[ x ] fic
& beyond, pg13, 1510w.
it's junsu's birthday. changmin gives him what he wants.
for sara, maligayang kaarawan ate. ♥
"you're in for a treat," junsu grins as he leads changmin through the streets of uellilla. they'd packed up and travelled to the planet of quell to celebrate junsu's 630th birthday in style-according to junsu himself, anyway. changmin's still puzzled over why junsu had refused to tell him exactly where he wanted to go; more so that junsu's treating this day as if it was about him instead.
pursing his lips, changmin glances around-quell bares little resemblance to any of the planets he's ever been to, pleasantly warm and sunny, cloudless purple skies-before settling his gaze on junsu, vaguely annoyed.
"but it's your birthday."
junsu waves a dismissive hand and makes an even more dismissive noise, eyes bright as they continue to pass quell's wide diversity of aliens, odd yet beautiful architecture, and markets that seem more like wildly exotic bazaars than anything one would find in the ancient cultures of old earth.
"look look, there it is!" junsu points across wide plaza to a small whitewashed cafe, outdoor tables covered by bright colored parasols. there's a sign above the intricately carved doorway, and changmin narrows his eyes as he reads: y&j's coffee emporium.
"you made me take you all the way out here for-this?"
only mildly offended, junsu folds his arms, lips still turned up. "don't judge it by the way it looks bro, judge it by how the place makes the best damn pie on this side of the ardinian nebula."
"... pie."
"yes, oh god, changmin, they make every kind of pastry, cookie, cake, you name it, but the pies are legendary. better than you've ever tasted, i promise."
junsu pushes the door open, changmin a step behind them. light pools in through the tinted windows, sweeping the place in a dim, cool feel. changmin blinks, willing his eyes to adjust, startling after they do; hanging from the ceiling directly before him is a cheerful, red haired feline type, grinning a cheshire grin that shows off the points of his teeth.
"junsu," he all but purrs, ignoring changmin's outburst of what the fuck. "welcome my friend, it has been many a year since you have last visited. i see you bring feisty company,"
"hey, jaejoong, nice to see you too. i'm guessing yoochun's out, so just tell him i stopped by." junsu turns to changmin, gripping his arm to bring him to a still, leveling him a glare when he protests. "changmin, meet jaejoong, owner and head chef of this wonderful establishment. jaejoong, this is changmin. he's tall, dark, and mouthy."
changmin stares at junsu, but a second look reminds him that it's still junsu's birthday, urges him to get his shit together quick enough. he bows, hand to his knee in traditional ardinian fashion.
"pleasure to meet you," he murmurs, looking up at the bright, windy laugh jaejoong gives, bowing back.
"call me jae, dear boy, anyone junsu thinks so highly of is surely to be a friend of mine. now, come with me. let's get you seated."
grabbing changmin's hand, junsu lets jaejoong steer them to a center table on a stage rise. jaejoong disappears, and a human waiter brings them a carafe of iced coffee. changmin sips at it, surprise filtering over his features, ignoring junsu's pleased little thing of a smirk.
in no time jaejoong reappears, once again hanging from the ceiling as he catches up with junsu. changmin listens in with well concealed curiosity and not so concealed amusement when junsu gets a furrow in his brow trying to get his facts right.
"jaejoong's a delphinian," junsu explains to changmin a while later, iced coffee half gone. "he's one of the very few to leave his home planet."
"delphinians are not terribly adventurous," jaejoong frowns, gaze flickering to somewhere far for a moment before lifting a shoulder in a shrug. "my people prefer to snooze their life away on enemitcyn instead of leaving it. a shame, really. the world is so beautiful. i was something of a-what's the old earthian term? a dark sheep?"
"black sheep," changmin provides sagely, mirth thick in his tone.
"yes, that! i wasn't content to be on one planet for my entire life, i wanted to explore and see the stars, meet other peoples and learn. when a traders ship arrived from a nearby galaxy i all but begged the captian to let me work in return for passage. it's where i met yoochun and we traveled together for ages, seeing everything and salvaging what we could. the universe has found us here for the last ninety something years and we're content with that."
"where exactly is yoochun, by the way. the two of you are hardly apart."
jaejoong laughs quietly, warmly. "sometimes you must, for the sake of sanity. to answer, he's at the market on an errand for me. he'll be back soon, and you'll have your pie when he does. the best i'll ever craft, just for you."
junsu sighs, and changmin swears he sees hearts in his eyes. "you're an angel," junsu says.
"hush with that." jaejoong grins, a canine glinting in the low light, a shadow of something crossing his face, one that makes changmin feel bed for the sordid fellow to dare be the catalyst to jaejoong's rage.
"i'm the devils advocate, let it be known! enjoy your coffee gentlemen, today is a day of celebration."
with a flick of his tail, jaejoong makes himself scarce again, and changmin slides junsu a look from behind his coffee.
"he's crazy." changmin says plainly.
