[fic] Comfortable anyway. (10 encounters)
Title: Comfortable anyway.
Pairing: Koichi/Maru
Theme: For 10_encounters random phrases #9: Misunderstood Tourist.
Genre: fluff/general
Rating: pg
Summary: Things can get awkward if you don’t remember Jin’s English lessons.
Comfortable anyway.
‘Look at all the liiiights!’ Maru squealed, face squished against the airplane window.
‘Hadn’t you flown to America before?’
‘Yeah, but never in the dark!’ Maru kept his gaze on the pretty lights, smiling like a kid at Christmas presented with a wrapped box the size of a small house.
And then, halfway through the flight (there were no more colourful dots of light to be seen), he had started to feel jittery. He had continued to feel jittery for the entirety of the airport going-ons and the bus ride and was still in the same state at the end of it. His fingers curled tightly around the handle of his bag, nails biting in the skin of his palm. It wasn’t that he was nervous about going abroad- he wasn’t. Really. He’d been to America for plenty of photoshoots already. You could practically say he was a native with all the time he spent there, trying to pose appealingly among its scenery.
It was just that he’d never gone abroad so alone before. He always had more friends with him to amuse him than he could even pay attention to. (They were all twenty-some energetic idols. They all took up a lot of attention. All the time.) He sort of wished Jin was still living here, so he’d have him for company. If that had been the case, he would definitely be looking forward to spending some time here. He reached into his bag for his phone. He’d dialled a full number already, before he sighed and slid it back into the bag. Calling from here before they’d even reached the hotel went a little beyond his budget.
The bus stopped and they were quickly ushered out, suitcases and all, almost tripping over each other and the stream of people already on the sidewalk. Before Maru could even move his suitcase over to a slightly more comfortable position (one that was not directly on his toes) the bus was already gone. It had taken the Jimusho staff with it.
Maru blinked. He tilted his head, following the bus with his eyes for a while and just sort of Wondered in general.
‘They go to the better, shinier hotel down the road,’ Koichi informed him.
‘Oh.’
‘We’re famous, we get the seedy ones.’ Koichi adjusted his sunglasses, and motioned to the building behind them. It, indeed, didn’t look very impressive.
‘Is that why we have to stay here? Do American people know us too?’ Maru asked eagerly, eyes wide.
‘No.’ Koichi almost snorted. ‘They Jimusho’s just cheap, you should know that by now. Come on, let’s go in.’
Maru pouted and stumbled along behind his senpai. It definitely had some advantages to be shorter, he thought. Koichi didn’t look nearly as awkward as he knew he himself did, not quite able to lift his suitcase. Or maybe the other just had more natural grace, he didn’t know. But he’d rather chalk it up to lack of height, really.
They stumbled into the lobby and came to some sort of a general halt in the dead centre of it. They dropped their suitcases on the beige carpet and looked around to see if there were any hints of what to do next. If Maru stood on his toes, he could just about look over the crowd of people who’d gathered there.
Finally he detected what looked like the reception on the other end of the room. There they were greeted by a very cheerful, very blond… Smile. She sort of scared Maru.
He had already opened his mouth to ask her whether she was related to Taguchi - because the resemblance of the Smile was uncanny - but she was quicker.
It was mildly awkward.
‘Do you understand what she’s saying?’ Koichi whispered, nudging Maru.
Maru shook his head mutely, staring in blank fascination at the hotel’s receptionist who was babbling on in English at high speed.
For the second time that day, he sort of wished Jin was there. At least Jin could talk back to Americans. Usually in a way that made them stop what they were doing and stare for a while. It would be nice if she stopped rattling.
Koichi had slightly more realistic wishes- he wished any of the managers were at hand. Instead, they’d all smiled and bid goodbye until filming tomorrow and had disappeared. Now he was stuck in New York with only his kouhai, basically.
The receptionist finally stopped talking (nearly gasping for breath, he imagined), looking at them questioningly. He glanced sideways at Nakamaru, who looked even more helpless and confused than he himself felt. Apparently it was up to him then.
He made the executive decision to just nod and go along.
At least Maru was a good enough kouhai to not even think about blaming everything on Koichi when they were put in a room with one double bed.
He blamed himself, mostly. Now they were safely away from all the scary incomprehensible Americans, now he remembered all the helpful advice Jin had given him. ‘Look out for the words gay lovers’, for example, was one that would have definitely come in handy there.
