Fic!
Untitled (because I couldn't come up with anything that didn't sound too corny)
Rating: Um .. probably PG
Genre: Humor/Romance
Words: 1568 (possibly the shortest piece I've ever completed)
Warnings: First fic, unbeta-ed
A little late for the holidays but I didn't get this idea until a week ago (hence the generic word "holiday" cropping up throughout the fic). It also took me this long to get the guts to post it up. Hope you guys enjoy it.
They stared at each other across the table, neither one willing to look away or give in.
Yes, it was that time of year again. The dreaded time in which they had to decide which family to spend the holiday with.
The silence had gone on for quite a while with one being stubborn and the other merely patient. They had had the same argument several months before in observance of Labor Thanksgiving Day celebration and the time before that for Health and Sports day.
Tezuka was especially determined not to give in. He loved his family and would do anything for them but lately, spending the holiday in quiet, polite conversation didn’t seem appealing any longer. They would have dinner, speak of generic topics, sip tea, and perhaps, if they were feeling adventurous, play a game of shougi or two. It would be calm, serene, and … well, boring.
He much preferred Echizen’s family who was different from his as night and day. The Echizens were louder, actually teased each other, and didn’t look startled whenever Tezuka ventured to start a conversation. They asked him nosy questions that weren’t any of their business, kept feeding him sweets, and demanded a tennis game or two. Well, the last two were from Rinko-san and Nanjiroh-san, respectively. Both asked nosy questions together.
He was jolted back to the present when Ryoma finally spoke, shattering the quiet. “Look, we have to decide what to do before they start calling or knocking our door down. So who are we going to spend the holiday with? Your family or mine?”
“It would be more appropriate if we spent it with yours,” Tezuka said firmly, hoping that he didn’t betray any anxiety on his part. He loved his family, he really did, but after seeing how the Echizens interacted, he couldn’t imagine going back to such silence. Certainly he and Ryoma didn’t always talk to one another even if they were in the same room, but it was different. Their silence was one of comfortable familiarity. His family’s silence always made him feel like a distant stranger.
Ryoma scowled. “I don’t think so. We went to my family’s house last time.” He definitely did not want to bring Tezuka to his embarrassing household again. His father would pester them both to play tennis against him at the same time, claiming one man alone wasn’t enough of an opponent for him. And his mother would maintain they both needed to fatten up and proceed to feed them every sweet concoction ever introduced to mankind.
Well, perhaps the latter wasn’t so bad. But then would come the uncomfortable, nosy questions that Ryoma would never ever answer, much less to his own parents. Things like making sure they were doing uh … things safely. And stuff like that.
Making up his mind, Ryoma decided that there was no way they were going to spend the holiday with his family.
Tezuka’s on the other hand … they were the epitome of a nice, normal family. They didn’t ask too many questions, were always kind to him, served Japanese food, and never once did anyone challenge him to a tennis match because they were bored. Sure most of the time there was silence but it was kinda nice not hearing people chat about things he could care less about. The Tezuka family believed in conciseness and Ryoma could appreciate that. In fact, he preferred it. After hearing his father making snarky comments about anything and everything and his mother mothering him and even his cousin telling fond but embarrassing stories, he was looking forward to the peace and quiet.
That was why his relationship with Tezuka was so perfect. They matched in every way that was important, and extraneous conversation was never a part of it.
“You said that your mother hasn’t been feeling well lately,” Tezuka pointed out. “It would only be proper to visit them and make sure she doesn’t need anything.”
Ryoma rolled his eyes at the obviously desperate remark. He didn’t understand why Tezuka would want to actually visit the Echizen household when his own family was so much better. “It was just a cold. She got over it weeks ago.” He eyed Tezuka who tried not to flush guiltily. “Anyway, we haven’t visited your parents together in a long while. Wouldn’t it be proper to see them this time?”
Tezuka almost sighed. Visions of stifling silence drifted through his head, nearly making him shudder in dread. He had to change Ryoma’s mind somehow. “We agreed we would visit them the next long weekend. There’s no need to see them twice in a row.”
