Fic: Puppy Love
Title: Puppy Love
Author: lizstarsky
Pairing: Golden Pair
Rating: PG
Word Count: 2,215
Summary: Kindly pardon the utter cheese of the title. ^_~ A fluffy rainy day ficlet involving the Golden Pair and a rescue mission of sorts...
Puppy Love
*****
"Oishi!"
Oishi turned and blinked back through the haze of afternoon rain, only just having realized that Eiji was no longer hurrying along beside him. The tennis bag slipped from his shoulder as he moved, skidding along the rain-slick fabric of his jacket, but he barely noticed as he scanned the area in search of his partner. Where...?
He frowned and raised a shielding hand to his brow, squinting through the rain. They'd been passing a small park, a place usually thick with joggers and bicyclists and laughing children with their dogs. Thanks to the Sunday rainstorm, however, the place was deserted, populated only by damp, empty benches and trees that seemed to sag with the weight of wet leaves. And...well, he knew Eiji was in there somewhere, too, but where?
He took a few steps towards the park, swatting the dripping wet bangs out of his eyes. "Eiji?"
"Oishi, hurry!"
The urgent words sent him sprinting forward, heedless of the way the wet grass slipped and slid under his sneakers. He kept his balance, however, and within a few moments had run deep enough beneath the shelter of the trees to spot a flare of red hair among the greenery.
Eiji was kneeling in front of a row of shrubs, his hair dark with rain and plastered to his forehead. As Oishi approached, he watched Eiji roll up his sleeves and reach into the depths of one of the bushes, murmuring soft words that Oishi couldn't make out through the patter of the rain. Oishi was just opening his mouth to ask his partner what was going on when Eiji gave a sudden grin of victory and leaned back from the shrubs, pulling with him--
A puppy. A miserable, shivering, soaking-wet puppy.
Oishi felt his steps slow to a halt, watching in silence as Eiji--still murmuring words of comfort--drew the puppy to his chest and wrapped the small, trembling body in the material of his jacket. After a moment, he glanced up at Oishi with wide, alarmed blue eyes. "Oishi, I think he's sick!"
The words broke him out of his daze, and he hurried forward to kneel next to Eiji, reaching out to gently stroke the back of the puppy's head. The dog didn't even seem to notice the attention, his eyes closed and his face pressed tight against Eiji's chest. Now that Oishi was closer, he could hear the soft whining sound that accompanied the dog's every exhalation, and knew immediately that Eiji was right.
"We have to get him to a vet," Oishi said, but Eiji was already shaking his head.
"Nya, Oishi, it's Sunday. None of them are open."
The puppy gave a miserable whine and burrowed deeper into the warmth of Eiji's body, and Oishi knew then that he had already decided.
"All right," he said quietly. "Let's get him back to my house. He needs to get out of this rain, and..." His gaze flickered to the glitter of metal at the dog's neck. "And once we get him dried off and warmed up, we can try calling his owners. They might know what to do, or have someone they can call."
Eiji stared up at him as if he'd just declared his undying love. "Oishi," he whispered, and Oishi was vaguely embarrassed to see that the other boy seemed near tears. "Really? We can take him to your house? I'd take him to mine, but you know my sisters are allergic and--"
Oishi smiled and reached out to rest a hand on Eiji's shoulder. "Aa, daijobu. Now come on, let's get him home. If we stay out here for much longer, we'll end up getting sick."
Eiji smiled, one of the brilliant grins that never failed to make Oishi feel warm inside, and got carefully to his feet. The puppy made a soft mewling sound at the movement, and Eiji's smile faded to a look of concern.
"Come on," Oishi said again, and they hurried out of the park, Eiji cradling the puppy close and Oishi keeping a guiding arm around Eiji's shoulders. He put it there initially to keep Eiji from slipping on the wet grass, but as they stepped back onto the solid ground of the sidewalk, he found himself keeping his arm where it was, liking the feeling of sheltering Eiji even in this small, insignificant way.
And Eiji didn't seem to mind, he thought a bit defensively, so why not?
They were a block away from Oishi's house when the rain shifted from a hazy drizzle to an outright downpour; Eiji gave a yelp as the water hammered down on them, and Oishi tightened his grip on the other boy's shoulders as they made a run for it. A few moments later, they were gasping for breath under the shelter of Oishi's porch roof, wet and shivering as Oishi wrestled the house keys out of his pocket.
"Nya, Oishi, hurry. He's really shivering a lot..."
