Nino's Birthday Surprise (3)
SEISHOKU CONTEST ENTRY #3
Rating: R (light)
Summary: Nino thinks letting go is a sign of adulthood. Sho and Ohno have other plans.
Notes: I couldn't have finished this in time without the support of a friend. They know who they are. <3
"You're going to love this," Aiba informed him, eyes crinkling with excitement as he bounced from one foot to another, "because the two of us are amateurs, right Ohno-kun?"
"Absolutely, completely amateur," Ohno agreed, poking his head on camera long enough to give a brief wave and a seemingly unrelated facial expression.
It was obvious that Ohno was laughing out of anticipation, not from any sound (the familiar and lovable boyish giggle was absent), but by the way the camera shook slightly up and down, the top of Aiba's head cutting in and out of frame. Aiba's look was determined now, his arm extended as if that would aid in hiding the figure crouching behind the wardrobe rack.
"It's not everyday that a boy becomes a man, and... um... we thought you might enjoy words of wisdom from a well-established actor," he explained, laughing between pauses and checking to make sure Ohno hadn't fallen asleep on his feet, "You can trust him because he was in GOKUSEN. You remember Gokusen? We were going to watch it together, but we played Dragon Ball on your gameboy advance instead. But now he's starring in Kimi wa Petto. Ah, your good friend, MATSUMOTO "MOMO" JUN!"
"You said you watched Gokusen!" Jun spoke up from his hiding place, "Wait a second, I need to use the eye drops again."
Aiba might have teased him about professionalism and thinking of sad things, but it was all sort of muffled and really not the point. It was easier to focus on Aiba violently pushing the clothes to either side of the rack, Jun stumbling through with fake tears running down his cheeks.
"Kazunari," he started, biting his lip and looking away from the camera, something that was either meant to indicate that he was choked up or was trying to seduce him, but Jun did have one of those faces, "when you were a baby and I held you in my arms..."
Ohno's voice roared with laughter before the scene cut completely, leaving one Ninomiya Kazunari alone in his room, bathed in the blue light of a temporarily stopped VHS tape.
It was almost perfect. Almost.
Better than the rain stick he had to pretend to be grateful for because it came from his director and was made of some special kind of cactus. Which also would have been a nice present, if Nino had ever expressed interest in playing folk music or practicing weather voodoo, or even more simply if he could fit the stupid thing in his bedroom. It had taken time he didn't have to make room for it, and the added factor of potential rain and delay in filming if he made a sound caused stress he didn't need. Still, recording messages for him as if they wouldn't see him in a few days time anyway was a bit much. He was turning twenty, not hospitalized for some incurable disease.
'You write songs, but we can't write like you, so here's a skit... thing' they'd said, far too energetic for such an early morning. Sho's face had been unreadable, more tired when he'd added, 'And a message from me.'
It was normal, really, to get a message from your best friend when you celebrated a major birthday. A brief congratulations in a card or mail to his phone, maybe some words of celebration as they drank themselves into a stupor. It was strange to receive them through video, both close and tauntingly distant.
It wasn't his first time watching, and probably wouldn't be his last either, but his hand still trembled as he pressed the button to lift the pause. His eyes soaked in the images he'd already burned in his mind the night before. Nothing had changed. Nothing could change on tape.
"I'd have said it in person, the way you're supposed to, but... there's Satoshi to think about," Sho's voice faltered, his hand reaching up to scratch his nose to buy time. Nino pretended not to notice the troubled look in his eyes. "Not sure what I'm doing really, it's not fair to you, is it? If you cared, I mean, I don't know... I think sometimes... I just wanted you to know."
He sighed in exasperation. Nino pressed one finger to the screen. This was his moment and he wasn't even there. This was something he'd always wanted and it had turned into some just because.
"I love you."
Nino cringed in spite of the leap in his chest.
"Oh, and happy birthday."
He knew he should focusing on his drama, their concerts, or at least for this moment, pretending to be surprised. Even as an actor, it seemed a difficult emotion to fake when they'd mentioned going out "later this week" several times and hadn't bothered to hide their motives at all. Gathering for drinks was hardly a true party, but Nino had never cared much about his birthdays, and he wasn't objecting to a few beers just now.
