Slow learner
Title: Slow learner
Pair: Yara/Yamamoto
Rating: PG
Word count: 1883
Summary: The story takes place in the rehearsals of Playzone2009. Yamamoto has been rather upset lately, and Yara gets confused.
Happy birthday Emma, I hope you like it! ♥
- - -
It had been a long day and everyone felt relieved when the choreographer finally allowed them to start packing their things up and move towards the showers and the dressing rooms. Yara needed to talk with the man and he decided to wait for a moment until it would be more peaceful in the dance hall. Yamamoto noticed him and rushed to him, looking awfully tired but happy nonetheless.
“I did very well today didn’t I?” Yamamoto said and Yara chuckled. Of course he had done well, as always, but it wasn’t quite perfect yet. Yara knew how much Yamamoto wanted to be perfect in this one thing and he sincerely wanted to help the young man in that.
“You still have a lot to do,” he said with a smile, “I can show you some moves again if you wait for me a while, okay?”
For a second Yara really thought Yamamoto was going to cry when his face suddenly darkened.
“Don’t worry, I’ll do it alone,” he said in a tight voice, hardly looking at Yara when he nodded and jogged to the door.
Yara looked after him, utterly confused. He wondered if there was something wrong with Yamamoto. Was the man sick, maybe? No, he had been like that for a while already, Yara thought with a frown. For days, maybe even weeks. However much he tried, he didn’t understand what made Yamamoto feel so gloomy these days.
“You’re doing it wrong.”
Startled, Yara turned around to meet Nikaido standing in front of him with his arms crossed on his chest.
“Huh?”
“I said you’re doing it all wrong. I’ve been observing you guys - no wonder he always gets so upset.”
“Wait, you know what’s wrong with him?” Yara asked. The choreographer had gone already and Yara could talk with him on the next day. Besides, this was lot more important anyway.
“You free tonight? Offer me a dinner and I’ll tell you everything you need to know,” Nikaido said with a grin, and Yara quickly accepted. He decided to ignore the painfully embarrassing fact that he was actually going to take love advice from Nikaido Takashi.
- - -
“Now, explain,” Yara demanded when they were sitting in the corner table of a small raamen bar.
“Firstly,” Nikaido said and put his chopsticks down for a while, “what happened in the end of the practice; he definitely didn’t need you to point out how much he still has to learn. Didn’t you see he was practically begging for some praising? It’s childish but who doesn’t love getting told they’ve done good work?”
“But I know he danced very well today. And he knows I know,” Yara said with a frown and Nikaido stopped to look into his eyes pointedly before continuing to eat again. “At least he should know.”
“But does he really?”
Yara had no answer to that.
“Secondly,” Nikaido continued after a while, “when he snuggles close to you like he tried to do this morning, he wishes you would acknowledge his existence somehow. Petting, scratching, a hug, anything. When he tells you how good you look when dancing, he doesn’t want you to shush him quiet as if he had just said something wrong. The worst thing you often do is saying he doesn’t mean it. Because, you know, he really does mean every word.”
Yara frowned again and looked at Nikaido with narrowed eyes.
“Have you talked about this with him?”
“I haven’t. I don’t need to.”
“Hey, hey wait. So basically you’re just guessing,” Yara said and felt a flare of anger inside him, “we’re talking about my boyfriend after all. One would think I know him better than you do.”
“One would, indeed. But tell me, Yara, which one of us played with Ryota when he was twelve?” Nikaido asked pointedly and Yara rolled his eyes, not seeing how that had anything to do with their conversation.
“You, obviously. I was almost twenty at that time. I didn’t play with kids of your age.”
“But I did. And I talked with him a lot too.”
“That was eight years ago!” Yara said and Nikaido shrugged as if the years after that hadn’t changed anything.
“Maybe, but he still talks to me even now,” he said, “How about you, do you guys talk? Do you know what he likes, wants or fears? Do you know how he feels when you turn down his attempts to get closer to you? Have you ever told Ryota you love him?”
Nikaido’s last question hit Yara hard. He looked down and shook his head after a second.
“I… I do love him. I really do,” he said quietly. Nikaido nodded and when Yara glanced at him the small smile on the man’s face was unexpectedly gentle and understanding.
“I know. I’ve seen how you look at him. Everyone with eyes in their head has seen it. I think Ryota is the only one who doesn’t know.”
Yara sighed, feeling awful. He had never thought Ryota’s weird behavior might be the outcome of Yara's own unsuccessful attempts to show his feelings.
“I didn’t realize,” he said, as if that would have changed anything. “To tell the truth I always feel so helpless when he comes too close to me. I don’t know what to do when he does something like that.”
