RP log: Oishi, Jackal, Ryoma
Date: Monday, February 19
Warnings: None
Summary: Trouble is brewing for our superhappy couple Oishi and Ryoma. Ryoma invites a former fling to dinner…and feels a vague sense of unease. What's going on?
Jackal sighed, feeling a little hollow. He walked down the hallway toward Ryoma's door and contemplated his evening. He'd agreed to hang out with the hot one-night-stand he'd met a year ago -- and this guy's boyfriend, who sounded old and geeky and dull. Jackal reminded himself to be good and not steal Ryoma away by flaunting his youth and energy...he'd even gone so far as to dress down a little for the occasion, in a casual pair of jeans and a t-shirt.
It was a far cry from the outfit he'd worn when he met Ryoma.
Oishi ran into Jackal in the hallway.
This had to be Ryoma's pal. He was about Oishi's height, and had a bit of a swagger in his step...Oishi went so far as to say that the man was hot.
Oishi wondered, for a moment, whether Ryoma and Jackal had ever...but no. Ryoma hadn't mentioned it, and so Oishi figured that nothing had happened.
He shot Jackal a soft smile. "Hello! I'm Oishi Shuuichirou."
"Yo. Jackal." Jackal smiled. Hm. Cute in a soft-around-the-edges way, he supposed.
Oishi knocked on Ryoma's door.
As Ryoma walked to the door, Karupin leapt up and curled himself on his owner's shoulders. Ryoma glared at him, but the cat seemed content to stay.
Whatever. It wasn't like Ryoma wasn't used to it.
Ryoma pulled the door open and blinked in surprise. He hadn't expected them to both show up at the same time, and it was a little...strange? They were like representations of two very different parts of his life...standing right there side by side.
Jackal, Ryoma's last sex partner before Oishi, the one-nighter that he'd picked up at a club and gone to a love hotel with, standing there all dark and sexy and confident.
And Oishi, Ryoma's older boyfriend, who was nice and polite and conservative but still adventurous.
Ryoma shook himself out of the tiny daze and grinned. "Hey, you two. C'mon in."
Jackal glanced at Ryoma, trying his best not to let his gaze wander. But mmm, yeah, the guy was the same hot little uke with the sweet ass that he'd remembered.
Boyfriend. Right, right... Jackal stood aside and let Oishi enter first, averting his eyes when Oishi went over to Ryoma to smooch.
Jackal stopped. And then he laughed.
"I thought this address was familiar...I just took your roommate out on a date."
Oishi puffed out his breath, a little relieved. He ran a hand around Ryoma's waist, giving him a small squish and kissing his hair. "Hi, sweetie."
Oishi looked Jackal over. This wasn't the type of guy he'd imagined Kaidoh going for. But... "Oh. Are you dating Kaidoh-kun?"
Jackal shook his head. "Kaidoh and I went out on a date for Valentine's Day. I came back here and watched him play World of Warcraft. Most relaxing date I've ever had," he said, winking a little.
Oishi blinked. Did Jackal just insinuate --? Huh.
Ryoma nodded. "Kaidoh mentioned going out with a guy named Jackal. I wondered if it was you or not. Kinda figured it had to be, since, you know, what's the chance of there being more than one Jackal in this part of Japan?"
He nuzzled Oishi and kissed his cheek, kind of trying to keep the PDA to a minimum. He didn't want Jackal to feel like a third wheel.
Karupin mrowed at the newcomer and stared at Jackal like he wasn't sure what was going on.
Ryoma scratched behind Karupin's ear idly. "Dinner's almost ready...though I'm not sure it'll be any good. I'm not much of a cook - Kaidoh does it most of the time." He motioned them towards the living room, then excused himself to go finish up, hoping Oishi and Jackal would be alright together.
Oishi smiled at the younger man, motioning him over toward the table. "I've actually never had Ryoma's cooking," he said, "but I'm sure it'll be great. He tends to undersell himself."
Oishi realized he was sounding like a mom and scratched the back of his head, laughing. "At any rate, I like pretty much everything that Ryoma does." Then Oishi blushed. Boy, that sounded hentai.
Jackal blinked and stared. Was this guy the top? He sat down and tilted his head, considering Oishi. "Yeah, I bet Ryoma's a great boyfriend." Hm. Damn. What else to say. "So uh. You're with the agency too, right?"
Oishi nodded, pouring beer into Jackal's glass, and then his own. "I'm an admin! But I want to move to tech," Oishi said. "I kind of want to be 'Q' -- like from James Bond."
Jackal stared a little harder. "Geek, eh?" Jackal grinned. "I can totally see you as Q."
Ryoma shooed Karupin off his shoulders, making sure everything was cooked and looked at least presentable. He'd been watching Kaidoh cook lately, and had picked up on a few things.
It wasn't much, but he'd managed to put together a simple little meal of rice and veggies. He'd thought about adding meat, but there were all those risks if it came out undercooked, not to mention he didn't know what Jackal liked. The veggies were a pretty safe bet.
