Diverted, Part 6
Rating: PG
Pairing: Akihiko/Minato
Spoilers: None
:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
Akihiko plopped down on a bench in the no-man's-land of the fourth floor landing. He was exceedingly thankful to find it deserted like usual, because having to follow Minato into the bathroom would have been the extra-weird icing on his already bizarre day. He absently picked at a callus from his bladefist and pondered how on earth he'd ended up escorting Minato around the building.
He tensed when he heard a door shut on the floor below him. //You gotta be kidding...// Indeed, the footsteps started up the stairs, not down - one of the girls heading to the bathroom. In a blink, Akihiko was through the men's room door. Minato shut off the tap and looked at him quizzically.
"Shhh," breathed Akihiko, the sound more in his head than aloud, but the finger at his lips conveying the message clearly enough. He jerked his head sideways towards the other bathroom.
Minato nodded. "Should we wait them out?" He spoke quietly, but the bathrooms had terrible acoustics, so even the smallest noise bounced helter-skelter off the tiles, distorting and magnifying itself.
Akihiko all but tackled him. He pointed vigorously towards the exhaust vent, which permitted sound to travel easily between the two rooms. "Too loud," he murmured directly into Minato's ear. The fact that Minato twitched slightly when he did so did not go unnoticed. "First we should wait to see if they're using the shower or not."
Minato nodded silently. Akihiko squinted at him suddenly and shook his head. "Too neat," he mouthed with exaggerated motions, reaching to undo Minato's ribbon necktie. He opened buttons at the neck and tugged to loosen the shirttails. "Much better," he mouthed with an affirmative nod.
Minato moved closer to speak into Akihiko's ear. "I still don't hear anything from over there." His warm breath caressed the side of Akihiko's face, who hadn't realized before *quite* how powerful the effect was. Unbidden, his head turned towards Minato, who was still standing extraordinarily close. Akihiko *knew* that was so he could reach his ear to reply, but couldn't stop his brain from misinterpreting the gesture. He closed his eyes, tilted his head, and kissed Minato softly on the mouth.
To his credit, Minato did not make a sound. His eyes flew open so wide they could have easily fallen out, but he did not make a sound - though Akihiko was too caught up to notice either way. His eyes finally drifted open blissfully - to the rude awakening of Minato's eyes not six inches away, staring at him in utter shock. Akihiko flushed a brilliant red and took a half step backwards to put a normal distance between them. The two boys remained otherwise immobile: Minato still staring as if Akihiko had transformed into a gryphon or something equally impossible, and Akihiko intensely interested in studying a cabinet handle off to the left.
They were finally released by the sound of a toilet flushing and the sink running next door. Akihiko heaved a sigh of relief as the door swung shut over departing footsteps. He glanced warily at Minato, who had an oddly determined look on his face. "Let's just go," he said quietly, "you've made me look the part; we can handle it if anyone sees us."
Akihiko nodded and led the way out the door. The unidentified girl had already made it back to her room, so after all that, the trip back was ironically uneventful.
Akihiko stopped to loiter nervously just outside Minato's room, unsure whether he was welcome and unsure whether *he* wanted to go back in there. From inside, Minato sighed in exasperation. "Oh, get the hell in here." His hand snaked out to yank Akihiko inside.
"This time I'm not going to ask if you planned that," he declared, "because obviously you did. It all adds up."
Akihiko didn't have an answer for that. Arguing it seemed pointless, though he still wouldn't meet Minato's gaze.
"That's why you did...all that stuff. And why you 'didn't want to share' - you were *hitting* on me!"
Rather than respond to Minato's outrage, Akihiko just shrank more into himself. He was furious that he'd acted so irresponsibly, and that he'd possibly wrecked the SEES group dynamic in the process. //Maybe we can just...not talk to each other outside Tartarus,// he thought miserably.
"And I asked you for advice! Personal, *romantic* advice! That has serious consequences!" Minato's tirade was gaining momentum, which was particularly striking from someone so typically laconic. By now he was pacing the room, waving his hands in agitation. Akihiko could barely tell if he was being yelled at or if Minato was just exclaiming to himself.
"And involved telling you all sorts of secrets I haven't told *anyone*!" That one earned Akihiko a reproachful glance. //Okay, clearly yelling at me.//
"You *no longer* qualify as an impartial adviser," Minato proclaimed, punctuating it with a vehement head waggle. "If I can trust anything you've said!"