“It’s okay. You’re just a slow learner,” Nikaido said and let out a small laugh, looking like he had just remembered something embarrassing.
“What do you mean?”
“I was like that too. It took me forever to understand Kento was actually begging for my attention when he acted like that. They have much in common, Kento and Ryota.”
“Oh,” Yara said when he couldn’t come up with anything cleverer, “so that’s why you’re helping me?”
“Ryota shouldn’t have to wait as long as Kento did,” Nikaido said and there was a hint of sadness in his smile, “I hurt him so many times before we started to understand each other.”
They were quiet for a while, both thinking about their own businesses until Yara coughed a bit.
“What should I do now? I meant it when I said I have no idea what to do with him.”
“Watch me tomorrow. I’ll show you,” Nikaido said and flashed an impish grin, “and you should try to copy everything I do. I swear Ryota will love it!”
- - -
Nikaido kept his promise. The next day he was all over Senga from the early morning. Everyone was used to the young men hanging around together so they didn’t pay much attention to their actions but Yara saw it all. Nikaido laughed at Senga’s jokes no matter how bad they were, and in return Nikaido whispered Senga things that made him blush. Nikaido praised Senga’s dancing when he did something especially well and told him to do the moves again when he failed. And he was touching the other man all the time, making it look like innocent friendly kind of touches or even accidents, while Senga’s shining eyes gave away the truth. Once Nikaido dragged Senga out of the dance hall even though everyone including the backstage camera was around - which Yara sincerely hoped would be cut off from the DVD material.
To be said simply, Nikaido kept buzzing around Senga like Senga was everything he could see and it was clear that even though Senga didn’t know the reason for getting all the attention he loved every second of it.
“I wonder why he is being like that today,” Yamamoto suddenly said and Yara winced. How long had Yamamoto been standing there?
“You can tell?” he asked in surprise and Yamamoto looked at him with a lopsided smile.
“Of course I can. He’s my friend. If Senga didn’t look so happy I’d think Nika is trying to make up for something he’s done wrong,” Yamamoto said and even Yara could hear the longing jealousy in his voice.
Yara took a deep breath and then slowly moved closer to Yamamoto, brushing his fingers over the other man’s arm. It was a simple fleeting touch, too quick for everyone else to see, but it seemed to work. Yamamoto looked at him questioningly, and his eyes were glimmering in a way that made Yara want to see more.
“I like your hair today, did you cut it or something?” he asked in a quiet voice so that the others wouldn’t hear.
“Do you really?” Ryota asked and the glimmer in his eyes got clearer.
“I do,” Yara said and, after a while of hesitating he leaned closer to whisper in Yamamoto’s ear, “it fits you very well. Makes me want to touch it.”
Nikaido really knew what he was talking about, Yara had to admit in amazement as Yamamoto looked quickly away, unable to hide his widening smile. Was it really this easy to make Yamamoto happy? Yara had never thought such things would matter to his boyfriend but now that he saw Yamamoto’s reactions he wanted to continue even though it was embarrassing enough to make his ears burn and hands shiver. He wanted the man look at him like Senga looked at Nikaido. He would do anything to see that beaming smile all the time.
“Come with me, I need a few mattresses from the cupboard and I can’t carry them alone,” he said and Yamamoto followed him immediately.
“Which mattresses do you want?” Yamamoto asked at the cupboard, “These blue ones or the yellow ones?”
“The blue ones are perfect,” Yara said with a smile and enjoyed Yamamoto’s surprised wince and a muffled whine when he suddenly knocked Yamamoto down to the pile of the said mattresses, pressing their lips together.
It was easy to please Yamamoto; the man practically melted into Yara’s hands when he ran his fingers over his body, kissing him breathless and pressing against him to feel the warmth radiating from his body in the cool room.
“I’m afraid we don’t have time for much more right now,” Yara said after a moment and pulled Yamamoto up from the mattresses. Yamamoto was still looking surprised and slightly dizzy too but at the same time his cheeks were red and his eyes and smile bright in a way that made Yara’s heart ache with warm feelings towards the man.
“Come over tonight?” he quickly suggested, and before Yamamoto managed to turn his awed gasp into a proper answer, Yara turned to take two mattresses from the pile. “C’mon, help me to carry these!”
When they returned to the practice hall Yara noticed Nikaido’s knowing grin. He flashed back a quick smile, forming a silent “thank you” with his lips. Nikaido chuckled and winked, apparently pleased with his advice working so well.
“What is it,” Yara heard Senga asking behind his back.
“Nothing much,” Nikaido answered, and Yara couldn’t help smiling at his words, “He isn't that slow after all. He just needed a small push in the beginning.”