Satisfied with everything (or that, at least, he'd done his best), Ryoma carried the food out to the table. He had to kick Karupin out from under his feet a couple of times, and when he sat down, Karupin continued to stare at the food.
Ryoma glared at him. "Scram, cat."
Karupin ran off to the couch, but lounged so he could watch them eat.
Ryoma served the rice. "I hope it's alright," he muttered, feeling a little sheepish. Maybe he should've talked Kaidoh into cooking for him before he disappeared...
Oishi inhaled. Mmmmm...his eyes went a little starry at the thought of eating food that Ryoma had cooked, just for him. The veggies were done perfectly, not overcooked at all. "It looks wonderful, love," he said, eyes going soft on Ryoma's.
"Itadakimasu." Jackal took a bite. Not bad, for Japanese food. He grinned at Ryoma. "And here I thought you said you were useless at everything but..."
Jackal stopped short and took another bite. "Programming," he ended.
Oishi blinked, and then chuckled. Jackal was an interesting guy.
Ryoma blinked, tensing up a little as Jackal spoke.
And then he let out a tiny sigh of relief, glad Jackal hadn't said what he knew the other man was thinking.
Ryoma chuckled. "Yeah, well... I did research, I guess. Watched Kaidoh cook, looked up stuff online..."
He took a small bite, tasting it. Huh. Actually turned out half decent.
Oishi purred. This was so nice...he thought a bit guiltily about the fact that it reminded him of coming home to Sakurako when they were married. That well-cared-for feeling.
Unconsciously, he reached out a finger and stroked it over Ryoma's hand, thanking him in a touch.
"So you're an agent, Jackal-kun?"
Jackal watched. Oishi had a quiet strength about him, that Jackal could tell. A certainty, perhaps one that came with age... And he could tell that Ryoma and Oishi had something between them by the soft little things. Touches. Looks...
Jackal looked down, away. Ah well.
"I am. Been here since graduating college. Got a useless degree and wanted adventure...and boy am I getting in."
Whew. Every day. With Atobe...
Ryoma smiled at Oishi, returning the gentle little touch.
He could feel Jackal watching him...them. He watched Jackal look away, and wondered if this had been a good idea after all.
A little after he'd slept with Jackal, he'd admitted to himself that he'd kinda had a crush on the guy. But the times he'd gone back to that club, Jackal hadn't been there (or if he had been, they'd missed each other). Ryoma had reminded himself over and over again that it hadn't meant anything. It was just a fling brought on by lust.
And he'd managed to forget about it almost completely.
"What'd you get your degree in?" Ryoma asked, curious. He honestly knew next to nothing about Jackal, and the guy had seemed nice enough that Ryoma had no qualms about being friends with him.
Jackal felt a little sheepish about his degree. At the time, he'd fancied himself a poet or something... "Portuguese literature. Maybe I wanted some connection to my roots."
Oishi smiled, pondering the fact that Jackal and Ryoma were both freshly out of school. It was interesting... They were contemporaries.
"I'm grateful to be in the Agency. It's the one useful thing that I could do with a degree like this."
Oishi nodded. "I'm glad I'm here too. If not for the Agency, I couldn't keep my children fed."
Jackal blinked.
"I own a lot of fish," Oishi explained, smiling.
Ryoma laughed a little at the look on Jackal's face. "And someday, somehow, he's gonna have human kids of his own," he grinned, wiggling his toes against Oishi's leg.
Yeah...someday. Ryoma was doing better with the idea, thanks to his cousin letting him "practice" with her kid. But...It was kind of a double-edged sword. He was learning what to do with a kid around, how to differentiate between the I'm-hungry cry and the I-need-a-new-diaper cry and all the other variations.
But at the same time, he was realizing that being a parent was a full-time job. His cousin was always SO glad to see him, because that meant she could have a few hours to herself now and then. Outside of that, her time belonged completely to her baby.
...and it was freaky. Ryoma had always known it would be hard to have kids. He'd never really realized how hard. He felt really, really lucky that at the end of the day, he got to get rid of the kid and go home to his nice, quiet, baby-free apartment.
Oishi laughed. Ryoma's expression was still quite apprehensive about the whole affair...
"No time soon, love," Oishi said gently. "You're still a kid yourself. Er, no offense to you two." Oishi smirked the tiniest bit. In all honesty, he hardly felt old enough for the total responsibility for another life either...although it was part of his nature to want it.
In fact...
"So...are you from Portugal?"
Jackal shook his head, pondering the weirdness of two dads. Well, Oishi was perhaps motherly enough... he wondered if Ryoma really wanted a kid, or was just thinking about it to please his boyfriend.
Ugh. Kids.
"No. Brazil. Dad's Japanese, but my parents still live in Brazil. I came here on a sports scholarship when I was 14."
Oishi felt his heart impacted. He imagined young Jackal, fresh off the boat in a strange place... "You have nobody here at all?"
Jackal laughed. "I've made my own family. Don't worry."
Oishi sighed. He was going to worry anyway.