"yeah, maybe, but he can cook, and that makes up for everything."
changmin gives a minute hum, definitely not paying attention to junsu's almost pout, and swishes the ice around in his glass. he opens his mouth to mention something else, but in that second junsu shots up from his chair, grinning from to ear to ear as he hurried across the floor, happily calling, "yoochun!"
yoochun is carrying an abundance of rope woven grocery bags, long hair almost in his face and flip flops on his feet. he looks dreadfully human, but changmin can see from his spot the all black eyes, pale swirlings decorating his skin, clearly marking him from the galaxy of outworld. junsu tries to take his bags, but yoochun shoos him, "it's your birthday," and junsu returns only mildly dejected, huffing at changmin's leveled look of i told you so.
jaejoong makes good on his word. a small feast gets laid out before junsu and changmin, one they pile drive through, amid with minute conversation and face-stuffed laughter as they crack at one another between bites.
the meal ends, and jaejoong comes from the kitchens, swooshing through the swinging doors with grandeur that gives the other patrons momentary pause. he stops at their table, presents them with a lie that smells like angel dust and heaven.
jaejoong tells them to enjoy, whisking away yet again, and junsu cuts them each a slice, for steady as he silently, watchfully waits for changmin to take his first bite.
changmin dips his fork into the pie longways, cutting away a perfect triangle slice and skewering it. he lifts the fork, blows on the pie for a moment, and eats.
there's a silence and a stillness. changmin chews once, junsu almost bursts from the seems. he can see changmin crumbling, his brows knotting down and his mouth twitching in that changmin tell tale way.
"fuck." changmin slices away another piece, adds it to the one already in his mouth, chews, almost keens as he forces his eyes not to close. "fuck."
"do i win?"
"gods," changmin almost moans. his fork scrapes against the plate. half of his pie is gone in a single inhale. "gods, yes, you win."
junsu beams, and with pie in his mouth and that happy look on his face, changmin humbly accepts defeat, will do it every single time for that smile to be directed at him.
changmin, unsurprisingly, finishes his pie first, then a second and third, and junsu tells their human waiter to have another sent out to go.
"you were more than right," changmin sighs, full, comfortably slumped into his chair and low sunlight dancing across his skin. junsu had dragged him out back, and now they rest in the emporium's garden. "this was well worth the treck across the eastern border of the universe to have to best pie in existence. i don't think i'll need to eat anything else for at least another two days."
from his own chair, junsu's only reply was a soft, halted snore, to which changmin laughs, mouth coming to a small smile. apparently siestas are a thing, no matter where you go.
"good idea. i don't think jaejoong or yoochun will mind, right? i'll join you."
changmin lets his own eyes slip shut, face tilted up to the slow setting sun, feeling wonderfully content.
maybe he should ask junsu to move to ardinia with him. there's just no way he's going to be able to eat anyone else's pie.
it's junsu's birthday. changmin gives him what he wants.
for sara, maligayang kaarawan ate. ♥
"you're in for a treat," junsu grins as he leads changmin through the streets of uellilla. they'd packed up and travelled to the planet of quell to celebrate junsu's 630th birthday in style-according to junsu himself, anyway. changmin's still puzzled over why junsu had refused to tell him exactly where he wanted to go; more so that junsu's treating this day as if it was about him instead.
pursing his lips, changmin glances around-quell bares little resemblance to any of the planets he's ever been to, pleasantly warm and sunny, cloudless purple skies-before settling his gaze on junsu, vaguely annoyed.
"but it's your birthday."
junsu waves a dismissive hand and makes an even more dismissive noise, eyes bright as they continue to pass quell's wide diversity of aliens, odd yet beautiful architecture, and markets that seem more like wildly exotic bazaars than anything one would find in the ancient cultures of old earth.
"look look, there it is!" junsu points across wide plaza to a small whitewashed cafe, outdoor tables covered by bright colored parasols. there's a sign above the intricately carved doorway, and changmin narrows his eyes as he reads: y&j's coffee emporium.
"you made me take you all the way out here for-this?"
only mildly offended, junsu folds his arms, lips still turned up. "don't judge it by the way it looks bro, judge it by how the place makes the best damn pie on this side of the ardinian nebula."
"... pie."
"yes, oh god, changmin, they make every kind of pastry, cookie, cake, you name it, but the pies are legendary. better than you've ever tasted, i promise."
junsu pushes the door open, changmin a step behind them. light pools in through the tinted windows, sweeping the place in a dim, cool feel. changmin blinks, willing his eyes to adjust, startling after they do; hanging from the ceiling directly before him is a cheerful, red haired feline type, grinning a cheshire grin that shows off the points of his teeth.
"junsu," he all but purrs, ignoring changmin's outburst of what the fuck. "welcome my friend, it has been many a year since you have last visited. i see you bring feisty company,"
"hey, jaejoong, nice to see you too. i'm guessing yoochun's out, so just tell him i stopped by." junsu turns to changmin, gripping his arm to bring him to a still, leveling him a glare when he protests. "changmin, meet jaejoong, owner and head chef of this wonderful establishment. jaejoong, this is changmin. he's tall, dark, and mouthy."
changmin stares at junsu, but a second look reminds him that it's still junsu's birthday, urges him to get his shit together quick enough. he bows, hand to his knee in traditional ardinian fashion.
"pleasure to meet you," he murmurs, looking up at the bright, windy laugh jaejoong gives, bowing back.