- - -
Pair: Yara/Yamamoto
Rating: PG
Word count: 1883
Summary: The story takes place in the rehearsals of Playzone2009. Yamamoto has been rather upset lately, and Yara gets confused.
Happy birthday Emma, I hope you like it! ♥
- - -
It had been a long day and everyone felt relieved when the choreographer finally allowed them to start packing their things up and move towards the showers and the dressing rooms. Yara needed to talk with the man and he decided to wait for a moment until it would be more peaceful in the dance hall. Yamamoto noticed him and rushed to him, looking awfully tired but happy nonetheless.
“I did very well today didn’t I?” Yamamoto said and Yara chuckled. Of course he had done well, as always, but it wasn’t quite perfect yet. Yara knew how much Yamamoto wanted to be perfect in this one thing and he sincerely wanted to help the young man in that.
“You still have a lot to do,” he said with a smile, “I can show you some moves again if you wait for me a while, okay?”
For a second Yara really thought Yamamoto was going to cry when his face suddenly darkened.
“Don’t worry, I’ll do it alone,” he said in a tight voice, hardly looking at Yara when he nodded and jogged to the door.
Yara looked after him, utterly confused. He wondered if there was something wrong with Yamamoto. Was the man sick, maybe? No, he had been like that for a while already, Yara thought with a frown. For days, maybe even weeks. However much he tried, he didn’t understand what made Yamamoto feel so gloomy these days.
“You’re doing it wrong.”
Startled, Yara turned around to meet Nikaido standing in front of him with his arms crossed on his chest.
“Huh?”
“I said you’re doing it all wrong. I’ve been observing you guys - no wonder he always gets so upset.”
“Wait, you know what’s wrong with him?” Yara asked. The choreographer had gone already and Yara could talk with him on the next day. Besides, this was lot more important anyway.
“You free tonight? Offer me a dinner and I’ll tell you everything you need to know,” Nikaido said with a grin, and Yara quickly accepted. He decided to ignore the painfully embarrassing fact that he was actually going to take love advice from Nikaido Takashi.
- - -
“Now, explain,” Yara demanded when they were sitting in the corner table of a small raamen bar.
“Firstly,” Nikaido said and put his chopsticks down for a while, “what happened in the end of the practice; he definitely didn’t need you to point out how much he still has to learn. Didn’t you see he was practically begging for some praising? It’s childish but who doesn’t love getting told they’ve done good work?”
“But I know he danced very well today. And he knows I know,” Yara said with a frown and Nikaido stopped to look into his eyes pointedly before continuing to eat again. “At least he should know.”
“But does he really?”
Yara had no answer to that.
“Secondly,” Nikaido continued after a while, “when he snuggles close to you like he tried to do this morning, he wishes you would acknowledge his existence somehow. Petting, scratching, a hug, anything. When he tells you how good you look when dancing, he doesn’t want you to shush him quiet as if he had just said something wrong. The worst thing you often do is saying he doesn’t mean it. Because, you know, he really does mean every word.”
Yara frowned again and looked at Nikaido with narrowed eyes.
“Have you talked about this with him?”
“I haven’t. I don’t need to.”
“Hey, hey wait. So basically you’re just guessing,” Yara said and felt a flare of anger inside him, “we’re talking about my boyfriend after all. One would think I know him better than you do.”
“One would, indeed. But tell me, Yara, which one of us played with Ryota when he was twelve?” Nikaido asked pointedly and Yara rolled his eyes, not seeing how that had anything to do with their conversation.
“You, obviously. I was almost twenty at that time. I didn’t play with kids of your age.”
“But I did. And I talked with him a lot too.”
“That was eight years ago!” Yara said and Nikaido shrugged as if the years after that hadn’t changed anything.
“Maybe, but he still talks to me even now,” he said, “How about you, do you guys talk? Do you know what he likes, wants or fears? Do you know how he feels when you turn down his attempts to get closer to you? Have you ever told Ryota you love him?”
Nikaido’s last question hit Yara hard. He looked down and shook his head after a second.
“I… I do love him. I really do,” he said quietly. Nikaido nodded and when Yara glanced at him the small smile on the man’s face was unexpectedly gentle and understanding.
“I know. I’ve seen how you look at him. Everyone with eyes in their head has seen it. I think Ryota is the only one who doesn’t know.”
Yara sighed, feeling awful. He had never thought Ryota’s weird behavior might be the outcome of Yara's own unsuccessful attempts to show his feelings.
“I didn’t realize,” he said, as if that would have changed anything. “To tell the truth I always feel so helpless when he comes too close to me. I don’t know what to do when he does something like that.”
