[fic] no strings attached (koyama/shige)
Title: No Strings Attached
Author: acchikocchi
Pairing: Koyama/Shige
Rating: PG
Word Count: 717
Notes: for araanaz9 for Christmas. ♥ please excuse the awful pun; it's a disease I have.
Outside of work, Shige and Koyama didn't see each other much during the week. If he went over to Koyama's place after work, or Koyama came over to his, usually one or both of them was too exhausted - mentally, physically, or both - to manage any more than a decent meal and conversation, so more often than not they held off until the weekend. Shige didn't spend a lot of time troubled about it; he still saw Koyama every day, after all, which was more than could be said for most couples (the word was still kind of embarrassing), and the weekends were more than satisfying. He did occasionally wonder, however, in the very back of his mind, what would happen if he ever suggested - well. He wouldn't, so it didn't bear thinking about.
That evening was one of those rare exceptions that occurred when Shige ran into Koyama right before leaving work and found himself inviting Koyama over without really knowing what he was saying. Shige had a feeling some of these "accidental" meetings were engineered by Koyama himself, but he had yet to figure out a way to test this theory. Regardless of the reason, they were currently in Shige's kitchen preparing, under Koyama's direction, a large, heavenly-smelling pot of miso ramen - Koyama swore by his mother's recipe.
"Guess who I saw yesterday," Koyama said cheerfully as he rapidly chopped a long green onion into tiny wheels and scraped them into the bubbling pot. "Where's the miso paste?"
Shige obediently handed it over. "Who?"
"Shibutani and Yasuda." Koyama glanced up to flash Shige a beaming smile as he measured out the paste and added it to the pan of base simmering on the second burner.
Shige's brow furrowed. "We see Yasuda all the time, and Shibutani still comes in every month."
"I saw them out shopping together," Koyama elaborated. "They were cute! Soy sauce?"
Shige was torn between rolling his eyes and smiling back at Koyama. Of course Koyama would think they were cute. (Shige himself refused to consider the question of Shibutani and Yasuda's relative cuteness at all, and thereby avoided a lot of uncomfortable self-accusations of hypocrisy.) He passed along the bottle of soy sauce and said, "So what made this special?"
"Well," Koyama said, carefully measuring out the sauce and adding it to the saucepan, "it seems they moved in together recently."
Shige's heart skipped a beat.
"Yeah?" he managed. "I heard from Shibutani they were planning on it."
"Yeah," Koyama said. He was concentrating very hard on measuring out the chili oil. "I was thinking, wow, wasn't that quick? I'm glad they have such a strong relationship! And then I realized that it's actually been a few months since Shibutani left."
The little kitchen was stifling. Shige's heart was thudding uncomfortably, and his throat was dry. He could only manage a nod, but Koyama appeared not to notice his lack of response.
"So I was thinking," Koyama continued determinedly, paying very close attention to the saucepan, "that means it's been even longer since we - since - you know." He was talking directly to the stove now and Shige felt his heart beating faster and faster. "And I was thinking. I was thinking, I wonder what would happen if I asked Shige to live with me."
For a moment, all Shige could hear was the sizzle of boiling water. Then he heard a whoosh of air, and realized he'd let out a breath he hadn't even known he'd been holding. At the sound, Koyama looked up, uncharacteristically tentative.
Shige felt a smile starting at the corners of his mouth. "Shige would probably say that sounded like one of Koyama's smarter ideas."
The smile on Koyama's face was brilliant and instantaneous. In a split second he was wrapping his arms around Shige, and Shige, sliding a hand up Koyama's back to tug his head down, knew that he was about to lose any and all ground he'd ever had over Shibutani and Yasuda.
"You have sauce on your cheek," Shige felt obliged to point out when they broke apart, a long moment later.
Koyama smiled cheekily. "Lick it off," he suggested.
Shige's face was hot enough to rival the stove as he said, "Maybe if you behave."