Oishi didn't answer, just located the correct key and slid it into the lock. Soon they were inside and dripping all over the wood floor of the entryway, but Oishi didn't bother worrying about the mess they were making. His parents would be out for another few hours, anyway. Tossing his keys onto the small table by the door, he slid his arm around Eiji again and guided him through the entryway and into the living room.
They set to work immediately--Oishi knelt down by the gas fireplace, twisting knobs and frowning at the small print of the instructions, while meanwhile Eiji sat on the couch with the puppy on his lap, rubbing the golden fur gently dry with a towel. Before long, the amber glow of the flames filled the room with warmth and light, and Oishi crawled to his feet to join Eiji on the couch.
Upon turning around, however, he found himself going suddenly still, his eyes locked helplessly on Eiji.
Neither of them had changed yet, so Eiji was still soaking wet; his hair was flat and dark with rain, curling out at the base of his neck and sticking to his forehead and cheeks. His face was slightly flushed, the ever-present bandaid missing from his cheek thanks to the water loosening the adhesive, but Oishi doubted he had even noticed. The whole of his attention was focused on the furry bundle in his arms, his brows knitted in concentration, his lower lip captured under the pull of his teeth. Warm flickers of firelight played on his face and glittered in the dark blue of his eyes, and Oishi couldn't help the sudden, startling realization that Eiji was beautiful.
He must've stood there for too long, because suddenly Eiji's eyes flickered up to meet his, and he knew from the slight widening of the irises that Eiji had seen the odd look on his face--Eiji had seen him standing here staring in awe and adoration, and if he had understood...if he had known with the instinctive connection of their on-court partnership just what he was thinking...
But then Eiji smiled, apparently not having noticed at all, and Oishi let out a relieved inward sigh.
"Nya, Oishi," Eiji whispered, and gestured him closer with a small wave of his hand. "Look."
Oishi ventured closer, and upon following Eiji's downward gaze, saw that the puppy had curled up on Eiji's lap and was breathing slowly and deeply with sleep, his short tail wagging lazily with every breath. Oishi had to smile at the look of utter contentment on the puppy's face, and the fact that his shivers had finally, mercifully stopped. He would probably still need a trip to the vet, once they returned him to his owners, but at least he was warm and dry now--comfortable and sleeping soundly.
With a quick glance at Eiji, Oishi lowered himself carefully onto the couch to sit beside his partner, and told himself that it was only the slope of the cushions that left them sitting with their shoulders pressed together. They sat in silence and watched the puppy breathe for a few minutes, then Eiji gave a sudden shiver and Oishi turned an alarmed gaze to his partner's face.
"Eiji, you must be freezing! Let me get you something to change into..."
Eiji caught his wrist before he could get up. "Nya, I'm okay. There was just a little draft, and I shivered, but I'm okay." When Oishi continued to frown at him, Eiji gave him a pleading look. "I don't want to move and wake up the puppy."
Oishi felt his expression soften, and on impulse, he brought his free hand around to wrap over Eiji's fingers. "I'll hold him while you get changed," he said softly. "But you need to get out of those wet clothes. You'll get sick."
When Eiji turned to look at him, their faces were suddenly very close, close enough for Oishi to catch a whiff of peppermint toothpaste when Eiji spoke. "What about you? You're all wet, too."
"I'll get changed after you get back." And before Eiji could protest further, Oishi reached down to scoop the towel and puppy into his arms, and had soon deposited both onto his lap. The puppy shifted a bit in his sleep but didn't wake up, and Oishi couldn't help smiling as the small face nestled against his stomach.
When he looked up again, Eiji was watching him, and his expression was different somehow, but not in a way he could decipher. His eyes were...softer, warmer, but something dark lingered at the edges of the expression--something almost like fear.
"Oishi," Eiji whispered, and he felt something inside of him go still at the depth of emotion conveyed in that one soft word.
He drew a breath to answer, to ask what was wrong or why Eiji was looking suddenly like he'd made a hard decision--but before he could find the words, Eiji had closed the distance between them and kissed him. His lips were soft and warm with a lingering taste of rain, and even though their touch was hesitant and uncertain, Oishi still felt a rush of tingling warmth spread through his body as they settled on his own.
He didn't waste time being startled, or wondering why this was happening or what it might mean. It felt too right, too perfect, and so instead he closed his eyes and slid his fingers through Eiji's hair, cradling the back of his head as they kissed. Their mouths moved slowly against each other, tasting and caressing, savoring the contact, and it was only as their lips drew apart that Oishi opened his eyes again.