“It’s okay. You’re just a slow learner,” Nikaido said and let out a small laugh, looking like he had just remembered something embarrassing.
“What do you mean?”
“I was like that too. It took me forever to understand Kento was actually begging for my attention when he acted like that. They have much in common, Kento and Ryota.”
“Oh,” Yara said when he couldn’t come up with anything cleverer, “so that’s why you’re helping me?”
“Ryota shouldn’t have to wait as long as Kento did,” Nikaido said and there was a hint of sadness in his smile, “I hurt him so many times before we started to understand each other.”
They were quiet for a while, both thinking about their own businesses until Yara coughed a bit.
“What should I do now? I meant it when I said I have no idea what to do with him.”
“Watch me tomorrow. I’ll show you,” Nikaido said and flashed an impish grin, “and you should try to copy everything I do. I swear Ryota will love it!”
- - -
Nikaido kept his promise. The next day he was all over Senga from the early morning. Everyone was used to the young men hanging around together so they didn’t pay much attention to their actions but Yara saw it all. Nikaido laughed at Senga’s jokes no matter how bad they were, and in return Nikaido whispered Senga things that made him blush. Nikaido praised Senga’s dancing when he did something especially well and told him to do the moves again when he failed. And he was touching the other man all the time, making it look like innocent friendly kind of touches or even accidents, while Senga’s shining eyes gave away the truth. Once Nikaido dragged Senga out of the dance hall even though everyone including the backstage camera was around - which Yara sincerely hoped would be cut off from the DVD material.
To be said simply, Nikaido kept buzzing around Senga like Senga was everything he could see and it was clear that even though Senga didn’t know the reason for getting all the attention he loved every second of it.
“I wonder why he is being like that today,” Yamamoto suddenly said and Yara winced. How long had Yamamoto been standing there?
“You can tell?” he asked in surprise and Yamamoto looked at him with a lopsided smile.
“Of course I can. He’s my friend. If Senga didn’t look so happy I’d think Nika is trying to make up for something he’s done wrong,” Yamamoto said and even Yara could hear the longing jealousy in his voice.
Yara took a deep breath and then slowly moved closer to Yamamoto, brushing his fingers over the other man’s arm. It was a simple fleeting touch, too quick for everyone else to see, but it seemed to work. Yamamoto looked at him questioningly, and his eyes were glimmering in a way that made Yara want to see more.
“I like your hair today, did you cut it or something?” he asked in a quiet voice so that the others wouldn’t hear.
“Do you really?” Ryota asked and the glimmer in his eyes got clearer.
“I do,” Yara said and, after a while of hesitating he leaned closer to whisper in Yamamoto’s ear, “it fits you very well. Makes me want to touch it.”
Nikaido really knew what he was talking about, Yara had to admit in amazement as Yamamoto looked quickly away, unable to hide his widening smile. Was it really this easy to make Yamamoto happy? Yara had never thought such things would matter to his boyfriend but now that he saw Yamamoto’s reactions he wanted to continue even though it was embarrassing enough to make his ears burn and hands shiver. He wanted the man look at him like Senga looked at Nikaido. He would do anything to see that beaming smile all the time.
“Come with me, I need a few mattresses from the cupboard and I can’t carry them alone,” he said and Yamamoto followed him immediately.
“Which mattresses do you want?” Yamamoto asked at the cupboard, “These blue ones or the yellow ones?”
“The blue ones are perfect,” Yara said with a smile and enjoyed Yamamoto’s surprised wince and a muffled whine when he suddenly knocked Yamamoto down to the pile of the said mattresses, pressing their lips together.
It was easy to please Yamamoto; the man practically melted into Yara’s hands when he ran his fingers over his body, kissing him breathless and pressing against him to feel the warmth radiating from his body in the cool room.
“I’m afraid we don’t have time for much more right now,” Yara said after a moment and pulled Yamamoto up from the mattresses. Yamamoto was still looking surprised and slightly dizzy too but at the same time his cheeks were red and his eyes and smile bright in a way that made Yara’s heart ache with warm feelings towards the man.
“Come over tonight?” he quickly suggested, and before Yamamoto managed to turn his awed gasp into a proper answer, Yara turned to take two mattresses from the pile. “C’mon, help me to carry these!”
When they returned to the practice hall Yara noticed Nikaido’s knowing grin. He flashed back a quick smile, forming a silent “thank you” with his lips. Nikaido chuckled and winked, apparently pleased with his advice working so well.
“What is it,” Yara heard Senga asking behind his back.
“Nothing much,” Nikaido answered, and Yara couldn’t help smiling at his words, “He isn't that slow after all. He just needed a small push in the beginning.”
- - -