Ryoma half-glared. 24 was not a kid.
But he did still feel way too young for having kids.
"He'll worry anyway, you know. It's his nature." Ryoma snickered a little. "He's always bugging me to drink water instead of Ponta..."
"So...have you not seen your family since coming here?" Ryoma couldn't really imagine that. Granted, he didn't care too much for his own family (well, he did care about his mom and his cousin, but his dad could rot for all he cared), but he could't imagine being so far away for so long.
Jackal pondered. "Haven't been home in a year. I'll probably go back this coming summer, but only for a week." He thought about how strange it was, going from industrial and 21st century Japan back...it felt...decades, to a third world country. Back to his parents' home, which wasn't much more than a shack...despite Jackal's constant letters home with checks in them.
He wondered if his dad drank away the money, and sighed again.
Oishi's eyes were gentle, noting Jackal's slightly troubled expression. He poured a little more beer into Jackal's glass. "Must be hard, traveling between two such different cultures.
Jackal met Oishi's eyes. Huh. Good insight there. "Yeah. Sometimes I wonder why I try to go home."
Oishi sighed. Sometimes, now that he was gay, he wondered what it would be light to be straight again. Would that be like the home he'd never return to? The certainty of a normal life, a 9/5 job, a wife, a child, a house...for the rest of his life?
The thought of all of that without Ryoma made his heart hurt. There was no going back...
Ryoma watched the two, glad that they seemed to get along.
He felt bad for Jackal, though. It sounded like his home life was harder than Ryoma's own. He didn't really know what growing up in Brazil could be like, but the look on Jackal's face said a lot.
All Ryoma had to deal with was a highly perverted father.
"Family's important. No matter what kind of relationships you have with your family, it shapes who you are and how you live."
Jackal twitched uncomfortably. He didn't like talking about his family, much.
Time to change subjects. "So...uh. How long have you two been dating?"
Oishi blinked and pondered. He hadn't kept track. It made him fret -- how would he remember their anniversary? And, did it count from their first date, or from the first time that they...he blushed.
"Um. A few months," Oishi said, giving Ryoma a soft look.
Ryoma chuckled at the vague answer. Oishi was so cute like that. "Our first date was October 18th, so...almost exactly 4 months," he grinned. "Shuu called it a "practice" date, since he'd never really been on one." He made the finger-quotes around 'practice', because some part of him had always suspected it wasn't.
"I hadn't been at the agency long. And we met at a blood drive that Shuu had organized. Which is kinda funny, since I HATE needles." Just the memory made him shudder.
Ahhh...that's right. The sharp minds of the young. Oishi nodded, remembering. "Ryoma kind of snuck up on me unawares. I was focused on hiding, right about then. I'd been divorced for about a year, and...I'd only really been with one other man before, and that was only for a night." October of the year before, he'd slept with Fuji Syuusuke.
Jackal bit his lip. Poor Ryoma, dating a relative virgin. But from the look of Oishi, it seemed as though he'd probably do anything Ryoma wanted to please him. Kind of a pushover, in fact. He wondered for a moment if Ryoma respected that kind of guy...or enjoyed wrapping Oishi around his finger.
"So you weren't sure you liked guys?"
Jackal himself was bi. He always had been.
Oishi nodded, expression faintly sheepish. "I thought I was pleasing everyone by being straight. Turns out they were all waiting for me to be myself." His family, even his ex-wife, were totally supportive.
Ryoma nodded. "I met his ex once. She seemed really glad that he'd finally figured himself out. And she'd found herself this really hot guy that made her happy." He remembered that guy. Kimura. Sexy as hell, and just as straight. A shame, because Ryoma would totally go after him if he weren't (and if Ryoma was single, which he wasn't, so the point was kind of moot anyway).
"I've always been gay. Girls kinda...creep me out, sometimes." Especially the ones that had hung around his junior high tennis club, totally fangirling and making asses of themselves.
Oishi nodded, expression wry. "He was. Totally hot. Sakurako was a puddle of goo around him." Oishi chuckled. "My ex is pregnant now! She's been wanting a kid for a long time. He's really good to her; spoils her as much as I would've -- maybe more."
Oishi smiled, thinking about the roundness of Sakurako's belly the last time they'd hung out. She was a mass of complaints, and Kimura jumped to her every whim. It made Oishi die of cute.
Jackal stifled a yawn. Babies. Great. He was done with his dinner, and glanced around. "Dessert?" He asked hopefully. Maybe it would be something western, like the dinner.
"Mmm...I've got a peach pie and ice cream. Though I totally cheated and bought the pie from a bakery." At least that way, Ryoma knew the pie would be good.
He stood up and started clearing dinner dishes from the table, putting them into the sink. He'd make sure they got cleaned later, when he didn't have company. Then he pulled the pie out of the box and cut it, then pulled out three plates and put a slice on each. He'd have to microwave the slices to warm them, and while the first was in he got the ice cream out of the freezer.