Their faces were close, foreheads lightly touching, and he found himself gazing into warm, familiar eyes that had shaded to a deep midnight blue. His fingers were still buried in wet strands of hair, and instead of removing them, he brought his other hand up to cup Eiji's cheek. He slid his thumb along the smooth skin, marveling at how naked the area seemed without the bandaid, and before he could reconsider, leaned in to kiss the space where the bandaid should have been.
When he pulled back, Eiji was smiling at him--then grinning at him, then laughing. Softly, almost silently so as not to wake the puppy, but laughing. And Oishi realized that he was laughing too, and that it seemed like a weight had lifted from his shoulders, one he hadn't even realized he was carrying.
They sat there grinning like idiots at each other for at least five minutes, and then Eiji gave another sudden shiver and Oishi let his smile soften. He ducked in to kiss Eiji quickly on the lips, loving that he could, and then sank back against the cushions even though the abrupt loss of contact made something inside of him ache.
"Go get changed," he said gently. "I'll be here."
Eiji just smiled at him for a long moment, his face shadowed by the flickering light of the fire, and then he murmured, "I know you will be."
Oishi watched him leave the room, and was still staring at the empty doorway as he listened to the quick rhythm of Eiji's footsteps on the stairs, then in the upstairs hallway. It was a long time before he realized that he was still grinning like a lovesick idiot, but no amount of willpower could make him stop.
When Oishi's parents came home an hour later, they found their son fast asleep on the couch with his head tilted back against the cushions, a puppy curled in his lap and a damp red head pillowed on his shoulder.
The two stood in the doorway for long minutes in silence, taking in the scene--the soft smiles that curved both boys' lips, the slim arms that wrapped loosely around their son's stomach, the looks of utter peace and contentment on all three faces.
Then the two smiled at each other, soft and secret smiles that had long seen this coming, and walked from the room with their arms around each other, remembering long-lost days of sweetness and innocence.
Outside, the rain fell softly on the grass of the yard, filling in the matching dents of footprints and reflecting the sky.
*****
japanese glossary:
aa - yes
nya - Eiji's random cat noise ^_~
daijobu - it's all right
Author: lizstarsky
Pairing: Golden Pair
Rating: PG
Word Count: 2,215
Summary: Kindly pardon the utter cheese of the title. ^_~ A fluffy rainy day ficlet involving the Golden Pair and a rescue mission of sorts...
Puppy Love
*****
"Oishi!"
Oishi turned and blinked back through the haze of afternoon rain, only just having realized that Eiji was no longer hurrying along beside him. The tennis bag slipped from his shoulder as he moved, skidding along the rain-slick fabric of his jacket, but he barely noticed as he scanned the area in search of his partner. Where...?
He frowned and raised a shielding hand to his brow, squinting through the rain. They'd been passing a small park, a place usually thick with joggers and bicyclists and laughing children with their dogs. Thanks to the Sunday rainstorm, however, the place was deserted, populated only by damp, empty benches and trees that seemed to sag with the weight of wet leaves. And...well, he knew Eiji was in there somewhere, too, but where?
He took a few steps towards the park, swatting the dripping wet bangs out of his eyes. "Eiji?"
"Oishi, hurry!"
The urgent words sent him sprinting forward, heedless of the way the wet grass slipped and slid under his sneakers. He kept his balance, however, and within a few moments had run deep enough beneath the shelter of the trees to spot a flare of red hair among the greenery.
Eiji was kneeling in front of a row of shrubs, his hair dark with rain and plastered to his forehead. As Oishi approached, he watched Eiji roll up his sleeves and reach into the depths of one of the bushes, murmuring soft words that Oishi couldn't make out through the patter of the rain. Oishi was just opening his mouth to ask his partner what was going on when Eiji gave a sudden grin of victory and leaned back from the shrubs, pulling with him--
A puppy. A miserable, shivering, soaking-wet puppy.
Oishi felt his steps slow to a halt, watching in silence as Eiji--still murmuring words of comfort--drew the puppy to his chest and wrapped the small, trembling body in the material of his jacket. After a moment, he glanced up at Oishi with wide, alarmed blue eyes. "Oishi, I think he's sick!"
