legs off the couch, and his foot bumps against a beer can from last night.
His head feels heavy and his stomach lurches a bit. Last night is still fuzzy but the pieces are slowly coming back to him.
Hung over. Where are you? Ryo sends as a response. He tries to run through what happened last night again: Uchi came over, and they went out drinking until the bar closed. Judging from the sheer amount of beer cans all over his apartment, they must have stopped at a convenience store and stocked up.
Ryo drags himself to the bathroom. He washes his face and then brushes the stale taste of leftover alcohol out of his mouth. He has some pretty thick black circles under his eyes and two small, angry red marks on his neck catch his eye when he finishes gargling mouthwash.
How in the hell?
It's summer, and bugs are out, but the spots aren't itchy. Ryo doesn't have to rack his brain for too long, a very clear memory of kissing Uchi, pressing him up against the entryway after coming back from the bar, comes to him.
Making out with his friends, while possibly kind of weird for most people, just seems to happen when Ryo gets drunk. It's not the first time that he's done that with Uchi, but it is the first time he's woken up with what might possibly be hickeys on his neck.
He tilts his head back, running his fingers over the slightly raised skin and frowns. He's really lucky that he finished up the magazine photo shoots yesterday. Hopefully, these will go away fast and he won't have to do any explaining.
He flicks off the light to the bathroom, scratching his belly and feeling another raised bump there and pauses. Trying to wrap his brain around why that is there is definitely too much to handle this early in the morning (afternoon).
Ryo comes back to his phone flashing with an unread message, and he feels awkward, not sure if he should ask Uchi about what happened last night but can't manage to bring it up. Maybe Uchi doesn't even remember.
Some people have work to do, slacker. I have a favor to ask…
Saying okay without asking questions after Uchi tells him ‘I need a favor’ is how Ryo finds himself on a golf course for maybe the second time in his life with some of the more intimidating senpai. He doesn't get how Uchi can be so comfortable going out with them like this. Ryo manages to be polite, but he’s slightly envious of the way Uchi easily laughs and jokes with them. He's always been like that though, faster to make friends than Ryo.
The weather's hot and even though they've been riding in little carts instead of walking, the sun is still beating down on them and the humidity is sending rivulets of sweat running down Ryo's back. Uchi didn't seem that much better off, his light shirt sticking to his shoulders.
"Your turn!" Uchi says cheerfully, patting him on the shoulder, his hand lingering just a second too long, and Ryo wonders, not for the first time, why Uchi wanted to bring him along.
Ryo grabs the club, lining himself up and trying not to worry about messing up in front of Higashiyama and Nishikiori too much. He swings the club and manages to keep it on the green this time. It doesn't go as far as Uchi's but he's getting better. He's not sure if he's imagining it when he catches Uchi staring at him. It's hard to concentrate on playing when he can feels Uchi's eyes on him; after everything, he can't ignore the weird tension between them.
"Three holes left," Ryo mutters to himself. Uchi owes him for this; and he knows exactly what he's going to have him do.
~__~
"Come over tonight," Ryo says into the receiver. "I want you to go somewhere with me tomorrow morning.
"I have early voice training for the stage play, I can't go," Uchi answers.
"What time?" Ryo asks quickly.
"At 12," Uchi says, sounding not too happy about it. That's not "early" in Ryo's book but Uchi was never a morning person. He prefers to be just rolling out of bed at 12.
"We'll be done before then. You're coming." Ryo grabs the container of yakisoba from the microwave and heads into the living room.
Uchi sighs into the receiver.
"… What is it?" Uchi asks, sounding wary.
"We're going for a drive," Ryo lies smoothly.
"…I know I'm going to regret this," Uchi grumbles. "But, okay, fine."
"Hurry up and get over here then," Ryo says, saying bye and hanging up before shoving noodles into his mouth.
~___~
"You're fucking kidding," Uchi whines, pulling the covers up over his head. It's four in the morning. Ryo pulls off all the blankets and smacks his ass and wants to laugh when Uchi mumbles incoherent curses under his breath.