Oishi helped clear the rest of the dishes while Jackal looked around. It amused Jackal to no end that he'd been in Ryoma's roommate's room not many nights before, watching in an absorbed daze as Kaidoh went on a dungeon crawl...
A two-geek apartment wasn't bad at all. Kaidoh was a cutie...maybe Jackal would hang out with him again.
Oishi took the opportunity to kiss the back of Ryoma's neck while he was preparing their dessert, squishing his rear just a little. "Sorry," Oishi whispered, "It's just so cuuuuute to see you this domestic."
Jackal went to sit on a couch, staring out at the view. It was interesting to see people being all coupley like this. Would he want that? If he did, it couldn't be with a man like Atobe.
Jackal pondered what his life would be like with a guy like that. He shuddered, just a bit.
Ryoma chuckled, making a face at being called cute. "It's alright." He leaned up and kissed Oishi quickly. "Just don't get used to the thought of me cooking."
He put the last plate of pie into the microwave, and scooped ice cream onto the other two while he waited. When the third was nice and warm, he added the ice cream to that one too, put a fork on each plate, and carried two of them out to the couch where Jackal waited. Oishi would have to carry his own, since Ryoma didn't have three hands.
Karupin had jumped to the floor, and was now just...staring at Jackal, ears turned alertly towards him. Ryoma raised an eyebrow at his cat.
"Don't be weird, Karupin."
Karupin mrowed.
Ryoma rolled his eyes and handed a plate to Jackal. "I hope Karupin's not bothering you. He's not usually like this..."
"It's my name," Jackal said with a slightly dog-like grin, taking the plate. "He senses I'm a dog person."
Oishi stared. He could see it. He scooped up Karupin and calmed him with pets. "Hush. This guy is nice." Or...well, fine, Jackal didn't seem "nice" at all -- but he was honest and straightforward anyway.
Jackal took a bite. "Mmmmmm...this is yummy." He licked the back of his spoon lingeringly.
...Such a showoff move made Oishi want to spank the man. He sat quietly and snuck a spoonful of icecream to Karupin. Go ahead and make this guy feel unwelcome, he thought, and then instantly felt guilty.
Jackal enjoyed every bite, sucking the spoon each time. Yummmm, it was good.
Karupin purred in Oishi's lap, nuzzling against the guy's hand. He sniffed at the offered ice cream, then lazily licked at it, purring a little louder.
Ryoma sat himself in the chair that faced the couch, curled up to eat his pie. He raised an eyebrow at Oishi feeding Karupin the ice cream. "It's a good thing he's not lactose-intolerant like most cats, Shuu," he teased. "Or you'd have to clean up after him for that."
Oishi blushed. Caught. "Erm. I might've figured out before that he could take a little ice cream," he said grinning.
Jackal smiled. Oishi was cute with that cat. And with Ryoma. "Do you still go out dancing?" Jackal asked curiously. He wondered if Oishi did that kind of thing.
Ryoma half-glared at Oishi. So, he'd been sneaking ice cream to Karupin, hm? No wonder Karupin liked him so much.
He shook his head at Jackal's question. "Not really, no. The place I usually go tends to be filled with people I don't really care to run into anymore. I took Shuu there once, but that was back in November. Haven't gone back since." In Ryoma's mind, clubs were places that single people went to, looking for someone to hook up with. Unless both halves of a couple were the clubbing type. Oishi wasn't, really, so Ryoma didn't go. He didn't miss it, too much.
Hm. Oishi looked from Jackal to Ryoma and back. He still wondered what they'd had between them...not that it mattered, Ryoma had met Sakurako, after all, and Oishi had slept with her for years...
Jackal nodded. "I've been back a few times, but not really since I got my new assignment." Keeping tabs on Atobe was eating his life.
Ryoma tilted his head curiously. "Sounds like that assignment of yours keeps you busy." He tried not to get too curious about it. Jackal had mentioned in the journals that he couldn't say much about it, so Ryoma tried to be mindful of that and not ask.
He kept himself focused on eating his pie, feeling guilty for not telling Oishi the whole truth of how he'd met Jackal.
...He was going to have to come clean, eventually.
"It does." Jackal thought of taking Atobe underwear shopping and laughed a little. It had been one of the strangest days of his life... Thinking about Atobe made Jackal feel a little wistful, a little restless. Maybe he should give Atobe a call, just to see what was up...
In retrospect, Jackal didn't envy Oishi and Ryoma. Ryoma had a nice partner, sure, but...at 24, weren't they both too young to settle down for life? Jackal wasn't going to be nailed down by anyone, anytime soon.
He stood and stretched, scratching at his abs. "Thanks for dinner, and thanks for hanging out, you two." He shot them a mischievous grin. "I'm sure you have better things to do than talk to me right now."
Oishi blushed, standing. "It was nice to meet you, Jackal-kun," he said quietly, walking with Jackal to the door. "We should hang out again sometime."
Ryoma walked them both to the door. "I'm sure we'll see you around, Jackal. Thanks for coming over," he grinned, trying not to let any of his little anxiety show.