He'd already decided he wasn't going to do anything about it.
He'd do nothing about his heart, ready to burst out of his chest, when he'd told himself over and over that relationships didn't amount to much. He had to tell himself that, given the circumstances. It wasn't like anyone else in the universe had to watch their first love start dating their second love, to be reminded of their own discontent everyday for hours and hours, in car pools, green rooms, and hotels.
He'd been stupid enough to fall in love with Sho as a junior, when no one but Aiba really knew him as anything more than 'that guy, Nino'. He should have known better than to fall in love with Ohno when he realized the glances he craved were not aimed at him. And if he was really going to be this way, to make the mistake of being in love at all, it would have been nice if he'd chosen one over the other, not let himself suffer from twice the amount of failure. He'd not confessed to either of them. Maybe that was his true mistake.
Knowing that he'd been wrong, had been wrong about Sho this whole time, should have eased his mind. It should have given him hope for a future, or even a present, but Nino was too far gone. Steal one and hurt the other wasn't an ideal option, even if he had only had feelings for one.
Sho's birthday message to him was a memory, not a sign.
"Ready for another round?" Aiba asked cheerily, clamping his hand down on Nino's shoulder.
"Absolutely," Nino answered, finishing the last of the beer in his glass.
At least some of his smiles were genuine.
He was sure the spots in front of his eyes would go away eventually, a side-effect of alcohol and exhaustion, and so would Ohno's arm slung across his lower back, likely caused by the same thing. But it didn't mean he didn't appreciate all of this. Especially when his mother had made him paranoid he had no friends, and this clearly proved her wrong.
"Matsujun, Aiba-chan... are?" he more wondered aloud than asked, noticing the two absent figures.
"Went home, remember?" Sho answered from the other side of Ohno, just as Nino had secretly plotted it to be when they'd arrived, "Jun-kun asked if you liked the bath radio and then told you his mother had called, and Masaki said he'd see you on Monday, but you were having that conversation about -"
"You talk a lot," Ohno interrupted with a light chuckle, lifting his head up and pursing his lips as if to lean in for a kiss. The distance must not have seemed worth the effort, his head lolling back onto Nino's shoulder instead. Nino smirked.
"No, I'm just less drunk than you are. I'm supposed to be, in order to get us all home," Sho retorted, leaning forward to shoot Nino a look.
"What?"
"Are you busy tomorrow?" Sho asked, a hand moving to rest gently on the back of Ohno's neck.
"Not until afternoon," Nino answered, suppressing a yawn. His logic might have been flawed, that more time was better than less time even with a lingering twist in his gut, but he wasn't going to change it now. He was comfortable here.
"Can you tell your mother you'll be staying with me tonight?" Sho seemed to be requesting, temporarily taking Nino's breath away. Even through the vaguely pleasant fog, his mind could tell something was not quite right with this situation.
"Are you sure you aren't drunk? You know your boyfriend is sitting here," Nino tried to play it off with a nod in Ohno's direction, or maybe he was being sensitive and was trying to be sympathetic to feelings and social boundaries or something, but either way he was reminding Sho of a very, very important fact.
"Yes, but..." Sho started with a blush, one that Nino rarely ever saw color his cheeks, "I guess when you didn't bring it up I just assumed you wanted... that was stupid of me, really. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions."
Something in Nino's face must have urged Sho to continue. He took a gulp of Ohno's beer, his fingers tapping restlessly on the side of the glass.
"Everyone said you liked me then. Always telling me that you had to, but I couldn't see it and you never said anything, and I know you don't like to feel forced into doing things but you'll do what people ask anyway, so I thought I shouldn't push it. I see how you look at Satoshi-kun, and the way he looks at you, so if everything fell into place I just felt... why not? Why not do things that way? But it's... we're probably just weird. If you could forget about everything, it would really help this not be so horribly embarrassing."
"WHAT!?" Nino's mind screamed. Ohno kissed his neck.