"Get up," Ryo orders. He takes great pleasure in shaking Uchi until he finally relents and sits up, glaring at Ryo with half of his hair sticking up straight and the other half pressed against his cheek.
"I hate you," Uchi says, mumbling and rubbing at his eyes.
"Here's coffee, drink it. We're leaving in 20." Ryo stays in the room for a few minutes to make sure Uchi doesn't try to go back to sleep. Uchi, to his credit, doesn't but he is definitely not happy about it.
"You're an asshole," Uchi says when he climbs into the car; Dior sunglasses on and baseball cap pulled low.
The display in his car is glowing 4:30 and Uchi's already leaning his seat back and opening his mouth in a huge, jaw popping yawn.
Ryo hops in the driver’s. He flips through his music collection and puts on a Red Hot Chilli Peppers album. Uchi glares at him and Ryo just turns it up. After that, Uchi doesn't attempt to make conversation - at first, Ryo sings under his breath, pulling out of his apartment complex.
When the car finally rolls to a stop, Uchi stretches and mumbles, “Where are we?”
It's almost 7 now and stretched out before them is an empty beach. They're in a parking lot and Uchi groans an "oh, fuck" when he notices the small building with various surfboards propped up outside.
"I hope you realize that I'm not going to do it."
"I went golfing."
"People don't drown when they golf."
"You're not going to drown."
"That's right, because I'm not going."
Thirty minutes later, Ryo is coaching an extremely reluctant Uchi on how to properly stand up on a surfboard.
"Your back leg is coming up too slow, you'll fall over if you do it like that."
"I'm going to fall over no matter what," Uchi grumbles.
"Your legs are too straight, you have to keep your knees bent."
Another twenty minutes and they're dragging the boards into the water.
"It's cold," Uchi whines. Ryo rolls his eyes, but keeps dragging him forward.
"You're trying to kill me, aren't you?" Uchi says darkly. Ryo is looking forward to seeing Uchi biff it out there.
~__~
"I can't do it." Uchi says, clinging to the surfboard as the waves rock them back and forth.
"Quit being a baby. I'm going to push you into the wave, just paddle when I tell you to," Ryo says.
"I'm going to haunt you forever, just so you know. I've had a lot of time today to think about how I'm going to do it too," Uchi warns him. Ryo ignores him, checking behind them to see the waves coming in.
"All right, not this one, okay… three, two, one, go!" Ryo says. He shoves the board as hard as he can and watches as Uchi paddles too slow. As the wave passes him by, Uchi wobbles back and forth and then face plants into the sea water.
Ryo cracks up laughing when Uchi pops up a minute later, scrabbling for the surfboard and grabbing onto it.
"I hate you," Uchi yells and ends up getting a face full of wave.
Ryo laughs harder.
Uchi paddles back to him slowly, looking wet and miserable; it takes Ryo by surprise when he feels his surfboard lurch and tip over, Uchi's shit eating grin the last thing he sees before he's falling backwards into the water.
"Payback’s a bitch," Uchi says when Ryo resurfaces.
"No, I think you're the bitch," Ryo says but he's grinning and he can see the corner of Uchi's mouth twitch before he gives in with a laugh, shrugging helplessly.
~___~
"Fuck, oww," Uchi says, rubbing at his shoulders. Ryo stares at the way his muscles flex under his skin when he starts rolling his shoulder. Uchi looks at him questioningly and Ryo avoids his gaze, grabbing his surfboard and starting up the beach.
They return the boards and Ryo steps under the outdoor shower, shivering at the cold water. He can feel Uchi watching him again and jumps when he feels a hand on his shoulder turning him around.
"Ryo-chan?" Uchi questions softly. "What's wrong?"
Of course he'd notice, Ryo thinks. He licks his lips nervously, suddenly remembering their kiss that night. His gaze accidentally slides down to Uchi's lips, pink and right there. He could lean in and kiss him.