Once Jackal was gone, Ryoma closed the door and let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding.
Warnings: None
Summary: Trouble is brewing for our superhappy couple Oishi and Ryoma. Ryoma invites a former fling to dinner…and feels a vague sense of unease. What's going on?
Jackal sighed, feeling a little hollow. He walked down the hallway toward Ryoma's door and contemplated his evening. He'd agreed to hang out with the hot one-night-stand he'd met a year ago -- and this guy's boyfriend, who sounded old and geeky and dull. Jackal reminded himself to be good and not steal Ryoma away by flaunting his youth and energy...he'd even gone so far as to dress down a little for the occasion, in a casual pair of jeans and a t-shirt.
It was a far cry from the outfit he'd worn when he met Ryoma.
Oishi ran into Jackal in the hallway.
This had to be Ryoma's pal. He was about Oishi's height, and had a bit of a swagger in his step...Oishi went so far as to say that the man was hot.
Oishi wondered, for a moment, whether Ryoma and Jackal had ever...but no. Ryoma hadn't mentioned it, and so Oishi figured that nothing had happened.
He shot Jackal a soft smile. "Hello! I'm Oishi Shuuichirou."
"Yo. Jackal." Jackal smiled. Hm. Cute in a soft-around-the-edges way, he supposed.
Oishi knocked on Ryoma's door.
As Ryoma walked to the door, Karupin leapt up and curled himself on his owner's shoulders. Ryoma glared at him, but the cat seemed content to stay.
Whatever. It wasn't like Ryoma wasn't used to it.
Ryoma pulled the door open and blinked in surprise. He hadn't expected them to both show up at the same time, and it was a little...strange? They were like representations of two very different parts of his life...standing right there side by side.
Jackal, Ryoma's last sex partner before Oishi, the one-nighter that he'd picked up at a club and gone to a love hotel with, standing there all dark and sexy and confident.
And Oishi, Ryoma's older boyfriend, who was nice and polite and conservative but still adventurous.
Ryoma shook himself out of the tiny daze and grinned. "Hey, you two. C'mon in."
Jackal glanced at Ryoma, trying his best not to let his gaze wander. But mmm, yeah, the guy was the same hot little uke with the sweet ass that he'd remembered.
Boyfriend. Right, right... Jackal stood aside and let Oishi enter first, averting his eyes when Oishi went over to Ryoma to smooch.
Jackal stopped. And then he laughed.
"I thought this address was familiar...I just took your roommate out on a date."
Oishi puffed out his breath, a little relieved. He ran a hand around Ryoma's waist, giving him a small squish and kissing his hair. "Hi, sweetie."
Oishi looked Jackal over. This wasn't the type of guy he'd imagined Kaidoh going for. But... "Oh. Are you dating Kaidoh-kun?"
Jackal shook his head. "Kaidoh and I went out on a date for Valentine's Day. I came back here and watched him play World of Warcraft. Most relaxing date I've ever had," he said, winking a little.
Oishi blinked. Did Jackal just insinuate --? Huh.
Ryoma nodded. "Kaidoh mentioned going out with a guy named Jackal. I wondered if it was you or not. Kinda figured it had to be, since, you know, what's the chance of there being more than one Jackal in this part of Japan?"
He nuzzled Oishi and kissed his cheek, kind of trying to keep the PDA to a minimum. He didn't want Jackal to feel like a third wheel.
Karupin mrowed at the newcomer and stared at Jackal like he wasn't sure what was going on.
Ryoma scratched behind Karupin's ear idly. "Dinner's almost ready...though I'm not sure it'll be any good. I'm not much of a cook - Kaidoh does it most of the time." He motioned them towards the living room, then excused himself to go finish up, hoping Oishi and Jackal would be alright together.
Oishi smiled at the younger man, motioning him over toward the table. "I've actually never had Ryoma's cooking," he said, "but I'm sure it'll be great. He tends to undersell himself."
Oishi realized he was sounding like a mom and scratched the back of his head, laughing. "At any rate, I like pretty much everything that Ryoma does." Then Oishi blushed. Boy, that sounded hentai.
Jackal blinked and stared. Was this guy the top? He sat down and tilted his head, considering Oishi. "Yeah, I bet Ryoma's a great boyfriend." Hm. Damn. What else to say. "So uh. You're with the agency too, right?"
Oishi nodded, pouring beer into Jackal's glass, and then his own. "I'm an admin! But I want to move to tech," Oishi said. "I kind of want to be 'Q' -- like from James Bond."
Jackal stared a little harder. "Geek, eh?" Jackal grinned. "I can totally see you as Q."
Ryoma shooed Karupin off his shoulders, making sure everything was cooked and looked at least presentable. He'd been watching Kaidoh cook lately, and had picked up on a few things.
It wasn't much, but he'd managed to put together a simple little meal of rice and veggies. He'd thought about adding meat, but there were all those risks if it came out undercooked, not to mention he didn't know what Jackal liked. The veggies were a pretty safe bet.