Koichi looked around. There wasn’t even a comfy chair in the room or anything.
Technically speaking, technically speaking, they could easily fit in the bed together.
Koichi was rather miffed at the fact he’d have to share a room and bed with another person, solely because of the fact he was most comfortable sleeping in the nude, and another person there kind of put a kink in that plan.
He was hard-pressed to suppress a giggle at that play of words.
Maru, he noticed, looked rather terrified. Even with Koichi (always the gentleman) keeping his clothes on. He observed the boy idly, wondering vaguely if he’d just discovered the only straight boy in Jimusho. He considered it for a moment.
… Nah.
That left only one other option, of course. His kouhai had a crush on him. He grinned at the thought. Maru certainly was cute enough. And it wasn’t like he had anything else to do.
Positioning yourself on the very edge of the bed was the way to go in these kind of situations. Maru was convinced of it.
It just didn’t really work in this case.
It had something to do with there being one blanket and Koichi having superior skills in manoeuvring the blanket his way and also with the fact that Koichi had absolutely no notion of the concept ‘personal space’ and was lying in the middle of the bed stretched out as wide as possible.
There really was no reason why someone should sleep diagonally, Maru thought.
And also, there really, really was no reason for someone to go to sleep putting his arm around his waist. He squeaked and tried to shift out of the loose hold. It worked too, as he tumbled out of bed in the process.
Scrambling up, he crawled back into the bed, and right back into Koichi’s embrace. He whined.
‘Calm down.’ Koichi petted his hair awkwardly.
‘Why are you holding me?’ Maru whined.
‘… Don’t you like it?’
‘Not particularly, no.’
Koichi considered this for a moment. ‘Does this mean you don’t have a crush on me?’
Maru blinked repeatedly and wrinkled his nose in distaste. ‘No.’ He thought for a moment. ‘I just really don’t want to be here.’
‘Oh.’
‘Hm.’
‘Yet, it’s comfortable, isn’t it?’
Maru hummed. He wiggled a bit in the embrace, moving down. It was strangely comfortable.
Even with his feet sticking out in the cold.
He didn’t feel quite so alone anymore.
Pairing: Koichi/Maru
Theme: For 10_encounters random phrases #9: Misunderstood Tourist.
Genre: fluff/general
Rating: pg
Summary: Things can get awkward if you don’t remember Jin’s English lessons.
Comfortable anyway.
‘Look at all the liiiights!’ Maru squealed, face squished against the airplane window.
‘Hadn’t you flown to America before?’
‘Yeah, but never in the dark!’ Maru kept his gaze on the pretty lights, smiling like a kid at Christmas presented with a wrapped box the size of a small house.
And then, halfway through the flight (there were no more colourful dots of light to be seen), he had started to feel jittery. He had continued to feel jittery for the entirety of the airport going-ons and the bus ride and was still in the same state at the end of it. His fingers curled tightly around the handle of his bag, nails biting in the skin of his palm. It wasn’t that he was nervous about going abroad- he wasn’t. Really. He’d been to America for plenty of photoshoots already. You could practically say he was a native with all the time he spent there, trying to pose appealingly among its scenery.
It was just that he’d never gone abroad so alone before. He always had more friends with him to amuse him than he could even pay attention to. (They were all twenty-some energetic idols. They all took up a lot of attention. All the time.) He sort of wished Jin was still living here, so he’d have him for company. If that had been the case, he would definitely be looking forward to spending some time here. He reached into his bag for his phone. He’d dialled a full number already, before he sighed and slid it back into the bag. Calling from here before they’d even reached the hotel went a little beyond his budget.
The bus stopped and they were quickly ushered out, suitcases and all, almost tripping over each other and the stream of people already on the sidewalk. Before Maru could even move his suitcase over to a slightly more comfortable position (one that was not directly on his toes) the bus was already gone. It had taken the Jimusho staff with it.
Maru blinked. He tilted his head, following the bus with his eyes for a while and just sort of Wondered in general.
‘They go to the better, shinier hotel down the road,’ Koichi informed him.
‘Oh.’
‘We’re famous, we get the seedy ones.’ Koichi adjusted his sunglasses, and motioned to the building behind them. It, indeed, didn’t look very impressive.