"He talks a lot," he tried again, maybe thinking his audience would be more receptive this time.
Nino was fairly certain the sound he managed to make in response was far from attractive. He couldn't think. At least not about anything other than how confused he was about all this. In truth, half of Sho's speech had been lost on him. He was sure that in all that talking, Sho hadn't used enough words to make sense.
"I got your message, but I'm not going to talk about it in front of Oh-chan. I already made up my mind, it's stupid for me to get in the way, and hopefully he's drunk enough to forget about this conversation later."
He felt proud of himself. Looking into the eyes of desire and saying no because it was the right thing - wasn't that being an adult?
"You didn't record your message, did you?" Sho turned to look at Ohno, who blinked his sleepy eyes before shifting in his seat.
"I forgot," he admitted sheepishly, "Aiba-chan made me cameraman, you know."
"I'm no good at this, you have to fix it."
"I'm not any better! You do it!"
"You're the one who forgot to tell him! Just tell him you're in love with him so we can figure this out."
"That's the worst confession ever."
"You're the worst ever! Just say something, he can hear us."
"Hey Nino," Ohno started, "I - "
"We," Sho corrected quickly, motioning between the two of them.
"We want you. And love you. Both of us, which is weird, but... wait, what else do I say? Surprise?"
Nino didn't care if he made them squirm, if they were feeling a little uncomfortable now. And by the way Sho refused to look at anything other than his watch and Ohno picked at his fingers, Nino could tell they probably were. They could afford to give him a moment to process, it'd be worth it to wait for his reaction, because shock and regret were the first emotions that had come to the surface.
This couldn't be happening, but it was happening, and that meant that Nino could have had this sooner if he'd bothered to make himself known at all. Well damn.
"This is the worst birthday ever," he whined playfully, watching as their expressions immediately brightened, all three of them laughing and smiling in relief.
"We didn't really talk over how it would work or anything. I've never done anything with more than just... one person, so I'm not really sure who goes where or does what," Sho informed him casually, quietly, slipping out of his shoes and peeking around the corner in case his family hadn't really left for a short vacation.
Nino was amazed he was even listening when Ohno's tongue was so very thorough in the exploration of his mouth, but he registered the statement somewhere. And groaned.
"I'm just saying," Sho defended himself with a pout. It was like him to be hesitant and unsure when he didn't know what he was getting himself into. What made him amazing, in Nino's mind, was that his hesitance didn't mean giving up. Ever.
"Maybe we don't have to do everything right away," Ohno offered as he pulled away from Nino's lips, ignoring his sigh. Still, Nino was patient enough for now to watch with interest as Ohno's long fingers worked on the buttons of Sho's shirt.
"What, we'll just give each other hand jobs before bed?" Sho stated sarcastically, flashing a mischievous smile and one nipple, shaking his head, "I want to show him that we mean it."
"Couldn't you say that to me?" Nino pointed out with another sigh of frustration.
Not that he didn't want this, of course. It was obvious by now that he did, but the way Ohno and Sho spoke to each other was like a couple in love. The way they spoke to him was... well, not that. Not yet.
"No, he said we're going to show you," Ohno was quick to respond, taking both their hands and heading toward a bedroom he already found familiar.
Nino wasn't sure how he'd gotten undressed, or what the proper way to go about this was (if there was a proper way when it was three men and a bed meant for one), but even with eyes closed he knew who he was with. Sho's hands lightly stroking, Ohno's lips at his ear, muscles loosening to accommodate one, thrusting forward to create friction with the other. Steady and a little fast, they'd always known how to be together, and Nino could swear he heard his name float in the air with the rest of the soft sounds of pleasure created in their rhythm.
"Would it be cheesy," Nino mumbled into the pillow some time later, "if I said I needed more convincing?"
"Yes," came Ohno's quietly reply, followed by Sho's soft snores.
"Well, it'd be a lie anyway," he finished lamely, snuggling down into the covers.
Sho's arm wrapped around his waist and Ohno's fingers in his hair were convincing enough for him. And if they hadn't figured it out by the way he kissed them both goodnight, tangled their limbs and shared their space, then he'd let it be known in the morning.