"Nothing," Ryo mumbles, about to pull away but stopped by Uchi's hands coming up to his cheeks. He freezes, still in shock when Uchi's lips press softly against his.
"I…. why? What was… um?" Ryo says confused, unconsciously moving closer.
"I wanted to try again, since you were pretty lame last time," Uchi says with a grin, that all too familiar tone automatically annoying Ryo. "You passed out on me within three minutes." Uchi says this, stepping in even closer. The ends of his hair are wet from the shower but Ryo can still see sand flecked throughout it. Uchi leans in again and Ryo places his hand on his chest, the skin hot underneath his fingertips, stopping him. Uchi tilts his head, looking confused, but Ryo just shakes his head. "Let's go to the car."
Ryo's heart beats faster the closer he gets to the car, his hand shaking a bit as he opens the door, feeling Uchi standing right behind him. He gets in the back seat, leaning in between the two front seats to turn on the car and get the AC running.
He feels Uchi's fingers slide slowly up his back before he winds his hand around Ryo's waist and pulls him back into the back seat. The windows are tinted and the sun visor still up, so they have privacy, which is a good thing because now Uchi's sucking at the side of his neck and Ryo may have tilted his head to the side to make it easier for him.
Uchi pulls him closer, Ryo half sitting on him, half sitting on the seat, and he finally turns around so he can kiss Uchi properly. Uchi responds enthusiastically, and Ryo shivers when he moans softly a few moments later.
It escalates quickly from there, Ryo's head feeling lighter as they keep kissing, barely breaking for air. Uchi pushes him back a minute later until he's sitting in the next seat over and Uchi's kneeling down on the floor between his legs, drawing random patterns on his stomach. Uchi grins up at him and when he squeezes the front of Ryo’s shorts, Ryo's mouth goes dry.
It doesn't look too comfortable, crouched on the floor, but if Uchi doesn't say anything about it then Ryo sure as hell isn't going to. Not if it means he'll stop kissing down his stomach while he rubs his over the front of his swim trunks. Ryo spreads his legs in an open invitation, watching through half lidded eyes as Uchi pulls down the trunks, urging Ryo's hips up, and grabbing his cock once nothing is in his way. Ryo bites his lip, hands resting on Uchi's shoulders and fingers digging into them when Uchi's tongue slides over him slowly.
He leans his head back against the headrest when Uchi's mouth, hot and wet, covers him and he feels Uchi's mouth sliding back and forth over him. Ryo sighs and can feel his face flushing as small shocks of pleasure shoot down his spine when Uchi moves faster, head bobbing at a steady pace.
"Fuck," Ryo groans when Uchi pulls back to suck on the tip, moaning around it and looking up at Ryo. It doesn't take long for him to get closer and he grabs at Uchi's shoulders, his toes curling and a long drawn out moan is Uchi's only warning before he comes hard, Uchi swallowing around him and pulling back, wiping the back of his hand across his mouth.
Ryo, feeling relaxed and content, pulls at Uchi until he's up and straddling his knees, hunched over so he doesn't hit his head on the ceiling. It's awkward but Uchi doesn't seem to care at all when Ryo's hand slides into his trunk and he slowly starts stroking him.
Uchi's loud and responsive, moaning against his ear and clinging to him; it has Ryo wishing he could recover fast enough to do it properly with him. He slides his thumb through the tip and watches Uchi's mouth fall open as his hips cant towards him.
Uchi gasps a second later, his body shuddering as his comes over Ryo's hand.
They're both breathing hard. Ryo feels his knee falling asleep. He's about to tell Uchi to get his fat ass off of him but then he grins down at Ryo before kissing him softly.
"I like you but there's no way in hell I'm surfing ever again," Uchi warns him, shoving tissues at Ryo so he can clean up. He looks embarrassed for a split second before covering it up with a grin.
"And there is no way I'm going golfing with you," Ryo counters, returning his smile. He is already looking forward to the next time they can be together like this.