The words broke him out of his daze, and he hurried forward to kneel next to Eiji, reaching out to gently stroke the back of the puppy's head. The dog didn't even seem to notice the attention, his eyes closed and his face pressed tight against Eiji's chest. Now that Oishi was closer, he could hear the soft whining sound that accompanied the dog's every exhalation, and knew immediately that Eiji was right.
"We have to get him to a vet," Oishi said, but Eiji was already shaking his head.
"Nya, Oishi, it's Sunday. None of them are open."
The puppy gave a miserable whine and burrowed deeper into the warmth of Eiji's body, and Oishi knew then that he had already decided.
"All right," he said quietly. "Let's get him back to my house. He needs to get out of this rain, and..." His gaze flickered to the glitter of metal at the dog's neck. "And once we get him dried off and warmed up, we can try calling his owners. They might know what to do, or have someone they can call."
Eiji stared up at him as if he'd just declared his undying love. "Oishi," he whispered, and Oishi was vaguely embarrassed to see that the other boy seemed near tears. "Really? We can take him to your house? I'd take him to mine, but you know my sisters are allergic and--"
Oishi smiled and reached out to rest a hand on Eiji's shoulder. "Aa, daijobu. Now come on, let's get him home. If we stay out here for much longer, we'll end up getting sick."
Eiji smiled, one of the brilliant grins that never failed to make Oishi feel warm inside, and got carefully to his feet. The puppy made a soft mewling sound at the movement, and Eiji's smile faded to a look of concern.
"Come on," Oishi said again, and they hurried out of the park, Eiji cradling the puppy close and Oishi keeping a guiding arm around Eiji's shoulders. He put it there initially to keep Eiji from slipping on the wet grass, but as they stepped back onto the solid ground of the sidewalk, he found himself keeping his arm where it was, liking the feeling of sheltering Eiji even in this small, insignificant way.
And Eiji didn't seem to mind, he thought a bit defensively, so why not?
They were a block away from Oishi's house when the rain shifted from a hazy drizzle to an outright downpour; Eiji gave a yelp as the water hammered down on them, and Oishi tightened his grip on the other boy's shoulders as they made a run for it. A few moments later, they were gasping for breath under the shelter of Oishi's porch roof, wet and shivering as Oishi wrestled the house keys out of his pocket.
"Nya, Oishi, hurry. He's really shivering a lot..."
Oishi didn't answer, just located the correct key and slid it into the lock. Soon they were inside and dripping all over the wood floor of the entryway, but Oishi didn't bother worrying about the mess they were making. His parents would be out for another few hours, anyway. Tossing his keys onto the small table by the door, he slid his arm around Eiji again and guided him through the entryway and into the living room.
They set to work immediately--Oishi knelt down by the gas fireplace, twisting knobs and frowning at the small print of the instructions, while meanwhile Eiji sat on the couch with the puppy on his lap, rubbing the golden fur gently dry with a towel. Before long, the amber glow of the flames filled the room with warmth and light, and Oishi crawled to his feet to join Eiji on the couch.
Upon turning around, however, he found himself going suddenly still, his eyes locked helplessly on Eiji.
Neither of them had changed yet, so Eiji was still soaking wet; his hair was flat and dark with rain, curling out at the base of his neck and sticking to his forehead and cheeks. His face was slightly flushed, the ever-present bandaid missing from his cheek thanks to the water loosening the adhesive, but Oishi doubted he had even noticed. The whole of his attention was focused on the furry bundle in his arms, his brows knitted in concentration, his lower lip captured under the pull of his teeth. Warm flickers of firelight played on his face and glittered in the dark blue of his eyes, and Oishi couldn't help the sudden, startling realization that Eiji was beautiful.
He must've stood there for too long, because suddenly Eiji's eyes flickered up to meet his, and he knew from the slight widening of the irises that Eiji had seen the odd look on his face--Eiji had seen him standing here staring in awe and adoration, and if he had understood...if he had known with the instinctive connection of their on-court partnership just what he was thinking...
But then Eiji smiled, apparently not having noticed at all, and Oishi let out a relieved inward sigh.
"Nya, Oishi," Eiji whispered, and gestured him closer with a small wave of his hand. "Look."
Oishi ventured closer, and upon following Eiji's downward gaze, saw that the puppy had curled up on Eiji's lap and was breathing slowly and deeply with sleep, his short tail wagging lazily with every breath. Oishi had to smile at the look of utter contentment on the puppy's face, and the fact that his shivers had finally, mercifully stopped. He would probably still need a trip to the vet, once they returned him to his owners, but at least he was warm and dry now--comfortable and sleeping soundly.