He loved them too.
Rating: R (light)
Summary: Nino thinks letting go is a sign of adulthood. Sho and Ohno have other plans.
Notes: I couldn't have finished this in time without the support of a friend. They know who they are. <3
"You're going to love this," Aiba informed him, eyes crinkling with excitement as he bounced from one foot to another, "because the two of us are amateurs, right Ohno-kun?"
"Absolutely, completely amateur," Ohno agreed, poking his head on camera long enough to give a brief wave and a seemingly unrelated facial expression.
It was obvious that Ohno was laughing out of anticipation, not from any sound (the familiar and lovable boyish giggle was absent), but by the way the camera shook slightly up and down, the top of Aiba's head cutting in and out of frame. Aiba's look was determined now, his arm extended as if that would aid in hiding the figure crouching behind the wardrobe rack.
"It's not everyday that a boy becomes a man, and... um... we thought you might enjoy words of wisdom from a well-established actor," he explained, laughing between pauses and checking to make sure Ohno hadn't fallen asleep on his feet, "You can trust him because he was in GOKUSEN. You remember Gokusen? We were going to watch it together, but we played Dragon Ball on your gameboy advance instead. But now he's starring in Kimi wa Petto. Ah, your good friend, MATSUMOTO "MOMO" JUN!"
"You said you watched Gokusen!" Jun spoke up from his hiding place, "Wait a second, I need to use the eye drops again."
Aiba might have teased him about professionalism and thinking of sad things, but it was all sort of muffled and really not the point. It was easier to focus on Aiba violently pushing the clothes to either side of the rack, Jun stumbling through with fake tears running down his cheeks.
"Kazunari," he started, biting his lip and looking away from the camera, something that was either meant to indicate that he was choked up or was trying to seduce him, but Jun did have one of those faces, "when you were a baby and I held you in my arms..."
Ohno's voice roared with laughter before the scene cut completely, leaving one Ninomiya Kazunari alone in his room, bathed in the blue light of a temporarily stopped VHS tape.
It was almost perfect. Almost.
Better than the rain stick he had to pretend to be grateful for because it came from his director and was made of some special kind of cactus. Which also would have been a nice present, if Nino had ever expressed interest in playing folk music or practicing weather voodoo, or even more simply if he could fit the stupid thing in his bedroom. It had taken time he didn't have to make room for it, and the added factor of potential rain and delay in filming if he made a sound caused stress he didn't need. Still, recording messages for him as if they wouldn't see him in a few days time anyway was a bit much. He was turning twenty, not hospitalized for some incurable disease.
'You write songs, but we can't write like you, so here's a skit... thing' they'd said, far too energetic for such an early morning. Sho's face had been unreadable, more tired when he'd added, 'And a message from me.'
It was normal, really, to get a message from your best friend when you celebrated a major birthday. A brief congratulations in a card or mail to his phone, maybe some words of celebration as they drank themselves into a stupor. It was strange to receive them through video, both close and tauntingly distant.
It wasn't his first time watching, and probably wouldn't be his last either, but his hand still trembled as he pressed the button to lift the pause. His eyes soaked in the images he'd already burned in his mind the night before. Nothing had changed. Nothing could change on tape.
"I'd have said it in person, the way you're supposed to, but... there's Satoshi to think about," Sho's voice faltered, his hand reaching up to scratch his nose to buy time. Nino pretended not to notice the troubled look in his eyes. "Not sure what I'm doing really, it's not fair to you, is it? If you cared, I mean, I don't know... I think sometimes... I just wanted you to know."
He sighed in exasperation. Nino pressed one finger to the screen. This was his moment and he wasn't even there. This was something he'd always wanted and it had turned into some just because.
"I love you."
Nino cringed in spite of the leap in his chest.
"Oh, and happy birthday."
He knew he should focusing on his drama, their concerts, or at least for this moment, pretending to be surprised. Even as an actor, it seemed a difficult emotion to fake when they'd mentioned going out "later this week" several times and hadn't bothered to hide their motives at all. Gathering for drinks was hardly a true party, but Nino had never cared much about his birthdays, and he wasn't objecting to a few beers just now.