‘Is that why we have to stay here? Do American people know us too?’ Maru asked eagerly, eyes wide.
‘No.’ Koichi almost snorted. ‘They Jimusho’s just cheap, you should know that by now. Come on, let’s go in.’
Maru pouted and stumbled along behind his senpai. It definitely had some advantages to be shorter, he thought. Koichi didn’t look nearly as awkward as he knew he himself did, not quite able to lift his suitcase. Or maybe the other just had more natural grace, he didn’t know. But he’d rather chalk it up to lack of height, really.
They stumbled into the lobby and came to some sort of a general halt in the dead centre of it. They dropped their suitcases on the beige carpet and looked around to see if there were any hints of what to do next. If Maru stood on his toes, he could just about look over the crowd of people who’d gathered there.
Finally he detected what looked like the reception on the other end of the room. There they were greeted by a very cheerful, very blond… Smile. She sort of scared Maru.
He had already opened his mouth to ask her whether she was related to Taguchi - because the resemblance of the Smile was uncanny - but she was quicker.
It was mildly awkward.
‘Do you understand what she’s saying?’ Koichi whispered, nudging Maru.
Maru shook his head mutely, staring in blank fascination at the hotel’s receptionist who was babbling on in English at high speed.
For the second time that day, he sort of wished Jin was there. At least Jin could talk back to Americans. Usually in a way that made them stop what they were doing and stare for a while. It would be nice if she stopped rattling.
Koichi had slightly more realistic wishes- he wished any of the managers were at hand. Instead, they’d all smiled and bid goodbye until filming tomorrow and had disappeared. Now he was stuck in New York with only his kouhai, basically.
The receptionist finally stopped talking (nearly gasping for breath, he imagined), looking at them questioningly. He glanced sideways at Nakamaru, who looked even more helpless and confused than he himself felt. Apparently it was up to him then.
He made the executive decision to just nod and go along.
At least Maru was a good enough kouhai to not even think about blaming everything on Koichi when they were put in a room with one double bed.
He blamed himself, mostly. Now they were safely away from all the scary incomprehensible Americans, now he remembered all the helpful advice Jin had given him. ‘Look out for the words gay lovers’, for example, was one that would have definitely come in handy there.
Koichi looked around. There wasn’t even a comfy chair in the room or anything.
Technically speaking, technically speaking, they could easily fit in the bed together.
Koichi was rather miffed at the fact he’d have to share a room and bed with another person, solely because of the fact he was most comfortable sleeping in the nude, and another person there kind of put a kink in that plan.
He was hard-pressed to suppress a giggle at that play of words.
Maru, he noticed, looked rather terrified. Even with Koichi (always the gentleman) keeping his clothes on. He observed the boy idly, wondering vaguely if he’d just discovered the only straight boy in Jimusho. He considered it for a moment.
… Nah.
That left only one other option, of course. His kouhai had a crush on him. He grinned at the thought. Maru certainly was cute enough. And it wasn’t like he had anything else to do.
Positioning yourself on the very edge of the bed was the way to go in these kind of situations. Maru was convinced of it.
It just didn’t really work in this case.
It had something to do with there being one blanket and Koichi having superior skills in manoeuvring the blanket his way and also with the fact that Koichi had absolutely no notion of the concept ‘personal space’ and was lying in the middle of the bed stretched out as wide as possible.
There really was no reason why someone should sleep diagonally, Maru thought.
And also, there really, really was no reason for someone to go to sleep putting his arm around his waist. He squeaked and tried to shift out of the loose hold. It worked too, as he tumbled out of bed in the process.
Scrambling up, he crawled back into the bed, and right back into Koichi’s embrace. He whined.
‘Calm down.’ Koichi petted his hair awkwardly.
‘Why are you holding me?’ Maru whined.
‘… Don’t you like it?’
‘Not particularly, no.’
Koichi considered this for a moment. ‘Does this mean you don’t have a crush on me?’
Maru blinked repeatedly and wrinkled his nose in distaste. ‘No.’ He thought for a moment. ‘I just really don’t want to be here.’
‘Oh.’
‘Hm.’
‘Yet, it’s comfortable, isn’t it?’
Maru hummed. He wiggled a bit in the embrace, moving down. It was strangely comfortable.
Even with his feet sticking out in the cold.
He didn’t feel quite so alone anymore.