Koyama's surprised, delighted laughter was worth it.
Author: acchikocchi
Pairing: Koyama/Shige
Rating: PG
Word Count: 717
Notes: for araanaz9 for Christmas. ♥ please excuse the awful pun; it's a disease I have.
Outside of work, Shige and Koyama didn't see each other much during the week. If he went over to Koyama's place after work, or Koyama came over to his, usually one or both of them was too exhausted - mentally, physically, or both - to manage any more than a decent meal and conversation, so more often than not they held off until the weekend. Shige didn't spend a lot of time troubled about it; he still saw Koyama every day, after all, which was more than could be said for most couples (the word was still kind of embarrassing), and the weekends were more than satisfying. He did occasionally wonder, however, in the very back of his mind, what would happen if he ever suggested - well. He wouldn't, so it didn't bear thinking about.
That evening was one of those rare exceptions that occurred when Shige ran into Koyama right before leaving work and found himself inviting Koyama over without really knowing what he was saying. Shige had a feeling some of these "accidental" meetings were engineered by Koyama himself, but he had yet to figure out a way to test this theory. Regardless of the reason, they were currently in Shige's kitchen preparing, under Koyama's direction, a large, heavenly-smelling pot of miso ramen - Koyama swore by his mother's recipe.
"Guess who I saw yesterday," Koyama said cheerfully as he rapidly chopped a long green onion into tiny wheels and scraped them into the bubbling pot. "Where's the miso paste?"
Shige obediently handed it over. "Who?"
"Shibutani and Yasuda." Koyama glanced up to flash Shige a beaming smile as he measured out the paste and added it to the pan of base simmering on the second burner.
Shige's brow furrowed. "We see Yasuda all the time, and Shibutani still comes in every month."
"I saw them out shopping together," Koyama elaborated. "They were cute! Soy sauce?"
Shige was torn between rolling his eyes and smiling back at Koyama. Of course Koyama would think they were cute. (Shige himself refused to consider the question of Shibutani and Yasuda's relative cuteness at all, and thereby avoided a lot of uncomfortable self-accusations of hypocrisy.) He passed along the bottle of soy sauce and said, "So what made this special?"
"Well," Koyama said, carefully measuring out the sauce and adding it to the saucepan, "it seems they moved in together recently."
Shige's heart skipped a beat.
"Yeah?" he managed. "I heard from Shibutani they were planning on it."
"Yeah," Koyama said. He was concentrating very hard on measuring out the chili oil. "I was thinking, wow, wasn't that quick? I'm glad they have such a strong relationship! And then I realized that it's actually been a few months since Shibutani left."
The little kitchen was stifling. Shige's heart was thudding uncomfortably, and his throat was dry. He could only manage a nod, but Koyama appeared not to notice his lack of response.
"So I was thinking," Koyama continued determinedly, paying very close attention to the saucepan, "that means it's been even longer since we - since - you know." He was talking directly to the stove now and Shige felt his heart beating faster and faster. "And I was thinking. I was thinking, I wonder what would happen if I asked Shige to live with me."
For a moment, all Shige could hear was the sizzle of boiling water. Then he heard a whoosh of air, and realized he'd let out a breath he hadn't even known he'd been holding. At the sound, Koyama looked up, uncharacteristically tentative.
Shige felt a smile starting at the corners of his mouth. "Shige would probably say that sounded like one of Koyama's smarter ideas."
The smile on Koyama's face was brilliant and instantaneous. In a split second he was wrapping his arms around Shige, and Shige, sliding a hand up Koyama's back to tug his head down, knew that he was about to lose any and all ground he'd ever had over Shibutani and Yasuda.
"You have sauce on your cheek," Shige felt obliged to point out when they broke apart, a long moment later.
Koyama smiled cheekily. "Lick it off," he suggested.
Shige's face was hot enough to rival the stove as he said, "Maybe if you behave."
Koyama's surprised, delighted laughter was worth it.