He'd already decided he wasn't going to do anything about it.
He'd do nothing about his heart, ready to burst out of his chest, when he'd told himself over and over that relationships didn't amount to much. He had to tell himself that, given the circumstances. It wasn't like anyone else in the universe had to watch their first love start dating their second love, to be reminded of their own discontent everyday for hours and hours, in car pools, green rooms, and hotels.
He'd been stupid enough to fall in love with Sho as a junior, when no one but Aiba really knew him as anything more than 'that guy, Nino'. He should have known better than to fall in love with Ohno when he realized the glances he craved were not aimed at him. And if he was really going to be this way, to make the mistake of being in love at all, it would have been nice if he'd chosen one over the other, not let himself suffer from twice the amount of failure. He'd not confessed to either of them. Maybe that was his true mistake.
Knowing that he'd been wrong, had been wrong about Sho this whole time, should have eased his mind. It should have given him hope for a future, or even a present, but Nino was too far gone. Steal one and hurt the other wasn't an ideal option, even if he had only had feelings for one.
Sho's birthday message to him was a memory, not a sign.
"Ready for another round?" Aiba asked cheerily, clamping his hand down on Nino's shoulder.
"Absolutely," Nino answered, finishing the last of the beer in his glass.
At least some of his smiles were genuine.
He was sure the spots in front of his eyes would go away eventually, a side-effect of alcohol and exhaustion, and so would Ohno's arm slung across his lower back, likely caused by the same thing. But it didn't mean he didn't appreciate all of this. Especially when his mother had made him paranoid he had no friends, and this clearly proved her wrong.
"Matsujun, Aiba-chan... are?" he more wondered aloud than asked, noticing the two absent figures.
"Went home, remember?" Sho answered from the other side of Ohno, just as Nino had secretly plotted it to be when they'd arrived, "Jun-kun asked if you liked the bath radio and then told you his mother had called, and Masaki said he'd see you on Monday, but you were having that conversation about -"
"You talk a lot," Ohno interrupted with a light chuckle, lifting his head up and pursing his lips as if to lean in for a kiss. The distance must not have seemed worth the effort, his head lolling back onto Nino's shoulder instead. Nino smirked.
"No, I'm just less drunk than you are. I'm supposed to be, in order to get us all home," Sho retorted, leaning forward to shoot Nino a look.
"What?"
"Are you busy tomorrow?" Sho asked, a hand moving to rest gently on the back of Ohno's neck.
"Not until afternoon," Nino answered, suppressing a yawn. His logic might have been flawed, that more time was better than less time even with a lingering twist in his gut, but he wasn't going to change it now. He was comfortable here.
"Can you tell your mother you'll be staying with me tonight?" Sho seemed to be requesting, temporarily taking Nino's breath away. Even through the vaguely pleasant fog, his mind could tell something was not quite right with this situation.
"Are you sure you aren't drunk? You know your boyfriend is sitting here," Nino tried to play it off with a nod in Ohno's direction, or maybe he was being sensitive and was trying to be sympathetic to feelings and social boundaries or something, but either way he was reminding Sho of a very, very important fact.
"Yes, but..." Sho started with a blush, one that Nino rarely ever saw color his cheeks, "I guess when you didn't bring it up I just assumed you wanted... that was stupid of me, really. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions."
Something in Nino's face must have urged Sho to continue. He took a gulp of Ohno's beer, his fingers tapping restlessly on the side of the glass.
"Everyone said you liked me then. Always telling me that you had to, but I couldn't see it and you never said anything, and I know you don't like to feel forced into doing things but you'll do what people ask anyway, so I thought I shouldn't push it. I see how you look at Satoshi-kun, and the way he looks at you, so if everything fell into place I just felt... why not? Why not do things that way? But it's... we're probably just weird. If you could forget about everything, it would really help this not be so horribly embarrassing."
"WHAT!?" Nino's mind screamed. Ohno kissed his neck.
"He talks a lot," he tried again, maybe thinking his audience would be more receptive this time.
