Word Pronunciation
The first rule of Beijing is generally to make sure you can recognize landmarks and, above all, avoid getting lost too quickly. Diego and Anthaniel thought they knew this, however clearly not well enough. Yet in a crowded metropolis such as this one, all it took was a British-sounding "hey you, tourists!" for them to turn around and promptly get clotheslined; Diego got a strike to the neck while Anthaniel received his in the face.
Dima scuttled away laughing.
-
"Well, that's an attractive look," Ju Cai laughed as he watched Anthaniel exit the bathroom, gingerly rubbing the bandage on his nose. "Your nose is so big, it just sticks right out from under there."
The German made a sarcastic grunt before taking his place on the loveseat in the living room. Diego looked over at him, sitting comfortably on the footstool, rubbing his neck as though it would sooner remove the sore feeling. "Could be worse. You could've had a break instead of a bruise."
"It's only a bruise and you're going to wear that on your face?" Tagami asked, quirking a brow. "Thank goodness you've become vain again."
"Suck my cock." Anthaniel sniffed hard, wincing at both the pain and his newfound nasal honk.
"I'm sure he would, if it wasn't the size of a pinky." Ju Cai sauntered over and sat down next to Anthaniel, throwing his legs over his lap as he made a drink-sipping sound, pantomiming the noise a blowjay on a small dick would sound like.
Anthaniel would have snorted, but it would hurt. "Go to hell. Better yet," he flipped Ju Cai the bird, "Sit on this and spin for a while, huh?"
"Ohh! Someone's lippy."
"You would be too, if you saw Dima." Diego shook his head, finally fixing his shirt collar over his neck. "So be a little more emphatic, please?"
There was a brief silence before Ju Cai broke it with, "Emphatic?"
"I think he means empathic," Anthaniel said, very lightly touching the bandage again and sniffling. "Right?"
"Or empathetic," Tagami offered, shrugging.
"They're the same thing."
Diego stared blankly before hastily trying to recover, "To-may-to, to-mah-to."
"Um, man," Ju Cai snorted loudly, suppressing a giggle. "Not even close."
"..Whatever."
"You can't 'whatever' that!" Ju Cai made a grab for his face, trying to rip off some of his facial hair.
Diego nearly jumped out of the footstool, slapping Ju Cai's hand away. "What are you doing?!"
"Saving the next guy you blow from getting his nuts tickled."
"Oh, classy."
"You would be if you fucking shaved once in a while."
"..You are so mean to me. What have I ever done to you? Why did I even agree to come here to celebrate your birthday, again?" Diego buried his face into his palm. "You are always cutting down my self-esteem."
"Oh," Tagami droned sympathetically, leaning over to hug Diego's head. "Look what you did, Ju Cai. You upset a political rebel. Are you proud of yourself now?"
"Can't say I'm not," Ju Cai wiped his nails off of his shirt and peered down at them, playfully illustrating his nonchalance.
Anthaniel sighed and pushed Ju Cai's legs off from his lap, pausing to smooth the wrinkles out from his pants. "Surely you can't say you're proud of inviting Dima, though."
"Oh, no, not at all." Ju Cai tsked and shook his head, clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "I thought I'd be nice to him, since he's actively a total asshole. But," he shrugged, rolling his eyes, "Turns out shit runs deep in the inside."
"Pretty much," Anthaniel said, raising his eyebrows. "Every time he sees me, I get hurt. I think last time I saw him, he gave me a black eye." He paused to remember. "Yeah, that's about right."
"At least he got kicked out at the last minute," Tagami said, finally releasing Diego's head from his bosom. Diego stopped to smooth out his hair. "As soon as we saw him walk into the courtyard, we were like..No. Get out."
"And the bastard turned around like, 'Gladly.' What a dick, right?" Ju Cai threw his legs back into Anthaniel's lap, beaming at him. "So, what'd you guys get me for my birthday?"