With a quick glance at Eiji, Oishi lowered himself carefully onto the couch to sit beside his partner, and told himself that it was only the slope of the cushions that left them sitting with their shoulders pressed together. They sat in silence and watched the puppy breathe for a few minutes, then Eiji gave a sudden shiver and Oishi turned an alarmed gaze to his partner's face.
"Eiji, you must be freezing! Let me get you something to change into..."
Eiji caught his wrist before he could get up. "Nya, I'm okay. There was just a little draft, and I shivered, but I'm okay." When Oishi continued to frown at him, Eiji gave him a pleading look. "I don't want to move and wake up the puppy."
Oishi felt his expression soften, and on impulse, he brought his free hand around to wrap over Eiji's fingers. "I'll hold him while you get changed," he said softly. "But you need to get out of those wet clothes. You'll get sick."
When Eiji turned to look at him, their faces were suddenly very close, close enough for Oishi to catch a whiff of peppermint toothpaste when Eiji spoke. "What about you? You're all wet, too."
"I'll get changed after you get back." And before Eiji could protest further, Oishi reached down to scoop the towel and puppy into his arms, and had soon deposited both onto his lap. The puppy shifted a bit in his sleep but didn't wake up, and Oishi couldn't help smiling as the small face nestled against his stomach.
When he looked up again, Eiji was watching him, and his expression was different somehow, but not in a way he could decipher. His eyes were...softer, warmer, but something dark lingered at the edges of the expression--something almost like fear.
"Oishi," Eiji whispered, and he felt something inside of him go still at the depth of emotion conveyed in that one soft word.
He drew a breath to answer, to ask what was wrong or why Eiji was looking suddenly like he'd made a hard decision--but before he could find the words, Eiji had closed the distance between them and kissed him. His lips were soft and warm with a lingering taste of rain, and even though their touch was hesitant and uncertain, Oishi still felt a rush of tingling warmth spread through his body as they settled on his own.
He didn't waste time being startled, or wondering why this was happening or what it might mean. It felt too right, too perfect, and so instead he closed his eyes and slid his fingers through Eiji's hair, cradling the back of his head as they kissed. Their mouths moved slowly against each other, tasting and caressing, savoring the contact, and it was only as their lips drew apart that Oishi opened his eyes again.
Their faces were close, foreheads lightly touching, and he found himself gazing into warm, familiar eyes that had shaded to a deep midnight blue. His fingers were still buried in wet strands of hair, and instead of removing them, he brought his other hand up to cup Eiji's cheek. He slid his thumb along the smooth skin, marveling at how naked the area seemed without the bandaid, and before he could reconsider, leaned in to kiss the space where the bandaid should have been.
When he pulled back, Eiji was smiling at him--then grinning at him, then laughing. Softly, almost silently so as not to wake the puppy, but laughing. And Oishi realized that he was laughing too, and that it seemed like a weight had lifted from his shoulders, one he hadn't even realized he was carrying.
They sat there grinning like idiots at each other for at least five minutes, and then Eiji gave another sudden shiver and Oishi let his smile soften. He ducked in to kiss Eiji quickly on the lips, loving that he could, and then sank back against the cushions even though the abrupt loss of contact made something inside of him ache.
"Go get changed," he said gently. "I'll be here."
Eiji just smiled at him for a long moment, his face shadowed by the flickering light of the fire, and then he murmured, "I know you will be."
Oishi watched him leave the room, and was still staring at the empty doorway as he listened to the quick rhythm of Eiji's footsteps on the stairs, then in the upstairs hallway. It was a long time before he realized that he was still grinning like a lovesick idiot, but no amount of willpower could make him stop.
When Oishi's parents came home an hour later, they found their son fast asleep on the couch with his head tilted back against the cushions, a puppy curled in his lap and a damp red head pillowed on his shoulder.
The two stood in the doorway for long minutes in silence, taking in the scene--the soft smiles that curved both boys' lips, the slim arms that wrapped loosely around their son's stomach, the looks of utter peace and contentment on all three faces.
Then the two smiled at each other, soft and secret smiles that had long seen this coming, and walked from the room with their arms around each other, remembering long-lost days of sweetness and innocence.
Outside, the rain fell softly on the grass of the yard, filling in the matching dents of footprints and reflecting the sky.
*****
japanese glossary:
aa - yes
nya - Eiji's random cat noise ^_~
daijobu - it's all right