Nino was fairly certain the sound he managed to make in response was far from attractive. He couldn't think. At least not about anything other than how confused he was about all this. In truth, half of Sho's speech had been lost on him. He was sure that in all that talking, Sho hadn't used enough words to make sense.
"I got your message, but I'm not going to talk about it in front of Oh-chan. I already made up my mind, it's stupid for me to get in the way, and hopefully he's drunk enough to forget about this conversation later."
He felt proud of himself. Looking into the eyes of desire and saying no because it was the right thing - wasn't that being an adult?
"You didn't record your message, did you?" Sho turned to look at Ohno, who blinked his sleepy eyes before shifting in his seat.
"I forgot," he admitted sheepishly, "Aiba-chan made me cameraman, you know."
"I'm no good at this, you have to fix it."
"I'm not any better! You do it!"
"You're the one who forgot to tell him! Just tell him you're in love with him so we can figure this out."
"That's the worst confession ever."
"You're the worst ever! Just say something, he can hear us."
"Hey Nino," Ohno started, "I - "
"We," Sho corrected quickly, motioning between the two of them.
"We want you. And love you. Both of us, which is weird, but... wait, what else do I say? Surprise?"
Nino didn't care if he made them squirm, if they were feeling a little uncomfortable now. And by the way Sho refused to look at anything other than his watch and Ohno picked at his fingers, Nino could tell they probably were. They could afford to give him a moment to process, it'd be worth it to wait for his reaction, because shock and regret were the first emotions that had come to the surface.
This couldn't be happening, but it was happening, and that meant that Nino could have had this sooner if he'd bothered to make himself known at all. Well damn.
"This is the worst birthday ever," he whined playfully, watching as their expressions immediately brightened, all three of them laughing and smiling in relief.
"We didn't really talk over how it would work or anything. I've never done anything with more than just... one person, so I'm not really sure who goes where or does what," Sho informed him casually, quietly, slipping out of his shoes and peeking around the corner in case his family hadn't really left for a short vacation.
Nino was amazed he was even listening when Ohno's tongue was so very thorough in the exploration of his mouth, but he registered the statement somewhere. And groaned.
"I'm just saying," Sho defended himself with a pout. It was like him to be hesitant and unsure when he didn't know what he was getting himself into. What made him amazing, in Nino's mind, was that his hesitance didn't mean giving up. Ever.
"Maybe we don't have to do everything right away," Ohno offered as he pulled away from Nino's lips, ignoring his sigh. Still, Nino was patient enough for now to watch with interest as Ohno's long fingers worked on the buttons of Sho's shirt.
"What, we'll just give each other hand jobs before bed?" Sho stated sarcastically, flashing a mischievous smile and one nipple, shaking his head, "I want to show him that we mean it."
"Couldn't you say that to me?" Nino pointed out with another sigh of frustration.
Not that he didn't want this, of course. It was obvious by now that he did, but the way Ohno and Sho spoke to each other was like a couple in love. The way they spoke to him was... well, not that. Not yet.
"No, he said we're going to show you," Ohno was quick to respond, taking both their hands and heading toward a bedroom he already found familiar.
Nino wasn't sure how he'd gotten undressed, or what the proper way to go about this was (if there was a proper way when it was three men and a bed meant for one), but even with eyes closed he knew who he was with. Sho's hands lightly stroking, Ohno's lips at his ear, muscles loosening to accommodate one, thrusting forward to create friction with the other. Steady and a little fast, they'd always known how to be together, and Nino could swear he heard his name float in the air with the rest of the soft sounds of pleasure created in their rhythm.
"Would it be cheesy," Nino mumbled into the pillow some time later, "if I said I needed more convincing?"
"Yes," came Ohno's quietly reply, followed by Sho's soft snores.
"Well, it'd be a lie anyway," he finished lamely, snuggling down into the covers.
Sho's arm wrapped around his waist and Ohno's fingers in his hair were convincing enough for him. And if they hadn't figured it out by the way he kissed them both goodnight, tangled their limbs and shared their space, then he'd let it be known in the morning.
He loved them too.