That accusation finally jarred Akihiko out of his self-recrimination. He replied hotly, "I haven't been *plotting* how to jump you, if that's what you're saying."
"You haven't been," repeated Minato flatly, standing still to cross his arms in obvious disbelief.
Akihiko shifted guiltily in place. "Well, not *consciously*..." he muttered.
"Hmmmm?" prompted Minato loudly and impatiently.
"Oh come on, give me a break!" Akihiko complained, no dignity left to lose. "What idiot tries to seduce someone in the restroom anyway? Don't you think I could've planned something better than that if I was actually trying?"
"And what do you call everything from before that, if NOT a grand master plan?" Minato demanded, still unconvinced.
"Instinct?" offered Akihiko with a hopeful expression.
Minato scoffed in disgust at that response and flung a dismissive hand in the air as he stomped off towards the other end of the room. He dropped hard onto the edge of the bed and crossed his arms again. "You're impossible," he spit out, but there wasn't much venom behind his words.
"Well it's *true*," grumbled Akihiko under his breath.
Minato raised a completely exasperated eyebrow at him, and held it until Akihiko figured out why.
"It's TRUE," repeated Akihiko, louder and plaintively. He paused, continuing in a much quieter voice, scarcely louder than the mumble that had just gotten him in trouble: "I didn't...realize what I was doing. It *was* instinct, all of it."
Minato must have heard him despite the muttering, because his posture softened ever so slightly.
Akihiko turned towards the desk with determination, grabbing his gloves and stuffing them into his back pocket. Picking up the music player, he crossed the room carefully, cradling it in both hands.
Arriving at the bed, he held it out to the other boy like an offering. "I want to give this back to you. I shouldn't have taken it."
Minato considered him for a moment, his inscrutable gaze alternating between Akihiko's hands and face. Akihiko held his breath, waiting for Minato to pass judgment on him. With one sudden, simultaneous motion, Minato grabbed the music player with his left hand, bringing it back down to the bed, and fisted his right hand in Akihiko's vest, pulling the other boy down to his level. "You?" he murmured silkily. "Just need to commit more." And Minato kissed him as hard as he could.
:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
What on earth is Minato thinking? Is Akihiko still in the doghouse? Stay tuned for answers in the thrilling conclusion!
...Heh.
Pairing: Akihiko/Minato
Spoilers: None
:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
Akihiko plopped down on a bench in the no-man's-land of the fourth floor landing. He was exceedingly thankful to find it deserted like usual, because having to follow Minato into the bathroom would have been the extra-weird icing on his already bizarre day. He absently picked at a callus from his bladefist and pondered how on earth he'd ended up escorting Minato around the building.
He tensed when he heard a door shut on the floor below him. //You gotta be kidding...// Indeed, the footsteps started up the stairs, not down - one of the girls heading to the bathroom. In a blink, Akihiko was through the men's room door. Minato shut off the tap and looked at him quizzically.
"Shhh," breathed Akihiko, the sound more in his head than aloud, but the finger at his lips conveying the message clearly enough. He jerked his head sideways towards the other bathroom.
Minato nodded. "Should we wait them out?" He spoke quietly, but the bathrooms had terrible acoustics, so even the smallest noise bounced helter-skelter off the tiles, distorting and magnifying itself.
Akihiko all but tackled him. He pointed vigorously towards the exhaust vent, which permitted sound to travel easily between the two rooms. "Too loud," he murmured directly into Minato's ear. The fact that Minato twitched slightly when he did so did not go unnoticed. "First we should wait to see if they're using the shower or not."
Minato nodded silently. Akihiko squinted at him suddenly and shook his head. "Too neat," he mouthed with exaggerated motions, reaching to undo Minato's ribbon necktie. He opened buttons at the neck and tugged to loosen the shirttails. "Much better," he mouthed with an affirmative nod.
Minato moved closer to speak into Akihiko's ear. "I still don't hear anything from over there." His warm breath caressed the side of Akihiko's face, who hadn't realized before *quite* how powerful the effect was. Unbidden, his head turned towards Minato, who was still standing extraordinarily close. Akihiko *knew* that was so he could reach his ear to reply, but couldn't stop his brain from misinterpreting the gesture. He closed his eyes, tilted his head, and kissed Minato softly on the mouth.