Satisfied with everything (or that, at least, he'd done his best), Ryoma carried the food out to the table. He had to kick Karupin out from under his feet a couple of times, and when he sat down, Karupin continued to stare at the food.
Ryoma glared at him. "Scram, cat."
Karupin ran off to the couch, but lounged so he could watch them eat.
Ryoma served the rice. "I hope it's alright," he muttered, feeling a little sheepish. Maybe he should've talked Kaidoh into cooking for him before he disappeared...
Oishi inhaled. Mmmmm...his eyes went a little starry at the thought of eating food that Ryoma had cooked, just for him. The veggies were done perfectly, not overcooked at all. "It looks wonderful, love," he said, eyes going soft on Ryoma's.
"Itadakimasu." Jackal took a bite. Not bad, for Japanese food. He grinned at Ryoma. "And here I thought you said you were useless at everything but..."
Jackal stopped short and took another bite. "Programming," he ended.
Oishi blinked, and then chuckled. Jackal was an interesting guy.
Ryoma blinked, tensing up a little as Jackal spoke.
And then he let out a tiny sigh of relief, glad Jackal hadn't said what he knew the other man was thinking.
Ryoma chuckled. "Yeah, well... I did research, I guess. Watched Kaidoh cook, looked up stuff online..."
He took a small bite, tasting it. Huh. Actually turned out half decent.
Oishi purred. This was so nice...he thought a bit guiltily about the fact that it reminded him of coming home to Sakurako when they were married. That well-cared-for feeling.
Unconsciously, he reached out a finger and stroked it over Ryoma's hand, thanking him in a touch.
"So you're an agent, Jackal-kun?"
Jackal watched. Oishi had a quiet strength about him, that Jackal could tell. A certainty, perhaps one that came with age... And he could tell that Ryoma and Oishi had something between them by the soft little things. Touches. Looks...
Jackal looked down, away. Ah well.
"I am. Been here since graduating college. Got a useless degree and wanted adventure...and boy am I getting in."
Whew. Every day. With Atobe...
Ryoma smiled at Oishi, returning the gentle little touch.
He could feel Jackal watching him...them. He watched Jackal look away, and wondered if this had been a good idea after all.
A little after he'd slept with Jackal, he'd admitted to himself that he'd kinda had a crush on the guy. But the times he'd gone back to that club, Jackal hadn't been there (or if he had been, they'd missed each other). Ryoma had reminded himself over and over again that it hadn't meant anything. It was just a fling brought on by lust.
And he'd managed to forget about it almost completely.
"What'd you get your degree in?" Ryoma asked, curious. He honestly knew next to nothing about Jackal, and the guy had seemed nice enough that Ryoma had no qualms about being friends with him.
Jackal felt a little sheepish about his degree. At the time, he'd fancied himself a poet or something... "Portuguese literature. Maybe I wanted some connection to my roots."
Oishi smiled, pondering the fact that Jackal and Ryoma were both freshly out of school. It was interesting... They were contemporaries.
"I'm grateful to be in the Agency. It's the one useful thing that I could do with a degree like this."
Oishi nodded. "I'm glad I'm here too. If not for the Agency, I couldn't keep my children fed."
Jackal blinked.
"I own a lot of fish," Oishi explained, smiling.
Ryoma laughed a little at the look on Jackal's face. "And someday, somehow, he's gonna have human kids of his own," he grinned, wiggling his toes against Oishi's leg.
Yeah...someday. Ryoma was doing better with the idea, thanks to his cousin letting him "practice" with her kid. But...It was kind of a double-edged sword. He was learning what to do with a kid around, how to differentiate between the I'm-hungry cry and the I-need-a-new-diaper cry and all the other variations.
But at the same time, he was realizing that being a parent was a full-time job. His cousin was always SO glad to see him, because that meant she could have a few hours to herself now and then. Outside of that, her time belonged completely to her baby.
...and it was freaky. Ryoma had always known it would be hard to have kids. He'd never really realized how hard. He felt really, really lucky that at the end of the day, he got to get rid of the kid and go home to his nice, quiet, baby-free apartment.
Oishi laughed. Ryoma's expression was still quite apprehensive about the whole affair...
"No time soon, love," Oishi said gently. "You're still a kid yourself. Er, no offense to you two." Oishi smirked the tiniest bit. In all honesty, he hardly felt old enough for the total responsibility for another life either...although it was part of his nature to want it.
In fact...
"So...are you from Portugal?"
Jackal shook his head, pondering the weirdness of two dads. Well, Oishi was perhaps motherly enough... he wondered if Ryoma really wanted a kid, or was just thinking about it to please his boyfriend.
Ugh. Kids.
"No. Brazil. Dad's Japanese, but my parents still live in Brazil. I came here on a sports scholarship when I was 14."
Oishi felt his heart impacted. He imagined young Jackal, fresh off the boat in a strange place... "You have nobody here at all?"
Jackal laughed. "I've made my own family. Don't worry."
Oishi sighed. He was going to worry anyway.
Ryoma half-glared. 24 was not a kid.