"Nothing," Diego quickly replied, earning himself a shove in the shoulder from Ju Cai's bare foot. "Ew! Have you showered yet?"
"Yes, I have! So my feet are clean." Ju Cai wiggled his toes. "Well, sort of. Sometimes I piss on them while I'm taking a leak in the shower."
Diego squeezed his eyes shut, trying to remove the image from his head. "God, yuck."
"I made you a card with a heartfelt letter inside, telling you how much I hate you." Anthaniel sniffled, keeping his poker face intact. "Also a coat. Y'know, with the holster attached to the inside."
"Oh my god, thank you. Ever since I found out you attached them on your own, I've been wanting to do that myself. Obviously I haven't gotten to it though, because I'm lazy." Ju Cai paused and immediately tried to save his sense of professionalism. "I mean, busy."
"Right." Anthaniel blinked and lifted his shades from his face, resting them at the top of his head. "Christ, they were putting some pressure on my nose and at first it was fine but now it's just.. It feels so clotted."
"Well that's nasty. By the way, I don't remember asking you or not? How did you come up with the idea to put a holster actually on your coat? Were you sick of drawing from the back of your pants too or something?" Ju Cai tilted his head, reaching over to pluck the sunglasses from Anthaniel's head and put them on himself.
"That and like.. If I use a shoulder rig, it's hard to hide that if I'm playing with the kids. I don't want to relax and take my coat off and suddenly, bam, uncle's a bad man, you know?" Anthaniel sighed. "Technically uncle's always been a bad man, but I'd rather they just don't know about that."
Tagami held his hands up, shaking his head. "No one's judging you here. It's all right."
"I guess so," Anthaniel shrugged his shoulders, holding it for a moment. "Maybe."
"By the way, Tagami has something special to tell you. He wanted to wait and see you guys in person before he talked about it," Ju Cai smiled, speaking melodically.
"Oho?" Diego tried to lean back, nearly falling before he recalled he was perched upon a footstool. "What's the news? Getting married yet?"
"Oh! Close, actually," Tagami grinned.
"Shut the fuck up, you Japanese man," Anthaniel gasped quietly, staring at him with disbelief. "Don't tell me you're engaged and you never told us you were dating anyone in the first place."
"I'm--"
"Suck my cock!" Anthaniel laughed, looking surprised. "You're serious?"
"Are you serious?" Tagami laughed as well, leaning back in his seat as he crossed his legs and folded his hands together. "I really am in a relationship right now. I've been dating her for several weeks already, though I've known her for a few months beforehand."
"Who's the lucky girl?" Diego asked, tilting his head way over to the side.
Tagami cleared his throat quietly, looking into Anthaniel's and Diego's faces before continuing. "You two remember the incident I told you about, where this white couple wanted me to find their kidnapped daughter, right?"
"Don't tell me you found the daughter and she's the one you're fucking dating." Anthaniel said bluntly. Tagami responded by smiling. "Shit, seriously?"
"What else do you want me to say? No, I'm actually dating the kidnapper?" Tagami tilted his head back to laugh, scratching his neck nervously. "He was put in the hospital, as per my promise to the Sheldons. Fiona was, remarkably, alright, aside from malnourishment. It took a month for her to get back to normal, and because I'd become so friendly with the family, I visited them regularly to check and see how they were doing. One thing led to another, and then..." Tagami shrugged. "This."
"How do the guys feel about it?" Anthaniel leaned forward in his seat, resting his hands on Ju Cai's calves. "They aren't protesting your relationship, are they?"
"Some of them feel like asses for refusing to help with the search, which is good. The rest of them have said nothing. If they don't approve of our dating, they certainly aren't being too vocal about it."
"That's good to hear. I'm happy for you, man."
"Thank you, Kcalb." Tagami smiled. "Actually, our one-month anniversary is on Ju Cai's birthday."
