Fic: Olive Green
Title: Olive Green
Author: fairymage
Rating: G
Community: golden_pair
Prompt: Pic #2
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Pairing: Golden Pair
Notes: Written for the 2007 Fic for a Pic Contest
There were two pressing issues to be dealt with at the moment. Well, three.
One was that Oishi’s birthday had crept up on him without him realizing it. Actually, he’d known about it; of course you didn’t just forget your boyfriend of ten years’ birthday. But he could put off buying a present until he’d found the “perfect” thing-until the week before said boyfriend’s birthday.
Two was that he was trying to shop with Fuji. That in itself wouldn’t normally have been a problem. Fuji was insightful and had clever ideas, and had helped Eiji pick out a present several years in the past. He just had to wait out the trick suggestions. Like the year Fuji had casually demonstrated intimate knowledge of a wide range of sex toys. Or the year he’d passed Eiji a flyer for a male dancer and off-handedly suggested hiring one for a threesome.
But Fuji was also the one that thought Oishi would like the herbal spa set (to help him relax after work) or the tickets to the outdoor jazz concert-neither of which Eiji would have thought of on his own, and both of which Oishi had loved.
So Fuji on his own would have been fine. Helpful, even. But Fuji was not alone. No, Fuji had brought along Tezuka. And Eiji couldn’t stop staring.
He was pretty sure it was mostly the idea of Tezuka shopping that was making his head spin slightly. Shopping was what he and Fuji-best friends-or he and Oishi-lovers for a long time-did. Shopping was not something exceptional people like Tezuka did. Tezuka didn’t bounce into fitting rooms and take off his clothes and try new ones on. Tezuka didn’t even buy new clothes. New clothes just appeared on serious, professional people like Tezuka.
In Eiji’s mind, at least.
Hence why Fuji was Not Helpful today. Tezuka was just an extra dose of Not Helpful.
The third problem was that Eiji didn’t have enough hands to carry all the things Fuji was throwing at him.
-----
“Clothes this year,” Fuji had instructed in the car ride over. Eiji had hardly been paying attention; he’d been warily eyeing Tezuka, who was driving the car.
“What?”
“Clothes. I try to have you alternate between ‘practical’ and just ‘nice’. The concert tickets were nice. The spa set was practical. We’re back to practical this year. I think Oishi could use some new clothes.”
“Oh! He has an interview next week… Thursday,” Eiji remembered, wrinkling his nose.
He and Oishi had fought (a very small fight, nothing to worry about, he hoped) about Oishi wanting to change companies. Everyone knew that sort of thing was hard. If you left one place, you usually had to start all over, and Eiji didn’t want to see that happen to Oishi. He’d worked hard to get to where he was now, he didn’t understand why Oishi would want to leave all that behind, and he didn’t think it would be good for Oishi in the long run. But Oishi had insisted that he no longer wanted to work for this company, and the only way he could keep working was to work for someone else.
It had confused Eiji, because he’d always thought that he would be the one to whine about his job and let his emotions get the better of him. In his mind, Oishi would have been the one trying to soothe his ruffled feathers and convince him to stick it out. But he’d forgotten how principled Oishi was, and respect for the system was clearly no match for integrity.
“On his birthday?” Fuji mused. “Well, why don’t we find him a new suit?”
Eiji pondered this for a moment. It sounded like a good idea. A new suit, a new shirt and tie and socks, even… It’d be a good way to be supportive of Oishi. An expensive and materialistic way of telling Oishi that he wanted him to get the new job, and that he would stand behind him and help out until they’d worked through things.
So he’d agreed, and now they were standing in the middle of a men’s store, with Eiji laden with jackets and shirts and slacks and ties and yes, socks.
Fuji was studying their choices. Eiji liked what he’d picked out for Oishi-a light gray linen suit, a dark olive green shirt, and a wine red tie. The colors looked nice together (he thought), and they avoided looking like an American Christmas. But Fuji had insisted on choices, and so here they were.
“Ne, Fuji, I really don’t think Oishi would like the purple shirt.” Eiji wrinkled his nose. He didn’t like the purple shirt. It reminded him too much of Mizuki.