But he did still feel way too young for having kids.
"He'll worry anyway, you know. It's his nature." Ryoma snickered a little. "He's always bugging me to drink water instead of Ponta..."
"So...have you not seen your family since coming here?" Ryoma couldn't really imagine that. Granted, he didn't care too much for his own family (well, he did care about his mom and his cousin, but his dad could rot for all he cared), but he could't imagine being so far away for so long.
Jackal pondered. "Haven't been home in a year. I'll probably go back this coming summer, but only for a week." He thought about how strange it was, going from industrial and 21st century Japan back...it felt...decades, to a third world country. Back to his parents' home, which wasn't much more than a shack...despite Jackal's constant letters home with checks in them.
He wondered if his dad drank away the money, and sighed again.
Oishi's eyes were gentle, noting Jackal's slightly troubled expression. He poured a little more beer into Jackal's glass. "Must be hard, traveling between two such different cultures.
Jackal met Oishi's eyes. Huh. Good insight there. "Yeah. Sometimes I wonder why I try to go home."
Oishi sighed. Sometimes, now that he was gay, he wondered what it would be light to be straight again. Would that be like the home he'd never return to? The certainty of a normal life, a 9/5 job, a wife, a child, a house...for the rest of his life?
The thought of all of that without Ryoma made his heart hurt. There was no going back...
Ryoma watched the two, glad that they seemed to get along.
He felt bad for Jackal, though. It sounded like his home life was harder than Ryoma's own. He didn't really know what growing up in Brazil could be like, but the look on Jackal's face said a lot.
All Ryoma had to deal with was a highly perverted father.
"Family's important. No matter what kind of relationships you have with your family, it shapes who you are and how you live."
Jackal twitched uncomfortably. He didn't like talking about his family, much.
Time to change subjects. "So...uh. How long have you two been dating?"
Oishi blinked and pondered. He hadn't kept track. It made him fret -- how would he remember their anniversary? And, did it count from their first date, or from the first time that they...he blushed.
"Um. A few months," Oishi said, giving Ryoma a soft look.
Ryoma chuckled at the vague answer. Oishi was so cute like that. "Our first date was October 18th, so...almost exactly 4 months," he grinned. "Shuu called it a "practice" date, since he'd never really been on one." He made the finger-quotes around 'practice', because some part of him had always suspected it wasn't.
"I hadn't been at the agency long. And we met at a blood drive that Shuu had organized. Which is kinda funny, since I HATE needles." Just the memory made him shudder.
Ahhh...that's right. The sharp minds of the young. Oishi nodded, remembering. "Ryoma kind of snuck up on me unawares. I was focused on hiding, right about then. I'd been divorced for about a year, and...I'd only really been with one other man before, and that was only for a night." October of the year before, he'd slept with Fuji Syuusuke.
Jackal bit his lip. Poor Ryoma, dating a relative virgin. But from the look of Oishi, it seemed as though he'd probably do anything Ryoma wanted to please him. Kind of a pushover, in fact. He wondered for a moment if Ryoma respected that kind of guy...or enjoyed wrapping Oishi around his finger.
"So you weren't sure you liked guys?"
Jackal himself was bi. He always had been.
Oishi nodded, expression faintly sheepish. "I thought I was pleasing everyone by being straight. Turns out they were all waiting for me to be myself." His family, even his ex-wife, were totally supportive.
Ryoma nodded. "I met his ex once. She seemed really glad that he'd finally figured himself out. And she'd found herself this really hot guy that made her happy." He remembered that guy. Kimura. Sexy as hell, and just as straight. A shame, because Ryoma would totally go after him if he weren't (and if Ryoma was single, which he wasn't, so the point was kind of moot anyway).
"I've always been gay. Girls kinda...creep me out, sometimes." Especially the ones that had hung around his junior high tennis club, totally fangirling and making asses of themselves.
Oishi nodded, expression wry. "He was. Totally hot. Sakurako was a puddle of goo around him." Oishi chuckled. "My ex is pregnant now! She's been wanting a kid for a long time. He's really good to her; spoils her as much as I would've -- maybe more."
Oishi smiled, thinking about the roundness of Sakurako's belly the last time they'd hung out. She was a mass of complaints, and Kimura jumped to her every whim. It made Oishi die of cute.
Jackal stifled a yawn. Babies. Great. He was done with his dinner, and glanced around. "Dessert?" He asked hopefully. Maybe it would be something western, like the dinner.
"Mmm...I've got a peach pie and ice cream. Though I totally cheated and bought the pie from a bakery." At least that way, Ryoma knew the pie would be good.
He stood up and started clearing dinner dishes from the table, putting them into the sink. He'd make sure they got cleaned later, when he didn't have company. Then he pulled the pie out of the box and cut it, then pulled out three plates and put a slice on each. He'd have to microwave the slices to warm them, and while the first was in he got the ice cream out of the freezer.
Oishi helped clear the rest of the dishes while Jackal looked around. It amused Jackal to no end that he'd been in Ryoma's roommate's room not many nights before, watching in an absorbed daze as Kaidoh went on a dungeon crawl...