To his credit, Minato did not make a sound. His eyes flew open so wide they could have easily fallen out, but he did not make a sound - though Akihiko was too caught up to notice either way. His eyes finally drifted open blissfully - to the rude awakening of Minato's eyes not six inches away, staring at him in utter shock. Akihiko flushed a brilliant red and took a half step backwards to put a normal distance between them. The two boys remained otherwise immobile: Minato still staring as if Akihiko had transformed into a gryphon or something equally impossible, and Akihiko intensely interested in studying a cabinet handle off to the left.
They were finally released by the sound of a toilet flushing and the sink running next door. Akihiko heaved a sigh of relief as the door swung shut over departing footsteps. He glanced warily at Minato, who had an oddly determined look on his face. "Let's just go," he said quietly, "you've made me look the part; we can handle it if anyone sees us."
Akihiko nodded and led the way out the door. The unidentified girl had already made it back to her room, so after all that, the trip back was ironically uneventful.
Akihiko stopped to loiter nervously just outside Minato's room, unsure whether he was welcome and unsure whether *he* wanted to go back in there. From inside, Minato sighed in exasperation. "Oh, get the hell in here." His hand snaked out to yank Akihiko inside.
"This time I'm not going to ask if you planned that," he declared, "because obviously you did. It all adds up."
Akihiko didn't have an answer for that. Arguing it seemed pointless, though he still wouldn't meet Minato's gaze.
"That's why you did...all that stuff. And why you 'didn't want to share' - you were *hitting* on me!"
Rather than respond to Minato's outrage, Akihiko just shrank more into himself. He was furious that he'd acted so irresponsibly, and that he'd possibly wrecked the SEES group dynamic in the process. //Maybe we can just...not talk to each other outside Tartarus,// he thought miserably.
"And I asked you for advice! Personal, *romantic* advice! That has serious consequences!" Minato's tirade was gaining momentum, which was particularly striking from someone so typically laconic. By now he was pacing the room, waving his hands in agitation. Akihiko could barely tell if he was being yelled at or if Minato was just exclaiming to himself.
"And involved telling you all sorts of secrets I haven't told *anyone*!" That one earned Akihiko a reproachful glance. //Okay, clearly yelling at me.//
"You *no longer* qualify as an impartial adviser," Minato proclaimed, punctuating it with a vehement head waggle. "If I can trust anything you've said!"
That accusation finally jarred Akihiko out of his self-recrimination. He replied hotly, "I haven't been *plotting* how to jump you, if that's what you're saying."
"You haven't been," repeated Minato flatly, standing still to cross his arms in obvious disbelief.
Akihiko shifted guiltily in place. "Well, not *consciously*..." he muttered.
"Hmmmm?" prompted Minato loudly and impatiently.
"Oh come on, give me a break!" Akihiko complained, no dignity left to lose. "What idiot tries to seduce someone in the restroom anyway? Don't you think I could've planned something better than that if I was actually trying?"
"And what do you call everything from before that, if NOT a grand master plan?" Minato demanded, still unconvinced.
"Instinct?" offered Akihiko with a hopeful expression.
Minato scoffed in disgust at that response and flung a dismissive hand in the air as he stomped off towards the other end of the room. He dropped hard onto the edge of the bed and crossed his arms again. "You're impossible," he spit out, but there wasn't much venom behind his words.
"Well it's *true*," grumbled Akihiko under his breath.
Minato raised a completely exasperated eyebrow at him, and held it until Akihiko figured out why.
"It's TRUE," repeated Akihiko, louder and plaintively. He paused, continuing in a much quieter voice, scarcely louder than the mumble that had just gotten him in trouble: "I didn't...realize what I was doing. It *was* instinct, all of it."
Minato must have heard him despite the muttering, because his posture softened ever so slightly.
Akihiko turned towards the desk with determination, grabbing his gloves and stuffing them into his back pocket. Picking up the music player, he crossed the room carefully, cradling it in both hands.
Arriving at the bed, he held it out to the other boy like an offering. "I want to give this back to you. I shouldn't have taken it."
Minato considered him for a moment, his inscrutable gaze alternating between Akihiko's hands and face. Akihiko held his breath, waiting for Minato to pass judgment on him. With one sudden, simultaneous motion, Minato grabbed the music player with his left hand, bringing it back down to the bed, and fisted his right hand in Akihiko's vest, pulling the other boy down to his level. "You?" he murmured silkily. "Just need to commit more." And Minato kissed him as hard as he could.
:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
What on earth is Minato thinking? Is Akihiko still in the doghouse? Stay tuned for answers in the thrilling conclusion!
...Heh.