“All right, then that one can go.” Fuji waved his hand dismissively. “What do you think of this suit, Tezuka?”
Eiji had his mouth open to object to the choice-it was too brown, Oishi didn’t look good in brown, and besides it was two button and the buttons looked like they were in the wrong place.
Then he snapped it shut and tried not to stare too hard at Tezuka.
Without batting an eye, Tezuka replied: “Oishi doesn’t look good in brown.”
Eiji didn’t know if he was surprised. Of course, Tezuka never dressed badly, so he must know what sort of things looked good and what was fashionable, but it just seemed so… odd that he knew those kinds of things.
And so they went through everything they’d chosen, and Eiji ended up standing with exactly the outfit he’d picked out originally. As he stood at the register handing over his credit card, he snuck a glance over his shoulder, wondering if Fuji had intentionally picked out choices he knew would never work.
-----
“Just wear it! Please!” Eiji begged, hissing. This was boding poorly for the rest of the day. Oishi’s birthday had just started, and already they were fighting. He’d wanted to give Oishi his present before the interview, so that he could wear it. He’d even gotten his sister to take the entire thing to a dry-cleaner.
Oishi had gladly accepted the gift, giving Eiji a quick kiss and a smile before dashing off to the closet, but he’d come out for breakfast only wearing the suit and tie. His shirt was glaringly white and starched and, quite frankly, glaringly boring.
At the time, Eiji had pouted and pleaded and tried to convince Oishi to change. When Oishi had continued to refuse, saying that he wanted to be comfortable and would really rather be wearing a shirt he’d worn for two years instead of a new, perfectly crisp shirt, Eiji had given in. It was Oishi’s interview, after all, and he should be allowed to conduct himself as he chose.
But as soon as the fretting Oishi had left the apartment, Eiji had begun to think. It really was not all right with him that Oishi wasn’t wearing the green shirt. First of all, the white shirt was boring. The whole point of the green shirt was that it wasn’t white. It was colored and interesting and eye-catching. Everyone wore white. Eiji had wanted Oishi to stand out.
Fashion aside, though, it irritated Eiji that Oishi had, essentially, rejected his boyfriend’s well-wishes. It was sort of irrational-all right, very irrational-but he was really beginning to feel like Oishi had told him that his gift wasn’t good enough. Even though he’d worn the suit and tie. That gift was supposed to represent Eiji’s support and love and Oishi didn’t like it!
That bothered him. Irrationally, but it bothered him nonetheless.
So he’d grabbed the box with the shirt still folded neatly inside and stormed out after his boyfriend.
“Not now. It doesn’t match my suit, and I really cannot afford that.” Oishi wasn’t intentionally being mean-spirited. There was that crease in his forehead that meant he was stressed and trying to focus. Eiji knew he wasn’t helping by insisting, but this was sort of important to him.
“It does!” he insisted. “Even Tezuka said so!”
“I know, I know, Eiji, but I just want to wear something comfortable. It was really, really nice of you to come out, and if you just wait we can go out to lunch together after the interview, but I just-“ He stopped with a frustrated sigh and went back to staring at the wall.
Eiji slammed himself down into the chair behind Oishi and tried to keep his voice even. “No. I want you to wear the new shirt because it’s supposed to be a new start. New clothes for a new job. I don’t want you to be held back by stupid things like your old job. And the best way to do that is to just start over with everything. Including your shirt. Look,” he was struggling to explain himself properly. “I just thought that I would get you something nice to… to… to tell you that I want you to get this job. And that we’ll… you know, get through this. Like we always do. Because that’s what we do.”
They were silent for a moment. Eiji sank slightly in his chair and frowned at the floor. Oishi fidgeted briefly in his.
“And… you know… the white shirt is boring. You’d look better in the green one.”
Maybe Oishi was smiling. “Did Tezuka say that too?”
Maybe Eiji was smiling now too. “No. But he did say you wouldn’t look very good in brown.”
With an amused chuckle, Oishi stood and swept up the new, now slightly wrinkled, dress shirt. “If they call me, tell them I’m in the restroom and I’ll be right back.”
Author: fairymage
Rating: G
Community: golden_pair
Prompt: Pic #2
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Pairing: Golden Pair
Notes: Written for the 2007 Fic for a Pic Contest
There were two pressing issues to be dealt with at the moment. Well, three.
One was that Oishi’s birthday had crept up on him without him realizing it. Actually, he’d known about it; of course you didn’t just forget your boyfriend of ten years’ birthday. But he could put off buying a present until he’d found the “perfect” thing-until the week before said boyfriend’s birthday.
Two was that he was trying to shop with Fuji. That in itself wouldn’t normally have been a problem. Fuji was insightful and had clever ideas, and had helped Eiji pick out a present several years in the past. He just had to wait out the trick suggestions. Like the year Fuji had casually demonstrated intimate knowledge of a wide range of sex toys. Or the year he’d passed Eiji a flyer for a male dancer and off-handedly suggested hiring one for a threesome.
But Fuji was also the one that thought Oishi would like the herbal spa set (to help him relax after work) or the tickets to the outdoor jazz concert-neither of which Eiji would have thought of on his own, and both of which Oishi had loved.
So Fuji on his own would have been fine. Helpful, even. But Fuji was not alone. No, Fuji had brought along Tezuka. And Eiji couldn’t stop staring.
He was pretty sure it was mostly the idea of Tezuka shopping that was making his head spin slightly. Shopping was what he and Fuji-best friends-or he and Oishi-lovers for a long time-did. Shopping was not something exceptional people like Tezuka did. Tezuka didn’t bounce into fitting rooms and take off his clothes and try new ones on. Tezuka didn’t even buy new clothes. New clothes just appeared on serious, professional people like Tezuka.
In Eiji’s mind, at least.
Hence why Fuji was Not Helpful today. Tezuka was just an extra dose of Not Helpful.
The third problem was that Eiji didn’t have enough hands to carry all the things Fuji was throwing at him.
-----
“Clothes this year,” Fuji had instructed in the car ride over. Eiji had hardly been paying attention; he’d been warily eyeing Tezuka, who was driving the car.
“What?”
“Clothes. I try to have you alternate between ‘practical’ and just ‘nice’. The concert tickets were nice. The spa set was practical. We’re back to practical this year. I think Oishi could use some new clothes.”
“Oh! He has an interview next week… Thursday,” Eiji remembered, wrinkling his nose.
He and Oishi had fought (a very small fight, nothing to worry about, he hoped) about Oishi wanting to change companies. Everyone knew that sort of thing was hard. If you left one place, you usually had to start all over, and Eiji didn’t want to see that happen to Oishi. He’d worked hard to get to where he was now, he didn’t understand why Oishi would want to leave all that behind, and he didn’t think it would be good for Oishi in the long run. But Oishi had insisted that he no longer wanted to work for this company, and the only way he could keep working was to work for someone else.
It had confused Eiji, because he’d always thought that he would be the one to whine about his job and let his emotions get the better of him. In his mind, Oishi would have been the one trying to soothe his ruffled feathers and convince him to stick it out. But he’d forgotten how principled Oishi was, and respect for the system was clearly no match for integrity.
“On his birthday?” Fuji mused. “Well, why don’t we find him a new suit?”
Eiji pondered this for a moment. It sounded like a good idea. A new suit, a new shirt and tie and socks, even… It’d be a good way to be supportive of Oishi. An expensive and materialistic way of telling Oishi that he wanted him to get the new job, and that he would stand behind him and help out until they’d worked through things.
So he’d agreed, and now they were standing in the middle of a men’s store, with Eiji laden with jackets and shirts and slacks and ties and yes, socks.
Fuji was studying their choices. Eiji liked what he’d picked out for Oishi-a light gray linen suit, a dark olive green shirt, and a wine red tie. The colors looked nice together (he thought), and they avoided looking like an American Christmas. But Fuji had insisted on choices, and so here they were.
“Ne, Fuji, I really don’t think Oishi would like the purple shirt.” Eiji wrinkled his nose. He didn’t like the purple shirt. It reminded him too much of Mizuki.