“That won’t be for a while. Next week is the start of the tournament,” Ryoma argued. “I really should pay my respects to them before I leave. I won’t be back for a while.”
Tezuka had almost forgotten Ryoma’s especially crazy ATP tournament schedule for the next ten weeks. He really didn’t want to spend this brief vacation arguing but he still didn’t want to go to his parent’s house for the holiday. “Another couple of months aren’t that bad. They understand you have to travel often.”
Ryoma scowled at the response and crossed his arms over his chest. “We’re not going to be able to settle this, are we?” He stared at Tezuka for a long moment before a sly smile curved his lips up. “So why don’t we play for it?”
Sending Ryoma a severe, reproving frown, Tezuka grounded out, “We’re not going to settle this issue with a tennis game.” Not that he was afraid he would lose but they wouldn’t end up finishing the match. Somehow, lately, every time they saw each other over the net, it led to other things that Rinko-san would definitely not categorize as ‘safe’. Especially not on a tennis court.
Tezuka set the blame fully on Ryoma for making him so perverted.
“Che,” Ryoma muttered, slumping back in his seat. “Too bad we can’t spend it here alone.” He flashed Tezuka a hopeful look from underneath his cap.
The pleading look in the golden eyes tempted Tezuka to relent from the hardfast rule they had kept since the beginning of their relationship. But he couldn’t. Neither one of their families would allow it. The holidays had to be spent with one or the other or there would be hell to pay. So he shook his slowly head and Ryoma’s crestfallen expression settled uncomfortably in his chest. “Maybe next time there’s a holiday, we could go away,” he murmured as a peace offering.
Ryoma perked up at that idea. “Really? You can come watch the finals and then we can go somewhere.”
Tezuka permitted himself a small smile at the younger man’s sudden enthusiasm. “All right, then. We’ll do just that.” A jolt of guilt stabbed him as he observed Ryoma’s pleased expression. While Tezuka tried to watch all of his matches on tv, there was nothing like being there when Ryoma won his tournaments. It had been more than a year since Tezuka last went to a game in person and only because it happened to work out with his schedule. He suddenly realized that perhaps he considered his own job more important than Ryoma’s tennis career.
Well, that would change. Tezuka had put in enough hours in his job to deserve a long vacation or two. Perhaps he could surprise Ryoma by flying out to meet him somewhere. He’d check the tournament schedule.
In the meantime, there was that one last nagging problem about which house to go to.
“Maybe they can come over to our house for once?” Ryoma suggested.
Tezuka thought about it for a moment. He imagined their respective family members under one roof, each horrified with the other. One side would be too loud, the other would be too dignified and it would become chaotic with shouting matches and people ignoring other people which would eventually result in guzzling enough pain medication to sedate a grizzly bear and it was all around a very bad idea.
He met Ryoma’s gaze across the table and they silently agreed they would never allow their families to get together. Ever.
“All right, here’s the deal,” Ryoma said at last decisively. “We’ll go to my parent’s house for lunch and your parent’s place for dinner and tell them that we have dessert plans with mine so we can make an early escape. Then we’ll come back here and you can have your way with me.”
Tezuka raised his eyebrows as much from Ryoma’s lascivious grin as much as the brilliance of the plan. He didn’t really condone lying but in this case, he could probably overlook it. Besides, the last promise Ryoma offered definitely made up for the boring time he’d have at his parent’s house. “That just might work,” he said thoughtfully. “Assuming, of course, neither one of our parents will guilt-trip us into staying longer.”
“We’ll just have to be strong and stand up to it,” Ryoma said firmly. “We need a little us time too, you know.”
Tezuka’s eyes softened as he looked at his lover. “Yes,” he said. Now the decision was made, he almost felt light enough to fly. He stood up from the couch and tilted his head slightly in Ryoma’s direction. “Still up for that match?”
Ryoma grinned and rose to meet the challenge.