"I'm turning thirty-one while Jappy gets to mack it with hot little miss Fiona Sheldon," Ju Cai raised the back of his hands to his chin and wiggled his fingers, overall making a vague and unusual gesture.
"clearly only one of us gets to have a good night."
Dima scuttled away laughing.
-
"Well, that's an attractive look," Ju Cai laughed as he watched Anthaniel exit the bathroom, gingerly rubbing the bandage on his nose. "Your nose is so big, it just sticks right out from under there."
The German made a sarcastic grunt before taking his place on the loveseat in the living room. Diego looked over at him, sitting comfortably on the footstool, rubbing his neck as though it would sooner remove the sore feeling. "Could be worse. You could've had a break instead of a bruise."
"It's only a bruise and you're going to wear that on your face?" Tagami asked, quirking a brow. "Thank goodness you've become vain again."
"Suck my cock." Anthaniel sniffed hard, wincing at both the pain and his newfound nasal honk.
"I'm sure he would, if it wasn't the size of a pinky." Ju Cai sauntered over and sat down next to Anthaniel, throwing his legs over his lap as he made a drink-sipping sound, pantomiming the noise a blowjay on a small dick would sound like.
Anthaniel would have snorted, but it would hurt. "Go to hell. Better yet," he flipped Ju Cai the bird, "Sit on this and spin for a while, huh?"
"Ohh! Someone's lippy."
"You would be too, if you saw Dima." Diego shook his head, finally fixing his shirt collar over his neck. "So be a little more emphatic, please?"
There was a brief silence before Ju Cai broke it with, "Emphatic?"
"I think he means empathic," Anthaniel said, very lightly touching the bandage again and sniffling. "Right?"
"Or empathetic," Tagami offered, shrugging.
"They're the same thing."
Diego stared blankly before hastily trying to recover, "To-may-to, to-mah-to."
"Um, man," Ju Cai snorted loudly, suppressing a giggle. "Not even close."
"..Whatever."
"You can't 'whatever' that!" Ju Cai made a grab for his face, trying to rip off some of his facial hair.
Diego nearly jumped out of the footstool, slapping Ju Cai's hand away. "What are you doing?!"
"Saving the next guy you blow from getting his nuts tickled."
"Oh, classy."
"You would be if you fucking shaved once in a while."
"..You are so mean to me. What have I ever done to you? Why did I even agree to come here to celebrate your birthday, again?" Diego buried his face into his palm. "You are always cutting down my self-esteem."
"Oh," Tagami droned sympathetically, leaning over to hug Diego's head. "Look what you did, Ju Cai. You upset a political rebel. Are you proud of yourself now?"
"Can't say I'm not," Ju Cai wiped his nails off of his shirt and peered down at them, playfully illustrating his nonchalance.
Anthaniel sighed and pushed Ju Cai's legs off from his lap, pausing to smooth the wrinkles out from his pants. "Surely you can't say you're proud of inviting Dima, though."
"Oh, no, not at all." Ju Cai tsked and shook his head, clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "I thought I'd be nice to him, since he's actively a total asshole. But," he shrugged, rolling his eyes, "Turns out shit runs deep in the inside."
"Pretty much," Anthaniel said, raising his eyebrows. "Every time he sees me, I get hurt. I think last time I saw him, he gave me a black eye." He paused to remember. "Yeah, that's about right."
"At least he got kicked out at the last minute," Tagami said, finally releasing Diego's head from his bosom. Diego stopped to smooth out his hair. "As soon as we saw him walk into the courtyard, we were like..No. Get out."
"And the bastard turned around like, 'Gladly.' What a dick, right?" Ju Cai threw his legs back into Anthaniel's lap, beaming at him. "So, what'd you guys get me for my birthday?"
"Nothing," Diego quickly replied, earning himself a shove in the shoulder from Ju Cai's bare foot. "Ew! Have you showered yet?"