"call me jae, dear boy, anyone junsu thinks so highly of is surely to be a friend of mine. now, come with me. let's get you seated."
grabbing changmin's hand, junsu lets jaejoong steer them to a center table on a stage rise. jaejoong disappears, and a human waiter brings them a carafe of iced coffee. changmin sips at it, surprise filtering over his features, ignoring junsu's pleased little thing of a smirk.
in no time jaejoong reappears, once again hanging from the ceiling as he catches up with junsu. changmin listens in with well concealed curiosity and not so concealed amusement when junsu gets a furrow in his brow trying to get his facts right.
"jaejoong's a delphinian," junsu explains to changmin a while later, iced coffee half gone. "he's one of the very few to leave his home planet."
"delphinians are not terribly adventurous," jaejoong frowns, gaze flickering to somewhere far for a moment before lifting a shoulder in a shrug. "my people prefer to snooze their life away on enemitcyn instead of leaving it. a shame, really. the world is so beautiful. i was something of a-what's the old earthian term? a dark sheep?"
"black sheep," changmin provides sagely, mirth thick in his tone.
"yes, that! i wasn't content to be on one planet for my entire life, i wanted to explore and see the stars, meet other peoples and learn. when a traders ship arrived from a nearby galaxy i all but begged the captian to let me work in return for passage. it's where i met yoochun and we traveled together for ages, seeing everything and salvaging what we could. the universe has found us here for the last ninety something years and we're content with that."
"where exactly is yoochun, by the way. the two of you are hardly apart."
jaejoong laughs quietly, warmly. "sometimes you must, for the sake of sanity. to answer, he's at the market on an errand for me. he'll be back soon, and you'll have your pie when he does. the best i'll ever craft, just for you."
junsu sighs, and changmin swears he sees hearts in his eyes. "you're an angel," junsu says.
"hush with that." jaejoong grins, a canine glinting in the low light, a shadow of something crossing his face, one that makes changmin feel bed for the sordid fellow to dare be the catalyst to jaejoong's rage.
"i'm the devils advocate, let it be known! enjoy your coffee gentlemen, today is a day of celebration."
with a flick of his tail, jaejoong makes himself scarce again, and changmin slides junsu a look from behind his coffee.
"he's crazy." changmin says plainly.
"yeah, maybe, but he can cook, and that makes up for everything."
changmin gives a minute hum, definitely not paying attention to junsu's almost pout, and swishes the ice around in his glass. he opens his mouth to mention something else, but in that second junsu shots up from his chair, grinning from to ear to ear as he hurried across the floor, happily calling, "yoochun!"
yoochun is carrying an abundance of rope woven grocery bags, long hair almost in his face and flip flops on his feet. he looks dreadfully human, but changmin can see from his spot the all black eyes, pale swirlings decorating his skin, clearly marking him from the galaxy of outworld. junsu tries to take his bags, but yoochun shoos him, "it's your birthday," and junsu returns only mildly dejected, huffing at changmin's leveled look of i told you so.
jaejoong makes good on his word. a small feast gets laid out before junsu and changmin, one they pile drive through, amid with minute conversation and face-stuffed laughter as they crack at one another between bites.
the meal ends, and jaejoong comes from the kitchens, swooshing through the swinging doors with grandeur that gives the other patrons momentary pause. he stops at their table, presents them with a lie that smells like angel dust and heaven.
jaejoong tells them to enjoy, whisking away yet again, and junsu cuts them each a slice, for steady as he silently, watchfully waits for changmin to take his first bite.
changmin dips his fork into the pie longways, cutting away a perfect triangle slice and skewering it. he lifts the fork, blows on the pie for a moment, and eats.
there's a silence and a stillness. changmin chews once, junsu almost bursts from the seems. he can see changmin crumbling, his brows knotting down and his mouth twitching in that changmin tell tale way.
"fuck." changmin slices away another piece, adds it to the one already in his mouth, chews, almost keens as he forces his eyes not to close. "fuck."
"do i win?"
"gods," changmin almost moans. his fork scrapes against the plate. half of his pie is gone in a single inhale. "gods, yes, you win."
junsu beams, and with pie in his mouth and that happy look on his face, changmin humbly accepts defeat, will do it every single time for that smile to be directed at him.
changmin, unsurprisingly, finishes his pie first, then a second and third, and junsu tells their human waiter to have another sent out to go.
"you were more than right," changmin sighs, full, comfortably slumped into his chair and low sunlight dancing across his skin. junsu had dragged him out back, and now they rest in the emporium's garden. "this was well worth the treck across the eastern border of the universe to have to best pie in existence. i don't think i'll need to eat anything else for at least another two days."
from his own chair, junsu's only reply was a soft, halted snore, to which changmin laughs, mouth coming to a small smile. apparently siestas are a thing, no matter where you go.
"good idea. i don't think jaejoong or yoochun will mind, right? i'll join you."
changmin lets his own eyes slip shut, face tilted up to the slow setting sun, feeling wonderfully content.
maybe he should ask junsu to move to ardinia with him. there's just no way he's going to be able to eat anyone else's pie.