Is there a writer's group or something that meets to help each other with writing? Because, as you can tell, I desperately need help. -_-
Rating: Um .. probably PG
Genre: Humor/Romance
Words: 1568 (possibly the shortest piece I've ever completed)
Warnings: First fic, unbeta-ed
A little late for the holidays but I didn't get this idea until a week ago (hence the generic word "holiday" cropping up throughout the fic). It also took me this long to get the guts to post it up. Hope you guys enjoy it.
They stared at each other across the table, neither one willing to look away or give in.
Yes, it was that time of year again. The dreaded time in which they had to decide which family to spend the holiday with.
The silence had gone on for quite a while with one being stubborn and the other merely patient. They had had the same argument several months before in observance of Labor Thanksgiving Day celebration and the time before that for Health and Sports day.
Tezuka was especially determined not to give in. He loved his family and would do anything for them but lately, spending the holiday in quiet, polite conversation didn’t seem appealing any longer. They would have dinner, speak of generic topics, sip tea, and perhaps, if they were feeling adventurous, play a game of shougi or two. It would be calm, serene, and … well, boring.
He much preferred Echizen’s family who was different from his as night and day. The Echizens were louder, actually teased each other, and didn’t look startled whenever Tezuka ventured to start a conversation. They asked him nosy questions that weren’t any of their business, kept feeding him sweets, and demanded a tennis game or two. Well, the last two were from Rinko-san and Nanjiroh-san, respectively. Both asked nosy questions together.
He was jolted back to the present when Ryoma finally spoke, shattering the quiet. “Look, we have to decide what to do before they start calling or knocking our door down. So who are we going to spend the holiday with? Your family or mine?”
“It would be more appropriate if we spent it with yours,” Tezuka said firmly, hoping that he didn’t betray any anxiety on his part. He loved his family, he really did, but after seeing how the Echizens interacted, he couldn’t imagine going back to such silence. Certainly he and Ryoma didn’t always talk to one another even if they were in the same room, but it was different. Their silence was one of comfortable familiarity. His family’s silence always made him feel like a distant stranger.
Ryoma scowled. “I don’t think so. We went to my family’s house last time.” He definitely did not want to bring Tezuka to his embarrassing household again. His father would pester them both to play tennis against him at the same time, claiming one man alone wasn’t enough of an opponent for him. And his mother would maintain they both needed to fatten up and proceed to feed them every sweet concoction ever introduced to mankind.
Well, perhaps the latter wasn’t so bad. But then would come the uncomfortable, nosy questions that Ryoma would never ever answer, much less to his own parents. Things like making sure they were doing uh … things safely. And stuff like that.
Making up his mind, Ryoma decided that there was no way they were going to spend the holiday with his family.
Tezuka’s on the other hand … they were the epitome of a nice, normal family. They didn’t ask too many questions, were always kind to him, served Japanese food, and never once did anyone challenge him to a tennis match because they were bored. Sure most of the time there was silence but it was kinda nice not hearing people chat about things he could care less about. The Tezuka family believed in conciseness and Ryoma could appreciate that. In fact, he preferred it. After hearing his father making snarky comments about anything and everything and his mother mothering him and even his cousin telling fond but embarrassing stories, he was looking forward to the peace and quiet.
That was why his relationship with Tezuka was so perfect. They matched in every way that was important, and extraneous conversation was never a part of it.
“You said that your mother hasn’t been feeling well lately,” Tezuka pointed out. “It would only be proper to visit them and make sure she doesn’t need anything.”
Ryoma rolled his eyes at the obviously desperate remark. He didn’t understand why Tezuka would want to actually visit the Echizen household when his own family was so much better. “It was just a cold. She got over it weeks ago.” He eyed Tezuka who tried not to flush guiltily. “Anyway, we haven’t visited your parents together in a long while. Wouldn’t it be proper to see them this time?”
Tezuka almost sighed. Visions of stifling silence drifted through his head, nearly making him shudder in dread. He had to change Ryoma’s mind somehow. “We agreed we would visit them the next long weekend. There’s no need to see them twice in a row.”