A two-geek apartment wasn't bad at all. Kaidoh was a cutie...maybe Jackal would hang out with him again.
Oishi took the opportunity to kiss the back of Ryoma's neck while he was preparing their dessert, squishing his rear just a little. "Sorry," Oishi whispered, "It's just so cuuuuute to see you this domestic."
Jackal went to sit on a couch, staring out at the view. It was interesting to see people being all coupley like this. Would he want that? If he did, it couldn't be with a man like Atobe.
Jackal pondered what his life would be like with a guy like that. He shuddered, just a bit.
Ryoma chuckled, making a face at being called cute. "It's alright." He leaned up and kissed Oishi quickly. "Just don't get used to the thought of me cooking."
He put the last plate of pie into the microwave, and scooped ice cream onto the other two while he waited. When the third was nice and warm, he added the ice cream to that one too, put a fork on each plate, and carried two of them out to the couch where Jackal waited. Oishi would have to carry his own, since Ryoma didn't have three hands.
Karupin had jumped to the floor, and was now just...staring at Jackal, ears turned alertly towards him. Ryoma raised an eyebrow at his cat.
"Don't be weird, Karupin."
Karupin mrowed.
Ryoma rolled his eyes and handed a plate to Jackal. "I hope Karupin's not bothering you. He's not usually like this..."
"It's my name," Jackal said with a slightly dog-like grin, taking the plate. "He senses I'm a dog person."
Oishi stared. He could see it. He scooped up Karupin and calmed him with pets. "Hush. This guy is nice." Or...well, fine, Jackal didn't seem "nice" at all -- but he was honest and straightforward anyway.
Jackal took a bite. "Mmmmmm...this is yummy." He licked the back of his spoon lingeringly.
...Such a showoff move made Oishi want to spank the man. He sat quietly and snuck a spoonful of icecream to Karupin. Go ahead and make this guy feel unwelcome, he thought, and then instantly felt guilty.
Jackal enjoyed every bite, sucking the spoon each time. Yummmm, it was good.
Karupin purred in Oishi's lap, nuzzling against the guy's hand. He sniffed at the offered ice cream, then lazily licked at it, purring a little louder.
Ryoma sat himself in the chair that faced the couch, curled up to eat his pie. He raised an eyebrow at Oishi feeding Karupin the ice cream. "It's a good thing he's not lactose-intolerant like most cats, Shuu," he teased. "Or you'd have to clean up after him for that."
Oishi blushed. Caught. "Erm. I might've figured out before that he could take a little ice cream," he said grinning.
Jackal smiled. Oishi was cute with that cat. And with Ryoma. "Do you still go out dancing?" Jackal asked curiously. He wondered if Oishi did that kind of thing.
Ryoma half-glared at Oishi. So, he'd been sneaking ice cream to Karupin, hm? No wonder Karupin liked him so much.
He shook his head at Jackal's question. "Not really, no. The place I usually go tends to be filled with people I don't really care to run into anymore. I took Shuu there once, but that was back in November. Haven't gone back since." In Ryoma's mind, clubs were places that single people went to, looking for someone to hook up with. Unless both halves of a couple were the clubbing type. Oishi wasn't, really, so Ryoma didn't go. He didn't miss it, too much.
Hm. Oishi looked from Jackal to Ryoma and back. He still wondered what they'd had between them...not that it mattered, Ryoma had met Sakurako, after all, and Oishi had slept with her for years...
Jackal nodded. "I've been back a few times, but not really since I got my new assignment." Keeping tabs on Atobe was eating his life.
Ryoma tilted his head curiously. "Sounds like that assignment of yours keeps you busy." He tried not to get too curious about it. Jackal had mentioned in the journals that he couldn't say much about it, so Ryoma tried to be mindful of that and not ask.
He kept himself focused on eating his pie, feeling guilty for not telling Oishi the whole truth of how he'd met Jackal.
...He was going to have to come clean, eventually.
"It does." Jackal thought of taking Atobe underwear shopping and laughed a little. It had been one of the strangest days of his life... Thinking about Atobe made Jackal feel a little wistful, a little restless. Maybe he should give Atobe a call, just to see what was up...
In retrospect, Jackal didn't envy Oishi and Ryoma. Ryoma had a nice partner, sure, but...at 24, weren't they both too young to settle down for life? Jackal wasn't going to be nailed down by anyone, anytime soon.
He stood and stretched, scratching at his abs. "Thanks for dinner, and thanks for hanging out, you two." He shot them a mischievous grin. "I'm sure you have better things to do than talk to me right now."
Oishi blushed, standing. "It was nice to meet you, Jackal-kun," he said quietly, walking with Jackal to the door. "We should hang out again sometime."
Ryoma walked them both to the door. "I'm sure we'll see you around, Jackal. Thanks for coming over," he grinned, trying not to let any of his little anxiety show.
Once Jackal was gone, Ryoma closed the door and let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding.