[Fic] Eglantine
Characters: Naoto, Naoki, Tetsuya, Kenchi.
Rating: PG
A/N: Occurs after Marigold by aoi_nahani. Apparently this HAS become a collaboration, after all.
=======================
“I think I’m ready.”
Naoki looked up from washing the dishes, finding Naoto in the kitchen doorway. The shorter man’s jaw was set, a steely glint in his eye.
Naoki smiled.
Finally.
=======================
“Kenchiiiii. What do I doooo?” Over the past week, Tetsuya had degraded into whining, trying to coax his colleague and friend into giving him pointers on how to better approach Naoto.
“For starters, you could get out of my spot,” Kenchi deadpanned, staring pointedly at the corner where his bag was, which Tetsuya was not-so-coincidentally blocking.
“I’ll move once you start giving me proper advice.”
“I don’t understand why you’re consulting me, when you’re doing perfectly fine by yourself. I particularly liked that attempt where you feigned shock upon rounding the corner and bumping into him. The acting was very realistic. Spilling hot coffee on yourself was a nice touch-”
“You know damned well that I had no idea he was there-”
“Good morning!”
Kenchi swore that he saw Tetsuya flinch at the new voice before his eyes hardened, mentally preparing himself for another round of rejection.
To their surprise, the newcomer turned to face them.
“Good morning Kenchi, Tetsuya.” Naoto’s smile shook for a split second, but soon steadied into something more natural.
Ignoring Tetsuya’s unabashed gaping, Kenchi returned Naoto’s smile with one of his own.
“And a very good morning to you, too.”
=======================
“So, you finally got to talk to him, huh.”
“Yeah, he seems alright now. Better, anyway. At least he’s willing to listen to me properly now,” Tetsuya sipped from his cup of coffee, “Something’s a little off, though…”
Seeing Kenchi run the tip of his tongue along the healing cut on his lip, Tetsuya was distracted from his train of thought.
“Oi Kenchi. I’ve been meaning to ask you this, but what happened to your lip anyway?”
“Oh, this? I kissed Naoki.” Kenchi was all nonchalance, touching his lip gingerly, “It got pretty heated towards the end.”
“Oh,” Tetsuya felt a creeping numbness seep through his chest, “I see.”
=======================
“I really didn’t mean for it to turn out this way. By the time I realized how you felt, it was already too late. I tried to reciprocate, I really did. But it wasn’t enough. I… I thought you deserved better.”
He really needed to stop hearing Tetsuya’s voice when he was alone.
Naoto leaned back on his chair, tilting his head back to face the ceiling. He recalled what he had told his lover- no, his ex-lover. That he had gotten carried away. That he had taken it for granted that Tetsuya loved him back, as much as he loved him.
They both agreed that things had spiralled out of control, too fast, too soon.
“It was despicable of me to use you as a substitute for him.”
Time had dulled the pain to a constant dull throbbing, something that he, thanks to Naoki, had learnt to manage. At that moment, it had morphed into rage, and it had taken every ounce of Naoto’s self-control not to smash his fist into Tetsuya’s pretty face.
What Tetsuya had said only made him more convinced that he was not worth crying for.
The doorbell rang.
“Naoki, you really don’t have to take the trouble to come over any more. I’m showering AND eating three meals a day-” Naoto threw open his front door, momentarily taken aback at the identity of his visitor.
“Tetsuya?”
=======================
Tetsuya shot a half-hearted smile at Naoto as he set a cup in front of him.
“Tea?”
“I ran out of coffee.” Naoto pulled out a chair and sank into it, firmly pushing aside the surfacing memories of him emptying his coffee stash into the bin.
“Liar.” Tetsuya chuckled, picking up his cup and taking a sip from it.
“You’d know. What brings you here?”
The smile faded from Tetsuya’s face as he set his cup down, pushing it away from him.
“I just… wanted company.”
“You seemed pretty chummy with Kenchi as of late-”
“I don’t want to see him tonight.”
Naoto blinked at the sudden outburst. Belatedly, Tetsuya checked himself, jaw clenching.
“What did he do?”
“He ki-” Tetsuya swallowed, “he kissed Naoki.”
“I know. Naoki told me eons ago. What does that have to do with anything, though?”
“I don’t want to be infected by his idiocy.”
“... It’s him,” realization dawned on Naoto, “You like Kenchi, don’t you.”
“Please, who would. He’s a smarmy bastard who goes around... kissing random people-”
“Now that I’m not hopelessly smitten, I can safely tell that you’re in denial,” Naoto snorted and rose from his seat, reaching over to remove his guest’s cold tea from the table, “I really should have realized earlier. Could have saved myself the trouble of straightening out the mess from last month-”
Before his hand could reach Tetsuya’s cup, a cool hand folded over his own, making him freeze.
“Tetsuya-”
“You’re not pulling away.” Tetsuya’s thumb brushed gently across the back of his hand.
“It’s over. We’re over. You ma-de sure of it.” Naoto’s breath hitched when those fingers brushed the underside of his right wrist, trailing their way back outward to lace with Naoto’s.
“You want this.” Tetsuya’s voice held a hint of surprise at the lack of resistance.
“I’m over you.”
“You sound like you’re trying to convince yourself.”
Before Naoto could come back with a less-than-satisfactory reply, he felt a pair of familiar lips meet his. His brain was screaming at him to stop this nonsense and push the other man away NOW, but he found himself deepening the hesitant kiss, shifting his body into a less awkward position to do so.
They broke apart for air, Tetsuya breathing heavily and Naoto’s pupils dilated.
“You seem to have been infected by his idiocy already.” Naoto chuckled wryly, untangling his left hand from Tetsuya’s hair and straightening up.
“And you’re a liar,” Tetsuya growled, yanking Naoto closer to him and fusing their lips together again. His hands trailed lower down Naoto’s body, lingering on his hips before giving his behind a quick squeeze.
Fingers already deftly undoing the buttons on Tetsuya’s shirt, Naoto abandoned his task in favour of leading the way to his bedroom. Not that the other did not know where it was.
He would let Tetsuya use him for another night.
Just one more.
Rating: PG
A/N: Occurs after Marigold by aoi_nahani. Apparently this HAS become a collaboration, after all.
=======================
“I think I’m ready.”
Naoki looked up from washing the dishes, finding Naoto in the kitchen doorway. The shorter man’s jaw was set, a steely glint in his eye.
Naoki smiled.
Finally.
=======================
“Kenchiiiii. What do I doooo?” Over the past week, Tetsuya had degraded into whining, trying to coax his colleague and friend into giving him pointers on how to better approach Naoto.
“For starters, you could get out of my spot,” Kenchi deadpanned, staring pointedly at the corner where his bag was, which Tetsuya was not-so-coincidentally blocking.
“I’ll move once you start giving me proper advice.”
“I don’t understand why you’re consulting me, when you’re doing perfectly fine by yourself. I particularly liked that attempt where you feigned shock upon rounding the corner and bumping into him. The acting was very realistic. Spilling hot coffee on yourself was a nice touch-”
“You know damned well that I had no idea he was there-”
“Good morning!”
Kenchi swore that he saw Tetsuya flinch at the new voice before his eyes hardened, mentally preparing himself for another round of rejection.
To their surprise, the newcomer turned to face them.
“Good morning Kenchi, Tetsuya.” Naoto’s smile shook for a split second, but soon steadied into something more natural.
Ignoring Tetsuya’s unabashed gaping, Kenchi returned Naoto’s smile with one of his own.
“And a very good morning to you, too.”
=======================
“So, you finally got to talk to him, huh.”
“Yeah, he seems alright now. Better, anyway. At least he’s willing to listen to me properly now,” Tetsuya sipped from his cup of coffee, “Something’s a little off, though…”
Seeing Kenchi run the tip of his tongue along the healing cut on his lip, Tetsuya was distracted from his train of thought.
“Oi Kenchi. I’ve been meaning to ask you this, but what happened to your lip anyway?”
“Oh, this? I kissed Naoki.” Kenchi was all nonchalance, touching his lip gingerly, “It got pretty heated towards the end.”
“Oh,” Tetsuya felt a creeping numbness seep through his chest, “I see.”
=======================
“I really didn’t mean for it to turn out this way. By the time I realized how you felt, it was already too late. I tried to reciprocate, I really did. But it wasn’t enough. I… I thought you deserved better.”
He really needed to stop hearing Tetsuya’s voice when he was alone.
Naoto leaned back on his chair, tilting his head back to face the ceiling. He recalled what he had told his lover- no, his ex-lover. That he had gotten carried away. That he had taken it for granted that Tetsuya loved him back, as much as he loved him.
They both agreed that things had spiralled out of control, too fast, too soon.
“It was despicable of me to use you as a substitute for him.”
Time had dulled the pain to a constant dull throbbing, something that he, thanks to Naoki, had learnt to manage. At that moment, it had morphed into rage, and it had taken every ounce of Naoto’s self-control not to smash his fist into Tetsuya’s pretty face.
What Tetsuya had said only made him more convinced that he was not worth crying for.
The doorbell rang.
“Naoki, you really don’t have to take the trouble to come over any more. I’m showering AND eating three meals a day-” Naoto threw open his front door, momentarily taken aback at the identity of his visitor.
“Tetsuya?”
=======================
Tetsuya shot a half-hearted smile at Naoto as he set a cup in front of him.
“Tea?”
“I ran out of coffee.” Naoto pulled out a chair and sank into it, firmly pushing aside the surfacing memories of him emptying his coffee stash into the bin.
“Liar.” Tetsuya chuckled, picking up his cup and taking a sip from it.
“You’d know. What brings you here?”
The smile faded from Tetsuya’s face as he set his cup down, pushing it away from him.
“I just… wanted company.”
“You seemed pretty chummy with Kenchi as of late-”
“I don’t want to see him tonight.”
Naoto blinked at the sudden outburst. Belatedly, Tetsuya checked himself, jaw clenching.
“What did he do?”
“He ki-” Tetsuya swallowed, “he kissed Naoki.”
“I know. Naoki told me eons ago. What does that have to do with anything, though?”
“I don’t want to be infected by his idiocy.”
“... It’s him,” realization dawned on Naoto, “You like Kenchi, don’t you.”
“Please, who would. He’s a smarmy bastard who goes around... kissing random people-”
“Now that I’m not hopelessly smitten, I can safely tell that you’re in denial,” Naoto snorted and rose from his seat, reaching over to remove his guest’s cold tea from the table, “I really should have realized earlier. Could have saved myself the trouble of straightening out the mess from last month-”
Before his hand could reach Tetsuya’s cup, a cool hand folded over his own, making him freeze.
“Tetsuya-”
“You’re not pulling away.” Tetsuya’s thumb brushed gently across the back of his hand.
“It’s over. We’re over. You ma-de sure of it.” Naoto’s breath hitched when those fingers brushed the underside of his right wrist, trailing their way back outward to lace with Naoto’s.
“You want this.” Tetsuya’s voice held a hint of surprise at the lack of resistance.
“I’m over you.”
“You sound like you’re trying to convince yourself.”
Before Naoto could come back with a less-than-satisfactory reply, he felt a pair of familiar lips meet his. His brain was screaming at him to stop this nonsense and push the other man away NOW, but he found himself deepening the hesitant kiss, shifting his body into a less awkward position to do so.
They broke apart for air, Tetsuya breathing heavily and Naoto’s pupils dilated.
“You seem to have been infected by his idiocy already.” Naoto chuckled wryly, untangling his left hand from Tetsuya’s hair and straightening up.
“And you’re a liar,” Tetsuya growled, yanking Naoto closer to him and fusing their lips together again. His hands trailed lower down Naoto’s body, lingering on his hips before giving his behind a quick squeeze.
Fingers already deftly undoing the buttons on Tetsuya’s shirt, Naoto abandoned his task in favour of leading the way to his bedroom. Not that the other did not know where it was.
He would let Tetsuya use him for another night.
Just one more.