“That won’t be for a while. Next week is the start of the tournament,” Ryoma argued. “I really should pay my respects to them before I leave. I won’t be back for a while.”
Tezuka had almost forgotten Ryoma’s especially crazy ATP tournament schedule for the next ten weeks. He really didn’t want to spend this brief vacation arguing but he still didn’t want to go to his parent’s house for the holiday. “Another couple of months aren’t that bad. They understand you have to travel often.”
Ryoma scowled at the response and crossed his arms over his chest. “We’re not going to be able to settle this, are we?” He stared at Tezuka for a long moment before a sly smile curved his lips up. “So why don’t we play for it?”
Sending Ryoma a severe, reproving frown, Tezuka grounded out, “We’re not going to settle this issue with a tennis game.” Not that he was afraid he would lose but they wouldn’t end up finishing the match. Somehow, lately, every time they saw each other over the net, it led to other things that Rinko-san would definitely not categorize as ‘safe’. Especially not on a tennis court.
Tezuka set the blame fully on Ryoma for making him so perverted.
“Che,” Ryoma muttered, slumping back in his seat. “Too bad we can’t spend it here alone.” He flashed Tezuka a hopeful look from underneath his cap.
The pleading look in the golden eyes tempted Tezuka to relent from the hardfast rule they had kept since the beginning of their relationship. But he couldn’t. Neither one of their families would allow it. The holidays had to be spent with one or the other or there would be hell to pay. So he shook his slowly head and Ryoma’s crestfallen expression settled uncomfortably in his chest. “Maybe next time there’s a holiday, we could go away,” he murmured as a peace offering.
Ryoma perked up at that idea. “Really? You can come watch the finals and then we can go somewhere.”
Tezuka permitted himself a small smile at the younger man’s sudden enthusiasm. “All right, then. We’ll do just that.” A jolt of guilt stabbed him as he observed Ryoma’s pleased expression. While Tezuka tried to watch all of his matches on tv, there was nothing like being there when Ryoma won his tournaments. It had been more than a year since Tezuka last went to a game in person and only because it happened to work out with his schedule. He suddenly realized that perhaps he considered his own job more important than Ryoma’s tennis career.
Well, that would change. Tezuka had put in enough hours in his job to deserve a long vacation or two. Perhaps he could surprise Ryoma by flying out to meet him somewhere. He’d check the tournament schedule.
In the meantime, there was that one last nagging problem about which house to go to.
“Maybe they can come over to our house for once?” Ryoma suggested.
Tezuka thought about it for a moment. He imagined their respective family members under one roof, each horrified with the other. One side would be too loud, the other would be too dignified and it would become chaotic with shouting matches and people ignoring other people which would eventually result in guzzling enough pain medication to sedate a grizzly bear and it was all around a very bad idea.
He met Ryoma’s gaze across the table and they silently agreed they would never allow their families to get together. Ever.
“All right, here’s the deal,” Ryoma said at last decisively. “We’ll go to my parent’s house for lunch and your parent’s place for dinner and tell them that we have dessert plans with mine so we can make an early escape. Then we’ll come back here and you can have your way with me.”
Tezuka raised his eyebrows as much from Ryoma’s lascivious grin as much as the brilliance of the plan. He didn’t really condone lying but in this case, he could probably overlook it. Besides, the last promise Ryoma offered definitely made up for the boring time he’d have at his parent’s house. “That just might work,” he said thoughtfully. “Assuming, of course, neither one of our parents will guilt-trip us into staying longer.”
“We’ll just have to be strong and stand up to it,” Ryoma said firmly. “We need a little us time too, you know.”
Tezuka’s eyes softened as he looked at his lover. “Yes,” he said. Now the decision was made, he almost felt light enough to fly. He stood up from the couch and tilted his head slightly in Ryoma’s direction. “Still up for that match?”
Ryoma grinned and rose to meet the challenge.
Is there a writer's group or something that meets to help each other with writing? Because, as you can tell, I desperately need help. -_-