“All right, then that one can go.” Fuji waved his hand dismissively. “What do you think of this suit, Tezuka?”
Eiji had his mouth open to object to the choice-it was too brown, Oishi didn’t look good in brown, and besides it was two button and the buttons looked like they were in the wrong place.
Then he snapped it shut and tried not to stare too hard at Tezuka.
Without batting an eye, Tezuka replied: “Oishi doesn’t look good in brown.”
Eiji didn’t know if he was surprised. Of course, Tezuka never dressed badly, so he must know what sort of things looked good and what was fashionable, but it just seemed so… odd that he knew those kinds of things.
And so they went through everything they’d chosen, and Eiji ended up standing with exactly the outfit he’d picked out originally. As he stood at the register handing over his credit card, he snuck a glance over his shoulder, wondering if Fuji had intentionally picked out choices he knew would never work.
-----
“Just wear it! Please!” Eiji begged, hissing. This was boding poorly for the rest of the day. Oishi’s birthday had just started, and already they were fighting. He’d wanted to give Oishi his present before the interview, so that he could wear it. He’d even gotten his sister to take the entire thing to a dry-cleaner.
Oishi had gladly accepted the gift, giving Eiji a quick kiss and a smile before dashing off to the closet, but he’d come out for breakfast only wearing the suit and tie. His shirt was glaringly white and starched and, quite frankly, glaringly boring.
At the time, Eiji had pouted and pleaded and tried to convince Oishi to change. When Oishi had continued to refuse, saying that he wanted to be comfortable and would really rather be wearing a shirt he’d worn for two years instead of a new, perfectly crisp shirt, Eiji had given in. It was Oishi’s interview, after all, and he should be allowed to conduct himself as he chose.
But as soon as the fretting Oishi had left the apartment, Eiji had begun to think. It really was not all right with him that Oishi wasn’t wearing the green shirt. First of all, the white shirt was boring. The whole point of the green shirt was that it wasn’t white. It was colored and interesting and eye-catching. Everyone wore white. Eiji had wanted Oishi to stand out.
Fashion aside, though, it irritated Eiji that Oishi had, essentially, rejected his boyfriend’s well-wishes. It was sort of irrational-all right, very irrational-but he was really beginning to feel like Oishi had told him that his gift wasn’t good enough. Even though he’d worn the suit and tie. That gift was supposed to represent Eiji’s support and love and Oishi didn’t like it!
That bothered him. Irrationally, but it bothered him nonetheless.
So he’d grabbed the box with the shirt still folded neatly inside and stormed out after his boyfriend.
“Not now. It doesn’t match my suit, and I really cannot afford that.” Oishi wasn’t intentionally being mean-spirited. There was that crease in his forehead that meant he was stressed and trying to focus. Eiji knew he wasn’t helping by insisting, but this was sort of important to him.
“It does!” he insisted. “Even Tezuka said so!”
“I know, I know, Eiji, but I just want to wear something comfortable. It was really, really nice of you to come out, and if you just wait we can go out to lunch together after the interview, but I just-“ He stopped with a frustrated sigh and went back to staring at the wall.
Eiji slammed himself down into the chair behind Oishi and tried to keep his voice even. “No. I want you to wear the new shirt because it’s supposed to be a new start. New clothes for a new job. I don’t want you to be held back by stupid things like your old job. And the best way to do that is to just start over with everything. Including your shirt. Look,” he was struggling to explain himself properly. “I just thought that I would get you something nice to… to… to tell you that I want you to get this job. And that we’ll… you know, get through this. Like we always do. Because that’s what we do.”
They were silent for a moment. Eiji sank slightly in his chair and frowned at the floor. Oishi fidgeted briefly in his.
“And… you know… the white shirt is boring. You’d look better in the green one.”
Maybe Oishi was smiling. “Did Tezuka say that too?”
Maybe Eiji was smiling now too. “No. But he did say you wouldn’t look very good in brown.”
With an amused chuckle, Oishi stood and swept up the new, now slightly wrinkled, dress shirt. “If they call me, tell them I’m in the restroom and I’ll be right back.”