"Yes, I have! So my feet are clean." Ju Cai wiggled his toes. "Well, sort of. Sometimes I piss on them while I'm taking a leak in the shower."
Diego squeezed his eyes shut, trying to remove the image from his head. "God, yuck."
"I made you a card with a heartfelt letter inside, telling you how much I hate you." Anthaniel sniffled, keeping his poker face intact. "Also a coat. Y'know, with the holster attached to the inside."
"Oh my god, thank you. Ever since I found out you attached them on your own, I've been wanting to do that myself. Obviously I haven't gotten to it though, because I'm lazy." Ju Cai paused and immediately tried to save his sense of professionalism. "I mean, busy."
"Right." Anthaniel blinked and lifted his shades from his face, resting them at the top of his head. "Christ, they were putting some pressure on my nose and at first it was fine but now it's just.. It feels so clotted."
"Well that's nasty. By the way, I don't remember asking you or not? How did you come up with the idea to put a holster actually on your coat? Were you sick of drawing from the back of your pants too or something?" Ju Cai tilted his head, reaching over to pluck the sunglasses from Anthaniel's head and put them on himself.
"That and like.. If I use a shoulder rig, it's hard to hide that if I'm playing with the kids. I don't want to relax and take my coat off and suddenly, bam, uncle's a bad man, you know?" Anthaniel sighed. "Technically uncle's always been a bad man, but I'd rather they just don't know about that."
Tagami held his hands up, shaking his head. "No one's judging you here. It's all right."
"I guess so," Anthaniel shrugged his shoulders, holding it for a moment. "Maybe."
"By the way, Tagami has something special to tell you. He wanted to wait and see you guys in person before he talked about it," Ju Cai smiled, speaking melodically.
"Oho?" Diego tried to lean back, nearly falling before he recalled he was perched upon a footstool. "What's the news? Getting married yet?"
"Oh! Close, actually," Tagami grinned.
"Shut the fuck up, you Japanese man," Anthaniel gasped quietly, staring at him with disbelief. "Don't tell me you're engaged and you never told us you were dating anyone in the first place."
"I'm--"
"Suck my cock!" Anthaniel laughed, looking surprised. "You're serious?"
"Are you serious?" Tagami laughed as well, leaning back in his seat as he crossed his legs and folded his hands together. "I really am in a relationship right now. I've been dating her for several weeks already, though I've known her for a few months beforehand."
"Who's the lucky girl?" Diego asked, tilting his head way over to the side.
Tagami cleared his throat quietly, looking into Anthaniel's and Diego's faces before continuing. "You two remember the incident I told you about, where this white couple wanted me to find their kidnapped daughter, right?"
"Don't tell me you found the daughter and she's the one you're fucking dating." Anthaniel said bluntly. Tagami responded by smiling. "Shit, seriously?"
"What else do you want me to say? No, I'm actually dating the kidnapper?" Tagami tilted his head back to laugh, scratching his neck nervously. "He was put in the hospital, as per my promise to the Sheldons. Fiona was, remarkably, alright, aside from malnourishment. It took a month for her to get back to normal, and because I'd become so friendly with the family, I visited them regularly to check and see how they were doing. One thing led to another, and then..." Tagami shrugged. "This."
"How do the guys feel about it?" Anthaniel leaned forward in his seat, resting his hands on Ju Cai's calves. "They aren't protesting your relationship, are they?"
"Some of them feel like asses for refusing to help with the search, which is good. The rest of them have said nothing. If they don't approve of our dating, they certainly aren't being too vocal about it."
"That's good to hear. I'm happy for you, man."
"Thank you, Kcalb." Tagami smiled. "Actually, our one-month anniversary is on Ju Cai's birthday."
"I'm turning thirty-one while Jappy gets to mack it with hot little miss Fiona Sheldon," Ju Cai raised the back of his hands to his chin and wiggled his fingers, overall making a vague and unusual gesture.
"clearly only one of us gets to have a good night."